(edit from two days after this was published: wtf you guys are crazy this has 80 comments lmao)
see what I did there with the title
it's finally here! this was supposed to be a Christmas oneshot :') I apologize for the long gap between chapters, I have been battling some nasty writer's block like forever
set in season 7 because of my inability to write in any other season
this is for all my hex-deprived friends out there /lh
CW/TW!! swearing, sexual references/suggestions (there is no smut dw just some jokes), mentions of cuts, swords, fire, burns, and scars
WC: 6.1k
(also quick note this is a new oneshot, not an old one)
Sparks crackle around Hels' unguarded hands as the Nether knight swings his pickaxe at the magma blocks, huffing as the splintered, superheated rock scatters at his feet. He wipes a bead of sweat from under his fringe; the stone down here radiated heat better than a Netherborn could. Obsessed with the sheen of his armour, the second he had seen a splinter in his chestplate, he'd gone down into his mines to find the netherrite to repair it. He knew it was unhealthy to strive for perfection to such lengths as he was, risking his health, but he couldn't help it. The young Netherborn still living in his heart, who never had a piece of iron to his name, was living off of the shininess the netherrite provided.
He hisses as a large chunk of magma lands on his tail, quickly flicking it off. He flicks a glance over his back, nervous to see what kinds of damage he'd caused to himself this time. His tail was looking a little more hot than usual, and his skin and the spines running down his back were speckled with tiny spots of red skin, no doubt going to be stinging and itchy later on. He heaves a sigh; Netherborn or not, no one is fully protected from the dangers the Nether can produce.
He turns back to the rock in front of him, and almost immediately upon doing so, is startled into yelping from a whistle behind him. He whips around, bristling, to see none other than Xenica, leaning on his sword as his slitted yellow eyes rake up and down Hels' body. "I'd say I found something prettier than netherrite down here," he purrs, smirking at Hels as the Nether knight becomes alertly aware of the fact that he is not wearing a shirt at the moment. Hels flushes bright red, scowling through his embarrassment. "For god's sake, don't scare me like that," he says, sliding his pickaxe into the loop on his belt. Ex shrugs, walking towards Hels in that stupid, cocky way that makes Hels' heart skitter every time. "I guess your armour needed a shine," he chuckles, eyes flitting down to Hels' chest. Hels scoffs and quickly smacks his tail over Ex's eyes, earning a satisfying "Ow!" from the ex-admin. "Eyes to yourself, asshole," he snarks affectionately. "And yes, my chest plate is broken." Ex removes Hels' tail from his face, lifting an eyebrow. "Broken? You would never let your chestplate break. Let me guess, just a scratch?" Hels looks away, face heating up as Ex laughs. "God, Hels," the ex-admin chuckles, putting a hand on the side of Hels' face. The Netherborn instinctively leans into Ex's cool hand, a smile lifting his lips. "You really should be more careful," Ex says, a rare spark of soft concern in his voice as he studies Hels' burns. Hels shrugs as he skims a hand over his chest, saying, "Ah, they heal fast. I'll be fine." Ex scoffs, giving Hels an unimpressed face. "You said that when you came limping home with a broken ankle," he retorts, and Hels rolls his eyes. "But I was fine!" he protests, flexing his ankle to show how "fine" it was. "Yeah, after three months of crutches and a cast," Ex shoots back. "My point is, don't go causing irreparable damage to yourself, got it?"
To anyone else but Hels, that would have sounded like blatant threatening, but the Nether knight knew that for Ex, that was his way of showing he cared. "Yeah, yeah, mom," Hels says with a grin, pressing a kiss to Ex's cheek. Ex's face flushes a light shade of pink as he smiles back.
