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Joel trailed behind Etho as they crept through the ancient city. The faint light of the skulk shimmering almost like stars in the darkness of the cavern.
Joel liked Etho. A lot. When he’d complained to Lizzie about it she’d only laughed at him and told him that he’d figure it out eventually. No help at all. Figure out what exactly? That he was a little obsessive in his friendship with Etho? No duh. But Lizzie was probably right anyways and he’d figure it out eventually.
He didn’t think it was romantic attraction, although Etho was a very handsome man, he’d straight up asked Lizzie if she thought he might be romantically attracted to Etho and was just in denial. She’d unhelpfully just laughed again before giving him a soft kiss on the forehead and sending him back for the next session of Double Life.
So either he was romantically attracted to Etho and was being so incredibly stupid about it that Lizzie had decided he needed to figure it out for himself, or it was something else entirely that only he could figure out.
It was actually kind of annoying that he was pretty sure it was the second option.
And Joel was so distracted by his thoughts that he tripped and fell off of the wool, slamming into the ground with a low thunk.
He froze in place, desperately hoping, holding his breath—a shrieker went off.
Joel cursed, stumbling to his feet and grabbing the hand Etho reached out to him, pulling himself back onto the wool path before the two of them took off running.
Etho could probably survive a warden, Etho was some sort of ancient creature of the void contained within a pretty little human shell and he was a pretty little human contained within the void, he wasn’t hiding what he was and his skin was his true form but that did not make it any less deceptive. Joel however was a bumbling human with delusions of grandeur and a knack for surviving and also the coolest wife in existence.
So he was probably about to die to a warden, unlike Etho.
The warden was following them, Joel could hear it, he tried to be silent as he ran—his lungs burning for air that wasn’t stale from being locked away under miles of rock for centuries.
“Etho it might—” Joel hissed out, so quiet he could barely be heard, “—it might be better to dig into the wall and wait it out. I can’t outrun it.”
Etho paused, grabbing Joel’s arm and tugging him to the side, pressing him against one of the stone pillars of the ancient city. Etho’s other hand reached up to his face and pulled down his mask, revealing a perfectly normal human mouth, even if his teeth were a bit sharper than normal they were still very human shaped.
Hah! I knew it was just a fashion statement! Joel thought vindictively.
“I’m going to get both of us out of here.” Etho said calmly, like, weirdly calmly, Joel was now incredibly suspicious of how Etho was going to do that.
Like, don’t get him wrong, that was like a sigh-worthy line and Etho was the perfect action movie hero to say it, but it also didn’t fit with how Etho usually acted.
Etho was as much of a little weirdo as the rest of them. He was just better about being quiet enough about it that people were always caught off guard when he did something ridiculous no matter how in character. And despite Etho having the looks of a movie protagonist, he did not have the personality of one. He was far too comedic for that.
Which meant that Joel was the protagonist, clearly, even if he was as much a part of the comedy routine as anyone else, he was the coolest clown in the whole clown car and that made him the main character.
He was the coolest guy on Hermitcraft but he would graciously not take his title.
“I’m going to have to carry you out of here.” Etho admitted.
Okay. Weird. But Joel wasn’t opposed to a bridal carry from Etho.
“Don’t fight.” Etho warned him before Joel heard the click of Etho’s jaw unhinging and the cool darkness of the ancient city on his face was replaced with the warmth of Etho’s breath and the dampness of his mouth.
Oh. Ohh.
Joel could feel himself blushing, the tips of his ears turning red. He didn’t fight.
Etho grabbed his waist and lifted him up so that he could swallow easier with gravity helping Joel along.
Joel was having some realizations. He had a pred crush on Etho. That’s what had been going on this whole time. He was so glad Lizzie hadn’t pointed it out because it was embarrassing enough as it was.
He was going to be in Etho’s stomach because Etho was protecting him, he was going to be safely curled up in Etho’s belly. The thought made his stomach flip.
His head was squeezed as he slowly moved down Etho’s throat. The pressure was uncomfortable but not unmanageable. Once Joel was far enough down that his arms were fully encased he was able to squirm a little, helping himself be dragged downward into the depths.
Finally his head was pressed into a more open space which quickly filled up as he curled up into a ball inside Etho.
Joel closed his eyes, the plush warmth around him, the thumping of Etho’s heart that Joel was close enough to breathe in tune with, it was all incredibly comforting. Joel could feel Etho catching his breath before pressing a hand against Joel through his skin. Joel pressed back. And then Etho was moving. Joel did his best to stay still as everything rocked around him.
Joel could tell when they reached the surface because Etho slowed down.
“I’m heading to your base,” Etho said, his voice rumbling in Joel’s ears, “I’ll let you out there.”
Well. That wouldn’t do.
“No need, head back to yours. You can let me out tomorrow.”
Etho made a questioning noise, “You really want to hang out that badly?”
“ No,” Joel exclaimed, “I just know that you do and clearly I am a kind and considerate man to allow you to bask in my presence.”
Etho laughed, “Of course. It has nothing to do with you being in my stomach.”
“I’ll have you know I make a great addition to your figure and I am staying here for your benefit.”
“Of course.” Etho giggled, then more seriously added, “I do like spending time with you. And I don’t mind a full belly.”
Joel blushed, “Good.” he replied.
The two of them settled into the silence between them, Joel curled up in Etho’s core.
Lizzie was going to laugh at him when he told her about this, wasn’t she?