Archive of Our Own

Jude’s always had a bad habit of saying things he doesn’t mean—well, he does that a lot, actually. It’s not exactly a surprise. He can randomly be reading a book and blurt out some random word, like dick or cock, by accident, and Parker would give him that look every time he does it. Well, now that he’s thinking about it, that’s different. What he means is that there are a few times when he says things he doesn’t actually mean—not in an “oops, I blurted out the wrong word because I was thinking about it subconsciously” kind of way.

More like, I was just kidding, but I didn’t want you to think otherwise.

Yeah, Jude’s like that. It’s probably because of his inept ability to regulate his own feelings and emotions.

Wow. The word feelings makes him shiver internally. He hates talking about feelings. Feelings mean you have to open up to someone else, and that someone else can use that against you and fuck you over sideways. So yeah, he’s got a few beefs with “feelings” along the way.

He hates talking about feelings, and he hates being the one to talk to someone about their feelings! He doesn’t give a shit, bro. Why should he help anyone at all with their own feelings? It’s so messy and hard to fix. The last thing he wants to experience is someone crying on him and expecting him to give them a hug instead of just a pat on the back and a quick good luck.

He’s pretty sure he’s allergic to the concept itself, actually. Parker’s at least broken down in front of Jude before, and the most he could do for him was make him some mushroom stew and give him ice blocks to chew on so he could distract himself from the impending doom of his caca kingdom getting blown up by Flow.

Oh boy, he’s so bad at this.

If that’s how he treats his best friend, what more could he possibly do for other people?

He’s just so bad at this, man. He can’t handle it. He’s not built for these kinds of things. Not only does he spout bullshit, but he’s utter shit at being a good friend too. Good god, what can he do aside from being handsome, smart, intelligent, and good at trapping?

“Probably be unemployed because of all the shit you pull and the people you offend with that mouth of yours. Getting yourself kicked out of every server you’re on?” Parker’s voice comes from behind him.

Jude swivels around to see him standing in his typical leather armor, staring down at him from the stairs with a raised brow. “Yo, since when were you there?” Jude asks. Parker snorts. “Since you started talking to yourself. What’s going on with you?”

Jude turns to him fully and crosses his arms as Parker walks down the stairs. “Nothing—just waiting for a sneaky-sneaky little something that’s following behind you.”

Jude’s ears twitch as he hears faint footsteps above his base. Parker pauses as well, and Jude quickly attaches a lever to the wall beside him before flicking it down.

There’s the sound of pistons moving, followed by screaming from a very specific someone.

“JUDE!”

Yeah, it’s Sharpness. Of course it’s him.

In fact, Jude had been waiting for him to stupidly stand in the exact same spot right in front of his base. That’s why he’d been mindlessly talking to himself louder than he normally should, just to get Sharp to peer into the base.

“Oh, so you were after him. I knew the invisible guy was Sharp; I just didn’t know if I was right.” Parker hums as they both quickly run toward a hole where Jude had mined out a passage to the kill chamber.

Sharp is stuck inside, desperately trying to break the armor stands with his sword. “Jude! What the hell! Get me out of here, I didn’t even do anything!” Sharp whines.

Jude can already imagine his face even if he’s invisible. Sharp has one of those faces that almost everyone can remember easily.

“Yes, you did. You’re being very, very weird,” Jude says, pulling out his sword and smacking Sharp’s legs. Sharp shrieks, trying to prop himself up inside the kill chamber, using his back and feet to keep himself from falling.

Parker easily pushes the armor stands, which shakes Sharp enough to make him lose his balance and fall backward with a loud thud, banging against the armor stands. “Weird?! I’m not—” Sharp’s voice cracks. “I’m not weird!”

“What Jude meant is, why are you stalking him?” Parker asks, stepping closer as he peers down into the hole.

Sharp’s invisibility potion finally wears off, and now Jude and Parker can see him properly.

“I’m not stalking anyone,” Sharp says, crashing back into the armor stands as Jude rolls his eyes, shaking his head at Parker. “He’s been following me for almost a week now,” he tells the Enderman hybrid, who raises both brows at Jude.

“Why the hell is he doing that?” Parker mutters.

“I didn’t do anything! I was not following him,” Sharp argues. “Now let me out of here,” he adds as Jude scoffs, rolling his eyes. He seriously has no idea why this guy is following him all around.

Now, usually, that would be really worrisome, because Sharpness and stalking don’t bode well together. That usually means Jude’s about to get slimed to hell and back by Sharp, or someone placed a bounty on his head and Sharp wanted to take the money for himself. But after almost a week, Jude has finally realized that, no, Sharp isn’t stalking him to slime him. Instead, Sharp is just… literally fucking stalking him for no reason.

Jude has no idea why or what for, but thank God Sharp isn’t out of his head. I mean—imagine being gone for a few months because you’re playing an actor for some SMP that Jude has no idea about, only to come back and start stalking him. Just what the hell is wrong with this guy?

“Okay, let’s just pull him out. I actually feel bad,” Parker finally says when Sharp starts fake-crying loudly. At this point, it’s just a bunch of noise pollution, and it doesn’t take Jude long to decide to just mine Sharp out. Sharp doesn’t even hesitate, immediately falling on top of Jude and holding onto him.

“You almost killed me!” Sharp whines as Parker kicks the armor stand back, preventing it from spilling out into the kill chamber room. Sharp rubs his cheek against Jude’s as Jude grabs his shoulder, trying to push him off.

“What the hell is wrong with you, man?” Jude says as Sharp just continues holding onto him.

“What? I can’t say hello to my friend? You’re always so busy! You were supposed to greet me when I came back!” Sharp whines, stomping his foot. Thankfully, he steps away from Jude, allowing Jude to dust off his own shoulder. His ears tremble in embarrassment, still feeling the smooth skin of Sharp’s cheek against his and remembering how warm his body felt against Jude’s.

He’s so—Wait, hold on. Why is he thinking about Sharp like this?

Ugh.

Stop it, Jude! What is wrong with your brain?

Jude shakes his head lightly, trying to push the thoughts away as Sharp just pouts at him.

“You can say hello like a normal person, by the way. Not by stalking me for a whole week! What the hell is wrong with you?” Jude makes a fist and knocks Sharp on the head, making him giggle.

“I was waiting for you to notice!” He pokes his tongue out.

“Oh, he noticed you all right,” Parker says beside Sharp, smirking at Jude. Thankfully, Sharp can’t see his face, so he doesn’t know why Jude is glaring straight at Parker.

“Did you watch the new episode yet? I was there!” Sharp says suddenly, excitedly jumping in place.

“I haven’t yet,” Jude sighs. Sharp’s face drops, but not before Parker butts into the conversation again. Parker raised his hand “I did.”

Sharp’s eyes light up as he turns to Parker, completely forgetting about Jude, who just palms his face as Sharp starts yapping at Parker.

“It was cool, right? When I used the decor pot to steal Wemmbu’s mace?” Sharp asks as Parker nods. “I suppose it is kind of cool, but there were a lot of moments where you were really sloppy. You could have easily ended a fight with a specific attack,” he says.

“Wonders of a scripted SMP,” Jude comments from the side. Parker and Sharp pause for a moment before Sharp continues, “Scripted SMPs are fun, though. It was fun working with a lot of them. Who’s your favorite main character?”

Parker’s eyes light up as the two of them head straight for the ladders leading back up to Jude’s base. Jude watches them leave. “It’s hard to say. I really like Flame, but I also like Wemmbu,” Parker says.

“I can get you to meet the two of them if you want,” Sharp replies. The two of them climb up, leaving Jude on his own as he stands there, letting out a surprised scoff.

“I do like Parrot too. You think I can also meet him?” Parker asks, his voice fading. “Oh! Definitely! Parrot is fun to talk with!” Sharp replies, his voice muffled.

Did they really just leave him here to talk about Unstable Universe? Ugh. Jude groans, ears tipping down in mild annoyance as he follows the two of them, shaking his head and rolling his eyes with much gusto.

[...]

“Judey Jude Jude Judey.”

Jude raises his head from the trap he’s trying to rewire, popping his head out of the single dirt hole he’d mined out, only to see Sharp land a few blocks away. He stifles a groan as Sharp quickly hops toward him, not even hesitating to break the block beside the broken dirt block Jude had removed so Sharp can fit beside him.

“Sharp,” Jude says with a sigh as Sharp doesn’t hesitate to cozy up beside him, his always-warm armor making contact with Jude’s before he steps back.

