Work Text:
Etho’s exhausted.
It’s the kind of fatigue that just settles down into your bones, enough to weigh you down, but not quite enough to keep you down.
The fox hybrid yawns as he connects a line of redstone, ears swiveling atop his head to pick up the tell-tail click of the redstone powering up.
He takes a step back, looking over his project. He’s been working on this specific component or the better part of the night.
A smile tugs at his lips as he watches it work, the faint hum of the redstone telling him he did good, and it’s working as intended.
Etho sights heavenly, exhaustion weighting his breaths down.
He’s been working on this project for the last two and a half days, only taking breaks to eat something quick and go to the bathroom, all before going straight back into his work.
He’s in much need of a shower, redstone dust covering his body and clothes, white hair, slightly greasy and tangles from not being washed or brushed since the night and morning, respectively, since he started to work on this project.
He’s so close to being done with his work.
Then he’ll get rest. Then he’ll take a good long bath, take a much earned, and needed nap.
The fox hybrid sits down on a shulker, digging a granola bar out from his inventory, opening it, pulling his mask down, starting to eat it as he closes his heavy eyes, listening to the playlist he put going for when he’s working (it has repeated so many times now, but he does not care).
His serenity is interrupted as his fox ears pick up on the flap of wings too big to be just a bird, and too distinctly bird-like to not be a bird-like creature’s.
The fox hybrid settles on an avian hybrid, right as the winged creature touches down on the ground in front of him.
Etho opens his mismatched eyes, locking them with deep, void-like, onyx black eyes.
“Hey Grian.” he greets his boyfriend, accidentally showing the exhaustion in his voice.
Grian cocks his head to the side in that way Etho just adores, a questioning look in his eyes, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah…” Etho says, readjusting how he’s sitting, grabbing his comn, shutting off his music and putting the device into his pocket, “Just a little tired. Ya’ know?” he says, shrugging.
Grian’s eyes flick down to Etho’s lips, “You’re lying.” he says, eyes narrowed. Not a question. Not an accusation. A statement.
In his exhaustion, the fox hybrid forgot about how he’s been told one of his tells for lying shows on his lower face the form of a twitch of his lower lips, that most of the time is hidden behind his mask.
“When did you last sleep?" Grian asks, eyes scanning his partner’s body, “Or taken the time to properly take care of yourself?”
Etho swallows, wetting his lips, “A…A few days.” he answers, eyes looking down, not meeting Grian’s.
“Etho.” Grian sighs, “Well, I think we need to fix that.” he says, “Let’s head to my place, then we can get you a nice bath and a warm bed.”
Etho’s not opposed to that idea, not at all, “I would like that…yeah, can we do that?”
“Of course." Grian says.
Etho stands up, eating the last bite of his snack, putting the wrapper back into his inventory and pulling his mask back up over his lower face and nose.
Grian sticks out a hand and the fox hybrid takes it on his own.
The avian pulls him close to his chest, and that’s the only warning Etho gets before Grian beats his wings, thrusting them both into the air.
Etho closes his eyes as they fly, taking a deep breath of the cool night air that surrounds them as they soar through the sky.
The fox hybrid relaxes his body (still holding on tightly to his boyfriend).
He’s a little disappointed then they touchdown outside Grian’s base.
They come to a stop and Grian lets him go. Still holding his hand, the avian leads Etho closer to the base, to the front door where he lets them both in, taking Etho directly to his bathroom.
Grian has Etho sit on the lid of the toilet as he plugs the bathtub, letting it fill with warm water.
Grian goes up to Etho, cupping his cheek.
Etho finds himself leaning into it, closing his eyes, the tiredness weighting him down more now.
Grian presses their lips together in a slow, light, closed moth kiss.
He pulls away, causing Etho’s eyes to groggily open, looking at him.
He then says in a soft voice, “I’m going to get together real quick for you to eat later as the tub fills, can I leave you here for a short bit?”
Etho nods into the hand on his cheek, closing his eyes again.
“Okay.” Grian says, pressing a quick peck to his forehead, “I’ll be right back.”
The hand pulls away, leaning Etho sitting here, eyes closed.
The fox hybrid lets himself drift a bit, the calming sound of the bathtub fulling nicely.
He awoke a little later, opening his eyes to see Grian adding some soap to the bathtub of water to create bubbles.
Grian shuts off the water before going over to Etho, “Hey, I need you to get undressed, then you can sit in the bath, okay?”
Etho nods, standing up slowly.
His boyfriend kindly turns away from him as he gets undressed, taking hair out of its extremely messy bun, walking over to the back, slipping in, sitting down, his long legs causing the tops of his knees to poke out of the soap suds that hide his body from the world.
“I’m ready.” Etho says.
Grian turns around, going over to a little shelf by the tub, grabbing a bottle of soap, a plastic cup, and a towel.
He folds the towel up, setting it on the ground, folded, to spare his knees, before kneeling on it behind Etho, setting the pink bottle of soap down on the floor next to him.
“Can you sit forward a bit with your head tilted back?" Grian asks, picking up the cup and scoping some water into it.
Etho does just that, leaning forward, with his head tilted back.
“Close your eyes.”
