#impy and doc roommates has been rotating in my mind for months now

[dmwrites]

“Dude, you really need a front door.”

Impulse jumped and yelped a little too high pitched for a burly dwarf, turning around to find Doc standing behind him.

“Doc! Hi! Yeah, it’s a work in progress, you know how it goes.” Impulse chuckled and ran a hand ruefully over his beard, mentally scolding himself for not building a door. Now Doc was going to think he was less cool and put together!

“If you’re not careful, any ol’ mob could come right in.” Doc smiled, leered almost, then dropped the dramatics after a second and sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Impulse, I need a favor from you, and I hate to ask but I must.”

“What is it?” Impulse asked. He and Doc ran in similar circles- well, only in that they both used redstone. Impulse wasn’t, like, intimidated by Doc… not at all. They were colleagues, friends. Totally. This was a causal conversation.

“Can I be your roommate for a few weeks?”

Now that wasn’t exactly what Impulse had been expecting. “What?” He looked up at the creeper man in confusion.

“I’ve been super angry at my projects this past week, and I need someone who can handle me if I explode.” Doc explained. “I don’t want to explode, but if I do, or try to, I need someone strong to stop me.”

Impulse grinned. “So you think I’m strong?” He wiggled in a self-congratulatory kind of way, super casually flexing.

Doc snorted. “You’re a demon, and you’re currently cosplaying a dwarf who has mined out the inside of this mountain- I've seen you carrying boulders like its nothing. You’re a tank, my friend.”

Impulse knew Doc was laying on the flattery hard, but it was working, so it was acceptable. “Yes, of course you can stay here for a bit. Let me make you up a little Doc corner for you to sleep in.”

“Did someone say interior decoration?” Gem fell through a hole she had mined in the ceiling, crashing to the ground, but scrambling to her feet at once. “Well howdy Doc! It’s been a bit!” Gem took Doc’s hand from his lap and shook it vigorously. “Dang! That’s crazy, how long has it been… probs since you and Ren kept interrupting my peace and quiet with your obnoxious redstone menaces last season!” She was squeezing his hand quite tightly.

“As we can all tell, she doesn’t hold a grudge against you or anything.” Pearl appeared out of the kitchen of the dwarven keep, eating tinfoil and chips. “Also Impulse, you’re out of chips. And tinfoil. No idea why.”

“What- why are you two in my house! How did you get in? When did you get in?” Impulse sputtered.

“No front door.” Doc reminded him, pulling his definitely not throbbing hand away from Gem’s.

“Listen, if Doc is staying with you, he’ll need a cute little room. Me and Pearl are experts at decoration- let us handle making him a room! Please!!!” Gem begged.

“As long as Doc’s okay with it, sure.” Impulse chuckled, raising an eyebrow at Pearl, who was starting to inch away from Gem- clearly this was the first time she was hearing that she would be helping to decorate Doc’s room.

“Go for it- I wanna see what the best builders on the server can do.” Doc said with a smile.

“Fantastic!” Gem grabbed Pearl around the wrist. “Let’s go, Pearl!” She skipped away. “Oh, and Doc? Flattery will not work on us, redstone boy.”

Doc and Impulse watched them go off to an unfinished part of Impulse’s keep and start laying down shulkers.

“See, you have nice neighbors. I just have Scar, who has decided that every moment not trying to ‘hot guy’ me is a moment wasted.” Doc sighed and folded his arms.

“Oh yes, they’re lovely. A few quirks, but I’m sure they’ll treat you well.” Impulse chuckled.

“Quirks?”

——

Doc found out what those quirks were rather quickly. Impulse had bade him a good night at sunset promptly, saying something about sticking to a schedule, and left Doc in his newly constructed “Doc Room”, which consisted of a red bed, walls with redstone splattered on it, and a stuffed creeper on the bed. Doc was laying there, holding the creeper and trying to sleep. It was hours earlier then he’d usually crash, but he wanted to respect Impulse’s house rules, as he was a guest.

He’d had his eyes closed for a while, but gave up finally and opened them again. He clapped his hand over his mouth to stop from screaming at the sight of Pearl standing over him, eyes wide and all-knowing.

“Pearl?” Doc whispered. “What the fuck are you doing?”

“Watching you sleep. Clearly.” Pearl said nonchalantly, like this was a normal thing to do.

“You can’t just watch people sleep!” Doc sat up, still whispering, but indignant. “It’s weird!”

“No, it’s literally not.” Pearl said, then failing to elaborate on that. “Anyway, you’re not asleep. I don’t sleep. Gem is on her fifth coffee of the night. Do you wanna come haunt Joe Hills with us? We just kind of stand behind trees and walls and recite poems incorrectly at him. It’s not for any kind of revenge or anything, we’re just assholes.”

“I- yes, I guess?” Doc got to his feet and put on his crocs. This was one way to forget about the redstone, he supposed.