Smells Like Coffee ~ (Etho x Bdubs)

Chapter 37 - Christmas Crisis turned Comfort

(welp, this is it. it's a long one, so good luck out there o7)

Bdubs looked at his phone. Specifically Etho's contact. Keralis told him to take it slow, and he was going to abide by that! But....

Etho Slab (Mocha Man)

He sighed, clicking the edit button. Old habits die hard.

Set name to: Etho Slab (Mocha Man)<3

It wasn't like Etho was gonna see it or anything. It was just gonna be Bdubs' little secret and eventually, when Etho and him had gotten closer, maybe he'd confess his crush and things could go well. And he could show Etho and keep the name.

Hopefully.

Right now, he was completely satisfied with Etho being a good friend. He just happened to be a friend with a little heart by his name. A platonic heart! Of course! Of course.

That's what he would say if Etho saw it and asked at least.

Bdubs took one last look at it and smiled, before pocketing his phone and moving to get ready.

He immediately leaned towards his usual moss hoodie while going through outfits, and with no reason to wear something else (he had no ugly Christmas themed sweaters, and this was supposed to be a casual thing, not a formal one anyhow) he slipped it over his usual blue tinted tee shirt. Comfy!

He scanned over his desk a last time and something caught his eye, gold and sparkly in the corner of the mirror, and it kinda fit perfectly with his outfit.

Well, he supposed he could be a little festive, if he had to.

Clipping the star hair-clip in his hair, (<I'm a professional writer, you know. /j) he also cackled at his reflection. He looked like a goddamn Christmas tree like this. Y'know, that was fitting. Very fitting. He was keeping it. Now all he needed was some ornaments to hook onto the sweater...

Ok that would be overdoing it a bit.

Bdubs opened up his window, sticking his hand out to gauge the temperature. He winced as a cold breeze swept through his home, and decided, yeah- he better bring a jacket to wear over the hoodie in case they had something planned outside, and just for walking between the car and buildings. No use to freeze to death before he got there!

---

Stepping through the door as Ren swung it open, nothing but warmth hit his face. It was comfortable, and as lame as it could be, being one of the first people to the party had its perks. Martyn, Ren, and Mumbo were already there of course, all of them being roommates, and Scar and Stress were just as early as him. They mentioned coming early to help set up a little too, and the place looked amazing!

"Hey Bdouble-O! Welcome to the party my dude."

"Hey Ren! Thanks for inviting me!" Bdubs smiled. "The place looks great!"

"Thank Doc when he gets here. He set up the high stuff." Ren laughed.

"Oh? Where is he?"

"He went back home to get Etho," Ren explained, and Bdubs felt himself paying a little bit more attention to Ren now. "They might take awhile. Doc called Etho to check on him, and the fool hadn't even gotten ready yet!"

Bdubs laughed with the joke, and suddenly felt a little warmer. Right, he should take off his extra jacket. "Cool, cool." Bdubs said casually and normally like a normal, casual person. "Cool." He started hanging it up as Ren continued.

"Yeah." Ren chuckled. "Cool. Don't go waiting on him like a lost puppy dude."

Bdubs just stuttered as his mind processed it, and then protested, whipping around. "hEY! I am not a-"