Oneshots! (Mostly Hermitcraft)

Viva La Revolution: Out of the Frying Pan [Impulse]

Febuwhump Day 22: "You Weren't Meant to Be There" ft. human!Impulse

Summary:
"Y'know, Gem," he said slowly. "I've been thinking."
"That's dangerous," Gem mumbled, turning her head slightly so she could look at him through a curtain of hair. "What's up?"
"Well, it's just–" Impulse paused for a moment, looking at the ceiling as he gathered his thoughts. "Ren's done good things, don't get me wrong, but I don't think the system is doing good things – for us or for him."

Impulse begins his revolution and Grian's still fishing.

TWs: talk of death

"Notch damn it!" Gem swore, slamming the door to their shared house closed. Impulse looked up at her from his tinkering at the dining table quizzically, pausing as he tried to recall where she'd been for the past few hours. She beat him to it, saying, "Stupid permit office. I just want to keep selling prismarine, thank you very much, and Grian had to go on lunch break right before it was my turn!"

"It's pretty late in the afternoon now," Impulse pointed out. Gem shot him a withering glare and he shrank back, raising both hands in playful surrender.

"Yeah, he came back after an hour," Gem added frustratedly. "But then he put me on hold while he sorted his files before giving me a really long form. Once I finished that, he said that 'by order of the king', he wasn't allowed to give me another permit for prismarine since one already exists!"

"Did you at least ask who had the original permit so you can trade?" Impulse asked, picking up a pair of pliers and using them to tuck a wire into place. He twisted it around a pre-existing wire as he listened to her rant.

"Yeah!" Gem threw her hands into the air. "And he said they probably wouldn't want to trade with me!"

Impulse picked up his soldering iron and touched it to the wires, heating the metal. He touched the end of the coil of solder to the connection and smoothly melted it into the joint, the tip of his tongue protruding as he concentrated on the circuit board he was building. "That's frustrating," he said finally. "Did he tell you who, though?"

Gem scowled. "Well, yeah. He showed it off as he picked up his bag and ran off to go fishing. I swear that guy is gonna be the death of me."

Impulse laughed humourlessly. "Blame the king for claiming all the shops. We can't sell anything now, especially since the permit situation is so messed up."

"Too right," Gem grumbled, joining him at the table and letting her head fall onto the wooden surface. Her hair cascaded down around her face in a frazzled, orange mess.

Impulse frowned as he snapped another piece of circuitry into place. He soldered it down gently, then placed the board back into the main body of the component. He put the covering over it carefully, then clicked it into place, making sure all the inserts were in the right place. He put the freshly crafted comparator into the shulker box on the floor next to his chair, and took out the next one, levering the top off the baseplate and taking out the board.

"Y'know, Gem," he said slowly. "I've been thinking."

"That's dangerous," Gem mumbled, turning her head slightly so she could look at him through a curtain of hair. "What's up?"

"Well, it's just–" he paused for a moment, looking at the ceiling as he gathered his thoughts. "Ren's done good things, don't get me wrong, but I don't think the system is doing good things – for us or for him."

"Yeah?" Gem blinked at him slowly, but he could tell he had her attention.

"Ren's been king for, what, three years? And it was good at the start. The economy got fixed, community resources and stuff were actually made available – like roads and the Nether portal – and things were finally organised, but now it feels like he's smothering us, if you get what I'm saying."