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Etho had been dreading today like he did every year. It was his birthday. His real birthday. Not one of the many other days that Grian and Gem had tried to guess it. It was really today. He had nearly forgotten how old he was, only remembering by doing the math in his head based on the year he was born.
Today was slow and quiet, mostly because Etho had been avoiding everyone to work on some redstone. That’s all he ever really wanted on his birthday: to be able to do what he enjoyed. It was a pretty good day until Grian sent him a message about needing help with some redstone at The Bad Egg.
Admittedly, Etho didn’t think much of it. The avian had been talking about trying to figure out some redstone mechanics for the past week. He guessed Grian had finally given in and asked for someone to help him out.
So, the fox hybrid washed off the redstone dust from his hands, put on his elytra, and set off for the dinner. Etho passed by Grian’s base on his way and saw the steady progress he had made. He quite liked the observatory. Etho always had a strange adoration for space, he just never really looked into it much.
He flew over to The Good Egg, stepping inside the dark dinner and noticed it was awfully quiet. There were usually a few hermits doing some last minute shopping in the district at this time. The sunset was quite pretty tonight after all.
He shrugged it off, assuming today was just a quiet day for everyone. That would explain the lack of messages in their main chat.
Etho walked into the bathroom and pressed the button just on the wall. The wall then opened up to an elevator that he guessed Grian had added instead of having to go down the toilet. That was a huge improvement in Etho’s opinion.
He stepped in the elevator and pressed the button on the wall before the doors closed. Most people hated elevators and Etho was no exception. They were a little too claustrophobic for him. Well he wouldn’t necessarily call in claustrophobic… more so he hated being in a small room with no escape routes.
Etho looked at the panel as it showed he was on the bottom floor. He noticed the little arrow button that pointed up just above the arrow button pointing down.
Wait- why did Grian need his help if he supposedly already had a way to get out of The Bad Egg?
The realization hit him like a semi truck just as the doors opened to reveal the crowd of hermits that were waiting inside the room. Immediately, Etho heart rate spiked as they all shouted “SURPRISE!” At him.
And then came the singing.
He hated this-
VOID! He hated this.
But he couldn’t get out of it now. He couldn’t press the button to go up because everyone would be pretty confused and he’d have to awkwardly look at them as the doors closed slower than molasses.
The only other way out was to be shot up into the air 50,000 blocks but it likely wasn’t even set. So it wouldn’t work.
He was trapped. Trapped with all these eyes on him, all these people thinking about him, all this attention all at once. It was so much. It was too much.
He felt his ears pin down and the fur on his tail stand on end. He couldn’t help that. That was just adrenaline. So were the tears threatening his eyes but he had trained hard for moments like this. Etho was capable of controlling his tears like no other, now would be no different.
He stayed frozen in the elevator, even after everyone had finished singing and cheering. He guessed they couldn’t see his expression very well underneath the mask. That was good, he could pretend he was ok right now.
“Common Etho! We got you a cake!” Grian laughed, pulling him by his wrist out of the elevator. Etho followed behind him, only because his mind was so scattered right now all he could do was listen to basic instructions. Making decisions about anything would overload his brain.
Grian led him to a cake they had set on the table in the middle. It was a basic white iced cake with red strawberries on top. It was like most cakes people made for birthdays on the server. Etho had had some a thousand times, but this one made his stomach churn.
He felt so incredibly stunned, he wasn’t sure he could even speak. Everyone around him seemed so happy. The contrast between how they looked versus how he felt was completely jarring.
“Do you like it?” Cleo asked, standing a few people down from the table everyone had gathered around. He could feel their eyes burning through his clothes and his skin and deep through his soul.
He couldn’t let them down by being such a pathetic buzzkill.
“Yeah… thank you.” Etho said in the steadiest voice he could muster.
“Awesome! It took me quite a while to bake.” Cleo hummed.
“Were you surprised?” Grian asked, looking up at him with a mischievous smile.
“Definitely.” Etho nodded, his heart still pounding in his ears. He felt his hands trembling as they balled into fists at his sides. The anxious pit in his stomach was only growing.
“Etho, be thankful I’m here! I had a rainbow to be making right now.” Joel huffed and everyone gave their amused chuckles. Etho gave his best attempt at an amused hum as he looked down at his cake.
This was too much. He wanted to cry all over again. But he controlled it once more, this time biting his tongue in the process.
