Work Text:
Impulse sat on the balcony of Hermit tower, swinging his legs back and forth as he stared at the dark cliff that had once housed the Rift.
He’d had a pretty good day! He’d gotten some stuff done around Hermitopia, fixed up his raid farm for Gem to use, and best of all, gotten his beard back!
But now it was late afternoon, and Impulse was…
Well, Impulse was homesick. Really homesick. Don’t get him wrong, he loved Empires! But he missed IBuy, and his base, and his silly message system with Gem and Pearl. He missed XB and Beef, and knowing exactly how much items cost at any given time without having to negotiate, and having a nether hub that wasn’t just lines of wool leading every which way.
He missed Hermitcraft.
On top of that, his stomach hurt. He really shouldn’t have taken that last potion to get his beard to full length, because now he had a belly ache to rival the time Pearl had given him expired suspicious stew. He knew it was probably something he could sleep off. He knew he should be thankful that his ears hadn’t tripled in size and his skin hadn’t turned green, but it really was not helping his mood.
He couldn’t even say that the pain was worth it, because as happy as he was to have his beard back, it was itchy . Apparently, his skin had gotten used to being clean shaven, because it was extremely irritated at the new addition to his face. Further, the beard had grown in messy and tangled. He did not have the energy or willpower at the moment to deal with it.
Impulse frowned, turning from his perch and beginning to wander through the spiralling halls of Hermitopia. Homesickness, belly ache, beard. There was something else bothering him, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. It was almost as if his thoughts were too muddled to do so.
Oh.
Well, that was it.
He was close to regressing. Or he had already started to, he couldn’t quite tell.
He should probably call someone, right? He didn’t have the strength nor desire to fight it off. The hazy feeling wasn’t unpleasant, as ill-timed as it might be. He didn’t know quite how young he was headed, but the tower wasn’t particularly safe for adults, much for less children. He didn’t want to add his name to the list of people who had died from falling into the mob farm. He could go hang out in the villager trading hall, he supposed; there wasn’t anything too dangerous down there. But that would require getting to the bottom of the tower, and he already wasn’t feeling confident enough to fly.
That left the question of who to call. Pearl and Gem were the obvious choices, followed closely by any of the hermits who had been working on the tower. He didn’t think there was anyone on the server who would particularly mind, even if he wasn’t close with them all. But that many options made Impulse feel overwhelmed, so he decided to narrow his decision to Hermits only.
His heart leapt out for one player in particular. Bdubs. He wanted Bdubs.
He clumsily pulled his Communicator off of his belt, being mindful not to drop it. He clicked on Bdubs’ name and pouted when he saw that the last private conversation between them had been several months ago, and they had not been saying very nice things. That was no way to treat a friend.
Private Chat with BdoubleO100
<ImpulseSV> dbubs
<BdoubleO100> you seemed to have mixed up the ds and bs in my name my fair impulse
<BdoubleO100> oh is it a new nickname for me?? i luv nicknames!
<ImpulseSV> d n b are harrd
<ImpulseSV> they jus lookk teh same
<BdoubleO100> well what has brought you to contact your local sun god on this fine afternoon?
<BdoubleO100> i already know, of course, being omnipotent and all
<BdoubleO100> but if you could remind me
Impulse scrunched his nose. He didn’t know what “omnipotent” meant. He didn’t like it when Bdubs taught him big words, because usually he ended up being wrong about them, and then Grian would make fun of him. He decided to ignore it.
<ImpulseSV> feelign small
<BdoubleO100> ohhhh
<BdoubleO100> i see i see
<BdoubleO100> how small are you feeling, buddy?
<ImpulseSV> i don knwo
<ImpulseSV> not the most small
<ImpulseSV> but geting more littler
<BdoubleO100> do you want me to get pearl or gem for you? tango maybe?
<ImpulseSV> no
<ImpulseSV> i wants you
<BdoubleO100> oh
<BdoubleO100> okay!!
