#the fic will be hc s10

[amnesia-filled-gardens]

HE HAD 60 STAMPS AT THE END OF LAST EPISODE..... 😟 WHAT. HAPPENED. TO THE OTHER 40....

[hermit-lover]

PLATONIC REQUEST (If you include any romance I will be sad.) Reader who is adventurous and curious, loving science and fantasy in equal measure—so long as no one tries to misapply them and claim falsehoods are factually true or that stories always need to be scientifically perfect. Intentionally tries to pick up lots of skills. Innocent and childish. Intelligent, but uses internal fact checking to discern lies, which obviously has limitations when trying to determine if someone is lying about *themself.* Reader is friends with Scar and/or Etho. (So, personally, those two are my favorites right now, and I wish I could be friends with both of them. Approximately everyone who knows me in Real Life is unsurprised by this, because both of them are a type of person I like, and both of them have traits I like and want to cultivate in myself. 🤷‍♀️ Or at least, everyone would be unsurprised if I were the type of person to talk about having squishes [that's the word for wanting to be friends with someone, like a platonic crush] but I tend to keep my emotions about myself to myself, so only a few actually know.) Anyway, I think that the differences between Etho and Scar can be really interesting. Of course, you can choose to only include one of them in the resulting Reader Insert story, if asking for two Hermits is too much, or you don't feel familiar enough with one of them to write for them, etc. Other than the Reader being friends with one or both of the requested characters, you can have a lot of free will in the type and genre of the piece. Want to write silly fun times? I'm down! Want to write an adventure piece? Those are some of my favorites! Want to write about Reader helping the selected character(s) (or vice versa?) Sounds good to me! In the mood to write angst or hurt/comfort? I'll accept that too! Anyway, if this was all too long, or too vague, or too dull, or you have any questions—you can message me and ask questions or request that I send in a better request myself! 😅 Thank you for your time, consideration, and potential writing!

Fetching Wood!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Character: Ethoslab x Reader, GTWS x Reader.

Type: Blurb (~2k)

Theme: Platonic

Summary: Unsurprisingly, attempting an adventure on the HermitCraft server attracts shenanigans.

TW: brief swearing.

A/N: I hope I did your ask justice!! These two are so silly together and so adventure awaits. :)

The chirping of birds drifts through the ajar window, letting in the sounds of morning calamity and the gentle breeze that brings with it the scent of deep woods and dirt. Your cluttered desk stands proudly in front of you, stacks of intricate designs meticulously sketched, bottles of experimental potions, gadgets, gears, suspicious white powder, and ink spattered across the solid dark oak. It was your workshop- or at least part of it. At the moment you are preoccupied from tinkering, rather you squint at the mess of your storage trying to decide what exactly this trip warrants.

You see, your build, a large wizard-esc tower and subsequent dungeons was a rather demanding feat, and with your newfound appreciation for the Nether woods and brick, you needed a trip to Nether.

It was much to your surprise that when casually discussing the idea with those surrounding you, your neighbor Etho was quick to jump aboard. Apparently he too needed a restock on warped logs and mushrooms, and was more than happy to tag along to make the process more enjoyable.

It was always exciting seeing the ivory haired man, so many Hermits (including yourself) looked up to him.

With the whole HermitcraftTCG and Decked Out craze of last season he was a hard man to come across besides fleeting moments in games. You would be lying if you said you weren't eager to impress. Tucking another fire resistant potion (you can never be too sure) you sigh and check the time.

No...it couldn’t be that hour already...

Snatching up your backpack and skittering towards the door of your starter-starter base (something you will be tearing down) you made it out into the grass. You were so smart when it came to inventions you'd think you would be a little more aware of the time- but unfortunately not. Being late was an reality you lived with often. Snatching the reins of your beloved horse Millennium, you place a foot in the stirrup and very nearly faceplant off of the other side of his torso. He lets out a vibrating huff and you pout.

“Cmon, I can't have a horse making fun of me.” You scoff, rightening in the saddle. The horse doesn't comment back, shaking out its mane and beginning to trot. You ease Millennium into a canter, riding with practiced ease through the forest towards your neighbor.

It's a bright and sunny day, the wind whipping across your face and tugging at your clothing where it is free from the confines of your armor. You had asked Cleo and Stress to help in making a perfect outfit to combine the high fantasy of the wizard tower with the stylish ease of a scientist. You say they have done wonderfully. Despite not actually having a tower to call home yet, you were eager to leap into the aesthetic.

Spotting the gorgeous blue ceiling you broke into a grin, pressing a bit harder to have your horse break into a dash. Leaping over a small creave you break into the clearing, spotting the man of hour leaning against the side of the portal- a full one with corners and all of course. He straightens at your sudden appearance, watching you with careful eyes- You stand up in the stirrups, throwing a leg over and slowing the horse to let you jump off. Millennium whinnies and turns, slowing to blink at you. You hit the ground with a small ‘oof!’ knees bending to not topple over.

“Tadaaa!” You wiggle in the ever-corny jazz hands, watching his expression crinkle into a smile. His light chuckle makes you beam in pride.

“Woooow what an entrance.” Etho claps slowly, muffled by his fingerless gloves. It was almost sarcastic but it amused him nonetheless. “Almost makes up for the fact you're late- huh?” He prods, clearly in a teasing manner. You pout.

“Only by-” You check your watch. “Half an hour!” It's defensive, but you stick your tongue out to show no harm.

“Mhm, still late.” He turns sharply on his heels, now facing the portal. “We better start moving so we still have daylight!”

“It’s 9:30, plus we’re going to Hell- No sunlight there.” You quickly tie up Millennium, taking a tic to admire the build. Pacing quickly to catch up beside him, you note vaguely that he didn't move, instead throwing a coy smile (Hermits got used to only reading his eyes) down at you before stepping into the swirling purple depths. It was always nauseating, the world thrown off kilter and shapes fluttering behind your eyes. Then the pure heat- it prickles your palms immediately with sweat and makes you wipe them on your pants as you step out onto the odd red stone, slightly squishy under foot. It was an eyesore as always, the usual red cavern punctuated by glowing portals and scattered cobblestone paths.

“Sooooo.” You drawl, turning to face him- he looks odd in the environment. Pale skin and stark haired reflecting the orangish hues of ever-burning fire. Greens of his outfit reminding you much of the holiday season. “Lead the way captain.” You prompt- the notification of ‘Going deeper’ noting your lack of experience in this particular world. He chuckles, but sets off, picking around fires and large craters. You follow to a tee, analyzing the scenery in an attempt to memorize it for later. You've almost committed this well populated spawn area when a panicked scream breaks through the crackling silence. Jumping out of your skin you launch towards Etho- sword drawn. But that scream…It wasn't a ghast-

“NO NO IM SORRY I KNOW I FORGOT GOLD JUST SPARE A SCAR ONE SECOND!-” Hightailing from around a corner the offender nearly knocks into you, letting out a yelp. Scar’s eyes are wide, his expression that of pure terror, cheeks dusted in the same red dust as the scenery. A tic goes by as you open your mouth to speak, at the same moment he realizes you're friendly, dashing to cower behind you. The sound of a crossbolt loading pulls your attention from the man. The piglin snorts, eyes narrowed in bloodlust, weapon drawn as it searches for presumably Scar. Tattered tunic and scraped golden boots. You and Etho had planned accordingly- a gold dawning his boots as you opted for golden bracers- but a quick glance at Scar confirms he had in fact forgotten. Flicking your sword you swipe at the beast. Blade forcing it backwards. It squeals in surprise, having not seen you as a target. The crossbow rounds to your chest, you brace for pain. Then another blade cuts through the air. The piglin lets out one last squeal as it dissolves quickly into mist. Crossbow and leather toppling to the floor. You let out a breath and look to your savior with a pout.

“I totally had it handled!” You insist, poking him in the chest with a finger. It slides uselessly off of his iron chestplate. Etho blinks at you, then shakes his head.

“Uh no, you were totally doomed and in need of a strong PvPer to defend you.” his quirked head shows his comfortable ease, and it warms you that he liked bantering. Too bad you were about to murder him.

“Oh? Do you know one I can bring next time?” You ask, batting your eyelashes innocently. He gawks.

“Oohhh!-”

“This is fun and all but do you have any food and gold I can borrow?” You had forgotten about him. Turning to Scar you flash him a grin, digging in your pockets for food.

“Didn't expect to save a charming Scar this fine morning.” You chuckle, offering some of the steak you gathered to his shaking hands.

“Well I didn't expect to be in peril- I knew I had forgotten something!” He eagerly crams the food into his mouth, chewing as he talks around the bite. “Good thing Etho came to save me.” It's a tease- but you still squawk.

“hEY-!” The unholy noise grates your throat, and causes him to nearly choke on the mouthful, swallowing hard to avoid choking. His muffled giggles tug a smile to your lips. “You're an ass.” You spit, turning sharply away from him. “And to think I was going to share my bracers. Guess not!”

“Wa-Wait!” Scar stumbles to bump against your back, straightening himself to not invade your space too much. “You wouldn't leave a helpless scar all on his own?” His voice tilts into a whine, widening his eyes to plead. You scoff, gesturing vaguely to Etho.

“You have an Etho, isn't he enough for you?” You snark back, Scar is silent. He sulks to the Canadian, throwing an arm across his shoulder to begin his sales pitch.

“Ethhooo my buddy, you wouldn't happen to have some gold I could borrow?” Scar tries, offering a meek smile to the taller man. Etho hums, tilting his head to peer across the blazing landscape.

“Nope.” He pops the p, eyes squinting into what must've been a shit-eating grin. Scar groans, letting his knees buckle in exaggerated disappointment. Etho shifts to slow his descent, the uniformed man sliding helplessly to the red floor.

“Need me yet?” You call, shifting to spin and stare at the off pair. Scar groans again, but lifts his arms to grabby-hands. Splitting into a grin you trot towards him, sliding off one golden clasp. His fingers barely brush the surface before you snatch it away. “Nuh uh!- you gotta say I’m better than Etho.”

“Hey!” Now it was Etho's turn to protest, placing a hand on his hip. “You can't make Scar lie.”

“Then I guess he won't get any gold.” You shrug, Scar sputters. Using Etho as a pole to claw his way back up.

“Uh- I didn't say that, I think you're incredibly talented and definitely better than any old Etho.” He smiles, flashing his teeth. You hum now, swinging the gold bracer around. Scar winces every time it nearly slips from your grasp.

“Yea alright.” You toss the accessory and he lunges for it, fumbling for a few moments before managing a firm grasp.

“Oh thank you kind and generous-”

“Alright, that’s enough horsing around, we are already running behind schedule.” Etho interrupts, trotting back on path. You groan in childlike disobedience, but follow along. Scar stumbles to catch up.

“What are you guys doing?” He asks, keeping pace but tucking close to the protection of your side.

“Fetching wood.” You answer, giving him a nudge. “What were you up to?”

“Oh! Same here!” Scar answers confidently. You give him a once over. He doesn't appear to have even successfully made it to the biome, judging by the lack of mycelium on his boots. Raising an eyebrow skeptically he chuckles. “Well I was going to…”

“There's always space for another.” Etho butts in, clasping him on the shoulder. “Even if the role is just the goof.”

You giggle, causing Scar to shoot you a glare.

“I am more than just that!- I can be the entertainment, have you seen the most recent news about Mando?-”

You grin, a small excited noise leaving your throat. Etho groans loudly, retreating a safe distance to let you geek out. He knows the consequences of getting too close, being dragged into full body renditions of scenes.

Despite the blistering heat and hostile atmosphere, a few friends never fail to lighten the mood. You always feel safer when tucked between their shoulders, endless chatter filling the air. And maybe some shenanigans and mishaps occur along the way- but that's the fun of HermitCraft.

[bidoofenergy]

to @jaz-it-up for the @mcyt-drabble-exchange !!

Lizzie knows her husband well—that ridiculous man—and he still manages to surprise her. Like when he takes her on a tour of his Hermitcraft base and shows off all that he's built, the grand scale to the little details, so much care and love is evident. A little less surprising is the way Etho trails after them—and the way Joel lets him.