“Alright, well we’ve got food set out on the desk and drinks in the cooler next to it. Everyone help yourselves to anything here.” Grian announced to everyone in the room. They all cheered, a few people flocked over to the desk and others began to mingle.
Etho just stood there and looked down at his cake. He wanted to go home so bad. He hated this. As much as he knew his friends just wanted him to have a good time, he hated this so much.
There was a reason Etho kept his birthday a secret. He knew they just didn’t know the reason. He figured he could tell them it’s not his birthday but he was a horrible liar and they would catch on. Besides, he didn’t want to talk to anyone right now.
“Etho? You wanna come sit with us?” Grian asked, finally speaking at a normal conversation tone. Etho looked over to where he was referring to and saw Gem, Mumbo, Bdubs, and Joel sitting at one of the booths. Without a word, he nodded to Grian and walked over.
He couldn’t exactly just say no, now could he? They had thrown this whole party for him. He had to just pretend. In truth, it was either suppress everything and pretend he was happy or have a panic attack in front of everyone.
Etho never cried in front of anybody. That wasn’t an option.
With a deep, trembling breath he came over to the booth and sat down at the end, opposite of Grian.
“Hey Etho! Is it really your birthday today or are you just going along with the bit?” Bdubs asked before taking a sip of what Etho assumed was pink lemonade. He hated pink lemonade.
“Oh… hehe, ah… it- it’s up to you to decide that.” Etho replied awkwardly, trying his best to keep his voice from trembling. He hoped it worked because Bdubs and Mumbo gave little chuckles at his response.
“I can’t believe we finally guessed it. Who would have thought on the 17th try we actually guessed correctly?” Gem smiled, giving Grian a nudge with her shoulder.
“Yeah. August 15th. I’ll have to write it down for next year.” Grian laughed. Etho felt his heart sink. He didn’t realize until now but he’d have to deal with this every year for the remainder of his life on hermitcraft.
That made him feel sick with dread.
“You guys want something to eat?” Grian nodded to the others.
“Get me a coke?” Joel asked in a slightly annoyed tone. Etho wondered why he showed up. Everyone knew Joel hated parties. He guessed it’s because it was for Etho. All the more reason for the fox hybrid to pretend he was fine.
“You know what? I’ll just come see what there is.” Bdubs said, nodding to Etho to stand up. It took him a moment to realize, his brain still feeling like maple syrup made any outside information difficult to process. He stood up and let Joel and Bdubs out of the booth before sitting back down after the beagle hybrid again.
“I’ll come too.” Mumbo hummed before he, Grian, Gem, and Bdubs all went to go get food. Now it was just Joel and Etho.
The fox hybrid felt just a tiny bit better now that it was just him and one friend sitting in the far corner while everyone else was off in their own conversations. The multiple voices around were hard to think through, but at least it wasn’t too loud.
Etho took a deep breath, balling up his hands into fists in his lap as he did. The anxiety that had been building up seemed to think he was ‘alone enough’ to shine through his facade. He didn’t want that.
“Are you alright, Etho.” Joel asked, his voice casual as if that were a casual question to ask right now.
Etho gave a slightly surprised hum as he looked over to Joel, eyes accidentally revealing a flash of panic before he could cover it up. He knew Joel had to have seen it but his expression was unchanged from boredom and slight curiosity.
“Uh… yeah. Why do you ask?” Etho nodded, swallowing the lump in his dry throat.
“Your tails all poofy, you’ve barely said a word, you look like you’re about to burst into tears, your leg is bouncing quite fast over there, and your ears have been flat this entire time.” Joel said, looking him up and down.
Etho froze. He hadn’t even noticed his leg was bouncing, let alone at how fast it was. He must look like a nervous wreck right now. Void! He was an idiot for thinking he could hide it from Joel.
Anyone else wouldn’t have noticed it too much, but Joel’s attention to detail when it came to his friends was truly unmatched. He could sniff out anxiety on another hermit from a mile away.
He must have known as soon as he saw him in the elevator.
That made Etho’s stomach sink and his heart race faster somehow. He tensed up a bit, unnaturally uncomfortable. Etho never cried nor showed any emotion like this. He rarely even got mad about things.
He couldn’t have an anxiety attack over something as stupid as a birthday party!
And yet, his hands trembled as he gripped the fabric of his jeans and his mouth felt incredibly dry and his mind was somehow moving at the speed of tree sap and lightning at the same time.
