Aha! Finally got this- stupid thing set up ân working. I have a mailbox now! Come and talk to me! Please.
Etho:
@ethos-mailbox
Affiliated mailboxes can be found here!
More info below!

JBB: An Artblog!
almost home
Claire Keane
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
$LAYYYTER

oozey mess

shark vs the universe

⣠Chile in a Photography âŁ
TVSTRANGERTHINGS
One Nice Bug Per Day
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
wallacepolsom

Product Placement
dirt enthusiast

â

Kaledo Art
sheepfilms

he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
seen from Canada

seen from United States

seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from United States

seen from United States

seen from Egypt
seen from United States
seen from United States

seen from TĂźrkiye
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Malaysia
@bdubs-mailbox
Aha! Finally got this- stupid thing set up ân working. I have a mailbox now! Come and talk to me! Please.
Etho:
@ethos-mailbox
Affiliated mailboxes can be found here!
More info below!

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
Someoneâs standing at the side of your bed. It quickly becomes evident who woke youâ heâs got a pretty distinctive figure, and the glowing red eye doesnât leave much up for question.
Ey, man.
Rather quiet for someone who seems to want you awake.
You got a minute to spare for your nHo buddy?
@docs-mailbox
Bdubs grumbled something, shifting to bury himself further under the duvet. After a few moments he opened an eye, then realised who had woken him.
âDoc?â He mumbled, letters all slurring together. âDoc!â the next time he sounded more awake, shoving himself up to sit. âOh, yeah, yeah I got time, whatâs up?â Bdubs yawned, pulling his moss tighter around himself. He didnât bother to fix the rest of his clothing or hair, too much effort!!
Itâs about your cloak.
You still giving tours?
Bdubsâ eyes lit up.
âReally?!â He stumbled out of his bed, beaming. âYeah- oh, just a warning, you might grow an extra limb⌠but itâs fine!â Bdubs shrugged off the cloak and parted the moss, revealing a milky white rift with pink and purple marbling. âHop in!â
So long as I donât lose another horn, Iâm sure Iâll be fine.
His horn isnât fully healed, of course. But thereâs progress.
Heâs swift to enter, with his primed fishing rod tucked safely in his inventory.
Bdubs waited a few moments to giggle excitedly before following Doc in. There was no solid floor, here, but it was easy to float and move. The air was comfortable (if a little suffocating when you focused on it too hard) and warm.
Bdubs could feel himself getting tired already, heâd be in for a very long, very pleasant nap. He flapped his wings lazily a few times to propel himself over to Doc.
âHowâve you been, anyways?â He mumbled, eyelids already drooping and words slurring together.
Everything feels a bit warm and hazy. As if he were lost underneath a warm blanket.
Been fine mostly. Somebody messed up my redstone, and I seem to have misplaced my communicatorâŚ
It dawns on him that this endless expanse of a place doesnât have many spots to hide a device like his comm. Which is great! All the more reason to brush off all those silly anxieties about what BigB said.
Still, nothingâs been confirmed, one way or another.
âŚbut other than that, everythingâs been great. Projects ânâ all, and my wings are back in action too.
He flutters his as well. Matching motions!
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, âs rubbish.â Floating a little bit closer, he embraced Doc tightly. âBut itâll be okay, yâknow why? The moss is here to help us.â His tone dropped to a sort of purr. âThe moss is safe, and very, very wonderful.â There were some more mumbles about the moss, and how it was going to take over but it was too quiet to clearly make out the sentences.
Yeah, you and your moss, itâsâŚ
Indistinct.
Doc leaned into his embrace with a faint smile. His eyes, though, were fixed on something else. Far out in the distance.
And, even knowing the nature of the situationâ his comm being missing, with Bdubs probably not being the culpritâ I mean, come on, heâs my friend, obviously I can trust him more than famed liar BigBâ he canât help but entertain the idea of Dubs having it on him.
Less in the sense of Dubs having stolen it, and more along the lines of Dubs just having it on hand for no particular reason. A cosmic convenience of sorts.
And itâs the push that drives him to askâ
âŚdonât wanna accuse you of noân, but do you happen to have my, uh, my comm? Or know where it is?
âMmm? No, no- why would I know?â Bdubs blinked, peering up at Doc. That was weird, heâd been asleep for god knows how long, why would Bdubs have it anywhere near him?? Oh well. âYou should just sleep instead of worryinâ âbout all these small things.â He yawned.
Someone told me you had it. Didnât believe them, but I wanted to double check.
BigBâs not a very reliable source of information, Iâve found.
In other news, lapis is blue.
Yeah, I knew I was probably going to get caught up in this⌠idea, I guess, unless I confronted you directly. âs part of why I visited. That, and, yâknow, we havenât talked in a while.
Wanted to see your face.
All the warm, hazy airâŚ
He nodded along.
âYeah, no communicator here.â Bdubs closed his eyes for a moment before forcing them to reopen. Naps were important, but so was speaking to his friend. âAw, I missed you.â He beamed. âWhatâve you been upto?â
Ah, you know, the usual. Digging holes. Thatâs kind of been my M.O. for the past, what, three seasons? At the very least.
This holeâs a secret, though. Nobody knows where it is except for me. And itâs gonna stay that way for awhile.
Something skitters through the holes in his crocsâ a bug? Some kind of beetle? But it isnât there when he takes off his shoe for inspection. Strange.
A moist quality permeates the air.
Smells vaguely of petrichor and cocoa.
He tilted his head.
âWhy? Itâs just a hole, isnât it?â Bdubs frowned, why would anyone hide just a hole, unless- âooh, does it have all yâ stuff in it?â Honestly, heâd really like to sleep right about now, and wants to give Doc a little ânudgeâ into doing so because the man doesnât seem that tired! He hugged Doc tighter before pausing.
Wait. No, this was weird. As much as he enjoyed having Doc here, having someone appreciate his existence, having someone offer to nap with him, Doc just wasnât the type to want to nap with him for days on end. He had that whole grind thrive grind some more acronym that Bdubs couldnât really remember at this time. ââŚYou do know weâll be asleep for days, maybe even weeks, right?â He should check, it was the right thing to do even if itâd hurt when Doc left because no, he didnât know how long theyâd be asleep.
Doc shrugs.
Holeâs still gonna be there when I get back.
And thereâs a solaceâ that sort of solace one could see in anotherâs eyesâ in knowing that his fishing rod was tucked away in his inventory. He knew he was the one in control here. Docâs wings flutter for a few moments.
Worst comes to worst, you, uh, you canât exactly grief a hole without making a bigger hole, so⌠yeah, I donât have to even worry about that.
If anything, you should be the one whoâs worried. Youâre the guy they put in charge of the Nether hub, and youâre out here taking week long naps.
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, ân I donât think anyoneâs crazy enough to fill it back in.â Well, some people were but they then werenât crazy enough to mess with Doc. Unless you were Martyn.
He went quiet for a few moments. âI donât think they miss me.â Bdubs looked away.
Whâ
Noâ theyâ!
Docâs wings tense.
Listen to me. We do miss you, why do you thinkâ I wouldnât be here if I didnât think youâd be here. âS the whole reason I came down here in the first place.
He can feel something brushing up against his fur. Sharp leaves or⌠maybe itâs vines of some sort, heâs not entirely sure what it is.
We are not doomed, this doesnât have to be your life.
Iâd say it to Etho too, but we havenât found him yet.
You ainât alone here, man.
Really? Bdubs shot a wary glance at Doc. It didnât feel like he was missed much anymore. His antennae fell low as Doc continued. âDoomedâ?? Bdubs was feeling a bit low, that was normal, but doomed seemed slightly dramatic.
And Bdubs was alone most of the time, which really was his own fault for sleeping so much recently. People didnât tend to want to spend a lot of time with someone who was asleep. He curled up tighter.
âI- uh, thank you. Yeah, weâre together.â Something felt a little off with Doc but he couldnât quite place what.
And with Etho nowhere to be found, Bdubsâ company was everything to him.
So, of course, when he picked up on the odd look in Dubsâ eyes, he adjusted accordingly, as best as he could. Not that he was fully sure what it was about he said that warranted that, but surely he could figure this out along the way.
This fucking jungle, man.
He couldnât quite tell whether he was floating or walking, but he nearly tripped over a log, which would have been a bit inconvenient.
Howâs this guy managing to stay so sleepy during all this, this is the most awake Iâve everâŚ
âŚbeenâŚ
Is thereâŚ
He hesitates. Thereâs an idea floating around his head, and he hesitates, because am I really going to bail on him this early on? Maybe âbailingâ isnât the right word, Iâll come back as soon as I can, but it still leaves a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.
He ruminates for a moment.
Bdubs furrowed his brows as Doc began âwalkingâ away.
âWhere yâ goinâ?â He quickly buzzed his wings and followed after Doc, really trying to stick close, clinging to the interactions he craved. âDoc?â
Iâm right here, Iâm right here, what, can a guy not stretch his legs or sumân?
Like, I know this is your, uh, place, but⌠câmon.
Doc forces out a bit of a chuckle. Is he not worried aboutâ?
No, heâs definitely worried about Etho. Maybe he just doesnât want to think about it right now.
âŚah! Thatâs it! That has to be it, itâs so obvious when you really stop and think about it. Bdubs has had all the fuckinâ time in the world to think about Ethoâ heâs been looking all over for the guy, no oneâs seen himâ
It always feels nice when things fall into place like this.
âso by coming down here and immediately trying, like, to passively look for Etho⌠itâs kind of an asshole move, isnât it? Bdubs needs support too! Of course! Obviously! How did I not think of that sooner?
As much as it did make him feel like a bit of an idiot, it was equally as vindicating, being able to think logically about a situation. Especially given the circumstances!
But that did leave one problem.
Thereâs only one thing in his possession that he knows could quell the incessant pounding in his head, demanding he get ahold of Etho and Dubs and take a mad dash out of this fucking labyrinthâ weakness potions.
Which just so happen to be at his houseâ which of course, is not here.
So the plan of action involves somehow sneaking out of here without Bdubs realizing it, getting some potions, and coming back. This, of course, is going to be really fucking difficult if he canât even pace around without getting called out for it.
And⌠are there even lakes in the jungle anyway?
Bdubsâ antennae flattened.
âSorry, sorry.â Jeez, he was so needy, no wonder Doc was walking off somewhere. He stuck a little further behind him now, but didnât dare take his eyes off of him.
âDo ya⌠want me to wait here for you?â Bdubs paused, thatâd be less annoying, right? And Doc would come back for him. Doc would definitely, most certainly come back for him. He really, really hoped Doc would come back for him. âI can stop followinâ after ya, yeah, yeah.â
Well shit, that was easy.
Yeah, um, yeah, I was just checking to see if there was a lake around. Wanted to see if I could catch something, itâs nice and grounding, you know?
He takes out his fishing rod. His heart slows to a resting rate, looking at it.
If youâve, um, seen a lake around here, itâd be nice if you could point me in the direction of it. Iâll fish you up something nice, we couldâ we could chat over a campfire, thatâs always fun.
Yeah! Good save!
âA lake?â Bdubs frowned. A quick glance around confirmed they were still in the weird pocket dimension. He laughed, Doc must be joking. âWhere are ya findinâ a lake here?â
He yawned, blinking a few times. âWhy donâtcha come back over here ân we can finally shreep, itâll be-â he was cut off by another yawn. âA nice rest.â Bdubs finished in a mumble.
No lakes.
That complicates things.
I mean, itâd be nicer if we had, like, a bonfire going or something. Andâ and yeah, I guess weâre obviously not gonna find any lakes here, butâŚ
Think of something, think of somethingâ
âŚI could⌠pretend⌠to fish something up?
??????????
âOr we could finally sleepâŚâ
Bdubs nodded along. âIf you want to?â He didnât see why it mattered too much, but if it was important to Doc, then fine. âWe can have a little fire ân stuff when weâre out of here.â He promised.
Yeah, honestly I probably need to lie down at this point.
He casts the rod out, andâ
âŚ
Heâs notâ?
Heâs. Still here.
Mumbles something about junk treasure, heâs not even sure what heâs on about, and he casts again, and it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work.
âand yeah, so hereâs the fishâŚ
It didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
âŚand we can just⌠lie down now.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
Yeah, and itâsâ yeah. Sleep time.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work IT DIDNâT WORK IT DIDNâTâ
Bdubs stared at Doc, yeah, okay something was really wrong. He moved over to Doc, grabbing his shoulder.
âAre you okay?â Did he do something wrong? He didnât intend to make Doc go all weird.
No everythingâs fine nothing is wrong.
Spoken with the swiftness and tact of someone who has just witnessed everything going wrong at once. Thereâs really no hiding it.
Bdubs was pretty awful at dealing with emotions, not qualified at all. Hugs seemed the safest route, maybe? He hesitantly embraced Doc.
