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The wool shop had been cooler than he anticipated, he concluded that the person was selling ice-related products soon and kept it in here for storage. Soft taps on the window seal grabbed his attention and looking outside the rain had begun to fall, luckily no thunder was stirring about but Keralis didn’t have any coverings to protect him from the downpour.
Looking at his shulkers, he just needed some mangrove wood. He contemplated on actually waiting until the rain stopped but knowing him, if he didn’t get his materials now he was going to forget about it and get side tracked.
Keralis finally worked up the courage and ran out the store into the rain, using his cloak as a shield.
He finally got to the shop soaking wet, he rung out his cloak out of respect for the shopkeeper. He suddenly felt very exposed as his attire was soaking wet and his skin feeling the cold air brushing past him. He only hoped that the shopkeeper's shop had heaters, or at the very least very low coolers.
A loud thud was heard from inside the shop, Keralis jumped out of shock from the sound, then another thud was heard, this time something heavier hitting the ground followed by a grunt. Keralis stopped what he was doing and aimed for the door handle, his worst thought came to mind. Did a hermit hurt themselves? Were they ok?
Before he could open the door, he heard a soft moan from behind the door. Keralis stopped his actions entirely, he stared at the knob for a solid minute before he heard another moan coming from the door.
Heat instantly rose to Keralis’s face when it finally clicked what was going on inside the shop. He quietly stepped away from the door despite the rain and began searching for his rockets, the mangrove wood will have to wait another day.
After much fumbling, Keralis manages to find his rockets and his elytra when he heard it, “Skizz, please~”
Keralis stopped dead in his tracks, all fluster and embarrassment dying in that moment. Looking back at that door, Keralis considered opening it just to alleviate any suspicions. Maybe he could make up an excuse about not hearing anything due to the rain and accidentally stumbling into the shop. There was no way that he heard Bdubs inside that shop, let alone doing anything intimate with Skizz behind that door.
“I guess Papa K hasn’t been taking care of you, huh?”
“Please, Skizz! Only you can take me like this~”
Keralis stopped listening after that. Keralis couldn’t stomach the noises coming from the shop, he didn’t care if he’d get sick from the rain. He just wanted to be far from the place as much as possible.
The rain stopped by the time he got home, now sporting a slight drizzle and the air now feeling humid and hot making his clothing stick to his skin. He walked the rest of the way back, dropping his supplies at the front of his house and made his way to his make-shift room, his body moving on autopilot.
Upon entering, he took off his armor and his wet clothes and settled for some dry ones. Despite being the middle of the day, the room was fairly dim.
Keralis stared at his bed as he finally began to process what had happened at the shopping district. He clutched his hands so hard he could feel his fingernails digging into his palms hoping that the pain would overlap the distasteful memory, he felt hot tears running down his face, anger, rage, grief, shame, embarrassment, so many emotions were circling Keralis’s head, their voices still ringing in his head.
If it wasn’t bad enough that Bdubs had to knock him down, Skizz did too.
But through it all, he couldn’t help but question why? Why would Bdubs do this? How could he do this?
Just, why?
Why?
Keralis didn’t have an answer and he’s not entirely sure if he wanted one.
Not feeling confident with his current state of mind, he began packing an overnight bag and made his way to XB’s base.
He explored XB’s storage area, not entirely wanting to search for the man but content to be within the vicinity. He was quickly distracted by the copper golems at work, seeing them work gave some new build ideas for him when he got back.
The more he ventured on, the more distracted he became and soon he began thinking of Bdubs, his and Skizz’s voice began to replay in his head as if it was mocking him. The more he thought about it the less he could breath, anger choking him up and he found his hands twitching. Keralis clenched his fist and shook his hands in an attempt to ground himself and shifted his gaze elsewhere hoping that something would catch his interest.
He suddenly felt someone pull on his cloak, the action nearly making him fall backwards. When he regained his stance, there stood his friend in that observer mask that he insisted on wearing. He didn’t even hear any indication that he was coming so his presence caught him off guard.
“You know this would be classified as breaking and entering, right?”
Keralis smiled, “I’m not doing anything, you have no conviction.”
“You’re stealing my precious time.”
Keralis chuckled at his friend’s accusation but gave in for a side hug that his friend offered.
“So, what brings you here?”
Keralis paused before forcing a smile at his friend, “I can’t come see you anymore, you really are living up to the hermit name.”
XB was quiet for a moment, with that observer mask blocking his face, he couldn’t make out what his friend was thinking about. XB sighed, “Ok, what’s going on?”
