Work Text:
Winter had fallen over Hermitcraft season nine.
They didn’t have seasons– not real ones anyway, when their world was a patchwork quilt of biomes of varying types and temperatures– but there was no denying that even some of the warmest places had a chill to the air. The spawn area was no exception, and Etho could see his breath on every exhale, even as he entered the Monolith.
The stone walls and slim design of the building did nothing to trap the heat, although he could hear Bdubs clattering around a few flights up, presumably in the kitchen where the furnaces would keep him warm
Etho debated internally for a moment. He had been living in the basement for a few weeks now, doing his best to dodge Bdubs, although his attempts remained futile– Bdubs knew damn well he was down there and seemed to have taken it upon himself to annoy Etho as much as possible.
Not that he minded, of course. Bdubs was… grounding– though he would never admit that to anyone out loud, especially the man himself. He hadn’t asked why Etho decided to take refuge in his basement, when there were plenty of other empty starter bases around that he could have borrowed.
They never talked about it. Bdubs didn’t ask why and Etho never mentioned it. They weren’t dancing around the issue, it just… It didn’t matter to either of them, and strange living habits between the two of them were nothing new.
Some may have called their relationship strange. Etho might have agreed, although he doubted anyone else truly understood what they were to each other. Even he didn’t fully know.
They never talked about it either.
Bdubs understood him in a way that no one else did. He filled an intrinsic gap in Etho’s chest– not that it needed to be filled, per say… But Etho relied on Bdubs’ endless noise and cheer to fill that void.
That was how it was. How it always had been.
Etho sighed and headed up the stairs. Had anyone asked, he simply would have told them his basement hideout was too cold for him, in weather like this.
He knew that wasn’t the only thing pushing him up those stairs, but the excuse settled in his mind.
A blast of warm air hit him as he rounded the stairs and entered the tiny kitchen. As he predicted, both furnaces were roaring, gently bathing the room in warmth. Bdubs had his back turned to Etho, hovering over the furnaces and stirring a pot.
Etho set his pickaxe down, leaning it against the shulker box of building supplies Bdubs must have just brought up– it hadn’t been there that morning. Not that he would have known anything about the state of the kitchen that morning… He didn’t come up here often and certainly wouldn’t have come by looking for Bdubs.
It was mere guesswork, nothing more– which is what he would have said to anyone who asked.
His heart knew he was a liar.
Bdubs titled his head slightly to the side in recognition of Etho’s presence, but he didn’t turn. He kept tending silently to his soup.
Etho knew that Bdubs had been aware of his presence long before he entered the room– creaky front door and squeaky floorboards announcing his presence, despite his near silent steps. The head tilt he did was pure instinct– an automatic response of recognition. It was what always clued Etho in when he snuck up on Bdubs. A simple head tilt informed him that Bdubs wasn’t going to jump and spin around, cursing his ‘ninja-like movements’.
He had never been able to sneak up on Bdubs in the Monolith– not that he intentionally tried to. Etho was convinced there was a small fraction of his soul embedded into the stonework of the very place, which allowed him some sort of sixth sense regarding the movements of its inhabitants.
Bdubs insisted he had ‘bested’ Etho with a few well placed squeaky stairs. Etho had relented, but deep down he wasn’t so sure.
Regardless, Etho stripped off his gloves and tossed them atop the shulker, then ambled over to the table. He could see the tension in Bdubs’ shoulders lessen, and the slight way he leaned back on his feet, away from the furnaces.
To anyone else, those motions might have been dismissed, but to Etho, those subtle shifts were part of a language he had become intimately familiar with over many, many years.
Bdubs was stressed about something, that much was clear, although he had a tendency to be a bit… dramatic about such things. Given he had relaxed, Etho sensed that it probably wasn’t a big deal. He could also tell Bdubs was happy to see him, given the way his arrival had visibly cut his tension.
After giving Bdubs a thorough read, which only took about half a second, Etho sat at the table taking up most of the space in the center of the room. There were three chairs, though there used to be two– one for Bdubs and one for guests. Neither of them spoke about the appearance of a third chair– they didn’t have to. The message was clear enough.
Etho peeled off his cold mask– damp from breathing the cold outside air– and set it on the table to dry. There was a spare mask folded in his jacket pocket, though he didn’t put it on, for no other reason, of course, than the fact it was lunchtime, and if he planned on eating (which he did) he was going to have to take it right back off.
He was exposed. Vulnerable. Etho didn’t mind. Not in the presence of home.
