* Chapter 3 * Etho’s alarm clock went off with a loud buzz and he got up, feeling the weight curled up against him, and he looked down to see Bdubs. Ah yes, they’d fallen asleep like this the night before. He quickly turned off the alarm before it could wake Bdubs up and quietly slipped out of bed, getting changed into his regular clothes for the day, and stretching a bit. By the time he’d gotten changed, there was still nobody awake. Much too early for that. So he went and sat in front of the large glass window on the observation deck, simply staring off into space. The stars, so familiar yet so odd. Those cold balls of fire, burning away distantly, perhaps the star that kept his planet warm was out there somewhere. Perhaps those nights he spent with friends, lying watching the stars, he might’ve seen Earth. In fact, a few of the stars that were there in the distance looked oddly familiar, but they couldn’t be going that way, right? Perhaps it still be best to ask though? If he waited long enough someone who he could ask would wake up, surely? And sure enough, after a while of waiting, Ren came wandering through, stretching and yawning, still half asleep. “Ren! Hey!” Etho said, not wanting to jump straight into questions, that would be weird, probably. “Oh, hey, Etho,” Ren said with a smile, rubbing his eyes a bit as he drank the cup of coffee in his hand, “You’re up early.” “Yeah, Ive realised I like to come out here and watch the stars,” he laughed. “Yeah, it’s rather relaxing,” Ren commented, sitting down beside him. “I don’t think I ever really payed attention to where we were actually going-” he said, “I guess im just trying to see if I recognise any of the stars.” “You study star maps?” He asked, sounding mildly suprised. “Something like that, yeah,” he laughed. “Well- lf I remember correctly? It’s a regular supplies trades mission to… Trelpho? I think it’s called. I don’t know, me and Martyn have been calling it alien bug planet cos the inhabitants seem really bug-like? Colourful, multiple limbs, antennas, multiple sets of eyes? That just sounds like a bug.” Ren laughed but Etho’s stomach dropped. Nonono. He couldn’t go back there. He could disguise himself but not that well. Cleo, of all the people, Queen Cleo would regonise him. She would tell everyone. They would hate him. Worse they would.. he didn’t even want to think about what they would think if they knew. Bdubs. What would he think. Knowing he’d let him into his home for the past year? “You good? You look kinda zoned out there buddy?” Ren asked, snapping his thoughts back to the present moment. “Yeah, no, sorry- Isn’t that just.. dangerous? I don’t know, I’ve heard bad things about that planet..” Etho said, trying to not seem too nervous. “Look, if I talk to home base I might be able to try get them to let you stay on board the ship?” He offered. “Thank you.. I would really appreciate it.” He smiled. “No worries man,” Ren said, patting Etho on the shoulder as the two just sat and watched the stars together. “How early do you even get up?” A tired Bdubs asked as he’d dragged himself out of bed once he realised that Etho was missing. “Few hours ago,” Etho said with a shrug, now occupied with his checking on the redstone he’d fixed yesterday. It was a nice distraction from the realisations of earlier. “You’re insane,” Bdubs said with a little laugh, leaning against him, yawning. “Go back to bed, you’re clearly too tired for this,” he said, “Or go find coffee because I think someone brought a coffee machine on board?” “Hrmph. No. I’ll be fine.” He said, watching Etho do the redstone. “If you say so, buddy,” he laughed, feeling Bdubs rest his head on his shoulder. People back on Trelpho didn’t usually get this close, he absentmindedly wondered if this was just a human thing. Or perhaps it was a Bdubs thing, he did this quite a lot. And honestly? Etho didn’t mind it at all. The closeness was comforting and he rather enjoyed Bdubs’s company. Probably more than anyone else’s.