“Hi, Judey. What are you doing, Judey?” Sharp asks, looking at the redstone contraption underneath them. A bunch of pistons have been shut off. It wasn’t exactly griefed, but Jude had unwired most of his unnecessary traps because Tai had mostly told him to, just so they wouldn’t lag the server console. But now that it had been fixed, he was back to putting his shit back together and setting up the armor stands without worrying about the server or console bugging out on them.

“I’m supposed to be rewiring my trap, but you’re in the way,” Jude comments as Sharp lets out a small “Oh,” breaking a few blocks of dirt beside him. Jude places a few pieces of redstone beside the piston in the dirt as Sharp watches him eagerly, wearing that stupid smile of his. Jude feels a bead of sweat forming from the intense stare Sharp is giving him as he continues to rewire the whole thing and throw armor stands into the hole.

He eventually forgets about the annoying Sharp-shaped shadow at his side as he continues to work, to the point that he doesn’t even notice Sharp stalking behind him and getting closer and closer with every minute that passes. Not until Sharp is quite literally standing straight behind him.

“Are you done yet?” Sharp suddenly asks, right beside Jude’s ear.

His voice tickles Jude’s ear, causing it to flick and slap Sharp across the face. Sharp lets out an “Oof” as Jude steps back, his face turning hot and red as he holds his ears down and tugs at them.

“Dude! What is wrong with you?” Jude squeaks out, clutching his ears tightly as Sharp grins at him.

“Just asking! It usually takes you a short time to set all this up!” He tilts his head in that adorable way that makes Jude want to slam his forehead against the dirt walls.

But, of course, he can’t, so instead, he just replies through gritted teeth. “That’s because the dirt is wet and moist, so it’s dissolving most of my redstone. I gotta make sure I’m using the right amount.”

“Ohhhh,” Sharp says dumbly, nodding. Then, “What does that even mean? Why can’t you just put redstone down anywhere else?”

He tilts his head again as Jude groans internally. It’s hard to hold a conversation with someone who has no idea how redstone works, which isn’t necessarily Sharp’s fault. But, you know, it’s not like even if Jude explains himself and how it works, Sharp would understand any of it.

“Because this is what I have right now, and it’s not like I can move the whole trap to another place. For now, I can just wait for the dirt to get less wet.”

Sharp’s brows shoot up. “Okay,” he says simply, and Jude knows that Sharp didn’t understand any of that shit.

“Ugh.” Jude sighs. “What are you doing here anyway?” He glances at Sharp, who finally grins again.

“I wanna show you something. Wemmbu taught me to braid my hair to make it look good.” Sharp then turns to show Jude his braided hair. Jude stares at it for a good moment. It looks nice, very neatly braided by Sharp for someone who doesn’t even remember what north or south is unless he’s knee-deep in a deadly fight.

Then Sharp turns back to him, grinning. “How is it?” he asks, blinking rapidly at Jude in a way that Jude can almost call adorable. Which is weird. Sharp is not cute. You cannot call a grown-ass man cute, especially someone who can kill Jude in under a minute.

“Bad,” Jude blurted out before he could even think about his response, making Sharp’s brows shoot up. “...It’s bad?” he asks slowly, as if assessing Jude’s reaction. Jude’s mouth opens and closes as he stammers.

Oh god, he did it again—he said something he didn’t really mean by accident! “Uh… yeah—yeah, sure! Anyways!—wait, I forgot if I connected the redstone over there.” Jude quickly changes the subject as he pushes past Sharp, who goes quiet while Jude busies himself with a piece of redstone that was definitely connected and definitely active, considering there was stone underneath it and not dirt like he pretended to be connecting.

“Oh… Uhm.” Sharp sighs, and Jude sneaks a glance at him, only to find him looking down. Jude slaps a palm over his face for a moment and quietly groans to himself. He really did just open his big, fat mouth, huh? “Do you really think my hair is bad? What do you think I should put it on?” Sharp asks, looming over Jude, who’s crouched over the redstone, still pretending to connect the pieces together. His hands fumble with them, something that’s never happened to him before—not unless he’s under immense pressure, which usually happens when he’s at risk of being killed by more than ten players at once.

But for some reason, Sharp’s presence is making him fumble and stutter—which isn’t a surprise. It’s Sharp, and no, it’s not because Sharp has killed him many times. It’s because Jude’s carrying a… strange fascination with the blond. Well—okay, fine! He likes Sharp! Better?

He likes Sharp. He has a big, fat fucking crush on the brick wall, which just goes against the whole I don’t do feelings schmuck he’s been going on and on about. “Uh, yeah, yeah, whatever,” Jude stammers, biting his tongue in the process and yelping slightly. Behind him, Sharp’s already distracted, a pensive look on his face as he twirls the two side bangs framing his face in deep thought.

“So you don’t like my hair? Which is it? The color or the length? Or was it the braid?” Sharp asks, crouching beside Jude and getting even closer. Jude shivers at the proximity, tilting his head sideways slightly to see Sharp eyeing him with that same strange fascination, like a predator looking down at its prey—or maybe a kid looking down at a bug. It’s confusing.

It’s just his typical Sharpness weirdness, though. Jude shouldn’t think so much about it. Maybe, to Sharp, he looks particularly stabbable right now. “Yeah,” Jude says, averting his eyes from Sharp.

“Yeah to all, or yeah to…?” Sharp asks.

Quick… Jude, think.

To which, of course, he doesn’t, because the moment Sharp asks the question, Jude’s mouth moves before his mind can decide, and he’s already blurting out his answer. “The length!” Jude says, practically shrieking when Sharp gets even closer to his face. He can feel Sharp’s breath against his cheek, and Jude knocks his goggles off his forehead when he tries to push Sharp away. Sharp doesn’t even budge.

“Oh.” Sharp seems to slump at that. If he had hybrid ears—maybe like a cat; don’t ask why the first thing Jude thinks of when he imagines Sharp is a cat—Jude knows they’d be drooping down. Shit… Did he fuck up by saying that? Oh god, he’s tempted to slap his mouth repeatedly. He knows how much Sharp obsesses over his hair every day. He freaks out if branches or leaves so much as touch a single strand, and he’d go as far as stopping a fight just to make sure his hair still looks good.

But then again, mostly everything goes over Sharp’s head. Even if you tell him he sucks ass, he wouldn’t understand it, so technically, Sharp shouldn’t care at all. In Jude’s calculations, there’s an 87% chance that he won’t even remember this conversation.

“Anyways, this is done. I’m bouncing,” Jude finally says, standing up and refusing to meet Sharp’s eyes. He shouldn’t be worried about offending Sharp by accident. Even then, Jude shouldn’t care at all. Sharp’s a grown-ass man who can handle people hating on his hair, and it’s not like Jude’s the first guy to talk shit about it. So he definitely shouldn’t be worried.

In fact, there’s a 99% chance that Sharp didn’t care at all.

Is what Jude believed—because the next day, he logs back into Strength after playing Hoplite for a few days with Shadow. He comes back to spawn a little tired, prepared to finally sleep in his bed once and for all, only to see a short-haired blond standing by his burrow, sitting on a chest and juggling potions above him.

“What in the—Sharp?!” Jude almost shrieks as the person turns, revealing the familiar green eyes.

But… but… short blond hair?

Sharp grins, the potions dropping onto the floor, yet he doesn’t seem to care as he hops to his feet, runs over to Jude, and gives him a hug, almost jumping onto him. “Judey! You’ve been gone for three days! Three fucking days! Where did you go?!” Sharp whines as Jude blinks at the taller male, gaping.

Did Sharp cut his hair?

Wha—WHAT? WHY?!

“Wha—WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOUR HAIR?!” Jude basically screams. He’s definitely sure everyone who lives at spawn heard him.

Stupid Sharp just pouts and plugs his ears with his fingers as Jude practically grabs the notch on Sharp’s chestplate and tugs him closer, grabbing Sharp’s now-short hair. Jude can’t even stop the sad, depressed noise that leaves him as he touches it. Sharp seems to like it, letting out a happy hum as he allows Jude to manhandle him around, spinning him to face his back.

Jude practically lets out a dying noise as he stares at Sharp’s newly cut, short hair.

“Wha—Why… Sharp—” Jude whispers, turning Sharp towards him again as Sharp grins. “You said you didn’t like the length of my hair. I knew someone who’s good with hair, so I let him cut it. It looks good, right? He said it’s a trend these days. They call it a wolf cut? I forgot, but everyone likes the cut!” Sharp runs a hand through his hair.

Which looks good on him—but… This isn’t Sharpness’ hair! His hair is supposed to be long, almost touching the ground! This is not his hair!

“But—you loved your hair,” Jude says, almost whispering as he reaches over Sharp’s head, and Sharp easily leans closer as Jude runs his hand through the short locks.