"Well, I didn't come down here just to marvel at your fucking massive biceps-" (Hels promptly interrupts this with a grin, flexing as he says, "You know you love it") "although they are...impressive," Ex says, face going a little darker. "Aaanyway, unfortunately you're going to have to cover them up, because you're going to need a coat where we're going." Hels lifts an eyebrow, lowering his arms back down. "A coat? I don't think I even own a coat...where in the blazing hell am I going to need a coat?" Ex rolls his eyes, sighing affectionately. "Well, remember how I told you that it's very cold on the Hermitcraft server right now?" Hels' eyes light up with recognition, a memory sparking in his head of Ex mentioning something called "winter" a few days ago. "Right, right," he says. "So you want me, a Netherborn, to come with you to the freezing cold place? Makes perfect sense." Ex scoffs, clamping a hand over Hels' mouth. "Shut up, you didn't let me finish. It's the holidays right now, like around Christmas, so I kind of wanted to...bring you? To celebrate with me?" His voice is a little bit sheepish by the end, and Hels thrives on this vulnerable tone by cooing, "Aww, scary badass Ex wants to celebrate a holiday with me! How cute!" Ex scowls and promptly punches Hels in the shoulder, Hels barking a laugh as he does so. "Little Exyyyy," Hels continues, cupping Ex's face in his hands, laughing as Ex's pupils dilate as they meet his. "Yes, of course I will celebrate your funny little holiday with you," Hels says, letting up his baby voice for a more serious, happy one. Ex breaks a genuine smile, drawing a red hue out of Hels' cheeks. "You bet your ass you are," he replies, his tone severely contrasting to his actions as he brings his hands up to Hels' neck, leaning in to press his lips against his partner's. Hels' eyes drift shut, feeling Ex pull Hels further into him, his bare chest pressing into Ex's metal armour. He jumps away from Ex at the sudden cold contact with a yelp, drawing a laugh from the ex-admin. "Shit, sorry," he chuckles as Hels recovers from the shock. "We'll have to do that again later, without my armour on," Ex continues innocently, causing Hels' face to go redder than the netherrack behind him at the implication behind his partner's words. Hels sometimes hated the fact that Ex knew exactly what to say to make him extremely flustered. Fortunately, the Nether knight had picked up a few remarks of his own. "Shut up, or I might just do it," Hels retorts, feeling a spark of satisfaction as Ex's eyebrows shoot up. "I won't object," he says in a low voice that makes Hels' heart squirm, a smirk planted on his lips. Hels stays quiet this time, not knowing what to say in response to something like that.
"Right, then," Ex continues, as if nothing's happened, "best behaviour, pretty boy. Let's go get a shirt and a coat on you, regrettably." Hels laughs softly as they begin walking back up the mines. "Hey, from what I've heard, you'll get to see more of this later," he snickers, seeing Ex's face lighting up red before he turns away.
<>
Half an hour later, Hels is standing in front of a Nether portal, with a lot more than just a coat on. "Ex, I am going to sweat to death, and no I didn't mean that as a joke," Hels says, pulling at his uncomfortable gloves and hat. "Why do I need gloves? I have pockets!" Ex snickers and says, "You'll see." He grabs Hels' hand in his own, pulling Hels forwards to step into the portal. The purple haze closes in on Hels' vision, the familiar feeling of weightlessness settling over his body. A snap of purple light, and he knows he's in the Overworld. The instant chill seeps into his clothes, making him shiver as he steps out of the portal into the blinding light of the Hermitcraft server, shaking the remains of the portal particles from his tail. "Why is it so fucking bright?" he asks, shielding his eyes with one arm. He hears Ex laugh, and then his ears pick up distant shouting. He uncovers his eyes to look for the source of the yelling, and is met with a sight that makes his mouth drop open.