Those two might be fine to keep going in circles—but Lizzie isn't. She wants to know what they're like, to see it up close instead of hearing stories. And she has some time before her next project starts…

[reblog-house]

A Normal Day at the Cat Cafe

Written for Hermit-a-day-May, day 24: Cleo!

Wc: 1,111

Ao3: Here!

Cleo’s Kitty Café was a complete success. Everyone got their cups of tea or coffee, surrounded by many wonderful kitties, and promptly ignored their cups just to get the completely free enchanted books attached to them. An incredible business model, if you asked her! No downsides whatsoever. And its placement in the shopping district was also very strategic. They should be commemorated, for all the good they’ve done to the server.

A remunerated good, but good nonetheless.

Cleo dragged their hand over the hardcovers as she walked. The texture of leather was familiar under her touch. 

They were brought back to their surroundings by a kitty rubbing its face against her legs.

“Aww,” she said and picked it up from its torso with both hands. “Now, who were you?”

Should she know the name of the cats she tamed for the shop? Probably. But also, she wasn’t the one who named most of them. Everyone was free to engrave whatever name they wished on the cats’ collars. So it was very fair, actually, that they wouldn’t know.

Its collar read ‘Poptart’.

“Aww, hello Poptart.” They tilted their head, and the cat followed the motion. 

The cat really looked dumb from that angle, being held up in the air, little feetsies dangling down.

As if the cat knew what she was thinking, Cleo received a paw to the face, right between her eyebrows. She shut her eyes instinctively and turned her face to the side.

“Right, you win.” They let go of the cat mid-air and a gentle thunk and tap tap tap taps let them know the cat had landed safely and walked away.

At the noise, little heads rose from their slumber, tired eyes blinking heavily. When they saw no threat, they went back to sleep. The more wary ones stood in alarm, ears turning in every direction, and only sat down when Cleo made eye contact. Those ones didn’t go back to bed, or not immediately. And others only twitched their ears at most, no reaction otherwise, as they were too busy sleeping soundly to care. 

Jellie was one of them. She rolled to the side in her sleep, completely unaware of the outside world.

A gentle smile pulled at Cleo’s mouth, and they looked away.

Honestly, for being a cat café, these kits kept to themselves a lot. Minus ‘Poptart’, apparently.

Cleo went to the dispensers and selected a hot chocolate. The machine whirred like the cats that surrounded it, and Cleo waited, the tall sundae glass set in place. 

Liquid chocolate poured down in a nice stream. Though the glass was tinted, they could still tell how much liquid was inside.

As she waited, she entertained herself by opening the money cabinet and seeing how many diamonds she’s made. 

51 diamonds. Good sales as always. The day they get less than 40 diamonds, they’d run out of business.

No, they wouldn’t. People may not need their services as much at certain times, but their shop was indispensable. Everyone needed it eventually. Particularly those who didn’t have, nor were interested in, trading set-ups and who were very prone to losing their stuff in lava.

Once the diamonds were safely pocketed, she turned around to the sound of tiny marshmallows plopping onto the drink.

And to think everyone ignored their beverages after so much care and attention had gone to their finest production.

Nah, at first, she’d put in the effort to get each flavor and recipe right, but when it became clear nobody was actually drinking them and were just using the cups and mugs as decoration at most, they stopped caring. No need to use up good ingredients on them. As long as the color was right, that was all that mattered. Edible dyes were more than welcomed and pisspoor quality required.

Not the hot chocolate, though. That one, she still got to perfection. It was the only drink she cared about in the whole establishment and the only one she’d ever wanted to drink. Cocoa beans crushed by hand and made into a fine powder. Just the right amount of sugar for it to be sort of sweet but not too sickly. Just the freshest of milks collected every day.

Everything else stayed there for weeks until the contents ran out.

Because she had to restock the hot chocolate every day, they only prepared enough for two drinks each morning, and basically forced people to buy the other beverages if they weren’t going to enjoy the drink.

The hot chocolate was for true enjoyers only, and they wanted to keep it that way.

With both hands, they picked up the glass — it was warm under her palms — and set off to one of the chairs; the only one not occupied by a cat. Instead, the cat was nicely curled up on the windowsill, making the most of daylight.

The cafe had seats, a couple tables here and there. It wasn’t her fault that the cats preferred taking up as much seating space as possible, barely leaving anything for the consumers.

Well, not like people sat down to actually drink anything. Any more tables would obstruct the path of the main event: the books.

…No need for Doc to know they’d said that. 

Eh, he’d already made them pay, anyway.

The cat on her left made a little squeak when it felt her approach, eyes still shut. 

Across the room, Jellie stretched, still laying down, and then got to her feet. 

She yapped and made her way over to Cleo, swaying slightly from side to side. Cleo set the mug on the table and prepared to greet the cat. 

From their side, the kit stretched, her paws coming to the side of their thigh, and then-

Fwoomp!

The queen was on her lap, staring up at her with big round eyes. She started making biscuits and gave them a slow blink.

“Aww…” Cleo presented their hand to her nose and, once Jellie sniffed it, pressed their hand over her head.

It went down with the pressure, and when Cleo let go, the head bobbed back into place. The purring was even stronger than before, like the grumblings of the beast from below.

Cleo felt Jellie’s feet search for the best position and then descended into place. Her body was comfortably warm and heavy as a folded blanket. She sighed, content, and leaned against the back of the chair. 

The cat curled up against the window sighed through its nose, and Cleo reached back for her chocolate.

It was warm, but not scalding. Sweet, but not saccharine. 

She reached down to pet the purring cat.

It was perfect.

[peskybirdenjoyer]

and in a hazy day dream (our bodies marry the stream)

At first, Scar had almost missed the two of them, Mumbo and Grian laying in the wheat by the fishing doc. Despite how stark the deep reds and blacks of their clothes were, they were almost hidden by the tall, golden stalks, completely surrounded by the ever-growing fields.

It was clearly a serene sort of moment, with the two of them beside each other, the world around them so quiet that they were left with only the sound of the wind rushing through the tillers and the water brushing up to the shore. Scar couldn't help but wonder if he had ever heard the Hermitcraft so quiet; even in the middle of the night, he swore he could hear the buzz of elytra soaring past and the wooshing of portals opening and closing. Here and now, however, even the thrum of magic seemed to temper down into a gentle hum.

Mumbo and Grian seemed to be making the most of the quiet, spending their afternoon sunken into the sandy soil. If Scar squinted, he could've sworn that the two of them were swaying gently, as if following the patterns of the crop around them. Grian's hair seemed to slowly fade to the pale tint of wheat, one strand at a time, and the tips of Mumbo's fingers lengthened out into the flowers at the head of the tillers.

Scar shook his head, looking away to the water for a moment. His mind simply must've been playing tricks on him, merging the stocks of the wheat and the figures of his dear friends in his brain, confused by how the rows of crop obscured their forms. When he shifted his gaze back to their place in the field, the plant-like features of his friends were no more. Mumbo and Grian were there, looking as they always did, laying in the field once more...

Except the freckles that dotted Mumbo's face didn't quite look like freckles anymore. They were much brighter, with a slight scarlet glow, shimmering almost identically to the redstone dust that the man carried around in a small pouch. And Grian's nose had begun to gleam as well, angular as always but with the same form as a golden carrot, the type he always kept handy for a snack while building. When a grin grew across his face, seemingly full of content from the serene beauty of the day, it seemed that his teeth were made of nether quartz, gleaming as though all of the netherrack dust had been scrubbed away. And Mumbo's cheeks had grown rosy, with a sheen that made it appear as if the juice of a glistening melon had been brushed onto his skin.

Scar blinked, unsure if the glare of the sun had been messing with his vision, only to open his eyes and see that the forms of his friends had disappeared altogether, replaced with the forms of two ocelots, curled around each other as they lazed in the sun. Their speckled yellow coats practically melded together as they laid, hidden amongst the wheat.

Scar blinked, and was met with the figures of two bees, circling each other with wings aflutter. Another blink, and the form of a shulker was resting, with a chirping parrot perched upon his shell. Another blink, two sniffers were laid upon the soil, one with its head and beak resting on the other's back. Another blink, a goat with a frog sat on its head, right between its horns.

Scar blinked one final time, and there they were, the forms of two skeletons, bones all criss-crossed, looking as they had been decomposing for centuries, their stark white a strong contrast to the fields. They laid there, intertwined, utterly confused in where their own bones ended and the other's started. Clutched in their flesh-less hands were everything one could ever want, pouches of redstone dust and books full of architectural sketches and flint to light the nether portal and rockets to take off into flight and seed to feed the birds and-- beyond all else, above anything more-- each other's cold, dead hand.

Before his very eyes, Scar saw every item fade away, and he watched as the flesh and blood of his friends returned to their eternal selves, side by side, fingers intertwined, laying in the wheat field. There was no indication that they had noticed a thing, entirely undisturbed in their quiet afternoon by the water.

As if sensing his presence, Grian's eyes opened, and he leaned up, propmting Mumbo to follow his lead. In their half-reclined states, they looked over to Scar, standing on his own by the dock, eyes still firmly upon his friends. They grinned, bright as nether quartz, and their eyes shone with the all-encompassing type of adoration that made Scar feel as though he had never witnessed true love until he saw the way Mumbo and Grian directed it at every person, every mob, every book and flower and speck of redstone dust.

"Scar!" Grian called, and his voice sounded like bees buzzing and note blocks singing. "Come join us!"

Mumbo nodded, like tulips swaying or phantoms swooping, and made a beckoning motion that Scar could've sworn was controlling the wind.

Scar couldn't help the way his legs pulled him forwards, as weak as kelp to the whims of his two lovers. It was barely a journey before he found himself in the fields of wheat, traversing the stalks to reach them. He didn't need a clock to tell that it was even shorter until he was pulled down between them, cradled by the sides of Grian and Mumbo-- so full of love, so full of adoration, so full of care for their home, their friends, their entire world that they had become one with it.

In time, Scar wondered if he could become one with it too.

[frozenjokes]

Guy Alert‼️‼️❗️❗️

Words: 9k

Summary: Mumbo often spends many of his mermaid days in a secluded cove, unbothered by the rest of the world until a human stumbles into their place of peace. Shenanigans ensue.

Upon discovering Grian with a mysterious injury (and not believing for a moment he was bitten by a shark), Scar needles the truth of the mermaid cove out of Grian, and joins him in his mission to find and capture Mumbo.

Mumbo, however, does not speak English, knowing nothing of either of their true intentions. For now, it’s not an issue! Mermaid party!!!!!!

[thebiscuitbread]

@quaranmine

hello! i just read your fic "the here and now" and enjoyed it so much i wanted to write a little love letter:

AHHHHHHHHhhHHHhHHhHH WHY GOD THE EVERYTHING WAS JUST., GGGGGGGGGGGG THE BANTER WAS SPOT ON I COULD HEAR THEM TALKING DEEP IN MY BRAIN. AND THE IDEA OF IT?? THEY BOTH WANTED TO SACFRIFICE THEMSELVES FOR EACH OTHER< BUT ONLY JIMMY WAS ABLE TO AND IT HAD THE OPPOSITE EFFECT, LIKE JIMMY DYING PRETTY MUCH MADE JOEL GO INSANE AND GET SUPER RECKLESS AND DIE,,, INSTEAD OF JOEL BEING MORE FOCUSED SINCE HE DIDNT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT JIMMY LIKE JIMMY INTENDED. UGHHH THEYRE BOTH IDIOTS NEITHER OF THEM UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH THE OTHER CARES,,, IM CURRENTLY CRYING RN THANK YOU SO MUCH YOUR WRITING IS A BLESSING TO LOOK AT

[nekodere07]

Tanuki/Raccoon Joel and Kitsune/Fox Etho hide their true identities and pretend to be normal humans HC AU

Folklore AU inspired fr @mellozheist's (thanks for having stunning artwoks dude now I have brainrot and made this when I can't even turn this into a proper fic /pos) character designs of HC s10 Joel and Etho, where the former is a tanuki and the latter is already a fox hybrid but wears Japanese clothing this season. But in this idea, Etho hides the fact that he's a fox, so he looks like any other human until he isn't.

I almost forgot! Any relationship in this story idea is platonic.