“What makes you think something is going on?”
“Something is wrong, I can’t place it but you’re off man. What’s going on?”
Keralis hesitated on telling him, he hated that his friend could read him so easily, if this was any other person they’d be fooled, but because of how much he spends time with this guy it’s not surprising how quick he was able to pick up on it. But he was so emotionally pent up that he didn’t feel like reopening those wounds again.
He gave his friend a soft smile before continuing, “Can we talk about it tomorrow? I just– I needed to get away for a bit and you were the first person I thought of.”
XB nodded slowly, “Make yourself at home, not that you don’t already do.”
Keralis pinched XB’s arm out of retaliation but very grateful none the less.
Keralis sat on the spare bed that XB gifted him, his friend sleeping soundly next to him and the only sound available was the soft snores from XB and the faint sounds of one of his many farms still in operation. It’s been hours now and his mind refuses to sleep. With a frustrated sigh, Keralis ventured throughout the base hoping to exhaust himself to at least get a few hours worth of sleep.
Despite circling the vicinity for the fourth time that night, he couldn’t get his mind off of that. No matter how hard he tried to erase it, it doesn’t change the fact that his partner cheated on him with another hermit. On top of that, that hermit was also in a relationship as well, only they have no knowledge of their infidelity.
His hands started to instinctively twitch at the mere thought of both of them getting away with such a distasteful act, this time he didn’t restrain himself from his hands forming into fists. His breathing became heavy and slow, his shoulders became tense with each step, suddenly time felt slower, more drawn out. He wasn’t sure if this was a type of panic attack or not but Keralis was so enraged to even care.
Keralis stayed with XB for another day, really enjoying the company of his friend and the distraction, regardless if that was his intention or not. He was grateful nonetheless.
“Oh, Cub’s race thing is coming up soon. You thinking about joining?” XB asked, wiping the redstone dust from his hands.
Keralis gave it some thought, it has been a minute since he’s joined a social event from the other hermits, and besides he could get out from the stuffy atmosphere in XB’s base.
“Of course! I haven’t seen Cubby’s lovely face in a while.” Keralis said with genuine sincerity in his voice, “Will there be other hermits participating?”
XB shrugged, “Most likely, I just don’t know who all will be there,” XB said, going back to his redstone contraption, irritated that the redstone was not doing what he wanted it to do and having to redo the plan.
But Keralis was preoccupied with something else, if there were other hermits coming to the race, then he’d likely run into Bdubs or Skizz. He hopes that Bdubs doesn’t show up at least, knowing the man’s schedule he’d be too busy to even consider the thought. However, there is still a likelihood of him running into Skizz and he considered ditching the race all together, but he’s going to have to face the both of them eventually. Just one day at a time.
It seems like fate was really testing his patience, not only did Skizz show up but Bdubs is here as well. Keralis breathed before entering the arena, hopefully neither noticed him arriving.
“Papa K!” Spoke too soon.
Skizz made his way to him, that bright smile that reached both ears plastered on his face and Keralis had to swallow the urge to sock the exposed teeth in his mouth. He forced a smile towards Skizz, “Howdy do!”
“Haven’t seen ya in a hot minute, how ya been buddy?” Keralis had to watch himself, the twitch in his hand coming back. Luckily he can simply grip the rope to the nautilus to allow it to not let it be questionable, “I’ve been great, I’m surprised you found me so quickly though.”
“Besides Joel, you’re the only other person dressed up. Which, by the way, looks amazing.”
Keralis felt the indentions of his fingernails digging into his palm but maintained his expressions, “Why thank you, Skizz.”
“No problem. Oh- There’s Impulse. I’ll see you at the race.” Skizz said leaving Keralis. Keralis was finally able to breathe.
“Hey- Everything ok?” He spoke too soon, with Skizz or other hermits it was easier to put on a facade but the issue is that when he’s close with certain people, they tend to pick up on certain behavioral patterns that Keralis displays. That’s why XB irritates him some of the time because he is unable to hide from him, or Xisuma but to be fair he can read anyone's body language as well as pick up on people’s tone of voice, or Bdubs who has seen him in his most vulnerable moments. However, what made him different from the others is that Keralis was fine with Bdubs reading him, sometimes Keralis got into his own head and needed someone to pull him out.
