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

Chapter Five

BDubs let out a small yelp as he bumped into someone, stumbling slightly. "Oh my- I am- so sorry." He looked up from where he had been trying to pick up the letters he had dropped and bit back a muttered insult as he saw who he had bumped into.

It was the same woman that had captured him and Ren- Commander Symmetry, if he remembered correctly.

She looked him up and down with a slightly unimpressed expression. "Uh... yeah. Be more careful next time, hybrid."

There was a quiet voice from a few feet behind her. "Uh- I don't think he meant to bump into you, False. He's just delivering letters for the prince or something, I think. Am I right?" BDubs glanced at the voice.

It was a boy with light blonde hair that was somehow a mix of incredibly messy and neat at the same time, small, stubby goat horns poking out of his blonde curls, and goat-like, furry ears in place of normal ears.

Namely, one of Impulse's boyfriends Zedaph.

"Uh- yeah. The prince is busy with his own project- not quite sure what it is- so I'm delivering some letters... so they can be delivered to the people they're meant for? I think?" BDubs shrugged. "How are you, by the way, Zed?"

"Uh... can't complain, honestly. The worst part is probably that I haven't seen Impulse or Tango in weeks. And the fact that every time I mess up people think it's because I'm a hybrid, but no, I'm just clumsy." Zedaph said with a laugh.

"I saw Impulse about a week and a half ago, actually. He's working with a lumberjack called Pearl, I think." The Floran hybrid informed him.

Commander Symmetry cut off the light-haired blonde's response. "As lovely as this little chat is, I have things to be doing. And I told you not to use my name in public, Plays." She added sharply to Zedaph, addressing him by his last name.

Zedaph's eyes widened slightly. "Ohhhh- forgot about that. Sorry. Here, let me just-" He walked towards BDubs, leaning down and helping him pick up some of the letters. "Have fun delivering letters, I guess?"

"I'll try." BDubs said, puffing out a sigh as he straightened. "Have fun working with her." The emphasis on the word 'her' was barely noticeable, but it still made the blonde woman glare at him fiercely.

"Come on, we're leaving." She said to Zedaph, who shrugged apologetically and followed the general down the corridor and out of sight.

——

BDubs opened the door slowly, looking inside Etho's room. The boy was sat on his bed, a pencil in one hand as he either wrote or drew in an empty book. "I'm back." He said quietly.

Etho looked up, brightening. "Oh- BDubs! Hello!" He straightened slightly. "Did you- deliver the letters, or...?"

"Yup. All taken care of. You're welcome, by the way." BDubs added with a half hearted roll of his eyes, walking over to rose in the plant pot on the windowsill. "I swear to- I leave you alone with this thing for two days, and it's already nearly dead again." He added wryly, shooting a skeptical glance in Etho's direction.

The prince let out a muttered protest. "Well- I told you I'm not good with plants." He said lamely as BDubs made a gesture with his free hand, causing the stem of the plant to straighten slightly.

"Still- reducing it to that state? In two days? I really need to teach you more about looking after plants." BDubs said with a somewhat defeated sigh, glancing back at Etho and the book. "What are you doing, by the way?"

"Oh- uh- nothing. Just... nothing." Etho said awkwardly, closing the book and putting it under his pillow.

"Uh... okay?" He shot the boy a slightly confused look before shrugging. "I'm just gonna head down to the gardens now, if that's okay with you."

"Sure. You don't need to ask me, you know." Etho added with a laugh.

"Just checking. You're basically my boss, so..." BDubs trailed off, glancing out of the window. Oh, it's almost sunset. I like the sunset.

"I mean I'd like to think I'm your... friend? Acquaintance? But not you boss. Anyway- mind if I come with you?" The prince asked curiously.

BDubs blinked. Friend? I mean, I wouldn't say that- would I? I don't know. I- ugh, feelings. "Sure? Go ahead. You're the prince, it's not exactly like you need to ask permission."

——

BDubs sat down on the grass, leaning against the stone brick wall that surrounded the gardens with a yawn.

Etho sat down... not exactly right next to the Floran hybrid, but he wasn't incredibly far away.

BDubs brushed his fingers lightly over the grass, summoning a handful of oxeye daisies.

Etho stared with wide eyes. "Woah- I didn't know you could like, grow flowers out of nowhere- I thought you could just speed if the growth of plants that were already there. What are you doing with them anyway?" He added curiously.

"Making a flower crown." BDubs paused. "Do you want one?"

The white haired boy blinked, clearly slightly surprised by the brunette's offer. "Sure!" He said after a moment.

BDubs nodded quietly, looking back at the flowers as he continued making the flower crown. The two sat in silence for a few minutes, the quiet atmosphere only broken by Etho humming quietly to himself every now and then, until BDubs turned to Etho, flower crown in hand- and was surprised to see the prince staring back at him.

"Uh- it's- done." BDubs moved closer to the white haired boy, reaching over and placing it on his head carefully. Etho reached for the flower crown, running his fingers gently across the flowers and stems of the intertwined oxeye daisies.

"Woah- this is awesome!" He exclaimed brightly, laughing. BDubs found himself smiling slightly. He frowned, his smile vanishing. Nope, I am- not smiling- it's literally just Etho laughing, that is not something worth smiling over-

Maybe, just maybe, it was time to admit to himself that he didn't exactly dislike Etho- the white haired boy was definitely somewhat preferable to the other humans, anyhow.

Woo, new chapter :)

BDubs realises he doesn't actually hate Etho~

Also False isn't a jerk as a character, she just (like a lot of the human characters) has an internalised hatred of hybrids because she was raised to dislike them. She's actually pretty cool and might become more relevant later.