âWhat happened?â He tried instead.
He drops the rod on the floor.
His fingers curl. The only thing outpacing his heartâs rate are his own thoughts, a cycloneâ a sandstormâ some sort of unprecedented disaster that wrecks him from the inside. And as he tries to speak he can feel his throat closing and this ache in his chest and he hates the way he can feel his fingers shaking and when he looks at his mechanical arm being co-opted by this fucking sensation in his head he just wants to tear it out andâ
Iâ!
He nearly chokes on it.
And he starts talking, too low and too soft and too fast for either of them to make out.
âanniknow youâre doing your best anni appreciate youâre here butâ
He tries to breathe. Itâs stifled. Itâs shaky.
We need to find Etho.
Andweneedafindhim before Beef goes lookinforâim.
Bdubs is quiet for a few, trying to work this all out. He did make a mental note to check up on Doc more, aswell. Wait- was this all about season five?
How on earth does he deal with this- well, for starters, he pulls away to grab Docâs wrist and drag him along. After a bit of searching the opening was found and Bdubs led them through it.
He rubbed at his eyes, orientating himself before refocusing on Doc.
âEthoâs probably in his base, or off with Joel somewhere.â Both hands planted on Docâs shoulders. Was he doing this right?? ââŚWe can, I dunno, go check if you want?â
The prospect of leaving the jungle without Etho by his side leaves a pit in his stomach, butâŚ
Bdubs needs this.
And so he fights off that paralyzingâ that thing, that feeling, coursing through him, and nods along.
Yeah, Iâd be⌠fine with that.
Bdubs offers a smile and instead grasps his hand to lead him out of his house. He supposed his nap could wait for a little bit in favour of this.
He hadnât seen Etho in⌠uhm, he didnât know. Time had sort of melted together recently, wasnât really sure when was what ân stuff. But itâd been a while! Luckily he still remembered the way to his base because- well, he was Bdubs. It was his job to be weird about Etho.
Bdubs wound through the path until they reached Ethoâs base, this Japanese-looking thing, still had that ugly bright purple roof.
âI reckon heâs in here.â Bdubs nodded.
There isnât exactly a door to knock on, nor is there any sort of doorbell. Dust bunnies are scattered along the creaky wooden floorboardsâ Doc had figured Etho would be busy with Frogger, but this is ridiculous.
Still, he takes the liberty of inviting himself in. Maybe heâs just been in the basement? Thatâs where all the utilityâs located.
Cozy place. The smell of honey and overgrown produce wafts through the air, and the scintillating refractions of the lake are⌠theyâre very strong. It certainly keeps him grounded.
And the sounds are rather peaceful as well. Between the beavers, the rustling leaves, and the ebb and flow of the water, itâs anything but empty.
But Ethoâs nowhere to be found.
Etho?
Heâs got to be here, right?
Etho, you in here?
Bdubs frowned.
âHeâs, uhm. Probably at Joels, or Ravager rush, yeah.â He hated the fear crawling up his spine, because it was definitely irrational. Etho was somewhere, he was sure of it!
Joelâs. That place is⌠well, itâs huge. Really went all out with his debut base, itâs as if nobody told him about the resets.
But the way that Bdubs said it⌠Doc couldnât help but tense his shoulders.
Bdubs wouldnât leave without Etho, right? Surely he knows where he is.
Should weâ
He clears his throat.
We should check Frogger first. Get that out of the way.
Bdubs was pulled out of his thoughts when Doc spoke. He nodded.
âYeah, heâll be there, I reckon. Lost in the redstone.â He snickered. Bdubs equipped his elytra (his own wings werenât strong enough for long distance flight).
A minute or two later they were poking around the wiring of Frogger.
âEtho?â He called, same as before there was no response.
Doc squints at the machinery standing before him.
Of course, with each month, the game has to endure upkeep, including occasional balance updates to keep it fresh. But some of the circuits seem⌠out of place.
This doesnât even look like Ethoâs redstoneâ he wouldnât wire it like this.
He points to a circuit on the ground, which has guiding gridlines beneath it. The floor is polished tuff.
Like, look at this. He wouldnât go out of his way to do this, heâd just leave the floor as stone.
Bdubs frowned, prodding the redstone with his shoe. Docâs belief that Etho had actually gone missing was getting easier to believe, and it scared him.
âThatâs⌠nevermind, maybe heâs at Joelâs base?â Bdubs suggested, as much as saying it put a bitter taste in his mouth (why, why Joel? Why not him, he was just as good as Joel, why couldnât Etho see that?) they was likely true.
Doc does a sideways wavey motion with his hand.
I mean, itâs a pretty big place, that soundsâ it sounds plausible.
His wings start to flutter.
To Magic Mountain, then?
ââŚyeah.â Bdubs nodded, stepping outside of frogger.
Why couldnât it be him? He wasnât- Bdubs wasnât a bad person, was he? He hadnât done anything to Etho, no, no. He wouldnât do any thing to Etho. So why?
Bdubs jumped, setting off a firework rocket to propel him towards the stupid mountain.
Joel squints, trying to see who the two players flying towards his base are. Doc is obvious, but the other one- He catches a glint of moss. Bdubs. He waves, trying not to get his excitement at human interaction be too apparent.
Doc, Bdubs! Good you see ya, good to see ya. Whyâve you decided to pay me a visit? Missed me or something? I know, going without my presence for so long is painful.
He gives them a playful grin as he waves them further into the city.
Itâs hard to stick a landing with the high-power rockets. An effortâs made, but he canât help but wonder why he committed himself to using such inconvenient boosters.
Ey man.
The cityâs even bigger up close. How Joel has managed to pull this off is beyond him.
Just wanted to stop by and, yâknow, look around. Get a feel for the place.
His eyes fall on Bdubs.
âHi.â Bdubs muttered, not in the best of moods suddenly, scuffing his foot along the ground.
Then he remembered what they were here for, because Joel had clearly done something to Etho, clearly kept him from Bdubs.. and Doc. He marched forwards, thrusting an accusatory finger in Joelâs face.
âWHAT DID YOU DO TO ETHO, DID YA KIDNAP HIM? SPILL.â
He shouted, waving his free hand around in vague gestures.
@joels-mailbox
Joelâs expression shifts from confused to something colder, on edge, at the mention of Etho.
Iâve not blummin, kidnapped him- you think Iâd keep that a secret? Iâve not done anything to him.
Ethoâs not here. Iâve not seen him since-
Joel cuts himself off, switching his tone to something curt, clearly trying to brush the two of them off.
Iâve not seen much of anyone. Been a bit busy. I still am, if you let me get back to work.
âŚnot seen him sinceâŚ?
Doc interlocks his fingers, face dropping somewhat as well. Because if Joel of all people doesnât know where Etho is, thenâ
Well, um, did he⌠say anything? Before going?
Heâs not entirely sure how Joel would know that.
Bdubs grumbled and steps back to stand beside Doc, glaring daggers at Joel.
âYeah, he said anything?â Bdubs echoed, scowling.
Joel stares back.
He did.
EefoâŚheâs not dead, if thatâs what youâre worried about.
His tone switches to something more playful, but there is something strained about it.
Weâve all been a missing persons case before, havenât we?
He lets out a similarly strained laugh.
Itâs uncomfortably true.
I couldâŚ
He clears his throat.
Yeah, I could⌠certainly name a time where I wasâŚ
It trails off into a mumble.
âŚ
Doc isnât sure if itâs showing on his face, but at this point, he doesnât care. Thereâs a haunting familiarity at play right now. This is how it started. Itâs exactly how it started.
And sure, Etho likes his off time, but if Joel- Frog Champion Joel, hadnât heard from him, something was most definitely amiss.
It might be too late to save him.
He glanced between the pair before swiftly returning to Docâs side, clumsily grasping the manâs hand.
âSo you know nothinâ?â Bdubs tilted his head, significantly less accusatory.
Joel lets out a huff, his expression a mix of frustration and concern. Something about the lack of hostility in Bdubsâs voice gets to him.
Look- itâs been a couple weeks since Iâve seen from him, alright? Heâs not told me where heâs staying, or why wherever it is is so blummin far. I uh- was a bit âsickâ when he moved out, but he checked in. Bit surprised to learn he could cook- back in Double Life he was hopeless you shouldâve seen him he-
Something clicks in Joelâs eyes. Heâs realized he said something he shouldnât have. What he thinks you shouldnât have said is unclear, but there is the distinct look of âI fucked upâ in his eyes.
Thatâs a bit off topic though, Iâm rambling a bit
Joel begins admiring one of the signs on the building next to him, unsure of what to say next.
Doc grasps Bdubsâ hand as well.
Itâs nice.
Keeps him grounded.
Alright, umâ
Thereâs something stirring inside him, though. He needs to leave. He needs to leave he needs to leave he needs to leave because itâs dangerous staying here.
Rationally speaking, he knows now that itâs not. But that doesnât change a thing. He needs to leave.
And he canât help but grasp Bdubsâ hand a bit harder now, just to be sure heâs safe.
I appreciate, the⌠the input, thank you.
His wings twitch.
And, um, I really hate to cut this short, but, like, thereâs things I need to attend to, andâŚ
He canât quite finish the sentence before glancing at Bdubs again. Trying to read that look on his face.
Bdubs stared blankly past Joel, eyes fixed on a point.
At first he could write off Docâs worry about Etho as just paranoia, but it seemed to just slowly become the more likely option.
âHuh? Oh, yeah, we gotta go like, right now. Bye Joel!â He grinned,
Someoneâs standing at the side of your bed. It quickly becomes evident who woke youâ heâs got a pretty distinctive figure, and the glowing red eye doesnât leave much up for question.
Ey, man.
Rather quiet for someone who seems to want you awake.
You got a minute to spare for your nHo buddy?
@docs-mailbox
Bdubs grumbled something, shifting to bury himself further under the duvet. After a few moments he opened an eye, then realised who had woken him.
âDoc?â He mumbled, letters all slurring together. âDoc!â the next time he sounded more awake, shoving himself up to sit. âOh, yeah, yeah I got time, whatâs up?â Bdubs yawned, pulling his moss tighter around himself. He didnât bother to fix the rest of his clothing or hair, too much effort!!
Itâs about your cloak.
You still giving tours?
Bdubsâ eyes lit up.
âReally?!â He stumbled out of his bed, beaming. âYeah- oh, just a warning, you might grow an extra limb⌠but itâs fine!â Bdubs shrugged off the cloak and parted the moss, revealing a milky white rift with pink and purple marbling. âHop in!â
So long as I donât lose another horn, Iâm sure Iâll be fine.
His horn isnât fully healed, of course. But thereâs progress.
Heâs swift to enter, with his primed fishing rod tucked safely in his inventory.
Bdubs waited a few moments to giggle excitedly before following Doc in. There was no solid floor, here, but it was easy to float and move. The air was comfortable (if a little suffocating when you focused on it too hard) and warm.
Bdubs could feel himself getting tired already, heâd be in for a very long, very pleasant nap. He flapped his wings lazily a few times to propel himself over to Doc.
âHowâve you been, anyways?â He mumbled, eyelids already drooping and words slurring together.
Everything feels a bit warm and hazy. As if he were lost underneath a warm blanket.
Been fine mostly. Somebody messed up my redstone, and I seem to have misplaced my communicatorâŚ
It dawns on him that this endless expanse of a place doesnât have many spots to hide a device like his comm. Which is great! All the more reason to brush off all those silly anxieties about what BigB said.
Still, nothingâs been confirmed, one way or another.
âŚbut other than that, everythingâs been great. Projects ânâ all, and my wings are back in action too.
He flutters his as well. Matching motions!
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, âs rubbish.â Floating a little bit closer, he embraced Doc tightly. âBut itâll be okay, yâknow why? The moss is here to help us.â His tone dropped to a sort of purr. âThe moss is safe, and very, very wonderful.â There were some more mumbles about the moss, and how it was going to take over but it was too quiet to clearly make out the sentences.
Yeah, you and your moss, itâsâŚ
Indistinct.
Doc leaned into his embrace with a faint smile. His eyes, though, were fixed on something else. Far out in the distance.
And, even knowing the nature of the situationâ his comm being missing, with Bdubs probably not being the culpritâ I mean, come on, heâs my friend, obviously I can trust him more than famed liar BigBâ he canât help but entertain the idea of Dubs having it on him.
Less in the sense of Dubs having stolen it, and more along the lines of Dubs just having it on hand for no particular reason. A cosmic convenience of sorts.
And itâs the push that drives him to askâ
âŚdonât wanna accuse you of noân, but do you happen to have my, uh, my comm? Or know where it is?
âMmm? No, no- why would I know?â Bdubs blinked, peering up at Doc. That was weird, heâd been asleep for god knows how long, why would Bdubs have it anywhere near him?? Oh well. âYou should just sleep instead of worryinâ âbout all these small things.â He yawned.
Someone told me you had it. Didnât believe them, but I wanted to double check.
BigBâs not a very reliable source of information, Iâve found.
In other news, lapis is blue.
Yeah, I knew I was probably going to get caught up in this⌠idea, I guess, unless I confronted you directly. âs part of why I visited. That, and, yâknow, we havenât talked in a while.
Wanted to see your face.
All the warm, hazy airâŚ
He nodded along.
âYeah, no communicator here.â Bdubs closed his eyes for a moment before forcing them to reopen. Naps were important, but so was speaking to his friend. âAw, I missed you.â He beamed. âWhatâve you been upto?â
