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Okay, Xisuma had thought. Just another new person. Puns’ brother, even.
In the utter chaos of season one- people only staying for a week or two, Genrik going absolutely berserk with the new whitelist technology, cliques and teams all over the place- it was fairly easy to dismiss a new player.
This one was at least originally from a fairly well known server, or at least as well known as any server was in those days. There were a few other people from Minecrack, too, which X had had the thought to tell Genny to whitelist, but he had been informed multiple times by his admin, eventually quite harshly, that this was a process.
He’d also probably have to ask the opinion of-
‘Hey, Shashwam, have you seen the new players yet?’ X turned around to find a panting Kerlalis next to him, evidently having run from his base. He grinned slightly ominously when X shook his head.
‘No, not me either- I do not think I know any of them. Pungence is probably at spawn, though. And- I don’t know, maybe Joe. I’m heading there now, care to accompany me?’ He fell into a deep bow, and held out his arm, which Xisuma gladly took, and they strolled through the forest to spawn.
Oh my word, he looks exactly like Pungence.
This was X’s first thought. The second thought was he looks like the sort of person who would bully me at school. Or Keralis. Probably Keralis more.
And then, still in his head so not to offend;
Fuck.
The player X was referring to was standing in the clearing, talking animatedly to his brother. He wouldn’t have been able to tell them apart- but Bdubs was in a pale blue t-shirt, as opposed to his brother’s gaudy orange-and-blue tunic. They had the same brash- well, not brash, but certainly noticeable voice.
Noticeable was a good word for the pair of them, Xisuma thought. Whether this was a good thing remained to be seen. He ended up purely skirting the edges of the clearing and eventually stalking off without talking to either of the brothers.
——————
After stopping at Biffa’s for a few hours Xisuma figured he should probably check on (meet) Bdubs. As- maybe not the admin, but then their actual admin wouldn’t do anything of the sort, and X thought someone should- that, he thought it his responsibility.
He found the man (and his brother) in an empty clearing, no visible plans marked out.
“What do you think of the server so far?”
“Well, I- oh, get off, bro, jeezus- I like it, so far. It’s very- he coughed, as if considering his words- “very- very diverse.”
X considered this, and wondered what Keralis would make of it.
“Very- yeah, it’s interesting. Different from Mindcrack, in that way.”
“And you will be joining us at the campfire tonight, I hope? Maybe ten of us will be there, always a good singalong, very intimate. Helps to bond with the server. You up for it?”
“Oh, I- I-“ Bdubs sort-of blushed, and he shifted on his feet. “It’s- I might just stay here tonight, settle in. I’d love to, though.”
Again, X considered this, and looked forward to talking to Keralis later.
“Also, uh, my friend Keralis- he asked if he could challenge you to a build battle? I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but his giant base in the jungle is beautiful.”
“Oh, is Keralis the- you know who I mean, that one, ah. Okay, I’ll think about it.”
(Funnily enough, the battle never happened. And Bdubs didn’t come back.)
——————
Two seasons later, a man called Etho joined. Now this was highly notable to Xisuma for several reasons.
-
This new arrival was moderately famous outside, and very well known inside redstone circles.
-
People were starting to stay. Long gone were the days of people coming for two, three days and going; this was turning into an established server. (Genrik leaving at the end of season one had certainly helped, honestly; Etho was one of four new hermits this season, joining permanently.)
So Xisuma was feeling pretty good about life. He’d tried to talk to Etho as he had the other new members, but the man was eerily silent, picking at threads on his jacket- it was either falling apart, or he’d unpicked something which was sewn on.
Biffa had taken him on a tour of the server, though, and Tango had invited him to take part in a competition, and he seemed to be happily settling in his own base; so that was fine.
He still wanted to ask one of the ex-Mindcrackers what they thought of their former server; they had a few of them now, Doc having just joined too.
Xisuma had heard mixed rumours about it, if he was being honest: obviously it had been made many years ago and had consisted almost entirely of younger men (he didn’t know how the admins had done it, honestly) of the age where hating on things and people, mostly people, was seen as the thing to do. So he didn’t particularly want to know how someone outwardly different like Doc, with a metal arm and shoulder and eye, or even Etho, minor as many outward differences were on him, would have fared in the face of someone whose hope for popularity spoke louder than their heart (and he wasn’t thinking of anyone specific there, why would he be?)
(And if they did talk about it, he reasoned, it would probably be to Keralis rather than him, who had a much more friendly reputation and who knew what to say and ask to make others feel alright.)
