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You’ve got mail.
Etho perks up, ears pointing towards the direction of his mail box. The bell rings for a while, louder as he gets closer. And from a distance, he can see the lit redstone lamp long after the bell and message ends.
Once he is in front of his mailbox, he picks up the shulker and sets it down. He stares at it, grinning to himself for a second before jumping back.
Did the shulker just move?
He takes a second to calm his nerves before approaching, outreached hand flinching when it moves again. And when he finally gets close enough to open it, he finds a ball of fur filling up the whole shulker. He stares at it, and ever so slowly, the little creature uncurls itself, ring-tail swishing before a tiny face peeks out, staring right back.
He tilts his head, the raccoon-looking animal mirroring him. And when he approaches to pick it up, it lets him. He huffs as the little animal makes itself comfortable, climbing his arms to the back of his shoulders, fur and tail brushing up on exposed skin before it comes back to settle in his arms again.
A smile spreads under his mask, eyes glinting the green leaf on its head.
<<<>>>
Etho finds him in the cherry path at the tori gate, looking through an array of shulkers signaling that he was or had been building. It doesn’t deter him, however, as his eyes catch on a very familiar green leaf on Joel’s own head. He finds himself missing the wolf, and even tiger, traits, though the sway of a fluffier tail behind him could convince him otherwise.
“You’re obsessed,” Joel calls over his shoulder as he drops some stone into the shulker box. Etho hears the smirk, the smugness, replying with an eye roll Joel doesn’t see. “How may I be of help, you stinky stalker? I’m a busy man.”
“Right, right. So busy you have no time to send me packages, hm?”
The teasing statement manages to make Joel look up with a raised brow, confusion clear in his face, then more confusion before realization strikes him. Joel waves him over, and Etho obliges, the little animal peeking over his shoulder to nuzzle his cheek.
Joel stacks up two shulkers and carries them up the path, Etho following a couple blocks behind, admiring the new addition to the cherry scene. At the top, on a flat area, Joel puts the shulkers down then lifts a giant lily pad, revealing another three little creatures cuddled up. They are bigger, and are quick to wake at the sudden lack of their blanket.
“I knew it was you,” Etho beams, and Joel giggles. They walk a little closer to the pond that hadn’t been there the day before, sitting at the edge of it. “Always keeping busy, huh?”
Etho looks at Joel who shrugs, letting the adorable animals climb atop him and use him as a watch-tower. Their eyes met, and Joel smiles. That proud smile of his, the same he’d shown when showing off the Relation-ship, when he’d shown his cyberpunk city. Joel’s builds were made of sweat and love and dedication, and Etho couldn’t even tease him for showing off.
“You know me,” Joel says playfully, lifting one of the animals and smitten by the cuteness of it. When he puts it down, it went with the others, roaming about with the occasional curious stare at Etho. They mostly stayed on his side, except for the little one who found itself comfortable in Etho’s lap. “They are tanukis. Cute, aren’t they? I found them in the trash and now regret bringing them home.”
It’s obvious that it’s a joke, that same adoring sparkle remains in his eyes as he looks at the rascals running around. Still, Etho acts offended on their behalf. A gasp and even a hand on his chest.
“If you don’t want them—”
“You only want them because they are mine, and you are so obsessed with me you want something that would remind you of me.” Joel giggles, giving him that cheeky smile of his. Etho smiles too, crinkling his eyes as he does. “Like the banners. And style of build. Ob~sessed,” he sing-songs the last word, sending both of them into a giggling fit.
“Nuh-uh! You gave me those banners. Like– Like marking territory or something. You are the weird one!”
“You’d love that,” he says giddily, giddier when Etho raises a brow, “being owned by me, of course!”
Etho chokes as Joel burst out laughing, both going flushed for different reasons. Etho coughs as Joel wipes the corners of his eyes, the tanukis rushing over, fussing over him as he pays them no mind.
