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It was late at night, when Bdubs would normally be sleeping, but he had far more important things to do than sleep right now. His sleep schedule did at least mean that no Phantoms would swarm to him and alert Tango and Keralis that he was awake - something that would almost certainly concern them - so he continued to work quickly and quietly under the cover of darkness, stars, rock and dirt.
The mountain he’d built had been empty once upon a time but Tango had repurposed it perfectly. Fifi was a welcome fourth member of the Big Eye Crew and his lair was shaping up to be a wonderful addition to their area. But, given that he was a member of the Big Eyes, it meant that Bdubs had to treat him the same way he’d treat Keralis and Tango. That meant, when he’d sat down to learn how to knit and produce two sweaters of questionable quality (both structurally and fashionably), he had to do the same for Fifi.
So he’d spent the last week idling at the afk sheep farm, ensuring that he had shulker after shulker of red, green and white wool ready for the undertaking. He had to do it all in one night or else Tango would find his creation covered in a half finished sweater, which meant that he had absolutely no time to lose. Clambering back down the scaffolding, Bdubs grabbed another shulker box, before heading back to where he’d left off. He was roughly a third of the way done and making good progress according to his designs, and he couldn’t wait to show off his creation in the morning. Not only that, but he’d be giving Tango and Keralis their sweaters, and he hoped that they’d appreciate them.
He continued to work away quietly for the next few hours, humming to himself and tapping his toes as he worked laps around Fifi’s chest. Maybe, if he had time, he’d add a red Santa hat to his head. That would really complete the look!
The last thing Bdubs had expected to do as he’d been working was to miss a step. The last thing he’d expected was to panic, to forget that he was wearing an elytra and fall to the ground with an uncomfortable crack. And oh, oh that wasn’t good.
The pain was the first thing to hit him. It took a moment for his mind to catch up and realise where the pain was coming from, everything happening too quickly for him to process it properly. When he did put together the awful feeling and the fact that he’d landed on his wrist, he immediately moved his body. The sudden movement, however necessary to take his weight off his hand, only sent shockwaves through him and he winced. The fact that this was all meant to be a surprise was the only reason he wasn’t screaming and sobbing in pain, but there was only so hard he’d be able to bite down on his bottom lip until it split and that became a problem too.
Bdubs recognised that this wasn’t something he’d be able to fix alone and so, with his right hand, he reached for his communicator and looked desperately through the list of his servermates. Someone else had to be awake. Someone had to be around. He needed help.
Grian.
Okay, that was good. Grian was great in a crisis and if ever Bdubs had needed him, now was the time. Sending a message with only one hand was slow, and the message was riddled with typos that he couldn’t be bothered to delete (his mind was clouding over, and he thought they might convey the urgency a little better).
[Msg from ‘Me’ to ‘Grian’] hel p fel fif’s lair
For a moment he saw three little dots to indicate typing, which meant Grian had been close enough to his communicator for him to immediately see his message, and he was relieved. When the typing stopped, however, and didn’t start again, he swallowed.
Grian… Grian wouldn’t ignore his call for help, right?
Grian was coming, right?
As his hand went numb and his foggy mind started to pull him toward sleep, he frowned. He was supposed to finish Fifi’s jumper, and he needed to be awake to give Tango and Keralis their jumpers, and he needed to fix his wrist. There were so many things he needed to do, and he couldn’t do any of them, and…
And the next thing he knew, a blond man was crouched over him with gentle, terrified hands reaching for his shoulders.
“Bdubs, that’s it, you’re back with me now.” The man said. He had a kind smile, and a red jumper, and Bdubs let his head fall to one side as he smiled back in return. The pain was gone now, though he didn’t remember why he’d been in pain in the first place. He laughed.
“Can you tell me what happened, Bdubs?” He asked, and Bdubs tried to lean toward the friendly man that seemed to care so much about him. What had happened? Well… He remembered that he was trying to cover Fifi in wool, to give him his own jumper, and he remembered that he’d tried to take a step forward on the scaffolding to find that there was no more scaffolding.
And suddenly the pain in his wrist flared up once more and he scrunched his face up as tightly as he could, letting out a quiet whimper as he did his best to keep the noise down. He couldn’t wake up Tango or Keralis, though he couldn’t quite remember why.
“I… Fell.” He replied, though it sounded like more of a question than anything. “My wrist.”
“That’s it.” The man replied, a hand coming to rub his shoulder comfortingly. “You’re doing brilliantly. Deep breaths for me, Bdubs. Can you tell me what it was you were doing here?”
“Fifi… Needs’a sweater.” His words were slurred, and his breath caught in his throat when he felt a hand touch his. The man, whoever he was, noticed straight away.
“Sorry Bdubs, there’s no way to do this without it hurting a little bit, but I’ll try to be careful.” He said. “It looks broken, I’m going to try and set it and splint it and then I can give you a health and a regeneration potion.” He explained. Bdubs’ didn’t quite know what that meant, but the potions sounded nice. They’d help. They’d make everything better. “It might be best to give Xisuma and Stress a call in the morning, but I’ll stay here for the night. I wouldn’t feel comfortable just leaving you after a fall like that.”