Draped in a glittering layer over the entire shopping district is a thick layer of a fluffy looking, sparkling something. It clings to trees and roofs and everything in sight, and Hels looks down to see it underneath him as well, crunching as he shifts his weight. "What...what is this stuff?" he breathes, eyes wide. "It's snow," Ex replies, scooping up a handful and showing it to Hels. "Frozen water. It falls instead of rain in the winter." Hels pokes it and then shivers, saying, "It's so cold." Ex barks a laugh and lets the handful drop back to the ground, replying, "Yeah, it's frozen. And it's also super fun to play in!" Ex decides to demonstrate this by scooping up Hels and leaping off the platform, wings unfurling behind him as he glides through the air. Hels grabs onto Ex, letting out a startled yell as Ex dips low to the ground and then lets Hels fall out of his arms, right into the "snow". Hels braces for impact, and instead, all he feels is...cold. Cold and wet. He sits up, wiping the snow off his face as he sputters. "F-fuck, that's SO COLD," he yells, flinging his arms around as he tries to get all the snow off of him. Ex laughs from above him, landing and shaking flakes off his wings. "Eugh, it's like the ash in the Nether but worse," Hels says, sticking his tongue out in disgust. Ex plops down beside him. "Ah, but it's great, though," he says, grinning as he spreads a wing over Hels' shoulder and pulls him in close, until Hels is nestled underneath Ex's arm. "Because I can do this," Ex continues, Hels feeling the ex-admin's voice rumbling through his chest, "and you don't have any excuse not to let me, because you're cold." Hels grumbles in protest, despite the fact that he's not upset to be in this position, and lightly rests his head against Ex's shoulder. "I see how it is," Ex says, but in a softer, more amused tone, "you're all snuggly now." Hels tilts his head up to kiss Ex on the jaw, earning a grin from his partner.
"Is it the wrong time?"
The echoing call from across the snow startles the two apart, and they turn to see Grian, drowning in a massive scarf wrapped around his neck. "Well, now it is," Hels says, getting to his feet and offering Ex a hand so he can do the same. "Sorry," Grian says apologetically, "X just asked me to come over here to ask you if you wanted to join us." Ex laughs a little, replying, "Eh, why not. Christmas family reunion." Grian chuckles and turns back in the direction from where he came from, beckoning to them as he says, "Over here."
The sounds of yelling and shouting grow louder the further they go, until they emerge from around a building to see that a massive fight of sorts has broken out, snow flying through the air from every direction as shouts and screams echo throughout the clearing. Grian lets out a gasp, his eyes lighting up. "WHO STARTED A SNOWBALL FIGHT WITHOUT ME?!" he shouts, flinging himself into the midst of the chaos. Hels watches the scuffle, bewildered, and turns to Ex as he asks, "What is this?" Ex is stooping down to pick up a handful of snow, and he stands back up to say, "It's a snowball fight! Just throw snow at everyone!" He gleefully throws snow right onto Hels' coat, splattering all over him. Hels looks down at the dripping snowball, and then up at Ex again with a competitive, and slightly deranged, grin. "You're done for," he says in a low voice, and Ex turns heel and runs away as soon as Hels tries to lunge for him. He chases after his partner, yelling threats and pelting the ex-admin with snowballs. Eventually, he loses Ex in the mess, and resigns to attacking other people while he waits for his boyfriend to re-appear. He catches sight of his brother, Wels, hiding behind a wall with Jevin, and feels his lips lift into a devilish grin. He grabs a handful of snow and chucks it at Wels, nailing the knight right in the head. Wels yells out, wiping snow from his face, as Hels doubles over laughing along with Jevin. "Hels?" he hears Wels shout, and then before he knows it, he's being tackled to the ground by his brother. "Ack- okay, sorry, sorry!" Hels laughs, sputtering as Wels dumps an entire armful of snow over his head. "Jeez, be a little merciful!" Wels backs off, grinning, and says, "I take it that Ex dragged you into this?" Hels scoffs, cracking his knuckles as he looks around for the ex-admin in question. "Oh, he sure did. I'm out for vengeance, but I can't find him." Wels snorts, getting to his feet. "Of course you are. Well, good luck!" He runs off back to Jevin, and the two race over to Grian and Scar.