Bdubs finally turned, holding a bowl of soup in each hand, placing one in front of Etho and one down for himself, taking a seat at the table. Etho wanted to thank him, but he didn’t want to break the peaceful, delicate silence between them.
They ate together, not a word spoken between them, although none were needed. This was a rare mood for Bdubs, who was usually explaining some project or loudly… loudly doing anything, really.
Etho took the silence in stride– it wasn’t a bad thing. The opposite, in fact. Perhaps the cold weather was weighing heavily on them both, like a blanket of fresh snow.
Then, he saw it. A slight furrow of Bdubs’ brow and a spark in his eyes that told Etho he was thinking hard. His expression returned to normal, but Etho knew the silence was about to be broken.
“You’ve been living here a month,” Bdubs said. It was a statement. An observation. Nothing more. An invitation to talk about matters he would rather not discuss.
Had it really been that long?
It felt like just yesterday he had been hanging in limbo, in some void space between seasons. He wasn’t sure what had kept him so long, what had made him so late. It had been cold, dark, and lonely in that endless expanse. Etho shivered, despite the heat radiating from the furnaces mere paces away.
“I have,” was all he decided to say in response.
Bdubs was deep in thought, but aside from that, Etho couldn’t get a good read. That was the issue with reading Bdubs– his language spoke volumes, but typically only one emotion took precedence.
He was currently thinking, which was as much an emotion as all the others. Perhaps it could better be understood as a transition state between one emotion and the next, although Etho believed it deserved its own category.
“It’s cold out,” Bdubs said, although Etho sincerely doubted he was making a comment about just the weather. Small talk between them was rare and Etho realized Bdubs had not missed the way he shivered, despite the warmth.
For all his lamenting about how easy Bdubs was to read… He was certain Bdubs was flipping through his every move, categorizing and sifting through them, trying to parse the things not said. Had it been anyone aside from Bdubs taking him apart so artfully, he would have grown uncomfortable, perhaps put his mask back on. Etho did none of those things because it was Bdubs and… that was enough of an explanation in itself.
Bdubs’ prompt was yet another invitation for Etho to talk about the why, but he found he was content enjoying Bdubs’ presence– he didn’t want to ruin the peaceful mood. “We should go ice skating,” Etho responded, surprising even himself a bit, as he had been unsure of how he wanted to reply.
Clearly Bdubs hadn’t been expecting that suggestion and his eyes widened for a split second. Etho didn’t miss the variety of emotions that crossed his face– everything from shock to disappointment.
They wouldn’t talk now, but Etho was certain Bdubs would bring it up later.
For now, it seemed that both of them were content to put their worries and issues aside.
“You wanna go ice skating?” Bdubs asked. “It’s freezing out there.”
“That’s the idea.”
Bdubs snorted and gazed out the window, expression softening. “Yeah, alright. Let’s go skating.”
===
Etho had been ready for the past ten minutes and was now waiting for Bdubs. He hadn’t needed to do much to get ready aside from toss his skates into his inventory– his army green jacket, thick boots, and mask were designed for the cold. He sat on the bottom step of the Monolith, rubbing his hands together to keep them warm, and wishing Bdubs had put a furnace down here.
Bdubs came down moments later, entire body covered with his signature moss cloak. The hood was up and he was wearing a scarf, leaving nothing but his eyes visible.
Etho gave him an amused look. “Gonna be warm enough there?”
“You,” Bdubs said in a deceptively threatening manner. “Some of us don’t live in igloos.”
“Bdubs,” Etho said with a mock gasp. “I don’t live in an igloo. I sleep right in the frigid wilderness like a true adventurer.”
“Where are we off to then, Mr. ‘True Adventurer’. The river here isn’t frozen.”
Etho led him outside to the front step. The air was quiet and he assumed that most of the hermits were holed up inside, or had found someplace warm to hang out. Snow capped mountains loomed over the spawn village. Etho gestured to them. “I know a good lake spot, and if it’s cold here, then the water up there is definitely frozen.”
They went on foot, deciding the mountains would be too treacherous for horses. Neither of them wanted to bother with an elytra either.
The tension from their earlier conversation had gone, and Etho relaxed, knowing the atmosphere had changed. He no longer subconsciously dissected Bdubs’ every breath– he didn’t need to. They were walking together and content.
As the elevation rose, the air grew sharper, cold slicing their lungs as they adjusted. The ground turned from thick grass, to crunchy, dead leaves, to snow, as they made their way into the spruce forest.