In this moment however, instead of the warmth and recognition of his lover, he feels overly exposed and small by a stranger. It doesn’t matter what he did to cover himself, Bdubs will see that. Facing Bdubs now, that subtle, soft look as he tries not to draw attention to either of them, Keralis felt anxious, fury, embarrassment. He had a million things to say to him, but seeing that they were in a very public area he couldn’t bring himself to do anything.
Before Keralis could respond to him, Cubs voice shot up, “Alright everyone! Welcome to the nautilus race…” As Cub explained the race, Keralis looked back at Bdubs, he could see him mouth ‘later’ toward him.
He didn’t win, but the race was enough for him to distract himself from everything. Even with his frequent run-ins with the two people he currently despises, he was able to make those interactions brief and overall had a good time.
He did manage to leave before anyone noticed, using the chaos to slip by as everyone was busy celebrating the winners. He was only a few blocks away from XB’s base and for a minute Keralis felt his anxiety melt away.
“Keralis!” His body stiffened but didn’t stop walking.
“Hey!” The voice was close now. In a frenzy Keralis took out his rockets, thankful that he had his elytra ready to go.
As Keralis was ready for take off, he felt a hand on his wrist. Looking at the recipient, it was none other than Bdubs himself. The action caused the both of them to achieve flight a least a few feet in the air before crashing down on the ground. The position was not compromising but Keralis suddenly became very aware of his position and got off of Bdubs.
“Are you alright?” Keralis examined.
“Yeah, just a broken bone maybe,” Bdubs said. Keralis rolled his eyes and helped the man onto his feet.
“If you are not hurt then I will be leaving.” Kerlais said, keeping his voice leveled as he left.
“Wait– Hold on–” Bdubs managed to get out before reaching his hand again, “I wanted to check on you, you seemed off at the race.” Keralis stared at him before snatching his hand away, “How sweet.”
The monotoned expression caught him off guard, and Bdubs wanted to find out if something happened before the races that could have caused Keralis to behave this way.
“Did something happen?” Bdubs said, trying to catch up with Keralis who has sped up.
“What do you think?” Keralis spat.
Now Bdubs was more confused than ever, “Did I do something?”
Keralis didn’t say anything, but continued walking.
“Look if it’s something I did I’m sorry. Is there a way that I can fix this?”
“Don’t know, why don’t you ask Skizz to help.” That sentence came off more as a statement than a question but still confused Bdubs nonetheless.
“Why would I go to—”
“Oh, shut up!” Keralis’s outburst surprised him. Keralis felt the anger rise up, his hands clenching into fists. He was shaking with rage at Bdub’s failed ploy, he took a breath and faced Bdubs.
“Don’t you dare even try and deny it now, I know what you two have been doing. And for the record we’re done.” Keralis spat.
Bdubs stared at him, concern and confusion overlapping each other. They’ve been together for a very long time, had some good and bad moments but never as bad as this and they’d usually talked about it afterward. Bdubs was unsure what to say at that moment, why would he need Skizz? Why is Keralis breaking up with him? Why was he even mad at him in the first place?
Keralis walked away after hearing no response from him, hot tears welling up in his eyes. Bdubs eventually snapped out of it and grabbed Keralis’s hand once more only to be met with a slap to the face by Keralis, the action surprising them both. Bdubs slowly placed his hand on the assaulted cheek, both stood staring at each other unsure of what to do next. All anger he felt in that moment drained, Keralis didn’t mean to strike him, if anything it was instinctual and his feelings were running at an all time high. The tension was suffocating, he took his rockets and flew off. He didn’t hear Bdubs calling out to him.
Bdubs banged on Skizz’s door, hoping to get answers. In hind sight, he may as well be as confused as he was but he needed to start somewhere and clearly Skizz is part of the problem.
Eventually, Skizz answered his door, he must be in the process of going to bed because he was in a tee shirt and boxers, “Bdubs, what in the world?”
“Have you talked to Keralis recently?” Bdubs can’t be bothered with small talk right now, even though Keralis ended their relationship, he is still willing to fight for it.
Skizz looked at him confused, “No? The only time I really got to talk to him was at the race. Why did something happen?”
Bdubs was not satisfied with that answer, “Are you sure that was the only time you saw him?”
Skizz was even more confused, “Yeah, I don’t hang out with the guy a lot but that was the only time I got to see him.”
Bdubs groaned in annoyance, none of it made sense. Skizz didn’t know what happened, he didn’t know what happened, and the only person that knows what happened is Keralis and he wants nothing to do with him, and he probably wants nothing to do with Skizz either.
