Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It starts like this: Etho falls a few blocks into a mineshaft, and Joel stares with eyes wide with shock.

Well, no, it starts like this: Etho watches as Impulse lets himself slide into a cave. Bdubs screams that he feels pain. Etho’s heart shatters, and he thinks he, too, feels pain. Bdubs and Impulse do not realize it then, but Etho knows.

It ends like this: Etho reads Bdubs’s request for them to come back through the portal. Joel goes first. Etho feels pain before he can see the lava. He feels the pain of the betrayal more than that of the burn.

But that is also where it starts.

Iskall doesn’t expect anyone in their cave.

They are, after all, the sole inhabitant of the large cave they decided to make into a base. And sure, they have some close neighbours (and maybe even a too-close neighbour who believes that Iskall’s amethyst farm is also hers), but they do live alone.

Well, them, and the few villagers who relocated inside their base, attracted by the safety of the cave and the coziness of the houses.

But it is not a villager that Iskall finds sitting on the steps leading to Dioboi’s statue, his back leaning against a diorite block that Iskall desperately wishes they could have blown up.

“Etho?”

Etho looks… Well, he looks… bad. Iskall doesn’t like lying, nor sugarcoating. Their friend looks exhausted, wounded, and… crushed?

“Etho?” they call again, and their friend turns his face toward them. It seems to take him a moment to realize Iskall’s presence, because Iskall can count a few seconds before Etho’s hand reaches up and he motions to raise his mask back above his nose.

“Oh, hey there, Iskall,” he drawls lazily, but Iskall cannot do anything but focus on the red burn marks on Etho’s arm.

“Did you…-” They hesitate. Almost laugh nervously. “Have you gotten some healing potions for that?”

Etho shrugs nonchalantly and, despite his mask covering his expression, Iskall can still see the man’s pained grimace. 

“Don’t move,” they order. They retreat a few steps before pausing and turning back. “And please don’t judge the diorite statue, it was a dare.”

The breathy chuckle they hear as they rush toward their chests is not enough to fully loosen the knot in their stomach.

“Etho, you gotta talk to me,” Iskall says as they present their meager offering to the wounded man: several pieces of steak, Tommy’s golden carrots, and a cake they convinced one of the villagers to bake in an emergency.

Etho barely looks at them. He looks better, laying in an actual bed, rather than against some diorite (ew). He looks better because he doesn’t look so alone and helpless. He looks worse, because this entire situation highlights how fragile Etho seems.

And Etho is not supposed to be fragile. Etho is…

Well, Etho is Etho.

Etho is Iskall’s former enigmatic roommate, always some amusement playing in his eyes, always far too knowledgeable and skilled, always stories to tell about his adventures, always-

Always Etho.

And this ? This is not Etho.

This is a shadow of Etho, and Iskall doesn’t know what happened to him, but they’ve already promised themselves that, once they find out, they’ll make whoever hurt him regret ever daring to do so much as look at their friend.

“All right,” they say. “It’s okay if you don’t talk. But you gotta eat, all right? Otherwise, Tommy and the others will be upset, and I cannot take them being upset. Do you know that they groan more when they’re unhappy?”

They look for the crinkle in Etho’s eyes. They don’t find it. It worries them.

They’re not sure what to do. What to say.

Iskall is not an idiot, and they know that Etho had left a couple of weeks ago to go participate in the competition a few of the hermits join every so often. They always come back changed, their smiles duller, their gaze a bit lost, and their hands trembling a little.

It never lasts, though.

Last time, Etho had come back shaken, a bit pale, but relatively… fine. Iskall had barely seen their roommate before the man had left to go visit Bdubs, muttering something about failing to fulfill his end of the deal.

Etho had spent a few days at Bdubs’s house, after that. Iskall had sent one text to Bdubs, a simple ‘Are you two okay?’ and, when the answer had been affirmative, they had relaxed and trusted that Bdubs would know how to handle the man much more than them.

Bdubs, after all, had been part of the game too. And, as Iskall would find out later, had been Etho’s closest ally. So he had been much better equipped and, all around, just a better-suited person to help Etho realize that he was safe now.  

So last time Etho came back, Iskall had not needed to help him. And really, besides the apparent guilt that Etho felt for failing to protect Bdubs, he had been fine.

And the time before that… Well, the time before that, Etho had come back chuckling to himself, shaking his head dismissively. He’d told Iskall something akin to ‘next time, I won’t storm the castle by myself,’ and Iskall had been confused, but they had taken the statement just like Etho had declared it: with lightheartedness.

Iskall has never witnessed anything like this.

This being their friend laying on a bed, his back propped against the wall, the bags under his eyes so dark that Iskall can swear he hasn’t slept for weeks, his face pale, and his body covered in burns.

This is not the worst part, though. The worst part is the way Etho’s gaze is glazed over, and his continued refusal to eat or explain anything about what happened.

“Etho,” Iskall grumbles, shaking the carrots in front of him, as if this would make him react. “Come on. Do you want something else? I don’t really like buying from the competition, but I’ll go get cookies from Scar, or Ren’s pumpkin pies, or-”

“It’s fine,” Etho interrupts. His voice is hoarse and devoid of emotions. Iskall straightens up a little at hearing it.

“Will you eat?”

Etho makes a face but grabs a carrot, pulling his mask down and taking a bite. His lips are curved downward as he chews. Iskall cannot help but stare. When they meet Etho’s heterochromatic eyes, they feel a bit embarrassed and look away.

“I’m sorry,” Etho mutters, and that makes Iskall’s eyes snap back to him instantly.

“Are you-”

“I just need some time,” the man adds. “To heal.”

Iskall isn’t sure how that makes sense. Not when they have healing and regen potions. Not when Etho could simply heal with a couple of golden apples – though they are still a bit pricey, Iskall would happily share any profit from their carrots shop if Etho would look a little less-… a little more Etho-like.

So, no, Etho’s words don’t make sense.

But Iskall accepts them anyway. They smile at their friend. “No worries,” they respond. “It’s good to have company over here. I was starting to think I would have to start a conversation with Dioboi over there.”

Etho’s lips pull upward – it’s barely there, just the phantom of a smile, but Iskall sees it.

“Besides, I’ve missed sharing a base with you!” A pause. “Though I remember that you didn’t want us to be in the same bedroom, back when we were in the Savannah.”

There’s a crinkle of amusement in their friend’s eyes. “Still don’t.”

“Boo!” Iskall protests. And then, because they are too curious: “I thought you were living in Bdubs’s basement, though?”

That had been a whole thing, when Etho had finally come back from his solo adventures and had announced his own voluntary exile in the Nether. Iskall had thought about demanding that Tango tell them the coordinates of the portal that had taken Etho away, but they had decided to respect Etho’s desire for a bit more time alone. And, when the words had run that Etho was back and that he had decided to live under Bdubs’s tower, Iskall hadn’t been surprised.

The two share so much, after all. Bdubs’s admiration for Etho is a secret to no one, and everyone knows that Etho is most at ease around Bdubs. The fact that Etho had chosen to live with Iskall in the Savannah had been quite a surprise, in fact.

What is also a surprise is the way the amusement in Etho’s eyes dies instantly and in the way his lips pull downward.

Iskall frowns. “Etho?”

The man pulls his mask back over his mouth and nose. “I’m not hungry anymore.” Etho pushes the carrots back into Iskall’s hand.

“Are you okay?” Iskall asks. “Was it not-”

“Thank you,” Etho says. There’s not a hint of gratefulness in his tone, though. Rather, it seems like an attempt at dismissing Iskall, at asking them politely to please leave.

And Iskall might like pushing their neighbours for outbursts and reactions, but they always do it because it is fun. This is not fun. They stand back up. “Are you sure?”

Etho’s hands are clenched around the sheets so tightly that they seem whiter, and their knuckles are more apparent.

“Etho?”

When there’s no answer for a long moment, Iskall sighs and leaves, taking the carrots and the cake back with them.

It lasts two days before Iskall’s concerns melt into fear. Etho is still acting far too strange, still speaking as if every word is costing him far too much effort, still barely eating, and still staring far into the cave.

And, sure, Iskall worked pretty hard on making their base look good, but this is not-

This is not it.

So they decide that maybe, just maybe, they need help.

So they message Bdubs.

It’s a simple message. Two sentences. ‘ Hey, Etho is acting weird. Can you maybe talk to him?’

Bdubs’s answer comes instantly. ‘ He is with you??? Can I come see him????’

Iskall’s eyebrows lift at the response, and they reply rapidly: ‘Yeah, of course, this is why I was messaging you. Do you know what’s up?’

‘Omw’ is the only answer they get. Which is not a response to their question, but they take it anyway.

They walk back to the house where Etho has settled. Iskall had offered to build a new area of the cave, but Etho had shrugged and told them that one of the houses in the village would do. And they both had ignored the villagers’ upset grumbles for a few hours, and that had been that. “Hey Etho?” they call. “Wakey, wakey, sleeping beauty!” They giggle.

Etho groans and turns on the bed.

“You might wanna look a bit more awake,” Iskall tells him as they get some water to boil. “Bdubs is coming over.”

The reaction is immediate. From being lumped on the bed, Etho straightens, his back muscles all at play, his entire posture a bit too tense. It takes what might be a fraction of a second for the change to occur. 

Iskall raises an eyebrow. “Excited?”

“You invited him?” Etho asks instead of responding.

Iskall shrugs. “I figured it might do you some good to see someone else,” they admit. “And Bdubs cares about you.”

They aren’t really certain what the sound that comes out of Etho’s mouth is. A cough? A snort? A bark? A laugh?

They don’t have the time to ask. They hear wings flapping and then Bdubs’s voice. “Etho? Iskall?”

They open the door. “Bdubs, over here!” they call, and it sounds as if Etho’s breath hitches.

They hear the smaller man approach rapidly just as they exit the house, leaving the door open for Etho.

By the time Bdubs finds his way through Iskall’s multiple sets of stairs, Etho has come outside, his posture tense, his back leaned against the drywall of the house. His arms are crossed in what would normally be a relaxed position but which, today, seems like an attempt at closing himself off.

Iskall isn’t sure.

Etho watches silently as Bdubs arrives, a bit out of breath. Iskall greets him with a wave, but Bdubs doesn’t even spare them a glance.

“Etho, I was so worried!” Bdubs starts, not even bothering to catch his breath. “You didn't- I had no news from you. And I couldn't find you at the tower!”

Etho scoffs and looks away. Iskall frowns when they are unable to make eye contact with their friend. Something is terribly wrong.

“Last time you immediately came to see me,” Bdubs continues, his tone still so full of concern. “I thought-”

“Last time you hadn't betrayed me and caused my death,” Etho snarls, and this is maybe the most emotional Iskall has seen him since his return. It's not a good development, though.

Betrayal?

Bdubs looks crestfallen, and about twice as shocked as Iskall feels. “What?”

“Get out,” Etho growls. “Go back to Impulse, or Ren, or whoever you gave your loyalty to.”

“Etho-”

“Do they know how fleeting it is?”

Iskall frowns at that. Bdubs looks as if the words have caused him physical pain. His hand is clenched to his chest, and he looks so shocked, so confused, so-

“Get. Out.” Etho repeats between gritted teeth.

Bdubs's breath hitches, and he makes to move forward. Etho tenses instantly and his eyes find Iskall's.

“Iskall,” he calls, and Iskall nods instantly. “Make him leave.” It's an order, and Iskall isn't really used to taking orders, but then Etho's voice cracks: “Please.”

And, right there, Etho sounds so small and broken and un-Etho-like, and well, Etho is Iskall's friend, and whatever happened between him and Bdubs left him far too fragile.

Iskall never had to protect Etho before, but they know that they are capable of doing so. And they are more than willing.

“Bdubs,” they say, and they struggle not to change their mind when they see Bdubs's absolutely devastated expression. “Please leave.”

“You don't- He doesn't understand,” Bdubs pleads. “Iskall, I just need-”

One glance toward Etho is all Iskall needs to reaffirm their stance. Etho has turned away, his back so straight that it can be nothing but tense. His shoulders are almost reaching his ears. The Etho Iskall knows is always relaxed and nonchalant. None of this is normal.

“Please leave,” they repeat. “Don't make me ask again.”

“You're-”

“This is not negotiable,” Iskall cuts him. “This is my base, and I want you to leave.”

“Can I just-”

Iskall is about to cut him again when a trident flies right by their ear, coming to lodge itself on the wall just a foot away from Bdubs. The man shrieks in surprise and Iskall turns on themselves. Their jaw almost drops at the sight of Etho, standing away from the wall, his arms shaking, his eyes furious.

“Get. Out.” he hisses. “Or I'll make you leave by forcing you to respawn.”

Bdubs's eyes are wide with shock.

“Please,” Iskall adds, because they feel pity for him, and also because they really don't want the two men to fight in their base. “Leave, Bdubs, okay?”

Bdubs nods, but his eyes don't leave Etho. “Yeah,” he murmurs. “Yeah, I'll leave.” It seems to take genuine effort for him to rip his eyes away from Etho.

He leaves and, with him, it seems that so do all sounds and activities. A very long silence behind him.

Bdubs leaves, and Iskall heard the sound of something moving behind them and, when they turn back, Etho has crumbled to the floor and is holding himself and shaking.

And Iskall doesn't understand, but all they can do is help Etho back into bed and repeat that they are here for him.

This is far from being a great success.

Mumbo is muttering to himself in a low voice as he disconnects and reconnects redstone circuits. “Maybe if I were to change the repeater’s delay?” he suggests, more to himself than to Iskall.

Iskall hums in response, knowing that their friend wouldn’t actually hear any answer they would try to give.

They have taken a seat inside Mumbo’s vault, and they watch him go from walls to walls, speaking rapidly as he observes the newest door he has installed.

“A lock with a comparator would be boring, wouldn’t it?” Mumbo continues. “Overdone, right?”

Iskall hums, pressing their chin into the palm of their hand. “Hmm…”

“Hey, that’s not an answer, mate!”

Iskall blinks, surprised at the sudden exclamative. “Oh, hey, you actually wanted my opinion?”

It’s funny, the way Mumbo is so posh and so proper in his suit but still looks like a toddler that might start stomping his feet and throw a tantrum. “Of course I did! You’re participating in my brainstorming!”

“I think I’m mostly here, so you don’t feel like you’re talking to yourself.” It’s said without heat. Iskall is amused at their friend’s antics, but they won’t ignore an opportunity to tease him.

“Pscht!” Mumbo disagrees. “I don’t mind talking to myself. I’m rather smart!”

 “Why do you need my opinion, then?” Iskall props their back against the Vault’s walls. They ignore Mumbo’s rapid answer, and they continue on with another question: “What’s got you working so hard anyway? It’s not like you not to procrastinate on your builds.”

They laugh at Mumbo’s spluttered protest and denial that he would ever procrastinate. They easily avoid the playful punch.

“Come on, bro, tell me!”

Mumbo pouts. “It’s Grian,” he says, and he sounds like a scolded child. “He came back a couple of days ago and he won’t stop talking about invading my Vault again.” He sighs dramatically. “No rest for the weary!”

That would make Iskall laugh, if the mention of Grian coming back did not force them to think about where Grian came back from.

And about the fact that Etho came back from there too.

Mumbo hums in thought as he spreads some redstone powder down on the floor. It takes him a few long seconds to realize that Iskall hasn’t answered. When he does, though, Iskall finds themselves facing a pair of confused eyes, a redstone powder-covered finger poking into their side. “Mate?”

“It’s nothing,” Iskall said. And then, because it is not in their habit to lie to Mumbo: “Well, no. It’s- Etho asked if he could stay with me after the competition ended.” Mumbo hums in response. “But he’s just… I don’t know. It feels like something bad happened…?”

“Bad?” Mumbo repeats. “Moon Big kind of bad?

“I don’t know,” Iskall admits. “He’s just-… He yelled at Bdubs…”

Mumbo’s jaw drops. “At Bdubs?”

“Yeah.”

“Etho? At Bdubs?”

Iskall rolls his eyes. “Yes.”

A silence. “Oh wow. Mate, that might be bad.”

“This is what I was saying.” Iskall cannot help but be amused by their friend’s obnoxiousness. “You’re insufferable.”

Mumbo playfully punches them in the shoulder. Then, he is silent for a bit longer before speaking, his eyes back on his redstone circuit. “Do you think Etho is upset about Bdubs and Impulse?”

“What?” Iskall feels dumbfounded.

“Well, you know?” Mumbo continues. “I mean, I know things were a bit tense between Grian and Scar because of BigB, you know?”

Iskall snickers, because this is all they have, along with confused silence. “Mumbo, I have absolutely no idea what you’re saying. You sound like you’re using your British slang again.”

“Hey!”

“For real though. What are you-?”

Mumbo’s hand finds his chin, and his index finger comes to play with his moustache as he ponders aloud. “Well, I only know what Grian told me, but he said everyone was… paired up?”

“In teams?”

“In couple.”

Iskall raises their eyebrows. “Oh?”

A smile plays at Mumbo’s lips. “I said the same thing,” he comments. “Well, anyway, Grian and Scar got paired up.”

Iskall snickers. “Oh, that sounds like a recipe for disaster.”

“You bet.”

And Iskall loves their friends dearly, but they also are very concerned about Etho, specifically. “What about Etho?”

Mumbo shrugs. “I’m not fully sure, actually,” he admits. “But Grian said that Bdubs and Impulse were an item? And they kept trying to spread gossip.”

That sounds funny, and Iskall cannot understand why this would be an issue. “Did they spread gossip about Etho?” It doesn’t make sense, though. Etho, the Etho Iskall admires, would never be so upset about something he’d see as a harmless prank. “I don’t understand why he’d be-”

“Well, it’s just- It makes sense why he’d be upset they were together, right?”

It doesn’t make sense. Iskall squints a little. “Riiiight…? Because…?”

Mumbo blinks at them. “Really?”

“What?”

“Really?” There’s a smile in his voice now, and Iskall wants to punch him.

“What!”

“Oh, this is gold!” Mumbo declares gleefully. “Wait till I tell Ren about this.”

“Mumbo!” The man snickers and Iskall looks down at their dagger. “I will shave your moustache while you’re asleep.”

Mumbo rolls his eyes. “Pscht, you’re not as threatening as Grian.”

“So I’ll give Grian TNT,” Iskall says. “And tell him exactly the contraptions you’ve been working on so he can get into your Vault more easily.”

Mumbo makes a double take. “You wouldn’t.”

“Maybe I would.”

Mumbo groans and puts the note block he had been using back on the floor. “You’re the worst.”

“What happened with Etho and Bdubs?”

“Well, aren’t they married and all?”

Iskall blinks.

And blinks again.

And blinks again.

“What?”

Mumbo cannot help but snicker, most likely at the surprise in their tone. Iskall glares at him, which makes him laugh more. “No, for real?”

“What do you mean ‘for real’?” Iskall protests. “Since when was this a thing?”

Mumbo shrugs. “I don’t know, it’s just-… It’s been a thing, hasn’t it?”

“No!” Iskall feels bewildered. “I’m quite sure I would have known if my roommate were married!”