Hels is enjoying himself, more than he thought he would be. Normally, Overworld stuff isn't his thing (with Ex being the exception) but things like this, he could get behind. Speaking of Ex, by the time Hels hasn't seen his partner for over twenty minutes, he's starting to get concerned. "Where even is he? Plotting?" he mutters to himself as he peeks behind some of the surrounding buildings.
Around two seconds later, he gets his answer.
Ex leaps out from behind Keralis' book shop, catching Hels off guard as he knocks the Nether knight to the ground. Hels shouts out in surprise as Ex pins him into the snow, wheezing as Hels struggles beneath him. "God, your face!" he laughs, and Hels huffs angrily, trying to ignore how adorable Ex's ecstatic face is. With a quick and powerful flick of his tail, he grabs Ex by the waist and flings the ex-admin to the side, springing up and in turn shoving Ex into the snow by his shoulders. "You asshole," Hels snaps, pinning Ex's flailing wings to the ground with his knees. Ex's face heats up as he stares at Hels, who is now practically sitting on him. "Asshole?" he asks, lifting an eyebrow. "You're literally crushing me right now, and I'm the asshole?" Hels grabs a scoop of snow and flings it all over Ex's face, earning a yelp from the ex-admin. "Fuck, why Hels?!" he gasps, wiping the snow off his face as he glares at his boyfriend. Hels lets a cocky grin work it's way onto his face. "Why not?" he laughs, leaping off of Ex. Xenica immediately surges to his feet, lunging for Hels, who jumps to the side and turns quickly to ram his shoulder into Ex's back. The ex-admin swings around again and smacks his wing into Hels' side, causing the Nether knight to stumble to the side, giving Ex just long enough to grab Hels by the shoulders and throw them both the ground.
The impact rattles through Hels as Ex lands heavily on top of him, the pair skidding a few feet through the snow until they stop. Hels spits out a mouthful of snow onto the ground, blinking up at Ex, who is grinning like a madman. "I win," he says softly, and Hels scoffs. "Barely," he bites back, and Ex rolls his eyes. "Just accept the loss, love," he whispers, tone sweet enough to give Hels a cavity. Before Hels can snap back another hot-headed response, Ex pulls Hels up by the collar of his coat and presses their lips together, effectively silencing the Nether knight. Hels, against his own better judgement, instantly melts into the soft feeling of Ex pressed up against him. Kissing Ex is like bringing out an entirely different Hels, one that can be infinitely caring and gentle instead of one that can destroy anything he touches. He used to be ashamed of that side of him, the melty, loving person he never knew even existed, but Ex helped him through that. Despite that, it's still a little jarring for Hels how easily Ex can get the upper hand with things like this, and even though Hels is older, he has a feeling that Ex is no stranger when it comes to subduing people like Hels.
Or maybe he's just ridiculously good at figuring me out.
Which could very well be a possibility, knowing Ex.
Ex pulls back after a long, intoxicating moment, breath coming out in clouds as they catch their breath. "Stop doing that to win arguments," Hels says, but without any real bite. "Oh, shut up," Ex replies, rolling off of Hels, "you know we both love it." Hels sits up, looking down at the snow underneath him instead of meeting Ex's eyes, which draws a laugh from the ex-admin. "Come on," he says, standing and offering Hels a hand, looking absolutely heavenly with the sun backing his silvery white hair, "they should be starting snacks and the movie soon." Hels smiles and takes Ex's gloved hand in his own, getting to his feet as well.
The snowball fight has ended, and the hermits are all making their way inside the town hall, everyone laughing and covered in snow. Hels spots his brother walking alongside Jevin and Xisuma, helmet under his arm and blond hair dusted in snow. Grian is jumping triumphantly around Scar, who has his arm threaded through Mumbo's, all three of them laughing. Everyone looks overly cheerful, as the hermits normally do, but for once, Hels has to admit that he feels the same way, walking hand in hand with Ex. The two enter the town hall to see that Scar has kitted out the place with cozy couches, beanbags, and pillows, along with a table full of board games and snacks and a huge full screen TV on the wall opposite the couches. "Jeez, I'm voting for Scar again next election," Hels says with a whistle, earning a barking laugh out of Ex. "Come on, we gotta get a beanbag before they're all gone," the ex-admin says, pulling Hels towards the other hermits.