Oh no.

Why? WHY?!

“I do, but you said you didn’t like the length, so I made the decision.” Sharp shrugs easily as Jude stammers, meeting Sharp’s eyes. Did it even matter? He wasn’t even serious about it! Why did Sharp care about his opinion at all?

“What the fuck does that even mean? Dude! Your hair is… It’s a mess! You’re just standing there looking like a mess!” Jude buries his hands in his own hair and tugs, angry.

Angry at whoever touched Sharp’s beautiful hair and cut it off like it was nothing, and angry at himself for saying that the length didn’t look good on Sharp at all, as if! Sharp’s probably the only one who can handle having long hair, even in a long ponytail where anyone could easily grab his hair and pull to gain an upper hand on him.

“A mess?” Sharp lets out a sad sound. “You said my hair didn’t look good long.” He reaches up towards his hair as Jude tugs at his own ears next, digging his nails into the fluff and pulling—it definitely hurts, but whatever. He’s super angry right now. He has half a mind to trap whoever cut Sharp’s hair and make him superglue each strand back onto Sharp’s head!

“Sharp—Sharpness, it’s your hair. Why should you care about my opinion on it? You love your hair.” Jude motions towards Sharp’s head as Sharp pouts for a moment, scuffing his boots against the dirt underneath him as he hides his hands behind his back and starts swaying shyly.

“Tai said I should be more ballsy when it comes to you,” Sharp says, his tone carrying that same pout—and yes, he’s pouting at Jude right now as Jude lets out a confused sound.

“A—Tai—wha? What ballsy? Speak English, man!” Jude grabs Sharp’s shoulders and shakes him.

Sharp just giggles a bit before pouting again when Jude glares up at him. “Sorry,” Sharp squeaks, then twirls his hair—which Jude has always noticed is a habit of Sharp’s, but now that he no longer has that long hair of his, he’s barely twirling anything at all.

In fact, he’s just twirling AIR. He’s twirling nothing. He’s twirling atoms at this point.

What the fuck! Jude wants to cry, to shout, to punch Notch straight in the balls and give him the fucking finger for setting fate on its tracks and ruining Sharpness—

Jude lets out a small breath.

Jude… breathe in… breathe out…

Sharpness is a grown-ass man, and Jude is too of course. He cannot be seriously going crazy over Sharp’s stupid decision to cut his hair—

FUCK!

Jude wants to scream. Yes, he’s going crazy. Yes it’s THAT serious.

There’s always that rare moment between them where neither of them wants to kill each other, and Sharp always wants Jude to brush his hair. Jude always says yes, of course. It gives Jude a reason to get closer to the other man, after all. And he gets to learn how to care for hair longer than his own bullshit.

HE LIKES TAKING CARE OF SHARP’S HAIR!

FUCK HIM. FUCK EVERYONE. FUCKKKK, WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO HIM?!

This is not fair—no, wait. This has to be a dream.

“This has to be a dream. A stupid nightmare, actually. You cannot have seriously cut your hair.” Jude says, feeling faint as he almost falls back if it weren’t for Sharp, who catches him by the waist.

And that sets him straight right away—shivering and pushing himself off Sharp, who just pouts. He looks like he wants to practically plaster himself all over Jude—which would be weird… But, you know, Sharp’s always been clingy with him when they aren’t fucking around and killing each other in front of other people.

“Tai said I should be more forward and start working with my feelings,” Sharp says as he gets closer.

Jude practically snaps out of his reverie at that, turning towards Sharp.

What the hell does that mean? And wait—did he just hear his trigger word, “feelings,” in that sentence?

“Wha—what the hell are you talking about? How is that going to explain your thought process for snipping most of your shit off your scalp, man?!” Jude says as Sharp lets out a whine. “So you do admit you hate it?” he says, his voice carrying a sad, stupid pout as Jude leans back, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“I—dude! I don’t—you had perfectly good hair before. Why snip it off, even?” Jude asks, one second away from blowing up like a creeper and probably killing everyone in spawn.

“Duh, because you prefer my hair shorter. You told me. I asked, of course. Tai said I have to make sure to ask first before doing something so it wouldn’t be uncomfortable, or so I wouldn’t be taking something from you without consent.” Sharp practically preens.

While Jude just internally combusts. What the hell does that mean? Oh God… He’s been awake for almost seventy-two hours, and this is what greets him the moment he logs back into Strength.

“Okay… okay—I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear the hidden meaning behind those words, just because I’m really sleepy and I’m so fucking tired right now. I can only hope that your hair isn’t real right now, or I’ll bust your barber’s nuts to hell!” Jude says, clenching a fist in front of Sharp’s face as Sharp stares at it.

Then he meets Jude’s eyes and grins. “Can I sleep in your bed?”

Jude drops his hand and gapes. What?

Sharp blushes, swaying again shyly and twirling his hair, his face turning a little red. “I wanna ask for permission. Tai told me that I should do that because you’d agree since you like having me around,” he says shyly.

What the fuck does Sharp mean by that?

H—HUH!?

[...]

Jude stares at the ceiling of his room, Sharp’s warm body pressed against his side. He’s lying on his side, staring at Jude with those weird… almost loving eyes, while Jude lies on his back, hands resting on his abdomen. His ears twitch as Sharp trails a finger over it, grazing the fur and giggling every time it twitches.

Jude swallows when he feels Sharp’s leg move, suddenly resting on top of his. Sharp shifts closer, breathing near his cheek and staring at him intensely. “Okay,” Jude finally says. “Do you have to be that close?” he asks, glancing at Sharp—not before freezing when he realizes just how close Sharp really is. Their lips almost brushed if Jude hadn’t stopped himself from fully turning his head.

So Jude slowly turns his gaze back to the ceiling, his insides practically vibrating with confusion, excitement, and giddiness at having Sharp this close. But his face can’t even mirror it because he’s too busy internally fighting his own body to not grab a lead from his chest and tie Sharp up, keeping him here in his room forever—

Okay, that’s enough, Jude. Maybe being around Sharp so much is making him act all weird. He almost sounds obsessive and weird.

“Yes, that means I get to watch you.” Sharp’s voice is low, and Jude’s ears twitch at that. He swallows as they both lie there in silence. Then Jude lets out a small, shaky sigh, closing his eyes for a moment. He probably should address the elephant in the room now. Sharp’s acting weird, and too clingy—it makes his insides dance and his heart beat like he’s about to be killed.

Which just means it’s beating really hard, but that’s not the point. It’s like something else has possessed Sharp.

Jude sighs again, opening his eyes. “Your hair is nice, Sharp. I still don’t understand why you cut it. My opinion on it shouldn’t matter. You practically grew that shit since you were a kid.”

Sharp moves as Jude tilts his head sideways again, a little disappointed yet relieved that Sharp had moved back enough for Jude to meet his eyes.

“Is it bad?” Sharp asks.

Jude scoffs a bit. “Is it bad? The hair—?”

But Sharpness cuts him off before he can even rip Sharp another one for cutting his hair. “No, me wanting to listen to what you want?” he finally says.

Jude’s mouth opens, but no words leave it. “What?” he asks.

Sharp sits up, looking down at Jude with those sad puppy-dog eyes he somehow manages to pull off so well, even with green eyes—which is honestly surprising. As far as Jude is concerned, the puppy-dog look should only work on people with brown eyes.

But Sharp is just so good at doing it.

“What do you mean by that?” Jude asks, pushing himself up onto his elbow as he stares up at Sharp with a furrowed brow. Sharp bites his lower lip.

“I don’t know… Being away from Strength for months is hard…” he says.

“You wanted to act for UU,” Jude points out, and Sharp’s shoulders slump.

“Yeah, I know. I was asked first, and I really didn’t hesitate to say yes because it sounded really exciting. I was warned that it was possible I could be gone for a year because of the production.” Sharp sighs, tilting his head to the side and pouting again.

“Well… it’s almost been a year since you last logged into Strength, so…” Jude shrugs, and Sharp seems to slump even more at that.

“It’s really hard being away from people I know and being thrown into a place I have no idea about. Unstable is a really large place, Jude. Almost billions of blocks in a single server… So many people,” Sharp says, a sense of awe in his voice.

“And I was part of the important side characters that’s meant to fight the main character!” Sharp says excitedly, and Jude huffs, rolling his eyes.

“Congrats. You missed Strength, but at least you hustle that bag,” he says with a smirk.

“But that’s not really the problem.” Sharp sighs, his lips turning downward. “I guess I missed Strength, but I missed someone more.”