And, sure, Iskall tends to be quite oblivious to the subtleties of relationships, but this isn’t a question of subtle. This is, according to Mumbo, an entire husband that Etho would have been keeping secret from them.

And yes, Etho and Bdubs do share an especially close relationship, but Iskall would never imagine- “Are you sure?”

Mumbo gestures with his hands to defend himself. “Hey, don’t shoot the messenger! I’m just saying- They had their whole divorce arc last time they went to the game, and Etho wanted to sacrifice one of his lives for Bdubs, didn’t he?”

What?

What the heck is Mumbo talking about? Iskall is slowly coming to the awareness that either their grasp of the English language is far weaker than they thought, or maybe they really need to talk with Etho more often because it seems that they managed to miss the fact that their roommate is married? And apparently, wanted to sacrifice his life for his husband?

What?

What?

Iskall is at a loss for words.

(And, yes, it is entirely in character for Etho to want to sacrifice himself for Bdubs, but it’s just-)

(WHAT?)

What?

“Are you making fun of me?” they ask, squinting.

Mumbo raises his hands in a surrendering motion. “Mate, I’ve never been so genuine in my entire life!”

Iskall is quiet for a moment. “I just feel like this is something he would tell me.”

“Etho?” Mumbo asks, incredulous. “Man, not a chance. I don’t know if there’s a hermit that’s more secretive than him.”

Iskall purses their lips and hums in thought. “Touché,” they eventually admit, and Mumbo laughs. “Wouldn’t- Surely, Bdubs would say something.”

“I mean, what makes you say that he hasn’t?” Mumbo asks. “You can’t tell me Bdubs is not obvious about it.”

“I can!” Iskall protests. “This is not- Mumbo, are you really saying-”

Mumbo laughs again. “Oh my word! Yes! As far as I know, they’re an item!”

Iskall’s head is buzzing. This is absolutely unheard of. They’re not sure what they’re supposed to do with that information. Or even whether it is trustworthy. “I’ll ask Stress,” they eventually say.

“What? Are you saying that Stress gossips a lot?”

“No. You, Mr. Moustache man, are a man of gossip,” Iskall says, pushing their finger in the center of Mumbo’s chest. The man only laughs in response. “Stress is trustworthy and good.”

Mumbo places a hand on his heart. “You wound me, mate.”

“Good!”

They laugh, and Mumbo changes the topic – or rather, reverts back to talking about his redstone machines – and Iskall manages to stop reeling about this new revelation.

Chapter Text

  It goes like this: “Guess what guys?” Bdubs says as Etho rows in his boat, under the stars. “Impulse and I are in love!” He stares directly at Etho as he speaks, and Etho’s traitorous heart misses a beat, and he allows himself to hope.

“Is this a happy marriage or is this like ‘Well, I did the best I could in my life; this is what I’m going to have to settle with’ and-…?” he trails off, and he sees in Bdubs’s eyes that the other man hears the question he isn’t asking. He hears the whistles and the shocked reactions, but he keeps his focus only on Bdubs.

“We’re an extremely happy soul-bound couple, okay?” Impulse protests.

“That’s right!” Bdubs adds. “We’re going to make the best redstone contraptions together!”

And Etho wishes it wasn’t so dark out. He wishes he could see Bdubs’s expression and know, for sure, what his- what the man is thinking. But, because he cannot tell, he tries to downplay all of this. To save face. “You know how tall Bdubs is, right, Impulse?”

He chuckles and, when Bdubs lightly smacks him, he wishes Bdubs would feel the hit too.

Iskall doesn’t get the chance to question Stress about Etho and Bdubs.

Or rather, they don’t manage to hold in their curiosity long enough to wait until they have an opportunity to see Stress.

They’re talking with Etho (well, to Etho), babbling about their newest idea for yet another area of their base (basing in a cave was both the best and most overwhelming decision they’ve had this season), when Etho reaches for a golden apple, and he-

Well, Iskall cannot help but stare at Etho’s bare fingers and wonder if-

“Have you ever worn rings?” they ask before they can think twice about it.

Etho’s eyes jump to him. “Hm?”

“Rings,” Iskall repeats. “They’d suit you. Have you ever- you know- worn any?”

Etho lets out a breathy chuckle – more of a sigh than a laugh, really. “Wouldn’t be very practical for my kind of lifestyle,” he says, and Iskall wonders if they should read anything there about promise rings or wedding rings or-

“What about a wedding ring?” they ask, having forgotten about subtlety altogether. “Have you- Would you wear one?”

There’s a hint of amusement in Etho’s eyes and a smirk at the corner of his lips. “Why, you’re offering?”

It’s a tease, and Iskall knows it. “Hey! You’re the one who refused to cuddle!”

All things considered, it might also have been a subtle way to avoid answering, and Iskall might have walked straight into that topic change. Etho chuckles and bites a chunk out of the apple. Iskall watches their friend as he gains back some colour.

“But would you?” they insist.

“What? Marry you?”

Etho sounds nonchalant rather than closed-off, and so Iskall decides that, maybe, they can push a bit further. “Wear a wedding ring,” they say. “Like- Marry someone. Or be engaged.”

Etho takes another bite of the apple and chews silently, maybe to give himself time to think. Iskall isn’t sure. “Don’t know if that’s a situation that would ever come up or be relevant,” he eventually answers. And Iskall might like pranks, and they might like to joke around, but they’re far from being an idiot. They notice how carefully Etho crafts that answer.

One thing that Iskall knows for sure about their friend is that Etho doesn’t lie.

Another thing they know is that this answer wasn’t direct at all. That Etho didn’t actually answer anything.

“But what if-”

“Hey, Scar has that mattress shop, doesn’t he?” Etho asks, cutting them off. “Do you think he’d be willing to deliver a bed to your base? Maybe to set up a bedroom too?”

Iskall blinks. “Well, I’m pretty sure that’s part of his services, but-”

“Cool,” Etho continues. “Might make an order then. The house is nice, but it feels like your villager glares at me while I sleep.”

“Wait, a bedroom for you ? Here?” Iskall doesn’t mean to sound as shocked as they do. They wince, hoping that Etho did not perceive it as rejection.

It’s just- They thought Etho was just staying here a couple of days.

Except it has been way more than a couple of days.

Except Etho seems relatively healed, physically at least.

And Etho is showing no wish whatsoever to return to his base below Bdubs’s tower.

And maybe in a different situation, Iskall would joke about having a squatter sleeping on the couch and would tell Etho not to get used to stealing their resources like he did in the Savannah.

But the joke dies on their lips before they can even think of teasing their friend.

Etho looks vulnerable and Etho- “If that’s okay, of course,” their friend says, and Iskall’s heart breaks a little. “I don’t want to impose. I could always ask Beef if-”

“Hey, hey, hey, no, no, no. Nej. You can stay here. I’m happy to have you here.”

Etho makes another small smile; it’s a teasing smile, but it’s not as confident as it should be. Iskall doesn’t like it. “Well, I don’t know. I heard Beef had a fancy modern house. I might-”

“Nej, nej, nej,” Iskall protests, and they are aware that it is silly to feel jealous of the possibility that Etho might want to base with someone else. Especially when Etho seems so… off. “No. Stay here with me. Besides, Beef doesn’t even live in that house. You can stay.”

“Aww,” Etho drawls. “You do care after all.”

Iskall rolls their eyes. “You’re paying for Scar’s services yourself.”

“Okay,” Etho says, and Iskall feels surprised for a fraction of a second before their friend continues. “You did tell me to make myself at home, so I grabbed a couple of diamond blocks. Hope that’s okay.” His tone clearly conveys that he doesn’t care, and Iskall doesn’t know whether to scream or laugh.

So they laugh, because Etho is fragile, and it is much better for him to have friends who laugh than to wonder if he is even welcome in their bases.

And Iskall stores that interrogation about marriages in a corner of their mind.

The next time Iskall questions Etho, they are more prepared.

“Hey, Etho?”

Their friend sits up a little from where he was laying on his brand new bed, installed by Scar. “What’s going on?”

“So I was wondering,” Iskall begins. “I want to make some part of my base a bit greener, and Bdubs has this Moss o Menos store, and I thought we could-”

“I’ll make you a moss farm,” Etho cuts, and it’s a kind offer, but his tone is cold and closed off. Iskall falters, not having expected that reaction.

“Well, honestly, a farm is a lot of effort, and I doubt I will-”

“I’ll make you a farm,” Etho repeats. “No need to go there.”

“Are you sure?” they ask carefully.

“Certain,” Etho responds without a hint of hesitation. “You don’t need to go there.”

He’s repeating himself instead of giving more details, Iskall notices, and so they feel like they might have struck gold (well, that is, if making their friend speak honestly to them was gold) and so they continue digging, hoping to hit diamond: “Well, before you do that- I thought that if you feel better, we could go maybe travel a bit, the two of us? Just so we’d spend some time outside. I know the cave is a bit stuffy, and there is a quest we could go on.”

Etho raises an eyebrow, his interest piqued. “A quest?”

Iskall nods earnestly. “Bdubs has been setting up a system of quests and-” They stop when they see the way Etho closes himself off once more, carefully crafting his expression back into a blank face. Not fast enough for Iskall to miss the flash of pain. “Etho?”

Etho inhales deeply. “Is there something you want to ask me?” 

He is the one bringing the topic up and yet everything in his posture, and his tone communicates that he wants nothing less than to be questioned about Bdubs.

Iskall hesitates.

Etho looks like he is suffering and like this is clearly a sore spot and one that should only be approached with the utmost carefulness. Iskall knows that they’re not subtle or careful or even equipped to handle a heavy conversation. They know Beef or Doc or, well, Bdubs, would be much better at this.

But Iskall is also well aware of their personality, and if there is one thing Iskall knows, is that they are a bit of a gambler. They take risks for the thrills, and they are often far too willing to play with fire if it might bring them big rewards.

Iskall knows it’s a flaw. They haven’t yet found a way of stopping themselves from constantly tempting fate.

Iskall is curious, and they know it, and they know they should be careful about it, but also-

But also, they’re too curious. So, instead of minding Etho’s unspoken warning, they ask: “What happened between you and Bdubs?”

Etho’s lips curl into an ugly smile that is anything but a smile. Iskall almost takes their question back, but they don’t, because they’ve gambled, the dice have been thrown, and now they just have to wait. “He betrayed me,” Etho eventually declares, and Iskall doesn’t know what they are supposed to say to that.

They remember Etho mentioning something about Bdubs betraying him and causing his death, but, at that moment, they had thought it had been an exaggeration, or-

Wait-

If Etho and Bdubs are married, and Bdubs was allied – soul-bond – with Impulse, wouldn’t that count as a betrayal?

Is that what Etho means?

“I’m sorry,” they eventually say. “I’ve heard about Bdubs and Impulse.”

Etho snorts at that, but it doesn’t really sound like a snort at all, and rather like he is clearing his throat – maybe, Iskall thinks, to get rid of a lump right there. “Oh, have you, now?”

Iskall isn’t sure why they feel guilty. “Well, Mumbo and I were spending some time together and-”

“You don’t have to justify it,” Etho interrupts. “It’s fine.” (Iskall wonders if it really is.) “Obviously this is the kind of thing that would spread.”

Still, Iskall thinks, Etho is not the kind of person who likes gossip. Or rather, he totally is. But this still… This still feels inappropriate. They feel bad. “I’m sorry,” they repeat. “I would have never imagined that Bdubs would… cheat.”

Because that’s what it is, isn’t it? If Bdubs and Etho are together, Bdubs deciding to be with someone else, even for the purpose of a game, could be perceived as cheating.

Well- Iskall feels like it is understandable, in the context of their competition, but Etho looks so genuinely hurt by it, and they are not about to question the way he feels about things. If Etho considered this a betrayal, then surely Bdubs would have been aware of it. Etho might be secretive, but Bdubs knows him maybe better than anyone else. He would have known.

The two should have found a way to handle this better, Iskall thinks. Maybe by asking for the rules of the games to be bent for them. Maybe by deciding not to participate this time. (Iskall doesn’t know if participating is a choice, or if the competition is some kind of unavoidable thing which the hermits have no choice but to join. They’ve heard of it happening before).

“Is it cheating, if he was playing by the rules?” Etho asks, and Iskall knows, without needing to look at him, that the question is not directed at them but rather at the world. Or maybe at Etho himself.

And it might be said that Iskall is tactless, but they are also intelligent, and they know that any interruption would be highly unproductive. They hum to show that they’re listening.

“Truly, it makes sense,” Etho continues. “The goal was to be the last ones alive, but I just-” A pause, and Iskall can clearly hear their friend swallow thickly. They keep their eyes away, knowing that this might help, if only a little. “I wouldn’t have thought he’d be the one to kill me.”

Wait.

What.

Wait- What?

“What?” Iskall feels the tiniest bit of pride at the fact that they don’t scream the question. Still, they know that they sound surprised, and shocked, and-

There’s shuffling behind them, and then Etho’s voice comes out from a bit farther away. “I don’t want to talk about it,” he says. “I’m going on a walk.”

And then he walks through the door, and leaves Iskall reeling from the reveal.

And really, Iskall isn’t certain what they are supposed to do now.

Several hours pass by, and Etho eventually comes back, and he looks exhausted, but his eyes are a bit… calmer. Iskall could say that their friend looks appeased, if tiredness and dullness were good synonyms for appeasement. Etho greets Iskall with a nod of his head, and then he retreats into his bedroom without a word.

Iskall feels guilty, and Iskall feels…

Well, bad.

They’re confused. Because Etho said words that meant…

Etho said Bdubs killed him.

And that doesn’t make sense, because everyone knows that Bdubs adores Etho, admires Etho, does everything to impress Etho. Bdubs killing Etho is…

Well, it’s as paradoxical as Iskall loving diorite.

Bdubs would never even think of hurting Etho. Bdubs-

Well, maybe Mumbo was somewhat right when he said that the two were married. If anything, it is clear that Bdubs cares more about Etho than he does anyone else.

So Bdubs killing Etho?

It doesn’t make sense.

And the second part of this reveal that keeps Iskall’s mind so busy and their thoughts so loud that they cannot fall asleep is that, if Bdubs killed Etho, Iskall allowed Etho’s murderer to get near him and that’s… well- that’s not great success at all.

And Iskall may be mischievous and sometimes a bit blunt, but Iskall invented IskallMAN, and they cherish good actions more than anything else.

And well- none of this is good.

So Iskall feels bad.

They run into Bdubs.

They were not planning to do so. Etho’s revelation is too raw in their mind, and so they do not seek Bdubs – not yet, not until they feel like they understand.

But well, Bdubs is working on the roads in the shopping district, and Iskall isn’t watching where they are going. One moment they are looking at their communicator, the next, they are a few steps away from Bdubs. Their eyes catch.

Bdubs wipes the sweat from his forehead and puts a block of diorite down, turning to greet them. For a fraction of a second, Iskall forgets that they are angry at Bdubs for killing Etho and instead feels absolutely disgusted that he would use diorite yet again.

That short moment gives Bdubs the chance to speak first: “Iskall!” he greats. “Oh, it’s good to see you! How is Etho?”

And it’s almost funny, the way Bdubs’s polite greeting is barely less than a sentence before he moves on instantly to what he really cares about.

It would be endearing, if Iskall weren’t so aware that Bdubs killed Etho.

“Healing,” they reply carefully. Before they can add anything, Bdubs continue:

“Is Etho- Has he said something about me?” His eyebrows are furrowed in concern, and it seems like he is trying to control his hands not to start twisting them nervously. Bdubs has always been one to fidget often, to send his hands flying, to bounce around excitedly, and it seems like his nerves are not making this any better.

Iskall hesitates. On the one hand, yes, Etho definitely said something. On the other hand, Iskall felt guilty that they spoke about Etho with Mumbo. Surely talking to the person who killed him is worse.

Bdubs might notice their silence because he frowns, and his eyes bulge a little. “Iskall?”

“What happened,” Iskall asks slowly, “during your game?”

Bdubs blinks. His eyes dart away, maybe toward the forge – toward Impulse – before they focus back on Iskall. “I’m not sure…” He is quiet for a moment. “Well, I got paired with Impulse, and Etho got paired with Joel. And we- Pearl won at the end, I think?”

He seems confused. Genuinely confused.

Iskall feels like they don’t know Bdubs well enough to tell whether he is lying – Etho would be more than capable of doing so, but also Etho was killed by Bdubs.

And Etho is a good fighter and has amazing reflexes. It would have taken a good bit of lying for Bdubs to kill him. And Etho knows Bdubs more than anyone else, but he got tricked.

So maybe Iskall cannot trust their instincts that tell them that Bdubs is confused and worried.

“Sure,” they agree. “And what else?”

Bdubs frowns. “I mean- we got into an alliance, the four of us.”

“Hm,” Iskall says, and Bdubs shifts a bit. He is a bit too immobile to be natural. Like he is ill at ease. “What else?”

Bdubs shakes his head. “I don’t know what you mean,” he admits. “I just-”

Iskall crosses their arms. They know that they look impressive – they always have. They are bulkier than Bdubs and… well, they are upset on their friend’s behalf. Which probably makes them look angry.

“Iskall-”

“So are you saying that you conveniently forgot about betraying Etho?”

“I didn’t!” Bdubs’s protest is a screech. “I’m not a traitor! I ain’t!”

Iskall keeps their arms crossed. “Well, Etho definitely said that you betrayed him.”

“I didn’t!” Bdubs repeat, a bit louder. “I didn’t! I would never!”

And he-… He sounds genuine. Iskall frowns in confusion. Bdubs sounds genuine.

Did he maybe not realize that he was betraying Etho? Did he- Well, no, that doesn’t make sense. He killed Etho. He would have known what he was doing. And he would remember.

“I doubt that’s going to fly with him,” they eventually declare. Bdubs looks terribly upset.

“But he’s- what did he tell you?”

Iskall stares at the smaller man silently. Bdubs meets their gaze, his eyes pleading for an answer. Eventually, Iskall clears his throat: “Maybe you should spend some time thinking, Bdubs. And try to figure out why Etho might be upset.”

“But I didn’t-”

“Think,” Iskall repeats. “And in the meantime-”

“Is he okay?”

Iskall pauses in their phrase, too taken aback to continue their declaration that Bdubs needs to stay away from Etho. “Pardon?”

“Etho,” Bdubs clarifies uselessly – because, of course, who else would he mean? – “Is he okay?”

Iskall remembers Etho’s voice and how fragile it had sounded in the big cave, as Etho had admitted that he would never have imagined Bdubs would kill him.

They feel angry at Bdubs for doing this to their friend. But also… confused.

Bdubs cares, and this much is clear. So why would he-?

“Is he?” Bdubs insists. He looks desperate for any information about his… friend? ex-husband? partner? Iskall isn’t sure.

“As well as can be, considering the circumstances,” they eventually reply.

“What circumstances?”

Iskall sighs. “Think,” they say one last time.

And they leave, ignoring Bdubs’s desperate questions.

They have gained more information, and they feel way more confused.

Iskall like puzzles.

