Oneshots! (Mostly Hermitcraft)

All my walls are built and on display [Cub]

Febuwhump Day 15: "Who Did This to You?" ft. Vex!Cub

Summary:
Cub doesn't like taking off his shirt. However, when he's working on redstone, hermits tend to leave him alone, so he should be able to do that without being disturbed, right? ... Right?

TWs: implied/referenced abuse

Cub connected the last piece of redstone dust to the dropper, withdrawing his hand carefully so as not to disturb the tenuous connection. He leaned back, the sun glaring down on his shirtless back as he surveyed the circuit, ensuring it was closed properly. Satisfied, he stood and moved to another part of the machine, picking up his backpack of redstone supplies and taking it with him.

He placed down a few lines of the conductive dust, along with a comparator and dropper randomiser, then connected the whole thing to the clock at the centre of the firework factory. Taking a deep breath, he jumped down from the wiring and threaded his way through the contraption along the iron platform he'd built as a base. He prepared himself mentally before pressing the button to activate the factory, listening attentively to the clicks and nearly silent hum of operating redstone. A crafter clicked and he hastily opened the bottom chest of the storage array, watching the first three rockets come in.

"Okay..." he said under his breath. "Now the next one should be different, so it shouldn't stack."

The next trio of rockets that came in stacked perfectly on top of the previous ones in the inventory-style chest. Cub groaned, running his hand over his face as he turned off the factory and vaulted back into the redstone spaghetti. He crawled around for several minutes, searching for the mistake. Eventually, he found the misplaced dust and reconnected it to the rest of the line, ensuring no grain was out of place. His hands were stained pink, but he couldn't care less as he jumped down to test the factory again.

"Cuuuuubbbb!" Scar called from the ground, his voice rising above his horse's stamping hooves. Cub jumped slightly, spinning on his heel and searching for his polo shirt and lab coat. They were nowhere to be found in the main storage area, which was still open to the sky. He groaned as he heard the chittering of an allay nearby; the creature had probably stolen his clothes. Too bad the day was too hot to be going around in a black polo.

"Hey Scar!" he called back, somewhat distracted by looking for the allay. "How's it going?"

"Going well, going well," Scar answered, his head popping over the edge of the platform as he scaffolded up. "How about yourself?"

"Ahh," Cub groaned, turning the noise into a semi-optimistic chuckle. "Just trying to get this contraption to work."

"That requires s-tier muscles?" Scar gestured towards him, fanning himself with his hat as he sat down on the platform, leaning back on his opposite hand.

Cub remained facing him, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Nah, it's just too hot today." Scar nodded, switching hands and continuing to fan himself. "What brings you over?"

Scar shrugged. "Just wanted to say 'hi' and hang out," he said. "Whatcha building?"

"Firework factory. It should be working now. Let me find my shirt and I'll show you."

Scar laughed out loud, curling in on himself slightly. "You can't find your shirt?"

Cub shook his head, trying to deflect Scar's attention from his steadily heating up cheeks. "An allay's got it somewhere, I'm sure. I can hear it chirping."

"Ohhh, so that's what the ally downstairs was carrying?" he asked, pointing his thumb over his shoulder towards where his dirt scaffolding was.

"Yeah, probably." He rummaged through his inventory and pulled out a noteblock, setting it on the ground and hitting it a bunch of times. Scar scrambled upright and bolted over to place a salmon head on top, and the sound of a flopping fish filled the small area as Cub tried to call over the allay.