Also posted on AO3 if you prefer to read it there :D

Joel reminisces about the time when he was an ogre a few years back, but shuddered since he thought it was cringe for past him to adore that movie so much that he changed into his favorite cartoon character. He looks at Lizzie's direction, and thinks he was relieved when she didn’t criticize him for who he was when she discovered the truth after Joel messed it up before.

While chatting with friends who are gathering in the living room, Joel notices his cup is empty and excuses himself to go to the kitchen, noticing how Grian is also following him. The noise from the living room fades once they arrive, having a quiet moment for themselves. Joel asks if Grian also comes to refill his drink.

Grian nods in agreement and heads to the counter to grab the tea box. Joel stands next to the blonde man as he waits for the other to finish, while Grian talks about how he's relieved to see everyone is doing okay even after months not meeting since the crossover.

Joel raises a brow and points out that obviously they're fine, and adds that why wouldn't they be. Grian explains that even though it was a bit, he was genuinely concerned what might happen to them after the Hermits left Grumbot for the Emperors to deal with.

Joel reassures his friend that as he can see, they're still alive and kicking before adding that Jimmy might not be since Joel's the one doing the kicking, mentioning how he built a giant portrait of them in his empire. Grian laughs as he pours water from the kettle, wishing that he could've seen the look on Timmy's face before offering to pour the water to Joel's own cup.

The brunette hands his as affirmation while saying that he looked exactly like a dumb idiot when he first saw that ghost when they tried that ghost investigator gig a few months back. The comments make both of them laugh and not long after, Grian casually asks if Joel wants to become a Hermit and join Hermitcraft. Joel abruptly stops and has to double back in his thoughts, asking himself if he misheards it but Grian answers his question when he repeats what he said.

There's a long pause of silence between them for a couple of seconds before Joel notices the casual look on the blonde's face morphs into wide eyes with a slacked jaw, tracing his gaze towards his back and twists his stomach into a knot once he notices the prominent brown tail on his back, now exposed for the world to see.

He's fucked.

---

Joel takes a look at the statues of Etho in front of his gate and glances at the real deal beside him, hesitating whether or not he should ask. It might be a touchy subject and he doesn't want to ruin the lighthearted moment they just had earlier. He jumps when someone clears their throat and turns to the source to see it was Etho. Etho says it might not be his business to ask, but questions whether Joel's okay.

Joel furrows his brows as he replies that of course he's okay, why wouldn't he be. Etho rubs the back of his neck as he explains that Joel's tail is slowly wagging while his ears are folded flat against his head, realizing it that Joel does that whenever he's upset about something. Joel smirks that Etho already notices his new body language in such a short period of time, pointing out that he really is obsessed with him.

Shortly, Joel sighs in defeat and says he's not gonna beat around the bush, so Etho should brace himself. Etho raises a brow in confusion and says okay. Joel asks if Etho is a yokai, making Etho flinch.

Etho averts his gaze while saying "I don't know what you're talking about." Etho thinks to himself that he sounded like Mrs. Tango when she tried to lie to them back then.

Joel adds that ever since he's showing off his yokai traits after that embarrassing blunder with Grian, he realizes that he can sense various energy flowing in the air and it's especially stronger on Hermitcraft. He then distinguishes something similar to himself and traces it to Etho, before reassuring that he never told anyone since Etho might be keeping it a secret like he did until recently and he wasn't sure if his assumptions are true or not.

Etho sighs and confirms that he's keeping his identity a secret. He asks Joel why he's hiding his. Joel says that it's been so long since he left Japan for good, long enough that he doesn't remember the language anymore, and was afraid that people might treat him differently if they know that he's a foreign entity. Nobody likes the unknown, so he's been pretending to be a human on different planets most of his life.

Joel then asks why Etho is hiding it, adding that based on the variations of species amongst the Hermits, he assumes that they'll be accepting despite of who Etho really is. Etho shakes his head and says that his kind already has a negative reputation in their home planet, more so outside of it. He doesn't want his species to influence his relationship with everyone. Joel nods in understanding and promises that his secret is safe with him.

Etho's eyes narrow and form crow's feet as he expresses his gratitude, a small indicator that he's smiling under the mask.

---

5 Hermits have been going outside the HC world for various reasons, but they promise to go back with souvenirs. When Gem, Grian, xB, and Zedaph have been falling ill and bedridden since they went back from the Hub, others have been trying to find a way on how to cure this unknown ailment that won't subside no matter what.

Etho, who's been one of the 5 but is miraculously fine, is never to be found publicly ever since the news about 4 Hermits being ill has spread. They see him going to the shopping district but never interact for that long whenever he meets someone.

The nerds of the community have been holing themselves in the archives of the stronghold to hopefully find a clue for the cure, only for them to find a book about yokai. They discover about tanuki, comparing it to what they know about Joel and laugh about how accurate the book is, especially about the part of Joel who traps/pranks someone but ends up embarrassing himself. Tango suddenly asks if his friends hear something, but they said no.

They continue to read until they reach the kitsune segment. They're horrified to say the least about the info, and realize there are similarities between the early signs of fox possession and the symptoms of their friends' unknown illness. They're trying not to be superstitious about the current situation since it might be a coincidence, until X receives a message from Cleo.

---

< Smallishbeans > hello Etho

< Smallishbeans > i tried to visit your place a couple of times but it always seemed like no one's home

< Smallishbeans > hopefully you're okay

< Smallishbeans > i just want you to know that it isn't your fault

---

They run to the infirmary, only to spot the 4 Hermits breathing heavily and convulsing as their hair roots start to turn white. Stress checks their eyes with a tiny flashlight one by one, and only then Cub sees that all their eyes are red and points it out. Tango says that he's aware that they shouldn't be superstitious, but he mentions that Etho's appearance oddly matches the descriptions in the book.

Doc agrees since he just remembered it now, but Etho's hair and both his eyes used to be brown until he apparently got caught up in an accident that changed his appearance permanently. Doc groans in frustration that he should've pressed about it more, but he didn't want to stress Etho since he wanted to keep that event a secret so badly.

Bdubs suddenly interrupts them with his greeting, making the nerds jump. Bdubs questions "Why the long face? It's not yet the end of the world, guys. There has to be something to cure them, we just haven't found it yet." Doc asks if Etho has spoken a different language other than English.

Bdubs perks and grins to compliment how Etho was really good with Japanese. During the early days of Mindcrack, he used to speak it a lot whenever they're alone and tease Bdubs just because he couldn't understand it. He then yells that no one can mess with him since he's a grown man and points that he only allowed Etho to tease him since he was pretty tense during that time, and switches to somber as he adds that it's prob bec of the tension before the war broke out. But since they left and moved to Hermitcraft, he refused to speak in Japanese even if no one was around.

When every healthy Hermit is kicked out by Stress, Cleo, and Hypno, they go outside to see others hanging out with various forms of worry in their faces.

X spots Beef amongst the crowd and asks the other nerds if they should ask Beef if he knows something else about Etho. Doc agrees and approaches Beef and receives a sorry fr the Canadian about not being in the mood to talk about their rivalry. Doc reassures that that's not why he's here, adding that it's about Etho.

Beef's reaction immediately switches to something dark as he asks "What happened to Etho?" Doc quickly says that Etho's okay, making the other Canadian relax, and he just wanna ask what's under his mask. He knows what he looks like underneath, but he's curious if it's different from many years ago.

Beef thinks aloud that there's nothing really different. Doc insists if he's sure, adding if there's anything subtle like unshaven chin or a tooth missing. Beef perks up "Now that you mention it, Etho used to have all of his canines intact but after we left Mindcrack, they may have grown longer, I think. It was so long ago, I don't remember the exact details. Oh, I almost forgot! He also lost one of them ever since then."

Doc agrees "Oh, yeah! I remember helping him make a substitute tooth, so he won't complain anymore about having a hard time biting meat" before thanking Beef as the nerds leave the scene, not noticing how a gaze has been following them the entire time.

Cub asks what they should do now, and if they search for other leads or rely on the superstition. Doc says that it's time for a confrontation. X points out that it's probably not a good idea to jump into conclusions when they're still unsure if it's a coincidence or not.

Doc replies that it'll probably be too late when that time comes, grimacing that he doesn't want to lose the people he cares about even though they're within reach. X sighs and agrees, but suggests that they should at least prepare in case something happens.

---

Etho brings in more shulkers into his soon to be storage area, dropping the one on his hands and wipe the sweat off his forehead with a sleeve. He's not sure how long he's been working in his base but based on how greasy his hair is, he must've been here for a long time. He turned off his comms ever since that accident, so he doesn't have any indicator of time other than what he can see beyond his windows. Electricity runs through his skin all of a sudden, making him jump as the magic in the air buzzes with tremendous energy.

Before he realizes, Etho jumps back the instant he hears something above him and just in time, he barely dodges the collapsed ceiling with a backward jump as everything is engulfed with smoke and something lands on the spot where he used to be.

He plants his hand towards the hilt of his sword in an instant, waiting for the cloud of smoke to clear. A spot in the middle of the mist forms a hole as something blurry comes out and pounces towards his direction, materializing the shield on his left hand in reflex and grunts once the unknown intruder lands on the wooden surface.

Etho gasps at the person in front of him, staring at their features with mouth agape. Their skin is now pale and hair gray, glaring eyes are fully white while red vein-like marks spread out to each corner. Their clawed hand raise above their head and swipes forward with tremendous speed, making Etho throw and abandon his protection but doesn't come out unscathed as their long nails grab his mask and graze small jagged lines on the lower half of his now exposed face.

His hand immediately covers his face while Scar yells to give his friends back. Etho can only furrow his brows in confusion. What does that mean? The other Hermit scoffs and complains to stop playing dumb, gradually emitting his magic stronger in every second as he adds "You have some nerve pretending to be one of us for so long," making Etho wince.

Why did he think for a second that it's going to be different this time? Just because he's been having the time of his life for the past ten years in this world, doesn't mean it won't end up like all the other places he perceived as his home.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, opening them back while he exhales and stifles his reaction towards the painful sensation in his chest, finally feeling like an empty room as he pulls out his sword.

The two jump forward as they begin their fierce interaction. It extends for who knows how long and unfortunately for Etho, his breath is becoming shorter and more hasty the longer the fight unfolds but due to his opponent's enormous magic reserve, Scar can still continue despite having run out of air like he did.

Suddenly, the former brunette disappears from his vision and quickly looks around but spots nothing. His ears pick up the noise of a pebble dropping and swiftly turns back, only to see Scar emerging from the ground like a ghost as he leaps to his direction but barely side steps with wobbly legs to dodge. It probably would've given him a huge advantage if he uses his animal ears, but he can't afford to expose himself now.

Gradually, his movements become sloppier and clumsier, even stumbling at a debris at one point that costs him his right arm.

Scar swipes his hand towards Etho's weapon, causing it to slip from the weak grip of his left hand before it flies and lands on the other side of their current position. Scar demands for the creature pretending to be Etho to let go of his friends if it wants to live, but Etho's reply is only his harsh breaths as he quietly stares at the other Hermit's direction.

Scar grits his sharp teeth and mumbles "then so be it" before stepping forward to swipe his claws. Etho shuts his eyes in anticipation of his demise but nothing seems to happen as he waits too long. He slowly opens them and spots something in front off him, gasping to see Joel standing between them. He looks down on the new member's feet to see the blood gradually forming into a pool before looking back up to make eye contact with the man himself.

"Joel, why are you--" Etho's breath is caught in his throat as he tries to ask.

"I--" Joel tries to smile but coughs blood instead. "--wanted to... visit my favorite fan..." He winces before breathing heavily. "...to see how he's going."

Joel drops to the floor but Etho manages to catch him on time, carefully laying his friend's head towards the green surface. He takes in Joel's pale features but every detail morphs into a blur, realizing shortly that he's crying. The only thing he can hear is the drumming of his heart against his aching chest as he can barely see Joel's lips moving, assuming that he's attempting to say something.

Wiping the ongoing tears vigorously wih his sleeve, Etho focuses on lip reading to understand what the brunette is trying to convey.

"I'm... glad... that... you're... safe..."