When they set up on their own adventures, they explore large vaults, fight monsters, and collect gems. They also find artefacts – many of them, all different but all linked. They are fascinated with the process of tirelessly finding each artefact piece and joining them together to find whatever the fragments used to show when they were assembled.

This , Iskall thinks, is somewhat like a puzzle. This entire situation is a mystery and Iskall isn’t fully certain what is happening, save for the fact that they have collected three puzzle pieces that are connected by their topic being whatever happened between Etho and Bdubs.

But they seem not to match at all.

Etho said that Bdubs betrayed him and killed him, and he refuses to see him.

Bdubs begged to see Etho; he seems concerned for his well-being and like he has no idea what happened to make Etho resent him.

Mumbo told Iskall that Bdubs and Etho are (or used to be?) a couple – maybe even married.

And Iskall is turning the pieces in their head, desperately trying to find where they might match and connect, but it doesn’t make sense.

Or well- everything makes sense, if Iskall decides to ignore one detail.

They turn the pieces in their mind, and they decide that the most likely picture is this: Etho and Bdubs were a couple. Bdubs got paired with Impulse and… cheated on Etho? (that part still sounds too strange). Etho found out, and Bdubs… killed him? (that sounds strange too).

What doesn’t make sense, is Bdubs’s behaviour.

Bdubs sounds concerned for Etho and appears as adoring as he always has been, which makes it seems like he never held any contempt toward him.

And, more than that, Bdubs seems neither guilty nor like he even understands why Etho is mad. And maybe, in an alternate universe, Bdubs could be heartless enough not to feel any regret for murdering his partner (his husband?) but, one, it sounds absolutely crazy to imagine Bdubs being emotionless, and two, even if he didn’t care, Bdubs would not be confused.

Maybe, in that particular, unlikely, scenario, it would make sense for Bdubs not to beg for forgiveness, but there would be no reason for him to be confused about what happened.

Because, as idiotic as he may act, as obnoxious as he may be, Bdubs is still incredibly intelligent – his building prowesses being only an example of that. (Maybe this is one of the reasons Etho fell for him, Iskall thinks).

And so, here is where nothing fits:

First, Bdubs would not betray Etho because he adores him. Bdubs would not kill Etho because, as far as Iskall knows, he would rather die first than hurt him.

Secondly, if Bdubs did hurt Etho, it makes no sense why he would pretend not to understand. What good would playing dumb do, when Etho has already condemned him?

Third- well, third, Iskall is still reeling from the fact that one of their closest friends (and former roommate!) might be in a committed relationship.

So, technically, it’s not like this third puzzle piece doesn’t fit. It’s more like Iskall thinks it is a fake piece.

Because, as far as they know, Etho never showed any interest in anyone.

Well.

They think.

What matters, though, is that this is a strange, strange, puzzle, and maybe, if Iskall is to complete it, they must first find the corner pieces.

Chapter Text

It goes like this: Etho lets himself slip through to the next level of the mine and feels sharp pain through the sole of his feet as he lands.

“Hey Joel!” he greets.

Joel’s head snaps toward him, and he looks into his face, wide-eyed. “Etho,” he begins. “I think- Did you just fall?”

Etho can do nothing but frown “I did, yeah?” Joel’s brown eyes stare at him, unblinking, He doesn’t have to say anything. Etho’s heart falls into his chest. “No, don’t tell me-? Are you serious?”

And all he can think about is Bdubs’s grin at his friend had declared his love for Impulse, and all he can think about is the pain in his chest that Joel cannot feel.

“What do you mean ‘no’?” Joel screeches.

And Etho realizes that it is unfair, that he cannot make Joel suffer for the crime of not being Bdubs. So he forces the anger and the pain down, and he makes his initial reaction into a joke. “Nooooo! Whyyyyy!” He laughs as he pretends to let out his scream of anguish and Joel laughs with him.

He has found his soulmate, and yet, Etho has never felt so alone.

* * *

Later, when their friends all coo and share their congratulations, Etho forces himself to smile.

“Are you guys actually together?” Martyn asks while Jimmy stares at them with a grin, and Pearl with a fond smile.

“Well, Etho doesn’t seem too happy that I’m… soul-bound to him,” Joel says, and it is said with no heat, as if it were an inside joke, but Etho knows that it is true.

And he wants to apologise about it, to tell Joel that this is not his fault, that there is nothing he’s done wrong.

Etho wishes he could tell Joel that his heart, the very heart that beats in unison with his, belongs to someone else. To Bdubs. To do whatever he wants with.

He can’t find the right words to explain it though, especially not when they’re surrounded by their friends. And so Etho chuckles. “No, I am thrilled. I am thrilled.”

 And he tries to make himself believe it.

“Grian!”

Iskall stares as the man flies above them, pirouetting happily between the floating rocks that make off his base, and they think that, maybe, they should reinstitute the No Wings Club.

Or maybe convince Etho to help them find a trident, just so they can throw it at Grian and force him to come down.

“No use trying, mate,” Mumbo’s voice comes from behind. “He’s been doing that every day. Show-off.” He sounds fond.

“Has he?”

Mumbo shrugs. “I don’t know. It feels like he’s always perched somewhere up high. He says it’s to see his builds better, but everyone knows he only builds the front soooo…”

“Hey!”

That came from the sky. Mumbo laughs and Iskall cranks their neck up to look at Grian.

“Hey! I have some questions for you.”

“Answer is ‘yes,’ ‘no,’ ‘what explosion?’ and ‘no, I definitely did not push that button.’” Grian recites.

“What?”

“Did you push the-” Mumbo doesn’t manage to finish; he sounds outraged and pained at the same time.

Grian giggles. “I just said I didn’t.” A pause. “But again, I could be misremembering, and I might have actually pulled a lever or pushed a butto-” He doesn’t get the time to finish before Mumbo has rushed away, muttering under his breath. Grian flutters his wings a couple of times to keep himself in the air. “Well- I tried.”

“You’re so strange,” Iskall tells him bluntly, because this is the only thing that comes to their brain.

“Am I?”

Iskall almost explains before deciding that, actually, no, they don’t have time to list all of the ways Grian is weird. They shake their head. “That doesn’t matter,” they say. “I need to ask you about Etho.”

Grian’s eyebrows raise in interest. “Oh, all right, fella, that one’s unexpected.” He gives a beat of his wings and comes to land on the ground. “Caught my interest, there. What’s up?”

“It’s-” Iskall hesitates. Sharing their thoughts with Mumbo is one thing. Telling the entire server about Etho’s current state of mind (because, really, everyone knows that Grian cannot hold his tongue, and so telling him is like telling the entire server) does not seem appropriate. “Just- Some stuff he mentioned I couldn’t fully get.”

“Oh yeah?” Grian tilts his head. “Hit me.”

Iskall thinks through their words before they ask: “How exactly did your latest game go?”

Grian’s face falls a little, and it seems as if he turns West ever so slightly, in the direction of Scar’s base. “Why do you ask?”

Iskall shifts. “No reason,” they say. “Well- Etho mentioned some things and I didn’t fully understand them.”

“Some things?” Grian repeats.

“Just- he said you were all paired up?”

“Soul-bound,” Grian corrects. “There was- a soul-bond.”

Iskall nods slowly. They’re not certain what the difference is, but it seems to matter.

“We shared our health with our soulmate,” Grian explains. “And our- any pain one felt, the other did too.”

“Okay,” Iskall says slowly. “What about Etho? Who was he pair- soul-bound with?”

“You wouldn’t know him,” Grian responds, and then, with a chuckle: “He goes to a different school.” He pauses for a moment: “His name is Joel. I think- they seemed to get along pretty well.”

Iskall nods. “What about Bdubs?” they ask. “Who was his soulmate?”

Grian snorts a little. “Oh, I see where you’re going, fella.” And then: “Impulse was his soulmate. They were very good for each other, it seems.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes,” Grian confirms. “They said they were each other’s husbands and all.”

Iskall hums in thought. This seems to match part of Mumbo’s claims. “Did he- How did Etho die?”

Grian straightens up, and his eyebrows raise. “Oh, going straight for the hard questions, I see.” He grimaces. “Me and Sca- I died before Etho,” he admits. “I’m not sure what exactly happened.”

“Aren’t you the admin?”

Grian shrugs. “I don’t know what to tell you. All I can say is that Joel and Etho burned to death, I think? Lava.”

Iskall frowns at that. This doesn’t- Well, it doesn’t fit with what they had imagined. With the dramatic betrayal, wherein Bdubs would have murmured something that would have made Etho understand that he had never been on his side, right before stabbing him straight through the heart, staring at him as Etho died.

It doesn’t-

Well, lava is much less dramatic.

More painful, too. And that explains the burn marks on Etho’s skin.

So, that matches with a piece of the puzzle Iskall hadn’t considered yet: the outside elements. The hints that had not been verbal but that had been there too. The burn marks on Etho’s face. His silence. His shock.

Where it doesn’t match, though, is with Etho’s assertion that Bdubs killed him. Because lava killed him. Not Bdubs.

Unless…

Unless if Bdubs placed the lava?

But that would be-

It doesn’t make sense, because Bdubs wouldn’t hurt Etho.

Right?

“Iskall?”

Iskall comes back to the present, shaking their head a little. “Yeah, yeah. Interesting.” Grian raises their eyebrows at them.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Iskall confirms. “Last question: do you know who could tell me how he died?”

Grian frowns. “Well, if I’m- I don’t think Pearl and Cleo were anywhere near there. Neither were Impulse and Bdubs. So, honestly, your best bet would be to ask Etho himself, because- Well, you’re not going to go off server to check, are you?”

Iskall does consider it for a moment. But eventually, they have to shake their head. Travelling off-server is not easy, and it can even become dangerous if one doesn’t know where they are going or if they haven’t been explicitly invited.

It’s just…

Maybe the danger would be worth it if it meant Iskall wouldn’t have to hear the pain in Etho’s voice.

But some things cannot be prevented, and maybe Grian is right. Maybe Iskall should ask Etho.

(Or maybe they could let all of this be a mystery, but they are too far along, and Iskall is curious by nature. They know it: they take risks if there is just one minuscule chance of a gain; they jump into danger for the thrills and for the possibility of getting something out of it. They want to learn, and they want to know and-)

And they also want to protect Etho. And they can’t do it properly if they can’t figure out what’s wrong.

So they nod, and they smile at Grian. “Thank you,” they say. “You are a man of good advice.”

Grian snorts. “Pfft, don’t let anyone hear you say that, or they’d try to prove you wrong.”

“It could be fun,” Iskall shrugs. Then: “Thank you Grian. Take care of yourself.” A pause, and they look West. “And your soulmate too.”

Grian frowns at that. “Hey, how did you-” Iskall is walking away by that point, and they hear Grian stutter before a louder: “Mumbo! Where did you-?”

They leave.

They did get a new piece of the puzzle.

Great success! Probably.

Bringing up the topic of Etho’s death is not an easy feat.

Iskall tries very desperately to think of any subtle way of bringing that subject to the table. They spend hours in Carrot Hills, harvesting carrots and humming to themselves.

How, exactly, are they supposed to ask Etho who placed the lava that killed them?

They think of maybe mentioning the lava that boils in the heart of Dioboi, maybe mentioning burning Diorite, but it feels… heartless.

And even if Iskall is not supposed to know how Etho died, it feels cruel to bring the topic like this – as if their friend might not have some traumatic memory attached to lava, now.

So, after hours spent humming as they walk around their hill, after even more time spent laying down in Stress’s base and staring at the ceiling, they decide that maybe, just maybe, Stress may be right when she suggests to ‘Just talk to him, geezer!’

Well, Iskall isn’t certain about the geezer’s part. The rest though. It seems reasonable enough. If not difficult and awkward.

But Iskall cares about their friend, and so they decide to go for it.

“Etho?” they ask as the man is rummaging through their chests (gods, does Iskall miss their storage system from their Vault hunting adventures).

“Yup?” Etho sounds nonchalant enough. Almost normal. Iskall considers not having this conversation – letting Etho heal by himself.

But they are too curious: “Grian says you died in lava.”

Etho’s shoulders raise almost instantly, and his entire back tenses up. “Did he, now?”

Iskall shrugs. “He said that you and your soulmate were-”

“Joel,” Etho interrupts. “His name is Joel. My- I was paired up with him, that is.”

Iskall doesn’t know how to interpret that. The interruption. The fact that Etho chose to explain the soul-bond in these words, rather than simply calling the other man his soulmate. The tension in Etho’s posture.

“Did- Can I ask about it?”

Etho snorts. “Aren’t you already?”

Iskall grimaces. “Fair. But are you-”

“You can talk about it,” Etho agrees. “I’m not going to have a meltdown.” He closes the chest a bit more suddenly and with a bit more strength than would have been necessary. He turns, to face Iskall, and sits on the ground, crossing his legs. “What do you want to know?”

“Well, it’s just…” Iskall hesitates. Should they share everything with Etho? Talk about Mumbo’s claim, and Bdubs’s confusion, and their puzzle pieces that cannot connect?

Well, would it be okay to hide anything from Etho, when everything is about him ?

“Well, I met with Bdubs,” they begin. They keep their attention on Etho. Even if they weren’t so focused on his reaction, though, it would be hard to miss the way Etho’s breath hitches as he inhales and the way he slams the cup he’s been holding a bit too harshly on the chest against which he leans.

“Oh?” Etho’s attempt at keeping a nonchalant tone is ruined by the way every muscle in his body seems to have tensed at the mention of Bdubs.

Iskall tries to think of the best words before deciding that, maybe, they just have to dive in, head straight, and be genuine. Uncalculated risks can sometimes bring great rewards. “He seemed very worried about you,” they say. “He asked about you. I told him that you didn’t want to see him, and he seemed… confused?”

Etho barks out a mirthless laugh. “Did he?”

Iskall nods. “He said he didn’t betray you.”

Etho whistles at that. “Wonder what they call it where he is from, then,” he comments dryly.

“Can I-” Iskall takes the risk. So far, they’ve played in every round, and they haven’t faced a loss yet. “You said he killed you?”

Etho nods sharply. “Him or Impulse,” he responds. “Not sure which one placed the lava, but he- Bdubs is the one who called us back out.”

“Back out of?” Iskall prompts.

“The Nether.” Etho’s gaze is a bit farther away. “Joel and I went to the Nether, and Bdubs sent us a message to come back, and we- Joel crossed first.” His hands are tightened into fists, and Iskall thinks that, maybe, they should say something, but they aren’t sure what. “And I felt the heat, and I came through, and Joel was- There was lava everywhere around the portal. They had trapped it.”

Iskall nods, unsure what to say.

“I burnt,” Etho says. “Joel died first. So the fire burnt through my skin, but it never- It’s not what killed me. It didn’t have the time.”

“Etho-”

“Joel was screaming for me to go back through,” the man adds, and his gaze is so far as he seems to relive that moment. “And he screamed that they had trapped the portal, but by the time I came through, I was burning, and he was burning, and-”

“I understand,” Iskall says – a kindness. They don’t want Etho to have to relate every detail of it.

“Do you?” Etho asks, and his voice is hard, yet still so, so far away. “Do you know, Iskall, what it feels like to understand that the man you- do you know what it’s like to have seconds to come to terms with a betrayal? Especially when it’s-...”

He trails off, and Iskall attempts to prompt their friend to continue: “I know you care about Bdubs.”

Etho laughs, and it sounds hollow. “Yeah,” he says, and it sounds bemused and disenchanted. “Guess I do.”

“But he-”

“I think I’m done talking about this,” Etho says, and he stands up. “Your slime farm isn’t as efficient as it could be. I’m going to work on improving it.”

“Etho-”

“I’ll see ya later.”

Etho sounds nonchalant, relaxed, and uncaring, and yet Iskall can see the tension in his shoulders as he walks away and opens the small hatchet that gives onto the slime farm. He takes a couple of steps down the ladder before meeting Iskall’s eyes.

They look at each other for a moment. Etho’s eyes are a bit… wild. Not lost, not really, but not fully there either. He nods at Iskall. “I’m fine,” he declares. “Don’tcha worry, Iskall.”

And then, he slides down the ladder, cool and collected, and Iskall almost forgets how concerned they are for their friend.

All of this is strange.

This conversation was a… mild success?

None of Iskall’s prolonged sessions of humming as they walk around Mumbo’s Vault or in their field of carrots brings any progress.

They find themselves more and more confused as they turn the metaphorical pieces of the puzzles inside their head. They have more pieces, and yet, everything continues to not make sense. Usually, they should be starting to see a picture by this point.

Now, they just feel like a very clueless child, holding pieces of a puzzle, incapable to find a starting point.

Well-

They do have a starting point.

Etho died, by Bdubs’s hand, and is angry about it.

And maybe sad.

Well- quite clearly sad. Even if he won’t say it.

Iskall is not an idiot.

And since Etho is sad, Iskall tries to find ways to cheer him up. The offer to build a bee farm serves as a distraction rather than a source of joy. The suggestion to go tour the construction site of the upcoming Decked Out is rejected. “Too tired,” Etho claims, and Iskall doesn’t push.

So Iskall decides to bring out the big guns. Or, well, their diamond pouch. They place it in Etho’s hand. “There you go,” they say. “To fuel your shopping addiction.”

There’s genuine amusement in Etho’s eyes. “It’s not an addiction,” he replies. “I can stop whenever I want.”

And yet, that does the trick.

They find themselves walking together in the shopping district, chatting about the different shops as Iskall carefully counts through their diamonds and Etho points at items through the windows.

“How about Illuminate ?” Etho asks. “I’ve heard Impulse has some very good deals on beacons.”

Iskall snorts. “Well, yeah. He’s got some crazy Wither farm.”

“Oh?” Etho raises an eyebrow. “Well. Still good prices. We should get a few.”

“I already have a beacon.”

“You need more.”

“I could kill a Wither!”

“More than one more.”

Iskall groans. “You, my good friend, have a shopping addiction.”

“And you,” Etho replies, “have diamonds. We are made to get along.”

Iskall chuckles and lets Etho lead them into Impulse’s store. When they exit, it is with a lighter diamond pouch and a heavier shulker box. Iskall’s head is buzzing as they try to understand what exactly they are meant to do with ten beacons and two dozen end rods.

That seems far more than a healthy amount of either of these items would be.

“You never know,” Etho is telling them, and Iskall decides not to question it further. Etho looks happy, and they decide it is enough. “Hey, how about we hit Scar’s redstone shop? I was thinking about making you a better storage system.”

“Hey! I can still find my stuff!” Iskall protests, even as they start walking toward that store, and even though they absolutely know Etho is right.

“Don’t you remember my shulker storage system?” Etho asks. “Wasn’t it good?”

“Don’t know. Never used it.”

Etho chuckles easily, and Iskall laughs with him.

Their laughter stops when Etho stops dead in his steps in the middle of the way.

And for a good reason. Bdubs is there.

And it makes sense for Bdubs to be there. His store, Moss o Menos, is right next to Scar’s shop, after all.

But if Iskall had known that Bdubs would be there, they would have-

“Etho?”

“Bdubs.” Etho’s voice is cold. It sounds like a warning.

The way Bdubs steps back makes it look like Etho slapped him rather than simply uttered his name. “Are you- How are you?”

