Chapter Text
Scar? I need to talk to you, Bdubs texted. Come quick, its important.
Awesome! Meet in the shopping district? Scar responded.
Bdubs’ hands shook as he quickly replied. No no no! he said. Anywhere but that. My base?
Alright, Scar replied. I need to tell you something important too. Bdubs sighed, looking at the sky. The bright sun filled his body with a burning yet comfortable warmth. Hopefully, once Scar realized what the crystal was doing, he could reverse the damage. Maybe he’d already realized it! Bdubs steeled himself as Scar’s silhouette appeared in the sky.
“Hey man!” Scar said as he landed. “You needed to tell me something important?” He grinned at Bdubs, and the man supressed a blush.
“You go first,” Bdubs said. Hopefully, Scar’s issue wasn’t worse than his, but if it was they’d need to be on it immediately. Besides, he was the crystal expert.
“Oh, um, okay,” Scar said. “It’s kind of stupid- not really important at all, but-“ he met Bdubs’ eyes- “I think I might be a little in love with you?”
Bdubs paled. “It got you too.”
“What?”
“The crystal!” Bdubs yelled. “It’s been messing with the hermits, making them fall in love, even making them get into dangerous situations so they bond! We need to stop it, now!”
“What?” Scar said, his face a mask of confusion. “But I didn’t feel-“
“There’s no time to lose,” Bdubs said resolutely. “We need to destroy the crystal before someone gets hurt.”
“I- okay,” Scar said softly. Bdubs flew towards the shopping district, with Scar quickly behind him. As the pink crystal came into view, he swore he could see a pink haze surrounding it.
“We need to be quick,” Bdubs warned. “Before it tricks us into keeping it around.” Scar nodded, equipping a pickaxe. It wasn’t silk touch. Bdubs did the same, before swooping down to land on the crystal.
Their pickaxes made short work of the glass/ crystal. Pink particles blew away in the breeze, and Bdubs could feel the haze of happiness surrounding the crystal dissipate. In fact, he was feeling quite melancholy. It doesn’t matter, he reminded himself. It didn’t matter that he and Scar were destroying their hard work, it didn’t matter that they were wasting glass. It didn’t matter that Scar didn’t really like him. As the mayoral team, it was their job to keep the hermits safe, and that was what they were doing.
“I think that’s it all,” Scar said dully. “I’ll check my shulkers and see if there are any unused crystals. Chuck them into lava and all.” He sighed and leaped from the pedestal onto the road.
“Hey, you okay?” Bdubs asked. “We could probably replace it with a non- magical crystal. It’d look just as good…”
“It’s not that. It’s not a big deal.” Scar sighed. “You can turn me down, I’m not gonna stop you. But I’m certain I didn’t love because of the crystal. It’s just lasted too long for that to make sense.”
Bdubs blinked. “What?”
“Yeah.” Scar laughed sadly. “Why’d you think I agreed to run for mayor?”
Bdubs’ face wrinkled in confusion. “Oh,” he said, coughing awkwardly. “I- you really run for mayor because you had a crush on me?”
“Well, it sounds kinda stupid when you say it like that.”
Bdubs giggled. “Naw, it’s kind of sweet.” He paused. “I should probably tell you I like you back now.”
“You do?” Scar yelped, grinning. “Do you want- um- to go out?”
“Of course,” Bdubs said. “We may want to explain the situation to the other hermits first, though.”
“Yes,” Scar agreed. “We need to prove the magic crystals DO work!”