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Etho has a serious problem, and it’s causing him a bit of a crisis.
The problem in question can be easily summarized with one word: Joel.
See, the whole “soulmates” business, it’s supposed to just be sharing pain, but plenty of the pairs have leaned into the relationship jokes—Impulse and Bdubs in particular have been acting happily married, Tango and Jimmy are boyfriends in all but name, and Etho’s not one hundred percent certain, but he’s pretty reasonably sure there’s something going on with Grian and Scar, based on what Etho can only describe as intense romantic tension (as well as Scar clearly holding affection for the avian even if he won’t admit it outright). So, really, it’s not much of a surprise that Joel had also chosen to play along, picking up a habit of flirting relentlessly with Etho at every possible moment. Etho’s always up for a good bit, so he’d followed suit, of course, jokingly flirting back.
The problem is, Etho doesn’t think he’s joking anymore.
He stares a little too long at Joel’s arrogant smirk, his defiant gaze; when their arms brush together, Etho finds himself wanting to lean into the touch. Etho wants to be close with Joel, as close as he can. He wants to be able to act like they’re boyfriends and mean it; he wants to be able to greet Joel with a kiss instead of words. Etho really wants to just pin Joel to the wall and make out with him.
Unfortunately for him, Etho has absolutely no idea if his attraction—which may or may not be turning into genuine feelings—is at all reciprocated. And he’s not sure he can bear being linked to Joel if the man rejects him. So he keeps it a secret as best he can, which admittedly isn’t great if the knowing looks he keeps getting from Scott, Cleo, and Tango are anything to go off of, but hey, he’s trying, alright? It’s not his fault he’s apparently into incredibly snarky men with a penchant for arson and vandalism. (It’s also not his fault that Joel’s tiger chuff is incredibly adorable.)
Etho doesn’t know what to do. He values his friendship with Joel. But the more time they spend together, the more Etho falls for him, and the more he wants to tell him—he can’t in good conscience keep it a secret forever.
So he waits, suffering continued indecision, torn between taking the leap and resigning himself to secrecy forever. And all the while, Joel continues to be his terrible, wonderful self, and Etho continues to keep a careful distance from his own feelings.
✦ ✦ ✦
They decide to flesh out their mining tunnels together one afternoon, starting directly under the Relation and branching outwards. Joel mines in one direction, Etho in the other, until Etho’s pickaxe breaks and he has to return to their main tunnel to smelt the iron for a new one—diamonds are too rare and he’d prefer to save them for armor, just in case. Joel returns to the main tunnel right as Etho’s crafting the new pickaxe, and he leans against the wall with a half-smirk; Etho raises his eyebrows at him, twirling the pickaxe once in his hand before storing it in his inventory.
“Like what you see?” Etho teases, crossing his arms.
“You’re imagining things,” Joel scoffs, but his eyes are glinting in the torchlight. “Obsessed much?”
“Projecting much? You’re the one with the t-shirt, and the boat you literally named the Relation Ship.”
Joel tilts his chin up and says, “You know, there’s that saying about stones and glass houses, and you returned from the ancient city and promptly greeted me with ‘honey, I’m home’.”
“I’m pretty sure you built that glass house,” Etho says. He leans back against the opposite wall and adds, “Find any good ores yet or am I pulling the weight today?”
“You—ugh, you’re insufferable.”
“You love me.” I hope.
“I’ll have you know I found five diamonds and a lot of lapis,” Joel says, “so that’s already better than my last mining attempt. Now how much have you found, huh?”
“Enough iron to keep us afloat, but only two diamonds,” Etho admits sheepishly. “Guess that makes me look like a hypocrite.”
Joel laughs. “Yeah, it does, you jerk. Insulting my abilities just to turn around and reveal I’ve outdone you.”
“Shut up,” Etho sighs.
Joel grins smugly at him and says, “You wanna kiss me so bad it makes you look stupid.”
Well, if Joel’s going to set him up so nicely—
Etho seizes the opportunity to roughly push the shorter man back against the stone tunnel wall, one hand against his chest to hold him in place, reveling in the way Joel’s expression shifts to surprise and confusion. He pulls his mask down with his other hand before tightly gripping Joel’s chin, forcing him to look up at Etho, although judging by the way Joel’s breaths quicken and his face flushes dark, Etho already has his full attention. Etho can’t help the way his own gaze narrows.
“And so what if I do?” Etho says, voice low. “What then, Joel? What are you going to do about it?”
Joel is furiously red, his skin burning under Etho’s fingertips; the white-haired man can feel Joel’s heart racing under his hand. The brunet appears to be speechless, and Etho is proud of having caused it. They hold each other’s gazes for a long moment, deep brown against mismatched silver and scarlet, both breathing heavily.
Etho has never wanted anything more in his life than to kiss Joel right now, to kiss him until Joel can’t think of anything else other than Etho, until Joel is his.
“So this is how to shut you up,” Etho murmurs, brushing his thumb against Joel’s bottom lip. “Interesting. I should do this more often.”
When Joel finally speaks, it’s more of a breathy gasp: “I swear to every god in existence, Eefo, if you don’t kiss me right fucking now—”
Etho doesn’t need to be told twice. He crushes his lips against Joel’s, tilting the other man’s head to the side so their mouths fit together properly; Joel tangles a hand in Etho’s hair to pull him closer, rough but not painful. Etho pushes closer, continuing to press Joel against the stone as he bites on Joel’s lip, almost hard enough to draw blood. Joel gasps again into Etho’s mouth; Etho moves his hand down from Joel’s chest to his waist to pull their bodies together.
Finally.
Despite Etho being perfectly content to continue kissing Joel senseless, he does unfortunately need to breathe, so he pulls back just a few centimeters to catch his breath; Joel instinctively chases his lips for a brief moment before seemingly realizing what’s happening, and Etho huffs out a fond laugh. Joel glares up at him through heavily lidded eyes.
“I still need to breathe, you know,” Etho chuckles. “If I die, you die, remember? And we’ll need to get out of this mineshaft at some point to get food and smelt our ores.”
Joel’s eyes narrow and he tightens his grip on Etho’s hair. “No, hold on, you don’t get to just do that after weeks—almost a month of me wanting to just slam you against a wall and kiss you senseless, and then try to just leave and pretend nothing’s changed.”
“And somehow I’m the obsessed one,” Etho says, “but no, rest assured I fully intend on continuing this later. I would just prefer it happen in our home, where we’re safe and there’s a bed, than in a mineshaft where something could kill us at any moment.”
Joel somehow blushes darker, but he still says, “That better be a promise, Eefo.”
Etho grins and tightens his hold on Joel’s waist. “It’s a promise.”
✦ ✦ ✦
The very moment they’re back inside the Relation, Joel has Etho by the front of his vest, crowding the white-haired man against the wooden cabin walls; Etho is all too happy with this development, bringing one hand to the back of Joel’s neck to pull him into a deep, desperate kiss, his other hand finding a place at Joel’s hip. When Joel pulls away for air, his gaze is dark and hungry. Etho feels his body flush, pulse racing.
“Are we doing this, then?” Etho murmurs. “You don’t know how long I’ve been wanting to do that, but I just need to be sure—”
“Eefo,” Joel says, impatient as ever, “shut up and kiss me senseless already.”
And, really, what kind of soulmate would Etho be if he didn’t oblige?
(They both get their wishes, in the end. By the time they’re done, Joel is definitively Etho’s, something he promises repeatedly. And Etho kisses him until neither of them can think of anything except each other.)