<BdoubleO100> where are you rn?
<ImpulseSV> at teh tower
<ImpulseSV> can’t gett dwon
<BdoubleO100> i’ll be right there!!
<BdoubleO100> do you need me to grab your little space shulker on the way over? or do you have it?
<ImpulseSV> is on hermmtcratf
<ImpulseSV> not here
<BdoubleO100> hmmm i see
<BdoubleO100> we’ll figure something out then!
<BdoubleO100> you just hold on tight.
Impulse carefully clipped his Comm back onto his belt. He was afraid that if he waited much longer to put it away, he wouldn’t have the dexterity to do so.
Bdubs was on his way. That was good. What wasn’t good was that his belly hadn’t stopped aching and big him knew how to deal with belly aches but little him very much did not. He sat down on the floor, crossing his arms over his chest with the intention of staring at the wall until Bdubs got there.
Unfortunately, the wall he was facing happened to be the mob farm. The scary noises coming from it made his heart race. He whimpered, scooting as far back from it as he could.
After a few more minutes of listening to zombies groan and creepers hiss, he decided to abandon that floor of the tower entirely. He worked his way towards the edge, looking out over the side. Right below him was Scar’s bee farm. The top of it was still littered with skulk blocks. Impulse didn’t like how it looked! Scar had worked very hard on that farm and Cub had come along and made it all ugly. He knew Cub had been possessed and he was very glad that he was feeling better now, but still!
That was something easy he could do to distract himself while he waited for Bdubs: get rid of the skulk! Bdubs would be proud of him for acting so big, plus he could surprise Scar with it later! It was the perfect plan!
He did not feel big enough to use elytra, but the jump from the edge of the main tower to the farm wasn’t too far: only a few blocks forward and down. He stood, sizing it up for a moment, before taking the biggest leap he could muster.
The unfortunate part was that he misjudged the hop by about half a block, foot barely grazing the edge of the farm before he was tumbling toward the ground below.
World Chat
ImpulseSV fell from a high place
<fWhip> rip
<TangoTek> professionals we are
<GoodTimeWithScar> f
<Pixlriffs> f
<BdoubleO100> oh no
Bdubs stared down at his Comm as he soared through the air. He probably shouldn’t text and fly, but he was a god! He could do as he pleased.
If he almost ran into a few trees, that was no one’s business but his own.
Impulse dying was less than ideal. The dwarf didn’t have the smoothest respawns even as an adult, but when he was regressed it was downright awful. Bdubs just hoped he was old enough to understand what had happened; he tended to get very fussy when he couldn’t figure things out.
Bdubs landed at the base of Hermit tower. The building had somehow gotten larger since he’d last seen it. Grumbot had arms now for some reason, and topping it all off was an earth surrounded by a sign which read HERMITOPIA. It was huge . It was going to take ages to find Impulse!
He heard a cry from somewhere to his right.
Or it wasn’t going to take any time at all!
Bdubs took off in the direction of the cry, slowing when Impulse came into his field of view.
The boy was on a bed in the corner of the storage room. He had his legs pulled up to his chest, bawling his eyes out as his hands yanked at his beard.
Wait, his beard?
Whelp, that was definitely something to address when Impulse was no longer crying.
Bdubs sat down on the edge of the bed, immediately pulling the younger into a hug. Impulse leaned into the touch, even though he had apparently not yet registered that Bdubs was there.
“Oh babycakes, what happened?”
Impulse sniffled, pulling his head from his knees just enough to glance at the man holding him. Evidently, the shock of someone speaking was enough to distract him from crying. “Be bubs?”
“Yes, shnookums, it’s me. You wanna tell me what’s gotcha down?”
“I miss home an’ I fell.”
Bdubs couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, I gathered that second part! I miss Hermitcraft, too.” He reached out a hand, wiping a tear from the little’s face with his thumb. “Do you need me to go pick up your stuff for you before it despawns?”
Impulse nodded.
