Chapter Text
Tango wanted an ice farm.
He and Zedaph both agreed that they didn’t want a repeat of Stress cornering the ice market, and thus constructed a plan. They would fly out to the nearest non-occupied snowy biome and construct their ice farm in secret, then come home the next day to build a shop for their ice, cornering the ice market for themselves.
After all, they didn’t mind monopolies if they were the ones making the profit.
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They touched down after a few hours of flying.
‘Are you sure that this is the closest snowy biome?’ Tango grumbled, rubbing the sore spot where his elytra met his skin. ‘Yes, and it’s the only way we’ll be able to make a profit off of ice. Now we need to start building, or X will start selling before us!’ Zedaph quipped back.
And they set to work. It took a good few hours (the sun was setting by the time they finished), but the two enjoyed each other’s company. They tossed jokes and playful banter around as they constructed the hallways and installed the water ponds.
‘Tangoooo!’ Zedaph yelled, soaring into an alcove in the mountain the farm was next to, nearly crashing into Tango, who had been watching Zed add the finishing touches to the farm. He lay down on the floor. ‘It’s finiiiished!’ They’d had to wake up at 3 in the morning in order to get to the site and finish the farm by a reasonable time, and thus they were both slightly delirious from sleep deprivation. ‘That it is,’ Tango said, walking over to Zed and ruffling his hair.
In truth, they’d gone completely overkill, the ice farm would make more ice than they and their shop could ever possibly need. They would probably only need to afk once to make enough ice for the entire season, but they were too tired now to focus the energy required for afking.
‘When you’re ready to sleep, just put your bed down over there’ Tango said, gesturing at the small wood floored area where his bed was already placed.
‘Mhmmm’ Zed replied sleepily, a smile forming on his face. His plan was going to work! ‘G’night!’ Tango called out, sliding under the sheets of his bed.
‘Night…’
It was time. Zed got up from the floor, “searching” for a bed that he had left at home on purpose. ‘Oh no…’ he mumbled to himself, trying his best to act a worried tone. ‘What’s wrong?’ A worried Tango replied. ‘Well, um, you see, I may have… forgot my bed…’ ‘…and you want to know if you can sleep with me?’ Tango finished. ‘Well, sure! I can move over a bit, there’ll be enough room for the two of us.’ Zedaph made his most grateful smile.
‘Thank you so much Tango, I don’t know what I’d do without you.’
‘Sleep on the floor, probably.’ Tango joked, making Zed chuckle. ‘But seriously though, thanks.’ Zedaph repeated, getting into bed beside Tango, their backs pressed together.
‘Don’t mention it, I’d be happy to help anytime.’
Zedaph’s heart fluttered. Surely Tango didn’t mean that, right? He was just being a good friend, it probably didn’t mean anything. Still, being the hopeless romantic that he was, Zed couldn’t help but hope. It’s not like hoping could hurt anyone.
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When Tango woke up, he was confused. Why was he so warm? Why was there a dip in the bed? Why was there someone in his arms?
Wait… someone in his arms?
His face flushed a bright red, memories of last night rushing back to him. It didn’t take long to connect the dots and recognise it was Zedaph in his arms. Void, this was embarrassing. He needed to apologise, he needed to escape and find out why he was enjoying this so damn much.
He looked down at the Hermit he was cuddling. Seeing him like this, curled up with Tango’s arms wrapped around him, he looked… cute. The word felt foreign on Tango’s tongue. He didn’t exactly describe many things as cute, much less a fellow hermit.
But… it was the only word that could accurately convey the image of a sleeping Zedaph. He buried his face into Zed’s hair, inhaling his smell. This wasn’t weird, right? No, it wasn’t. Definitely not.
Tango was fairly certain he wasn’t gay, but this made him reconsider. Surely if he was straight he wouldn’t be enjoying this this much, right?
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be gay, he was sure that the hermits would be accepting of him, but this was all just a bit sudden. Besides, he didn’t want to ruin the strong friendship that he and Zed had together. It might even just be that He’s cuddling Zed, and he won’t feel anything after th-
Zed woke up.
Oh void what do I do do I stop hugging him do I stay like this aaaaAAAA-
Zed blearily reached up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, before remembering Tango, looking up and giving him a massive smile that Tango couldn’t help but return.
In that single moment, the blood roaring in his ears and the uncontrollable pounding of his heart all disappeared into the background. They stared into each other’s eyes for a solid ten seconds, but Zed was the one to break the peace. He seemed to realise that Tango had his arms wrapped around him and practically jumped out of bed, profusely apologising, his cheeks a dark red from blush.
‘Oh god, uh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-‘
Tango silently cursed himself for being so forward, accidentally or not. Why would he think that he ever had any chance with Zed?
‘It’s really fine, don’t worry about it at all!’ Tango cut Zed off, with what he hoped was a comforting smile on his face. ‘If anything, I’m the one who should be apologising for not pulling away, if it made you uncomfortable.’
Zedaph took a breath. ‘No, you shouldn’t be apologising either. I’m sorry, I’m just not used to… that.’
They stayed still for a while, making sure to look everywhere except each other. Once again, Zed was the one to break the silence.
‘Well, if you’d like to go and start building the shop, I could stay here and afk for a couple of hours..?’
Tango was grateful for a chance to escape the tense atmosphere. He nodded his head, swinging his legs out of bed and strapped on his elytra.
‘See you in a couple hours?’ ‘Sure, but don’t afk for too long! I know how you work yourself for too long without caring for yourself.’
Tango spammed his rockets, trying to get away as fast as possible.
The ice shop could come later. He needed to figure out why he felt this way towards Zed.