Ah, you know, the usual. Digging holes. Thatâs kind of been my M.O. for the past, what, three seasons? At the very least.
This holeâs a secret, though. Nobody knows where it is except for me. And itâs gonna stay that way for awhile.
Something skitters through the holes in his crocsâ a bug? Some kind of beetle? But it isnât there when he takes off his shoe for inspection. Strange.
A moist quality permeates the air.
Smells vaguely of petrichor and cocoa.
He tilted his head.
âWhy? Itâs just a hole, isnât it?â Bdubs frowned, why would anyone hide just a hole, unless- âooh, does it have all yâ stuff in it?â Honestly, heâd really like to sleep right about now, and wants to give Doc a little ânudgeâ into doing so because the man doesnât seem that tired! He hugged Doc tighter before pausing.
Wait. No, this was weird. As much as he enjoyed having Doc here, having someone appreciate his existence, having someone offer to nap with him, Doc just wasnât the type to want to nap with him for days on end. He had that whole grind thrive grind some more acronym that Bdubs couldnât really remember at this time. ââŚYou do know weâll be asleep for days, maybe even weeks, right?â He should check, it was the right thing to do even if itâd hurt when Doc left because no, he didnât know how long theyâd be asleep.
Doc shrugs.
Holeâs still gonna be there when I get back.
And thereâs a solaceâ that sort of solace one could see in anotherâs eyesâ in knowing that his fishing rod was tucked away in his inventory. He knew he was the one in control here. Docâs wings flutter for a few moments.
Worst comes to worst, you, uh, you canât exactly grief a hole without making a bigger hole, so⌠yeah, I donât have to even worry about that.
If anything, you should be the one whoâs worried. Youâre the guy they put in charge of the Nether hub, and youâre out here taking week long naps.
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, ân I donât think anyoneâs crazy enough to fill it back in.â Well, some people were but they then werenât crazy enough to mess with Doc. Unless you were Martyn.
He went quiet for a few moments. âI donât think they miss me.â Bdubs looked away.
Whâ
Noâ theyâ!
Docâs wings tense.
Listen to me. We do miss you, why do you thinkâ I wouldnât be here if I didnât think youâd be here. âS the whole reason I came down here in the first place.
He can feel something brushing up against his fur. Sharp leaves or⌠maybe itâs vines of some sort, heâs not entirely sure what it is.
We are not doomed, this doesnât have to be your life.
Iâd say it to Etho too, but we havenât found him yet.
You ainât alone here, man.
Really? Bdubs shot a wary glance at Doc. It didnât feel like he was missed much anymore. His antennae fell low as Doc continued. âDoomedâ?? Bdubs was feeling a bit low, that was normal, but doomed seemed slightly dramatic.
And Bdubs was alone most of the time, which really was his own fault for sleeping so much recently. People didnât tend to want to spend a lot of time with someone who was asleep. He curled up tighter.
âI- uh, thank you. Yeah, weâre together.â Something felt a little off with Doc but he couldnât quite place what.
And with Etho nowhere to be found, Bdubsâ company was everything to him.
So, of course, when he picked up on the odd look in Dubsâ eyes, he adjusted accordingly, as best as he could. Not that he was fully sure what it was about he said that warranted that, but surely he could figure this out along the way.
This fucking jungle, man.
He couldnât quite tell whether he was floating or walking, but he nearly tripped over a log, which would have been a bit inconvenient.
Howâs this guy managing to stay so sleepy during all this, this is the most awake Iâve everâŚ
âŚbeenâŚ
Is thereâŚ
He hesitates. Thereâs an idea floating around his head, and he hesitates, because am I really going to bail on him this early on? Maybe âbailingâ isnât the right word, Iâll come back as soon as I can, but it still leaves a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.
He ruminates for a moment.
Bdubs furrowed his brows as Doc began âwalkingâ away.
âWhere yâ goinâ?â He quickly buzzed his wings and followed after Doc, really trying to stick close, clinging to the interactions he craved. âDoc?â
Iâm right here, Iâm right here, what, can a guy not stretch his legs or sumân?
Like, I know this is your, uh, place, but⌠câmon.
Doc forces out a bit of a chuckle. Is he not worried aboutâ?
No, heâs definitely worried about Etho. Maybe he just doesnât want to think about it right now.
âŚah! Thatâs it! That has to be it, itâs so obvious when you really stop and think about it. Bdubs has had all the fuckinâ time in the world to think about Ethoâ heâs been looking all over for the guy, no oneâs seen himâ
It always feels nice when things fall into place like this.
âso by coming down here and immediately trying, like, to passively look for Etho⌠itâs kind of an asshole move, isnât it? Bdubs needs support too! Of course! Obviously! How did I not think of that sooner?
As much as it did make him feel like a bit of an idiot, it was equally as vindicating, being able to think logically about a situation. Especially given the circumstances!
But that did leave one problem.
Thereâs only one thing in his possession that he knows could quell the incessant pounding in his head, demanding he get ahold of Etho and Dubs and take a mad dash out of this fucking labyrinthâ weakness potions.
Which just so happen to be at his houseâ which of course, is not here.
So the plan of action involves somehow sneaking out of here without Bdubs realizing it, getting some potions, and coming back. This, of course, is going to be really fucking difficult if he canât even pace around without getting called out for it.
And⌠are there even lakes in the jungle anyway?
Bdubsâ antennae flattened.
âSorry, sorry.â Jeez, he was so needy, no wonder Doc was walking off somewhere. He stuck a little further behind him now, but didnât dare take his eyes off of him.
âDo ya⌠want me to wait here for you?â Bdubs paused, thatâd be less annoying, right? And Doc would come back for him. Doc would definitely, most certainly come back for him. He really, really hoped Doc would come back for him. âI can stop followinâ after ya, yeah, yeah.â
Well shit, that was easy.
Yeah, um, yeah, I was just checking to see if there was a lake around. Wanted to see if I could catch something, itâs nice and grounding, you know?
He takes out his fishing rod. His heart slows to a resting rate, looking at it.
If youâve, um, seen a lake around here, itâd be nice if you could point me in the direction of it. Iâll fish you up something nice, we couldâ we could chat over a campfire, thatâs always fun.
Yeah! Good save!
âA lake?â Bdubs frowned. A quick glance around confirmed they were still in the weird pocket dimension. He laughed, Doc must be joking. âWhere are ya findinâ a lake here?â
He yawned, blinking a few times. âWhy donâtcha come back over here ân we can finally shreep, itâll be-â he was cut off by another yawn. âA nice rest.â Bdubs finished in a mumble.
No lakes.
That complicates things.
I mean, itâd be nicer if we had, like, a bonfire going or something. Andâ and yeah, I guess weâre obviously not gonna find any lakes here, butâŚ
Think of something, think of somethingâ
âŚI could⌠pretend⌠to fish something up?
??????????
âOr we could finally sleepâŚâ
Bdubs nodded along. âIf you want to?â He didnât see why it mattered too much, but if it was important to Doc, then fine. âWe can have a little fire ân stuff when weâre out of here.â He promised.
Yeah, honestly I probably need to lie down at this point.
He casts the rod out, andâ
âŚ
Heâs notâ?
Heâs. Still here.
Mumbles something about junk treasure, heâs not even sure what heâs on about, and he casts again, and it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work.
âand yeah, so hereâs the fishâŚ
It didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
âŚand we can just⌠lie down now.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
Yeah, and itâsâ yeah. Sleep time.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work IT DIDNâT WORK IT DIDNâTâ
Bdubs stared at Doc, yeah, okay something was really wrong. He moved over to Doc, grabbing his shoulder.
âAre you okay?â Did he do something wrong? He didnât intend to make Doc go all weird.
No everythingâs fine nothing is wrong.
Spoken with the swiftness and tact of someone who has just witnessed everything going wrong at once. Thereâs really no hiding it.
Bdubs was pretty awful at dealing with emotions, not qualified at all. Hugs seemed the safest route, maybe? He hesitantly embraced Doc.
âWhat happened?â He tried instead.
He drops the rod on the floor.
His fingers curl. The only thing outpacing his heartâs rate are his own thoughts, a cycloneâ a sandstormâ some sort of unprecedented disaster that wrecks him from the inside. And as he tries to speak he can feel his throat closing and this ache in his chest and he hates the way he can feel his fingers shaking and when he looks at his mechanical arm being co-opted by this fucking sensation in his head he just wants to tear it out andâ
Iâ!
He nearly chokes on it.
And he starts talking, too low and too soft and too fast for either of them to make out.
âanniknow youâre doing your best anni appreciate youâre here butâ
He tries to breathe. Itâs stifled. Itâs shaky.
We need to find Etho.
Andweneedafindhim before Beef goes lookinforâim.
Bdubs is quiet for a few, trying to work this all out. He did make a mental note to check up on Doc more, aswell. Wait- was this all about season five?
How on earth does he deal with this- well, for starters, he pulls away to grab Docâs wrist and drag him along. After a bit of searching the opening was found and Bdubs led them through it.
He rubbed at his eyes, orientating himself before refocusing on Doc.
âEthoâs probably in his base, or off with Joel somewhere.â Both hands planted on Docâs shoulders. Was he doing this right?? ââŚWe can, I dunno, go check if you want?â
The prospect of leaving the jungle without Etho by his side leaves a pit in his stomach, butâŚ
Bdubs needs this.
And so he fights off that paralyzingâ that thing, that feeling, coursing through him, and nods along.
Yeah, Iâd be⌠fine with that.
Bdubs offers a smile and instead grasps his hand to lead him out of his house. He supposed his nap could wait for a little bit in favour of this.
He hadnât seen Etho in⌠uhm, he didnât know. Time had sort of melted together recently, wasnât really sure when was what ân stuff. But itâd been a while! Luckily he still remembered the way to his base because- well, he was Bdubs. It was his job to be weird about Etho.
Bdubs wound through the path until they reached Ethoâs base, this Japanese-looking thing, still had that ugly bright purple roof.
âI reckon heâs in here.â Bdubs nodded.
There isnât exactly a door to knock on, nor is there any sort of doorbell. Dust bunnies are scattered along the creaky wooden floorboardsâ Doc had figured Etho would be busy with Frogger, but this is ridiculous.
Still, he takes the liberty of inviting himself in. Maybe heâs just been in the basement? Thatâs where all the utilityâs located.
Cozy place. The smell of honey and overgrown produce wafts through the air, and the scintillating refractions of the lake are⌠theyâre very strong. It certainly keeps him grounded.
And the sounds are rather peaceful as well. Between the beavers, the rustling leaves, and the ebb and flow of the water, itâs anything but empty.
But Ethoâs nowhere to be found.
Etho?
Heâs got to be here, right?
Etho, you in here?
Bdubs frowned.
âHeâs, uhm. Probably at Joels, or Ravager rush, yeah.â He hated the fear crawling up his spine, because it was definitely irrational. Etho was somewhere, he was sure of it!
Joelâs. That place is⌠well, itâs huge. Really went all out with his debut base, itâs as if nobody told him about the resets.
But the way that Bdubs said it⌠Doc couldnât help but tense his shoulders.
Bdubs wouldnât leave without Etho, right? Surely he knows where he is.
Should weâ
He clears his throat.
We should check Frogger first. Get that out of the way.
Bdubs was pulled out of his thoughts when Doc spoke. He nodded.
âYeah, heâll be there, I reckon. Lost in the redstone.â He snickered. Bdubs equipped his elytra (his own wings werenât strong enough for long distance flight).
A minute or two later they were poking around the wiring of Frogger.
âEtho?â He called, same as before there was no response.
Doc squints at the machinery standing before him.
Of course, with each month, the game has to endure upkeep, including occasional balance updates to keep it fresh. But some of the circuits seem⌠out of place.
This doesnât even look like Ethoâs redstoneâ he wouldnât wire it like this.
He points to a circuit on the ground, which has guiding gridlines beneath it. The floor is polished tuff.
Like, look at this. He wouldnât go out of his way to do this, heâd just leave the floor as stone.
Bdubs frowned, prodding the redstone with his shoe. Docâs belief that Etho had actually gone missing was getting easier to believe, and it scared him.
âThatâs⌠nevermind, maybe heâs at Joelâs base?â Bdubs suggested, as much as saying it put a bitter taste in his mouth (why, why Joel? Why not him, he was just as good as Joel, why couldnât Etho see that?) they was likely true.
Doc does a sideways wavey motion with his hand.
I mean, itâs a pretty big place, that soundsâ it sounds plausible.
His wings start to flutter.
To Magic Mountain, then?
ââŚyeah.â Bdubs nodded, stepping outside of frogger.
Why couldnât it be him? He wasnât- Bdubs wasnât a bad person, was he? He hadnât done anything to Etho, no, no. He wouldnât do any thing to Etho. So why?
Bdubs jumped, setting off a firework rocket to propel him towards the stupid mountain.
Joel squints, trying to see who the two players flying towards his base are. Doc is obvious, but the other one- He catches a glint of moss. Bdubs. He waves, trying not to get his excitement at human interaction be too apparent.