But it was a very nice feeling, to be able to wander about his server and see these beautiful things and people flourishing.
——————
At the end of season four, Xisuma had gathered his twenty- twenty three other hermits, god- and started discussing whom they would want to see joining for the next season.
Season four had seen many changes in the whitelist, especially on Mindcrack’s end- Beef had joined halfway through and become a firm friend to many, with Etho coming out of his shell just a tiny bit more. And Puns- though not a member of Mindcrack, certainly affiliated enough with it to be worth a mention- leaving unceremoniously near the start.
False had a friend from a medieval server who was looking for somewhere to stay- Stray? Stress?- Stress, yeah. Xisuma had met her once a few years ago, and she’d been lovely.
And Tango had sort of crept up hesitantly and asked if a friend who had been purely in singleplayer worlds for the last decade or so would be allowed to join- “He’s a really good builder!” Tango had stressed, not knowing Xisuma was already halfway through whitelisting the man, having asked for a quick vote in secret the night before. A few hours later, he’d hesitantly admitted Zedaph was his boyfriend (X had known this), he’d whispered scandalously, and that was okay, right, X wouldn’t- Tango was assured it was fine.
In slight contrast to the previous suggestion, someone- X thought it was Doc, maybe- had asked about inviting Bdubs back, especially now his brother had left. (Not that the siblings had had a bad relationship, but they were so similar and it got to a limit for the others.) To his credit, he had honestly considered it at first, having not thought much about the man for ages.
Etho had made an unusual face when the builder was brought up, too- flushing and nudging Doc, as if to say stop, what are you doing?
So maybe taking Tango’s request into account, and given the interactions he’d had with Bdubs before, X eventually got back to him with ‘We’re adding two more players, we’ll see in a month.’
Both of them responded positively to this, Doc only partly grumbling that back when I joined, four joined at once! and happily wandering back to their respective bases. The admin was slightly panicking now, and wondering whether to get Keralis over for a cup of tea.
Three minutes later, he showed up at X’s door, let himself be guided in and sat down, and was forcibly given a cup of builder’s tea.
“So, er… what do you think of the new suggestions to join?”
Keralis pondered over this, before replying; “I think… Stress will be a good choice, I think. I’ve met her a few times. Zedaph- him I don’t know, but again he seems alright! And it will be good to have someone to drag Tango out of whenever he gets- you know. Stuck in his builds?”
X took a deep sip of his tea, nodding.. “And your opinion on Bdubs returning if he wants?” He tried to not betray his own opinions on the subject- biasing anyone wouldn’t do the group any favours regardless. Who knew how others felt.
“He-“ Keralis paused, mouth still open as if to speak. “I’m not sure. If everyone is okay with it, of course. And after a month. I mean, I don’t know him that well. Only met him a few times.”
“Yeah.” Xisuma was content to sit and sip his tea, mulling this over. “But did you see how Etho reacted when Doc brought him up?”
“He went sort of… funny, Shashwam? you saw it, sort of red.”
“Strong emotions, yeah. At least we said to wait a month or so.”
“Exactly! Now- where are you gonna base next season?”
——————
A few weeks later, season 5 began. The two new members were absolutely lovely, Xisuma had been glad to realise; Stress was already working on setting something up, and he was sure Zed would eventually as well (unsurprisingly he was currently spending a lot of time with Tango.) Doc had not messaged yet, as X was sure he would do when even a few days more than a month had passed.
Or at least he’d hoped so until he got a message from Etho, of all people.
Ethoslab: hi, remember doc asked you about Bdubs rejoining this season yeah? was wondering your opinion. I
Xisumavoid: Did Doc put you up to this?
Ethoslab: no! not really.
Xisumavoid: Just to be clear, you can tell me anything, I want to be a safe space for all my hermits.
Ethoslab: no honestly I’m fine! doc & I were just wondering what you thought.
Ahh. This was… okay, how does one reply to this? Take a risk?
Xisumavoid: Me and Keralis were discussing, and if everyone is okay with it, we could have him on a trial period. I know it’s not standard protocol, but given he has history with the server I think it’s appropriate. Obviously this would only happen with a unanimous vote, with everyone free to vote as they wish.
Ethoslab: thanks! I’ll text doc back he’s been bugging me
And that was the end of that. Now he just and a serverwide vote to organise. Joy…
——————
To be fair, organising the vote consisted of making a separate chat with a huge anonymous poll in it, so it wasn’t the most tedious thing he’d done.