Jude falls quiet at that, no quip coming out of his lips as he gazes back into Sharp’s eyes. “I realized that it really sucks being away from you, and I’ve always thought that I wouldn’t care if you’d leave or not. Because one day you’d find a better server to hang out on, and I wouldn’t be able to follow, and it would be alright. But being in Unstable, being in the largest server I’ve ever been in, made me feel small and weak without you…” Sharp admits, letting out a shaky breath, his shoulders hitching up before lowering as he exhales.

“Sharp—wha—what are you saying, man? That you miss me killing you or something? I don’t get it,” Jude asks, refusing to get his hopes up. Nothing about Sharp’s confession is romantic at all, but he can’t help but crazily hope. And even if it’s completely platonic and not romantic… well, the problem can be hidden. Jude can secretly just sock himself in the face for expecting anything more.

“Yes.” Sharp says it so simply that Jude makes a face, one brow raised.

“Are you a masochist—” Jude was then cut off by Sharp. “I want to have you forever, Jude. Like—forever, where you can’t get away from me,” Sharp says, grabbing Jude’s hand and holding onto it tightly, staring intensely into Jude’s eyes.

Jude gapes at him. “What?” Jude deadpans, mostly in confusion. That is not platonic. Nor is it even remotely normal.

Sharp grins. “I want to have you,” he says, and Jude just flops back into his pillow, mildly confused as he stares up at the ceiling. Then Sharp appears in his field of vision, smiling down at him excitedly.

“Is that a yes?” he asks.

“Uh… question.” Jude blinks, raising a finger, and Sharp perks up at that. “Yes?” he asks excitedly.

“What does that have to do with you cutting your hair?” Jude asks.

Sharp twirls his hair a bit as he seems to think about his response. “Uhm—it’s part of the deal! I follow what you want, do what you want, and you’re promised to be mine! Tai told me so.” He grins, and Jude gapes again, mouth hanging open as he stares at Sharp.

Okay…

That’s not weird at all.

The next day, thankfully, Sharp gets called out by Nufuli for a fight, so Jude finally has some space and time to breathe on his own without Sharp taking up all his space and acting all lovey-dovey, even though Jude is pretty sure Sharp just sees him as some kind of… pet?

Well, fuck. He has no fucking clue what this means at all. The confession did not go in any way Jude had assumed it would.

In fact, he expected a “You’re a dear friend of mine. Let’s stop fighting, make peace, and not war,” which is the platonic route.

Then, for the romantic route, it was more of a “Let’s make out, sloppy style, and we’ll marry each other at the beach and invite everyone. Sharp will wear the dress, and Jude gets to wear the tuxedo.”

But instead he gets… this. He has no fucking clue what it means, so naturally, he goes to the person Sharp’s been mentioning.

Tai.

The stupid-ass admin of Strength, the same ground that he basically owns. He must have said something fucking crazy to Sharp to make him act out like this.

“Tai!” Jude practically slams the door to the shieldless duo base open, and Tai—the little fucker—is just by the furnace, flinching and practically jumping out of his skin as he turns toward the door.

“Jude? What the—” Tai barely gets the words out before Jude marches up to him. “What did you do to Sharp? What the fuck did you say to him that made him act all weird with me?” Jude asks, glaring straight at Tai as Tai gives him a confused look. “What did I—whuh? Huh?! I don’t know? What did Sharp do now? I would’ve thought he’d be better. I told him to—”

There it is. Tai did do and tell Sharp something that made him act like this! “That! That! What the hell did you do you fucking freak?!” Sharp points a finger straight at Tai’s face as Tai stares at it, pushing it down. Jude just raises it back up, pointing it straight at Tai’s face as he huffs.

“What? Gave Sharp love advice?” Tai asks as Jude blinks.

Love advice? LOVE ADVICE?! WHERE?!

“Love advice? Bro, what the fuck are you on?! Why’s Sharp acting all clingy and weird? He fucking cut his hair short!” Jude says as Tai’s eyes widen at that, the voidling looking genuinely shocked.

“What? He did?! I told him not to because you’re such a bitch and you’d rather lie and eat your own bullshit than compliment him!” Tai stomps a foot.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jude says, mildly offended. “I don’t lie—I don’t fucking lie! …Well, I do, but that’s not the point! Why’s Sharp acting so freaking weird, man? It’s freaking me out!” Jude waves his hands around as Tai gives him a look.

“I thought you would’ve wanted Sharp acting on it by now. I mean, you guys have to be the most oblivious pieces of shit I’ve ever seen with my two eyes!” Tai says.

“Wha—What the fuck do you mean by that?!” Jude huffs loudly at Tai as Tai just groans.

“Ugh, Jude, the guy likes you, and you like him. I just helped him and gave him a nudge,” he says. “Remember he left for Unstable to be part of the cast? That dude pined for you for days, weeks, months! He would not stop bothering me about missing you and stuff, and his fear of you leaving him—it’s absolutely fucking crazy!”

Jude lets out a shocked squeak at that, almost falling backward. No, no, no. No passing out, JudeLow. Jude catches himself. “He likes me?” he asks.

Tai snaps his fingers. “There he is, back to the land of the living,” he says sarcastically.

Jude stares away for a moment, shocked—then comes back to his body and glares at Tai as if he’s only just realized Tai was sassing him.

“You’ve gotta be lying, Tai,” Jude says, pointing a finger at him. “Look, killing me is fine, but fucking with my head? That’s a no for me. This is not some joke—!”

Suddenly, there’s a loud firework and the whistling sound of elytra. Jude pauses, leaning away from Tai as Sharp comes in, his elytra folding back as he switches it with a chestplate.

“Judey!” Sharp practically throws himself at Jude, hugging him tightly. Jude lets out a stifled shriek as he glances at Tai, who steps back, smirking and winking at him.

Sharp leans back. “Why’d you leave your base? You said you’d wait for me after I kill Nuf.” He pouts.

It’s making Jude weak. Please stop spamming that attack, Sharp, Jude thinks to himself with great pain. “I did, but I got business with Tai. How in the fuck did you even find me?” Jude asks.

Not before Sharp takes out a compass, the red arrow pointing directly toward Jude. “I have this.” Sharp grins. Jude stares at it, then up at Sharp’s face.

“I made it for Sharp, so it only tracks you, by the way,” Tai says from behind Jude.

Jude steps aside, and the arrow follows him. Oh my god, it really is tracking him. What the hell is that?! “What the fuck? That’s stalking,” Jude says. “Breach of privacy,” he adds as Sharp grins. “You said you’re mine.”

“I didn’t! I didn’t say anything! I just said you can sleep on my bed!” Jude practically screeches. Sharp just pouts at that, plugging his ears again with his fingers as Tai pats him on the shoulder. “Damn, bro. Went straight to work. You really are a rabbit,” Tai jokes. “And ya’ll work really fast huh?”

Jude slaps his hand away. “You! What is wrong with you—in fact, what is wrong with the two of you?” Jude asks, glaring at Sharp, then at Tai, who may or may not be the reason why Sharp is acting so weird.

“Nothing’s wrong with me,” Sharp says. At the exact same time, Tai speaks as well. “Bro, stop the noise pollution. Noob’s sleeping.”

Jude groans, scratching his head roughly and messing it all up. “You made him a tracker—just for me? Tai, what the fuck is wrong with—give me that!”

He snatches the compass from Sharp’s hand, who lets out a whine and a pout as Jude stuffs the compass into his inventory, making sure to note in his head that he is never, ever going to let Sharp get this—

Not until a compass appears above Sharp, and Sharp lets out a happy sound, grabbing it as it falls into his palms. The red arrow still points in Jude’s direction.

“What the—” Jude says, then glares at Tai, who grins at him. He’s got half a mind to throw this guy into a hole.

“Okay… okay! Sharp, go outside. Me and Tai are going to talk,” Jude says, glaring at Sharp. He knows this guy won’t listen right away because, out of everyone, Sharp is the nosiest and most annoying guy to ever exist. And as he said, he never listens to—

“Oki,” Sharp says, quickly skipping out of Tai’s base and gently shutting the door behind him.

Jude gapes, then glances at Tai, who shrugs. “He listened to me,” Jude says, pointing at the shut door, then at himself.

“Like I said, he likes you.”

“That’s not it, man—that’s not romantic. He doesn’t like me. He wants me as a fucking pet!” Jude growls, clenching his fists as Tai rolls his eyes.

“Everyone has different love languages. Sharp’s doing his best, bro. Stop putting him down,” Tai says.

Jude lets out a choking noise at that. “I’m not—I—I’m not putting him down at all!”