Once Scar is one thousand percent sure that everyone has enough food, blankets, and pillows, and Grian and Mumbo have reassured him hundreds of times that everyone's fine, the movie (Home Alone, as it was the only one that everyone could collectively agree was fantastic) finally begins. Ex is lying on Hels' lap, both holding cups of hot chocolate and Ex mowing down a cupcake Scar offered him. "You need to learn to cook," Ex whispers during the beginning credits, and Hels snorts. "Why do I have to learn to cook and not you?" he says back, and Ex shrugs. "Ask Xisuma later," he replies vaguely, Hels lifting a concerned eyebrow as Ex turns, unbothered, back to the movie.
It seems that everyone, Hels included, discovers that day that Grian can't keep his mouth shut when he's watching a movie. Every scene, Grian has some comment about it that he can't help but share to everyone. It gets to the point that when Grian opens his mouth during the scene where Marv is falling down a flight of stairs, half of the hermits yell "Grian!" and Scar smothers Grian with a blanket, the avian emitting a bird-like squawk as he's knocked over. "What the heck!" he exclaims, writhing under Scar's grip, feathers flying out from under the blanket. "Let me out!"
After that Grian seems to get the message, but still sits, pouting, for the rest of the movie, his feathers ruffled. Hels eyes the colourful, puffy feathers with amusement, wondering why Ex's wings never do that. He runs a hand over Ex's smooth, speckled wings, and thinks, Maybe because he knows it would be yet another thing for me to tease him about. He smiles as Ex lifts his wing into Hels' touch, lightly tapping the outermost feathers to the Nether knight's arm. "You're very cuddly today," Ex comments softly, and Hels scoffs. "Says the person who's literally laying on me right now," he shoots back, and Ex looks up at Hels with an unimpressed expression. "Hey, I can get off if you want-" he says nonchalantly, beginning to get off of Hels with full knowledge that Hels doesn't want him to move. Hence, the Nether knight interrupts Ex by grabbing him gently underneath his wings before he can move away and pulling him up further onto his lap, wrapping his arms around the ex-admin. (I imagine this pose as Hels hugging Ex like a teddy bear) Ex tenses at first, but Hels feels him relax as the Nether knight squeezes him lightly, Ex in turn leaning his head back to rest on Hels' chest. Hels' heart skips a beat; normally, he's the one in Ex's position, but to have Ex fully leaning into him, wings spread across his arms, hair tickling his neck, gives him such a vulnerable, protective feeling that he can't help the red from rising to his face. He gently lays a kiss to the top of Ex's head, feeling Ex's wings twitch in surprise as he does so. "Ewwww, gross," Ex jokes quietly, slightly wrecking Hels' rose-tinted view of their situation at the moment. "Shut up," he says back. "Don't ruin the moment, asshole." Ex snorts and leans up to kiss Hels on the jaw, which brings Hels dangerously close to making a lovesick expression he doesn't even want to imagine. "Wouldn't dream of it," Ex murmurs, and Hels scoffs lightly.