Bdubs strayed a few paces ahead, quickening his pace to look at long icicles hanging from the mouth of a cave. Etho listened as he loudly ranted about natural decor and coloring. He could have listened to Bdubs talk about it for hours, but he grabbed a thick handful of snow and waited.
“...contrasts very nicely with the ground, what do you–” Bdubs turned, and Etho chucked the snowball at his chest, hitting his mark with a satisfying thump.
“HEY!” Bdubs yelled, but Etho could see the smile in his eyes. His arms tensed, giving Etho plenty of warning before Bdubs scooped up some snow and lobbed it in his direction.
“Can’t catch me,” Etho laughed, dancing out of the way of another few attacks. He backed up against a tree and grinned.
Bdubs narrowed his eyes, shifting into thinking mode. He tensed once more and Etho prepared to dodge, but the snowball never came for his head.
It hit the tree branch above his head, dislodging a drift of snow. Etho barely had time to yelp before it came down on top of him, covering his head and arms in a thick blanket.
Bdubs cheered, loudly reveling in his victory, before he came over to help brush Etho off. Etho laughed and vigorously shook his arms, spraying snow everywhere. For as well as he knew Bdubs, he still managed to be caught off guard by him.
“Come on,” Bdubs said brightly, grabbing his hand. The motion filled Etho with a warm and fuzzy feeling, banishing the winter chill. His heart skipped a beat, but he let Bdubs take the lead, smile playing on his lips because Bdubs had no idea where they were going.
They made it there eventually, to a decently sized frozen pond, surrounded by towering trees. Etho brushed the snow off a fallen log on the edge of the ice and took a seat.
Bdubs ambled over warily and sat beside him, staring forlorn out at the ice. Etho was fairly certain Bdubs could count the number of times he had been ice skating on one hand, although he hadn’t admitted it.
The last time they had skated together… That had been ages ago, and Etho had a feeling Bdubs hadn’t improved one bit. And he was awful to begin with.
Etho deftly tugged on his skates and waded through the snow onto the ice. He slid forward gently, pushing off the ground, refamiliarizing himself with the feeling, before increasing his speed. He glided over the ice in a wide arc, then beelined back to where Bdubs was sitting, turning sharply to stop himself.
“Are you ready?” he asked Bdubs, who definitely wasn’t. He hadn’t even put his skates on. “You scared, Bdubs?” he taunted mischievously.
“NO,” Bdubs said quickly. “It might take me a little while to warm up, is all.”
“Of course,” Etho said very seriously as he trudged back through the snow, kneeling in front of Bdubs, who was still sitting on the log. The cold snow was uncomfortable beneath his knees, but the heat burning across his cheeks was keeping him plenty warm.
“You don’t have to–” Bdubs began.
“I know.” He gently began to undo the laces on Bdubs’ boot, whose once swinging legs had gone rigid. He wasn’t uncomfortable though– his shoulders were relaxed and he didn’t pull away.
Etho ducked his head to hide his blushing face from Bdubs, and steadied his freezing cold fingers as they wove over the laces. He could feel Bdubs staring at him, but he didn’t care. This… he would kneel for Bdubs and tie his shoes everyday if he would allow it.
He pulled the skates gently over Bdubs’ feet, handling him like he was made of fine glass. He laced them carefully, making sure they weren’t too tight or loose, then leaned back to study his work.
Satisfied, Etho smoothed Bdubs’ pants over his ankles and looked up at him. He wasn’t sure if it was the pure look of adoration scrawled across Bdubs’ face or the butterflies in his own stomach that spurred him, but Etho leaned forward and pressed a kiss against Bdubs’ knee.
Bdubs’ face burned red– it had to be from the cold– before he spluttered, “You… you sap.” He offered his hand to Etho, and pulled him to his feet.
Etho looked away quickly, although he would never admit he was thoroughly satisfied with a job well done. Bdubs was easy to fluster, though the frantic pounding in his own chest had him mumbling nonsense in reply.
Bdubs slid off the log, leaning close to Etho, stabilizing himself. He shivered, and if Etho brought their sides flush together, then neither of them said a word about it.
They made their way over to the ice and Bdubs hovered hesitantly in the snow, as Etho smoothly slid onto the ice. He held out his hand and Bdubs wordlessly took it, gingerly stepping onto the ice.
His eyes widened as his skates fully hit the frictionless surface. Etho attentively watched him, but there were no signs he was about to fall.