Doc, Bdubs! Good you see ya, good to see ya. Whyâve you decided to pay me a visit? Missed me or something? I know, going without my presence for so long is painful.
He gives them a playful grin as he waves them further into the city.
Itâs hard to stick a landing with the high-power rockets. An effortâs made, but he canât help but wonder why he committed himself to using such inconvenient boosters.
Ey man.
The cityâs even bigger up close. How Joel has managed to pull this off is beyond him.
Just wanted to stop by and, yâknow, look around. Get a feel for the place.
His eyes fall on Bdubs.
âHi.â Bdubs muttered, not in the best of moods suddenly, scuffing his foot along the ground.
Then he remembered what they were here for, because Joel had clearly done something to Etho, clearly kept him from Bdubs.. and Doc. He marched forwards, thrusting an accusatory finger in Joelâs face.
âWHAT DID YOU DO TO ETHO, DID YA KIDNAP HIM? SPILL.â
He shouted, waving his free hand around in vague gestures.
@joels-mailbox
Joelâs expression shifts from confused to something colder, on edge, at the mention of Etho.
Iâve not blummin, kidnapped him- you think Iâd keep that a secret? Iâve not done anything to him.
Ethoâs not here. Iâve not seen him since-
Joel cuts himself off, switching his tone to something curt, clearly trying to brush the two of them off.
Iâve not seen much of anyone. Been a bit busy. I still am, if you let me get back to work.
âŚnot seen him sinceâŚ?
Doc interlocks his fingers, face dropping somewhat as well. Because if Joel of all people doesnât know where Etho is, thenâ
Well, um, did he⌠say anything? Before going?
Heâs not entirely sure how Joel would know that.
Bdubs grumbled and steps back to stand beside Doc, glaring daggers at Joel.
âYeah, he said anything?â Bdubs echoed, scowling.
Joel stares back.
He did.
EefoâŚheâs not dead, if thatâs what youâre worried about.
His tone switches to something more playful, but there is something strained about it.
Weâve all been a missing persons case before, havenât we?
He lets out a similarly strained laugh.
Itâs uncomfortably true.
I couldâŚ
He clears his throat.
Yeah, I could⌠certainly name a time where I wasâŚ
It trails off into a mumble.
âŚ
Doc isnât sure if itâs showing on his face, but at this point, he doesnât care. Thereâs a haunting familiarity at play right now. This is how it started. Itâs exactly how it started.
And sure, Etho likes his off time, but if Joel- Frog Champion Joel, hadnât heard from him, something was most definitely amiss.
It might be too late to save him.
He glanced between the pair before swiftly returning to Docâs side, clumsily grasping the manâs hand.
âSo you know nothinâ?â Bdubs tilted his head, significantly less accusatory.
Someoneâs standing at the side of your bed. It quickly becomes evident who woke youâ heâs got a pretty distinctive figure, and the glowing red eye doesnât leave much up for question.
Ey, man.
Rather quiet for someone who seems to want you awake.
You got a minute to spare for your nHo buddy?
@docs-mailbox
Bdubs grumbled something, shifting to bury himself further under the duvet. After a few moments he opened an eye, then realised who had woken him.
âDoc?â He mumbled, letters all slurring together. âDoc!â the next time he sounded more awake, shoving himself up to sit. âOh, yeah, yeah I got time, whatâs up?â Bdubs yawned, pulling his moss tighter around himself. He didnât bother to fix the rest of his clothing or hair, too much effort!!
Itâs about your cloak.
You still giving tours?
Bdubsâ eyes lit up.
âReally?!â He stumbled out of his bed, beaming. âYeah- oh, just a warning, you might grow an extra limb⌠but itâs fine!â Bdubs shrugged off the cloak and parted the moss, revealing a milky white rift with pink and purple marbling. âHop in!â
So long as I donât lose another horn, Iâm sure Iâll be fine.
His horn isnât fully healed, of course. But thereâs progress.
Heâs swift to enter, with his primed fishing rod tucked safely in his inventory.
Bdubs waited a few moments to giggle excitedly before following Doc in. There was no solid floor, here, but it was easy to float and move. The air was comfortable (if a little suffocating when you focused on it too hard) and warm.
Bdubs could feel himself getting tired already, heâd be in for a very long, very pleasant nap. He flapped his wings lazily a few times to propel himself over to Doc.
âHowâve you been, anyways?â He mumbled, eyelids already drooping and words slurring together.
Everything feels a bit warm and hazy. As if he were lost underneath a warm blanket.
Been fine mostly. Somebody messed up my redstone, and I seem to have misplaced my communicatorâŚ
It dawns on him that this endless expanse of a place doesnât have many spots to hide a device like his comm. Which is great! All the more reason to brush off all those silly anxieties about what BigB said.
Still, nothingâs been confirmed, one way or another.
âŚbut other than that, everythingâs been great. Projects ânâ all, and my wings are back in action too.
He flutters his as well. Matching motions!
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, âs rubbish.â Floating a little bit closer, he embraced Doc tightly. âBut itâll be okay, yâknow why? The moss is here to help us.â His tone dropped to a sort of purr. âThe moss is safe, and very, very wonderful.â There were some more mumbles about the moss, and how it was going to take over but it was too quiet to clearly make out the sentences.
Yeah, you and your moss, itâsâŚ
Indistinct.
Doc leaned into his embrace with a faint smile. His eyes, though, were fixed on something else. Far out in the distance.
And, even knowing the nature of the situationâ his comm being missing, with Bdubs probably not being the culpritâ I mean, come on, heâs my friend, obviously I can trust him more than famed liar BigBâ he canât help but entertain the idea of Dubs having it on him.
Less in the sense of Dubs having stolen it, and more along the lines of Dubs just having it on hand for no particular reason. A cosmic convenience of sorts.
And itâs the push that drives him to askâ
âŚdonât wanna accuse you of noân, but do you happen to have my, uh, my comm? Or know where it is?
âMmm? No, no- why would I know?â Bdubs blinked, peering up at Doc. That was weird, heâd been asleep for god knows how long, why would Bdubs have it anywhere near him?? Oh well. âYou should just sleep instead of worryinâ âbout all these small things.â He yawned.
Someone told me you had it. Didnât believe them, but I wanted to double check.
BigBâs not a very reliable source of information, Iâve found.
In other news, lapis is blue.
Yeah, I knew I was probably going to get caught up in this⌠idea, I guess, unless I confronted you directly. âs part of why I visited. That, and, yâknow, we havenât talked in a while.
Wanted to see your face.
All the warm, hazy airâŚ
He nodded along.
âYeah, no communicator here.â Bdubs closed his eyes for a moment before forcing them to reopen. Naps were important, but so was speaking to his friend. âAw, I missed you.â He beamed. âWhatâve you been upto?â
Ah, you know, the usual. Digging holes. Thatâs kind of been my M.O. for the past, what, three seasons? At the very least.
This holeâs a secret, though. Nobody knows where it is except for me. And itâs gonna stay that way for awhile.
Something skitters through the holes in his crocsâ a bug? Some kind of beetle? But it isnât there when he takes off his shoe for inspection. Strange.
A moist quality permeates the air.
Smells vaguely of petrichor and cocoa.
He tilted his head.
âWhy? Itâs just a hole, isnât it?â Bdubs frowned, why would anyone hide just a hole, unless- âooh, does it have all yâ stuff in it?â Honestly, heâd really like to sleep right about now, and wants to give Doc a little ânudgeâ into doing so because the man doesnât seem that tired! He hugged Doc tighter before pausing.
Wait. No, this was weird. As much as he enjoyed having Doc here, having someone appreciate his existence, having someone offer to nap with him, Doc just wasnât the type to want to nap with him for days on end. He had that whole grind thrive grind some more acronym that Bdubs couldnât really remember at this time. ââŚYou do know weâll be asleep for days, maybe even weeks, right?â He should check, it was the right thing to do even if itâd hurt when Doc left because no, he didnât know how long theyâd be asleep.
Doc shrugs.
Holeâs still gonna be there when I get back.
And thereâs a solaceâ that sort of solace one could see in anotherâs eyesâ in knowing that his fishing rod was tucked away in his inventory. He knew he was the one in control here. Docâs wings flutter for a few moments.
Worst comes to worst, you, uh, you canât exactly grief a hole without making a bigger hole, so⌠yeah, I donât have to even worry about that.
If anything, you should be the one whoâs worried. Youâre the guy they put in charge of the Nether hub, and youâre out here taking week long naps.
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, ân I donât think anyoneâs crazy enough to fill it back in.â Well, some people were but they then werenât crazy enough to mess with Doc. Unless you were Martyn.
He went quiet for a few moments. âI donât think they miss me.â Bdubs looked away.
Whâ
Noâ theyâ!
Docâs wings tense.
Listen to me. We do miss you, why do you thinkâ I wouldnât be here if I didnât think youâd be here. âS the whole reason I came down here in the first place.
He can feel something brushing up against his fur. Sharp leaves or⌠maybe itâs vines of some sort, heâs not entirely sure what it is.
We are not doomed, this doesnât have to be your life.
Iâd say it to Etho too, but we havenât found him yet.
You ainât alone here, man.
Really? Bdubs shot a wary glance at Doc. It didnât feel like he was missed much anymore. His antennae fell low as Doc continued. âDoomedâ?? Bdubs was feeling a bit low, that was normal, but doomed seemed slightly dramatic.
And Bdubs was alone most of the time, which really was his own fault for sleeping so much recently. People didnât tend to want to spend a lot of time with someone who was asleep. He curled up tighter.
âI- uh, thank you. Yeah, weâre together.â Something felt a little off with Doc but he couldnât quite place what.
And with Etho nowhere to be found, Bdubsâ company was everything to him.
So, of course, when he picked up on the odd look in Dubsâ eyes, he adjusted accordingly, as best as he could. Not that he was fully sure what it was about he said that warranted that, but surely he could figure this out along the way.
This fucking jungle, man.
He couldnât quite tell whether he was floating or walking, but he nearly tripped over a log, which would have been a bit inconvenient.
Howâs this guy managing to stay so sleepy during all this, this is the most awake Iâve everâŚ
âŚbeenâŚ
Is thereâŚ
He hesitates. Thereâs an idea floating around his head, and he hesitates, because am I really going to bail on him this early on? Maybe âbailingâ isnât the right word, Iâll come back as soon as I can, but it still leaves a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.
He ruminates for a moment.
Bdubs furrowed his brows as Doc began âwalkingâ away.
âWhere yâ goinâ?â He quickly buzzed his wings and followed after Doc, really trying to stick close, clinging to the interactions he craved. âDoc?â
Iâm right here, Iâm right here, what, can a guy not stretch his legs or sumân?
Like, I know this is your, uh, place, but⌠câmon.
Doc forces out a bit of a chuckle. Is he not worried aboutâ?
No, heâs definitely worried about Etho. Maybe he just doesnât want to think about it right now.
âŚah! Thatâs it! That has to be it, itâs so obvious when you really stop and think about it. Bdubs has had all the fuckinâ time in the world to think about Ethoâ heâs been looking all over for the guy, no oneâs seen himâ
It always feels nice when things fall into place like this.
âso by coming down here and immediately trying, like, to passively look for Etho⌠itâs kind of an asshole move, isnât it? Bdubs needs support too! Of course! Obviously! How did I not think of that sooner?
As much as it did make him feel like a bit of an idiot, it was equally as vindicating, being able to think logically about a situation. Especially given the circumstances!
But that did leave one problem.
Thereâs only one thing in his possession that he knows could quell the incessant pounding in his head, demanding he get ahold of Etho and Dubs and take a mad dash out of this fucking labyrinthâ weakness potions.
Which just so happen to be at his houseâ which of course, is not here.
So the plan of action involves somehow sneaking out of here without Bdubs realizing it, getting some potions, and coming back. This, of course, is going to be really fucking difficult if he canât even pace around without getting called out for it.
And⌠are there even lakes in the jungle anyway?
Bdubsâ antennae flattened.
âSorry, sorry.â Jeez, he was so needy, no wonder Doc was walking off somewhere. He stuck a little further behind him now, but didnât dare take his eyes off of him.
âDo ya⌠want me to wait here for you?â Bdubs paused, thatâd be less annoying, right? And Doc would come back for him. Doc would definitely, most certainly come back for him. He really, really hoped Doc would come back for him. âI can stop followinâ after ya, yeah, yeah.â
Well shit, that was easy.
Yeah, um, yeah, I was just checking to see if there was a lake around. Wanted to see if I could catch something, itâs nice and grounding, you know?
He takes out his fishing rod. His heart slows to a resting rate, looking at it.
If youâve, um, seen a lake around here, itâd be nice if you could point me in the direction of it. Iâll fish you up something nice, we couldâ we could chat over a campfire, thatâs always fun.
Yeah! Good save!
âA lake?â Bdubs frowned. A quick glance around confirmed they were still in the weird pocket dimension. He laughed, Doc must be joking. âWhere are ya findinâ a lake here?â
He yawned, blinking a few times. âWhy donâtcha come back over here ân we can finally shreep, itâll be-â he was cut off by another yawn. âA nice rest.â Bdubs finished in a mumble.