Tai gives him a nonplussed look. “You kinda are. Look, the guy is trying his best. He’s not the most romantic person in the world, but you like him and he likes you.” He points at Jude, who chokes again, shaking his head as his face starts to grow hot, turning red as his ears perk up. He shivers and trembles, the fur standing on all ends.

“I’m not—!”

Jude is cut off when Tai raises a hand to block Jude’s face. “You may be the most obvious guy ever, okay? You don’t have to deny it to me. Everyone knows the Sharplow allegations are true. You don’t have to lie, by the way. And don’t tell me you don’t like this. Sharp is quite literally obsessed with you, man. He’d probably kiss the ground you walk on if you wanted him to.”

Jude blinks. “He doesn’t like me.” He still doesn’t buy it.

Tai smirks. “Why don’t you want to bet on it? Trust me, him being away from you changed something inside him. He’s obsessed with you, man. I swear I’m not lying. He’s not fucking with you, and I’m not fucking with you either.” He raises both hands, showing Jude that he’s backing him up as Jude glowers.

He doesn’t buy it at all! This is weird—this is getting really weird.

“This is getting weird.” Jude steps back, unsure, trying to ignore the excitement at the thought of Sharp’s eyes only focusing on him forever, but he quickly stomps it down.

“Well, you guys are kinda weird. Only the two of you would kill each other naked,” Tai says with a wink.

Jude practically makes a disgusted sound at that. “I’m leaving, man… and I don’t fucking like Sharp. Whoever told you that deserves to fall into a one-by-one hole.” Jude steps back farther, pointing at Tai with a glare as Tai just smirks and shrugs.

“Alrighty,” he says.

Jude runs toward the door, opening it before almost screaming his heart out when he finds Sharp standing there, smiling down at him.

“Hi, Judey,” he says, grinning.

“What is he doing here?” Parker asks as he, Shadow, Cow, Godis, and Bitzel peer toward Jude, who’s sitting with a certain blond-haired someone holding onto his arm and leaning against him. The six of them are waiting for the lobby to start up.

“When you said you had a plus-one, I did not expect it to be one of your friends in Strength,” Shadow comments.

Jude groans loudly, shutting his eyes as he tugs his arm away from Sharp, who immediately grabs it again and holds on.

“He isn’t my friend,” Jude says, at the same time Sharp speaks. “So are you, like, Jude’s dad?” Sharp stares at Shadow’s white hair, making Shadow’s brows shoot up for a moment before he snorts.

“He’s really not that old,” Bitzel comments as Godis gives a so-so gesture.

“Wow, this is so awkward. Just tell ’em you’re bringing your boyfriend. We won’t mind,” Cow says.

Jude splutters at that as Sharp grins. “He’s not my boyfriend,” Jude argues.

“That’s right, he’s my wife,” Sharp comments. Jude splutters again, confused as hell as he turns to Sharp while the others laugh and giggle.

“Damn, I didn’t know he was that good,” Shadow whispers to Parker.

Jude shakes and trembles in embarrassment. “It’s not like that! Sharp’s just being weird!” Jude says, planning to explain more, but a loud bell rings, followed by a large countdown appearing above the lobby, cutting him off.

The six of them appear in a small enclosure, the timer above them counting down as Sharp practically plasters himself against Jude after spawning right beside him.

And yeah, this is normal... This is normal. Sharp’s just being weird. Sharp totally did not call him his wife—that would be weird. He misheard him. Yep. Definitely.

By the time the game starts, Sharp practically follows Jude anywhere and everywhere. It’s like Jude earned himself a brand-new tail, with Sharp doing basically everything for him and tailing after him. Jude wants wood? Sharp might as well turn the whole map bald for some wood. Jude needs to clear out the kill chamber? Sharp practically builds an entire room for it.

“Good Notch—what is wrong with your boyfriend? You never told me about him either. Since when did this happen?” Shadow comments as Sharp helps Cow put up a bunch of banners and signs around the drop to the kill chamber.

Jude startles, glaring straight at Shadow. 

“He’s not—!” Jude breathes out, calming himself. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

Shadow gives him an unbelieving look. “Okay—well, I do feel a bit offended that the others seem to know the Sharplow—” Jude practically slaps a palm over Shadow’s mouth as Shadow lets out a muffled, “Hmmf—!”

“What the fuck—! What the fuck are you talking about, dude?!” Jude says angrily as Shadow easily pushes his hand down.

“Am I lying? I mean, isn’t he the guy Parker’s talking about?” Shadow tilts his head. “Also, wait...” His eyes narrow. “His face is highly familiar. Is he an actor? Though it’s hard to say. His hair is kind of different.”

Jude feels a pang of pain in his chest at the mention of Sharp’s hair before groaning. “Yes, he plays as himself in Unstable, yes, the scripted SMP, and no, you can’t get an autograph,” Jude says.

Shadow goes through multiple facial expressions before pouting at Jude. “Now you’re just being rude. Have you completely forgotten who’s better than you?” he teases.

“People! Grace period has ended! Why are you two dawdling outside the said trap?!” Bitzel yells at them, peeking out from a single dug-out block and glaring at Shadow and Jude, who both groan.

“We’re baiting, okay?” Jude grumbles. They both jump down the hole as Bitzel patches it back up.

“All right, everyone already knows how the trap and plan go. Jude and Bitzel—” Parker pauses when Sharp stares at him. “And Sharp will bait. Godis makes sure they die at the bottom. Me, Shadow, and Cow will be under the trap, so when it opens, we’ll be ready for the horde of players and push them. That’s basically all.”

Parker claps his hands, and everyone gets to work.

Jude quickly swims up the tunnel toward the surface, along with Bitzel and Sharp, and heads straight for the Cornucopia to bait some players.

“Judey, I’m gonna protect you.” Sharp skips beside Jude excitedly as Jude groans, shaking his head. He doesn’t need protecting at all—ugh. “Wow, that’s sweet of you, Sharp. Since when did you stop wanting to kill Jude?” Bitzel asks, trailing behind them with a teasing grin aimed at Jude, who internally groans and rolls his eyes.

“Since my initial realization that I need Jude,” Sharp says.

Jude feels his face heat up at the breathless tone in Sharp’s voice and the sheer awe in it—something Jude can’t even call fake, because he doesn’t think he’s ever heard Sharp sound like that before.

“Now, that’s very sweet of you, Sharp. Notch knows we need someone to watch over Jude’s back. Also, I like the new style. Pretty gnarly,” Bitzel comments.

Sharp preens at that. “It’s Jude’s idea. Of course it’s good,” he says. If he were a bird, he’d be shaking his feathers by now.

“Oh?” Bitzel raises a brow at Jude, who refuses to meet his eyes.

“Yeah!” Sharp replies.

Bitzel eyes Jude. “I could’ve sworn Jude really likes your long hair,” he says suspiciously. Jude bites his lower lip, tempted to find a tree and smack his forehead against it again and again.

Yes, Bitzel, continue to smother Jude’s face with his mistake. Yes, keep it up, diva! FUCK—him and his big mouth. He’s really tempted to slap himself to death.

“Oh well, he prefers the short hair more. But whatever Jude wants, he gets,” Sharp says proudly, knocking his shoulder against Jude’s.

Jude stifles a small groan. Thankfully, the conversation gets cut short when they spot a team ganging up on two people. “Oh! There, let’s get the kill so they’ll chase after us,” Jude says, grabbing Sharp’s arm on instinct.

Both Sharp and Bitzel nod as the three of them rush toward the fight. 

“Mosh pit!” Jude practically screams excitedly, but not before Sharp tugs on the back of his chest plate and shields him from an attack, easily parrying it back.

Jude lets out a confused sound. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, what the fuck are you doing, Sharp?” he asks, while Bitzel gets his ass handed to him off to the side.

“I’m protecting you and watching your back,” Sharp says, killing a player.

“Dude, we’re supposed to trap them—run!” Bitzel says, running past them and dodging an arrow over his head.

Sharp grabs Jude’s wrist and runs, tugging him toward Bitzel, who’s now heading straight for the trap while the players behind them chase after them like the dumbasses they are.

“More like watching my front—” Jude says with a roll of his eyes. “I’m not completely stupid when it comes to fighting, dude!” He snarks at that, pulling his wrist away from Sharp, who pouts.

“I didn’t say that. You’re a good fighter… kind of.” Sharp shrugs a single shoulder.

Jude practically gasps at that. “You have that tone that basically says you don’t believe the shit you’re saying! I can fight!” Jude growls, pushing Sharp, who just seems to find it funny, giggling.

“I know—but not like that.” Sharp grins right back at him, and Jude feels his face heat up at that.