They both turn their eyes back to the movie, but Hels' attention never fully goes into the antics of the two burglars. Instead, it lingers on Ex; snappy, sarcastic, sharp-tongued Ex, who is laying, subdued, snuggled into Hels' chest. When he takes a step back, the absurdity of their current relationship is a little bit staggering. Hels still has scars from when he and Ex first met, cut deep across his leg and arms (and he knows Ex has some from him as well). But those were always just referred to by the two as "growing pains". Hels has no idea how he didn't think that Ex trying to kill him the first time they met was a red flag. But there was a point where those "accidental" run-ins in the middle of crimson forests and Nether fortresses were recognized by both of them to be not as accidental as they were making themselves believe. All those scrimmages fought in Hels' base, hours spent in each other's company, thought before to just be training, turned out to be just a way to be near each other. If he had told his past self that this hot-headed, quick-mouthed ex-admin would be his boyfriend in a couple months and he would be completely in love, past Hels probably would have killed present Hels for lying to him. Hels is brought out of his thoughts momentarily by Ex chuckling at something happening on screen, his body jumping with his laughter. Hels feels a small smile lift his lips as he hugs Ex a little tighter. We may have had a rocky fucking start, and I still kind of hate him sometimes, but I think we're pretty much perfect together.
As the movie credits begin to roll down the screen, Hels casts a glance outside to see that the sky is a pale orange colour. "Shit, the sun's already setting? Doesn't it normally not set for a couple more hours?" he says, partially to himself. "It sets a lot earlier in the winter," Ex responds, getting up like everyone else is. Hels groans, feeling extremely cold now that Ex isn't laying on him. Ex snorts, lifting an eyebrow as he stands over Hels. "You pathetic Netherborn," he chuckles, and Hels scowls. He pulls himself to his feet, stretching as he says, "Hey, this is not my natural environment. So cut me some slack."
Dinner follows the movie, everyone crowded around a table as they eat and praise Scar for his delicious cooking. The mayor receives all the compliments bashfully, face red. Grian decides to make a game out of eating as many cookies as he possibly can, and challenges Keralis to beat him as he stuffs his tenth cookie into his mouth. Keralis delightedly accepts the challenge, grinning, and the entire table begins to cheer the two on as they eat obscene amounts of cookies (some of the things shouted at them included "This seems like a competition to see who will get diabetes first!" and "He looks green-ish, that's not normal!" Doc took offense to the last one).
The "game", which had morphed into more of a war of sorts, ended in Grian dramatically collapsing onto the table and declaring, "Scar, I love you, but I never want to eat another one of your cookies as long as I live." Keralis lets out a cheer, as does the rest of the table, and Grian jokingly yells, "BOOO!"
The hermits more or less disperse into smaller groups after dinner has been cleaned up. Some drift over to the karaoke, some back to the TV to watch more movies, but Hels and Ex naturally gravitate towards the particularly loud group of hermits playing Trouble around a table. Far more than four hermits are clustered around; it seems the game has gotten intense and attracted a crowd fairly quickly. Doc and Bdubs are constantly jabbing at each other, progressively pissing each other off, while Ren laughs at them and Xisuma tries to calm the two down, to no avail. Ex and Hels watch while they wait for their turn, already arguing over who will win before they've even touched the pieces. When it gets to their game, they instantly make Doc and Bdubs' arguing look like a tiny squabble. With the two being experienced fighters, they naturally both have sharp tongues and short tempers as a result of spending so much time together, so the crowd of hermits was getting quite the show as the two yelled at each other. "DON'T YOU DARE- you ghast-spawned mushroom on a stick," Hels hisses as Ex triumphantly takes out one of the Nether knight's pieces. Ex merely laughs, grinning at Hels as he crows, "Ha! Eat soul sand!"
And Hels did, in fact, "eat soul sand"- Ex won the game in the end, resulting in Hels lunging over the board and tackling Ex to the ground, much to the surprise of the hermits, who weren't entirely used to this level of competitiveness. Wels manages to pry a seething Hels off of Ex, who is still laughing. "Hels, chillax," Wels chuckles, patting his brother on the shoulder. "This is your boyfriend, remember?" Hels scoffs, flicking his tail so that it nicked Ex in the side. "He better be careful if he wants to stay my boyfriend," he says, and Ex rolls his eyes with a smirk. "You could never let me go," he says in a sugar-sweet voice, wrapping a wing around Hels, inadvertently making Hels' bristling spines flatten again. Hels sighs, shooting back halfheartedly, "You're on thin ice, boy."