“Alright.” Bdubs pressed a kiss into the little one’s hair. “I’ll be right back.” He started to pull away, only to feel a hand gripping his cloak.
“No, don’ go,” Impulse whimpered.
“I’ll just be a minute, sweetheart. You have to let me go for me to get your things.”
“No.” Impulse buried his face into Bdubs’ side… which frankly couldn’t have been comfortable. Glowstone wasn’t exactly the softest thing in the world. “Wan’ you here.”
Bdubs sighed, accepting his fate as snuggle buddy.
World Chat
<BdoubleO100> hey, is anyone near hermitopia atm?
<Xisumavoid> I’m close by! Do you need somethin?
<BdoubleO100> do you think you could pick up Impulse’s stuff?
<BdoubleO100> i think it’s somewhere around the tower, i’m not sure where tho
<Xisumavoid> Yeah of course!
<Xisumavoid> Is he okay?
<BdoubleO100> yuppers, just a rough respawn
<BdoubleO100> i can explain more when you get here
<Xisumavoid> I’ll be there in just a few
<BdoubleO100> ty!!!
Bdubs put his Comm back in his pocket, turning his attention back to Impulse, who had resumed yanking at his beard.
“Woah there honey bun.” Bdubs gently pulled the boy’s hands away. “Let’s not do that, we don’t wanna hurt your precious little face.”
“But itchyyy,” Impulse whined.
“Hmm, it does look pretty tangled.” Bdubs continued to hold the little’s hands. “When did you get it back? I didn’t notice it growing.”
“Shubble gave me funny dwinks.”
“Potions?”
“Mhm. Ha’ too many an’ now my tummy feels all swirly.”
“How many did you have?”
Impulse slowly held up four fingers.
“Aw, my poor baby. What else have you had today? I’ve heard her potions sit weirdly with some foods.”
Impulse didn’t answer, instead fiddling with one of the glowstones on Bdubs’ cloak. Bdubs would be lying if he said he wasn’t glad he’d found something to stim with besides his beard.
“Sweetheart? Do you remember what you’ve eaten today?”
“Was busy all day.”
Bdubs sighed. He wasn’t particularly surprised that Impulse had forgotten to eat. It was a disturbingly common occurrence among the hermits. Still, he thought the man would have known better than to have four potions on an empty stomach– that was just asking for trouble! “Let’s get some food in your belly, little one.”
At that moment, Xisuma appeared in the doorway. “I’ve got your stuff, Impulse!” He surveyed the scene for about half a second before his eyes sparked his recognition. “Aw, do we have an itty bitty baby on our hands?”
“We do indeed! Thanks for getting his things,” Bdubs replied as Xisuma started to put Impulse’s items into a chest. It was probably wise to not give a diamond pickaxe to a child.
Xisuma came over to the bed, kneeling in front of Impulse. “I found your stuff below the bee farm. What were you doing over there, friend?”
Impulse just snuggled farther into Bdubs, to both Bdubs’ and Xisuma’s surprise. Littles, Impulse especially, usually loved Xisuma, seeking him out whenever he was nearby. He’d earned the loving nickname Dadsuma for a reason.
“Impy, did you hear X? What were ya doin’ by the bee farm?” Bdubs hoped that the reminder of how he died wouldn’t bring the little back to tears.
“I wan’ed to make i’ look pre’y.”
Bdubs didn’t really know what to make of that. Thankfully, Xisuma did. “Oh, were you trying to clean up the skulk?”
Impulse nodded.
“That’s very nice of you, buddy. You can leave that to us big guys and Bdubs for now, though.”
“Hey!” Bdubs squawked. “I am average height. ”
Impulse giggled and babbled something about Bdubs being short.
Xisuma chuckled as he stood back up. “Looks like you’ve got this pretty handled, Bdubs. Do you need anything else from me?”
Bdubs perked up, careful not to jostle the body at his side. “Actually! Do you have any little stuff around? All of Impy’s is back on Hermitcraft.”