Hands still entwined, Etho pushed forward a bit, pulling them both further onto the ice. Bdubs tensed, but didn’t fall, allowing Etho to guide him.
“Why did I let you drag me out here?” Bdubs said, though there wasn’t a bit of regret in his tone.
Etho silently let go of his hand and skated backwards with a grin. He circled Bdubs a few times, effortlessly gliding over the ice.
“Showoff,” Bdubs muttered, staying firmly rooted in place.
He was absolutely showing off, but Etho said, “Comes with practice. Come on.” He grabbed Bdubs’ hand and pulled him along, Bdubs content with keeping both his feet firmly planted on the ground and being tugged along.
Etho laughed and made fun of his unsteadiness and Bdubs cursed him and claimed he was still warming up. The air was cold, but Etho was so, so warm, and he could have died in that moment, content with the warm feeling of bliss curling carefully around his heart.
Bdubs had finally worked up the courage to actually move on his own, waddling around the ice, using his outstretched arms to steady himself.
“Catch me,” he said gleefully, hurtling himself towards Etho with all the speed of an elderly snail.
He grabbed Bdubs, wrapping his arms around his waist as they slid to a stop. Bdubs’ freezing nose pressed against his chest before he looked up with a grin.
“You’re getting faster,” Etho complimented.
“Top speed, baby!” Bdubs said. Etho didn’t miss the way he shivered and huddled closer, wrapping his arms around Etho so they were holding each other.
Etho’s heart skipped a beat, which Bdubs could definitely feel, pressed so close against him. The thought had his heart working overtime, and the fluttering in his stomach could have killed him, and–
He was so distracted with his own thoughts that he missed the mischievous glint in Bdubs’ eyes as he brought his arms up and pressed his freezing cold hands against Etho’s warm neck.
Etho yelped in surprise, while Bdubs laughed at him.
“Why are your hands so cold?” he complained, pressing Bdubs frigid hands between his own.
Bdubs started to say something, but his eyes widened as Etho warmed his fingers. “Have you got furnaces in your pocket, or something?”
Etho laughed and pulled them both back over to the log. It was cold and the sun had already crept from its apex, back down towards the horizon. They would have to leave soon if they wanted to make it back before mobs started spawning. And to make sure Bdubs got to bed on time.
He pulled off his skates and rolled his ankles, sighing in relief, while Bdubs pulled out a thermos and began sipping its contents. He made no move to take off his skates and Etho picked up on the silent request.
“Is that hot chocolate?” he asked, sliding off the log and kneeling in front of Bdubs once more. Bdubs’ face went red, but he didn’t stop Etho from unlacing his skates.
“Yeah, you want some?”
“In a minute,” Etho replied, taking Bdubs’ skates off a little faster than he had put them on. He savored the moment, of course, anything for Bdubs, but the ground was cold and he did want hot chocolate.
“Thanks,” Bdubs said sheepishly when he was done, passing him the thermos.
“We should head back, so we can make it there before your bedtime,” Etho joked.
“Schreep is important,” Bdubs said with a sage nod. “At least my sleep schedule isn’t all messed up like yours.”
“I sleep.”
“In the middle of the day.”
Etho stammered. “I… It’s not always the middle of the day.”
“You didn’t come home last night until after I woke up.”
Etho opened his mouth to defend himself, but every word of it was true. And Bdubs had noticed.
“Did you even sleep at all last night?” Bdubs asked.
“A little,” Etho lied.
But there was no lying to Bdubs– he always knew. “Yeah, right. You’re a mess, come on,” he said, grabbing Etho’s hand.
He followed, intertwining their fingers for the sole purpose of keeping warm. No other reason. Bdubs’ hands were freezing, he was just warming them up. That was all.
Compared to the chill outside, the Monolith was warm, though not nearly enough to be comfortable. Bdubs started the furnaces, muttering something about a hot meal before bed, while Etho took off his jacket and wet boots, setting them out to dry.
“Put some clothes on, it’s freezin’,” Bdubs scolded, when he turned and noticed Etho in nothing but a shirt and cargo pants. He had even removed his damp mask, and hadn’t bothered with the replacement.
“The furnaces will warm up,” Etho said, approaching Bdubs and unwinding the scarf around his neck.
“If you wanted to undress me, you should have just said so.”
Etho stumbled over his words as he tried to defend himself, while Bdubs laughed at the attempt and shrugged out of his heavy moss jacket. Etho took it and retreated, red faced as he hung it beside his own.