Something in him seemed to crack and he took in a half strained inhale before slowly setting his head down on the table. Etho’s leg bounced again and he fidgeted with his hands in his lap as he sat there, just trying to somehow calm down but everything was killing him.
Joel looked down at the rather pathetic sight in front of him, a sense of genuine concern now actually present in his expression. He hesitated a moment before carefully reaching over and rubbing the fox’s back gently.
Etho stiffened at the touch a moment before his shoulders relaxed a little. He wasn’t one for physical contact, but having something to ground him a little right now was proving to be helpful.
Joel scanned the room after a moment before looking back down at Etho as the fox took another deep breath.
“We should go for a walk. Get some fresh air.” Joel hummed, his voice noticeably softer and quieter as he spoke to Etho.
The fox hybrid breathed a moment before sitting up and looking over at him thankfully.
“Yeah… good plan.” Etho nodded before getting up. He waited for Joel to get out as the rest of their group approached.
“You guys should have gotten food with us. Now we’ll have to wait on you guys!” Bdubs sighed, setting his plate down.
“Actually, I forgot something over at my base. Etho’s being a mule and making me take him so… we’ll be back in a bit.” Joel hummed. He didn’t seem too annoyed this time around, just casual. Etho needed to take lying classes from him.
“Ah, well come back soon. We’ve gotta give Etho the first slice of his cake.” Grian said, handing Joel his coke. The beagle hybrid took the can and gave Grian a nod before walking over to the elevator.
Etho followed him, his legs feeling a bit stiff from anxiety. He kept trying to take deep breaths and focus on Joel as he pressed the button to go up.
Etho felt like he had somehow gotten worse as the night went on. He wouldn’t have guessed that to be possible but considering the way he was struggling to hold back all his tears to the point of trembling, he’d say it was pretty awful right now.
They stepped into the elevator and Joel pressed the button to go up. Then they waited for the doors to close. Once they finally did, the only sound inside was from Joel opening his soda can and taking a rather obnoxious sip.
Or maybe he was trying to be distracting and not leave them in awkward silence. Either way, it worked.
Once they made it up, Joel walked out of the elevator first, Etho following behind him feeling like a lost puppy. He just needed to follow something to give his mind a break. Following Joel was perfectly alright to him.
“Do you want to sit down for a bit or walk? I’m alright with either.” Joel asked quietly as they walked out of the bathroom. Etho looked from him to the booths up here. As nice as it would be to sit, he really did like the idea of fresh air and a walk.
“We can walk… if you’re ok with that.” Etho said, his voice finally giving way to a little tremble. That earned the faintest glint of sympathy in Joel’s gaze before he nodded.
“Common then.” The beagle hybrid said before taking a sip of his drink.
Etho walked alongside him now as they both ventured outside. The air around him was immediately cool and calming. The night was quiet aside from the faint sound of crickets somewhere far off. The little breeze that blew through his fur and onto his face felt genuinely refreshing.
It was all so soothing. Etho already felt a whole lot better, but he still had the lingering feeling of anxiety and dread in his chest.
They walked down the lamp lit path in a comfortable silence as Etho calmed down quite a lot. Maybe 5 minutes later, they came to the end of the street and Joel looked over at him after they turned around.
“So… I take it you don’t like birthdays.” The beagle hybrid hummed in the same gentle tone as before. Ethos ears flattened again as he rested his hands in his pockets.
“S’that why you never told us when your birthday was?”
“Yeah…” Etho admitted, watching the path in front of him at each step. Joel gave an understanding nod and took another sip of his coke.
“Well, it’s mainly just my birthday. I hate it.” Etho added after a moment. Joel looked over at him with a hint of interest so Etho decided to continue.
“It’s not that I don’t appreciate everyone wanting to celebrate me and throw a big party. I just hate all the attention, you know? A normal party is… already kinda a lot for me anyways. I-I’ve just never really liked the loud get togethers like that, as fun as they can be.” Etho explained. Joel seemed to really listen to him. The fox hybrid was almost shocked at how good Joel was at this.
He took a deep breath before he continued.
“But… every time I explain that to someone, they never really seem to get it. I do appreciate the thought, but I’m not the biggest fan of surprises or lots of people lookin at me. I’d really rather just… do nothing at all.”