“We threw some stuff together after Grian regressed on our second day here and threw a tantrum because he couldn’t find his Pearl and Maui stuffies.” X pulled his Comm from his belt. “I think the shulker is at Ren’s cabin— I can go get it right now.”
“Thanks, Xisuma!” Bdubs nudged Impulse. “Can you say thank you to X?”
“Danks, ‘Suma.”
“My pleasure, little one.” Xisuma readied his elytra as he walked towards the exit. “I’ll be back in two shakes of a rendog’s tail.”
Bdubs turned back to Impulse. “Alright, sugar cube. If I recall, we were going to get you some food.”
Impulse wrinkled his nose. “Bu’ my belly is icky.”
“I know, schnookums, but getting something in it besides those potions is gonna make you feel loads better. What would you like?”
The boy’s expression didn’t change. “No. No’ hungy.”
“Either you pick what we have or I pick. If you still have a tummy ache when we’re done eating, we can getcha a healing potion. But you gotta have some food first.” He patted his own stomach. “Besides, I’m hungry too.”
Impulse’s expression finally relaxed. “Soup?”
“Soup it is! Good thing we’re in the storage room– I’m sure there’s some in here!” Bdubs rose from the bed. “Do you wanna come with me or stay here while I look?”
Impulse answered by pulling himself off the bed, only to stumble and almost fall on his face.
Bdubs caught the little, putting his arm around him for support. “Let’s get searching, then!”
It didn’t take long to locate the chest containing foodstuffs. Although the hermits were chaotic individually, they were fairly organized as a collective. Bdubs wondered which of them had been responsible for labelling each chest with an item frame; it must have been tedious work.
Impulse wanted to eat in bed, which Bdubs normally would have shot down, but the little one had had a rough day. How could Bdubs say no to those puppy dog eyes?
It didn’t take long for Bdubs to realize that letting Impulse pick his own food may have been a mistake. He didn’t know quite how young he was, but the answer was apparently Too Young To Be Trusted With A Spoon. He almost immediately spilled the soup across his shirt, looking at Bdubs with tearful eyes when he realized what he’d done.
“It’s alright, baby.” Bdubs took a napkin and dabbed at the spill. “We can clean you up a little better when we’re all done. You want me to feed you?”
Impulse nodded, still looking on the verge of crying. Bdubs gently took the spoon from him, scooping up more of the soup and placing it in the little one’s mouth.
As they were eating, Xisuma returned holding a light blue shulker. “Apologies that it took me so long!” he commented as he placed the shulker next to the bed. “I thought it was with Ren, but he said it was with Scar, who said it was with Tango. Eventually found it with Pearl! If we stay here much longer, we’re gonna need to invest in a few more of these.”
“Thank you, X!” Bdubs reached into the shulker and pulled out a bib, immediately clasping it around Impulse’s neck. It wouldn’t stop him from getting soup in his beard, but at least they didn’t have to worry about soiling his shirt any more than it already was.
“Of course!” Most of what's in there is from Sausage; he has a lot of spare things for Hermes.” Xisuma reached out and ruffled Impulse’s hair, earning a grunt from the little. “Do you need anything else?”
“I’d hate to send you on another trip across the server…” Bdubs mumbled. He normally wouldn’t mind all that much, but he had already inconvenienced Xisuma quite a bit today.
“It’s no trouble! What do you need, friend?”
“Do you think you could run to Sanctuary and see if Sausage has anything for beard care? I think Impulse’s is giving him some trouble” Speak of the devil, the little one had started to scratch at it again as they were talking.
“Absolutely.” Xisuma smiled before exiting again.
Bdubs smiled at Impulse. “Alright baby cakes, you ready for more soup?”
“No!” Impulse pushed the bowl away, almost spilling it in the process. “Yucky!”
“You chose the soup, darling! Don’t blame me!” He considered the bowl for a second. It was more than half empty, which was frankly more than he’d expected to be able to coax into the little. “If you take one more big bite, we can be done,” he settled on.