“Well enough,” Etho replies, his voice awfully devoid of any inflection. “Not that you would really care, right?”

“I do!” Bdubs protests loudly. “I do care!”

Etho laughs. It’s mirthless. Almost cruel. Iskall winces at the sound even when they are not the target of Etho’s anger. “You have an interesting way of showing that you care.” Bdubs gapes. Etho doesn’t give him the time to get back to his senses: “Iskall, let’s keep going.”

Iskall blinks. “Yes. Sure. Let’s keep going.” They go to move, before they are stopped by Bdubs’s voice.

“Etho, please!”

Etho pauses. “What do you want? ” The last word is almost spat, a sign of Etho’s impatience. More than that, a sign of Etho’s unease. Iskall shifts uncomfortably.

“I just-” Bdubs sounds supplicating. “Why didn’t- Why won’t you come back to the tower?”

Again, Etho’s laugh is cold enough to make Iskall feel uneasy. “Take a wild guess, B.”

“I don’t know! ” Bdubs’s outcry is a protest as much as it is a sign of profound distress. Iskall straightens up. “I don’t know!” Bdubs repeats. “Iskall said that I betrayed you, and I don’t know what they meant, and I’m just trying to-”

“You don’t know what they meant?” Etho’s reply is a hiss. It is dangerous – a warning for Bdubs to stop.

Bdubs, though, has never seemed to be one to heed warnings. “I don’t!” His voice is so much louder than Etho, which is barely more than an angry murmur. Bdubs is almost screaming. “I don’t know! I never betrayed you!”

Etho’s eye twitches. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, Bdubs, but you better quit it now. You, out of anyone else, would know that my aim is good.” Iskall realizes only then that their friend is holding a trident. They gasp and go to intervene.

“No!” Bdubs screeches before Iskall has the chance to say a word. “You stop it! Stop it! This is not a prank I like! You- you know I never betrayed you! You stop this!”

Etho is holding his trident a bit higher, muscles tensing. Bdubs looks like he might either start crying or jump at Etho’s neck and strangle him.

“Hey, maybe we should-”

“Funny,” Etho whispers, and his whisper is as loud as Bdubs’s scream, and more blood-curdling. “Because I do recall receiving your message asking us to come back to the overworld before Joel started burning to death.” He holds his trident higher. “And hey, call me a sentimental man, but I tend to remember who trapped a portal and caused my brutal and painful death.”

“What are you talking ab- hey!”

Bdubs doesn’t have the time to finish his question that Etho is in the air, his trident propelling him away.

He lands in the water, a bit farther, and locks his eyes with Iskall. “I’ll see you home,” he says. He stays there for a couple of seconds longer, just enough for Iskall to realize what Etho just said, to glance at Bdubs’s frozen form, and then Etho disappears.

“What- Where did he go?” Bdubs looks around wildly before focusing back on Iskall. “Where did he go?” He sounds desperate.

Iskall isn’t sure themselves, but their best guess is: “Enderpearl stasis chamber.” A pause, and then, because Bdubs looks like a kicked puppy: “I didn’t know he made one. I’m-”

“Why did he not want-... Does he think I killed him?”

That is… Unexpected.

Iskall could have seen denial coming. Not confusion. “What?”

“Etho-” Bdubs’s voice is strangely calm, strangely low, strangely… blank. “He said- It doesn’t make sense,” he says, and Iskall does agree. It doesn’t make sense.

“Wait, did you not-?”

“I would never!” Bdubs says, and he sounds so affronted that someone would even suggest that he would think about hurting one hair off Etho’s head. “I would never! ”

And Iskall’s mind is reeling, because Bdubs does sound genuine, but so did Etho. And Etho has burnt marks on his skin and a traumatized glint in his eyes.

“Then why did you think he was angry?”

“I don’t know!” Bdubs exclaims. “I was just- Maybe because Impulse and I had the soul-bond? It’s just-” He gesticulates his arms around. “Etho knows that I would joke about it! He knows it was just a-” Wild eyes land on Iskall. “He knows it was a game, right?”

Iskall takes a moment to look around themselves. At Scar’s shop, and Bdubs’s store, and the pavement Bdubs painstakingly laid in the entire area.

They think of Etho’s choked voice as he had spoken not of the pain of dying but of that of knowing that Bdubs had betrayed him. They aren’t sure what they can tell Bdubs without betraying Etho. They aren’t-

“Iskall, please.” Bdubs sounds like he is seconds away from begging.

Iskall sighs. “Would he be that angry if it was just a game to him?”

“Fu-” Bdubs interrupts himself before cursing and swallows thickly. He seems to wrap himself a bit in his moss cloak. “I don’t- I never betrayed him. You believe me, right?”

Iskall doesn’t know if they do. They don’t reply.

“I would never betray him,” Bdubs declares, and it’s so certain, so genuine, that Iskall is tempted to believe it. They remain silent, and so Bdubs tries to push: “Iskall, you have to-”

Iskall’s communicator vibrates. ‘Where are you?’ reads a message.

“Is that him?” Bdubs asks. “Can you tell him that I didn’t-” Iskall raises their hand and, remarkably, Bdubs falls quiet.

‘Still at the shopping market,’ Iskall types. ‘Are you okay?’

“Iskall, can I-” Bdubs trails off. “Why doesn’t he answer my messages?”

Iskall looks back at him, raising their eyebrows. “Really?”

“I didn’t do it!” Bdubs insists. “Please tell him that I didn’t!”

‘I’m great,’ Etho replies. ‘ Don’t worry. I’ll see you when you come back!’

The words remind Iskall of Etho’s reassurance, just a few days earlier. Of Etho telling them not to worry.

Judging by Etho’s behaviour just now, it seems like those words mean the opposite of what they are supposed to signify.

‘ I’m on my way, ’ they write back.

They look back up at Bdubs’s supplicating expression. “Can you tell him I need to speak to him?” Bdubs asks. “Please?”

Iskall sighs. “I’ll tell him,” they agree. “I have to go now.”

They take a few steps away from Bdubs before stopping when a wrist catches their arm.

“What?”

“You do- You believe me, right?” Bdubs asks. “You know I’d never hurt him. Right?”

Iskall takes in a deep breath. “Stay away from him for now,” they say. “He needs space.”

“But-”

“I’ll see you later, Bdubs.”

They walk away, but they feel Bdubs’s eyes on him the entire time.

The puzzle feels even more complicated now.

Chapter Text

Etho is riding his horse, and he feels Bdubs’s eyes on him, intense and burning through his skin. He pretends not to notice it.

“Etho, by the way,” Bdubs begins, a bit tentative. “Joel swung by earlier.”

“Uh huh?” Etho turns to look at his friend. “He said good things about me?”

It is Impulse who replies, with a grimace. “Not… really?”

And then, Impulse and Bdubs look at each other and Bdubs continues: “Well, we promised not to say. We can’t say anything, unfortunately.”

Etho frowns at the words. He goes to ask a question when Impulse agrees. “Well, we did promise we wouldn’t-”

“What we can say is,” Bdubs interrupts, and Etho’s eyes snap back to him. “Be careful. Keep your guard down in your alliance with your Double Life person.”

Bdubs’s voice is serious, and Etho tries to pretend that he doesn’t shiver, that his mind doesn’t immediately get filled with responses that wouldn’t be appropriate, some ‘I want you to be my soulmate, not him. I trust you.’ He meets Bdubs’s eyes and his eyes are burning.

“Yeah,” Impulse agrees, breaking Etho’s trance.

Etho chuckles uneasily. “Dude, don’t tell me these things! I mean, tell me these things, but-”

“I’m telling you because you’re my friend!” Bdubs explains, and Etho refuses to be disappointed at that. “I- But- In the sake of honour, I can’t say anything else.”

“Okay. Well, I appreciate that much.”

“Yes. Yes. And know that, uh, we-” Bdubs glances toward Impulse, who nods. “We’ve got a midcentury modern house, and it’s coming along nicely.”

Etho smiles at that. Is Bdubs… inviting him? Is he- “Oh really?”

“Plenty of room,” Impulse adds.

“Yes, plenty of room for-… any purposes.”

And god, Etho cannot read into this. And yet, he is greedy, and he is like a moth to a flame, and so he flies a bit closer: “You guys are still happy together? You’re not- You’re not-?”

“Oh yeah,” Bdubs confirms immediately. He grins, and Etho’s heart sinks.

“Power couple!” Impulse adds excitedly.

“Wow, that lasted longer than I expected,” Etho teases, and he meets Bdubs’s eyes, and his friend laughs, and maybe that’s enough.

* * *

“Joel?”

The man tilts his head, turning to look at Etho.“Yeah?”

“We need to have a talk.”

A frown. “Why?”

“I’ve been hearing things,” Etho begins, and he glances at Bdubs, who seems like he has grown paler. “I’ve been hearing things. I think they’re just rumours, but I don’t know. Apparently you’ve been saying things about me to Bdubs and Impulse.”

Tango whistles, eyes on the scene. Joel gasps, face scandalized. “I’ve not even seen Bdubs, and I’m-” He pulls his jacket off a bit to show off his shirt – a cheesy one with Etho’s face on it. “Would someone with this on their chest say anything bad about Etho?”

“Wow,” Tango says, chuckling.

“Joel, come on,” Impulse begins.

“Just rumours, right?” Etho pushes, eyes still on Bdubs.

Joel still looks offended that he would believe any of this. “Etho- Why would you trust these guys? They are just rumours!”

Etho raises a hand, appeasing him with a gesture. “Okay, that’s what I thought.”

And he glances at Bdubs, and he feels disappointed. Because, for a moment, he had thought that maybe Bdubs was legitimately concerned about his relationship, rather than trying to create chaos. For a moment, he had thought that maybe the offer to join the modern house had been genuine.

“It’s fine!” Bdubs says, eager to save face. “Do what you have to do, I didn’t want to be part of this dispute. Okay- I didn’t want this in front of me.”

Impulse nods in agreement. “That’s why we were keeping our mouths shut!”

Joel laughs in bewilderment. “Etho, you know what this is? I think they’re projecting on us their problems they have with their own relationship.” Bdubs and Impulse start denying loudly, but Joel continues: “They’re not happy with their partners, so then, they try to make everyone less happy!”

Etho looks back at Bdubs and Impulse who are desperately trying to deny Joel’s words, and he lets himself hope that maybe Joel is right. That maybe Bdubs is not happy in this relationship.

Except- this is cruel, isn’t it?

Shouldn’t he wish for Bdubs to be happy?

He doesn’t know.

It is only a few hours past sunrise when Iskall’s communicator buzzes.

And buzzes again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

They groan, half tempted to just throw the godforsaken device into Dioboi’s pit of lava, but they sit up in their bed, bringing the screen to their eyes.

‘Iskall?’ ‘Can I come in?’ ‘I want to talk to Etho’ ‘You didn’t give me any news’ ‘I’m at the front of your base’

Three more messages get sent by the time Iskall has gotten out of bed.

‘I’m coming in’ the first message says. ‘I’m on the bridge’ ‘Is Etho here?’

Iskall rubs their eyes. They are not a late riser by any means, but this still feels like a very upsetting awakening. They rapidly put their green jumper on, and they step cautiously around their cave, until they can see Etho.

Their friend is in his bed, unmasked, as he usually is while he is asleep, eyes closed, snoring quietly. He looks relaxed, and at peace, something Iskall has not seen in weeks.

And so Iskall knows that they cannot allow this to be ruined. Etho needs all the rest he can get.

‘Wait,’ they text, not bothering to read the fourteen new messages from Bdubs. ‘I’m coming’

Their communicator goes quiet, and they sigh, deciding that Etho would probably not be against them borrowing his trident if they are doing so to keep him safe. They grab the weapon and decide that they do not have the time for nostalgia at the familiar feeling of being propelled into the air.

It takes them two jumps to get to the bridge.

Hum. Far quicker than their stairs.

Although their stairs do look quite omega. They lean forward to look at their cave from above as they consider whether they could borrow their design from the Savannah to-

“Iskall!”

They blink back to the present. “Hallo Bdubs,” they greet. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“You didn’t tell me how Etho is!” the man protests. “He left like- like that! And you didn’t tell me if he-”

“I didn’t get a chance to talk to him,” Iskall interrupts.

It’s a half-truth. They did get an opportunity to talk to Etho, when they had come back to their base and found their friend frantically working on a cactus farm, his eyes bloodshot and his hands shaking.

They had decided, right then and there, not to risk that talk. They had asked Etho if he was okay, and when the man had replied that green dye would be useful for tinted glass, they had taken it as the answer it was.

(That Etho was not all right, and that he didn’t want to speak about it).

“He needs- I want to talk to him,” Bdubs declares.

Iskall shifts their feet a tiny bit, taking a more stable stance. “No.”

“I’ll- What? What do you mean, no?”

“You’ve seen him, haven’t you?” Iskall doesn’t wait for Bdubs to reply. “He doesn’t want to talk to you. I’d be a bad friend if I ignored it.”

“You’re being a bad friend by not listening to me!” Bdubs protests.

Iskall crosses their arms. They know, by the way Bdubs glances at them, that they must look impressive. Construction and carrying heavy materials around their base gave them the kind of stature, the kind of muscles, that they can definitely count on to protect their friend. And to intimidate whoever threatens him.

“Am I?”

“I didn’t betray Etho!” Bdubs yells. It’s loud enough that Iskall feels concerned it might wake Etho up.

They don’t budge. “Then how did he die?”

“He-” Bdubs shakes his head. “I don’t know. ”

Iskall frowns. “What do you mean, you don’t know? You asked him to return from the Nether, did you not?”

“I did,” Bdubs agrees. “But I just-”

“You called him out,” they repeat. “And he died. Is that true?”

“It is,” Bdubs confirms. “But I-”

“But?”

“But I didn’t trap the portal!” Bdubs’s scream is even louder now, and Iskall glances down into the cave worriedly. “I didn’t!”

And he seems so genuine that Iskall wonders if, maybe, this holds some truth.

And yet, that is a piece of the puzzle that doesn’t feel right. Because Etho said that his partner – his soulmate – screamed that the portal had been trapped, seconds before they both died.

“Are you saying Etho lied?”

“No!” Bdubs protests. “Yes! I don’t- Gah! I don’t know!”

“Etho died in lava,” Iskall says. “He burnt to death when he passed through the portal.” They pause. “I saw his burns. He’d never lie about this.”

The way Bdubs shivers at the vague description cannot be a lie. It cannot be pretend. Bdubs’s lips tremble. “Is he-”

“He healed,” Iskall says before the man finishes his question. “I gave him some potions. He is fine.” They look back at Bdubs’s face. “But he says that you trapped the portal.”

“I didn’t!” Bdubs yells again. “Never! I wouldn’t hurt Etho! Never!”

And he sounds so genuine, and it feels like Bdubs is some kind of toddler running into a room and throwing Iskall’s puzzle to the floor and stomping on the pieces.

Bdubs’s honesty is annoying, because it makes it feels like the blurry picture Iskall had thought they could see is completely wrong.

“You didn’t trap the portal?” they repeat.

“I didn’t!” Bdubs yells again, before realizing that Iskall listened to him. He repeats himself, a bit quieter: “I didn’t. I promise.”

“Did Impulse do it?”

Bdubs looks offended at the thought. “No! I’d never- I wouldn’t let him do it. I wouldn’t- Iskall, I promise you. I wouldn’t let anyone hurt Etho. I promise you I didn’t know it was trapped.”

Iskall feels glad that, at least, they are past arguing about whether the portal was trapped. They decide that this part of the puzzle will be set in stone.

Etho and his soulmate passed through the portal and died in lava. The portal was trapped.

Bdubs says it wasn’t him, and it sounds genuine.

“Could anyone else have trapped it?” Iskall asks slowly.

“Ye-!” Bdubs interrupts himself before he finishes his answer. “No,” he admits. He continues slowly: “The yellows- Well, they were red, by that point, but the- the others. They were coming toward us. This is why I asked Etho and Joel to come back to the overworld. We didn’t want them to be trapped on the other side. But Impulse- they were coming, and he didn’t want us to risk it, and I swore that I’d protect our lives, so-”

“Okay, wait,” Iskall interrupts. “What- Who were the others?”

Bdubs blinks, seeming to come back to himself: “I think- Grian and Scar were dead by that point. So really, it was… Cleo, Scott, Pearl, and Martyn. They were- They teamed together, because Cleo and Scott were not soulmates, but they got into an alliance, and Martyn and Pearl were-”

“Is this important?” Iskall asks, and Bdubs grimaces but stops rambling. “Okay,” Iskall continues. “Could any of them have trapped the portal?”

“I don’t-” Bdubs frowns. “I don’t think so.” He is quiet for a moment before shaking his head about. “No. No, they couldn’t have. I saw them. We ran away, but Impulse and I got the message that Etho had-” He trails off and Iskall watches the way his throat bobs as he avoids even saying aloud that Etho had died. “It was too soon. They couldn’t have had the time to reach the portal.”

Iskall hesitates. “Are you sure?”

“Uhuh!” Bdubs nods frantically. “Even with horses, it wouldn’t have been possible.”

And well, who, better than Bdubs, to know the capacity of a horse? Iskall watches him carefully. “You know that swearing to their innocence is not very smart, right?”

Bdubs freezes. “I just- Can I talk to Etho? Please? We need to understand what happened.”

And maybe it is a mistake, but Iskall stays with their original decision: “No.”

“But-”

“He is not- Etho’s not in a state to see you,” Iskall says. “And you just told me that no one but you and Impulse could have trapped that portal. So how do I know you didn’t lie when you said it wasn’t you?”

“I would never hurt Etho,” Bdubs says once again. “You have to believe that!”

And it’s terrible, because Iskall really wants to believe it. But how would any of this make sense, then?

So they sigh deeply, and they look back at Bdubs. “I’ll talk to the others,” they declare. “To Pearl and Cleo. We’ll see what they say. But if they haven’t trapped the portal, then I’ll assume it was you and Impulse.”

“We didn’t!” Bdubs assures them again.

“We will see.” Iskall grabs Etho’s trident from their inventory. “Goodbye, Bdubs.”

Bdubs swallows thickly. “Iskall,” he calls just as they are looking down into their base and trying to figure out where the best place to land would be.

“What?”

“You’re-” Bdubs seems to search for his words. “Thank you,” he eventually says.

Well, that’s… unexpected. Iskall raises an eyebrow at the other man, silently prompting him to continue.

“For- For protecting him. I didn’t- I swear to you I didn’t do it. I’d never hurt him. But he- I wish he’d feel safe in my base. But at least he has you.”

Something twists in Iskall’s stomach. They decide not to look too deeply into it. “You’re welcome,” they say. “For your sake, I do hope you didn’t do it.”

Bdubs sounds a bit calmer. “I didn’t,” he says once more. “But it- It makes me feel better to know he has friends like you.”

“You should feel threatened,” Iskall tells him. “Because if I find out you did hurt him, I’ll make sure you never even look at him again.”

Bdubs whistles, but his smile wilts as soon as he meets Iskall’s gaze. “You’re serious.”

