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“I hope you stick with us Etho, because we're going to go far, my friend.”
It wasn’t really the sentiment that stopped Etho from continuing his quest of looking through the G’s chests, it was the way Impulse said it. It had memories of past moments flashing in his head, had him trying to pull memories from past worlds to the forefront of his mind. Looking up, Etho couldn’t help the way a tiny shiver ran down his spine at the way Impulse was studying him. “We’re not going to betray you.” Impulse tacked on, the threat still clearly resting in the back of his throat.
“...You’re saying that in a weird way as well, Impulse. I mean you- am I like-”
“You know this is the way I do this!” Impulse instantly denied, like he had the excuse already prepped and ready to go. “By sounding sus all the time, I don’t have to pretend to not…be sus.”
There was a smile in his voice. There was a smile in his voice, and when Etho stuck here alone with him, he couldn’t help but feel unsettled. All this for a trident?
Etho slowly closed the chest, turning around only to find Impulse already standing close. “I feel like you’re trying to control me a little bit,” Etho admitted, lowering his voice just a bit. Impulse just smiled a bit wider, never quite reaching his eyes. “It’s hard to explain.”
“I just-” Etho pulled back further, knocking his head against the chest behind him. “I’m-” Impulse placed a hand behind Etho like he was steadying himself, but also boxing Etho in more. “You’re making me nervous, that you’re going to take that trident and somehow I’m going to die to it later.”
Was Etho that obvious?
Was Etho that obvious, was his team- if he could call it that- that obvious? The way he had been playing this game was reckless at best, and now, alone, he was being called out for it. No clear allies, no path forward other than the ones he had lied for. Swallowing hard, Etho watched Impulse watch him. Both of them seemed like the trapped animal in the situation, like they were both waiting for each other’s next move. But Etho was the one pinned against the wall, and that meant-
“You’re acting weird.” Etho double downed, watching another flash of something cross Impulse’s eyes again before it was gone. “You’re not acting like yourself, that’s all I was saying.”
Etho reached out to push against his chest, if only to give himself space, only for his hand to get caught by Impulse’s and pinned up above his head. Impulse looked shocked that he had moved, breath hitching like it was Etho who was being weird. Memories flashed from far away, from a wool castle and a promise both of them couldn’t keep. To a tower with two of their other friends, a well oiled machine that fell apart at the final moments. Impulse’s mouth opened, closed. Opened again, after another deep breath. “You got any other…side-allainces I should know about?” Impulse finally asked, side stepping the previous conversation.
His hand slipped further up his wrist, like he was checking Etho’s pulse, only to force Etho’s fist flat afterward. It was easy to intertwine their fingers like Etho wasn’t being held here against his better judgement, easy to look past Impulse’s left ear instead of directly at him. “The tower guys…” Etho faded out, watching Impulse nod. “I mean, we’re not really aligned, its more-”
“Anyone else?”
Okay, not playing around. Etho jumped back the best he could once Impulse’s other hand tentatively rested on his side, pushing him further into the wood. It was hesitant, like he wasn’t used to seeing Etho in the kind of way, a weaker version of himself Etho typically ignored. He was soft now, and as much as he tried to cover it up, there was only so much he could do when these people knew him. Especially Impulse, who was now looking more and more comfortable in the situation they were in. The way Etho had somewhat let this happen was resting on him, no one else, and Etho had nobody to blame but himself. “The family.” Etho offered, watching as Impulse grimaced.
“Might want to rethink that one, if you want to stay in our good graces.”
“Noted.” Etho’s voice was barely a whisper, finally making eye-contact to offer a shit-eating smile that he knew Impulse wouldn’t be able to see anyways. At least, he normally wouldn’t be able to see it, other than Impulse’s hand was trailing up his side and finding a new home against the back of his neck. It had Etho freezing again, deer-in-the-headlights without a way out.
Impulse looked surprised at his actions again, like he wasn’t the one doing them. It took another moment of staring before Impulse’s hand actually rested firm, Etho still not moving and letting everything just happen around him. “You’re not going to turn on me this time, right?”
This time. Blinking, Etho tried to think of a single time he turned on Impulse. Sure, he had played the game, but turned on him? That wasn’t- Etho wasn’t like that to allies. Etho was loyal to his real allies. Of course, at least in this game, Etho wasn’t sure he had real allies.
“You least of all.” Etho lied, feeling the way Impulse’s hand tightened just enough on the back of his neck to make his breath hitch. It was a stand-still, Impulse battling far more demons than Etho was. It was a power imbalance, and no matter how much Impulse wanted to, he couldn’t change who he was in the end. They were made out of code and memories, and there was nothing Etho could say that would make Impulse trust him.
Etho wasn’t sure there was anything anyone could say to make Impulse relaxed in a place like this.
For a moment, Etho thought Impulse was going to call him out on his bullshit. For one tick, Etho could see the desire to yell, to scream about all the injustice Etho had apparently put Impulse through. About double life, about third and limited and probably about secret. Hell, Etho probably had done so many things to Impulse he didn’t remember, because to him, it was simply playing the game. To Impulse, it was something to hold on to.
And maybe that was why Impulse would never win.
Rich, coming from Etho, maybe. Impulse had all the makings of a winner but the soul, and in the end, that would always be his downfall. Impulse’s hand relaxed, the moment passing with a tiny nod and another flash of heat. “I trust you, man.” Impulse agreed, stepping back with a tight smile on his face. “You know I love being teammates with you.”
Etho liked being teammates with him too. Etho loved being friends with him back home even more. Hell, sometimes, Etho thought they could be something more, back on hermitcraft. But as Impulse’s body disintegrated into dust in front of everyone, Etho could also readily admit that they weren’t good for each other, at least in these types of worlds. Etho would never be good for Impulse.
And maybe, that’s why he kept going back.