Etho closes his eyes, feeling the warmth that encompasses his body, covers his head as Grian carefully pour water over his head, getting his white hair wet, trying to rinse any redstone dust away.
After his hair is thoroughly wetted, the smell of strawberries and honey fill the air.
It’s not a scent Etho would have picked for himself, but one that’s distinctly a Grian scent, the avian having picked that scent shampoo for himself years ago, and having stuck with it, even now.
The fox hybrid relaxes into the feeling of Grian’s hands in his long hair, lathering the soap into it with care, lovingly washing away the grime, grease, and redstone of days at work.
Etho does not realize he fell asleep until he’s awoken but a tap on his shoulder.
“Hey, baby.” Grian says gently, “Oh, did I wake you up?”
“Yeah.” Etho admits, saying it slowly, voice thick with exhaustion.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Grian says, and Etho feels a kiss being pressed to the crown of his head, “But I’m done with your hair.” He says, standing up, “I need you to wash your body while I get you some clothes to change into.”
“Okay.” Etho says, nodding his head.
Grian starts to pick up Etho’s clothes, “Soaps by the tub.” he says, before opening the door, leaving and closing it behind himself.
Etho takes a moment before standing up in the tub, unplugging it, and turning the shower on, grabbing the soap and wash cloth Grian left him, scrubbing and washing away the dirt and redstone dust left on his skin, leaving him covered in soap, until he rinses that off, leaving him dripping wet.
He turns the shower off and steps out onto a bathmat, grabbing a towel Grian had hung by the bath, wrapping himself up in it from his chest down to his knees.
A knock sounds from the door and Etho calls out, “Come in.”
Grian pops in, neatly folded clothes in his hands, “I got your sweatpants I stole from you a bit ago, one of your sleep shirts you let me borrow, and a hoodie Scar’s never getting back.” Grian says as he sets the pile on the counter by the sink, “I also threw your clothes in the washer, so they’ll be ready for you tomorrow.”
“Thank you.” Etho says, smiling at Grian.
The avian shoots him a smile before leaving the bathroom.
Etho turns, squeezing the water from his hair out, into the bathtub, the locks that fall down to the base of his shoulder blades, smelling faintly of strawberries and vanilla.
The fox hybrid moves to the sink, drying himself off with the towel before grabbing a clean pair of boxers, pulling them on, and then his black sweat pants, the name of a redstone camp he went to when he was a teen, running down the left leg in white lettering. He then pulls on the plain dark green tee-shirt Grian brought him. Finally he pulls the dark gray hoodie over the shirt. He can tell it’s Scar’s hoodie, simply by the way it hangs off his thin body, having been brought by/for someone with broader shoulders, and bigger muscles.
The fox hybrid pulls his hair from the back of the hoodie, looking at himself in the slightly foggy mirror.
He sees his reflection in the reflective glass, seeing the dark bags under his eyes, the light in his eyes dull from fatigue.
Etho swallows down the exhaustion, grabbing his hair ties, headband, and mask.
He throws the towel into the laundry hamper in the corner of the room, before exiting the room, going to find his boyfriend in the living room.
He walks in, finding Grian sitting on the couch, a hair brush in his hand, a cup of water and a plate of food on the coffee table in front of the couch.
“Sit.” Grian says, turning to his back is to the armrest of the couch, wings pinned behind himself, patting the couch cushion in front of himself.
Etho does so, sitting down on the couch, crosslegged, handing Grian his hair ties before setting his mask and headband down on the coffee table.
He grabs the cup of water, taking a slow sip of the liquid.
When he’s done, he sets the cup down, grabbing the plate with a sandwich and apple slices on it.
He takes a small bite of the crisp apple slices as Grian starts to brush his hair, gentle and careful as he gets any snarls in the hair, out.
Etho eats his sandwich, closing his eyes as he then eats the apple slices once the sandwich is gone.
He relaxes into the pleasant feeling of a hair brush passing over his scale and through his hair.
When he’s done eating, he sits there, enjoying the closeness of his partner, as the avian continues brushing his hair, care of his fox ears.
Once his hair has been brushed out fully, his partner starts to braid it in a loose braid down the back of his neck.
When that’s down, Etho feels the braid hit the back of his body, and feels the couch move as Gria gets up.
The avian takes Etho’s empty plate from him, taking it to the kitchen.
When he comes back, he sits on the couch, his back and wings to the back of the couch, his legs handing off the front.
Etho lays down, laying on his back, head resting on his boyfriend’s thigh.
“Do you want to watch a movie?” his partner asks him.
“Sure.” Etho says, knowing he’s about to fall asleep anyway, eyes heavy.
Grian picks up the tv remote, putting on a movie they both enjoy, one they have seen plenty of times.
Etho turns his head to face the screen.
He feels a hand on his head, gently running through his hair, lightly scratching his scalp, taking care and time to gently play with the fur on Etho’s ears, scratching at the base of them, a nice feeling.
Etho’s eyes are closed more often than they are open as he falls asleep, enjoying the feeling of being adored, of being just loved.
He closes his eyes for the last time that night as he finally drifts off to sleep for the last time that night, getting the rest he needs and deserves.