Work Text:
There’s one shulker in Impulse’s bedroom, sat in the space between the Keralis paintings. It’s blocking one of the exits out, but there’s another one, so he doesn’t really mind.
It’s dyed bonemeal white; Impulse debated for a while between white and cyan, but with everyone doing copper-inspired builds and bits, white would stand out more. Serve as a reminder of why he’s keeping it there.
It’s a gift for Beef, of course.
They all know Beef’s been busy. Life happens, and sometimes it all happens in a row. He was already sick at the beginning of the season–the Nether doesn’t agree with some people–and things just compounded from there.
The month right after the start of a new season is a really hard time to be gone. All of the group caving sessions have been done, but the shops aren’t open yet, and any of the immediate free resources from cleared spaces have likely been doled out. Coming back now is almost harder than waiting just a little bit longer.
With the shulker meant for Beef in easy eyeline, Impulse always thinks of him. Every time he wakes up from the bed, it’s right there in front of him. Staring back.
Every few days, something in it gets changed, or changed back. It’s always essentials, but Impulse keeps thinking and re-thinking what Beef might actually want or need. Would he want fully enchanted gear, or the materials to make it himself? Will Beef want a saddle for a horse or Etho-donkey, or will he want to jump straight to elytra and rockets? Is a stack of emerald blocks going to be useful for trading, or would a second stack of iron be better because Beef wants nothing to do with villagers this season?
(Impulse spares a thought for XB’s generosity–knowing that everyone on the server got a Silk Touch pickaxe for Christmas means Impulse knows Beef won’t need one in the box. Which gives Impulse another shulker space to fret over.)
If Beef’s base was just a little bit more established, this would be easier, because Impulse would have some idea of what Beef was actually doing this season. He’d seen the outfit–a ponytail was a very good look on Beef–but even heading over to Beef’s area gives him no hints. A few animals in pits, a donkey, a dog to feed until its master returns, and a hollowed-out space yet to be filled in with even framework.
Impulse knows he’s overthinking this.
He knows that when Beef gets back, he’s going to wrap his arms around Impulse, and squeeze him so tight that it feels like his bones are going to crack. He knows Beef will gawk at the Silo like it’s his first time seeing a build that began as a giant hole and turned into a hole full of farms. And he knows Beef will open the shulker, and close it, and say everything in it is perfect and just what he needs, no matter what’s actually inside.
But he wakes up, and sees the white shulker box in front of him, and thinks.
Maybe Beef would like a stack of pale oak instead of a second Totem of Undying. Impulse should go chop some. Just in case.