No lakes.
That complicates things.
I mean, itâd be nicer if we had, like, a bonfire going or something. Andâ and yeah, I guess weâre obviously not gonna find any lakes here, butâŚ
Think of something, think of somethingâ
âŚI could⌠pretend⌠to fish something up?
??????????
âOr we could finally sleepâŚâ
Bdubs nodded along. âIf you want to?â He didnât see why it mattered too much, but if it was important to Doc, then fine. âWe can have a little fire ân stuff when weâre out of here.â He promised.
Yeah, honestly I probably need to lie down at this point.
He casts the rod out, andâ
âŚ
Heâs notâ?
Heâs. Still here.
Mumbles something about junk treasure, heâs not even sure what heâs on about, and he casts again, and it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work.
âand yeah, so hereâs the fishâŚ
It didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
âŚand we can just⌠lie down now.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
Yeah, and itâsâ yeah. Sleep time.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work IT DIDNâT WORK IT DIDNâTâ
Bdubs stared at Doc, yeah, okay something was really wrong. He moved over to Doc, grabbing his shoulder.
âAre you okay?â Did he do something wrong? He didnât intend to make Doc go all weird.
No everythingâs fine nothing is wrong.
Spoken with the swiftness and tact of someone who has just witnessed everything going wrong at once. Thereâs really no hiding it.
Bdubs was pretty awful at dealing with emotions, not qualified at all. Hugs seemed the safest route, maybe? He hesitantly embraced Doc.
âWhat happened?â He tried instead.
He drops the rod on the floor.
His fingers curl. The only thing outpacing his heartâs rate are his own thoughts, a cycloneâ a sandstormâ some sort of unprecedented disaster that wrecks him from the inside. And as he tries to speak he can feel his throat closing and this ache in his chest and he hates the way he can feel his fingers shaking and when he looks at his mechanical arm being co-opted by this fucking sensation in his head he just wants to tear it out andâ
Iâ!
He nearly chokes on it.
And he starts talking, too low and too soft and too fast for either of them to make out.
âanniknow youâre doing your best anni appreciate youâre here butâ
He tries to breathe. Itâs stifled. Itâs shaky.
We need to find Etho.
Andweneedafindhim before Beef goes lookinforâim.
Bdubs is quiet for a few, trying to work this all out. He did make a mental note to check up on Doc more, aswell. Wait- was this all about season five?
How on earth does he deal with this- well, for starters, he pulls away to grab Docâs wrist and drag him along. After a bit of searching the opening was found and Bdubs led them through it.
He rubbed at his eyes, orientating himself before refocusing on Doc.
âEthoâs probably in his base, or off with Joel somewhere.â Both hands planted on Docâs shoulders. Was he doing this right?? ââŚWe can, I dunno, go check if you want?â
The prospect of leaving the jungle without Etho by his side leaves a pit in his stomach, butâŚ
Bdubs needs this.
And so he fights off that paralyzingâ that thing, that feeling, coursing through him, and nods along.
Yeah, Iâd be⌠fine with that.
Bdubs offers a smile and instead grasps his hand to lead him out of his house. He supposed his nap could wait for a little bit in favour of this.
He hadnât seen Etho in⌠uhm, he didnât know. Time had sort of melted together recently, wasnât really sure when was what ân stuff. But itâd been a while! Luckily he still remembered the way to his base because- well, he was Bdubs. It was his job to be weird about Etho.
Bdubs wound through the path until they reached Ethoâs base, this Japanese-looking thing, still had that ugly bright purple roof.
âI reckon heâs in here.â Bdubs nodded.
There isnât exactly a door to knock on, nor is there any sort of doorbell. Dust bunnies are scattered along the creaky wooden floorboardsâ Doc had figured Etho would be busy with Frogger, but this is ridiculous.
Still, he takes the liberty of inviting himself in. Maybe heâs just been in the basement? Thatâs where all the utilityâs located.
Cozy place. The smell of honey and overgrown produce wafts through the air, and the scintillating refractions of the lake are⌠theyâre very strong. It certainly keeps him grounded.
And the sounds are rather peaceful as well. Between the beavers, the rustling leaves, and the ebb and flow of the water, itâs anything but empty.
But Ethoâs nowhere to be found.
Etho?
Heâs got to be here, right?
Etho, you in here?
Bdubs frowned.
âHeâs, uhm. Probably at Joels, or Ravager rush, yeah.â He hated the fear crawling up his spine, because it was definitely irrational. Etho was somewhere, he was sure of it!
Joelâs. That place is⌠well, itâs huge. Really went all out with his debut base, itâs as if nobody told him about the resets.
But the way that Bdubs said it⌠Doc couldnât help but tense his shoulders.
Bdubs wouldnât leave without Etho, right? Surely he knows where he is.
Should weâ
He clears his throat.
We should check Frogger first. Get that out of the way.
Bdubs was pulled out of his thoughts when Doc spoke. He nodded.
âYeah, heâll be there, I reckon. Lost in the redstone.â He snickered. Bdubs equipped his elytra (his own wings werenât strong enough for long distance flight).
A minute or two later they were poking around the wiring of Frogger.
âEtho?â He called, same as before there was no response.
Doc squints at the machinery standing before him.
Of course, with each month, the game has to endure upkeep, including occasional balance updates to keep it fresh. But some of the circuits seem⌠out of place.
This doesnât even look like Ethoâs redstoneâ he wouldnât wire it like this.
He points to a circuit on the ground, which has guiding gridlines beneath it. The floor is polished tuff.
Like, look at this. He wouldnât go out of his way to do this, heâd just leave the floor as stone.
Bdubs frowned, prodding the redstone with his shoe. Docâs belief that Etho had actually gone missing was getting easier to believe, and it scared him.
âThatâs⌠nevermind, maybe heâs at Joelâs base?â Bdubs suggested, as much as saying it put a bitter taste in his mouth (why, why Joel? Why not him, he was just as good as Joel, why couldnât Etho see that?) they was likely true.
Doc does a sideways wavey motion with his hand.
I mean, itâs a pretty big place, that soundsâ it sounds plausible.
His wings start to flutter.
To Magic Mountain, then?
ââŚyeah.â Bdubs nodded, stepping outside of frogger.
Why couldnât it be him? He wasnât- Bdubs wasnât a bad person, was he? He hadnât done anything to Etho, no, no. He wouldnât do any thing to Etho. So why?
Bdubs jumped, setting off a firework rocket to propel him towards the stupid mountain.
Joel squints, trying to see who the two players flying towards his base are. Doc is obvious, but the other one- He catches a glint of moss. Bdubs. He waves, trying not to get his excitement at human interaction be too apparent.
Doc, Bdubs! Good you see ya, good to see ya. Whyâve you decided to pay me a visit? Missed me or something? I know, going without my presence for so long is painful.
He gives them a playful grin as he waves them further into the city.
Itâs hard to stick a landing with the high-power rockets. An effortâs made, but he canât help but wonder why he committed himself to using such inconvenient boosters.
Ey man.
The cityâs even bigger up close. How Joel has managed to pull this off is beyond him.
Just wanted to stop by and, yâknow, look around. Get a feel for the place.
His eyes fall on Bdubs.
âHi.â Bdubs muttered, not in the best of moods suddenly, scuffing his foot along the ground.
Then he remembered what they were here for, because Joel had clearly done something to Etho, clearly kept him from Bdubs.. and Doc. He marched forwards, thrusting an accusatory finger in Joelâs face.
âWHAT DID YOU DO TO ETHO, DID YA KIDNAP HIM? SPILL.â
He shouted, waving his free hand around in vague gestures.
@joels-mailbox
Joelâs expression shifts from confused to something colder, on edge, at the mention of Etho.
Iâve not blummin, kidnapped him- you think Iâd keep that a secret? Iâve not done anything to him.
Ethoâs not here. Iâve not seen him since-
Joel cuts himself off, switching his tone to something curt, clearly trying to brush the two of them off.
Iâve not seen much of anyone. Been a bit busy. I still am, if you let me get back to work.
âŚnot seen him sinceâŚ?
Doc interlocks his fingers, face dropping somewhat as well. Because if Joel of all people doesnât know where Etho is, thenâ
Well, um, did he⌠say anything? Before going?
Heâs not entirely sure how Joel would know that.
Bdubs grumbled and steps back to stand beside Doc, glaring daggers at Joel.
âYeah, he said anything?â Bdubs echoed, scowling.
Someoneâs standing at the side of your bed. It quickly becomes evident who woke youâ heâs got a pretty distinctive figure, and the glowing red eye doesnât leave much up for question.
Ey, man.
Rather quiet for someone who seems to want you awake.
You got a minute to spare for your nHo buddy?
@docs-mailbox
Bdubs grumbled something, shifting to bury himself further under the duvet. After a few moments he opened an eye, then realised who had woken him.
âDoc?â He mumbled, letters all slurring together. âDoc!â the next time he sounded more awake, shoving himself up to sit. âOh, yeah, yeah I got time, whatâs up?â Bdubs yawned, pulling his moss tighter around himself. He didnât bother to fix the rest of his clothing or hair, too much effort!!
Itâs about your cloak.
You still giving tours?
Bdubsâ eyes lit up.
âReally?!â He stumbled out of his bed, beaming. âYeah- oh, just a warning, you might grow an extra limb⌠but itâs fine!â Bdubs shrugged off the cloak and parted the moss, revealing a milky white rift with pink and purple marbling. âHop in!â
So long as I donât lose another horn, Iâm sure Iâll be fine.
His horn isnât fully healed, of course. But thereâs progress.
Heâs swift to enter, with his primed fishing rod tucked safely in his inventory.
Bdubs waited a few moments to giggle excitedly before following Doc in. There was no solid floor, here, but it was easy to float and move. The air was comfortable (if a little suffocating when you focused on it too hard) and warm.
Bdubs could feel himself getting tired already, heâd be in for a very long, very pleasant nap. He flapped his wings lazily a few times to propel himself over to Doc.
âHowâve you been, anyways?â He mumbled, eyelids already drooping and words slurring together.
Everything feels a bit warm and hazy. As if he were lost underneath a warm blanket.
Been fine mostly. Somebody messed up my redstone, and I seem to have misplaced my communicatorâŚ
It dawns on him that this endless expanse of a place doesnât have many spots to hide a device like his comm. Which is great! All the more reason to brush off all those silly anxieties about what BigB said.
Still, nothingâs been confirmed, one way or another.
âŚbut other than that, everythingâs been great. Projects ânâ all, and my wings are back in action too.
He flutters his as well. Matching motions!
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, âs rubbish.â Floating a little bit closer, he embraced Doc tightly. âBut itâll be okay, yâknow why? The moss is here to help us.â His tone dropped to a sort of purr. âThe moss is safe, and very, very wonderful.â There were some more mumbles about the moss, and how it was going to take over but it was too quiet to clearly make out the sentences.
Yeah, you and your moss, itâsâŚ
Indistinct.
Doc leaned into his embrace with a faint smile. His eyes, though, were fixed on something else. Far out in the distance.
And, even knowing the nature of the situationâ his comm being missing, with Bdubs probably not being the culpritâ I mean, come on, heâs my friend, obviously I can trust him more than famed liar BigBâ he canât help but entertain the idea of Dubs having it on him.
Less in the sense of Dubs having stolen it, and more along the lines of Dubs just having it on hand for no particular reason. A cosmic convenience of sorts.
And itâs the push that drives him to askâ
âŚdonât wanna accuse you of noân, but do you happen to have my, uh, my comm? Or know where it is?
âMmm? No, no- why would I know?â Bdubs blinked, peering up at Doc. That was weird, heâd been asleep for god knows how long, why would Bdubs have it anywhere near him?? Oh well. âYou should just sleep instead of worryinâ âbout all these small things.â He yawned.
Someone told me you had it. Didnât believe them, but I wanted to double check.
BigBâs not a very reliable source of information, Iâve found.
In other news, lapis is blue.
Yeah, I knew I was probably going to get caught up in this⌠idea, I guess, unless I confronted you directly. âs part of why I visited. That, and, yâknow, we havenât talked in a while.
Wanted to see your face.
All the warm, hazy airâŚ
He nodded along.
âYeah, no communicator here.â Bdubs closed his eyes for a moment before forcing them to reopen. Naps were important, but so was speaking to his friend. âAw, I missed you.â He beamed. âWhatâve you been upto?â
Ah, you know, the usual. Digging holes. Thatâs kind of been my M.O. for the past, what, three seasons? At the very least.
This holeâs a secret, though. Nobody knows where it is except for me. And itâs gonna stay that way for awhile.
Something skitters through the holes in his crocsâ a bug? Some kind of beetle? But it isnât there when he takes off his shoe for inspection. Strange.
A moist quality permeates the air.
Smells vaguely of petrichor and cocoa.
He tilted his head.
âWhy? Itâs just a hole, isnât it?â Bdubs frowned, why would anyone hide just a hole, unless- âooh, does it have all yâ stuff in it?â Honestly, heâd really like to sleep right about now, and wants to give Doc a little ânudgeâ into doing so because the man doesnât seem that tired! He hugged Doc tighter before pausing.