Ten minutes later, anyone who hadn't seen the earlier scuffle would have no idea that the two had even fought, seeing as they were curled up together on their beanbag, watching Christmas Vacation along with everyone else like a perfectly normal couple. Hels had his tail wound around Ex's waist, Ex's wings wrapped around Hels like a blanket, the two completely intertwined. "These Overworld movies are weird," Hels whispers, drawing a chuckle from Ex that Hels could feel ripple out from his chest. "Hey, be careful what you say about this one. It's a classic." Hels scoffs softly, replying with, "That doesn't automatically make it a good movie, though."
Silence swims between them for most of the rest of the film, and when it's over, Hels' eyes are barely open, his tail and eyes only dimly glowing and flickering now and then like they do when he's tired. Ex's steady, therapeutic breathing isn't helping Hels' drooping eyelids, the ex-admin's chest rising and falling in perfect intervals underneath Hels. "You still awake?" he says softly, the only response he gets being a slight grunt from Ex. He snorts and gently moves Ex's wings off of him, lifting himself up to his feet. Ex makes a keening noise in the back of his throat, batting at Hels' tail with his wingtips. "Come back, asshole," he quips sleepily, and Hels lifts an eyebrow. "I won't with that attitude," he shoots back, lips lifting into a smile. "Now come on, X invited us to stay at his place earlier, remember?" Ex grumbles, flopping his head back so that Hels can't see his face. "I don't want...to move," he says dramatically, and Hels sighs. "Don't you want to sleep in a comfy bed?" When Ex doesn't move an inch, Hels smirks and adds, "With me?" Ex's head pops right up, red eyes wide. Hels holds his smug grin as Ex's face grows red and he leaps to his feet. "I...suppose so," he says, and Hels barks a laugh. "Come on, then, let's find X, suck-up," he says, adding the last word in a hushed whisper. Ex, of course, hears him and hisses, "Shut your face," to which Hels smirks and replies, "Make me." Ex rolls his eyes, the red on his face obvious despite the low lighting as he stalks off to go find his brother. Hels snickers and follows him.
Once they find Xisuma, they take off into the cold night, snowflakes landing lightly on Hels' elytra as he glides after the brothers. Their matching hawk-like wings beat in unison as they talk, and Hels can't help but envy them a little, glancing back at the sleek metal glider on his own back. Having real wings would be great. Many of the hermits did have wings, but most Netherborns were born without them. Of course, there were ways to work around the lack of wings, like elytra's or Tango's steampunk-like canvas wings. Maybe Hels was better off not having wings, now that he thinks about how long it takes Ex to preen his own, even with Hels helping him from time to time. I'll just have to get by with my metal elytra.
Xisuma "goes to bed" almost as soon as the three get to his base; "He'll be up all night messing with the server code," Ex had sighed once his brother had disappeared. Hels snorts, imagining Xisuma sitting at his desk with his "Best Admin Ever" mug full of coffee, his face bathed in green light as he fixes lines of code. "Of course."
Silence spreads over the room for a moment, backed only by the slight chugging of one of Xisuma's many farms underneath them.
"Are you tired?" Hels asks, and Ex shakes his head. "A little," the ex-admin replies, shrugging. Hels snorts. "You were almost asleep earlier, remember?" he points out, letting his tail lightly loop around Ex's leg. Ex hesitates, before heaving a sigh and then leaning into Hels' shoulder, admitting, "Fine. I'm tired." Hels laughs a little in disbelief; he must really be tired if I got him to tell me that easily. He bends down and scoops Ex up, drawing a yelp out of the ex-admin. "Come on, you big baby," he chuckles, carrying his partner into the guest room X had let them stay in.
