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.
The little blue fairy bounced through the air as it answered the call of the noteblock, Cub's lab coat clasped in its hands and his shirt around its neck and half covering its head. Cub chuckled, momentarily forgetting Scar's presence as he turned around to take his clothing back from the creature. It chittered at him, then flew away, bobbing up and down on the air currents.
He froze when he heard Scar's sharp inhale, hands prepared to slip his shirt back on.
"Cub... what happened to your wings?"
Cub breathed tightly through his nose, clamping his lips together and sitting down on the noteblock, staring off into space. His hands twisted his shirt as he tried to formulate a reply, blinking rapidly as he tried to crush the unbidden memories of searing pain and the burning sensation of hydrogen peroxide being poured over-
"Cub?"
He shook himself out of his head and looked Scar in the eye, opting for the simple answer. "I don't have them anymore."
"What the- what do you mean?" Scar asked, sitting beside him carefully, ready to stand up and back away if Cub needed space.
Cub laughed mirthlessly. "Scar, when have you seen me with my wings in the past... What, two years?"
Scar was silent as he stared at the ground. "I'm sorry, Cub. I'm such a terrible-"
"No, you're not," Cub said immediately, cutting him off. "I didn't want anyone to know."
"Why not?"
"It'd make me seem weak. Losing my wings." Cub shrugged, then moved to put his shirt back on. Scar stopped him, putting a hand on his forearm and leaning in to look at the raised, jagged discolouration where Cub's vex wings had once been.
"These scars don't make you seem weak," he said quietly. "They look like they took a lot- a lot of strength to- to get through. Do you see what I'm saying?"
Cub shook his head. "I just see the pain and the thousands of things I could've done to avoid it."
"And I thought it was just a glamour." Scar breathed, slowly transitioning into a side hug. The afternoon sun continued to beat down on them, so he took out his hat and began fanning them again, trying to drive away some of the sticky heat.
"Just for season eight. The vex wanted me to have a new look."
"Are they the ones who-"
"No. They weren't involved at all."
"Then who did this to you?" Scar asked, taking the initiative and dragging both of them upright. He moved both of them into the shade of a wall and sat down again, keeping Cub in a solid hug.
"It's not important. Xisuma already took care of them."
"Cub, it's important to me ," Scar reprimanded, shifting into a crouch so he could make direct eye contact.
"Seriously, Scar, it isn't a big deal," Cub continued to protest, pushing Scar away and pulling on his shirt, tugging it down firmly so it hid the scars.
Scar cupped his cheek and turned his head to stare directly into his eyes. Cub froze at the sight: Scar's usually viridian eyes were crystalline blue, small fires of indignance hidden in his pupils. "Cub. It's important . Who did this to you?"
Emotions raged behind each of their eyes. Cub's were slightly fearful as he continued suppressing the memories, trying and failing to keep Scar's face from transforming into the face of his tormentor. His breathing sped as he squeezed his eyes shut, tearing his face away from Scar's hand.
Scar made a short sad noise. He sat down heavily, fiddling with his fingers as he waited for Cub to come back to reality. The engineer had always preferred to calm himself down, often completely rejecting the presence of another person. Slowly, Cub stopped hyperventilating, running his fingers through his sweat-soaked hair.
"Hybrid hunters," he admitted quietly. "It's fine; Xisuma dealt with them."
Scar sighed, taking deep breaths to push down his vexy features. "Alright. I'll accept that. When did this-"
"After season eight when we all got separated." Cub leaned forward, putting his head in his hands. "It... wasn't too much of a change after the vex tried the new look, which already didn't have big wings, but it still hurt when they forced them out."
"How did they do it? Only if you're ok with telling me."
"It's fine." He took some time to breathe, ordering his thoughts and setting his memories straight. "You know how, when we get 'vexy', we start, like, growing?"
"Yeah! Yeah," Scar affirmed. "Pointy ears, blue eyes, claws, bigger... wings."
Cub nodded, laughing humourlessly. Tears sparkled at the corners of his eyes, but he refused to acknowledge them. "Yeah. Bigger wings. They got me all vexy and just –" He slashed the air with his hand – "Cut them off. Right at the roots."
"Oh Cub ," Scar said, guilt and anger mixing in his voice. "Did they at least treat you right? For the time, at least."
Cub laughed again, that same hollow laugh. "Well enough."
"What does that mean?"
"It's fine, Scar. I didn't get an infection, if that's what you're worried about."
"Well now I'm worried about something completely different! Cub, what happened ."
"It's weird, complicated biology and chemistry. You wouldn't get it."
"Then explain it to me!" Scar crossed his arms stubbornly, glaring at him.
"Scar, I'm trying to make this easy on you."
"Well you're not ." Scar's glare intensified.
"It was just hydrogen peroxide, okay? Cleaned it all up and bandaged it, and it was fine ."
"Isn't that the stuff you're always telling me not to put on stuff?" Scar asked, eyes widening in alarm.
"Well, yes..."
"It like... destroys your skin, right? And the other stuff too?"
"Well-"
"Cub!!!" Scar exclaimed. "That isn't ok!"
"It's 'ok' now," Cub said, grinding his teeth together.
"So maybe it is." Scar sighed, leaning back and rubbing his eyes with the heels of his palms. The sun had begun setting while they talked, slowly casting the gold of sunset across the sky. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
Cub shook his head, staring off into space. He roused himself again and stood, stretching, and walked over to his inventory. He picked it up and slung it on his back, running a hand through his hair. He looked directly at Scar and changed the subject.
"Want to test the factory with me?"
Scar looked at him, confused. Finally, he stood as well. "Sure," he said.
Cub clearly wasn't going to talk about it anymore.
^-^
Haha imagine understanding redstone couldn't be me lmao
Day 16 of Febuwhump will be taking place in my other work, Demons, which is the continuation of that Phasmophobia oneshot trilogy. Yes, I wrote more of it because I'm obsessed with the AU :]
Go get a drink of water!