Etho interprets before seeing Joel's lips finally stop moving, intensifying the thumping in his ears as he registers that Joel's chest has also ceased to rise and fall. As if a rope has been cut in half, all of the decade's worth of suppressed energy in his body has unleashed like a tsunami, engulfing his entire being and immediately blacks out.

Scar, who's watching the whole ordeal unfolding before him, loses all his pent up rage while he can only gape in silence as Etho's forehead sprouts a pair of long fluffy ears, pristine white fur covering every part of his pale skin, nose and mouth lengthen into a snout with razor sharp teeth, tears multiple holes on his gloves as his nails extend into deadly claws, torso and limbs enlarge 5 times its original size while his back grow one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine tails, morphing his body into an entirely different entity.

The unknown creature roars, its voice reverberating and pushes him down like amplified gravity but barely holds his ground with wobbly legs as he can only cover his currently enhanced ears in hopes of preventing himself from going deaf.

What did he just awaken?

Not so fun fact:

[There are actually fox users who are hired by Hermitcraft haters to inflict harm on the Hermits, who had to go to the Hub before going to the specified planets they wanted to go. Those fox users use the foxes they tamed to possess the Hermits but Etho is different since he's a nine tailed fox shapeshifting as a human, so he's unaffected by it.]

[The reason why Etho's insistent on keeping his identity a secret was mainly bec of his experience in Mindcrack, when the people discovered who he actually was, they reacted negatively to say the least. He also kept that event a secret bec he was ambushed by a few members when Mindcrack was on the brink of destruction, and tortured him for info (and may or may not have treated him more terribly bec they knew he was a fox) but he refused to give any since he didn't want to sell out his friends (soon to be NHO), which caused him the scar on his left eye and lost control of his power and shapeshifting ability in the process, which prevented him from properly changing his human appearance.

He also can no longer change into anything else, so he's stuck as his human self. Luckily, he could still somehow hide his ears, tails, and eye, but the left one refused to change, so he just made an excuse that he had to make a redstone powered eye to replace his injured eye to explain that despite being wounded there, he managed to not damage his vision there.]

[harper-collins]

[Scarian - Desert Duo] The Love and Hardship of Living - I Hear a Symphony

Rated: Teen and Up Audiences Warnings: Major Character Death (not really, he's fine, it's just 3rd life) Fandom(s): Hermitcraft SMP, 3rd Life/Double Life Categories: M/M Relationship: Grian / Scar Characters: Grian, Scar, Mumbo mentioned Additional Tags: Timeline of their time together, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Grian is Not Okay, Protective Scar, Cactus Ring, Grian's fishing obsession, this compiles from the beginning of Hermitcraft S6 to Recent Hermitcraft S10, Slow Burn, A lot of this is taken from the canon of slightly fanon moments and slowly degrades into my own writing, I mean its all my own writing and I've rewritten a lot of stuff, but I mean there are canon moments that have been rewritten and fun ideas that I thought were canon or wanted to include in this fic. Summary: Grian always thought something was interesting about Scar. Scar had always liked Grian. Will they ever go through and get to know each other properly? What would happen?

OR

Grian and Scar's relationship from HC S6 through the life series (at least two anyway) and up to HC S10. SONG FIC Warning that this fic is like 11k words.

I used to hear a simple song.

Joining Hermitcraft had been interesting to start, Grian had quietly told himself. Meeting many new people and being near his best friend. He and Mumbo hadn’t been on a server regularly before, so it was a nice change of pace for the feathered individual. Finding new ways to annoy people and getting to know the people around him had been quite fun so far.

Yet, not everyone could be there for the launch of season six. He’d been told they would meet soon, leaving Grian almost anxious. He wasn’t someone who craved the acceptance of others by far. He was usually okay with not knowing others. After all, he didn’t know the majority of the hermits personally. He just knew their faces, so it confused him that he seemed to want the late-comer’s attention so much.

Even when he’d finally joined the server, he was so busy trying to make up for his late arrival that the thought of going over to see a new hermit had utterly escaped his mind, and Grian was far too nervous to see him himself, especially with how stressed he’d sounded over the group chat for the server. Mumbo merely laughed at him and told him to see Mr. Goodtimes, but it didn’t feel that simple.

Maybe he’d meet the other sometime? Perhaps he'd see him at the shopping district and have a pleasant conversation with the other? Probably while he was building his pickle shop? After the thought had occurred to the other, however, he began actively avoiding the shopping district, letting his nerves get the better of him. It wasn’t too late, of course! He just needed to push himself. Why did this seem like such a difficult task?

That was until you came along.

Meeting Scar had been an experience. The other was clumsy, very interesting, and quite loud. It had taken Grian a little bit of time to adjust, but soon enough, he was enjoying the company of the other. They didn’t meet often—the feathery male was sticking close to Mumbo after all—but that didn’t stop the two from meeting occasionally, especially while they were shopping in the shopping district.

When the war came around, they weren’t actively against one another. No, Scar hadn’t joined team STAR; he was ConCorp… So technically, they weren’t against each other… Yet, Grian couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that the male hadn’t joined him in the Prank War. It was silly fun, even if it did look like it was being taken seriously sometimes.

Scar just seemed like this remarkable individual that Grian wanted to know more about, wanted to understand and see on a more regular basis… Yet, he didn’t make any effort. He was too nervous. He didn’t know him! Why would Scar want to get to know him? He was just your crazy feathered pranker. People both tolerated and despised him. It was how he was! Grian couldn’t fathom sometimes why Mumbo still stuck around despite everything.

Still… Something about GoodTimeWithScar seemed captivating…

Now, in its place, is something new.

He felt pretty excited when he realised Scar’s base was close to his starter base at the beginning of season seven. The other was living in what would be a snail, but it wasn’t quite finished yet. Grian could practically feel the excitement coursing through his veins as he set his starter base up, knowing how many pranks he could pull on the other without it looking too weird. They were neighbours, after all.

When he found the zombie spawner near their bases, he knew how to introduce Scar to how it would be this season, with the two being so close. It may have taken hours and lots of lost sleep, but he couldn’t have been prouder for such a pleasing prank when it was finally finished. With the zombies set up to come from the jungle bushes, it would take some time for Scar to find the bubble elevator bringing them up.

Grian watched from the bushes as they began to slowly appear, causing Scar to get attacked by them in the middle of his building. The feathered hermit began to chuckle before quickly putting his hand over his mouth. He wanted to watch Scar figure it out alone, not catch him in the act! It took the other half an hour before he began looking for the source of the zombies, and he knew exactly who was at fault when he found the source.

“Grian!” He called, knowing the other would be near. He couldn’t help but giggle as he finally made his entrance. He tried to act like he’d heard the call from his base, but he knew Scar wouldn’t believe him no matter how much of a show he’d put on. When he arrived, he noticed that the other was quite the mess, his items everywhere from his repeated deaths as he struggled to go against the several zombies that had found themselves chasing Scar.

“Well, well, what’s happened here?” He asked, faking innocence. However, Scar didn’t seem to care for the play he was putting on as he began to get attacked once more. “Kill them, please! Just kill them,” he pleaded, close to death for the third time in the last few minutes. Grian quickly took his sword out and killed the rest of them, letting Scar promptly grab all his items as he huffed in a high-pitched voice, trying to calm himself down from the attack.

Grian began to feel concerned as the other caught his breath. “Are you alright, Scar?” He asked, getting a little closer to the other. The Elf merely looked in his direction with a smile on his face. He was sweating and stressed from the situation but could already see the prank was supposed to be a harmless joke. The avian could already feel the relief pouring through his body as he helped the other calm himself down and grab all of his items before safely storing them away.

After that, the two stayed around one another for a while, with Grian ensuring the other was perfectly fine and that he hadn’t lost any items through the whole debacle. They had settled on Scar’s makeshift couch, which was secretly just a couple of chests tightly packed together with some carpet over them to make it a little comfortable. They were mostly silent as Scar recounted the footage he’d been trying to record.

“You know,” Scar suddenly spoke softly, turning to Grian as he put his communicator in his pocket. “I was expecting something like this, but not quite a zombie spawner!” He joked, smiling at the other. Grian awkwardly laughed back, feeling quite guilty for what he’d done, even if the relief that his friend was all right was still fresh in his mind. “Well, as I said, I’ll make it into an XP farm now that the prank’s over,” he affirmed to the other, nodding as if confirming that this wouldn’t be a problem anymore.

Scar smirked at the other. “Never thought this pretty bird would ever feel sorry for a prank! Brighten up, G! No harm’s been done! I can confirm that all items on my person have been retrieved without them de-spawning,” Scar spoke, his bright and positive attitude practically engulfing Grian as his cheeks reddened. He ignored the little comment and tried to feel glad that no harm had occurred.

“Alright, alright. Just let me know if you need anything. All right?” He asked, observing the other as he stood up, preparing to leave. Scar beamed, looking at him with the happiest expression Grian had seen in a while. “Of course, G! You’re welcome anytime,” he said, waving at the other. The avian smiled back before turning and leaving; they were still on foot.

I hear it when I look at you.

Grian enjoyed making a little bit of war on the server, and despite last time, he thoroughly enjoyed the Mycelium War even more than anything else he’d done before. Maybe it was the fact that there was such a visible difference between the grass and the mycelium, but it didn’t feel like just that, not when Scar, one of his best friends, was on the other side of this silly war.

The two had grown quite close whilst living close to one another, and then the whole Mumbo for Mayor campaign that Grian had started and Scar going for himself had caused quite a bit of commotion on the server. It didn't feel right with the Shopping District going green, not to Grian either way. Yet, having Scar missing in his antics felt a little odd. Yes, he was on the other side of things, but he wouldn’t get his company being on the opposite side.

Even during the mayoral campaign, he went over and regularly hung out with his good friends and did some pranks with and against one another. Now, the only time he saw Scar was when he was working as Mayor at the Shopping District, and the only time he went near the other’s base was when he was stealing doors— No, he meant looking around to embrace its beauty. The enchanted area that the Elf had made sometimes overnight was magnificent, and Grian felt his lungs empty each time he saw it and looked around at the details.

Being Motherspore meant he had even less time for home-base things, though the Mycelium Resistance was also growing in size, and it was taking up most of his time and restocking the barge. In this instance, Grian saw a fellow hermit coming around to buy a few things from his shop. While restocking, he ignored the other’s presence for the moment—not many hermits tended to interact much while they saw him adding more things to the barge.

Only when he heard someone clear their throat behind him did he turn to look towards the individual, who turned out to be Mr GoodTimeWithScar. He forgot to breathe as he took in the Mayor, and his outfit paired with his sly smirk. He could see the other was trying to speak to him. His mouth was moving, but after not seeing Scar for two weeks, the sudden appearance just short-circuited his brain.

When he realized he’d been looking without talking for too long, he briefly noticed Scar’s face turned from excitement to concern. Grian wanted out of the situation quickly after having messed up like that. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t get away that easily, no matter how hard he tried.

“G? Are you alright?” he asked, stepping back from the other. The smaller felt himself breathe shakily after stopping himself for quite a while. “Y-yeah, I’m fine! I should probably get going, Resistance stuff and all—” he mumbled, diverting his eyes from the green eyes that were staring back at him. He tried to move away, completely forgetting about his current task at the barge, when Scar grabbed his arm softly.

“I didn’t want you to just walk away, G; we haven’t seen each other for a while! I just wanted to know if we could come to an agreement. You know, finally decide that grass is better—”

“Scar, Mycelium has always been here. It lives here, Grass doesn’t—”

“But Grass is so much better!” he whined, returning to the groove of their playful arguments. Grian couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the statement. “No, Scar, until you submit to the mycelium resistance, I won’t be stopping,” he snarked back, his tone colder than it had meant. Scar let go of the other, more to the pure shock of how aggressive the other seemingly was.

“I’m sorry— I didn’t mean—”

“It’s alright, G. Is it getting a bit intense for you?” he asked, frowning at the other. We could call it off or take a break! We aren’t being serious after all—” Scar stopped, sighing. Watching his friend was making him feel a little uncomfortable. He looked spooked and apologetic, emotions that didn’t look right on the avian’s features.