“Then what do you mean by that?” Jude asks, huffing as he and Sharp split around a tree to dodge it before running shoulder to shoulder again.

“I just want to protect and watch over you. Is that so bad? Besides, you need me,” Sharp says, looking proud of himself.

Jude scoffs, rolling his eyes. Him? Needing Sharp? Fuck no. “Okay, now you’re just saying shit. Come on, I don’t need you. I’m a perfectly grown man who decides what he eats for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can’t even do all of those,” Jude says.

Sharp gasps, pouting. “I can do that!” he says, blowing a raspberry at Jude, who rolls his eyes again.

“Oh, don’t try to fool me, man. You can’t even cook for shit. What makes you think you can be more grown than me?” he says.

“I can protect you better than anyone can protect you, you know that.” Sharp knocks their shoulders lightly again as they continue to run.

“Yeah, as if. You think you can stop an arrow from hitting me? What are you, a superhero—AH!”

Jude is suddenly pulled against Sharp’s chest as an arrow passes by where he was standing, flying straight toward his head.

Sharp quickly scoops Jude up into a bridal carry and jumps into the trees, while Bitzel quickly mines downward. Thankfully, no one notices him, because the players immediately chase after Sharp, who easily dodges the arrows heading his way as Jude clings tightly to him, screaming his head off.

Oh god—this is so dizzying. Jude thought to himself, barely even processing that Sharp was carrying him toward the trap, jumping through the trees and dodging a few more arrows. Then he jumped over the trap, and the moment the others stepped onto it, Jude heard the pistons clacking as the dirt opened up beneath everyone else's feet. 

The enemy players fell straight down into the water-clogged slab pit as they were all knocked onto the 1-by-1 hole leading into the kill chamber by Shadow, Parker, and Cow. Five consecutive thunder rings sounded above them, and every single enemy player died to the trap.

“See?” Sharp said with a grin, helping Jude back onto his feet as Jude stumbled a little, still kind of fuzzled from all the running and carrying Sharp had done. Since when was he a movement demon? 

“What was that?” Jude asked as the floor closed up.

“I got more on my ass, get ready, guys. Jude! Sharp!” Bitzel called. Jude barely had time to react before Sharp quickly pulled him aside, digging into the dirt beneath them and making a tunnel underneath the pitfall trap to hide.

The dirt opened again, and Jude watched as Bitzel jumped over the hole with a loud yelp, only for it to open too early when Cow triggered it. Two players fell down with a thump before Shadow and Parker easily knocked them toward the 1-by-1 kill chamber. Two thunder bursts sounded above their heads, indicating they were dead.

“They were stacked! Oh my god!” Bitzel yelled as he also dug down, settling beside Jude and Sharp, who were just sitting in the dirt while most of the others rushed into the kill chamber to loot those assholes.

“Holy shit, you got the stacked team. Yeah, we're winning this now,” Parker said.

“We are definitely winning this,” Cow agreed, throwing Godis some diamond leggings and boots while Jude quickly placed down the enchanting table he'd found among the mess of items on the floor, gearing himself up as fast as he could.

“Here.” Sharp handed him fifteen golden apples and two g-heads. Jude gaped at him. “That's too much. Give some to everybody.”

“No, I crafted this. There's more with them. You need it,” Sharp said, throwing the items to Jude, who caught them. “What about you?” Jude asked, glancing at Sharp. He'd gotten himself a harpoon launcher and an enchanted diamond sword, quickly swapping out his iron sword for it and strapping both weapons to his waist with ease.

“I won't need it,” Sharp said. Jude gave him a look. “Now that's just plain stupid.”

He tossed Sharp seven golden apples and some gold steak. Sharp seemed to turn red at that, then grinned as he took them. “Thanks,” he said shyly.

“Please stop flirting, you lovers. I don't know about the two of you, but I want to win this game so I can end the day knowing I won something else and that I wasn't quick-dropped by Leek,” Cow said, suddenly appearing between Sharp and Jude.

Jude flinched, startled, and turned to see Cow glaring down at them—only for his expression to soften. “You can kiss later.” He smirked.

Jude choked at that, while Sharp turned a little red and glanced at him. Jude refused to meet his eyes, quickly enchanting his diamond helmet and boots before slipping them on.

In the end, their team won. Sharp ended up saving Jude a few more times and getting most of the team's kills, while Jude barely had any kills or even assists aside from one bot that chased after him and got trapped.

Yeah, no. This isn't working.

“That was fun—also, you're the guy from Unstable, right? Can I get your autograph?” Shadow asked, clapping his hands together.

Sharp's eyes lit up, and he nodded. Beside him, Jude slapped a hand over his face, dragging it down slowly as he glared at Shadow, who excitedly pulled out his notebook and quill and handed them to Sharp. Sharp happily signed his autograph onto the page.

“I really, really love the new arc, but I swear, I was annoyed by your character for a hot moment. Then I realized you were kinda funny,” Shadow admitted.

Sharp grinned and shrugged. “Eh, the director said I should be both funny and annoying. I'm glad it worked!” He handed the notebook and quill back to Shadow. “For someone who has no acting background, you did really well as a supporting side character,” Shadow said with a nod.

Jude sighed sharply, shaking his head. He's gonna combust at this point if they continued talking about Unstable.

“Guys,” he finally said. Like a dog to a bone, Sharp immediately turned toward him. “Yeah?”

“Can't you just get Sharp's IGN and talk about this through DMs? I wanna go back to Strength. The others already left. Come on.” Jude stomped a foot.

Shadow seemed to smirk at that, rolling his eyes behind those thick glasses before pushing them up the bridge of his nose and taking out his communicator.

“Alright, sorry, Judey. My bad—here, let me add your boyfriend. What’s your IGN?” Shadow says with a teasing tone as Jude lets out a noise at that, stomping his feet again. It’s not like he can do anything about it as he watches Sharp and Shadow move closer, showing their IGNs to each other. “Okay, I got it. I sent a hello, look.” Shadow says, closing his communicator.

Sharp looks down at his and nods. “I got it.” He grins, then snaps it shut as well, hanging it by his hip before turning to Jude. “Let’s go?” He asks, and Jude bites his lower lip, meeting Shadow’s eyes. Shadow smirks at him, winking and making a heart shape with his hands. Jude growls at him, ears folding back in annoyance.

When they get back to Strength, it’s already night, and Jude’s eyes are already starting to close as he runs down to his base, yawning. Behind him, Sharp follows, and Jude suddenly halts, turning to Sharp, who stops as well, staring down at him.

“Woah, woah, woah, what are you doing, bro?” Jude asks, stopping Sharp, who gives him a confused look, tilting his head. Jude groans internally again.

Is he doing it on purpose?

“I thought you said I can use your bed.” Sharp pouts as Jude lets out a noise. “That was only for one time. And I couldn’t sleep with you staring at my face,” he says.

“Can I use it with you again?” Sharp grins.

“No.” Jude deadpans.

Sharp’s grin falls, and he pouts, clasping his hands together. “Please, Judey? I don’t want to sleep without you around—and I don’t have a place to sleep. My back hurts from the branches and the dirt and the stone,” he whines as Jude palms his own face, tired as hell.

“Are you trying to guilt-trip me right now?” Jude asks.

Sharp blinks prettily at him. “Is it working?”

Jude just crosses his arms over his chest. “Nope,” he says—which is a lie, because it is working, and he can’t really handle Sharp’s pouting and whining.

“Pleaseee, Judey. You said yes, that you’re mine.” Sharp says, pouting at him and letting out a stupid dog-like whine as Jude’s ears twitch at that.

“I didn’t say anything about that. I still have no fucking clue what you mean by that, man. Now get out of here.” Jude says, waving him off.

Sharp just lets out another whine, sitting down on the stairs with a sad pout. “Jude.” Sharp says, and Jude stops in his tracks as he moves away, stepping off the stairs.

“Jude. I can’t sleep alone.” Sharp sighs sadly, his voice low.

Jude turns towards him, seeing Sharp’s shoulders slump with that overexaggerated sadness, blinking up at Jude sadly. His eyes look glassy.

Jude blinks, then groans.

Oh god… This is new…

Sharp’s never done this to him before.

“—Sharp.” Jude chokes out, his face heating up as he walks up to the other, who’s now staring up at him with a pout, his lower lip jutting out.

Oh, he can’t do this—FUCK. Jude’s prepared to internally combust for real now. Why is Sharp doing this to him? Does he find this fun?

“Ugh! Fine! Let’s go, gosh darn it.” Jude slaps his own face with his palm as Sharp quickly perks up at that. “Yay!”