“Extremely,” Iskall replies. They don’t wait for Bdubs’s response. They leap down, and land in water, with a loud splash that definitely wakes Etho up.

Well, the conversation might not have been very fruitful, but their intimidation technique was definitely a great success!

“Iskall, we have a problem.”

“The line is supposed to be ‘Houston,’ not ‘Iskall,’” Iskall replies, raising their head from the carrots they had been covering in thin layers of gold (nothing wrong with helping Tommy once in a while). “What’s up?”

“We have a squatter.”

“Hey! My family are all contributing members of society! They make the stuff we sell!”

Etho gives them a look, and Iskall’s joke dies on their lips. “What’s wrong?”

“Bdubs,” Etho says. “He is upstairs. Right by your bridge. It feels like he won’t move. He’s been there for hours.”

Iskall’s mouth parts open. “And you know that because…?”

Etho doesn’t flush – because Etho never looks flustered. He looks away. “I’ve been watching for hours.”

Iskall frowns. “Riiiiight. Does it bother you?”

“I just kinda wish I didn’t have to feel like he’s guarding me,” Etho comments lightly – Iskall hears the gravity in his tone.

“Got it,” they respond. “I’ll deal with it.”

And maybe, when they go to ‘deal with it,’ they freeze at the state of Bdubs, sitting in the cold, alone, in front of a fire. Maybe they realise that Bdubs has a small, uncomfortable-looking cot, instead of his so-beloved beds. Maybe they feel bad.

And so, their way of dealing with it ends up being a call to Stress followed by three long hours spent with her, digging a tunnel through the bottom of their base, leading to hers.

And when they present the fruit of their labour to Etho, they refuse to be embarrassed when Etho raises an eyebrow. “Unexpected solution,” Etho comments.

“You’re lucky Iskall likes you, geezer,” Stress comments, groaning in pain. “My back hurts like all hell.”

Etho’s eyes land on Iskall and, for a moment, they fill with fondness. Iskall does their best not to shift awkwardly. They hold Etho’s gaze.

The man smiles and lets out a puff of air. “Yeah,” he says. “I guess I am.”

He pats Iskall’s shoulder and passes through, exiting the tunnel and walking out, through Stress’s base.

Stress whistles. Iskall glares at her.

So Iskall did promise to talk to Cleo and Pearl.

What they don’t expect, is for Cleo to find them days before they can get the time to visit her.

What they also don’t expect is to find themselves seconds away from walking straight into a very sharp blade. They yelp in surprise and jerk backward.

Cleo snorts. “Watch where you’re going,” she comments.

Iskall places a hand on their chest. “Wait- Wait. My heart.” They wheeze. “Phew, Cleo, I’m not as young as I used to be. You gotta warn a pal.”

At that, the undead woman raises a perfect eyebrow. “Oh, no, I did mean to scare you,” she declares easily, absolutely no regret in her tone.

“Pardon?”

“I came here to punch you in the throat.”

Iskall lets out a small laugh before they realize that, judging by Cleo’s look, she is definitely not joking. “Nej, nej, nej, not my throat,” they say. “Well, no punching at all, actually.” Cleo doesn’t need to say anything - her gaze is enough to stop them from moving. “What’s wrong?” they ask. “Unhappy with your golden carrots? I can-”

“Bdubs!” Cleo cuts dryly. “Bdubs is what’s wrong, Iskall.”

Iskall frowns. “I’m not sure I understand.”

Cleo takes a step closer, and Iskall finds themselves instantly retreating. Cleo is simply terrifying, especially when she wants to be. “Okay, let me clarify, then,” she says pleasantly, almost warmly. If it weren’t a threat, her tone would be friendly. “If I see Bdubs cry one more time, I will break your arm.”

Iskall takes another step back. “Excuse me?”

Cleo smiles peacefully (threateningly). “I’m sorry, was anything unclear?”

“You just threatened to break my arm!”

“And I am perfectly serious about it,” Cleo comments. “Want me to prove it?”

Iskall grabs their left arm with their right, as if this would protect it. “Nej! Wait-” They frown. “Bdubs cried?”

“I’m breaking both of your arms,” Cleo says, and the muscles in her arms twitch just a little bit.

“Okay, okay, got it, you’re scary!” Iskall says quickly. “You said Bdubs cried?”

“Yes, you oblivious idiot,” Cleo spits. “That tends to happen when you’re accused of having fucking murdered someone you love.”

“What are you-?”

“You won’t let Bdubs see Etho!”

“Etho says Bdubs betrayed him!”

Cleo rolls her eyes so far it must be painful. “Of course he does,” she groans. “Stupid asshole. He doesn’t know any better. And you-” Her eyes focus on Iskall again. “- are not letting Bdubs explain.”

After not being threatened for almost thirty seconds, Iskall allows themselves to relax just a little bit. “Do you?” they ask. “Know better, I mean.”

Cleo laughs. For a moment, it sounds like she finds Iskall’s question hilarious. Then, her gaze lands on them again. She seems a bit calmer.

Less murderous.

Good.

“I'm gonna do you one solid, Iskall,” Cleo declares. She snaps her fingers. “Look at me. Okay. Focus. Bdubs didn't kill Etho.”

“Well he-“

“He would never,” she adds as if she hadn't been interrupted. “He cares for Etho more than anyone else in this world. He's been worried sick for days. I'm telling you, Iskall. He didn't kill him.”

“Did you?”

“What?” Cleo scoffs. “Hell no. Though I do wish I could claim that kill.”

Iskall crosses their arms at that. “You come to my base to tell me that you wish you could have murdered my friend?”

“Fuck no,” Cleo responds. “I’m coming to your base to tell you that I will murder your friend if he makes my friend cry again.”

Well, Cleo’s threats changed targets, from Iskall to Etho.

Is that progress?

“Is Bdubs-?” Iskall begins.

“He’s not okay if that’s what you’re going to ask,” Cleo cuts them. She sighs, and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. She looks more tired, suddenly. More like a woman who has the responsibility of her friends’ well-being on her shoulders. More like she acts tough because she is desperately trying to protect those she loves. “He just… He spends hours telling me that he didn’t do it. He doesn’t- He barely sleeps. Bdubs. Our B-double-o barely sleeps. You both fucking hurt him, and you better fix it.”

Iskall hesitates, taking a look toward the area of their base where Etho sleeps. “Etho has nightmares,” they declare. They feel guilty about sharing it, but they do, because Cleo shouldn’t just waltz into someone’s life and make judgement about how they deal with something traumatic that happened to them. “He is trying to pretend that he is okay, but I can see that he avoids even looking at portals. He had burns everywhere on his body when he came back.”

They breathe out and meet Cleo’s gaze. Her mouth is hanging open, in shock. She doesn’t interrupt.

“I don’t know what happened in your game,” Iskall adds. “But if Etho tells me that someone hurt him that badly, I am not letting them near him.”

Cleo’s eyes flash. “It wasn’t Bdubs.”

“Then who did it?” They gesture around. “You? Pearl?”

Cleo shakes her head. “No. We all- Pearl, Scott, Martyn, and I were all together. I would have noticed it if anyone did anything.”

“Someone trapped the portal, though,” Iskall insists. “If it wasn’t any of you, then it was Bdubs and Impulse.”

“Bdubs would never,” Cleo hisses. “He cares about Etho far too much.”

“Then Impulse?”

Once more, Cleo’s answer is a simple headshake. “Bdubs wouldn’t have let him do it. He wanted Etho safe. It makes no sense, in a game where only one team could survive, but he wouldn’t have done it.” She pauses. “The worse he would have done would have been to let one of us kill Etho. But he wouldn’t have done it himself, and he wouldn’t have allowed Impulse to do it either.”

Iskall stares at her. She sounds genuine, and that is making their puzzle even more complicated.

It feels like they are able to place the corners, to figure out where everyone was, right before Etho died, but it also seems like-... From Cleo and Bdubs’s claims, it seems like no one trapped the portal. So Iskall finds themselves with the corners of the puzzle ready and a half-completed center that cannot connect to the sides.

They hum in thought.

Cleo watches them. “So- Will you let them talk?”

It does feel like Etho and Bdubs need to talk. But Iskall is just-

Etho is sleeping, so close to them, and he looks so fragile, a blurry reflection of who he should be. Iskall doesn’t want to make it worse. “Not yet,” they decide.

Cleo grits her teeth. “What now?”

“I want- I’ll talk to Impulse,” Iskall declares. “To see if he corroborates yours and Bdubs’ story.”

“I’m giving you three days,” Cleo says. Her tone is controlled and calm, her voice quiet. Iskall hopes that it means that she finds their request reasonable. “Three days. After that, I’ll blow a hole through your base and let Bdubs in.”

“You don’t do TNT, you play with armour stands!” Iskall protests.

“I’m a big girl,” the undead woman responds. “I’ll learn.”

And, right then, Iskall really believes that she would.

Chapter Text

They fall, and they die, and Joel screams.

When Etho opens his eyes, Joel is still babbling, seemingly in shock. “They killed me, Etho, they killed me!”

They’re red, and Joel is excited and hungry for battle and revenge, and Etho follows him, letting himself be carried by his partner’s bloodlust.

It is fun. It reminds him of the Red King, and it reminds him of Bdubs when he was red and dangerous and yet still Etho’s, and still by his side, in the snow castle.

* * *

Pearl is dead, and Joel is gleeful, laughing maniacally with blood splattered on his hands and face. “Shouldn’t have messed with us, Pearl!” he screeches excitedly.

Etho wipes some blood from his hands on his black pants. “Thank you, Impulse!” he shouts, dismounting the man’s horse.

“Thank you, Impulse for letting us know that!” Joel agrees, searching through Pearl’s belongings.

“You’re welcome!” Bdubs yells back, taking credit for his partner’s actions, and Etho tries not to feel jealous.

He tugs Joel’s arm a little, his eyes the only thing Joel needs to understand that they should go. He jumps on his feet.

“Thank you, Scott. Thank you, Impulse,” Etho declares again.

“Thank you Bdubs!” Bdubs adds, grinning as if Etho and Joel had not just killed someone on his front lawn. “Remember I’m on the list too!”

And Etho looks at him and he wants to laugh. ‘You’ve never been a target,’ he wants to tell him. ‘You’re the last person I’d want to kill.’ 

He wants to reach, with his bloodied hand, and to cup Bdubs’s cheeks and just tell him. Tell him that he has nothing to fear, that he doesn’t need guarantees, that there is nothing in the world that would make Etho want to kill him. Tell him that, if Bdubs asked, Etho would probably kill his own soulmate for him.

He doesn’t say anything. He smiles at Bdubs, and he leaves.

When Iskall finds Impulse, they also find Pearl.

It’s like hitting a strike in bowling, they think.

Gem is also there, fluttering around, cheery and friendly. “Hi dearie!” she greets Iskall when they enter Impulse’s forge. “What’s bringing you here?”

“I wanted to talk to Impulse?” It is more a question than a declaration, and they cannot hide their confusion as to why Gem is there.

“Oh yeah!” She grins at them. “He’s with Pearl. They’re having hot chocolate!”

“Oh?”

“I’ll get one ready for you!” she offers, patting them on the back. “Impulse and Pearl are downstairs.” She points at the stairs, and Iskall gives her a smile.

“Thank you very much. You are a woman of great manners.”

She giggles at that and skips away.

Iskall only waits a few seconds before taking the direction Gem has indicated. They quickly find Impulse and Pearl chatting together around a board game.

Impulse raises an eye. “New player?” he asks warmly. “We can make some room around the table.”

Iskall stares at the large wooden table which definitely does not need for anyone to ‘make some room’ to be able to accommodate more people. “Thanks?”

“Hey Iskall!” Pearl greets. “What’s up?”

Impulse has stood up from his chair and dragged one for Iskall, giving them a friendly shoulder squeeze. “Here you go, buddy.”

“Thank you,” Iskall says. “You’re all very welcoming.”

“We try,” Impulse laughs. “Is there any reason you came? You didn’t message any of us, right?”

Iskall nods. “I didn’t-” ‘I didn’t want you to have the time to prepare a lie’ they want to say. That’d be the truth. “Sorry for the lack of warning,” they say instead.

“Pscht,” Impulse replies. “It’s a good surprise. Right, Pearl?”

The woman smiles at him, putting an elbow on the table and leaning her head in the palm of her hand.

“I wanted to ask you about Bdubs,” they start.

“Bdubs?” Impulse repeats. “Is he okay? We haven’t spoken in a couple of weeks.”

“Since we came back from the game, right?” Pearl pipes up. She looks to Iskall. “Haven’t seen him either. He’s been hanging out with-…” She pauses and frowns. “Wait, who has he been hanging out with?”

Impulse frowns and shrugs. “Not sure,” he admits. “I’ve mostly- Well, I asked him if he wanted- If he needed anything or wanted to come stay with us, because- you know?” Pearl nods. “But he said he was pretty busy with some stuff.” His eyes dart back to Iskall. “I assumed it was some building projects.”

Iskall grimaces. Before they can be questioned, though, they quickly move on with their questioning: “It was about the- your competition, actually.” Pearl and Impulse raise their eyebrows in such a similar manner that it would be very funny if Iskall weren’t talking about Etho’s death. “I wanted to ask you about- Well, you were both around when Etho died, right?”

“Wait, I thought this was about Bdubs?” Pearl comments, her eyebrows twisting.

Iskall swallows. “Yes,” they confirm. “It’s-” They’re not sure how to sugarcoat it, so they look at Impulse and say it straight: “Etho says that Bdubs killed him.”

Pearl’s breath hitches, and Impulse’s frown deepens. “What?” the man asks. “No. No, he definitely didn’t. He was with me all that time.”

Pearl looks pensive for a moment before she shakes her head. “No,” she confirms. “As far as I know, they didn’t. We were running after them when we got the notification that Etho and Joel had died.” She pauses. “Right?”

“Right,” Impulse confirms. “Etho and Joel went through the Nether portal,” he tells Iskall. “We got the notification that they were killed by lava, so I assumed-”

“Etho says that the portal was trapped,” Iskall says. “Bdubs asked them to come back through, and they burnt the moment they arrived back in the overworld.”

Impulse looks confused. His frown is still present, foreign on his usually smiling face, and he scratches his chin pensively. “That makes no sense,” he says. “Unless-... Did he say he came out of the portal? Bdubs and I- We called Joel and Etho out, because we were scared the others would go after them in the Nether,” He gives Pearl a thin smile. “No offense.”

“None taken,” the woman answers easily. “I killed you two, after all.”

“So you didn’t trap the portal?” Iskall asks. “And there was no way Bdubs could have done it without you noticing it?”

“None,” Impulse says. “We were- We didn’t leave each other’s side.” There’s so much devotion and fondness in these words that Iskall can imagine why Etho would have felt jealous. “Definitely not that last day. I would have seen him do it.”

Pearl hesitates. “Wait, that portal you two were standing by – that was the portal they took?”

Impulse nods. “Yep. We built it a bit before you four found us.”

Iskall isn’t completely aware of all of the details the other two are discussing, but they choose not to interrupt.

“Wait, so you’re saying I could have gotten two easy kills if I had gone through that portal?”

“Probably?” Impulse responds. “I don’t know. Etho is good at combat. Maybe a trap was the best way to get him.”

“But you weren’t the one to lay that trap?” Iskall asks again.

Impulse chuckles. “How many ways are you going to word that? No, I didn’t. Neither did Bdubs. The only thing I can think of is-”

“Actually,” Pearl intervenes. “I can confirm they didn’t trap it. The portal was untouched when we came by it.”

“Oh, that’s good!” Impulse comments. “Thank you, Pearl! So, Iskall, I’d say-”

Iskall interrupts him, putting their focus on Pearl: “And you didn’t, Pearl? And no one else in your group did?”

Pearl thinks for a moment before shaking her head. And then, when Iskall squints, she continues: “Trust me, Iskall. I went a bit bonkers in the game, but I’d remember killing someone.” Her eyes dart to Impulse, and her face falls a little. “I do remember.”

“Hey,” Impulse calls softly, his entire focus moving from Iskall to her. His face grows fonder, gentler. “It’s okay. It was a game. We both are good.”

Pearl swallows thickly and looks away. Her thin fingers tremble a bit as she places her hands on her knees.

Iskall feels a bit awkward. They hesitate before continuing. “So do you know-… Can you both confirm Bdubs didn’t trap the portal to-?”

Impulse nods frankly, even before Iskall can finish their question. Pearl follows suit, not taking much time for hesitation. “Yes,” she declares. “I would have seen it. They didn’t do it. Neither did we.”

“Then Etho-”

“Does he have any reason to lie about it?” Pearl asks slowly.

Iskall shakes their head. “No, of course not. He lo- he cares about Bdubs a lot.” Impulse raises an eyebrow at their stutter but doesn’t comment. “He wouldn’t lie about it. He seemed so shaken.”

Impulse watches them for a moment. Eventually, he nods. “Well,” he declares. “It seems like they really need to have a talk.

“Out of the question.”

Etho’s expression is set and his tone firm. Iskall grimaces. They had barely had the time to start talking about the possibility of Etho speaking to Bdubs that the entire conversation had grown tense.

“I really think it would-”

“I said no,” Etho cuts them. He doesn’t sound angry, just determined. It is clear, in the tone of his voice, that he won’t change his mind. He decided, weeks ago, that the hurt was too raw for him to be able to see Bdubs, and it seems that this hasn’t changed.

Iskall is quiet for a moment, trying to think of the best way to approach the topic. They sit, their eyes on Etho. “Impulse says Bdubs didn’t trap the portal.”

Etho scoffs. “Likely story,” he responds. “He would lie for him. They are-” He stops himself. “-were. They were soulmates.”

Iskall doesn’t know if the use of the past tense is a relief or a pain for their friend. They don’t ask. Instead, they continue telling them what they know of the puzzle: “Pearl says that she would have seen the lava over the portal if Impulse and Bdubs had trapped it. She didn’t see it, and neither did Cleo.”

Etho’s eye twitches. “So what? The portal wasn’t trapped? I’m the one who lied?”

“This is not what I said,” Iskall says. “This is not what they said either. We’re just-”

“- saying that I’m wrong about the circumstances of my death,” Etho completes. “I see.”

“Nej! None of us said that!”

Etho glances at them, and Iskall swallows at the way their friend’s eyes are glinting. “I can’t forget Joel’s screams,” he says. “It was trapped. Joel said they trapped it.”

“But they said-”

Etho sighs deeply and stands up. “Listen, if you want to share gossip about the way I died, or try playing a mystery ‘whodunit’ game, I can’t stop you. But you can’t ask me to listen to any of it, or to talk to someone who’s murdered me.”

“I don’t think Bdubs-”

Etho shakes his head. “Nope,” he declares. “I need some air.” He stalks out.

That was a failure.

‘Is it time for me to blow up your base?’ Cleo messages on the morning of the third day after their discussion.

Iskall’s first reaction is a very confused ‘Hallo?’ before they remember her threat. They quickly type an update. ‘I spoke to Impulse. You can ask him. He says Bdubs didn’t do it.’

‘Told you so’ It’s funny, how Cleo sounds smug, even through a text message.