“No, it’s fine. I'm just sorry for snapping at you,” he mumbled, looking back at the open shulker box filled with sand to put on the shelves. “You don’t have to apologise, as long as you’re doing alright, that’s what matters,” the other replied, smiling at Grian. He couldn’t help but smile back at his good friend. He awkwardly shuffled back to the shulker box in question and began getting more sand out of the box.

“How are you doing anyway? Is everything alright with you?” he asked, glancing briefly at Scar, who was observing him. “Oh, I’m fine! Just so many mayor things to do! Who knew that there was so much to do? Sometimes I do think Mumbo would’ve been better at this than me,” he grinned, trying to appeal to the other’s previous campaign that had unfortunately lost.

“Nah, despite what’s going on at the moment, I do think you’ve done brilliantly being a Mayor Scar; I’m glad you won,” he said, smiling at the other. Scar’s smile and heart softened at his friend's admission, and he laughed a little. “Oh, well, that’s very nice of you, G! Whenever I see Mumbo, I’ll bet to tell him that myself,” he said, giggling a little more.

Grian just shrugged as he watched Scar, studying his friend’s beautiful—err, lovely-looking face with its mayor additions. “I’m sure he won’t mind; I’m the one who set it up in the first place!” he replied, giving the other a grin, too. It felt good to talk to him again, even if they were still on opposing sides. Something about Scar set his heart going a million miles a minute.

He was perfect.

With simple songs, I wanted more.

A new series of sorts was upon them, and Scar couldn’t be more excited. He was nervous; it was tough, with only three lives before you were out. Still, he was determined to make it through as long as possible, sticking close to his friends. He just hadn’t teamed with anyone in particular yet. They were all sticking close together, especially since it was a new experience. Hardcore was a thing, just not on the Hermitcraft server, nor on the other servers other old friends seemed to be in before they’d been moved here.

It had all happened so suddenly, with Grian barely warning them out of nowhere before they’d been brought over. He hadn’t given context on how he knew either, making the other extremely suspicious. He’d also left alone but returned now that they were all around a small village. It was relatively light and the whole group was in a circle, par from Grian. He’d been dipping around the village occasionally but not genuinely paying attention to any conversation.

Scar noticed that the avian was moving to his left, coming in and out of his view before he heard a slight sizzling noise behind him. Before he could realise what was about to happen, he’d already died, leaving him in his yellow life. He respawned in one of the village beds and started breathing heavily, his heart beating far too fast for the death that had just occurred. There was a commotion outside, but he felt more hurt; everything had happened so fast, and he didn’t feel like trying to speak to the smaller one that had just killed him.

When he finally managed to get out of bed, he saw tons of people staring at the creeper hole, some shouting at Grian. He looked panicked, the moment that the messy blonde’s eyes latched onto his own, he moved away from everyone in favour of going towards him with one of the more guiltiest looks Scar had ever seen on his best friend.

“I am SO sorry Scar, I’ll do anything to make it up to you, I genuinely didn’t think it would kill you,” he said apologetically, the others quietening down at such an offer. Some were still arguing, but hearing someone make such a sincere and deadly offer during a death game… Well, Grian had balls, that’s for sure. Scar didn’t know how to feel. A part of him wanted Grian to throw himself off a cliff just so they were both yellow lives, but that was a tiny part of him.

The other, the entrepreneur, saw potential, deviousness, and a best friend willing to make amends. Scar thought about it whilst the others watched them in silence. “I’ll give my life,” Grian quietly murmured, just so the two of them could hear. This was beginning to get interesting. “Oh?” Scar replied, urging the other to go on and try to give the offer to its fullest. He wanted to know.

“My entire green life, I’ll follow you, do what you ask; it’s all I can do to repay you unless you have another idea,” Grian said, his voice confident now, although it had soured at the end. Some of the players behind them gasped whilst Scar raised his eyebrows. “Deal,” he said, putting his hand out. Grian took it and shook quietly, the two staring at one another quietly.

From there, it didn’t take the two of them much longer to leave the small band in the village in favour of finding their land to live in. They’d taken the Llama there and began wandering around the small perimeter they would temporarily call home outside Hermitcraft. They would do it together, as best friends.

“TRAITOR!!” The scream rang high in his ears as he felt the sword plunge into his side. Bdubs had just been killed, and Grian was angry. Why wouldn’t he be angry? He’d been betrayed, betrayed by Scar. “Traitor Scar!” he shouted again to emphasize his point, but he was quieter this time. He was getting ready to swing again in the water but feeling more hesitant now that it was just the two of them together. Alone in the world, with everyone dead.

Scar watched his partner’s facial expression, one of hesitance but hurt, one that he’d made. Scar watched Grian quietly for a moment, taking him in. He’d been so helpful and loving this entire season. Sure, he may have gotten in the way of some deals he’d made with other people, but he’d helped Scar the whole way, keeping him alive despite his first death being at his hands. Scar loved how they’d gotten so close during this death game, and although he didn’t want it to end, he knew he’d already gone too far, been too bloodthirsty, just like the male was in front of him now.

“You can kill me,” he said, his voice set and firm. He hadn’t meant to blurt it out, but every word was accurate. If he had to die in this death game, he wanted it to be by the man he’d gotten the closest to, the person whom he’d shared everything with, including the bed on some nights when it had been too cold for both of them to be separate.

“What? No,” Grian replied, confused. What was he thinking? Didn’t he just want to kill him just moments ago? Maybe it had been the willingness to give his life for the other that had stopped his thirst for blood so quickly… Scar couldn’t be sure. “For everything you did to me to keep me alive this long… You may slay me and take the enchanter,” he said, bowing his head down and crouching in front of Grian in the water.

It was uncomfortable. Everything was wet. There was something everywhere, whether it was Bdubs’ blood, his own or the water. It felt disgusting, and it didn’t feel right at all to get so deep in the water, to submit to the one who’d been submitting to him for so long, but there was one big part of Scar that felt so loved that trusted Grian more than he could have ever trusted anyone. It was finally time for Grian to take back his independence.

“No, I can’t,” Grian replied, his heart breaking as he stepped back, going deeper into the waters. “No, I literally can’t, I can’t do it,” he continued, bringing Scar his head up as he watched Grian. He looked as though he was grieving for Scar despite him standing right in front of him. He’d been so close to killing the other in anger. Why was this so different? Scar would never think badly for Grian killing him, especially after all they’d been through together.

The two got out of the water, trying to rid themselves of what they could that was wet beyond belief; this was the end anyway; they didn’t need everything on their person. Grian moved away for a moment, going completely silent. Scar left him to his own devices, thinking the other wanted some space after a terrible amount of bloodshed all around the server.

He sighed, turning back to Scar. “No, these spectators want a fight,” he murmured, glancing nervously at Scar. The brunette-haired male didn’t know what the other was talking about, but he took it in stride as if he knew fully what the other meant. “No, no, no, no, we got this! We have a friendship, don’t let them break—”

“They want blood, they want blood,” Grian replied, his voice scared and nervous.

Scar sighed, sorting out his tools as he used the crafting table as a desk. “Okay, can we at least do the duel if we have to at Pizza’s grave?” He asked, keeping his eyes away from Grian. The other was being pushy over what these spectators wanted, even after they declared they wouldn’t hurt one another; it was getting unnerving.

“All right, let’s get—”

“Get in the boat!” Scar barked, getting tense. The other got in quickly.

“Alright, this is the last bro moment we have—why are we in a boat in a pond?!” he shouted, feeling bamboozled by his best friend. Scar glanced over at him with a quizzical expression, not having figured it out just yet. “What?” He replied.

“Step into the ring,” he boomed, having just put the new cactus next to Pizza’s grave. It was a ring. Most of the cacti only had one instead of the typical three as they’d just been put down, but as long as they didn’t jump around, it would be plenty to keep them in a boxing ring-like situation. He’d already gotten rid of everything apart from the last bit of cacti; he was only waiting on Grian, who confirmed to Scar he was getting rid of everything as he emptied the rest of his pockets.

Grian stepped in, getting to the other side of the ring, and the two stared at each other for a long moment as Scar sealed them in, quietly watching one another with bated breath. They gave one another a moment before they went in… Grian spoke first.

“Scar… I don’t feel good about this,” he admitted, staring the other down. Scar nodded, feeling a little nervous about this entire ordeal himself. The ‘spectators’ had ordered them to sheath their armour and use their fists against one another, which was bound to leave one another bloody, no matter who won. It made the hairs on Scar’s back stand up just at the thought of something so degrading.

“No matter what happens, we can call this a double victory, right?” He said softly, keeping still as he watched Scar fiddle around a little with his fingers. The brunette nodded vigorously, moving around in his little area. “Yes! We’re good, we’re good,” he confirmed, trying to inwardly hype himself up for something he didn’t want to do. He didn’t want to hurt Grian; it was why he had allowed himself to be killed by Grian in the water; he’d waited for the other to use his sword and cut him down…

Did they have to do this?

“Let’s let the ghosts count us in then,” Grian replied, moving around as he prepared for the fight. Scar had no idea who the ghosts were, probably the ghosts of his past friends, the ones who’d been slain, whom he’d killed. He couldn’t hear them, though, giving Grian a slight edge. Scar remembered to close the ring as he turned around, ignoring the inward counting the other was doing.

When he realised what was happening, the other was urging him to begin, approaching him at a terrifying pace. From there, it was a mess; punches were thrown left and right, up and down, with some thrown with a jump to add more weight. Scar’s head, sides, stomach and body hurt, but a small part of him couldn’t be happier. He inwardly wanted Grian to win the game, he’d been so good after all, so loyal. He couldn’t have asked for anyone else to kill him and pledge their life for him on their first day.

Scar was throwing punches, too, but they weren’t as strong, and he kept getting stuck by the cacti. He watched Grian’s expression. He was remorseful, he was hurting, and he didn’t want to do this, but there were no other options; they both knew that… Even if Scar didn’t quite understand why. They gradually and somehow moved out of the ring, moving towards Pizza’s grave; he was close to death now; he could feel it. He hadn’t been punching or hurting the other enough to have him anywhere close to death.

“I’m so sorry,” Scar blurted, his heavy breathing making the statement gaspy. There were so many other emotions, so much hurt, pain, love, and trust filling his heart, soul, and body, but there wasn’t enough time, not when the punches kept coming, and he kept trying to throw them. “I’m sorry too,” Grian blurted back, far less breathless than Scar himself. He had a sad expression covering his face, but the brunette couldn’t help but feel it was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen.

He repeated his apologies as they got closer and closer to Pizza’s grave until suddenly, nothing was beneath his feet. As he began to panic, he shouted, “No!” Out before he felt the final punch from his best friend, killing him in midair before he could hit the floor. It went dark, and the moment was over. His burning passion ceased, and his body replenished as he was sent home.

Yet, no matter how far Scar would get from the moment, away from the Cactus Ring, he knew secretly, he’d never, ever leave it.

Perfection is so quick to bore.

“Get away, Scar, get away from me,” he shouted angrily at the other, shaking from the pain and anguish he’d experienced less than an hour ago. Scar stood his ground, refusing to leave, but he didn’t come closer to granting his wishes. “We said, didn’t we? It was a double victory. We did it, Grian—” he told the other, trying to comfort him.

“No, no, you don’t get it! I used my fists against you, killed you in cold blood… You didn’t even try!” he shouted back at the brunette. Scar felt a little taken aback by Grian’s attitude but understood. He was seeing it in his mind. He was seeing the pain. It might’ve been different for Scar, whose memory had faded from death to Hermitcraft, but for Grian, it had been all too much.

“It’s okay! G, no matter what, I forgive you, okay? You had to do it. Those spectator ma jigs told you to, didn’t they?” He assured, taking a step closer. Grian was tearing up, and my god, Scar just wanted to hold him close and keep him tight until the other was okay. He knew the mental scars would be there for far too long, maybe never leave… But he wanted to take care of the other and assure him he was okay.

“But I still—” He broke himself off, trying to hold in a sob as he desperately tried to curl in on himself, his feathers puffing up as he tried to hide. Scar ran over, taking Grian in his arms and hugging him tightly, quietly whispering comforting words. The dirty blonde was quick to latch on, sobbing into his shoulder as the two quietly digested the obscenities the other server had brought them.