Sharp stands up and skips towards Jude’s room as Jude groans, following behind him. He shuts the lanterns around his place as he follows Sharp, who’s already pulling his own armor off easily, leaving himself in his light coat. He unties the lace as well before flopping down onto the bed and reaching up towards his own hair—before pausing.

Jude sees the movement and feels himself bite his own tongue as Sharp sighs, flopping back down onto the bed and wiggling a bit to get comfortable. Jude shucks his own armor off, slowly, though, as he watches Sharp.

Then his eyes snap back to Sharpness’ hair. He sighs sharply, taking Sharp’s attention. Sharp looks up, snuggling into Jude’s pillow.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, flopping onto his chest.

Jude sighs, running his hands through his hair and over his ears, patting the fur lightly to get any dust or whatever else attached to his fur from the entire time he’s been handling redstone. It’s not hard for any crap to stick to his fur, after all.

“Nothing.” Jude mutters, shrugging his thick jacket off his shoulders, leaving him in his shirt and pants before eventually pulling himself toward the closet. He uses the door to block Sharp’s view as he changes into something more comfortable. Sharp moves eagerly, as if he wants to watch Jude strip butt-ass naked. Jude glances at him, seeing Sharp peering over, hands gripping the edge of his shirt.

“What are you doing?” Jude asks as Sharp grins goofily at him.

“Nooothing.” Sharp smiles.

Jude glares at him for a moment before moving the door again to make sure Sharp really can’t see him. He quickly changes his shirt into a looser one and his pants into some shorts, taking off his boots and throwing them inside his closet before shutting it closed. When he turns around, Sharp is back on the pillow, snuggling into it and looking incredibly soft as he waits for Jude. Jude moves closer and sits down on the edge of the bed, and Sharp looks up at him for a moment.

They’re both quiet. Jude reaches over to his nightstand, where he has an unlit lamp, bringing it out and placing it on the nightstand before lighting it. He then reaches over to the lever switch and turns off the lantern above them, sitting back down on the bed and looking at Sharp, who is now softly illuminated by the yellow light of the lamp.

“Good?” Jude asks.

Sharp hums, blinking slowly at him. Jude can already see the day getting to him. He’s tired, clearly fighting sleep as he snuggles so softly into the pillow.

Sharpness yawns. “It’s a good day today. It’s fun trapping with other trappers. Shadow’s pretty cool—he’s kinda nerdy.” He comments with a grin.

Jude rolls his eyes, smirking lightly. Yeah, Shadow’s a goddamn nerd.

“Yeah, no one can beat the trap god,” he admits.

Sharp snorts at that. “My Judey would never say that.”

Jude feels his heart race at that, his face heating up as he looks back at Sharp—not even noticing that he’s refusing to meet Sharp’s eyes.

My Judey?

“Well, I do know my own limits.” Jude’s voice cracks slightly as he clears his throat, finally meeting Sharp’s eyes, which are crinkled with amusement.

“I like today really much. I want it to happen every day,” Sharp says softly.

Jude swallows at that, looking away. Is this “feelings”? Or is it another one of Sharp’s misleading words again? Does it even matter? Should it even matter, in fact?

“It can happen,” Jude murmurs softly as he moves closer to Sharp, just sitting there and refusing to lay down as he finally gazes down at him—looking at his face, his eyes, his lips, then his hair, before returning to his eyes.

“Really?” Sharp asks, eyes wide. “I mean…” Jude stammers, his face heating up again as he shrugs. “It can if you stop being a bitch.”

Sharp pouts at that, his face falling. “You’re such a tsundere. Tai was right,” he whines, muttering under his breath as Jude’s ears twitch.

“That word doesn’t even exist, man. Stop using it on me. I’m not a tsundere.” Jude huffs.

Sharp just grumbles. “You’re being a meanie to me every time we talk. I just want your attention.” He sighs dramatically.

Jude places his palm over Sharp’s face, earning a small giggle from him. “What are you doing?”

“Shutting you up. Please go to sleep, please go to sleep, please go to sleep.” Jude says it like a mantra under his breath, but not quietly enough for Sharp to miss it.

Sharp giggles as Jude shakes his head slightly, hoping to Notch that he’ll finally fall asleep.

“That won’t work,” Sharp says.

“I can hope,” Jude replies quickly.

Sharp giggles again before falling quiet. Jude continues it. Sharp has gone completely silent, and for a moment, Jude stops.

Did it work?

Jude lowers his hand to see Sharp’s eyes closed, his breathing soft. The rabbit hybrid stares down at the most beautiful man in the world, his face going soft.

Why is he so hard to understand? Why is he doing all of this? What does he want from Jude?

Jude eyes Sharp’s hair again, then his closed eyes. He’s asleep, so it would be fine.

Jude reaches over and runs his hand through Sharpness’ hair, feeling a pang of sadness when he feels the short locks. He continues gently running his fingers through Sharp’s hair before pulling his hand back.

“Hmmf, that felt good. Why’d you stop?” Jude flinches when Sharp whines, opening his eyes to look up at Jude, who almost shrieks.

“You’re awake!?” Jude asks.

“I didn’t sleep. I just closed my eyes,” Sharp says, raising a brow before smiling. “Can you do it again? Your hands on my hair always feel good. Please?” He tugs repeatedly on Jude’s shirt, making Jude groan.

“Sharp—dude, stop it. You’re being weird. First, you cut your hair for no reason at all besides saying to me that I want you to do it. Then now you’re getting all….” Jude trails off.

“All?” Sharp asks.

“All… clingy. It’s weird. Why are you doing that?” Jude asks, brows furrowed.

Sharp looks at him for a moment. “Do you not like it?” His voice turns weak and small, making Jude startle.

“I—what—?” Jude asks as Sharp sighs, sitting up to look Jude straight in the eyes. Their eyes meet at the same head level, though Sharp has to lean a bit on his elbows.

“Do you want me to leave?” Sharp asks, and Jude lets out a noise at that. “I—why?” He tilts his head.

Sharp frowns, looking at his lap before glancing back at Jude. “Because I made you uncomfortable? Tai said that it could be a possibility if I do it.” Sharp sighs, making a sad pout. It looks more genuine than anything as he stares off at the far wall while Jude watches him.

“Do what?” he asks. But Sharp just shrugs, already moping, as Jude lets out a small, soft scoff. “Why’d you cut off your hair?” he asks finally.

Sharp is quiet for a moment, not responding. Then he glances at Jude. “Because I want you to like me? Isn’t it obvious?” Sharp asks.

Jude blinks.

Huh?

What?

WHAT?!

Tai was serious about that shit?

It was—look, Jude is not oblivious or stupid. He knows a bunch of shit. He’d know if Sharp was trying to… Hold on. Sharp hasn’t even said if the “like” is romantic. For all Jude knows, Sharp just wants to be friends. For what? Jude has no fucking clue whatsoever.

It’s not like things will change even if Jude considers Sharp his friend and vice versa.

“Wuh—what? Why? And why would I even care about your hair?” Jude asks.

Sharp suddenly looks embarrassed. “But you said it didn’t look good. I want to look good for you, so you won’t have to look at anyone else and think they’re much better than me,” he admits softly, his voice lowering to almost a whisper.

What the hell? What does that even mean? Jude thinks to himself. Honestly, he’s had enough of this emotional rollercoaster. He can’t handle this at all.

“What the—okay, let me get this straight. Somehow, your looks matter to me?” Jude asks.

Sharp just frowns and nods.

“And what does that mean for me?” Jude asks after a few beats. “You fucking gay for me or something?”

He means it more as a joke than a jab, mostly because he’s still trying to poke and prod at Sharp, trying to understand what the hell he’s getting at. Sharp seems to be allergic to just stating what the ever-living fuck he’s talking about.

“Uhm… Is that what they call it?” Sharp’s brows furrow.

Jude gapes at him. Wait, so—“I guess you can say I am gay for you if that is the right term?” Sharp scratches his head. “You like me?” Jude asks, still kind of shocked. Sharp nods, grinning a bit.

“You like like me?” Jude asks again, just to be sure.

“Yeah! I like you. I thought I already told you?” Sharp tilts his head. Jude makes a fist, his face incredibly red, then knocks it against Sharp’s head. Sharp lets out a loud whine. “Ouchie!”

“You said you wanted to own me! That’s different! I thought you were planning to fucking make me a fucking… pet or something. What the fuck, man?”

Jude probably shouldn’t be talking to Sharpness like that, considering the beautiful man he’s secretly crushing on is somehow in love with him. Maybe?

In fact, anger and annoyance should be his first thoughts at all this. But how can he even react when Sharp has baited him so many times that he’s got everything confused?