‘We still don’t know what happened,’ Iskall adds. ‘No one admitted to trapping the portal.’

‘Not my problem’ Cleo replies. ‘As long as you two stop accusing Bdubs of fucking killing Etho’

Iskall thinks of their response for a bit too long. They look around their base, as if the stone on the walls would have the answer to their problem.

Eventually, Cleo prompts them again: ‘Has Etho spoken to Bdubs?’

Iskall sighs. ‘No. He doesn’t want to.’

The responses don’t wait. ‘What??’ ‘What the fuck???’ ‘Iskall come to my base right now.’

They frown. ‘I was working on some redstone.’

‘Don’t care, get your ass in there.’ A pause. ‘Joe and I will come get you if you don’t.’

That gets a slight chuckle out of Iskall. ‘Fine, fine, I’m coming,’ they respond.

They stretch a bit before getting up, equipping their elytra, and leaving as quietly as they can, careful not to disturb Etho’s rest.

When Iskall arrives at Cleo’s base, they find Impulse, looking confused and half-awake, and Bdubs looking far more awake, but way less disposed to speak. He is holding himself, a bit curved on himself, fiddling with his hands quietly.

Hm.

“Iskall!” Impulse calls. “What’s happening?”

“Etho is an idiot is what’s happening,” Cleo responds, and Iskall jumps, not having noticed her sitting at her chair in the center of the room.

Their eyes dart to Bdubs and guilt floods through their chest when they see the way he flinches at the sound of Etho’s name.

“Now,” Impulse chides lightly. “I’m sure he isn’t. What’s up?”

Cleo stands to join the three of them. “Iskall says that they spoke to him, but he doesn’t want to speak to Bdubs.” Her tone is still pleasant, yet lined with carefully controlled anger. The man in question flinches, and Cleo winces. “Sorry, Bdubs.”

Bdubs shakes his head. “It’s nothing new,” he says, and he sounds so down, so tired, and so unlike himself, that Iskall’s guilt grows.

“Yeah,” Cleo agrees. “But it should have changed.” Sharp green eyes move to Iskall. “I asked Iskall to talk to Impulse so they’d stop saying you fucking killed Etho.”

Impulse nods at that. “They came to see me a couple of days ago,” they confirm. “We spoke. We agreed that Etho and Bdubs probably need to speak.”

“Except Etho is being an asshole,” Cleo adds, ignoring Impulse’s squint and the tension in Bdubs’s shoulders. “Right, Iskall?”

Iskall grimaces. “I don’t want to insult my friend,” they say carefully.

“Not denying it,” Cleo declares. “That’s all I need. So. Etho is acting like an asshole and doesn’t want to talk to Bdubs. And that’s because…?”

Iskall raises an eyebrow at that. “He’s hurt,” they defend their friend. “He’s been- He thinks that Bdubs betrayed him. It’s really affected him.”

“And I’m guessing that not knowing exactly who did it made the situation worse?” Impulse asks, and Iskall nods. “Which is why I suggested they talk in the first place. Because we seem to all have different ideas of what happened. I thought Bdubs would-”

Cleo nods at that, cutting him off before he can launch into long explanations: “Then we get them to talk and figure out what happened!”

“I tried to tell him about what you, Impulse, and Pearl said.” Iskall protests. “He didn’t want-”

“He’s being a dumbass.” Cleo crosses her arms. “I’m still willing to blow a hole through your base to get him to get out. And then we’ll make him realize what happened.”

And honestly, Iskall doesn’t want their base to be destroyed, but Cleo’s energy is communicative, and maybe this is the best solution to get Etho to realize that the situation is much more complicated than it appears.

“Hey now,” Impulse intervenes. “It’s not that I don’t agree with Etho needing to speak with Bdubs, but is this really the right solution?”

Cleo raises an eyebrow. “What do you propose?”

“If Etho is hurt and doesn’t want to speak, forcing him will make things worse,” Impulse says, voice warm and kind. “People lash out when they’re hurt.” He moves a bit, just enough to shift his gaze to Bdubs, who seems to shrink even more when everyone turns to him.

And that is so strange, so out of character for him, because Bdubs normally thrives under everyone’s attention.

Iskall feels bad.

Impulse places a large hand on the green cloak wrapped around Bdubs’s shoulders. “You know that, right? That he only lashed out at you because he was hurt?”

Bdubs’s lips tremble a little as he smiles. His smile feels wrong. Forced. “I know, Impulse. I’m not a baby.”

Cleo’s gaze is a mix of hard and fond as she looks at the scene. As if she was fighting the anger she feels about the situation with her concern for her friend.

Iskall just feels bad.

So, because it seems like it is the best solution, they continue: “I think it would be better if he knew,” they declare. “Etho, I mean. He’s angry because he thinks Bdubs betrayed him. We need to find out what actually happened.”

Impulse frowns a little at that. “What about-”

Cleo nods in agreement with Iskall: “Right. We need to make it clear that accusing Bdubs of being a fucking traitor and murderer makes no sense.”

“So we need to figure out what actually happened,” Iskall adds. Because really, if the puzzle is complete and Bdubs is not in the picture, then what is left for Etho to be angry about?

And the only solution to complete that puzzle seems to be for Bdubs and Etho to speak. So the big picture can be revealed.

“I can ask him again,” Iskall offers. “It’s just-”

“Don’t,” Bdubs interrupts. “Etho is stubborn.” His lips quiver again. “He only bends his principles for people he cares about, and he-” He trails off.

Cleo is scowling, and Impulse looks deeply upset. “Bdubs,” he begins.

Bdubs rubs at his eyes and, with a pang in their chest, Iskall realizes that the dark bags must have appeared in the last couple of weeks. “He thinks I’ve betrayed him,” the man continues, and it looks like he pulls on his cloak for it to wrap a bit tighter around himself. “It makes sense he wouldn’t give the kind of flexibility that he-”

“He’s being an asshole,” Cleo says. “If Iskall won’t do it, I’ll go talk to him. We’ll have a very nice conversation and I’ll make sure he understands that there’s no way in hell you would have hurt him.”

“Don’t,” Bdubs says again. “I don’t want you to hurt him.”

Cleo groans. “And this is why you’re a good man.” She crosses her arms. “Fine. I won’t go against what you want. But I’m not happy about it.”

Iskall frowns. “Isn’t there a way we could convince him to talk to Bdubs?”

Cleo sighs. “Not if Bdubs isn’t okay with us forcing his hand.”

“I’m not,” Bdubs whispers. “I don’t want you to hurt him. I want- I’ll try to talk to him myself.”

“And I am still saying that forcing him to talk would be a mistake,” Impulse says. Bdubs flinches at that. “The wound is raw. We can’t make him do anything he doesn’t want to. We have to give him time to heal before we speak to him.”

Iskall frowns, and their gaze lands on Bdubs, who looks so small and so tired and so sickish. “But-”

“No, really,” Impulse says. “We need to give him time. Forcing him would be a terrible mistake.”

Doesn’t Impulse see how Bdubs is? Doesn’t he realize that they need to do something? “Etho is hurting because he thinks Bdubs betrayed him,” Iskall argues. “Having them talk would solve things.”

Impulse sighs. “Betraying Etho’s trust would not help the situation if he is hurt because he thinks he has been betrayed in the first place.”

“But it wouldn’t be-” Iskall crosses their arms. “It wouldn’t be a betrayal.”

“It would be, though,” Cleo sighs. “Impulse is right. As much as I hate it. He’s right. We can’t risk making things worse.” Her eyes are fixated on Bdubs, concerned and gentle. “Is that okay with you, Bdubs?”

Iskall’s focus moves back to the smaller man. Bdubs looks… conflicted. He shakes his head. “I don’t know,” he says. “I want to talk to Etho, but if he is-” He grimaces and shakes his head again. Iskall remembers Etho’s cold threats. They feel bad.

They want Bdubs to be able to talk to Etho, but they want Etho to be calm and forgiving.

They want this mystery to be resolved so that Etho and Bdubs will both stop looking this miserable.

But it seems like neither Impulse nor Cleo will help them expedite the resolution.

So they will need to look elsewhere.

Chapter Text

Sometimes, Etho thinks that he is reckless. That he runs into danger without thinking. The first time he had participated in the competition, he had run into the Crastle, not even considering that he’d be alone against their foes, and he’d died.

During their second game, Etho had literally lived in the same house of a half-crazed man who could kill him any time he'd want (and he hadn't been afraid because that man was Bdubs). He'd rubbed shoulders with death on a daily basis. 

Etho may not run into danger, right now, but he still feels like he is making himself vulnerable to harm: “Impulse still treating you good, Bdubs?”

They’re both riding horses through the crinkling snow, Impulse so far away that he is out of hearing range. Joel is walking in front of them, either not paying attention or not really caring for the discussion. Etho holds his breath as Bdubs turns back to look at him, as if he hadn’t expected the question.

“He’s treating me fantastically,” he replies easily.

And Etho should, really should, be happy and relieved about it but, instead, he tastes bitter disappointment. “Yeah?”

“We’re getting along lovely, yes.”

And it is so genuine, so earnest, and Etho hates it, hates this game for deciding to pair Bdubs with anyone but Etho, hates Impulse for being the lucky person to share his life – quite literally – with Bdubs, and hates Bdubs for being happy with Impulse

Except, no. He doesn’t hate Bdubs. He doesn’t think he ever could.

So he pushes, tentative and a bit desperate: “You can tell me if- I’m good at these things. If you got any problem with him, just-”

“No,” Bdubs cuts him. “He’s been the perfect gentleman the whole time.”

Bitterness and jealousy taste like dirt, Etho thinks, like he fell and got a mouthful of dirt, dry and coarse and terrible. He doesn’t let any of it show, though he can sense that his incredulity might slip through his voice. “Really?”

“Yes! And he’s been teaching me new things!”

And, at Bdubs’s excited voice, Etho forgets to be angry. Forgets to be bitter. Because if Bdubs is learning things and is excited about them, as long as he is still willing to share his time and his smile with Etho, are things really bad? “Yeah?” he asks.

Bdubs grins at what he immediately recognizes as an invitation to share details. “Yeah! He’s been awesome! Nothing against you-”

“Thank you!” booms Impulse’s voice, suddenly far closer to them. “I’m going to assume you were talking about me? I didn’t even-”

“I was!” Bdubs beams.

And Etho feels bitter and resentful once more, because wasn’t Bdubs about to talk about him, about… them? Bdubs had said ‘nothing against you,’ and Etho had held his breath in anticipation of what would come next, and Impulse had interrupted it. “Bdubs was just telling me the truth about you, Impulse,” he says flatly.

He knows it won’t create chaos between them, but he tries anyway. Besides, judging by Bdubs’s previous attempt at creating discourse between soulmates, it seems like this is an acceptable option.

“Yes,” Bdubs confirms, unashamed.

Impulse laughs, wearing the same wide, warm smile he always does. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are you jealous of our strong power duo, here?”

Etho splutters an answer, feeling red rising to his cheek and, not for the first time, thanking the universe that he chose to wear a mask. “Well- quite clearly there’s- There’s a dominant in this one and a- and a support, and-”

Bdubs and Impulse are screeching excitedly, laughter cutting through their word, their own loud voices making whatever they are saying hard to discern.

“- last season!” ends Bdubs.

Impulse raises his voice a bit more when he sees Joel. “Joel, did you hear that? Etho basically just said he’d rather be with Bdubs!” he tells him, laughing.

Laughing as if it were a joke rather than the most painful truth Etho ever had to acknowledge.

He meets Joel’s eyes, as the man is responding: “Yeah, sounds like you’re-” Their eyes meet. Joel watches him for a split second, some understanding painting his face, and then he smiles lazily, a smug smirk of a man not scared for his own relationship, as he looks back to Impulse. “Yeah. We are equal in our love.”

And Etho knows that he can never feel for Joel anything even beginning to compare to what he feels towards Bdubs but, right then, he feels genuine gratitude. “We are equal,” he agrees, and he tells himself that he’ll thank Joel later.

“I’m not saying I don’t want to help, mate. I’m just saying that we could do without the mystery and that I was kinda working on a redstone project and I’m- Are you even listening to me?”

Iskall places a finger against their lips and scowls at Mumbo.

“Agent G will be here soon,” they whisper.

“Agent G?” Mumbo repeats, giving a disbelieving laugh. “Mate, do you realize that it is obvious who you are talking about? Also, why are we hiding in here?”

And, sure, maybe hiding in Iskall’s villager breeder might have been a strange decision, especially when both them and Mumbo are standing there, water up to their ankles and pants drenched. Mumbo is leaning forward awkwardly back bent a little, so his head won’t hit the dirt ceiling. It’s not very comfortable.

But, in Iskall’s defense, they don’t think anyone would find them in there. And certainly not Etho, Cleo, or Impulse.

Impulse would probably lecture them again about respecting people’s healing process and giving Etho time, and Iskall doesn’t want to hear it.

So hiding in the villager breeder is an omega idea. No one will find them there.

“Iskaaall? Hello? Are you there? Iskaaaall?”

Well, Stress being so incredibly loud might ruin all of Iskall’s efforts. They wince. “Agent G!” they call. “This way. Be quiet!”

“’ullo!” she greets (loudly), and she slips inside the villager breeder. Her nose scrunches at the state of the room. “Oh, this is not cute or nice.” She looks back at Mumbo and Iskall. “What do you two want, then?”

“Wait, Agent G is Stress?” Mumbo asks, sounding even more disbelieving than he had earlier. “Stress? Stressmonster? Iskall, what kind of-”

“Agent Gorgeous!” Iskall exclaims, feeling a headache coming. This gets Mumbo to stop sputtering.

It also brings a grin to Stress’s face. “Aww, Iskall, you know you’re my favourite.”

“Unbelievable!” Mumbo complains. “Why the code names? Do I even have a code name?”

“Agent Moustache,” Iskall replies instantly, even thoughthey definitely had not had a code name for their friend until a second ago.

“You’re the worst!” Mumbo replies. “The worst! You’re Agent Pain in the Backside!”

“Noooo,” Stress protests. “Be nice, Agent Moustache.”

“Why do I even- I have a redstone project to go back to,” Mumbo huffs. “This is totally ridiculous, I’m going to-”

Iskall puts their hand on his arm, and that’s enough to stop him. “Wait. I haven’t even explained the mission.”

“Oh!” Stress exclaims. “There’s a mission? I brought some material.” She pulls some items out of her pockets. There are a couple of spyglasses, some bows and arrows, and several potions. When she meets Iskall’s curious eyes, she precises: “Invisibility.”

“Invisibili-tea?” Iskall suggests, and Stress grins at them. Mumbo groans.

“Go on then, what’s your mission?”

“We need to get Etho and Bdubs to talk.”

“Oooohhh,” Stress echoes, and she puts the bows and arrows back into her inventory.

“Man, seriously?” Mumbo asks. “Iskall, I totally thought you needed an actual mission, not-”

Stress raises her hand to interrupt him. “Shhh, listen, you geezer.” She tilts her head – enough that Iskall is surprised her flower crown doesn’t fall. “Though, Iskall, I thought we had been assigned Mission ‘Don’t Let Bdubs Talk to Etho’?”

“How the- Geeze, how is that a real mission?”

Iskall crosses their arms. It would most likely be more impressive if they weren’t all standing in a dark underground room with water up to their ankles. “Etho didn’t want to talk to Bdubs and I needed help to get him out of my base.”

Stress nods. “So Iskall and I did some back-breaking work and got him out.” A pause. “For free!” She turns back to Iskall. “Does he want to talk to Bdubs now? Do we need to dig him a tunnel up to Bdubs’s base? Because, honestly, we should probably ask the doc. He has his drilling machines and all, don’t he?”

Iskall shakes their head. “I don’t want to get more people than necessary implicated,” they explain. “This is why I asked only you two to come.”

“Aww, lame!” Stress complains. “You better provide the shovels this time.”

“We are not- Wait, it could be an idea.”

“What? To dig a hole between your base and Bdubs’s tower?” Mumbo laughs at the idea. “This is daft.”

“Hey! You’re daft!” Stress replies, her tone amused rather than heated. “We’ve done worse things, haven’t we, Iskall?”

“No, we haven’t,” they reply, ignoring their friend as she mouthes something that definitely isn’t ‘gold farm from memory.’ “Anyway. Here’s the issue: Etho doesn’t want to talk to Bdubs.”

“Well, mission’s over then,” Mumbo comments, clapping his hands once. He readjusts his tie. “Now, if this is all done, I do have quite a lot of-”

“Oh, stop pretending you’re not curious!” Stress interrupts him. “I, for one, am here for the gossip. Go on, Iskall, darling.”

“Thank you, gorgeous,” Iskall replies, and smiles at their friend when she gives them a playful curtsy. “So, do you want the long explanation or the short one?”

“Long!” Stress exclaims just at the same time as Mumbo groans something like “Please, for the love of everything that is holy, make it short.”

Iskall hums. “We’ll make it medium. Shame you don’t want the long version, I had prepared a slideshow.”

Stress boos loudly and Mumbo shakes his head with an amused smile. “Unbelievable.”

“All right, here is the story,” Iskall declares when Stress has stopped her playful booing. “Etho came back from the Life competition with burns, and he told me that Bdubs betrayed him and his partner and trapped a Nether portal which killed them both.” Mumbo winces at that, and Stress nods studiously. “Bdubs and Impulse were paired up. Etho was paired with someone called Joel.”

“I’ve met him,” Mumbo comments. “Cool bloke. A bit on the bloodthirsty side, but it feels like Etho would get along well with him.” Stress shushes him, elbowing him.

“Well, anyway. Etho wouldn’t speak to Bdubs at all. He seemed really shocked and…” Iskall grimaces. “Not good.”

“Oh dear…”

“So I ended up talking to Bdubs, and Bdubs says that he didn’t trap the portal or betray Etho. Etho told me that Bdubs is the one who asked him and Joel to get back to the overworld, which led them to come back through the trapped portal. So well-” They decide to skip over Etho and Bdubs’s confrontations, and Cleo threatening them. “I spoke to Impulse, Cleo, and Pearl. All of them say that Bdubs didn’t do it. Impulse swears there is no way Bdubs trapped the portal. Pearl says she would have seen it if the portal had been trapped.”

Mumbo hums, one hand mindlessly playing with his moustache. “So do you want us to help you investigate?”

Iskall shakes their head. “No. I don’t think there’s anything else to uncover. Well, not if we don’t get Etho and Bdubs together to talk.”

“Aw,” Stress pouts. “You should have stopped speaking two words earlier. Let’s just get them together, period, once and for all.”

Mumbo raises his eyebrows at that. “Are they not already?”

“No?” Stress replies. “I mean, they definitely have some tension between them, but they’re not-…” Her eyes shift back to Iskall. “You were Etho’s roommate. Does he have a boyfriend?”

“Not that I knew,” Iskall replies. “And certainly not right now.” They shake their head. “Wait, this isn’t the topic. We need to solve the mystery of Etho’s death.”

“Nooo,” is Stress’s response. “I vote we get them together!”

Mumbo’s head is rapidly flicking between Iskall and Stress but he eventually stops and gives a thoughtful nod. “I agree with Stress. If we have to do something, might as well make sure that we help the server.”