Then an idea struck him.
“Where’s Impulse?”
Skizz shrugged, “Probably at his base making his city– Look, can you explain what’s going on, is Keralis ok?”
Bdubs rubbed his face, stress and eagerness prominent on his features, “No. I just got dumped.”
Skizz was shocked, Bdubs and Keralis had been together for a very long time. Even with both Hermits being gone for long periods of time, they still managed to make their relationship work. So something must have happened for Keralis to make such a decision.
“Why do you need Impulse then?”
“Because if I go he might punch me this time, and for some reason your name was in his mouth so there is a likelihood of you getting punched, so Impulse is possibly our best bet to figuring out what’s going on.”
“He punched you?”
Bdubs groaned in annoyance, “Look, can you just get in touch with Impulse, please?”
Skizz got his communicator out, “I mean I would be able to reach him but he probably won’t be able to do anything till the morning.”
“Great…”
“Just try and relax for a bit, I’m sure that this is just one big misunderstanding.”
Bdubs wanted to believe that, he really did. But the bottom line was that he wasn’t sure at all, he just hoped that Impulse would shine some light on what’s going on.
He was uncomfortable with the whole situation all together, he didn’t want to get involved with someone else's drama but from what Skizz was telling him, it was dire. Impulse stood in the middle of Keralis’s base, despite his uneasiness the base brought a sense of tranquil but he wasn’t here to admire the base he was here to get answers.
Impulse walked around for a bit, unsure exactly where to start looking. After walking around the base, he decided to pull out his communicator and call Keralis seeing that he couldn’t find him anywhere.
<ImpulseSV: Hey Papa K
Impulse waited for a minute hoping that Keralis got his message, luckily he didn’t have to wait too long.
<Keralis: Hey Impy o/
<ImpulseSV: Are you at your base?
<ImpulseSV: This place is huge!
<Keralis: I’m getting materials but should be back shortly
<ImpulseSV: I can wait
<Keralis: kk
Placing the communicator back in his pocket, he decided to go over what he”ll be asking Keralis. Skizz said that Keralis was mad at both him and Bdubs, enough for him to call it quits on their relationship. As much as he does care for his fellow hermit, he didn’t understand why he had to be involved. Wouldn't someone like Etho, XB, or even Xisuma be a better option for this type of situation? Impulse sat by a nearby bench and waited for Keralis’s return.
He didn’t have to wait long, hearing the sound of rockets coming in his direction. Impulse looked up and saw Keralis landing a few feet in front of him, his familiar smile as contagious as always.
“Hello, hello, hello!” Keralis beamed, reaching in for a friendly hug.
Impulse smiled back, returning the hug, “Hey!”
“What brings you in today, my friend?”
Impulses jaw clenched, “I actually… Wanted to talk…”
Keralis gave him a look before urging him to continue.
“I wanted to talk to you about Bdubs and Skizz.”
Keralis nodded, “What a coincidence, I’ve been wanting to talk to you about them too.”
Impulse’s confusion must have been apparent because Keralis continued, “A couple days ago, I was at the shopping district getting materials. One of my stops was the Mangrove shop.”
Impulse nodded, still not sure where he was going with the story, “... I heard a crash from inside the shop thinking that someone got hurt until I heard… Noises. Coming from the shop.”
Impulse looked at him, “Noises?” Until it dawned on him, he heard– that type of noise, not the sound of just the crash.
But then Impulse started thinking, Keralis continued, “Yes– Noises. But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. The reason I bring this up is because I heard both Skizz and Bdubs in that store.”
“Wait– You– Oh god…” Impulse was at a loss for words, of all things he was prepared for he was not prepared for that. Needless to say he and Skizz are going to have words but right now they need to make this right.
“Ok, Keralis. You have every right to be mad but we seriously need to sit down with Bdubs and Skizz because– Well… Everything will be explained then.”
Keralis looked at him, “What’s there to talk about? They cheated on us, very clear to me.”
Impulse rubbed the back of his neck but continued, “Trust me, everything will make sense.”
Keralis looked doubtful, but complied with Impulse’s orders.
He wasn’t sure what this was supposed to achieve, he could be doing anything else, he could be bothering XB, he could be tackling one of the projects on his board, he could be taking a nap, but no. Instead here he was, in Impulse’s base, across from the two people he wanted to see the least and a skittish Impulse next to him. Needless to say, Keralis was not happy.
Impulse cleared his throat, “Ok– I know that things have been tense for everyone as of late.” Keralis scoffed but didn’t say anything. Skizz winced at his response.
