Just The Two Of Us- A Hermitcraft/Ethubs Fantasy AU

Chapter Three

BDubs didn't remember much of what happened next.

One moment he was watching Ren try to distract the humans and something hit his head, and the next moment someone was telling him that he had to work for the humans or else (the person telling him this, the same woman who had spotted him at the village- who's name turned out to be 'Commander Symmetry'- didn't elaborate on the 'or else' part).

A few minutes later, a woman with long brown hair and a pink flower tucked behind her ear was leading him down a hallway. After explaining that he would be working for the human prince (a fact that BDubs resented), the two walked in silence for minute before she broke the silence.

"What's your name, by the way?" The brunette asked curiously.

"I-" BDubs cut off his sharp retort, rolling his eyes. Nevermind.

"Why- oh, are you worried I'll tell the queen if you say anything bad? Don't worry, sweetheart, I won't tell the queen anything." The woman pulled a face at the mention of the queen (who BDubs had yet to meet) before looking back at him.

"Okay, then. Why are you trying to make small talk with me like I'm someone you bumped into on the street instead of someone who's village was just destroyed by your kind?" BDubs shot back.

The woman blinked. "Wow. Wasn't expecting that. Uh... I mean, I was just trying to be nice, but you make a fair point. My name is Stress, by the way." She added.

BDubs frowned before blurting under his breath, "BDubs."

"What?" Stress shot a curious look in his direction as he sighed.

"BDubs. My name is BDubs. I'd say it's nice to meet you, but I'd be lying." He added crossly, staring at the ground.

"I see. Oh- this is the prince's room." Oh. Yay. BDubs thought sarcastically with an internal eye roll. He lingered behind Stress as she opened the door and walked into the room.

He heard a voice from the room. "Oh- Stress! Hi!"

Stress let out a laugh. "Prince Etho." 'Etho'. That's a stupid name for a stupid human prince. It fits.

"You don't need to be formal, Stress, my mother isn't here." The voice reassured her with a laugh. Ew, his voice is annoying as well. Kind of.

"I was just being formal in front of our... guest. Your mother told me to bring him down here. He's your new assistant." Stress glanced over her shoulder and nodded at BDubs, who reluctantly followed her into the room.

He paused for a moment, looking the prince up and down. The boy had fluffy white/grey hair and heterochromic eyes- a feature BDubs had never seen on anyone but himself- only they were gray and red (maybe?) instead of brown and green. He was wearing a dark gray (almost black) mask that covered his mouth and nose and a pale scar across the red eye. The prince stared at him for a heartbeat too long before speaking.

"Oh. Uh... it's... nice to meet you." The prince said quietly. BDubs rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath as the boy continued talking. "My name is Prince Etho." Oh great, a boring formal title. "But you can just call me Etho, no need for the formalities-" The white haired boy added hastily, as if reading BDubs' mind. BDubs briefly noticed Stress leave the room, and Etho's gaze flicked briefly to her before he looked back at the Floran hybrid. "What's your name?"

BDubs glared at him furiously, meeting Etho's gaze for the first time. Why is he acting like I'm some random person instead of acknowledging the fact that his mother and her soldiers burnt down my village? "Why do you care? I'm just a 'servant', right?" He spat mockingly. The prince blinked, clearly slightly surprised, and for a moment BDubs slightly regretted what he had said. Yeah, Stress said she wouldn't tell the queen about anything I said, but this is literally her son- of course he'll tell her.

"Well, I was just being nice." Etho pointed out with an awkward laugh.

"Humans? Being nice? Yeah, no, doesn't sound that accurate." BDubs snapped, smiling smugly as Etho's face fell slightly. He tried to push away the twinge of guilt he felt. He deserves to think about the horrible things his people have done to mine.

Etho cleared his throat awkwardly. "I mean, I'd like to think that I'm different from other humans." The prince said slowly, his frown deepening. "Come on, just tell me your name- I really want to know now."

BDubs paused, gritting his teeth slightly. He'll find out anyway, I guess. "Not that it's any of your business, but... my name is BDubs." He said quietly.

Etho raised both eyebrows. "Oh! Cool." He squinted at BDubs. "You're a Floran, right?"

"Floran hybrid." The brunette corrected him swiftly.

"Yeah, hybrid, sorry." Etho amended hastily. "So... can you like, control plants and stuff?" Obviously. What sort of question is that?

"Yeah." BDubs walked over to the plantpot that was placed on the windowsill. "See?" He stared at the plant (a withering, almost dead rose) for a moment, running his fingers gently along the side of the plantpot, and the petals of the flower immediately brightened (they had been dark and drooping before). New petals appeared in the place of the ones that had already fallen off, and the stem and the flower itself straightened slightly. "You need to take better care of your plants, you know. Although I guess that's my job now, since I'm your 'servant'." He said mockingly, his gaze flicking to Etho.

To the brunette's surprise, Etho let out a quiet laugh. "I- I guess so, yeah. I mean, you're definitely a lot less likely to kill the plant than I am." He joked, and BDubs glanced at him with a slightly surprised expression (although he wasn't quite sure what exactly it was about what Etho said that had startled him). "Also, I feel like 'assistant' is a much nicer term. Don't you agree?" The white haired boy glanced at the teen.

BDubs paused, looking back at Etho. "Uh... yeah. Yeah, it is nicer."

Chapter threeee :D