“Ayy!” Stress grins. “Good choice!”

Iskall rolls their eyes. “You two are impossible,” they groan. “Why did I ask you for help?”

“You love us, mate,” Mumbo replies, his voice fond.

Maybe they do.

(Yes, they definitely do).

So, Mission ‘Get Etho and Bdubs together so they can talk ’ is approved unanimously.

The three of them lose about two hours deciding on a proper mission title (Iskall rejects ‘Mission Kiss And Make Up’, neither Stress nor Mumbo support ‘Mission Omega,’ and they eventually agree that ‘Mission Save The Geezers’ is not specific enough). ‘Mission Medium’ ends up being Stress’s proposition.

“Because Iskall gave us a medium-length speech?” Mumbo asks.

“No. Because Etho and Bdubs said they were Tall and Short.”

“Didn’t Bdubs say he is the tall one?” Iskall asks, raising their eyebrows. “That sounds wrong…”

“Why are you focusing on that?” Mumbo laughs. “These sound like Starbucks sizes!”

“Listen, you geezers!” Stress insists. “I am proposing Mission Medium! A perfect mix of Tall and Short!”

Iskall rolls their eyes.

“You know what?” Mumbo grumbles. “Might as well. To be fair, it could be much worse. Okay, I’m okay with it.”

“Yayyy!” Stress celebrates. “You’ve been outvoted Iskall!”

“Hey, this is my mission!”

“This is a democracy,” Stress declares sagely. “Mission Medium is our mission now.”

“Sounds like communism,” Mumbo comments, and Iskall giggles.

And this is how they start preparing Mission Medium.

“Hermit Challengeees, Initiatioooon!”

“Oh my word, shut up.”

Mission Medium is going as well as can be. Which means that it is going very chaotically.

Surprisingly (not), figuring out their plan was harder even than choosing a name for their operation.

Stress’s suggestion of ‘Just grab the geezers and make them kiss’ had been carefully studied but Mumbo had demanded that they do something a bit more subtle.

And well, with a better chance of success.

So they had left the villager breeder behind and had set up under the tents on Carrot Hill and Mumbo had laid down blueprints on the ground and started muttering to himself.

Iskall’s questioning about whether Mumbo expected to fix Etho and Bdubs’s feud with a redstone contraption had earned them a glare, but Mumbo’s red cheeks had been an answer enough.

Eventually, it had been Stress who had proposed the solution. One that seemed quite obvious once it was put on the table. ‘If they won’t talk, why don’t we just lock them up together and force them to talk?’

And so, this is how they find themselves, all flying toward Mumbo’s base, their arms full of Mumbo’s far-too-numerous blueprints (how did he even create that many in such a short amount of time?) and their minds reeling with possibilities.

They land, and Iskall giggles as Mumbo scowls at them. “I thought we were doing Mission Medium, not Hermit Challenges.”

“Don’t sound as good,” Iskall replies, and their friend rolls his eyes.

“Blimey,” Stress comments. “I know we all give shit to Grian for not finishing the back of his base, but you didn’t even finish the front…”

Mumbo sputters offendedly. “Hey! I’ve been busy making the Vault as secure as possible!”

“It’s not going to protect anything if anyone can just-” Iskall steps over a small wall. “-walk in.”

“It’s a work in progress!”

“You, Agent Moustache, are a man of procrastination.”

“Oh, you’re the worst!” Mumbo exclaims, and Iskall giggles.

Stress is walking around the Vault, mindlessly observing its features as Iskall drops the blueprints on the ground, earning another pretend glare.

“What? It’s not like you have any tables!”

“Fine!” Mumbo says, throwing his arms in the air. “Sure, this might as well be a thing.” A pause. “Wait, why are we even doing this in my base?”

Stress is still close enough to hear the conversation, apparently, because her voice resonates. “I’m not caring your redstone shulkers anywhere!”

Iskall giggles. “Neither am I,” they say. “Efficiency.”

Mumbo gives them a long look before nodding. “To be fair, it might be the first sensical thing you’ve said all day.”

“You agreed with us on every point of our plan!” Stress screams from where she is testing a locked Vault door against random number combinations.

Iskall chuckles when their friend rolls his eyes.

“Fine,” Mumbo repeats. “Where do you want to do it, then? We’ll have to build some kind of structure. My Vault is definitely not ready for use!”

“What about this?” Stress calls. When Iskall turns to see what she is talking about, she is standing on top of a dark obsidian and blackstone box, in front of Mumbo’s Vault, facing Grian’s base.

“This is my Decoy Vault!” Mumbo splutters. “This is not for real usage!”

“Too bad,” Stress declares. “It seems great. Mission Medium is seizing your Decoy Vault for the good of the server.”

“Oh my word, you two are unbelievable,” Mumbo complains, but his voice sounds fond as he says it. Iskall and Stress grin at each other.

The rest of the afternoon continues with a very similar atmosphere, mostly pleasant but sometimes turning serious when Mumbo needs to focus on specifics of his redstone construction. Iskall follows him, humming and offering suggestions as they advance on their build.

The door ends up finished quite rapidly and Mumbo beams as he gets to showcase his expertise in creating vault doors.

Stress is sent on a mission to ask Bdubs to throw his enderpearl in such a way that they will manage to redirect it and use it as a stasis chamber.

(‘Wait,’ she asks suddenly. ‘Are you expecting me to dig a whole water pipe all the way to his tower, so he won’t realize where it’s going? I thought we agreed against wasting our time digging!’ Iskall pretends to be very focused on Mumbo’s door and Mumbo simply mutters something about it being needed for the chamber to work. ‘You two are terrible!’ she exclaims as she realizes that, yes, this is exactly what they expect.)

(The offer of a Netherite shovel is enough for Stress to accept the task. She glares as she throws the tool in her inventory. ‘You’ll owe me, Iskall!’ she yells out as she leaves.)

When the Ender pearl floats all the way to the water stream in the middle of the chamber, Mumbo grins and Stress looks satisfied and accomplished.

“You’ll owe me,” she tells Iskall again. “By the way, I told Bdubs that it was a Dare Stick challenge. I picked a random stick off the ground, so I guess there are three sticks in game, now.”

Iskall groans but doesn’t protest. Both of their friends are doing so much to help them – and really, to help Etho and Bdubs – that it becomes easy to disregard anything like this.

This is also why they disregard Mumbo bluntly telling Grian about their plan when the man lands next to them, eyes wide with curiosity.

“What are we doing fellas?” the man asks, looking like a child in a candy store, and Iskall feels worried for Mumbo’s redstone. It looks like Grian is ready to pounce.

“Trapping Etho and Bdubs in my Decoy Vault,” Mumbo responds blankly as he reconnects the Shulk sensor and ticks his tongue when it purrs at him, reacting to the sound of his voice. “Not there yet. Still too sensitive.”

“You’re trapping…?”

“The geezers will only have two solutions,” Stress adds (un)helpfully from where she is sitting, ‘supervising’ the advancement of the redstone contraption. “Kill each other or kiss each other.”

Grian blinks. “You know what? It sounds like you three are very busy. I’m not going to bother you too much.”

Iskall chuckles at that. “Actually, we really need people to help us test the trap!” they declare. “Could you-?”

“Nope!” Grian replies instantly. “This Vault and I have a history. Not a good one. I’m going to go hang out with Scar!”

Mumbo laughs out loud at that, and his eyes are full of mirth as they meet Iskall’s. And then he gets back to work, muttering curses at the sensor.

“You know,” Iskall comments. “We could just use a lever.”

Mumbo glares. “I’m using the Shulk sensor. Not changing my mind.”

Iskall exchanges an amused, bewildered glance with Stress. They indulge their friend.

And then, hours later, when the sun has set and most hermits have gone to sleep, they decide that indulging Mumbo had been a terrible mistake, because it feels like they and Stress have tested the trap about a hundred times. There is a growing colony of Endermites in the Vault room and Stress swears that she is going to go back home and burn every single Enderpearl she sees. And well, Iskall would be amused by her anger if they didn’t feel like they might personally blow up a dozen of shulk sensors if they have to hear the chirping sound one more time.

“Mumboooo,” Stress groans. “We’ve been testing for hours. It works! It’s been working!”

Mumbo grunts as he moves the repeater one more crank. “It could be a bit faster, though.”

“Mumbo, there is no way in hell they will be able to get out in time. And they can’t even break a block without your thing –” Stress gestures vaguely and ignore Mumbo’s pointed ‘piston extender!’’ “bringing a new block in. We’re golden.”

“I think I could make the circuits a bit more compact though… Like if I- If I moved the comparator a bit closer, I could-”

“Iskall, do I have permission to kill him?”

Iskall thinks about it for a second. When they see that Mumbo is reaching for the shulk sensor again, they highly consider saying yes. “Mumbo would win,” they reply instead. “I agree, though. It seems ready.”

Mumbo scrunches his nose. “Fine! Neither of you are sensible enough to understand that redstone is an art.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know.” Stress replies. “Is Mission Medium a go? For real?”

Iskall nods. “I think it is. We just have to bring Etho here.”

Mission Medium is a go.

Chapter Text

They’re standing in a cave, only seeing through the light of flickering torches, and Etho is panting, his heartbeat slowing down little by little as the adrenaline from his encounter with the Warden leaves his body.

None of his companions look in much better shapes – all seem shaken up at the very least, if not covered in bruises and bloody wounds.

And Bdubs, wonderful Bdubs, outspoken Bdubs, manages to get their attentions. “Decisions have to be made right now,” he declares, and all eyes turn to him. (Etho’s eyes never looked away in the first place). “We’re all red. We could all take each other out, right now, right here. And I don’t- I don’t think we want to do that.” He looks toward Etho, and Etho’s breath catches in his throat. “I don’t want to do that.”

Etho takes a shaking step toward him. He thinks of speaking out, right now, of telling Bdubs that he doesn’t want to do that either. That he’d never think of hurting him. He doesn’t.

Bdubs continues: “But we have to kind of say who we’re with, and who we’re against.” And, as he says that, he moves closer to Etho. First imperceptibly, just leaning forward a bit, and then in a way that is so blatant, so clearly just him walking to the side, that Etho almost laughs. Instead, he moves closer as well.

“I know who I’m with!” Impulse declares, quickly approaching Bdubs. “From day one.”

And Etho tastes jealousy once more and, to swallow through the bitter taste in his mouth, he teases: “Aww, would you look at these two! They can’t get over each other!”

Bdubs looks a bit flustered, but he stays there, close to Impulse, his movement toward Etho aborted. “Yes, we’re in love,” he mumbles.

Impulse grins, warm and kind and everything Etho cannot hate, no matter how much he wishes he could. “Come on in here, Etho, I know you wanna be a part of this too.”

And Etho is, despite everything, weak. How is he supposed to say no to this? How he is supposed to say no, when Bdubs turns to him and looks at him with those wide eyes of his. How is he-

“Joel, come on,” Bdubs says, and it’s such a clear sign that he is trying to remove any reasons for Etho to refuse, that he is doing his best to include Etho’s partner.

(Even if Etho wants a different partner, one who loves green fluffy coats and who currently wears a blood red bandana around his head).

Bdubs wants him around, and so he asks for Joel to be there too.

(As if Etho wouldn’t desert Joel for a chance to be with Bdubs. The knowledge of this, the fact that it is so irremediably true, makes his stomach twist painfully in shame).

“Joel, you’re welcome as well,” Impulse agrees, and Etho thinks that Bdubs’s partner is the kindest man he’s ever met.

“What do you think Joel?” he asks, because he cannot make that decision himself (because it was made even before their soul-bonds were created, even before they decided to play for the third time, or the first time, for that matter).

“Yeah,” Joel agrees. “Yeah, okay. Us four, then.”

And if Etho cannot have just him and Bdubs, maybe this is just as good.

Bringing Etho to the Decoy Vault (is it even a Decoy Vault anymore if it is serving a purpose now?) ends up being quite easy.

Iskall wakes him up in the morning and tells him that they and Mumbo want to talk about some new uses they have come up with for the hopper clock. Etho’s eyebrows raise, but he doesn’t question it. Anyone but Etho would look flattered. Instead, their friend just shoves his hands in his pockets. “Aw, snappers,” he comments. “Sure, I’m happy to give my opinion.”

And so Etho follows them all the way to Mumbo’s base.

And Iskall feels a pinch of guilt when, out of pretend politeness, they urge Etho to enter the Decoy Vault first.

Etho is their friend, at the end of the day, and they wonder if maybe Impulse had been right. If, maybe, betraying Etho’s trust wouldn’t be a terrible mistake.

Except they don’t have much time for rethinking their plan. Etho steps inside the room, and the sound of the soles of his shoes on the stone floor is enough for the shulk sensor to chirp, sending a redstone pulse in.

Pistons move rapidly, blocks moving in unison, and Iskall just has the time to see Etho’s shocked expression before the door has closed.

“The stasis worked,” Mumbo declares, staring at some complicated-looking redstone lights. “Bdubs is in there too.”

“Heck yeah!” Stress exclaims, appearing from a small room where she had been hiding. “We did it, pals!”

Iskall nods, and they tell themselves it isn’t strained. That they’re not feeling a growing guilt at the thought that they betrayed Etho’s trust.

It was for the best.

Etho and Bdubs will get to talk, the puzzle will be completed, and they will make up.

They did it.

Mission Medium is underway. Iskall has done their part.

Now, they just have to wait for Etho and Bdubs to do theirs.

Etho feels Joel’s pain before he feels his. Etho’s blind panic starts before he can see Joel’s horrified face.

Not that he would ever get a chance to see it. He just imagines that Joel’s face must be disformed by fear and betrayal.

His feet touch the obsidian on the other side of the portal, and everything is far too hot, and then his skin is aflame and, along with the cruel bubbling of the lava, is Joel’s scream.

“Etho, they trapped it! Get back through!” He sounds hysterical, high and desperate, and Etho thinks it’s the first time he’s heard Joel be afraid.

He feels afraid too.

There’s no mystery as to who ‘they’ are; it’s clear in Joel’s voice and it’s clear in that Bdubs and Impulse had been the last ones to see them, the only ones to know they had gone through the portal.

And, while Joel is screaming, Etho can only repeat one, disbelieving word. “No no no no no no-”

Joel is dying before Etho is, and so Etho feels the atrocious scorching heat with a clearer mind than Joel, with just enough focus to think that Bdubs did this.

Bdubs did this.

Bdubs did this.

Bdubs did this.

Etho wakes up in a basement, eyes wide and breath shuddering as if he’d just awakened from a nightmare.

Except the burns on his skin tell him that he hasn’t. That this was far more than a dream.

He sits up, in the dark, his heart racing in his chest. It is finally freed from Joel’s and is suddenly lonely and broken. Etho knows that Joel’s absence has nothing to do with his heartbreak.

He thinks the betrayal is ten times more painful than the lava was.

And so he stands, on shaking legs, and he leaves, because Etho is a survivor, and he knows he cannot stay in the house of a man who owns his heart and who chose to destroy it.

He slams the door behind him.

Chapter Text

The Vault door slams shut and Etho knows, judging by the guilt he saw in Iskall’s eyes, that trying to get out will be a vain effort.

That doesn’t stop him from rushing back to the door and rapidly inspecting it, trying to understand its functioning.

Shoot. Mumbo is good at secure houses. And this is a proof of it.

And of course, Etho didn’t take his tools. Why would he have needed a pickaxe or a sword in a short outing with Iskall?

Damn it.

There’s a popping sound behind him, and Etho doesn’t want to turn.

He hears the hitched breath, and he knows exactly who is in the room with him – locked with him – and he cannot believe Iskall would do this to him.

They had understood, he had thought, the hurt that Etho felt.

They had protected him, even, when Bdubs had tried to come into their base to talk to Etho.

So why would they-?

“Etho,” Bdubs whispers, and Etho’s shoulders tense at the sound of his-… of Bdubs’s voice.

“Bdubs.” If his voice was anything but cold and detached, it would break. He tightens his hands into fists. There are steps behind him. Etho tenses a bit more, ready to leap and defend himself. “Were you aware of this?”

“I wasn’t!” Bdubs exclaims, loud and genuine. “Etho, I promise you! I wasn’t!”

Etho scoffs. “You know your promises have very little meaning to me.”

Bdubs sucks in a breath. Etho feels calm enough to turn to look at his-… at him. He isn’t sure what Bdubs is to him. A former friend? An enemy? A- Not a lover. He never was.

(And yet, Etho had wanted wanted wanted wanted).

Bdubs’s face is contorted in a mix of pain and… Maybe a glint of rebellion? Etho stays on his guard.

“Why do you keep saying this?” Bdubs demands. “I haven’t- Etho, I would never have done anything to hurt you!”

Etho crosses his arms. “Yeah,” he responds. “You’ve done a great job convincing everyone of it. Even Iskall-” He glances back at the Vault door, which stays resolutely closed. “Are you certain you didn’t ask them to do this?”

“I swear!” Bdubs yells. It’s loud and earnest. “Iskall and Cleo wanted- But Impulse said it was a bad idea and I agreed!”

Etho hates the way his body tenses at the sound of his- of Bdubs’s soulmate. He hates that he feels cold jealousy spreads through his chest because, really, Impulse never did anything against him. Impulse was not at fault for being bound to Bdubs. And really, Impulse took care of Bdubs, protected him until the end, and, really, shouldn’t Etho feel grateful that someone looked after the man he- after Bdubs?

(He doesn’t. He definitely doesn’t).

“Ah, so Impulse said,” he drawls. He moves back to the Vault door, his back to Bdubs, and he places one hand against the stone, trying to feel whether there is any sort of vibration caused by redstone. When Bdubs doesn’t respond, Etho cannot control his bitterness: “I’m glad you two still get along so well.”

“Etho, it’s not-” Bdubs pauses, and Etho curses himself out inwardly. Bdubs is intelligent, far more than some Hermits give him credit for. Bdubs is a quick thinker, a creative mastermind, and one of the people most attuned to others’ feelings that Etho ever met.

So, of course, Bdubs must have heard the bitterness in his voice and seen the tension on his shoulders.

“Etho, is this what this is about?” he asks, his voice soft and gentle and God, Etho hates him right now. (And God, Etho loves him right now).

“No,” he responds immediately, both because he desperately needs to defend himself, and because it is partially the truth.

Sure, he had been bitter and upset and jealous, and he had wished that it had been him, that he had been the one to share his destiny with Bdubs, but he had been ready to let it go, to call it a game and be fine. He had yearned, but he had understood that Bdubs had been safe and content with Impulse, and so he had chosen to stay silent.

But Bdubs killed him, and the betrayal had been more painful than the lava.

“Let me know how I can make it right!” Bdubs pleads. “Etho, I want-”

Etho closes his eyes. “Things would have been right if you hadn’t chosen to kill me. And since that’s not possible, your best bet is to leave me alone, B.”

“Etho-”

“Iskall!” Etho calls, raising his voice. He hits the stone with his fist. The sharp pain resonates through his hand. “Mumbo! I want out!”

Silence rings. Bdubs is immobile behind him.