Impulse seemed okay with this arrangement, as he opened his mouth wide for the spoon. Once he swallowed, he gave a cautious smile. “All done?”
“All done!” Bdubs set the bowl aside, not wanting to accidentally knock it over. “Is your tummy feeling better now?”
Impulse nodded, still smiling.
“Is it feeling good enough for… tickles?” Bdubs reached forward, attacking the little one with tickles until he was a giggling mess.
Bdubs pulled back after a minute and watched with a fond smile as Impulse regained his breath, trying to tickle Bdubs back to little avail. “Why no’ ticklish?” he asked.
Bdubs shrugged. “Sun gods don’t get ticklish. We’re just that cool.” The truth was that Impulse just hadn’t reached any of the spots that would send him into a fit of laughter, but Impulse didn’t need to know that.
“I’m back!” came a call from the doorway. Xisuma approached as Impulse continued to try and tickle Bdubs. “Go for his armpit, Impulse. That’s his weak spot,” he stage whispered.
“Ah! Betrayal!” Bdubs yelled as Impulse did just that, sending the older man into giggles. “Unfair! You ganged up on me!”
“Something tells me you deserved it,” laughed X. “I brought stuff from Sausage! He gave me a lot, I don’t know how much of it will be helpful.”
He tossed the items to Bdubs, who tucked them into his inventory. He was afraid that letting Impulse see them would remind the boy of his beard and upset him. “Thank you, X!”
X leaned and whispered, “I can take over if you need to head home– it’s getting close to sunset.”
Bdubs glanced at Impulse, who had once again become fascinated with the glowstones laced into his cloak. He turned back to Xisuma. “That’s alright, I think I’ll be spending the night.”
Xisuma’s eyes crinkled. “Sounds great. Let me know if you need anything.” And then, louder, “See you tomorrow, Impulse.”
“Can you say bye to X, sweetheart?”
“Bye bye, ‘Suma.”
“Good job.” Bdubs waved at the voidwalker. “Night, X!”
“G’night!” X left, presumably for some other part of the tower where he had made a bedroom for himself, or perhaps the ship that he and Cleo had constructed.
Bdubs turned his attention back to Impulse. “I have something for you.”
Impulse’s eyes lit up. “Like a suh-pwize?”
“Yeah, kinda like a surprise!” Bdubs pulled a few of the items X had given him from his inventory, setting them on the bed in front of Impulse. “You told me earlier that your beard was feelin’ itchy. These might help ya out.”
Impulse squinted at the items before his eyes lit up with recognition. He pointed at the beard oil. “I have dis a’ home!”
“Oh? So you know how to use it?”
“Mhm!” He grabbed the bottle, doing his best to open it with clumsy hands. Unfortunately, the cap didn’t want to cooperate.
“Here doll face, let me try.” Bdubs gently took the bottle from him, opening it with a smooth pop. Impulse reached back for it, but Bdubs hesitated. “Okay, light of my life, I need you to be honest with me. Can you tell me the truth about somethin’?”
Impulse nodded, still making grabby hands for the container.
“Do you think you’re old enough right now to do this on your own?”
Impulse paused, hands still outstretched, before slowly bringing them back to his chest with a whine.
“That’s okay, sunshine. Is it alright with you if I do it for you?”
“Pwomise to be caweful?”
“I promise. No backsies.” Bdubs scooted closer. “You just massage it through, right?”
“Mhm.”
“Okie dokie. You tell me if I’m doin’ somethin’ wrong.”
Bdubs squirted a few drops of the oil into the beard, beginning to massage it into the hair. It took a bit for Impulse to relax, but when he did he was practically a wet noodle, leaning heavily on Bdubs and occasionally babbling about one thing or another.
When Bdubs was satisfied that the oil was doing its job, he pulled out the beard brush Sausage had provided. “I’m gonna try and brush out the tangly bits. That sound good?”