Wait. No, this was weird. As much as he enjoyed having Doc here, having someone appreciate his existence, having someone offer to nap with him, Doc just wasnât the type to want to nap with him for days on end. He had that whole grind thrive grind some more acronym that Bdubs couldnât really remember at this time. ââŚYou do know weâll be asleep for days, maybe even weeks, right?â He should check, it was the right thing to do even if itâd hurt when Doc left because no, he didnât know how long theyâd be asleep.
Doc shrugs.
Holeâs still gonna be there when I get back.
And thereâs a solaceâ that sort of solace one could see in anotherâs eyesâ in knowing that his fishing rod was tucked away in his inventory. He knew he was the one in control here. Docâs wings flutter for a few moments.
Worst comes to worst, you, uh, you canât exactly grief a hole without making a bigger hole, so⌠yeah, I donât have to even worry about that.
If anything, you should be the one whoâs worried. Youâre the guy they put in charge of the Nether hub, and youâre out here taking week long naps.
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, ân I donât think anyoneâs crazy enough to fill it back in.â Well, some people were but they then werenât crazy enough to mess with Doc. Unless you were Martyn.
He went quiet for a few moments. âI donât think they miss me.â Bdubs looked away.
Whâ
Noâ theyâ!
Docâs wings tense.
Listen to me. We do miss you, why do you thinkâ I wouldnât be here if I didnât think youâd be here. âS the whole reason I came down here in the first place.
He can feel something brushing up against his fur. Sharp leaves or⌠maybe itâs vines of some sort, heâs not entirely sure what it is.
We are not doomed, this doesnât have to be your life.
Iâd say it to Etho too, but we havenât found him yet.
You ainât alone here, man.
Really? Bdubs shot a wary glance at Doc. It didnât feel like he was missed much anymore. His antennae fell low as Doc continued. âDoomedâ?? Bdubs was feeling a bit low, that was normal, but doomed seemed slightly dramatic.
And Bdubs was alone most of the time, which really was his own fault for sleeping so much recently. People didnât tend to want to spend a lot of time with someone who was asleep. He curled up tighter.
âI- uh, thank you. Yeah, weâre together.â Something felt a little off with Doc but he couldnât quite place what.
And with Etho nowhere to be found, Bdubsâ company was everything to him.
So, of course, when he picked up on the odd look in Dubsâ eyes, he adjusted accordingly, as best as he could. Not that he was fully sure what it was about he said that warranted that, but surely he could figure this out along the way.
This fucking jungle, man.
He couldnât quite tell whether he was floating or walking, but he nearly tripped over a log, which would have been a bit inconvenient.
Howâs this guy managing to stay so sleepy during all this, this is the most awake Iâve everâŚ
âŚbeenâŚ
Is thereâŚ
He hesitates. Thereâs an idea floating around his head, and he hesitates, because am I really going to bail on him this early on? Maybe âbailingâ isnât the right word, Iâll come back as soon as I can, but it still leaves a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.
He ruminates for a moment.
Bdubs furrowed his brows as Doc began âwalkingâ away.
âWhere yâ goinâ?â He quickly buzzed his wings and followed after Doc, really trying to stick close, clinging to the interactions he craved. âDoc?â
Iâm right here, Iâm right here, what, can a guy not stretch his legs or sumân?
Like, I know this is your, uh, place, but⌠câmon.
Doc forces out a bit of a chuckle. Is he not worried aboutâ?
No, heâs definitely worried about Etho. Maybe he just doesnât want to think about it right now.
âŚah! Thatâs it! That has to be it, itâs so obvious when you really stop and think about it. Bdubs has had all the fuckinâ time in the world to think about Ethoâ heâs been looking all over for the guy, no oneâs seen himâ
It always feels nice when things fall into place like this.
âso by coming down here and immediately trying, like, to passively look for Etho⌠itâs kind of an asshole move, isnât it? Bdubs needs support too! Of course! Obviously! How did I not think of that sooner?
As much as it did make him feel like a bit of an idiot, it was equally as vindicating, being able to think logically about a situation. Especially given the circumstances!
But that did leave one problem.
Thereâs only one thing in his possession that he knows could quell the incessant pounding in his head, demanding he get ahold of Etho and Dubs and take a mad dash out of this fucking labyrinthâ weakness potions.
Which just so happen to be at his houseâ which of course, is not here.
So the plan of action involves somehow sneaking out of here without Bdubs realizing it, getting some potions, and coming back. This, of course, is going to be really fucking difficult if he canât even pace around without getting called out for it.
And⌠are there even lakes in the jungle anyway?
Bdubsâ antennae flattened.
âSorry, sorry.â Jeez, he was so needy, no wonder Doc was walking off somewhere. He stuck a little further behind him now, but didnât dare take his eyes off of him.
âDo ya⌠want me to wait here for you?â Bdubs paused, thatâd be less annoying, right? And Doc would come back for him. Doc would definitely, most certainly come back for him. He really, really hoped Doc would come back for him. âI can stop followinâ after ya, yeah, yeah.â
Well shit, that was easy.
Yeah, um, yeah, I was just checking to see if there was a lake around. Wanted to see if I could catch something, itâs nice and grounding, you know?
He takes out his fishing rod. His heart slows to a resting rate, looking at it.
If youâve, um, seen a lake around here, itâd be nice if you could point me in the direction of it. Iâll fish you up something nice, we couldâ we could chat over a campfire, thatâs always fun.
Yeah! Good save!
âA lake?â Bdubs frowned. A quick glance around confirmed they were still in the weird pocket dimension. He laughed, Doc must be joking. âWhere are ya findinâ a lake here?â
He yawned, blinking a few times. âWhy donâtcha come back over here ân we can finally shreep, itâll be-â he was cut off by another yawn. âA nice rest.â Bdubs finished in a mumble.
No lakes.
That complicates things.
I mean, itâd be nicer if we had, like, a bonfire going or something. Andâ and yeah, I guess weâre obviously not gonna find any lakes here, butâŚ
Think of something, think of somethingâ
âŚI could⌠pretend⌠to fish something up?
??????????
âOr we could finally sleepâŚâ
Bdubs nodded along. âIf you want to?â He didnât see why it mattered too much, but if it was important to Doc, then fine. âWe can have a little fire ân stuff when weâre out of here.â He promised.
Yeah, honestly I probably need to lie down at this point.
He casts the rod out, andâ
âŚ
Heâs notâ?
Heâs. Still here.
Mumbles something about junk treasure, heâs not even sure what heâs on about, and he casts again, and it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work.
âand yeah, so hereâs the fishâŚ
It didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
âŚand we can just⌠lie down now.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
Yeah, and itâsâ yeah. Sleep time.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work IT DIDNâT WORK IT DIDNâTâ
Bdubs stared at Doc, yeah, okay something was really wrong. He moved over to Doc, grabbing his shoulder.
âAre you okay?â Did he do something wrong? He didnât intend to make Doc go all weird.
No everythingâs fine nothing is wrong.
Spoken with the swiftness and tact of someone who has just witnessed everything going wrong at once. Thereâs really no hiding it.
Bdubs was pretty awful at dealing with emotions, not qualified at all. Hugs seemed the safest route, maybe? He hesitantly embraced Doc.
âWhat happened?â He tried instead.
He drops the rod on the floor.
His fingers curl. The only thing outpacing his heartâs rate are his own thoughts, a cycloneâ a sandstormâ some sort of unprecedented disaster that wrecks him from the inside. And as he tries to speak he can feel his throat closing and this ache in his chest and he hates the way he can feel his fingers shaking and when he looks at his mechanical arm being co-opted by this fucking sensation in his head he just wants to tear it out andâ
Iâ!
He nearly chokes on it.
And he starts talking, too low and too soft and too fast for either of them to make out.
âanniknow youâre doing your best anni appreciate youâre here butâ
He tries to breathe. Itâs stifled. Itâs shaky.
We need to find Etho.
Andweneedafindhim before Beef goes lookinforâim.
Bdubs is quiet for a few, trying to work this all out. He did make a mental note to check up on Doc more, aswell. Wait- was this all about season five?
How on earth does he deal with this- well, for starters, he pulls away to grab Docâs wrist and drag him along. After a bit of searching the opening was found and Bdubs led them through it.
He rubbed at his eyes, orientating himself before refocusing on Doc.
âEthoâs probably in his base, or off with Joel somewhere.â Both hands planted on Docâs shoulders. Was he doing this right?? ââŚWe can, I dunno, go check if you want?â
The prospect of leaving the jungle without Etho by his side leaves a pit in his stomach, butâŚ
Bdubs needs this.
And so he fights off that paralyzingâ that thing, that feeling, coursing through him, and nods along.
Yeah, Iâd be⌠fine with that.
Bdubs offers a smile and instead grasps his hand to lead him out of his house. He supposed his nap could wait for a little bit in favour of this.
He hadnât seen Etho in⌠uhm, he didnât know. Time had sort of melted together recently, wasnât really sure when was what ân stuff. But itâd been a while! Luckily he still remembered the way to his base because- well, he was Bdubs. It was his job to be weird about Etho.
Bdubs wound through the path until they reached Ethoâs base, this Japanese-looking thing, still had that ugly bright purple roof.
âI reckon heâs in here.â Bdubs nodded.
There isnât exactly a door to knock on, nor is there any sort of doorbell. Dust bunnies are scattered along the creaky wooden floorboardsâ Doc had figured Etho would be busy with Frogger, but this is ridiculous.
Still, he takes the liberty of inviting himself in. Maybe heâs just been in the basement? Thatâs where all the utilityâs located.
Cozy place. The smell of honey and overgrown produce wafts through the air, and the scintillating refractions of the lake are⌠theyâre very strong. It certainly keeps him grounded.
And the sounds are rather peaceful as well. Between the beavers, the rustling leaves, and the ebb and flow of the water, itâs anything but empty.
But Ethoâs nowhere to be found.
Etho?
Heâs got to be here, right?
Etho, you in here?
Bdubs frowned.
âHeâs, uhm. Probably at Joels, or Ravager rush, yeah.â He hated the fear crawling up his spine, because it was definitely irrational. Etho was somewhere, he was sure of it!
Joelâs. That place is⌠well, itâs huge. Really went all out with his debut base, itâs as if nobody told him about the resets.
But the way that Bdubs said it⌠Doc couldnât help but tense his shoulders.
Bdubs wouldnât leave without Etho, right? Surely he knows where he is.
Should weâ
He clears his throat.
We should check Frogger first. Get that out of the way.
Bdubs was pulled out of his thoughts when Doc spoke. He nodded.
âYeah, heâll be there, I reckon. Lost in the redstone.â He snickered. Bdubs equipped his elytra (his own wings werenât strong enough for long distance flight).
A minute or two later they were poking around the wiring of Frogger.
âEtho?â He called, same as before there was no response.
Doc squints at the machinery standing before him.
Of course, with each month, the game has to endure upkeep, including occasional balance updates to keep it fresh. But some of the circuits seem⌠out of place.
This doesnât even look like Ethoâs redstoneâ he wouldnât wire it like this.
He points to a circuit on the ground, which has guiding gridlines beneath it. The floor is polished tuff.
Like, look at this. He wouldnât go out of his way to do this, heâd just leave the floor as stone.
Bdubs frowned, prodding the redstone with his shoe. Docâs belief that Etho had actually gone missing was getting easier to believe, and it scared him.
âThatâs⌠nevermind, maybe heâs at Joelâs base?â Bdubs suggested, as much as saying it put a bitter taste in his mouth (why, why Joel? Why not him, he was just as good as Joel, why couldnât Etho see that?) they was likely true.
Doc does a sideways wavey motion with his hand.
I mean, itâs a pretty big place, that soundsâ it sounds plausible.
His wings start to flutter.
To Magic Mountain, then?
ââŚyeah.â Bdubs nodded, stepping outside of frogger.
Why couldnât it be him? He wasnât- Bdubs wasnât a bad person, was he? He hadnât done anything to Etho, no, no. He wouldnât do any thing to Etho. So why?
Bdubs jumped, setting off a firework rocket to propel him towards the stupid mountain.
Joel squints, trying to see who the two players flying towards his base are. Doc is obvious, but the other one- He catches a glint of moss. Bdubs. He waves, trying not to get his excitement at human interaction be too apparent.
Doc, Bdubs! Good you see ya, good to see ya. Whyâve you decided to pay me a visit? Missed me or something? I know, going without my presence for so long is painful.
He gives them a playful grin as he waves them further into the city.
Itâs hard to stick a landing with the high-power rockets. An effortâs made, but he canât help but wonder why he committed himself to using such inconvenient boosters.
Ey man.
The cityâs even bigger up close. How Joel has managed to pull this off is beyond him.
Just wanted to stop by and, yâknow, look around. Get a feel for the place.
His eyes fall on Bdubs.
âHi.â Bdubs muttered, not in the best of moods suddenly, scuffing his foot along the ground.
Then he remembered what they were here for, because Joel had clearly done something to Etho, clearly kept him from Bdubs.. and Doc. He marched forwards, thrusting an accusatory finger in Joelâs face.
âWHAT DID YOU DO TO ETHO, DID YA KIDNAP HIM? SPILL.â
He shouted, waving his free hand around in vague gestures.
@joels-mailbox