As the man continued talking, continued distracting him, his fingers moved nimbly over the back of Bdubs’ hand and over his wrist. Throughout it all he let out little grunts of discomfort and gasps of pain, but his mind had been pulled away from it for the most part. He could focus on the comforting tone of voice, on the warmth and kindness of the other person, and even as it felt as if the entire left side of his body was on fire as broken bones were carefully maneuvered back into place, he managed not to scream.
“You’re doing amazing, I’m so proud of you.” The man said. Who was this man? His sweater was so comfortable, and Bdubs never wanted to move away from it.
“I was… I’ve got a present.” He muttered. “Tango ‘n Keralis… Matchin’ sweaters.”
“You’ve got them matching jumpers?” The man asked, and that was familiar. Not many people on the server used the word jumper instead of sweater. If it wasn’t Stress or Xisuma, that narrowed it down even more.
“Is that…” He began, taking in a sharp breath as bandages were slowly wrapped around his wrist. “Who’re you?”
“Grian.” The man replied calmly, and it all made sense now. Grian, the man he’d asked for help, was helping him! “Once you’re patched up, you’re heading to bed. It’s not like you to be up at this hour anyway.”
“Was a surprise.” He muttered. “Have t’finish it.”
“Absolutely not.” Grian told him sternly. “Once you’ve had the potions I’m taking you to bed and making sure you’re tucked in. I’ll finish off the jumper on Fifi if it needs to be done so urgently, and I’ll make sure Tango and Keralis get their surprise in the morning. They’ll both understand that you need to rest, and I’m sure they’ll both be over the moon with what you’ve worked on.”
Bdubs nodded. It wasn’t an argument he could win. Even if he wasn’t feeling awful, even if he hadn’t just taken a fall, Grian had a way with words and was one of the more persuasive Hermits. When he felt the rim of a glass bottle pushed against his lips he didn’t fight it, tilting his head back slightly so that Grian could help him to drink. Between gulps he could hear a stream of comforting whispers, and the pain in his arm slowly started to fade. It wasn’t to say that it became nonexistent, but instead of white hot flames it felt like a gentle golden bubbling as his body began to regenerate.
His head, however, became more and more muddled with each mouthful he swallowed. He was becoming more desperate for sleep, and he felt himself putting more and more weight on Grian.
He really was a good pillow.
“Alright, I think that’s enough.” He heard, before feeling two strong arms tucking under him and lifting him with all the care in the world. “Let’s get you home.”
Those were the last words that Bdubs heard before he drifted to sleep, the potions doing their job while he was unconscious. He didn’t get to see Grian working hard to finish the wool jumper on Fifi, nor did he see when Xisuma and Stress stopped by in the early morning to check that his wrist had been properly set and that it was healing well. He wasn’t even awake to see Tango and Keralis receive their gifts from a very tired Grian, or the story that came with them.
What he was awake for, however, was Tango and Keralis standing at the end of his bed with breakfast in their hands and slightly misshapen sweaters on their torsos.
“Hey buddy.” Tango said, a smile on his face. “We heard you took a bit of a tumble in the night.”
“We thought you might like breakfast in bed, and then, if you feel up to it, some snuggles. Papa K gives the best snuggles.” Keralis grinned. “Grian said I’m not to kiss it better, it might hurt too much.”
“You’re both… You’re wearing the sweaters.” Bdubs said, shifting in his bed ever so slightly so he could sit up and examine the pair from a better angle. One of Tango’s sleeves was longer than the other, and there was a loose thread on Keralis’s neckline. Not only that, but the colours… There were two different shades of red, and some of his moss looked to have gotten caught up. He grimaced. He’d gone through all that trouble the night before for the sweaters to look… Ugly.
“Of course we are.” Tango said proudly.
“Bdubs originals!” Keralis beamed.
“I’m sorry, when my wrist is mended I can try again.” He said quietly. “Gosh, I really thought they would have come out better. Stupid Bdubs.” He muttered, more to himself than his company, but he quickly felt his mattress sinking beneath him as he was joined on his bed by his two friends. Tango on his left, careful not to touch his wrist, and Keralis on his right, more than happy to reach for his good hand.
“Bdubs, what in the world are you saying? They are perfect.” Keralis purred, his fingers gently rubbing over the back of his hand. “I have never loved a sweater more than this one.”
“You made them for us Bdubs, we love them more than anything.” Tango said. “And you made one for Fifi, I mean, that’s some dedication.”
“Don’t think about anything other than getting better right now, sweetface.” Keralis said. “We’ll take care of you. And when you’re better, how about you teach Tango and I how to knit too?”
“I think it’s only fair if you made us a sweater, we make one for you too.” Tango grinned.
“You’d… You’d really want to?” Bdubs asked, sinking a little further into bed once more as his friends nodded.
“Absolutely.” Tango said.
“Go back to sleep if you need to.” Keralis said gently. “We’ll be here when you wake up.”
“Promise?” Bdubs asked, his eyes closing and head tilting to the side. The last thing he heard before falling asleep once more was one final word from his friends, spoken in perfect timing.
“Promise.”