There was a mumbled response from the little, which Bdubs chose to take as a yes. He took the opportunity to grab a pacifier and some chewelry from the shulker, offering both to Impulse. He opted for the binky, popping it into his mouth with a happy noise.
Impulse melted even more into Bdubs as he worked to untangle his beard, occasionally whimpering when Bdubs hit a particularly knotted section to quick apologies from the older.
“All done with the brushing, lovebug,” Bdubs announced when he deemed it clean enough. “We can be done, or I can braid it for you so it doesn’t get re-tangled overnight. Which would you rather?”
“Bwaid!” Impulse replied from behind the soother.
“Alright, braid it is.” Bdubs began to divide the beard into three parts and got to work. “Ya know, I don’t think I’ve ever braided a beard before,” he commented, “I’ve braided Scar’s hair a ton. I’ve done Ren’s once , but he’s super particular about it. Etho’s hair isn’t quite long enough for it to work, but he lets me try anyway when I’m having a bad day.”
Impulse hummed, clearly not paying much attention. Bdubs didn’t mind.
“I’ve even done Xisuma’s! We went End busting once so he was able to take off his helmet, and when I saw how pretty his hair was I made him pause so I could braid it. I like to think he enjoyed it.” He finished off the braid, securing it with a hair tie. “All done, little one!”
Impulse reached up and ran his hand over the braid. He didn’t say anything, but he was smiling, so Bdubs figured he’d done an okay job.
Bdubs checked his clock. The sun would be setting in just a few minutes. “You ready for bed?”
"Mhm!"
They didn’t have any pajamas in Impulse’s size, but the little one seemed pretty satisfied with sweatpants and a soft shirt. Bdubs helped him change and brush his teeth, before bringing him back to the bed and tucking him in. Impulse set the pacifier aside, and Bdubs didn't argue. The dwarf was pretty good at knowing what he needed, even when regressed.
Bdubs pulled off his glowstone cloak and replaced it with his mossy one, which was far more comfortable to sleep in. He pulled a bed from his inventory (he always had at least two on hand) and prepared to place it nearby when he heard Impulse whine.
He returned to the little one’s side. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”
“Wan’ cuddles.”
Bdubs smiled, putting his bed back in his inventory. “Okie dokie, scoot over.”
Impulse didn’t even wait until Bdubs was all the way in the bed to wrap his arms around him and bury his face into the mossy cloak. Bdubs chuckled, returning the hug and trying to shift his attention towards sleeping.
The problem was there was a question pressing at his mind, and he wasn’t sure if it was one he should ask.
“Hey love bug?” he finally voiced.
“Mhm.”
“Is there a reason you wanted me tonight instead of any of the others? Did they do something to you?”
"No, dey're vewy nice to me." Impulse was silent for a minute. “All da peoples are ‘gether and i’ made me miss you.”
“What do ya mean?”
“Like ‘ango an’ ‘immy an’ Sco’ an’ Pearl. Dey’re all ‘gether again.”
“Oh, you mean the double life pairs?” He felt a nod against his chest. “What does that have to do with us, though? We’ve been on the same server the whole time.”
“Bu’ you were bein’ meanie ‘cause o’ Ren.”
Oh. It finally made sense to Bdubs. They had barely spent any time together after Double Life because they were on different sides of a war, and then as soon as that war had ended, they’d been whisked away to another land where other soulmate pairs got to reunite. Yet Bdubs still hadn’t joined him at Hermitopia, instead spending all his time at Sanctuary. No wonder the little missed him.
He ran a hand through Impulse’s hair. “I’m sorry for not treating you as well as I should have.”
“Dat’s okay. I was bein’ meanie too.” Impulse yawned. “Sleepy now. Love you, Be Bubs.”
“Love you too, Impulse.”
They fell asleep like that, held in one another's arms.
Maybe when Impulse said he missed home, he was missing more than just Hermitcraft.