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
Someoneâs standing at the side of your bed. It quickly becomes evident who woke youâ heâs got a pretty distinctive figure, and the glowing red eye doesnât leave much up for question.
Ey, man.
Rather quiet for someone who seems to want you awake.
You got a minute to spare for your nHo buddy?
@docs-mailbox
Bdubs grumbled something, shifting to bury himself further under the duvet. After a few moments he opened an eye, then realised who had woken him.
âDoc?â He mumbled, letters all slurring together. âDoc!â the next time he sounded more awake, shoving himself up to sit. âOh, yeah, yeah I got time, whatâs up?â Bdubs yawned, pulling his moss tighter around himself. He didnât bother to fix the rest of his clothing or hair, too much effort!!
Itâs about your cloak.
You still giving tours?
Bdubsâ eyes lit up.
âReally?!â He stumbled out of his bed, beaming. âYeah- oh, just a warning, you might grow an extra limb⌠but itâs fine!â Bdubs shrugged off the cloak and parted the moss, revealing a milky white rift with pink and purple marbling. âHop in!â
So long as I donât lose another horn, Iâm sure Iâll be fine.
His horn isnât fully healed, of course. But thereâs progress.
Heâs swift to enter, with his primed fishing rod tucked safely in his inventory.
Bdubs waited a few moments to giggle excitedly before following Doc in. There was no solid floor, here, but it was easy to float and move. The air was comfortable (if a little suffocating when you focused on it too hard) and warm.
Bdubs could feel himself getting tired already, heâd be in for a very long, very pleasant nap. He flapped his wings lazily a few times to propel himself over to Doc.
âHowâve you been, anyways?â He mumbled, eyelids already drooping and words slurring together.
Everything feels a bit warm and hazy. As if he were lost underneath a warm blanket.
Been fine mostly. Somebody messed up my redstone, and I seem to have misplaced my communicatorâŚ
It dawns on him that this endless expanse of a place doesnât have many spots to hide a device like his comm. Which is great! All the more reason to brush off all those silly anxieties about what BigB said.
Still, nothingâs been confirmed, one way or another.
âŚbut other than that, everythingâs been great. Projects ânâ all, and my wings are back in action too.
He flutters his as well. Matching motions!
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, âs rubbish.â Floating a little bit closer, he embraced Doc tightly. âBut itâll be okay, yâknow why? The moss is here to help us.â His tone dropped to a sort of purr. âThe moss is safe, and very, very wonderful.â There were some more mumbles about the moss, and how it was going to take over but it was too quiet to clearly make out the sentences.
Yeah, you and your moss, itâsâŚ
Indistinct.
Doc leaned into his embrace with a faint smile. His eyes, though, were fixed on something else. Far out in the distance.
And, even knowing the nature of the situationâ his comm being missing, with Bdubs probably not being the culpritâ I mean, come on, heâs my friend, obviously I can trust him more than famed liar BigBâ he canât help but entertain the idea of Dubs having it on him.
Less in the sense of Dubs having stolen it, and more along the lines of Dubs just having it on hand for no particular reason. A cosmic convenience of sorts.
And itâs the push that drives him to askâ
âŚdonât wanna accuse you of noân, but do you happen to have my, uh, my comm? Or know where it is?
âMmm? No, no- why would I know?â Bdubs blinked, peering up at Doc. That was weird, heâd been asleep for god knows how long, why would Bdubs have it anywhere near him?? Oh well. âYou should just sleep instead of worryinâ âbout all these small things.â He yawned.
Someone told me you had it. Didnât believe them, but I wanted to double check.
BigBâs not a very reliable source of information, Iâve found.
In other news, lapis is blue.
Yeah, I knew I was probably going to get caught up in this⌠idea, I guess, unless I confronted you directly. âs part of why I visited. That, and, yâknow, we havenât talked in a while.
Wanted to see your face.
All the warm, hazy airâŚ
He nodded along.
âYeah, no communicator here.â Bdubs closed his eyes for a moment before forcing them to reopen. Naps were important, but so was speaking to his friend. âAw, I missed you.â He beamed. âWhatâve you been upto?â
Ah, you know, the usual. Digging holes. Thatâs kind of been my M.O. for the past, what, three seasons? At the very least.
This holeâs a secret, though. Nobody knows where it is except for me. And itâs gonna stay that way for awhile.
Something skitters through the holes in his crocsâ a bug? Some kind of beetle? But it isnât there when he takes off his shoe for inspection. Strange.
A moist quality permeates the air.
Smells vaguely of petrichor and cocoa.
He tilted his head.
âWhy? Itâs just a hole, isnât it?â Bdubs frowned, why would anyone hide just a hole, unless- âooh, does it have all yâ stuff in it?â Honestly, heâd really like to sleep right about now, and wants to give Doc a little ânudgeâ into doing so because the man doesnât seem that tired! He hugged Doc tighter before pausing.
Wait. No, this was weird. As much as he enjoyed having Doc here, having someone appreciate his existence, having someone offer to nap with him, Doc just wasnât the type to want to nap with him for days on end. He had that whole grind thrive grind some more acronym that Bdubs couldnât really remember at this time. ââŚYou do know weâll be asleep for days, maybe even weeks, right?â He should check, it was the right thing to do even if itâd hurt when Doc left because no, he didnât know how long theyâd be asleep.
Doc shrugs.
Holeâs still gonna be there when I get back.
And thereâs a solaceâ that sort of solace one could see in anotherâs eyesâ in knowing that his fishing rod was tucked away in his inventory. He knew he was the one in control here. Docâs wings flutter for a few moments.
Worst comes to worst, you, uh, you canât exactly grief a hole without making a bigger hole, so⌠yeah, I donât have to even worry about that.
If anything, you should be the one whoâs worried. Youâre the guy they put in charge of the Nether hub, and youâre out here taking week long naps.
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, ân I donât think anyoneâs crazy enough to fill it back in.â Well, some people were but they then werenât crazy enough to mess with Doc. Unless you were Martyn.
He went quiet for a few moments. âI donât think they miss me.â Bdubs looked away.
Whâ
Noâ theyâ!
Docâs wings tense.
Listen to me. We do miss you, why do you thinkâ I wouldnât be here if I didnât think youâd be here. âS the whole reason I came down here in the first place.
He can feel something brushing up against his fur. Sharp leaves or⌠maybe itâs vines of some sort, heâs not entirely sure what it is.
We are not doomed, this doesnât have to be your life.
Iâd say it to Etho too, but we havenât found him yet.
You ainât alone here, man.
Really? Bdubs shot a wary glance at Doc. It didnât feel like he was missed much anymore. His antennae fell low as Doc continued. âDoomedâ?? Bdubs was feeling a bit low, that was normal, but doomed seemed slightly dramatic.
And Bdubs was alone most of the time, which really was his own fault for sleeping so much recently. People didnât tend to want to spend a lot of time with someone who was asleep. He curled up tighter.
âI- uh, thank you. Yeah, weâre together.â Something felt a little off with Doc but he couldnât quite place what.
And with Etho nowhere to be found, Bdubsâ company was everything to him.
So, of course, when he picked up on the odd look in Dubsâ eyes, he adjusted accordingly, as best as he could. Not that he was fully sure what it was about he said that warranted that, but surely he could figure this out along the way.
This fucking jungle, man.
He couldnât quite tell whether he was floating or walking, but he nearly tripped over a log, which would have been a bit inconvenient.
Howâs this guy managing to stay so sleepy during all this, this is the most awake Iâve everâŚ
âŚbeenâŚ
Is thereâŚ
He hesitates. Thereâs an idea floating around his head, and he hesitates, because am I really going to bail on him this early on? Maybe âbailingâ isnât the right word, Iâll come back as soon as I can, but it still leaves a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.
He ruminates for a moment.
Bdubs furrowed his brows as Doc began âwalkingâ away.
âWhere yâ goinâ?â He quickly buzzed his wings and followed after Doc, really trying to stick close, clinging to the interactions he craved. âDoc?â
Iâm right here, Iâm right here, what, can a guy not stretch his legs or sumân?
Like, I know this is your, uh, place, but⌠câmon.
Doc forces out a bit of a chuckle. Is he not worried aboutâ?
No, heâs definitely worried about Etho. Maybe he just doesnât want to think about it right now.
âŚah! Thatâs it! That has to be it, itâs so obvious when you really stop and think about it. Bdubs has had all the fuckinâ time in the world to think about Ethoâ heâs been looking all over for the guy, no oneâs seen himâ
It always feels nice when things fall into place like this.
âso by coming down here and immediately trying, like, to passively look for Etho⌠itâs kind of an asshole move, isnât it? Bdubs needs support too! Of course! Obviously! How did I not think of that sooner?
As much as it did make him feel like a bit of an idiot, it was equally as vindicating, being able to think logically about a situation. Especially given the circumstances!
But that did leave one problem.
Thereâs only one thing in his possession that he knows could quell the incessant pounding in his head, demanding he get ahold of Etho and Dubs and take a mad dash out of this fucking labyrinthâ weakness potions.
Which just so happen to be at his houseâ which of course, is not here.
So the plan of action involves somehow sneaking out of here without Bdubs realizing it, getting some potions, and coming back. This, of course, is going to be really fucking difficult if he canât even pace around without getting called out for it.
And⌠are there even lakes in the jungle anyway?
Bdubsâ antennae flattened.
âSorry, sorry.â Jeez, he was so needy, no wonder Doc was walking off somewhere. He stuck a little further behind him now, but didnât dare take his eyes off of him.
âDo ya⌠want me to wait here for you?â Bdubs paused, thatâd be less annoying, right? And Doc would come back for him. Doc would definitely, most certainly come back for him. He really, really hoped Doc would come back for him. âI can stop followinâ after ya, yeah, yeah.â
Well shit, that was easy.
Yeah, um, yeah, I was just checking to see if there was a lake around. Wanted to see if I could catch something, itâs nice and grounding, you know?
He takes out his fishing rod. His heart slows to a resting rate, looking at it.
If youâve, um, seen a lake around here, itâd be nice if you could point me in the direction of it. Iâll fish you up something nice, we couldâ we could chat over a campfire, thatâs always fun.
Yeah! Good save!
âA lake?â Bdubs frowned. A quick glance around confirmed they were still in the weird pocket dimension. He laughed, Doc must be joking. âWhere are ya findinâ a lake here?â
He yawned, blinking a few times. âWhy donâtcha come back over here ân we can finally shreep, itâll be-â he was cut off by another yawn. âA nice rest.â Bdubs finished in a mumble.
No lakes.
That complicates things.
I mean, itâd be nicer if we had, like, a bonfire going or something. Andâ and yeah, I guess weâre obviously not gonna find any lakes here, butâŚ
Think of something, think of somethingâ
âŚI could⌠pretend⌠to fish something up?
??????????
âOr we could finally sleepâŚâ
Bdubs nodded along. âIf you want to?â He didnât see why it mattered too much, but if it was important to Doc, then fine. âWe can have a little fire ân stuff when weâre out of here.â He promised.
Yeah, honestly I probably need to lie down at this point.
He casts the rod out, andâ
âŚ
Heâs notâ?
Heâs. Still here.
Mumbles something about junk treasure, heâs not even sure what heâs on about, and he casts again, and it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work.
âand yeah, so hereâs the fishâŚ
It didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
âŚand we can just⌠lie down now.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
Yeah, and itâsâ yeah. Sleep time.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work IT DIDNâT WORK IT DIDNâTâ
Bdubs stared at Doc, yeah, okay something was really wrong. He moved over to Doc, grabbing his shoulder.
âAre you okay?â Did he do something wrong? He didnât intend to make Doc go all weird.
No everythingâs fine nothing is wrong.
Spoken with the swiftness and tact of someone who has just witnessed everything going wrong at once. Thereâs really no hiding it.
Bdubs was pretty awful at dealing with emotions, not qualified at all. Hugs seemed the safest route, maybe? He hesitantly embraced Doc.
âWhat happened?â He tried instead.
He drops the rod on the floor.
His fingers curl. The only thing outpacing his heartâs rate are his own thoughts, a cycloneâ a sandstormâ some sort of unprecedented disaster that wrecks him from the inside. And as he tries to speak he can feel his throat closing and this ache in his chest and he hates the way he can feel his fingers shaking and when he looks at his mechanical arm being co-opted by this fucking sensation in his head he just wants to tear it out andâ
Iâ!
He nearly chokes on it.
And he starts talking, too low and too soft and too fast for either of them to make out.
âanniknow youâre doing your best anni appreciate youâre here butâ
He tries to breathe. Itâs stifled. Itâs shaky.
We need to find Etho.
Andweneedafindhim before Beef goes lookinforâim.
Bdubs is quiet for a few, trying to work this all out. He did make a mental note to check up on Doc more, aswell. Wait- was this all about season five?
How on earth does he deal with this- well, for starters, he pulls away to grab Docâs wrist and drag him along. After a bit of searching the opening was found and Bdubs led them through it.
He rubbed at his eyes, orientating himself before refocusing on Doc.
âEthoâs probably in his base, or off with Joel somewhere.â Both hands planted on Docâs shoulders. Was he doing this right?? ââŚWe can, I dunno, go check if you want?â
The prospect of leaving the jungle without Etho by his side leaves a pit in his stomach, butâŚ
Bdubs needs this.
And so he fights off that paralyzingâ that thing, that feeling, coursing through him, and nods along.
Yeah, Iâd be⌠fine with that.
Bdubs offers a smile and instead grasps his hand to lead him out of his house. He supposed his nap could wait for a little bit in favour of this.
He hadnât seen Etho in⌠uhm, he didnât know. Time had sort of melted together recently, wasnât really sure when was what ân stuff. But itâd been a while! Luckily he still remembered the way to his base because- well, he was Bdubs. It was his job to be weird about Etho.
Bdubs wound through the path until they reached Ethoâs base, this Japanese-looking thing, still had that ugly bright purple roof.
âI reckon heâs in here.â Bdubs nodded.
There isnât exactly a door to knock on, nor is there any sort of doorbell. Dust bunnies are scattered along the creaky wooden floorboardsâ Doc had figured Etho would be busy with Frogger, but this is ridiculous.
Still, he takes the liberty of inviting himself in. Maybe heâs just been in the basement? Thatâs where all the utilityâs located.
Cozy place. The smell of honey and overgrown produce wafts through the air, and the scintillating refractions of the lake are⌠theyâre very strong. It certainly keeps him grounded.
And the sounds are rather peaceful as well. Between the beavers, the rustling leaves, and the ebb and flow of the water, itâs anything but empty.
But Ethoâs nowhere to be found.
Etho?
Heâs got to be here, right?
Etho, you in here?
Bdubs frowned.
âHeâs, uhm. Probably at Joels, or Ravager rush, yeah.â He hated the fear crawling up his spine, because it was definitely irrational. Etho was somewhere, he was sure of it!
Joelâs. That place is⌠well, itâs huge. Really went all out with his debut base, itâs as if nobody told him about the resets.
But the way that Bdubs said it⌠Doc couldnât help but tense his shoulders.
Bdubs wouldnât leave without Etho, right? Surely he knows where he is.
Should weâ
He clears his throat.
We should check Frogger first. Get that out of the way.
Bdubs was pulled out of his thoughts when Doc spoke. He nodded.
âYeah, heâll be there, I reckon. Lost in the redstone.â He snickered. Bdubs equipped his elytra (his own wings werenât strong enough for long distance flight).
A minute or two later they were poking around the wiring of Frogger.
âEtho?â He called, same as before there was no response.
Doc squints at the machinery standing before him.
Of course, with each month, the game has to endure upkeep, including occasional balance updates to keep it fresh. But some of the circuits seem⌠out of place.
This doesnât even look like Ethoâs redstoneâ he wouldnât wire it like this.
He points to a circuit on the ground, which has guiding gridlines beneath it. The floor is polished tuff.