Sharp suddenly perks up. “Oh! That’s a good idea!”

“No!” Jude snaps at him.

Sharp grins.

“Notch—why can’t you just say it straight?” Jude palms his face, then runs a hand through his hair, pushing it back. Sharp pouts, tilting his head. “I did.”

Jude just glares at him. “No, you didn’t! You were all poetic and shit about wanting to have me. Do you know how weird it sounded without context?” Sharp’s grin falls as realization dawns on him, his eyes widening.

“I didn't mean it like that! It was metaphorical! I said it in a way that I just want you to be mine! Like, in a ‘I like you’ way!” Sharp says, horrified.

Jude slaps a hand over his face, groaning as he drags it down. “You could have just told me.”

“I thought you knew. You let me sleep in your bed.” Sharp whines, and Jude flushes harder at that. Oh god, he did let Sharp into his bed, and he didn't even know Sharp was just trying to romance him. And here he thought they were making progress.

“I—uh, wuh—so you're saying you thought I agreed and that we were dating? Meanwhile, I thought you were just being weird?” Jude asks.

Sharp pouts at that, looking mildly offended by the ‘being weird’ comment. But then he nods, only for his face to suddenly drop.

“Does this mean you didn't want it?” he asks, horrified, looking guilty and hurt.

“No!” Jude quickly cuts him off.

Sharp's face turns confused. “No?”

Jude flushes again. “I—no, I, uh—look, can we just talk first about the fact that you're willing to do stupid shit just to—to date me?” Jude motions toward Sharp's hair.

“Oh.” Sharp reaches up and ruffles it a little.

“You love your hair, don't you?” Jude asks.

Sharp shrugs. “I don't know. I do, but I guess I love you more?” he says with a confused expression.

Jude just blinks at him, pinching his own wrist to stop himself from screaming and resisting the temptation to throw a celebration party.

“Okay…” Jude says, his voice getting squeaky at the end as he places his hands on his lap and pinches his thighs instead.

“Okay?” Sharp asks, looking worried as he finally sits up properly, crossing his legs and staring at Jude with a serious expression that Jude rarely sees from him.

“Look, uh, I didn't like it,” Jude starts, doing the same as Sharp as they both stare at each other.

“What?” Sharp's face drops, and Jude quickly explains himself. “Wait, not that! I mean you cutting your hair and doing stupid things just because you think it'll make a relationship longer and better.”

“Oh.” Sharp's face looks relieved. Then he looks confused. “Shouldn't it not matter since it's for someone you really care about?” he asks, tilting his head.

Jude lets out a sharp sigh, dragging his palms over his face. “No! Of course not. You still gotta remember to consider yourself. Would you jump off a cliff if I told you to?”

Sharp's mouth opens. Jude raises a brow. Then Sharp closes his mouth. “YOU WILL?!” Jude shrieks loudly as Sharp plugs his ears with his fingers.

“It's not like I'm going to die,” Sharp comments, as if that makes the fact that he'd willingly jump off a cliff if Jude so much as told him to any better.

“That doesn't make me feel better, by the way! What if the respawn anchor is off? What then?” Jude asks. Sharp blinks. “You didn't tell me not to water bucket… so I would technically jump and catch myself.”

“Oh my god, that's not the point,” Jude says, groaning. He slaps his face with a loud smack.

Sharp groans as well, whining. “I don't get what you want me to do, Judey. I really like you, so why can't I just do whatever you want? I want to! I don't care!” Sharp huffs, crossing his arms over his chest and slumping over with a big frown plastered across his face.

Jude watches him. “And if I don't like you back?” he tests. Sharp's eyes widen slightly as he meets Jude's eyes. “Oh…” Sharp trails off. “I guess I'll still do it as long as it doesn't make you uncomfortable…” He looks away for a moment, already looking like he's overthinking it.

Jude has half a mind to leave him there to overthink everything for confusing Jude so much. But it looks like he's a good guy for tonight because Jude sighs and scoots closer to Sharp, their knees bumping lightly.

“I… uh…” Jude starts, rubbing the back of his neck and refusing to meet Sharp's eyes.

“I like you too,” Jude says, squeezing his eyes shut.

He hears a small gasp, and for a moment, Jude just sits there, frozen. Then Sharp quite literally pulls him into his arms and hugs him tightly. “Yay!” Sharp says. Jude's eyes snap open and he pushes Sharp back.

Yay? Yay?! That's all? After the both of them quite literally plucked out their hearts and talked about it like actual grown men? “Yay? Yay? Are you serious right now?” Jude groans, leaning away from Sharp with a frown—a frown, not a pout, his ears flopping in mild annoyance. Sharp tries to reach for him for another hug but Jude just dodges it. Sharp drops his arms with a big pout. “What's wrong with yay?” Sharp asks. 

“Yays are for duds!” Jude punches Sharp's arm, making him whine. “Ouchie! You're such a meanie, Judey. What's wrong with you?” Sharp whines, though there's more playfulness than anything else in his voice.

“No one says yay after being confessed to, you ass!” Jude says, annoyed.

Sharp just pouts. “First, there is a term, now there is a rule on how to react to a confession? What has the world turned into?” he asks dramatically, shaking his hands as Jude simply rolls his eyes at him. “Don't be dramatic.”

“Dramatic? I'm barely dramatic. You literally got angry at me for saying yay,” Sharp argues, though there's no bite to it. Jude can practically hear the smile on his face as he says it.

“Ugh, whatever,” Jude says, though he can't ignore the excited beating of his heart at that.

Sharp suddenly perks up. “So does that mean we're husband and… husband?” he asks, excited.

“Sharpness, we have to marry first for that to happen. We usually call it boyfriends.” Jude rolls his eyes as Sharp lets out an, “Ohhh, okay!”

“Then should we marry each other now?” Sharp tilts his head, and Jude flushes at that. What? That's too fast! “Bro, that's too fast. By Notch—do you even know how a relationship works?” Jude asks. Sharp shrugs, then shakes his head. “Tai taught me.”

Well, looks like that's the problem, Jude thinks dryly. Tai teaching someone like Sharpness—yeah, like that won't end in a disaster.

“Yeah, okay, you're cooked,” Jude says, almost laughing when Sharp's face falls. “Kidding, you got me, so don't worry.”

Sharp perks up again, then suddenly looks angry. “You had another relationship besides me?” he asks, huffing. At this point, he might as well be blowing out steam.

Jude stammers. “I—uh—yeah? I mean, I had a girlfriend and two boyfriends, but it was back when I was younger,” he admits. Sharp lets out a growl. “I'm killing them, then.” He looks determined as Jude rolls his eyes.

“Okay, you're overreacting now. Relationships are normal.” Sharp just huffs, annoyed. “Well, I'm gonna be your last one,” he says.

Jude snorts. “And I'm gonna be your first one. I feel a bit honored,” he admits.

Sharp brightens up at that. “My first and only one! My Judeeeeey.” He says it with such awe that Jude feels his stomach flutter at Sharp's tone and expression.

It feels like there are bees buzzing inside his stomach.

“Okay—okay,” Jude says.

“Should we kiss now? Tai says I should kiss you the moment it was official. I didn't get to do it the first time, but I'm thankful I didn't. I would have lost it!” Sharp says with a gasp.

Jude snorts. As if that would change his decision about Sharp. If anything, it would have made things faster and easier for him because at least Sharp showed him—

Then they stare at each other, their eyes dropping to each other's lips before meeting again. For a rare moment, Jude sees Sharp's face turn red. It's faint, but his cheeks are definitely blushing. Jude feels his own face heating up as well, but whatever. He's always been slightly rosy-cheeked anyway.

Slowly, they both lean closer.

Oh my god. Are they going to kiss?! Sharp gazes into Jude's eyes, then the both of them lean away, flushed and embarrassed.

“We shouldn't yet,” they say at the same time. “We don't need to rush into things,” Jude says, and Sharp nods.

“You're right! But I still want to marry you!” he says, making Jude flush even harder. Trust Sharp to be scared of kissing him but somehow want to marry him first. “Can we cuddle, though?” Sharp asks, and Jude looks at him.

“Well, fuck it. Why the fuck not?” Jude promptly crashes into Sharp's body, trusting him to catch him. Which he does, and the two of them fall onto the pillows, holding each other. They stay like that for a moment as Jude runs a hand through Sharp's hair.

“You're going to grow your hair out, whether you like it or not, okay? I can't believe you almost turned yourself bald.” Jude clicks his tongue.

Sharp giggles at that, his shoulders shaking as he wraps his arms around Jude's waist and buried his face into his neck with a deep breath.