“Ah, shucks.” Etho sighs. He sits, his legs crossed and his hands flat on his knees. He closes his eyes and leans his back against the black stones. “We’ll just have to wait.”

“Etho, can I-”

Etho opens his eyes again and his gaze snaps to Bdubs, who stops himself. “What?”

“Can I- Since you’re here and I’m here- Can I try to explain?”

Etho lets out a cold chuckle. “I frankly don’t know what there is to explain.”

“No, I-” Etho continues watching Bdubs and, at the way the man fiddles with his fingers nervously, he feels the crushing need to move forward and take Bdubs’s hands in his and soothe him. Like he has, so many times before. He doesn’t move.

“What?”

“I didn’t- Etho, I really never did anything to hurt you.”

Etho sighs deeply and he leans a bit more against the Vault wall, letting his head rest on the cold stones. “I’m tired, B.”

“I never killed you!” Bdubs says quickly, as if he were scared Etho would interrupt him.

Etho crosses his arms again. He vaguely remembers reading somewhere that crossed arms are a telling sign of a defensive attitude, lack of comfort, and refusal to engage. He doesn’t care. The message is pretty spot-on anyway.

“I really- I don’t understand what happened,” Bdubs continues rapidly. “I never placed lava, Etho. And Impulse didn’t either. We- I called you because Scott, Cleo, Pearl, and Martyn were coming, and I wanted you to come with us. I wanted-” He pauses, just for a sharp intake a breath. “I wanted to know you were safe. But then they were coming so fast, and Impulse asked me to leave, and I-”

Etho doesn’t blink. He listens and wonders how Bdubs could sound so genuine if this were a lie.

He knows many things about Bdubs, and one of them is that the man cannot act. Sure, he is loud and demonstrative, but it is always with nothing but earnestness. Bdubs is one of the people who carry their heart on their sleeves, for everyone to see. (For Etho to want).

“And?”

“I left,” Bdubs says, and his voice breaks at that. “I didn’t want- Etho, I promise. I wanted to make sure you were safe. But I promised- I told Impulse I’d put us first, and I thought- I told myself, ‘Well, I know Etho! He is smart and good at fighting, and he survived so many things!’ I thought we’d meet up afterwards!”

Etho realizes how tight his jaw is. He is trying, so hard, not to soften, not to let his fondness and his affection for Bdubs blind him.

(He fails).

“And I died,” he breathes, and Bdubs shudders and nods.

“I couldn’t- It happened, and I- We were running from them, and the communicator rang and I just-” He looks pale. He looks like the message of their death shook him to his core. Etho wants to reach for him. He doesn’t. He doesn’t trust himself to do it.

“And?”

Bdubs shakes his head. “I don’t think I actually realized until we were in the tunnels.”

Etho frowns. “The tunnels?”

“We hid,” Bdubs says. “The others- They were looking for us. We hid, and I realized you were gone, and I couldn’t-” Bdubs clenches his eyes shut, and Etho has to abort an instinctive movement as his body reaches out to the man.

He feels glad Bdubs couldn’t see it. He feels disappointed.

And his mind is reeling, brain buzzing with thoughts, because Bdubs wouldn’t lie to him, right?

(But also, he’d been convinced for years that Bdubs wouldn’t hurt him).

But Bdubs sounds so genuinely upset, and Etho-… Etho doesn’t know what to believe anymore. He finds himself doubting Joel’s words, Joel’s screams of pain and anguish and betrayal.

Because would Bdubs, Etho’s Bdubs, betray him?

“What happened then?” he asks, and Bdubs’s eyes snap open, his face the perfect picture of surprise and astonishment. As if he hadn’t even hoped that Etho would be willing to hear him out.

Etho feels shame crawling through his back.

It’s more painful than the lava had been when it had flowed down the portal and on his-

He shudders.

“I don’t know,” Bdubs whispers, as if he could hardly believe that he is being given a chance to explain. “I don’t- Cleo swore none of them trapped the portal, but you-”

“It was definitely trapped,” Etho says. “There was lava everywhere.”

“It was trapped,” Bdubs repeats seriously. “Just like-” And then his eyes widen, and he looks like he’s seen a ghost. “Oh, Etho, oh no-”

“What?”

“Impulse said it, but I never- Etho-”

He is so pale, and Etho reaches out, out of instinct, and Bdubs reaches back, and they’re holding onto each other, and Bdubs’s hands are warm and holding Etho’s hands so tight it’s almost painful. (Etho missed that touch).

“What?”

“He- We trapped a portal,” Bdubs says. “Grian and Scar- Impulse and I were with them, and we found a portal, and they put lava over it.”

Etho’s heart stops. He remembers Grian mentioning it. He remembers Impulse frowning a bit as they had built their own portal – a silly one with the enchanting table on top – and suggested to go through it. He remembers Impulse’s concern.

He feels like his ears are ringing. “Are you saying-” His throat locks up and he cannot continue.

“Etho?”

Bdubs sounds so concerned and, after what feels like only a couple of seconds, Bdubs lets go of his hands and, instead, there are hands on his arms, warm and gentle, and one of the touches Etho loves most in the world.

Fuck. He’s been so stupid.

He and Joel had built a portal, and Impulse had told them, had said aloud, that there was a chance it would link back to other portals, and asked if they were certain that going through would be safe, and Etho had barely heard it. He had felt too eager to see the end of the game, to maybe carry their small team to victory. He had been so focused on trying to decide what he’d do if they were the ones to survive until the end, if he had to face Bdubs, and he hadn’t thought-

He chokes a little and his sight gets blurred, and it can’t be, because Etho hasn’t cried in so long.

“Etho, are you okay?” Bdubs asks, his voice not hiding his panic. He raises his voice. “Iskall! Etho is-”

Etho shakes his head. “It’s- B, no. I thought you-”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

He accused Bdubs of-

Fuck.

Fuck.

“I’m sorry!” Bdubs says rapidly. “We should have told you! We should have made sure-”

Etho shakes his head. “No, no- You didn’t-” He wants to scream. “Grian told us he’d trapped a portal. I just-” ‘I forgot,’ he wants to say. ‘I forgot and so I thought the worse of you.’

“Are you-”

“I thought you had killed me,” Etho breathes, and he feels like he is going to be sick.

For weeks, he felt convinced that Bdubs – his Bdubs ­ – had purposely trapped a portal to kill him. Bdubs came to explain and Etho rejected him and threatened him.

He thought the worst of someone he knows adores him.

He thought the worst of someone he adores.

Bdubs’s hands are still there, warm on his arms. “I should have thought of it,” he says. “I just- You were so angry, and I forgot.”

Etho laughs. It’s hysterical and shrill and he thinks he might maybe let out a sob, right there.

(He hasn’t cried ever since he died in lava and Joel screamed that they had been betrayed and he woke up in Bdubs’s basement, shocked and scared and so, so hurt).

“Etho…” Bdubs whispers, and then, his hands leave his arms and find his cheeks. The touch is gentle. Kind. Warm.

(Intimate).

Etho shudders. “I thought you-”

“I know,” Bdubs whispers. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think.”

“I’m sorry,” Etho apologises. “I shouldn’t have- Bdubs, I know you’d never-”

Bdubs smiles sadly at that. His hands tremble a bit against Etho’s cheek. “Do you?”

And that forces Etho to stop trying to apologise, to stop talking, because Bdubs is right. He can’t pretend like his faith in Bdubs had been intact, because it hadn’t been. Because, when he had felt the scorching heat against his skin and heard Joel’s scream, his faith had wavered.

“I’m sorry,” he says again and, for a moment, he thinks that Bdubs would be completely justified if he decided never to talk to him again.

The hands stay where they are, cupping his face. “Look at me?” Bdubs calls. He sounds calm and gentle.

And God, Etho loves it when Bdubs sounds a bit quieter, a bit more subdued, a bit more… A bit more like it’s just the two of them, like he doesn’t have to yell and speak quickly and gesture wildly to fight for Etho’s attention.

(Not that he ever had to, but Etho isn’t certain how to tell him that).

And Bdubs wants him to look at him, and so Etho does. (He could never tell him no).

Bdubs looks shaken, his face a bit pale, his hair in disarray, his eyes full of worry. “Are you okay?”

“I’m sorry,” Etho says once more, because he doesn’t know what else there is to say. “I thought-”

“I know,” Bdubs replies, and he sounds kind. “I- Dang it, Etho.” He laughs, a bit loud and uncontrolled, and his hands shake against Etho’s cheeks.

(Bdubs still hasn’t let go).

(Etho hopes he never will).

“Joel screamed it,” Etho murmurs. It feels like a secret, like he is whispering it, a confession, just for Bdubs’s ears. “We were burning, and he screamed that you and Impulse did it, and I just… I saw red.”

Bdubs snorts. It’s a bit wet. “Well, yeah. You were red. We all were.”

The joke alleviates a weight in Etho’s chest. He gets the strength to roll his eyes and playfully punch Bdubs’s shoulder (it’s not a punch, really, it’s an earnest touch, a shy attempt at seeing where their boundaries lay). Bdubs laughs, and Etho inhales. Bdubs lets go of him and Etho finds himself yearning for the touch to return as soon as it leaves.

“I don’t understand how I could have-” He sighs. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”

“Yeah,” Bdubs grumbles. He pretends to be upset but Etho hears the warmth in his voice. “You better be sorry, Ladders.”

Etho takes a moment to inhale sharply, to gather his courage. “Is there-” He keeps his voice nonchalant, like he doesn’t care too much either way, like he is not making himself vulnerable for Bdubs: “Is there anything I can do to make amends?”

Bdubs shifts, just a tiny bit, so he is looking at him again. Etho takes the scene in: his best friend, his neighbour, his confidant, his-... Bdubs is sitting down too, legs folded behind him, his green cloak wrapped around him.

They’re both sitting on the cold, black stones, like idiots, and they both look shaken, tired, and like they might start crying at any given moment.

And Bdubs’s head is just turned sideway toward him, just enough for Etho to see a glint of… something? in Bdubs’s eyes. “To make amends?”

“Uh huh,” Etho confirms, and he keeps his facial expression neutral, as if he weren’t laying his heart down for Bdubs to do whatever he wants with.

(Maybe Bdubs carries his heart on his sleeve, but Etho keeps his well-protected and only ever lets his closest friends come close).

He pretends to be studying the Vault door so he doesn’t have to acknowledge the way Bdubs stares at him for a very long time.

Bdubs’s gaze is more burning than the lava.

“I can pick anything?” he asks eventually, a bit tentative, a bit hesitant.

Etho shrugs, as if it were all the same to him. “As long as it’s reasonable,” he responds. And then, with a teasing smile: “I will not buy you platform boots just so you can feel tall.”

“Hey!” Bdubs protests. “You take that back! I’m not-” And then, he cuts himself off, as if he thought better of entering a playful argument with Etho.

And, when Bdubs continues, his voice is much quieter, much more subdued. Earnest in a way that Etho has learnt to cherish, when he knows that Bdubs is speaking his truth (because Bdubs never lies) but doesn’t know how it will be taken:

“When I asked if it was about Impulse, and you said no, was it…?”

He trails off, but Etho hears the question. His chest constraints painfully as he thinks through his options.

He can deny it, of course, say that he has never held any resentment against Impulse. He can say the truth, and say that it wasn’t what he was upset about at that moment.

Or he can look at Bdubs and: “I hated him,” he says, and the words are past his lips before he can even taste them, before he can think them through.

Bdubs doesn’t respond to that. His eyes snap to Etho, his gaze careful and attentive. His lack of reply is a reply in itself. He wants Etho to explain.

So Etho does, because he could never tell Bdubs no. “He jumped in that cave, and you flinched in pain, and I hated him.” He savours how loud Bdubs’s intake of breath is. He wants it to mean something. He smiles, something bitter and self-conscious. “I think I knew before either of you did.”

He blinks, and Bdubs is a bit closer to him. Etho doesn’t know how the man moved. He still feels like he is miles away.

“Etho-”

“I thought of killing him,” Etho admits. “Just so he wouldn’t- But you were linked, already, and there was nothing I could do.” He chuckles, but nothing he is saying is a joke, and nothing is amusing either. “I just-”

He meets Bdubs’s eyes, dark and intense, and the rest gets strangled in his throat. He lets out a puff of air and looks away.

There’s silence, for a moment.

Bdubs doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t move away. The silence is strange, for someone with a personality as wild as Bdubs’s. And yet, it is a soothing moment. Etho breathes, his eyes on the black stones.

“I collected golden apples,” Bdubs says, and Etho thinks he might have misheard.

“What?”

“Golden apples,” the man repeats. “Doomsday devices.” – He laughs at the nickname they’d given the fruits – “For a while, I thought of giving you one.”

Etho raises an eyebrow. “So Joel and I wouldn’t be linked?”

“So neither of us would be,” Bdubs responds.

Etho glances at his friend. Bdubs is sitting with his knees bent, feet on the ground. He’s looking at him. Etho looks away again, a bit scared of what he might see in Bdubs’s eyes (a bit eager to see it, too).

“You liked Impulse,” he comments. “He treated you right. He was good for you.”

“Yeah,” Bdubs agrees. “He was.”

There’s so much unsaid in these three words. So much Etho so desperately wants Bdubs to add. So much Etho yearns to hear.

He waits for the ‘But.’ Bdubs, selfish, does not give him that. He stays quiet, as if he were waiting for Etho to say something.

Etho lets out an exhale. It’s a short laugh, something that Bdubs would be able to interpret. “You’re insufferable.”

Bdubs giggles at that. “What! Can dish it out but can’t take it?”

“What dishing out?” Etho retorts, and the look Bdubs gives him almost makes him choke through his words.

Bdubs looks intense again, eyes a bit darker, curious and… wanting? “Tell me about hating my soulmate.”

The way he words it manages to smooth the want in his eyes. “Hating your soulmate, eh?” Etho chuckles.

“Etho.” Bdubs’s tone is serious. His face is, too. “Why did you hate him?”

Etho’s hand moves without his consent, and it finds Bdubs again, rests on the man knee, right next to Bdubs’s. “You know that,” he responds, a last resort so Bdubs won’t force him to speak words he’ll never be able to take back.

“Tell me,” Bdubs whispers. “That’s how you can make amends. Tell me.”

And maybe it does make sense. Maybe it is, at the end of the day, the perfect way to make amends.

Etho doubted Bdubs, and so maybe the best way to apologise is to tell him that he trusts him more than anyone else in the world.

Etho thought that Bdubs didn’t care for him, and so maybe his punishment should be to acknowledge how much they both care for each other.

Etho hurt Bdubs, Etho pushed Bdubs away, and so there is nothing for Etho to do but to ensure that Bdubs knows how much he means to him.

“I was jealous,” he murmurs, and Bdubs’s eyes widen almost imperceptibly (except Etho knows him by heart, and so he sees it).

“Yeah?” Bdubs’s hand rests on top of Etho’s, his palm against the back of Etho’s hand. It’s warm. It’s gentle and tentative. “Why?”

It’s just murmurs, by that point. They don’t need to speak so low, and yet they do, because the words they share are precious, are just for each other, and are to be savoured as they fall from each other’s lips.

“You know.”

“Tell me.”

“Bdubs.” A chide.

Bdubs smiles at him, all innocent and angelic, as if he doesn’t know what he’s doing to him. “What? Can dish it out but can’t ta-!”

He stops himself when Etho grabs his chin, the gesture gentle but sudden. His pupils widen a little. Etho wants to drink in the shocked breath and forever remember the surprise and want in Bdubs’s eyes.

He doesn’t let go of Bdubs. The other hand, the one which was resting on Bdubs’s knee, lifts, and he pulls his mask down.

Bdubs’s eyes dart down, and Etho knows exactly what’s going through his head.

“You’re insufferable,” he murmurs, and he’s looking at Bdubs’s face, at the dimples on his cheeks and the freckles near his nose and the innumerable eyelashes and-

And Bdubs’s lips, that part and form a smug smile. “You love me.”

And god, if that isn’t the truth. Etho watches the way Bdubs’s lips form the words, and he wants to hear them again. He wants Bdubs to be certain of it. He wants Bdubs to know that fact more than he knows his own name.

“You know it, B.” And then, because even the most patient man has limits: “Can I?”

Bdubs’s eyes grow mischievous and, for a moment, Etho thinks that he might tease him again. For a moment, Etho thinks that his control might break, just there. His grip on Bdubs’s chin must shift though, get a bit tighter, pull him a bit closer, because the mischief is gone in an instant, replaced by need.

“Please.”

The end of the word is whispered against Etho’s lips. He is kissing him, and he can’t exactly remember moving forward to press his lips to Bdubs’s, and he can’t remember bringing his left hand to the back of Bdubs’s neck, and yet he doesn’t think he cares anyway.

He kisses Bdubs, and he feels like he is breathing for the first time in weeks.

He kisses Bdubs, and he thinks, in some vindicated victorious satisfaction, that Impulse never got to kiss him.

And then, Bdubs kisses him back, and Etho’s jealousy is forgotten and left behind, and all he can focus about is the fact that Bdubs is smiling against his lips, that Bdubs is happy, that they are kissing.

Bdubs’s arms reach up and wrap around his neck and Etho wants, wants, wants, and he pulls Bdubs even closer, and Bdubs lets out a muffled sound against his lips and yes.

Etho lets go of Bdubs’s chin and his hand moves again, to the back of Bdubs’s head, and it buries itself in tangled hair, and Bdubs giggles against his lips, and Etho feels happy.

He pulls away. “What’s so funny?” he asks, and he knows he is grinning too.

“You love me,” Bdubs tells him, excited and earnest and happy, and Etho feels so incredibly fond. He watches Bdubs smile, and he thinks that he’d do anything to keep that smile right there.

“And what if I do?”

Bdubs grins even wider and Etho’s heart feels warm and full. “I love you!” he says, and it’s loud and boisterous and happy, and Etho laughs with him.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah!” Bdubs replies excitedly, and Etho receives a quick kiss, one that’s just the brush of lips against his, and then Bdubs is talking again, letting go of him and waving his hands wildly, and Etho would miss the touch if he weren’t so happy to see Bdubs so excited. “Now! I think we should go and kill Grian and Scar! Because they killed you! We need revenge, Etho!”

Etho laughs, and he feels relieved and like his entire body is lighter.

And, a bit later, when they realize that the Vault door is unlocked and probably has been for hours, Etho laughs. And Bdubs’s hand finds his again. Etho squeezes, and he tells himself he won’t let go.

It ends like this: Etho laughs, and he holds Bdubs’s hand a bit tighter and, together, they leave Mumbo’s Vault.

Well, no, it ends like this: Bdubs is running with a sword and a maniac laugh, and Mumbo, Iskall, and Stress are begging for forgiveness, and Etho watches from afar, and, hidden behind his mask, a smile is on his lips.

It ends like this: Bdubs speaks about the tower being a bit too small (‘Especially for a growing boy!’ says Etho) and Iskall tells him that their cave-base extends for miles upon miles, and that they wouldn’t mind two new roommates. Bdubs and Etho look at each other and it only takes them a few seconds to agree.

So it is also where it starts.