The guest room used to be Ex's room, and it still has lingering bits of him in it; a Doom poster and a Daft Punk poster still hanging above the bed, one of his old swords displayed on the wall, and a small nether plant growing in a pot on the nightstand. Hels dumps Ex on the bed, the ex-admin sinking into the blankets with a snort and then a yell as Hels catapults himself onto Ex. "Ow, you bitch!" Ex cries, batting at Hels with his wings. "Get off, you lump of crimson fungus!" Hels sits up, straddling Ex with a feigned gasp of offense. "Lump? I can't believe you would refer to me as such! I'm breaking up with you," he sighs, putting a hand over his forehead as if he was going to faint. "Oh come on," Ex says with a grin, "I've "referred" to you as worse, asshole." Hels scoffs, still holding onto his pompous attitude as he says, "'Asshole'? What a tasteless insult. I prefer dignified and flowery phrases such as, 'hog nosed limp dick ghast fucker'."
Ex gawks for a moment, but then bursts into laughter, wheezing (the wheezing part might have been amplified by the fact that Hels was literally sitting on him). "Wow," he manages to get out, "so flowery. Incredibly creative."
They both laugh for a little longer until it trails off, leaving them in the same silence as before. But it feels less empty this time, now that Hels can feel every breath Ex is taking and the lingering sound of laughter echoes in his head. It kind of happens without any seaming, one moment they're just sitting there staring at each other, the next Ex has leaned up and Hels has leaned down and they meet in the middle. Hels gently presses Ex back into the bed, tail winding around Ex's thigh as the ex-admin's wings close around his back. They don't go any farther than kissing though; for one, that feels a bit inappropriate to do while Ex's brother is right above them, most definitely awake. They break apart after a long moment, eyes gleaming in the dark, Hels smiling as he feels Ex lean up and kiss him gently on the head. "You're such a softie," he laughs, and Ex scoffs from underneath him. "Says you," he replies, but without any real bite.
Hels rolls off of Ex to lay beside him, sighing. "I'm too tired for this," he admits, and Ex chuckles softly. "Me too." He moves to press himself up against Hels' side, one of his wings flopping over Hels' torso as he buries his face in the Nether knight's shoulder. Hels grabs the blanket from beside them and throws it over them both, sighing as he rests against Ex and closes his eyes. "I like Christmas," he whispers after a moment, and Ex laughs softly. "Good. I like it too, and even more so when you're here." Hels feels a grin seep onto his face, but before he can say anything, Ex interrupts with, "That's the sappiest thing you'll hear from me. Don't test your luck." The fact that Ex knew without even looking at Hels what he was about to say makes a chuckle rise to his throat. Before he knows it, the words, "I love you," are slipping from his lips, uninvited but not entirely unwelcome. He feels his face heat up as Ex shifts slightly in surprise, but not two seconds later Ex murmurs it back. "I love you too," he says softly. A few moments pass, before he says, "I mean it." Hels smiles, kissing the top of Ex's head. "I mean it too," he says quietly, and Ex makes a tiny cooing noise very similar to the ones Grian makes constantly. It's an avian noise, isn't it? But hearing it come from Ex of all people...his heart is melting to say the least. He turns and hugs Ex tightly, making his own Netherborn purring noise in response, earning a laugh out of Ex. "Demon cat," he says affectionately, and Hels snorts. "Shut up and sleep," he whispers, yawning.
And so both of them do that; five minutes later both of them are out cold, Ex's face buried in Hels' neck and Hels' cheek pressed against Ex's head, as close to each other as physically possible. Tell any of the hermits that they were laying like this, and they may have not believed that the two most hot-headed people on the server were cuddling, if Xisuma hadn't came in and checked on them and taken a picture as evidence. That would come back to haunt them the next day.
Despite that, both of them were happy to be part of the Christmas bustle on the Hermitcraft server, a nice break from the hard work to the Nether. And they would both return every Christmas after that year to spend it with the hermits, all thanks to Ex dragging Hels out into the cold against his will that one day.
weeeeee scary softy boys