Surprisingly, the result was a yes. To be fair only four hermits remained from Season 1, and the rest of the hermits were always inclined to think positively about someone they didn’t know, and adding in the Mindcrackers and- it wasn’t that surprising, actually. So Xisuma dutifully sent a message to one BdoubleO100.
Xisumavoid: Hi, I hope you remember me? I took over from GenerikB as admin after the first season of Hermitcraft ended abruptly when he forgot to back it up. I’m extending you an offer to join Hermitcraft on a trial period, given your previous knowledge of the server and relationships. I know this is a bit unusual and you’re absolutely free to decline.
BdoubleO: sure! when can I start/how long is trial p?
Xisumavoid: For one, any time from tomorrow onwards, although it’s nice to warn us first; and as for two it is undecided yet.
Did the fact he was completely ad-libbing come across in the messages?
BdoubleO: honestly tomorrow morning is fine that ok?
Xisumavoid: Sure!
Okay, okay. Just less time than he’d thought, that was fine. Closing the chat, he went to the main Hermitcraft group once more;
and sent the confirmation.
——————
The following morning, with Bdubs on call- his voice hadn’t changed one bit, it was like Puns was back in the room with him- Xisuma meticulously checked their spawn code was alright, the area wasn’t corrupted, because even the slightest imperfection could completely jolt someone’s code.
Three, two, one and:
BdoubleO100 joined the game.
He was still in a T-shirt and trousers, Xisuma noted randomly, but white rather than light blue this time. Other than that he looked nearly the same, hair trimmed back and smile still as wide and slightly unnatural. Maybe. (Or he might just be seeking confirmation bias.)
“Er, welcome! Welcome… back, yeah. Hi.”
“Hi, Xisuma.” This was a good start. The ratio of people who could pronounce his name correctly was steadily going up in his favour. “Where is everyone? Been looking forward to catching up with some ol’ friends.”
“Yeah, absolutely. You do know this is like- an offer for this to be a permanent server for you, right? Not just- like season one.”
“Not just like season one. Okay, I can do that, cos like I said, been lookin’ for a new server. Hang on- Doc!”
The taller was wearing his elytra, lab coat swaying behind him as he strode toward the pair, stopping a few metres away.
“Bdubs, man! I haven’t seen you in ages, it’s good to.” They did a slightly awkward half-hug which Xisuma glanced away from.
“Yeah. This place is…” the shorter looked around, taking in the giant- skyscrapers, even just the terraformed mountains looming in the distance, so built up even after just a month of active server time- “very different to Mindcrack.”
Just like you said in Season one. (Dammit, stop catastrophising, this is stupid.)
“Want to go and see people? Beef has this awesome set up where-“ and then Doc had given him an elytra, and they’d flown off without the chance for Xisuma to give either of them any kind of briefing.
(It’d be fine.)
——————
Doc was… yeah, content. His second season now, so he felt a bit more in his depth- grand plans in his head, more understanding of how things worked here, the group- and now one of his oldest friends was back. And he was genuinely looking forward to this, had been since he had had the vague notion of the idea to ask X.
Bdubs had clearly grown proficient with the Elytra since they were added, ages ago: god, had it really been that long since they’d seen each other? It had to be.
No worries, though; that meant he had enough to show him and tell him about to last hours. And- ahh, evidently Beef had seen the join message as well, swooping up to join them as they flew, yelling to be heard over the wind.
“H-hi, hi there. It’s been ages, welcome.”
“Hey, Beef!-“
Doc let the two fall behind as he plotted the route to the jungle in his mind. Round the shopping district, and then. (Who was he kidding, he could have done the route in his sleep. Nearly had more than once.) Which gave him the ability for his mind to wander to how Etho would feel about this.
Doc wasn’t an idiot, and he had very much noticed the reaction on Etho’s face when he had originally mentioned their friend. To his credit, he had warned the man he was gonna ask X about Bdubs. So that sort of cutely scrunched-up face was the reaction he got after a full conversation about everything. (It was a very productive conversation as well. A lot of moments from Mindcrack were recontextualised in his head. Doc couldn’t say he hadn’t guessed before, though.)
So he was kinda excited to be able to witness them reuniting in all their glory.
(And maybe some of it was disbelief, and maybe some of it was the sheer indignance he felt, and maybe some of it was the need to rub it into Bdubs’ face.)
The three of them landed at the edge of the jungle, trudging through the seemingly endless sea of green.