How close they were to one another, but how hurt they’d been from such an experience. Scar doubted they’d be the same again.

You are more beautiful by far.

“Scar?” Grian shouted, nearing the Swaggon with speed. Scar quickly whisked himself to the door and opened it, seeing the dirty blonde at the door. He was so irrevocably different this season. They’d only been together a handful of times since they’d moved into Boatem with everyone, but Scar felt he couldn’t keep his eyes away from the avian every time.

His face was so full of colour, his emotions full of energy and positivity, his wings so beautiful and delicate. It caught the other off-guard every time, but he tried to take it in his stride. After all, he couldn’t just admit to the other he liked him. Once he realised that the other was waving his hand in front of his face, he couldn’t help but blush as he finally paid attention.

“Earth to Scar! God, what’s gotten into you lately?” He asked, laughing a little as he smiled at the terraformer. “Sorry, G! Miles away,” he laughed awkwardly as he let the other in. Grian walked into his home and began to look around, almost like a child curiously going on a new walk and wanting to look at every nook and cranny around.

“It’s fine, Scar. I want to make sure you’re alright… I love your build; it’s so beautiful…” he muttered, admiring the interior despite its work-in-progress. Beautiful like you… Scar found himself thinking. With a smile, he quickly shook his head and joined Grian on his adventure through the Swaggon.

“I’m glad you like it. It's a shame it’s not closer to you!” He replied, snickering and giving a classical grin to the avian. Grian could only huff and turn away at the comment. “It’s not like I can walk to your base without going through a portal or using my wings…” He began listing, making it sound a little ridiculous that the brunette still didn’t find it close enough.

Scar huffed, crossing his arms. “Well, if you think it’s that easy, maybe I should move away!” He replied, shaking his head for effect. Grian could only giggle as he turned back to look at his friend. “Don’t be silly, Scar; I like having you close! Anyway, you can’t leave Boatem now; we’re a team; we will all be working together, staying close,” he explained, watching the other’s expression closely.

Sounds like a dream… “As long as you don’t blow anything up, it’ll be fine,” he chuckled, going into a shulker box nearby to look for food. Do you want any tea, pies, or cookies?” he asked, trying to be polite. “Oh, I’m fine. I just wanted to check up on the build and you, but you seem to be doing just fine,” he replied with a grin.

Realistically, Scar knew the other had just come over to procrastinate on something he had to do on his build. However, having a smaller base to make this season (as the other had proclaimed) should help alleviate just how much procrastination he was due to do this season. He was looking forward to it. He ignored his brain’s inward monologue in favour of staring at Grian’s pretty face—or something like that.

“Alright, well, you know you’re always welcome here, G!” he replied, grinning at the other. Grian only smiled back at the other, enjoying his company a little more before he had to leave.

Our flaws are who we really are.

“Annnd finally! We got it in Grian! After all that time, the creeper is finally in,” Scar cheered, pleased that after so long, they’d finally been able to do it, finally been able to sort out the creeper and put it in Grian’s menagerie. “Thank goodness, I was beginning to think it would take all day,” he sighed appreciatively, getting close to the glass cage. It was surprising that a layer this thin would stop a creeper from blowing up someone, but he was glad for it nonetheless.

Then Grian remembered something. “Oh, Scar, did we name it?” He asked, turning to the brunette in question. He laughed nervously before looking at his inventory, clearly seeing the name tag. He was silent for a long moment, enough for Grian to know exactly what his friend had done. “Scar! We’ll need to break into that and put it on now,” he whined, looking nervous.

The brunette turned to look at his friend, who seemed quite nervous. They’d already blown a charged creeper or two, so getting another in a building named to ensure it didn’t despawn was going to be a task… But it was ultimately Scar’s fault. It was his business, and he had to ensure everything was right with the other’s order, even if he wouldn’t do this for anyone else.

“I’ll do it, not to worry!” He said, grabbing the name tag and getting close to the glass to open it up. “Oh hey hey, dude, is it such a smart idea? I don’t mind doing it—” Grian tried to protest, foreseeing what Scar was about to do, but it was far too late because by the time the dirty blonde was cutting himself off, Scar had already opened the glass and he was trying to get the creeper to come closer for the name tag.

“Come here, Boo… That’s it…” He quietly baby-spoke to the creeper. As soon as it was close enough, he name-tagged the creeper and celebrated, but it was too late. Instead of closing the small window, the celebration gave ‘Boo’ enough time to blow up, destroying the bottom floor of the menagerie and Scar along with it.

He woke with a start at the bed not too far from the disaster, and he heard Grian panic as he went over to see the collateral damage to his little shop. Scar felt his stomach churn. He’d been so sure he could fix the issue for him. Now he needed to fix the shop before they could get another creeper… He’d have to make this right, somehow.

Scar had been away from the Swaggon for a few days to gather resources. This wasn’t unusual by far; it helped him calm down and relax occasionally, especially if things back at the base were getting too much for the hermit. He was not expecting the mess that would be there when he returned.

When Scar closed the door and went up a level, he quickly realised he couldn’t go further into the Swaggon. He frowned, using his elytra, which were still strapped onto his back, to get up and inspect the damage. It wasn’t anything significant; a minor fix would have sorted the issue out just fine, but the ladder was broken and one of the more essential parts of the whole Swaggon.

When he came to inspect the area, he noticed a little note had been left via a sign in the middle of the area, which he quickly saw was one from Grian. Scar had trouble reading the sign; he tended to struggle to read many things, but this was more due to the context of the words than the words themselves.

“Creepers can climb ladders?” He asked himself quietly, shaking his head. Well, at least he knew Grian had been looking for him, even if it was only because of the mess left behind. “Better go and check on G later… He’d probably be quite nervous,” Scar muttered further to himself, taking the sign down as he pondered on what used to be there and what he could do to fix the small hole that a creeper had made.

It took Scar twenty minutes at most to fix the little issue before things were back to normal, and he could continue as he was before. He would have to check on Grian later, though. He strangely got scared or nervous when issues with Scar happened. He knew about third life… Scar mentally shuddered at the reminder, but he’d always done it, even before the death game they’d had.

Scar began to unload his items from his trip, trying to shrug it off as a friend being concerned for another friend. There was no point in overthinking now.

I used to hear a simple song.

It was always Scar. For some reason, the Watchers always wanted him and Scar to be paired. At least, it seemed that way. Even though he’d screamed when he’d found out he and Scar were soulmates, the rush of panic had been all that had pushed him. He was just thankful that the other had no idea. He’d been able to finally come to terms with his emotions by the time it was necessary for Scar to figure it out, and the other had been thrilled for the most part.

He’d been more preoccupied by the Jelly Panda’s, but the other had been delighted when he’d found out. He’d said, “If we are the final two again, we won’t have to kill each other!” And other such lines, but the past was all he could think about. It was fine being with Scar on Hermitcraft; it wasn’t as though anything was indeed on the line, but it felt like making bonds on the life series made things all the more realistic in a hurtful way.

The day he’d beaten Scar in the Cactus Ring was when he lost a part of himself and never wanted to do it again. Scar was far too precious. He should never be put anywhere near death. So that is what he’d do this season, just as he’d done before. Ensure they stay alive and avoid getting close to Scar.

It worked at first. Scar would get confused about their time in separate beds on cold nights. Other times, he'd push him away when Scar wanted to do something that Grian would consider intimate or close. However, whenever he was in danger, he’d step in to avoid the other getting hurt, to the point that Scar had barely touched a sword during the season.

Then he began to see BigB. At first, he makes a silly joke to try to take the edge off of constantly being on guard and cautious around Scar and their relationship. It escalated far too quickly, however, as he began to go there more often to take the edge off of his anxiety. It got to the point that he knew Scar was suspicious, but he didn’t want to admit weakness to his soulmate.

He knew he’d have to face his actions at some point. He just hadn’t realised it would be so soon. After a few hours of ‘disappearing’, he returned to see BigB and Scar waiting at the entrance. He looked unhappy and a little distressed. It raised his anxiety right back to where it had been before he’d even left, making the past few hours almost meaningless.

“Where have you been, G? I thought you said you’d go see the ranchers, but I went over to check up on them, and they said they hadn’t seen you all day! You can’t be lying to me, G… We’re soulmates…” He said, his voice breaking a little as he watched him with a hurt expression. Grian turned away, disliking the look on his face. It broke his heart to see him so upset. Yet, he knew it was all his fault.

“I-I’m sorry,” He stammered, avoiding eye contact as he began to play with a bit of his red jumper. Scar was just too precious. He couldn’t get hurt. He couldn’t know… He had to get out of this… Somehow. “Don’t you dare; I know that look from anywhere, G, and I don’t want to hear lies,” Scar spat, taking a step closer, a step too close in Grian’s opinion.

He felt the other breathing against his hair before a rough hand clutched his jaw and gently brought the other’s head up so the two could look one another in their eyes. They were close, closer than Grian had ever remembered them. Suddenly, he felt his body hot, his cheeks lighting up with red as he watched Scar’s upset and tightly constricted face watch him. He was trying to decipher what was happening in the other’s mind, but it was only filled with Scar.

He momentarily forgot to breathe, but the other had used his soft words to keep him taking slow, deep breaths. He must’ve thought Grian was having a panic attack to react so gently with him. The dirty blonde tried to look away, but Scar’s hand was firm and unwilling to move. He was trapped, stuck in a consequence of his actions. Of course, he should’ve seen this coming; he had, in a way… Just not in such a close situation.

“I’m sorry,” he quietly repeated, staring into Scar’s eyes and seeing sorrow staring back at him. Scar didn’t try to reply to him this time. The male had set out the rules of this conversation, and he held his thoughts, unable to make words of them. How could he tell Scar about his insecurities? His worries, him going off to see BigB to alleviate the stress in the only way he’d learnt how: running away from his problems.

The silence between them left Grian awkwardly, trying to fill it with something. He just didn’t want to admit it just yet. “I-I just, it’s difficult, okay? That doesn’t mean I don’t care about you because I do—” he cut himself off, groaning at his stupidity as he watched Scar’s eyebrow quirk in amusement. Of course, of course, Scar would find this amusing. It wasn’t as if he was still holding Grian’s face, and they were mere centimetres apart. Of course, that wouldn’t be mind-melting to the other male.

“I’ve been going over to see BigB, just to relax over with him, nothing else,” he blurted, avoiding the other’s eyes as much as possible. The two were silent for a long moment, with Scar’s breath hitting the entire him before he finally sighed. “It’s not that I don’t want you to see your friends, but why would you hide it from me, G?” he quietly complained, trying to keep the whine out of his tone. It worked, mostly.

“I would rather not hurt you, that’s all,” Grian finalised, shaking his way out of the other’s grip. The brunette didn’t try to get close again; he looked genuinely hurt by the other’s behaviour. “Has this all been about—”

“Don’t mention it,” Grian stated coldly, turning away from the other, and Scar knew he’d hit the bullseye. He quietly moved to stand next to the avian, not quite looking at him and not making the other stare at him either. The best of both worlds from Scar’s perspective. It had comforted Grian a little, too; not having to look the other in the eye made things a lot easier on himself.

“We’re together this time; it’s either us or nothing,” Scar quietly spoke, glancing at the other nervously. He flinched but tried not to make a big deal, although the brunette had seemed to notice somewhat. “We might not even make it to the end. G, will you throw this because you’re scared of a repeat?” Scar asked, his face clearly showing a look of disappointment. A feeling of guilt began to bubble up in the other’s chest, but he wouldn’t let it slide.

“You’re far too precious, Scar; I’m not letting you get hurt just because we decided to get close again. I hurt you last time, and I don’t want to repeat that same mistake,” he snapped, avoiding the other’s eye contact. Scar laughed a little at the irony of what the other had said. “ Hurting me? Grian, you’re already doing that by staying away from me! We do things as a team. That’s what this season is supposed to be about… You actively pushing me away is only hurting the both of us,” Scar pleaded, feeling upset as he watched the other’s face morph into one of guilt.