Joel gave another nod as he sipped his drink and seemed to think for a moment about his words.
“I’m the same way really. Especially with the amount of people on the server now, it can get overwhelming pretty fast.” Joel hummed, looking out at the path ahead of them.
“Tell me about it.” Etho sighed, glancing over at the beagle.
“Well,” Joel said after taking a breath, “I’m sure the hermits’ll understand if you tell them it stresses you out. Especially this badly.” The beagle looked him up and down and Etho flattened his ears again in mild embarrassment.
“Don’t go repeating this, alright?” Joel said after a few moments of silence. Etho looked at him and then nodded, a new expression of curiosity and caution on his face.
“I… went home after my birthday party this year and nearly cried from relief when I saw my bed. As much as I love you guys, I don’t think I’ve ever been more exhausted in my life.” The beagle huffed, looking down at Etho with a mildly embarrassed expression.
The fox gave a little smile up at him as he told his story.
“You love us?” Etho asked.
Joel now looked annoyed again.
“That wasn’t the message of the story!” Joel grumbled, giving Etho a light shove which made him laugh a bit.
“The point is,” the beagle said suppressing a smile. “I understand why you feel that way. And anyways, I was getting bored of that party. I’m glad we left before Tango started dancing on the pool table or something stupid like that.”
Etho rolled his eyes as they came to a stop in front of the dinner again.
“Thank you… for helping.” The fox said, looking sincerely into Joel’s eyes.
“Any time. Now you don’t seriously want to go back, do you?” He huffed, glancing inside.
“No- no- no, definitely not.” Etho gave a slight chuckle as he put his hands up defensively and backed away.
“Good. Me either. We should go to your base and watch a movie or something. I’d offer mine, but my TV is broken again.” The beagle said, his voice becoming annoyed again as he explained his TV. Etho gave an amused hum before checking the time on his communicator.
It was 9:40 pm. He was exhausted and would probably fall asleep mid movie.
“Sure. I’ve got better snacks anyways.” Etho said, taking out his rockets. Joel did the same and they took off to his base.
Once they got there, Etho made snacks while Joel picked a movie and they both sat together on the couch. Etho knew this movie. He had watched it a hundred times or more. He had told Joel how much he liked this movie before.
He must have remembered.
That made Etho feel a world of comfort he didn’t realize he needed. To be sitting here on this couch with someone who cared enough to know him. Who cared enough to know his specific likes and dislikes. Who really and truly cared about him.
He noticed after a moment that Joel was pretty curled up on the couch. Maybe he was cold?
“I can’t believe you don’t have any spare blankets.” Joel hummed as if he could read minds.
“We could always cuddle to stay warm Joel.” Etho chimed. The funny part was, he was only half kidding. He actually wouldn’t mind a little physical intimacy right now. Especially with someone he trusted as much as the beagle sitting on his couch.
Joel looked over at him with an unimpressed expression before pulling himself closer and leaning into Ethos chest. The fox was a little stunned he actually did it, but he immediately melted into the action, resting himself in a way that’d be comfortable for both of them.
“You are actually rather warm… don’t tell anyone that I actually cuddled you by the way. I’m only doing this because you had an anxiety attack 30 minutes ago and I’m worried about you.” Joel whispered in a tired voice.
“I won’t. Thank you Joel.” Etho said but there was a sincerity to his voice.
He hadnt felt this comfortable in years, and considering he did actually have an anxiety attack half an hour ago, he was exhausted now.
It didn’t take long for them both to fall asleep as the movie played faintly in the background, mixing in with their gentle breathing in sleep.
-
Grian stood in front of the cake, holding the knife as everyone was gathered around and anticipating when he’d finally cut it. An hour was a ridiculous amount of time to wait for cake.
“Well?” Skizz huffed, looking at Gem who was typing away on her communicator. After a moment, she rolled her eyes with a scoff and set it down.
“They aren’t answering. You know what? Just cut it. Etho can eat the crumbs.” Gem huffed before Grian immediately got to work slicing up the pastry and serving it to everyone. He nearly devoured his slice as did everyone else.
“You don’t think they’re in trouble, do you?” Mumbo asked, still chewing a bit of cake in his mouth as he looked to Gem.
She looked down at the map on her communicator, seeing the two little Joel and Etho dots right on top of each other where Ethos living room was. She gave a soft smile down at the device before putting it away.
“Nah… I think they’re alright.”