“If anything, it’d be the other way around,” Etho wheezes out, clearing his throat one more time before taking deep breaths. Joel blows him a kiss when he looks at him next, rolling his eyes once more. “Whatever you say, Joel. You’ve clearly spent too long under the sun. Beautiful place, but I don’t know if your braincells are a worthy trade for it.”
Joel sticks his tongue out, and Etho giggles.
Etho looks down at the little tanuki in his lap, clinging to his wrist, occasionally daring to climb out and walk around a little, up his arm, around his shoulders, atop his head. It makes a round then another around him, only to end up in his lap again, curled up and clinging to his wrist. With his free hand, he rubs its head, behind its ears, helping it relax.
When he next looks at Joel, he finds him half-inside a shulker, unsure if the shulker is bigger or if Joel is suddenly small, but he doesn’t really question it. His fluffy tail flickers behind him, and he can see the faintest tiniest ears twitching among the mess of brown curls.
Then Joel is sitting down again, a pouch in his hands. Instantly, the tanukis stop their exploration, drawn back to Joel again like they know what is inside the pouch. Slowly, almost dramatically slow, Joel pulls out a round disk, the slightest bit tan though the bright smile on his face makes up for it. In a blink, the tanukis are rushing over, climbing and clinging to his arms and chest, trying to grab the disk with a greed that only looks adorable.
“Sit down you idiots!” Joel says with no punch behind his tone, trying to keep himself from laughing as they continued to rush him. He blows them a raspberry as he pulls away, shoving the whole thing in his mouth as they stare at him with sheer offense that only has Joel laughing at them mockingly. “No! You get nothing for disobeying me. I feed you, so you have to listen to me!”
Joel is laughing now, eyes sparkling with glee, showing more obviously that he’s playing. Etho watches the scene, laughing too, already used to Joel’s new traits. It helps, seeing another three rascals that look like him.
“Want one?” Joel gives him a look, and Etho shrugs then nods. Joel pats the spot beside him, and Etho goes. He swings a little, bumping their shoulders together with childish hushed laughs between them. He accepts the cracker handed to him, halving it for the little guy in his lap, then continues with his episode of Joel wrangling tanukis. “See? Even the big stupid fox can sit down. Currently, you are worse than a fox, and deserve to starve, so you shall starve. You three are an utter disappointment.”
Etho bumps their shoulders again, but the tanuki sit in a row, hanging their heads low. Joel giggles, then gives each of them a cracker, then one to the little one stopping only when he sees it already has Etho’s half.
“They are so dumb and useless,” Joel says dramatically, adding a sigh that has him leaning against Etho’s arm to hold himself up. Absentmindedly, he continues to gives them crackers as they are climbing atop of him again, cuddling up to him. He gives them kisses and scratches, caressing them with a fond smile. Etho tilts his head atop Joel’s. “They are worse than allays. And horses. And chickens too.”
He knows, without it being pointed out, that Joel will defend them with his own life if need be. That’s just Joel, the one he knows. “I don’t know, man, if they are so bad and you hate them so much, you should give them to someone else.”
“Nah, if anyone wants them, they will have to go through me first.”
They laugh, familiar and comfortable, then Joel turns slightly, looking up at him like he’s precious too. Etho feels his heart picking up and warmth settling inside of him. A soft pink like the cherry leaves dust their faces.
“You know,” Etho starts lightheartedly, continuing after Joel hums, “I found this little guy in my mailbox. Doubt you sent it over, did you?”
Joel sighs, shakes his head. “They figured out how the mail system works, oddly enough. I’ve had to hide the stamps in my enderchest. My honey and glow ink aren’t selling enough for me to buy more stamps. Unless you can offer me a deal? You can, right? Since you work at the post office.”
“Nah, that’s Pearl’s thing. I only work behind the scenes.” He laughs at Joel’s pout, leaning down to bump their noses. “Anyhow, how do they know which stamp to use? They must be really smart.”
“Nope. They are just dumbly lucky. I left the stamp because I wanted to send you spam, but they were probably playing and the little one landed and they accidentally closed the shulker or something.”