“I…” Grian tried at that moment to find a way out of the situation, an excuse to tell that would further go with the idea that he’d been subjecting himself throughout the entire season…

But it was empty. His brain was empty of ideas.

That’s what broke the dam. As he began to tear up, Scar took notice almost instantly and moved to comfort the other, bringing him in a hug. Grian latched onto him with an urgent need as the waterworks properly began, and he continued to sob loudly into Scar’s shirt. The only change that bringing Scar close made was that his sobs were muffled, and he had someone else to lean on.

He’d been hopelessly lying to himself this entire time, wishing that there was some way to avoid the same pain and hurt that he’d previously been subjected to. Maybe, if he listened to his partner, the rest of this series would be enjoyable. All he had to do was let go.

That was until you came along.

Grian was majestic to Scar. The way he flew made trouble for many people around him, and the way he built was so beautiful. He almost wanted to live there, be by his side, and love—errr. Maybe his thoughts were getting away with him a little there. The point was that Scar adored Grian, and seeing him in such pain felt inhumane.

Mumbo had left to go on holiday, which initially felt like a bit of a hiatus but now felt a little more permanent than many people on the server, especially Grian, liked to admit. Their moustached friend had given him special permission to do what he wanted with the vault and its contents (however minor they were). Still, it was obvious to Scar that Grian would never be capable of doing such a thing, especially with how much he treasured its small contents.

The whole area was almost biblical to the other, even where a new version of Grumbot was somewhat under Mumbo’s base, away from his builds on the ground. Watching the other constantly pour over the cave, the rift, and the machinery almost made Scar feel sick. It was a sad obsession, and he knew the other wouldn’t normally do anything like this.

More often than not, the scarred male found himself dragging Grian out there for some self-care while avoiding making any progress on his base. It was one of the places that Scar had become most accustomed to during this season, and it was also starting to become concerning. He also left his wings on more often than not these days. Grian may have the natural wings of an avian, but his Elytra was not made for 24/7 usage.

Scar’s efforts were appreciated. However, Grian had made that very clear, especially with how he had previously been quite combative with coming out of the dreary cave, where now he would follow the other’s directions rather than fight. The other would sometimes even follow Scar throughout Scarland for more company. It partially felt like he was babysitting the other, but he didn’t mind.

He wouldn’t ever say that he enjoyed the other being clingy, even if it was a little evident. Grian may not have picked up on it yet, but clearly, the others had. He’d been teased quite a bit about how he’d take care of the other, including being teased that the two were together in a relationship, but he’d only deny them and never mention any of it to his already hurting friend.

He continued to explain why he shouldn’t tell the other when he got a ping from his communicator. It briefly took him out of his element, and he realized he’d been outwardly ranting to a piece of Scarland he’d been making. He shuffled to bring it out and sat down to read everything. There was no doubt that he’d missed a few pieces of conversation.

He quickly read through the main chat from all the hermits, but nothing was too attractive for him before he realised he’d been whispered by no one other than Grian himself. ‘Can I come over? Movie night, maybe?’ he asked, raising Scar’s eyebrows. He knew what suggesting a movie night would become, which only concerned him. Grian never brought up those fearing Star Wars talk, but it seemed they were a little more interested today.

He shrugged, telling himself he’d mentally check on Grian when he arrived. ‘Sure! When are you thinking?’ he quickly replied, ignoring the further message the dirty blonde had sent to ask Scar whether he was awake. He got a very quick reply, which indicated to the other that he’d been waiting for Scar to reply and watching the conversation.

‘I’ll be coming over now. If you’re busy, I don’t mind just watching you for a little,’ he explained over messages. Scar shut the communicator off quickly, knowing there would be no point in replying when the other was already coming over. He was in a part of the park that was a little more difficult to find than being out in the open. This meant that although Scar had heard him enter the park, Grian wouldn’t see him for several minutes.

The brunette took the opportunity to finish his build a little early, complete the small part he’d been working on, and move swiftly into Grian’s vision, where the avian came up to him reasonably quickly.

“Scar! I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” he whined, speeding into the other’s personal space. The other only laughed as he watched Grian with an adoring look. " I just had to finish something; you are doing okay, G?” he asked, inspecting his friend with too much precision. Maybe he’d just gotten good at doing it so recently, but it was almost scary how he could pick up the small details of Grian’s well-being from his looks.

In all fairness to him, it looked as though he’d showered not long after messaging him. His hair was mostly dry now, but there were still little bits that were damp in his hair, which was nice to know. The other took care of himself minimally to the point Scar had once had to drag him into the bathroom and lock the door until the other had showered and dressed himself in new clothing that wasn’t his dirty ones.

It had been unpleasant for all involved, but they’d made the most of it. Returning to the present, he noticed that the other smelled like a mixture of fresh scents, and his wings were pretty much preened. The brunette was pleased to see the other in such good condition without his help. His smile got a little wider than before when he listened to him.

“Yeah, feeling a little better today, but I just wanted to see if I could treat Mr Goodtimes to a movie night of his choice! You’ve been doing so much for me lately that I thought you’d enjoy doing what you want a little more,” he replied shyly, giving him a big smile. Scar beamed at the other, feeling extremely pleased with the other’s thoughtfulness.

This may not be quite the turning point that Scar would hope that lasts long-term, but it was something that the other would cherish for a long, long time.

You took my broken melody.

“So I was wondering,” Grian warily started, watching the other as he went through the training course he’d made in Scarland. “Hmm?” The other replied, trying to concentrate as he kept hitting the targets. “I was wondering if Hotguy had a sidekick,” he blurted, looking away from the other. The question made Scar turn around and stop, staring at him with an empty expression as he processed the words.

“You’re asking if I have a sidekick?” he asked to confirm, looking a little confused with the other. Grian nodded a little, shifting uncomfortably with the other’s eyes on him. “…I don’t. Why do you ask?” he questioned, looking suspicious. Grian felt a little self-conscious as he had the other’s eyes on him.

He promised himself it would be fine; he’d spent a lot of time practising and making his outfit… All he needed to do was tell the other. “I was just wondering if that position was available?” he asked, keenly aware of Scar staring at him with a look of curiosity and pure joy. “Yes! Yes!! Oh my god, G! That sounds wonderful!… You’re talking about yourself, right?” He asked, realising he’d assumed without questioning the other.

Grian chuckled a little to play off his nerves whilst he nodded. “Yup, advocating for myself,” he warily replied, his hands itching to place down the shulker box with his outfit. “Oooh, ooh! What’s your name going to be?” He asked, using his Elytra to float down and stand beside Grian. The dirty blonde smirked, pleased that he seemed to be so excited.

“Well, since you’re Hotguy, I thought I’d be Cuteguy! Y’know, because I’m so cute?” He suggested, faking an excited grin to the other as he felt the anxiety create a pit in his stomach. Scar whistled, winking at him. “That is a perfect name Grian, I wholly agree, you are such a cutie that it feels like it’s the only name that fits,” he replied quickly, as if he’d been preparing the line for years.

The words made Grian blush a little. He turned away a little to try and avoid Scar seeing him light up like a Christmas tree. “W-well, I’ll be needing an outfit for this—” he tried, trying to prevent the redness of his cheeks as a topic of conversation. Yet, the suggested topic had only made Scar gasp as he excitedly began to think of ideas.

“Oh, I’ll make one for you right now, Grian! Oh how cute you’ll be in the outfit I’ll make you, oh we can do so much super stuff together! Hotguy-ing and Cuteguy-ing anyone we see! We’ll be an amazing duo,” He began to chatter, not allowing Grian time to speak as he moved towards one of the back areas of Scarland to make an outfit.

The other shook his head fondly. He may have an outfit, but perhaps Scar’s would be made more out of love and far more worth his time. Before he followed the other, he took out the shulker box and took out the black outfit, mixed with red and orange lines. It looked a little similar to Hotguy’s outfit, but he shook his head, binning it in some fire before closing the shulker box, taking it, and putting it back in his inventory.

He shortly followed after Scar, wondering what kind of ideas he had for his first proper outfit.

And now I hear a symphony.

It was… Concerning, to say the least. To say Scar wasn’t worried for his friend would be an understatement. The whole shebang to do with Mumbo had grown to extreme levels, so Scar had stopped seeing the other as much. Even though there had been good moments, such as everything with Cuteguy (which did still happen on occasion, just not nearly as much as Scar liked), there were still bad moments, this being one of those moments.

Grian had been hanging around him less overall recently. Usually, they’d have movie nights, or the other would follow him to avoid working on his base, but now it was as if he’d disappeared. He knew that sometimes he didn’t leave his abode, but it was growing more than concerning now.

Scar decided to go see him. The other wasn’t replying to his messages on the communicator, so he had to stage an intervention in person. It was the only way around it. He brought his Elytra back on and moved toward Grian’s home. Thankfully, it wasn’t too far away, but there was a reasonable distance.

Once he got to the front, he immediately noticed that the door was open and that the house was empty, at least in the area visible from the door. Scar hesitantly went into the house and looked around; he saw nothing. There was no sign of Grian being there, at least in the last few hours. It made Scar nervous, but he knew he’d find the other.

After checking the house, he checked the rest of the base, including the storage area, the small farms, and even Mumbo’s base. He discovered only one place he hadn’t checked: the hole where Grumbot lived. Hesitantly, he went inside and briefly looked at the closed rift before turning around and checking the rest of the area.

He almost left before finding a small crevice he’d never realised existed. He moved past the rock around and found a small, dimly lit room. The dirty blonde was there, around a circle of candles and under a drawing… What that Mumbo’s face? He quietly sneaked in to not alert the other; he noticed the other sniffling, and his heart quietly broke.

“Grian?” he quietly asked, looking at the other with heavy concern. The avian swiftly turned to look at Scar, his face tight and wet with tears. His cheeks were red, and his eyes were puffy. He looked like a mess, his hands covered with a black substance, probably the chalk he’d used for the floor of the small area and its Mumbo Summoning circle.

“S-scar?” He whispered, his voice breaking as he stared at the other in shock. The other nodded, trying to stay quiet in case that set the other off. It seemed that Grian stood up shakily without much thought, his legs not supporting him as much as they should’ve as he ran towards Scar, hugging him tightly. Scar clutched and held him close, giving Grian the exact thing he needed: compassion and comfort.

It took Grian a while to calm down after that. From all the crying and struggling to breathe as he desperately tried to calm down as Scar told him it was okay to cry, it took at least half an hour to have Grian back on the floor, sitting next to Scar as they stared at the Mumbo summoning circle that Grian had made when he was desperate.

When he’d stopped clinging, Scar had got them both to retreat for the floor in the worry that Grian would’ve toppled over at the slightest movement; he seemed strangely weak. Now that things had calmed down, however, Grian was silent, avoiding any semblance of a conversation.

“I’m glad I caught you. I was worried about you… I’m not sure what you were doing, but it seemed like you needed the hug,” Scar mumbled, trying to talk to the other but seemingly talking to himself as Grian mostly spaced out next to him. It was unnerving, but he understood it was the other’s way of comprehending the events and what had happened.

“Why… Why do you look after me, Scar?” the dirty blonde asked, looking miserably up to him. The other hesitated; he didn’t want to admit his true feelings to the other. As well as being friends, he loved the other; that was why he cared about Grian so much. He was just so beautiful, so funny, idiotic, and explosive… But Scar loved every part of it.

“You’re my best friend,” Scar simply replied. It wasn’t quite a lie, but it wasn’t the truth. It comforted the brunette a little that he’d said some semblance of reality. Grian didn’t look as if he’d believed it, though. “No, come on, that excuse wore out the moment you let me sleep in your bed three times in one week; we both know that’s not the only reason you’ve stayed. Do you think you’ll get something from keeping me around? Did Mumbo ask you to make sure I didn’t hur—”

“He did not ask such a thing, and honestly, I’m a bit hurt that you seem to think that,” Scar interrupted, looking like a hurt animal with a slightly blanched face. Grian threw his arms up in frustration. “Well, what is it then? Because I sure as hell have no clue,” he scathingly replied, crossing his arms. Scar gulped, looking away as his cheeks began to redden. He supposed he’d have to say it.