Impulse seemed to have informed Skizz because his behavior seemed to mirror Impulse’s. The only people that didn’t get the information was Bdubs as he sat there confused, occasionally looking at Keralis only for Keralis to purposefully ignore him.
Impulse continued, “But there is an answer to all this–”
“Look, I’m not here to justify this. Bdubs and Skizz screwed each other and that’s all there is to it.” Keralis interrupted.
Impulse winced, Skizz kept glancing at Keralis and Impulse cautiously, and Bdubs looked bewildered by his statement, “Excuse me?”
Keralis turned to Bdubs, “You heard me.”
“Guys, why don’t we just–”
“Where in the world– Why in the world would you think I’d do that with Skizz?” Bdubs asked, still bewildered.
“If you guys would let me explain–”
“Don’t you even try to deny it, I heard you two at the shopping district.” Keralis spat, shifting between the two of them.
“When?”
“What suddenly can’t remember? A few days ago, I heard you and Skizz getting real personal in that mangrove shop.”
Skizz has yet to say anything but it was obvious that he knew what Keralis was referencing as evidence by his face paling.
“Seems like Skizz remembers.”
“I really think we–”
“That’s impossible. I wasn’t even on the server a few days ago, in fact I just got back not even yesterday.”
“Guys!” Skizz yelled, capturing everyone's attention, “Did you guys forget that Impulse can shapeshift?”
All parties stared at Skizz. Bdubs was the first to speak up, “What does that have to do with anything?” Skizz placed his head in his hands and groaned. Keralis however was considering his words, he blinked before shifting his attention to Impulse who didn’t meet Keralis’s gaze, “That was you at the shop?”
Impulse finally looked at him and nodded, “Yeah…”
“Why did you take on Bdubs form?”
“We were doing a scene– Look, Bdubs wasn’t at the shop. He didn’t cheat on you with Skizz. If you need to be angry at anyone, be angry at us but please talk to eachother!” Impulse explained.
Both Keralis and Bdubs didn’t know what to say, they got up from the table and walked out and for the first time in a while, Keralis was able to walk with him without issue.
They both had been walking for a while, no particular destination in mind, just mindlessly walking. Keralis was unsure what to say, he wanted to apologize but the whole situation was awkward. They eventually found a clearing and rested, the sun was still bright and the breeze was soft enough to cool them down. Both men not looking at each other, finding interest in their surroundings like the wild sheep nearby or the bees pollinating the flowers nearby.
Bdubs attempted to speak up first, “So…”
“... Yeah.” Keralis rubbed the back of his neck, “If I’m being honest I’m not sure how to move on from this.”
Bdubs nodded, “Same, I’m still wrapping my head around the fact that Impulse impersonated me.”
Keralis nodded, “... Look, I’m sorry for– yeah…”
“I mean– You had every right to be mad.”
“Yeah, but I could’ve done something.”
Bdubs crossed his arms, “Like what?”
“I’d– I could’ve–” Keralis was trying to justify but ultimately couldn’t come up with none.
“Also, how could you have known that it was Impulse?”
Keralis shook his head, “I don’t– I–”
“You couldn’t Keralis and I’m not gonna blame you for it,” Bdubs said, wrapping his fingers around Keralis’s, “It will be difficult to look at Impulse and Skizz for a while though.”
Keralis chuckled, leaning his head on Bdubs shoulder, “Yeah, I think I’m gonna take a break from both of them for a minute.”
Bdubs smiled, “You think we stopped them from playing out their fantasies?”
“I think they’ll definitely think twice before doing that again.”
Both men chuckled at the idea before falling into a comfortable quiet. Despite all that happened, it was nice to be in his embrace again.
“… I want to at least apologize for slapping you though.”
Bdubs rolled his eyes, “How many times do I have to tell you that you don’t have to apologize for someone else's stupidity?”
“I still feel bad about it!”
“Still.”
Both men were quiet, the only thing audible was the distant sounds of the wild animals nearby. Keralis still felt bad for the whole situation but Bdubs was right, how could he have known? Some hermits on the server had abilities and as far as he knew, only Impulse was able to shapeshift. The situation was weird, without a doubt, but he felt better knowing that there was an answer, even if it disturbed him.
“I’m sorry.”
Bdubs groaned, “Keralis!”
Keralis chuckled, “I’m sorry, force of habit.”
Bdubs rolled his eyes but a small smile formed on his face.