Dinner was a simple affair, and they talked about things that didn’t really matter. Etho did the dishes, because Bdubs had cooked twice for him today, and he wanted to return the favor in some way.
Then, it was time for bed, and Etho was already dreading the cold, lonely basement.
“Where are you going?” Bdubs asked, as Etho made his way to the stairs down. “You can’t sleep down there, you’ll freeze.”
Etho stopped, blinking at Bdubs who stood at the foot of the stairs leading up to his bedroom.
“Come on,” Bdubs said, holding out his hand. Etho took it, and the ice that had solidified in his veins promptly melted. Bdubs led him upstairs to a small, but comfortable looking bedroom. The bed took up the majority of the space and was covered with more blankets and pillows than Etho had ever owned.
Bdubs busied himself with drawing the curtains and lighting a few candles, scattered around the room. He offered Etho an oversized hoodie and pants that were his own. Old, but his, and Etho couldn’t fathom why Bdubs had kept them.
They changed and quickly slipped beneath the covers, because the furnaces downstairs were still heating up and had yet to banish the chill from the room. Etho was glad for the darkness, which hid his violent blush. They didn’t share a bed often, and when they did, it was usually out of necessity.
He thought back to worse times, huddled on a tiny bed in their snow fort with horrifyingly thin walls, straining to hear intruders’ footsteps over the howling wind.
Etho shivered, but Bdubs pulled them closer together. They weren’t touching, but Etho could feel the heat radiating from Bdubs’ skin, just a breath away. It would have been easy for him to close that gap, if he wanted to, but at the moment it seemed greater than an ocean.
Bdubs was staring at him, faintly illuminated by the candlelight. “Comfy?” he asked.
“Yes.” It was more than comfortable enough and Etho wondered how much sleep he was actually going to get, or if he would spend those hours just lying there. Thinking.
“You’ve been here a month,” Bdubs whispered.
Ah. An invitation to talk about what he had avoided earlier. He wasn’t foolish enough to try and change the subject again.
“It’s nice here,” Etho replied.
“Nice?” Bdubs asked incredulously. “In my freezing cold, dark basement?”
It wasn’t the basement that Etho enjoyed. In fact, he had come to despise the enveloping darkness and dry, musty air, devoid of all life aside from himself. No matter what he did to the space, it resembled the cold, black void, just a little too much for comfort.
The basement, Etho did not enjoy. The building on top of it… the person who inhabited it… Now, that was a different story entirely.
“I, uh… It is a bit cold down there,” Etho admitted.
Bdubs softly nodded, although his silence spoke volumes.
“I– It’s… Uh, I don’t mind being your neighbor. I can… if I’m bothering you, I can–”
“Never,” Bdubs whispered. “You’re welcome here Etho, I love having you around. I want to know why you’re here.”
Because the void was uncaring and harsh, and Bdubs was the antithesis of it, his very presence filing Etho with so much warmth and joy–
“I needed a place to stay,” Etho said, and it was not technically a lie. It was, however, as far from the truth as he could get.
“You could have built a place. Borrowed someone else’s. You came here.” It was then that Etho realized Bdubs was seeing straight through him– not surprising. Bdubs knew exactly why he had come here.
“I wanna hear you say it,” Bdubs whispered, picking up on Etho’s realization.
Etho took a deep, steadying breath. “I… I like it here. With you. I, uh… I like having you around.” Saying it was hard, but it shouldn’t have been. Not to Bdubs.
Bdubs grinned, but the look in his eyes was sad. “You brought yourself close, then hid from me in my own basement.”
“I– I was afraid.” The words tumbled out of his mouth before he really thought about them. It was the truth. The stone cold truth.
Bdubs exhaled, warm breath hitting Etho, yet the fraction of distance between them had never felt bigger. He avoided Bdubs’ gaze and said, “I think… I think that I was afraid of living. The void, I… I was in there for a while and it was so dark, I– I was afraid I might have forgotten. Forgotten how to live.”
Silence enveloped the two of them for a moment, before Bdubs pulled him close, the gap between them finally becoming nonexistent.
“You haven’t forgotten,” Bdubs whispered. “And I wouldn’t let that happen either.”
Etho hummed, but didn’t respond. He just wrapped an arm over Bdubs’ waist and let his thanks and sorrows and regrets go unspoken, because he didn’t have to say them, not to Bdubs. Here he was in the middle of winter, and he had never felt so warm.
Wrapped in each other's arms, they slept.