(Chapter 3 continued below, read above section first please!) After a while of continuing in silence, he felt Bdubs go heavy beside him, and when he looked over, the shorter man had fallen asleep, much to Etho’s amusement. He set down what he was working on (really he’d finished quite some time ago and had simply been tinkering with some small, meaningless thing as to not force Bdubs to move or get up) and scooped Bdubs up in his arms. He’d realised through living with him that if he didn’t go to sleep and wake up at very specific times, he would simply crash anyways. Etho jostling him around in order to pick him up must have woken him up again so now, as Bdubs readjusted to where he was, a pink hue faintly dusted his cheeks and his facial temperature seemed to rise. Etho silently wondered if he was getting sick. He’d taken care of Bdubs when he was sick before, and this didnt feel similar, he seemed to be fine? “You okay?” He asked. “Yeah! Mhm! Just- Er- What are you doing?” Bdubs asked quickly. “Well, you fell asleep again- So I was bringing you back somewhere to sleep properly,” he explained. “Thanks- That- that’s real nice of you-” he said, “Can I go to my room?” “Course, you want me to stay or go?” He asked. “Hmmm- Stay.” “Alright then!” He smiled. Etho didn’t think he’d been in Bdubs room before, obviously all rooms were the same size but this just felt smaller. Perhaps due to the amount of plants Bdubs had squished into one room. There were, quite simply, a lot of plants. And as he put Bdubs back down on the bed and sat beside him, he still looked at all of them. They were all brought from the apartment back on Earth. Had half of his luggage just been plants? That probably would’ve explained the weight.. “Cmere,” Bdubs said, pulling Etho down into a hug, and wrapping the blankets around the two of them. With Bdubs’s arms wrapped around him and his face buried in his chest, Etho felt his own face grow slightly warm, and although he couldn’t go check, he had a feeling it was rather red. But he just relaxed, perhaps he was just too hot, there were like 4 blankets on top of him courtesy of Bdubs’s aversion to the cold. After a while he felt him fall asleep again, and he just stayed there, hugging him. How long would this even last? He couldn’t help but wonder, after the events of today. He was going back to Trelpho after all, things would never be able to last after that. Someone would know who he was. Someone would see. Bdubs would find out. And then he’d be stuck, alone, again. He didn’t want to loose this, the crew, his friends, Bdubs. Those feelings alone on the floor of the ship that had taken him to earth came flooding back. It was never pleasant. But when Bdubs snuggled closer up to him, all those thoughts vanished and he simply let himself fade into shallow sleep. “Bdubs? Can you come help me move some boxes of maps?” A voice called from the door, that in his half asleep state, Etho couldn’t quite place. Standing in the doorway, however, was Impulse, who stopped when he saw the pair curled up together. With Bdubs still asleep, Etho sat up and rubbed his eyes, waking Bdubs up in the process, even if he was still clinging to Etho’s chest. “Hm?” He asked. “Just- Er- Come find me when you’re awake, sorry for interrupting whatever you two were doing-” Impulse said with a little laugh. As the door closed, the pair inside were still waking up. “Morning..” Bdubs mumbled. “Morning, again,” Etho laughed a little. Bdubs had detached himself from Etho to get up and get ready, standing up and stretching out, pulling out his regular work clothes, rather than his comfier ones. Etho was already ready, so got up and stood outside to give Bdubs the privacy to get changed. When he came back out, he grinned up at Etho, “And you said you didn’t want to sleep.” “Well! I!” Etho grumbled, “It was nice to just snuggle up with you.” Bdubs grinned and elbowed him slightly. “Stop that!” He laughed in response. “Fine, fine, look, I’m gonna go help Impulse move those map boxes and I guess you’ve got your regular checks to do but after that, how about we just chill around somewhere, just you and me, eh?” He suggested. “That’s be nice, yeah.” ~ “Soo- You and Etho?” Impulse said while hauling boxes alongside Bdubs. “It’s- It’s not like that.” Bdubs said, face going red at the suggestion. “Oh cmon, I see the way you look at him, buddy,” he said with a laugh. “Even if I did like him, he doesn’t feel the same way, he’s.. slightly odd. We lived together for like a year before this,” he explained, “He’s never picked up on hints or flirting or anything. Maybe I just need to be more obvious but I don’t want to ruin the friendship we have.” “It’s an admirable goal, Dubs, I hope you can figure it out..” Next Chapter: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1331597459/ Previous Chapter: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1322023959/ First Chapter: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1320351865/ Feedback always appreciated!