“Aww, poor guy,” Etho coos, rubbing circles on the little tanuki’s head. “Your siblings are so mean, aren’t they? You are smaller, like Joel, so you need protecting, huh? Poor buddy.”
Joel huffs, swatting his shoulder, and Etho laughs.
“So you’re not obsessed, huh? Sending me spam and all that.”
“Well, I’m not anymore. It won’t be funny now.” He sighs, brushing some crumbs from one of the tanukis. “Sadder for you though. I know you would’ve cherished my spam, because you’re so crazy about me.”
“Oh,” Etho dramatizes, leaning on the other as he throws a hand to his forehead, “when will I next hear from my Joel? Oh, whatever could’ve happened to him? He worries me! Maybe he got lost in the Deep Dark, or maybe he couldn’t climb the stairs to come back.”
“As if!”
They burst out in another fit of laughs, leaning into each other, bumping shoulders and elbows. Joel looks up at him with big, sparkly eyes, that too bright smile, and so much Joel.
Etho reaches over, gently brushing a curl back into place, “Hmm, when did you change? Or did you just not tell me?”
“When I found ‘em. I’m just, you know, switching ‘round. Whatever I feel like.”
“It’s cute.”
Joel goes pink with a warm smile. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Tanuki and kitsune. We are matching again.”
“The code and the Universe finds a way, huh?”
“Maybe.”
“Jeez, you can just say you’re thinking about us, Eefo, you weirdo.”
Before Etho could react, the tanukis perk up, almost like triggered by his name. They rush over, jumping from Joel to him, climbing around him so comfortably. Etho clumsily juggles them, trying to not drop them as they move too quickly for his reflexes, with Joel giving no sign of offering help. Eventually, they slow down to a stop. One on either shoulder, the little one still in his lap, defensively clinging to his wrist, and the remaining in his head, facing behind him so he has a face full of tail. He blows at it, only for it to raise then smack him right back.
Of course, Joel laughs.
With his only free hand, he reaches up and turns the tanuki around, feeling how its tail sways back and forth against his nape.
“They like you,” Joel says, as if it needs pointing out. When Etho looks at him, he finds a fondness and adoration in his face, smile and eyes pulled by it, and how adorable Joel looks. He smiles back at the warm feeling that spreads.
Joel hums, pushing himself up and dusting his pants, offering a hand to Etho who has his own full.
“Since you are dying to offer,” Joel says as they work together to get Etho on his feet without dropping any of the tanukis, “and since I’m so generous, why don’t you babysit them for a bit? I need some me time.”
“And I’m the absent one.”
“You are,” Joel nods as he stretches about. His ears flicker among the curls, tail lazily swaying. “You don’t mind, do you, Eefo?”
He responds with a shrug, and Joel tilts his head, smiling as always. This is many things, a favor and a promise to see each other later. Neither say it, nor do they have to. It’s not servers apart anymore. No third party messenger, not even the need for a message. They can show up just because.
Just because.
“For your trouble,” Joel says as he hands him a new fuller pouch. “If you can get any before they do, of course. And if you don’t, then that’s your own fault.”
“I have to climb the stairs, and I might not even get a snack? I’m starting to think this isn’t so fair, huh, Joel?”
Joel only smiles at him. That cheeky, playful little thing that has Etho rolling his eyes, smitten and swooned, appeased enough to not argue longer.
They don’t say goodbye when they part, jumping from the build instead of following the path, landing on the cherry path to the stairs. Etho walks to them with a lightness in his steps even if his shoulders feel otherwise.
Yet, before he can take a single step, Joel calls out.
“Eefo!”
Etho turns, curious smile under his mask as he sees Joel with his hands around his mouth like a megaphone, “Yeah?”
“You’ve got mail!”
Joel’s giggles carry on the wind, music to his ears when it reaches him. He covers his mouth with his knuckles when he laughs, Joel’s giggles echoing so close alongside his.
“I guess I have to go home quickly and see who it is!”
“Do! It’s probably your biggest fan! So obsessed!”
They laugh. Of course they laugh. Then Etho is thinking what to send Joel before he even gets back to his mailbox.