“-and Etho has started building this huge sorter in the middle of the jungle, it’s called the Nexus and it’s epic, he’s put so much effort into it- hey, man, you okay?”
Doc’s interest perked and he focussed again on the two in front of him.
“What, me? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Goodness sakes, I’m just remembering things. Stupid brain; you know? Oh, hey- is this it? I- wow.”
This was definitely justified. The framework of Beef’s stone castle was coming into render distance; unfinished, sure, and it was doubtful whether it would ever be finished, but the ambiance was there. And the smaller (but no less impressive) skull Doc had built, half as a joke but eventually useful, a network of rooms and tunnels stretching out below the ground.
“How big is this jungle?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty big. There’s also a huge mesa, nearby, and it’s the closest one to spawn. Something to keep an eye on, you know? And- hey, Etho! Look who we found!”
Oooooh man.
Etho himself was standing high in the chaotic framework to what he swore would eventually become the Nexus. (Doc wasn’t convinced. The man was a genius, but an overachiever.)
He was too far away for Doc to see the look on his face when he noticed the trio swoop in to land on the ground below, but he stopped his relentless placing of stone and watched them land heavily.
“Hey.”
“Hey, Etho.”
Doc and Beef stepped back, almost in sync, as the pair each other met each other’s eyes. A cliché, maybe, but accurate. It had been more than- five years? Six years? That couldn’t be right, it couldn’t. Etho was intently examining the shorter, twisting his head in a way which was reminiscent of an owl.
Bdubs had fallen silent, again.
“How are you?” Etho wasn’t giving him a leg to stand on, staying perched in the redstone, forcing Bdubs to tentatively walk up to him.
“Good. Er- kinda- kinda missed you.” Bdubs rubbed the back of his neck. (Blushing?)
“Please tell me you haven’t had another epiphany and you suddenly feel comfortable joining Hermitcraft again because you’ve gone back to thinking you’re-“
“No! No, no, never, Etho, I don’t, I swear.”
A pause, in which the ninja leant and hopped down from his perch silently. “Really?”
“Yes, really, honestly Etho, I promise-“ Bdubs was quite literally wringing his hands, and Doc was sure his face would be some shade of red, as the taller padded towards him, forcing Bdubs to tilt his head upwards like a mouse in front of a cat.
Only for him to get lifted off his feet into Etho’s arms. “I missed you, you idiot, I missed you so, so much. I can’t believe how long it’s been, honestly-“
And Doc knew Beef wouldn’t be able to hear what was next (lucky; Doc didn’t want to;) but he was maybe two-thirds sure Bdubs whispered something along the lines of Judas Priest, just kiss me already!
This was when Doc realised that he needed to finish his detailing.
——————
Xisumavoid: Hey, this might be a bit weird & I’m not expecting a yes but if you want to we’re holding a serverwide campfire in a few days? Everyone’s invited so I wondered if you wanted to have your inaugural HC campfire
Xisumavoid: I don’t think you came to one in season 1 at all?
BdoubleO: yeah no I didn’t, would you mind giving me a bit to think about it?
Xisumavoid: Of course, text me whenever.
“What d’ya think I should say?” Bdubs turned to Etho.”
“Hmm, ‘bout what?”
“X invited me to a campfire. One of the campfires.”
“Say yeah, then. Nothing bad can come of it.”
“I- yeah, you’re probably right.”
“Aww, yes. Finally the great Bdoubl- hey, you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. Sheesh. I just- mm.”
“You know you have full rights to be there- to be here, right, ‘dubs? You don’t owe anyone anything.” Etho leaned in from behind Bdubs and wrapped an arm around his chest in a rare display of tactile affection.
“Yeah, I know, but. I was such a jerk in Mindcrack, and then when I met Xisuma, and-“
“If you’re a jerk, what does that say about me? You’re saying I have low standards? Man, I didn’t think you had it in you to insult me to my face like that.”
Normally, Bdubs would rise to the bait easily, and they would fall into their regular rhythm. However this time he didn’t seem to be in the mood, sitting down cross-legged with a small huff.
“Come on, go to the campfire. Everyone’ll be there.”
“Yeah, I guess. I just haven’t seen half the server since I was- was-“
“Dragged to the other side by yours truly?”
“I was gonna say ‘since I wasn’t a dickhead’, but that works too.”
“So you get to show them how much you’ve changed.”
“Maybe.”
A beat, then Etho said plainly;
“I’m going, anyway. So come if you want.”
Another beat.
“If I come, will you sit with me?”
“‘Course.”
It was left at that.
——————
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