Work Text:
Bdubs had accidentally fallen asleep against a tree on hermitcraft again. He had been a little bit stupid and had pushed his limits, just hoping that his illness wouldn’t flare. He really wanted to finish the tree he was currently working on, twisting the branches to fit his design for the space.
As it always did when he ignored the symptoms, things had gone badly from there. It had started with just misplacing blocks, accidentally falling over his own feet. He felt his eyes beginning to slip shut, and though he had drunk coffee his mind began to switch up.
Dammit, even the caffeine was failing him today.
He had just mean to rest for just a second, before he fell off while building and ended up hurting himself. The tree had just been comfortable enough for him to rest his back against it, and he’d been so heavy.
His eyes had begun to slip shut.
And Bdubs remembered as he entered a short sleep why he didn’t push his body when he was tired like this.
When he blinked his eyes awake, still slightly sleepy and very disorientated, he felt a ticklish sensation on his shoulder. Before he could process what it was, something moved up towards his head, and Bdubs froze.
What the hell was that?
It felt like something – he had no idea what – was crawling all over him. The mere idea made him shiver, which only seemed to startle whatever was currently on him.
Bdub’s body refused to move, even as his mind screamed at him to get it off him. His back was rigid against the tree, and his hands firmly planted in the ground. Without moving his body, his eyes tried to look over his head, though they found nothing.
Except, there was another shadow of movement, which only served to scare him further.
He had just fallen asleep for like five minutes! What horrid creature had decided to nest in his head during that time?
His hair ruffled, and it was decidedly not from the wind. Hoping he wouldn’t get bitten, Bdubs finally built up the courage to shake his head slightly, dislodging, something but not removing it.
When no retaliation came from trying to get whatever it was off his head, Bdubs shook his head more wildly, though it made his still tired body flinch from the sudden movement. He still felt far too drained to be acting in such short but intense bursts of energy.
This time, Bdubs heard a startled squeak, and felt something tug on his hair, as if trying to hold on. He tried to lift his head up again, but it did nothing.
With the lack of any real reaction once again, Bdubs reached up to grab whatever was on him. It seemed decently large, so he was confident he could pick it up.
His hands wrapped around something big and fluffy, and very angry squeaks filled his ear. Bdubs pulled the weirdly fluffy animal off his head, and saw a very angry squirrel, trying to bite his hand. It was failing to do anything but nibble. Bdubs breathed a sigh of relief as he realised the squirming creature was just a silly squirrel.
“Hello, little guy.” He greeted, still holding it tightly. “What are you doing here, and not on a perfectly lovely tree?” He asked. The squirrel squeaked in indignation, as if telling him that he had been perfectly fine in his hair.
“Well, I’m sorry for disturbing you, but I’m not a tree.” Bdubs informed his angry looking friend. When it wriggled to get out again, Bdubs set it down, not wanting to hurt it. It gave him one final angry squeak, before running away, tail chasing behind his back.
“I’m not a tree!” Bdubs complained before getting back to work, his muscles aching. He really shouldn’t be working, and clearly he hadn’t learnt his lesson.
But he really needed to get this tree up!