Well, Scar inwardly reasoned, he didn’t have to. He could keep trying to fool the other into thinking that he just wanted the other to be okay and that they were best friends. Although it was true, it didn’t feel right to have that as the simple excuse for his behaviour. He gulped. For it all to end at this moment felt odd, but he knew it was better to do it now or never.

“I love you… I don’t mean in the way of ‘oh, you’re my friend, and I love you and wouldn’t want you to be hurt, no no, no, my dear sir, I mean, I love you. I want to kiss you the type of love, and I’d love to keep you close and hold you kind of love,” Scar admitted, playing with his hands shyly as he kept his eyes away from the other’s face. It was silent, and it was making Scar squirm.

“I m-mean, if all that makes you feel uncorf- uncomp— weird, then I can go, but I just want you to be okay, and we can just ignore all this if—”

Scar’s chin was quickly taken hold of, and his lips were shoved against Grian’s. They were kissing, but the whole ordeal was messy. Being a little shocked at first, Scar couldn’t take in what was happening until it was too late and Grian had already moved back, his face looking so cute and puffy, a mess, but Scar’s mess.

With enough confidence, Scar goes in for the next kiss, capturing the other’s lips as he softly and simply kisses him, holding the other securely as they get comfortable against one another. It wasn’t heated nor messy; it was just them, their lips, and their silent confession. They love one another, always and forever.

Moving away almost felt like a crime to Scar. Still, he knew they’d both have to have proper breaths of air eventually, especially Grian, who’d had trouble breathing not longer than ten minutes ago. Once separate, Grian watched the other for a long moment before giving a small smile at him. It wasn’t a big smile; the other was still mentally recovering and had dry tear marks on his cheeks, but it was a smile nonetheless.

“I love you, Mr GoodtimeswithScar,” Grian whispered, watching the other with a look of fondness that he’d only been a handful of times before. A smile pulled at his lips as he lifted his hand to stroke the other’s cheek. “I love you too, Grian,” he whispered back.

And now I hear a symphony.

Scar was getting impatient. Grian could tell. It was a little amusing to him, but he couldn’t help but feel the love from the other as he kept close to him, supporting him through the trouble he’d had with the sea recently. Was it the sea? It felt more like a deep river… Alas, the water, with its fishing rewards, wasn’t treating him well.

Being Grian’s partner, Scar swore off mending himself until Grian also got the mending book from pure fishing. It was heartwarming that the other would do something both sacrificial and painful. It reminded Grian of the bond the two had made together through the love, the pain and the difficult times.

They hadn’t decided to live together just yet, with Grian being at the dock and slowly making progress on his own house whilst Scar became a zoo keeper in a train for the tenth season of Hermitcraft. The two were living life, and it was peaceful, other than Grian’s continuous shouts of anguish.

Speaking of anguish, the dirty blonde felt a tug at the line. Scratching his new beard, he began to pull in, and Scar began to whistle, letting go of Grian’s side to focus on the catch. With little pushback, he managed to bring whatever he’d fished up easily. It was a book. He held his breath as he took it off the line.

He opened the page, showing that the book was just another Depth Strider rendition. Grian angrily groaned and threw it toward his not-mending book chest. Scar made a noise of sympathy for him before gently tapping on the wood, letting Grian grumpily sit back down. Scar got close to him and began to cuddle up as Grian put another line out and held it, hoping he’d catch another book soon.

“It’s alright, G. We’ll get you that book one of these days,” he softly murmured, taking the avian’s hand as he tried to comfort the other. “Yeah, yeah, we’ll just find it next week, like we said last week, that we’d find it this week,” Grian angrily mumbled, stroking the back of Scar’s hand to comfort the other and himself.

Scar lightly laughed. “Yeah, something like that. We’ll get through this together,” he replied, giving a slight smirk to the other, who wasn’t paying attention to his face. “You make it sound like someone’s died,” Grian muttered, keeping a tight watch on the line and where it lay in the water. The other gave a light chuckle.

“Your hope and dreams have died, haven’t they?” He asked, his grin widening as he watched the other move away from him and look amused and fakely hurt. “Scar! You rude git,” he replied, snorting as he shook his head and got comfortable beside him again. Scar hummed back, relaxing next to the other until he got another tug on that damned fishing line.

[sam-loves-seb]

gallavich questions

thanks for the tag (and the questions) @callivich !!

What’s a fic you’ve read more than once? intro to quantum dating by @spoonfulstar, i think i've read it 3 or 4 times now, it's one of my all time favorites

What’s a gifset you always have to reblog? anytime i see a gifset from that one s5 deleted scene, yeah that one, i have to reblog

What’s a headcanon you can’t stop thinking about? i have a very specific headcanon for a tattoo ian gets post-canon for mickey, and i hesitate to even explain it now bc i think one day i do wanna write a fic about him getting it, but whatever--my headcanon is that he gets an M tattooed on his left ring finger and it's a subtle yet sweet nod to his husband. (i could talk about this for 9 hours but i will limit myself and stop here)

What’s a fanart you love looking at? i've spent an obscene amount of time staring at this fanart by @doodlevich it just checks all my boxes (domestic, husbands, fluff, etc.) and it's so well done, i'm obsessed with this pieces

What’s an idea you’d love to create if you had the time/inspiration? listen, i have this idea for a rock band au that lives rent fucking free in my head, and if i can find the time and the inspiration to actually turn these vibes and unorganized plot points into actual words and a coherent story in the new year, then maybe it'll see the light of day in 2024 but no promises. for now, i leave you with this: four milkovich siblings are in a rock band that is rising to success with the launch of their second studio album and subsequent tour, and ian gallagher is lead singer mandy's (fake) boyfriend--at least in the eyes of the public--and he spends some time that summer touring with the band and hooking up with their lead guitarist in secret until the band's manager/father catches wind of what's going on behind closed doors

What’s something you’ve discovered since entering this fandom? A new trope you love? A different analysis of the show? Something else? i've always been a post-canon enthusiast for almost all of my ships, but i think before gallavich i always envisioned them with a very cookie cutter standard american dream family with the house and the careers and the 2.5 kids, which usually fits a lot of my ships, but with gallavich i... don't have that same vision ?? i think they're actually my first ship that i hc more often than not without kids in their post canon life, which is a new vibe for me entirely but i kinda love reading/writing it. idk if that answers the question you asked, but it definitely answered a question

What’s an underrated trope or concept you’d like to see more of? honestly i want more s9/10 prison era gallavich fics (and/or fanart). i think it's a gold mine era with so much untapped potential, and there are very few fics/series/whatever that really get deep with it and get to the good stuff of these two boys who haven't spent any significant time together in years but still love each other like they did way back when

What’s your favourite season? And has this changed after multiple rewatches of the show? it flip-flops for me between s4 and s5, like right now i think it's s5 but idk if i could actually pick one or the other as my absolute favorite

What’s a plot hole you wish had been answered or resolved? i would give my left arm to know how the fuck (and why the fuck) mickey started rolling with his dad again in post-prison s10 era, like in 10x08 he's going to terry for advice on how to protect ian, just for terry to try to kill him again 3 episodes later ??? make it make sense john wells i'm under your bed

What scene or moment do you feel isn’t discussed enough? personally i think the promise ring scene in 10x09 is criminally underrated and not talked about nearly enough, like you don't understand how happy that scene made me (stay with me here) seeing mickey stand up and fight for the future he really wants with ian and not settling for anything less

What line/dialogue/description from something else (a poem, a book, a tv show, a movie, or something else) do you feel describes Ian and Mickey’s relationship? can i do song lyrics? i'm gonna do song lyrics--i've always thought the song godlight by noah kahan was very gallavich, especially the chorus, and especially during s4/5/6 era and it may or may not be a piece of inspiration for my big bang canon divergent fic

What do you think is next for Ian and Mickey post-finale? i think they take a while to really settle into their new place and and make it their own, and it's a bit of an adjustment (for both of them) to fit in with this new crowd and this new environment, but they're learning how to grow and evolve together and at the end of the day that's all that really matters to the both of them

tagging: literally anyone who wants to play bc my brain is tired and i am too tired to try and remember everyone i probably should tag

[unitchiefs-blackbirdphoenix]

What do you think about Jorgan, Jarcia, Jemily, Jelle, Jara, Jeid, Jalex, Jate and Jalvez?

Jorgan

A hot ship! A friends with benefits type of situation, but they still care deeply about each other. They’re also work out buddies and have little competitions about who’s stronger and faster.

Jarcia

I don’t really ship it. I see them more as sisters/BFFs, but I’m not super mad about it.

Jemily

My all time favorite, my OTP!! Such a healthy relationship platonically and otherwise, and they have a huge amount of trust in each other.

Jelle

I don’t have a strong opinion on this, but I like it. I’m into the idea of them having a thing before Elle left or JJ having a crush on her.

Jara

I love this ship, but love it more in fic than in actual canon only bc Tara doesn’t have a lot of screen time (unfortunately). Absolutely love the fan works for them and they’re such a good and hot ship.

Jeid

I hate this ship. They wouldn’t work together as a couple (not on the same level emotionally or mentally), and JJ has never seemed interested in him like that, so it’s pretty much one-sided from Reid’s pov despite canon efforts.

Jalex

I don’t have a very strong opinion on them either, but I like it. JJ also having a thing for her older female colleagues (Alex, Emily, Elle, and Tara) is a hc I have lol. They would be great moms together, too!

Jate

Don’t get me wrong, I love JLH, but I don’t remember much of s10 tbh so I don’t have much of an opinion on them. I love JJ and Kate bonding with each other about kids and being moms, though, it’s really cute.

Jalvez

Not a ship I’ve put too much thought in, but I kinda like it. Similar to JJ/Morgan, Luke/JJ are one of the jock ships haha. I love their little team-ups in cm and Evolution, and I feel like they would have a lot of inside jokes with each other, mostly inappropriate ones.

[milo-hypno]

thoughts on who might join for hc s10? personally my top 2 guesses are skizz and joel tho there are lots of others id like to see

Really hoping for Skizz! Joel is a good guess, he does gorgeous builds and would thrive well - otherwise... man, I really don't know many MCYT's outside of HC. Is Lizzie or Katherine busy with another SMP?

I'd guess maybe someone relatively underknown, someone that a few Hermits have played with - or maybe a demographic that is underrepresented in Hermitcraft right now?

Whoever they are, I look forward to welcoming them to the community with open arms!! (And maybe a fic. you know, to get things kicked off.)

Also, if he hadn't retired last year, I would have thrown CaptainSparklez's name out there for a joke. Who knows, maybe HC will become his retirement home LOL

[set-in-stardust]

Do you think you would ever write more DBHC? I really really loved reading your take on it :)

(no pressure just genuinely curious)

I might sometime if I can think of a good enough prompt!! I really do like writing for the dbhc au, and with HC S10, I think there might be some opportunities coming up 👀👀

but I need to get back into writing in general tbh! I haven't made much progress on any fics lately since I've been working on my art (aka trying to support myself) and some original writing instead!

but if you have any ideas I'm not opposed to hearing them (please tell me them!!!!)

[spookyrobbins]

thank you for the s10 hcs!!

all of them were lovely as always, but i think if i had to chose i i’d probably have gone for the miscarriage storyline.

also i thought about it some more and it’s so funny (no) how that one scene where arizona tells callie about leah and asks her if a hug would bd ok was actually promising and then it got snatched from us ofc

aw thanks! yeah, the miscarriage is really very unexplored - i'm working on a s10 fic now that touches on it a bit, but even then it's really not the main focus

s10 calzona are so all over the place honestly, so little of their actions make any sense it's so strange

[ilexdiapason]

ummmmmm anyway if u werent following my descent into insanity last night. mythical j sausage for hc s10. fic coming tonight.

[grandadtwelve]

i really need to see more of the tardis library like I NEED it.. im rewatching journey to the center of the tardis and it’s so pretty?

we soo deserved to see twelve’s s10 tardis team in there it’s so their aesthetic. bill studying and asking the doctor questions, missy sitting somewhere ridiculous while reading a book in gallifreyan and trying to look superior, nardole and twelve playing chess and ignoring missy’s condescending insults about their strategy, it could’ve been SO perfect

I know we all say this every season but rtd give us more domestic tardis exploration content please x