Like, look at this. He wouldnât go out of his way to do this, heâd just leave the floor as stone.
Bdubs frowned, prodding the redstone with his shoe. Docâs belief that Etho had actually gone missing was getting easier to believe, and it scared him.
âThatâs⌠nevermind, maybe heâs at Joelâs base?â Bdubs suggested, as much as saying it put a bitter taste in his mouth (why, why Joel? Why not him, he was just as good as Joel, why couldnât Etho see that?) they was likely true.
Doc does a sideways wavey motion with his hand.
I mean, itâs a pretty big place, that soundsâ it sounds plausible.
His wings start to flutter.
To Magic Mountain, then?
ââŚyeah.â Bdubs nodded, stepping outside of frogger.
Why couldnât it be him? He wasnât- Bdubs wasnât a bad person, was he? He hadnât done anything to Etho, no, no. He wouldnât do any thing to Etho. So why?
Bdubs jumped, setting off a firework rocket to propel him towards the stupid mountain.
Someoneâs standing at the side of your bed. It quickly becomes evident who woke youâ heâs got a pretty distinctive figure, and the glowing red eye doesnât leave much up for question.
Ey, man.
Rather quiet for someone who seems to want you awake.
You got a minute to spare for your nHo buddy?
@docs-mailbox
Bdubs grumbled something, shifting to bury himself further under the duvet. After a few moments he opened an eye, then realised who had woken him.
âDoc?â He mumbled, letters all slurring together. âDoc!â the next time he sounded more awake, shoving himself up to sit. âOh, yeah, yeah I got time, whatâs up?â Bdubs yawned, pulling his moss tighter around himself. He didnât bother to fix the rest of his clothing or hair, too much effort!!
Itâs about your cloak.
You still giving tours?
Bdubsâ eyes lit up.
âReally?!â He stumbled out of his bed, beaming. âYeah- oh, just a warning, you might grow an extra limb⌠but itâs fine!â Bdubs shrugged off the cloak and parted the moss, revealing a milky white rift with pink and purple marbling. âHop in!â
So long as I donât lose another horn, Iâm sure Iâll be fine.
His horn isnât fully healed, of course. But thereâs progress.
Heâs swift to enter, with his primed fishing rod tucked safely in his inventory.
Bdubs waited a few moments to giggle excitedly before following Doc in. There was no solid floor, here, but it was easy to float and move. The air was comfortable (if a little suffocating when you focused on it too hard) and warm.
Bdubs could feel himself getting tired already, heâd be in for a very long, very pleasant nap. He flapped his wings lazily a few times to propel himself over to Doc.
âHowâve you been, anyways?â He mumbled, eyelids already drooping and words slurring together.
Everything feels a bit warm and hazy. As if he were lost underneath a warm blanket.
Been fine mostly. Somebody messed up my redstone, and I seem to have misplaced my communicatorâŚ
It dawns on him that this endless expanse of a place doesnât have many spots to hide a device like his comm. Which is great! All the more reason to brush off all those silly anxieties about what BigB said.
Still, nothingâs been confirmed, one way or another.
âŚbut other than that, everythingâs been great. Projects ânâ all, and my wings are back in action too.
He flutters his as well. Matching motions!
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, âs rubbish.â Floating a little bit closer, he embraced Doc tightly. âBut itâll be okay, yâknow why? The moss is here to help us.â His tone dropped to a sort of purr. âThe moss is safe, and very, very wonderful.â There were some more mumbles about the moss, and how it was going to take over but it was too quiet to clearly make out the sentences.
Yeah, you and your moss, itâsâŚ
Indistinct.
Doc leaned into his embrace with a faint smile. His eyes, though, were fixed on something else. Far out in the distance.
And, even knowing the nature of the situationâ his comm being missing, with Bdubs probably not being the culpritâ I mean, come on, heâs my friend, obviously I can trust him more than famed liar BigBâ he canât help but entertain the idea of Dubs having it on him.
Less in the sense of Dubs having stolen it, and more along the lines of Dubs just having it on hand for no particular reason. A cosmic convenience of sorts.
And itâs the push that drives him to askâ
âŚdonât wanna accuse you of noân, but do you happen to have my, uh, my comm? Or know where it is?
âMmm? No, no- why would I know?â Bdubs blinked, peering up at Doc. That was weird, heâd been asleep for god knows how long, why would Bdubs have it anywhere near him?? Oh well. âYou should just sleep instead of worryinâ âbout all these small things.â He yawned.
Someone told me you had it. Didnât believe them, but I wanted to double check.
BigBâs not a very reliable source of information, Iâve found.
In other news, lapis is blue.
Yeah, I knew I was probably going to get caught up in this⌠idea, I guess, unless I confronted you directly. âs part of why I visited. That, and, yâknow, we havenât talked in a while.
Wanted to see your face.
All the warm, hazy airâŚ
He nodded along.
âYeah, no communicator here.â Bdubs closed his eyes for a moment before forcing them to reopen. Naps were important, but so was speaking to his friend. âAw, I missed you.â He beamed. âWhatâve you been upto?â
Ah, you know, the usual. Digging holes. Thatâs kind of been my M.O. for the past, what, three seasons? At the very least.
This holeâs a secret, though. Nobody knows where it is except for me. And itâs gonna stay that way for awhile.
Something skitters through the holes in his crocsâ a bug? Some kind of beetle? But it isnât there when he takes off his shoe for inspection. Strange.
A moist quality permeates the air.
Smells vaguely of petrichor and cocoa.
He tilted his head.
âWhy? Itâs just a hole, isnât it?â Bdubs frowned, why would anyone hide just a hole, unless- âooh, does it have all yâ stuff in it?â Honestly, heâd really like to sleep right about now, and wants to give Doc a little ânudgeâ into doing so because the man doesnât seem that tired! He hugged Doc tighter before pausing.
Wait. No, this was weird. As much as he enjoyed having Doc here, having someone appreciate his existence, having someone offer to nap with him, Doc just wasnât the type to want to nap with him for days on end. He had that whole grind thrive grind some more acronym that Bdubs couldnât really remember at this time. ââŚYou do know weâll be asleep for days, maybe even weeks, right?â He should check, it was the right thing to do even if itâd hurt when Doc left because no, he didnât know how long theyâd be asleep.
Doc shrugs.
Holeâs still gonna be there when I get back.
And thereâs a solaceâ that sort of solace one could see in anotherâs eyesâ in knowing that his fishing rod was tucked away in his inventory. He knew he was the one in control here. Docâs wings flutter for a few moments.
Worst comes to worst, you, uh, you canât exactly grief a hole without making a bigger hole, so⌠yeah, I donât have to even worry about that.
If anything, you should be the one whoâs worried. Youâre the guy they put in charge of the Nether hub, and youâre out here taking week long naps.
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, ân I donât think anyoneâs crazy enough to fill it back in.â Well, some people were but they then werenât crazy enough to mess with Doc. Unless you were Martyn.
He went quiet for a few moments. âI donât think they miss me.â Bdubs looked away.
Whâ
Noâ theyâ!
Docâs wings tense.
Listen to me. We do miss you, why do you thinkâ I wouldnât be here if I didnât think youâd be here. âS the whole reason I came down here in the first place.
He can feel something brushing up against his fur. Sharp leaves or⌠maybe itâs vines of some sort, heâs not entirely sure what it is.
We are not doomed, this doesnât have to be your life.
Iâd say it to Etho too, but we havenât found him yet.
You ainât alone here, man.
Really? Bdubs shot a wary glance at Doc. It didnât feel like he was missed much anymore. His antennae fell low as Doc continued. âDoomedâ?? Bdubs was feeling a bit low, that was normal, but doomed seemed slightly dramatic.
And Bdubs was alone most of the time, which really was his own fault for sleeping so much recently. People didnât tend to want to spend a lot of time with someone who was asleep. He curled up tighter.
âI- uh, thank you. Yeah, weâre together.â Something felt a little off with Doc but he couldnât quite place what.
And with Etho nowhere to be found, Bdubsâ company was everything to him.
So, of course, when he picked up on the odd look in Dubsâ eyes, he adjusted accordingly, as best as he could. Not that he was fully sure what it was about he said that warranted that, but surely he could figure this out along the way.
This fucking jungle, man.
He couldnât quite tell whether he was floating or walking, but he nearly tripped over a log, which would have been a bit inconvenient.
Howâs this guy managing to stay so sleepy during all this, this is the most awake Iâve everâŚ
âŚbeenâŚ
Is thereâŚ
He hesitates. Thereâs an idea floating around his head, and he hesitates, because am I really going to bail on him this early on? Maybe âbailingâ isnât the right word, Iâll come back as soon as I can, but it still leaves a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.
He ruminates for a moment.
Bdubs furrowed his brows as Doc began âwalkingâ away.
âWhere yâ goinâ?â He quickly buzzed his wings and followed after Doc, really trying to stick close, clinging to the interactions he craved. âDoc?â
Iâm right here, Iâm right here, what, can a guy not stretch his legs or sumân?
Like, I know this is your, uh, place, but⌠câmon.
Doc forces out a bit of a chuckle. Is he not worried aboutâ?
No, heâs definitely worried about Etho. Maybe he just doesnât want to think about it right now.
âŚah! Thatâs it! That has to be it, itâs so obvious when you really stop and think about it. Bdubs has had all the fuckinâ time in the world to think about Ethoâ heâs been looking all over for the guy, no oneâs seen himâ
It always feels nice when things fall into place like this.
âso by coming down here and immediately trying, like, to passively look for Etho⌠itâs kind of an asshole move, isnât it? Bdubs needs support too! Of course! Obviously! How did I not think of that sooner?
As much as it did make him feel like a bit of an idiot, it was equally as vindicating, being able to think logically about a situation. Especially given the circumstances!
But that did leave one problem.
Thereâs only one thing in his possession that he knows could quell the incessant pounding in his head, demanding he get ahold of Etho and Dubs and take a mad dash out of this fucking labyrinthâ weakness potions.
Which just so happen to be at his houseâ which of course, is not here.
So the plan of action involves somehow sneaking out of here without Bdubs realizing it, getting some potions, and coming back. This, of course, is going to be really fucking difficult if he canât even pace around without getting called out for it.
And⌠are there even lakes in the jungle anyway?
Bdubsâ antennae flattened.
âSorry, sorry.â Jeez, he was so needy, no wonder Doc was walking off somewhere. He stuck a little further behind him now, but didnât dare take his eyes off of him.
âDo ya⌠want me to wait here for you?â Bdubs paused, thatâd be less annoying, right? And Doc would come back for him. Doc would definitely, most certainly come back for him. He really, really hoped Doc would come back for him. âI can stop followinâ after ya, yeah, yeah.â
Well shit, that was easy.
Yeah, um, yeah, I was just checking to see if there was a lake around. Wanted to see if I could catch something, itâs nice and grounding, you know?
He takes out his fishing rod. His heart slows to a resting rate, looking at it.
If youâve, um, seen a lake around here, itâd be nice if you could point me in the direction of it. Iâll fish you up something nice, we couldâ we could chat over a campfire, thatâs always fun.
Yeah! Good save!
âA lake?â Bdubs frowned. A quick glance around confirmed they were still in the weird pocket dimension. He laughed, Doc must be joking. âWhere are ya findinâ a lake here?â
He yawned, blinking a few times. âWhy donâtcha come back over here ân we can finally shreep, itâll be-â he was cut off by another yawn. âA nice rest.â Bdubs finished in a mumble.
No lakes.
That complicates things.
I mean, itâd be nicer if we had, like, a bonfire going or something. Andâ and yeah, I guess weâre obviously not gonna find any lakes here, butâŚ
Think of something, think of somethingâ
âŚI could⌠pretend⌠to fish something up?
??????????
âOr we could finally sleepâŚâ
Bdubs nodded along. âIf you want to?â He didnât see why it mattered too much, but if it was important to Doc, then fine. âWe can have a little fire ân stuff when weâre out of here.â He promised.
Yeah, honestly I probably need to lie down at this point.
He casts the rod out, andâ
âŚ
Heâs notâ?
Heâs. Still here.
Mumbles something about junk treasure, heâs not even sure what heâs on about, and he casts again, and it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work.
âand yeah, so hereâs the fishâŚ
It didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
âŚand we can just⌠lie down now.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
Yeah, and itâsâ yeah. Sleep time.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work IT DIDNâT WORK IT DIDNâTâ
Bdubs stared at Doc, yeah, okay something was really wrong. He moved over to Doc, grabbing his shoulder.
âAre you okay?â Did he do something wrong? He didnât intend to make Doc go all weird.
No everythingâs fine nothing is wrong.
Spoken with the swiftness and tact of someone who has just witnessed everything going wrong at once. Thereâs really no hiding it.
Bdubs was pretty awful at dealing with emotions, not qualified at all. Hugs seemed the safest route, maybe? He hesitantly embraced Doc.
âWhat happened?â He tried instead.
He drops the rod on the floor.
His fingers curl. The only thing outpacing his heartâs rate are his own thoughts, a cycloneâ a sandstormâ some sort of unprecedented disaster that wrecks him from the inside. And as he tries to speak he can feel his throat closing and this ache in his chest and he hates the way he can feel his fingers shaking and when he looks at his mechanical arm being co-opted by this fucking sensation in his head he just wants to tear it out andâ
Iâ!
He nearly chokes on it.
And he starts talking, too low and too soft and too fast for either of them to make out.
âanniknow youâre doing your best anni appreciate youâre here butâ
He tries to breathe. Itâs stifled. Itâs shaky.
We need to find Etho.
Andweneedafindhim before Beef goes lookinforâim.
Bdubs is quiet for a few, trying to work this all out. He did make a mental note to check up on Doc more, aswell. Wait- was this all about season five?
How on earth does he deal with this- well, for starters, he pulls away to grab Docâs wrist and drag him along. After a bit of searching the opening was found and Bdubs led them through it.
He rubbed at his eyes, orientating himself before refocusing on Doc.
âEthoâs probably in his base, or off with Joel somewhere.â Both hands planted on Docâs shoulders. Was he doing this right?? ââŚWe can, I dunno, go check if you want?â
The prospect of leaving the jungle without Etho by his side leaves a pit in his stomach, butâŚ
Bdubs needs this.
And so he fights off that paralyzingâ that thing, that feeling, coursing through him, and nods along.
Yeah, Iâd be⌠fine with that.
Bdubs offers a smile and instead grasps his hand to lead him out of his house. He supposed his nap could wait for a little bit in favour of this.
He hadnât seen Etho in⌠uhm, he didnât know. Time had sort of melted together recently, wasnât really sure when was what ân stuff. But itâd been a while! Luckily he still remembered the way to his base because- well, he was Bdubs. It was his job to be weird about Etho.
Bdubs wound through the path until they reached Ethoâs base, this Japanese-looking thing, still had that ugly bright purple roof.
âI reckon heâs in here.â Bdubs nodded.
There isnât exactly a door to knock on, nor is there any sort of doorbell. Dust bunnies are scattered along the creaky wooden floorboardsâ Doc had figured Etho would be busy with Frogger, but this is ridiculous.
Still, he takes the liberty of inviting himself in. Maybe heâs just been in the basement? Thatâs where all the utilityâs located.
Cozy place. The smell of honey and overgrown produce wafts through the air, and the scintillating refractions of the lake are⌠theyâre very strong. It certainly keeps him grounded.
And the sounds are rather peaceful as well. Between the beavers, the rustling leaves, and the ebb and flow of the water, itâs anything but empty.
But Ethoâs nowhere to be found.
Etho?
Heâs got to be here, right?
Etho, you in here?
Bdubs frowned.
âHeâs, uhm. Probably at Joels, or Ravager rush, yeah.â He hated the fear crawling up his spine, because it was definitely irrational. Etho was somewhere, he was sure of it!
Joelâs. That place is⌠well, itâs huge. Really went all out with his debut base, itâs as if nobody told him about the resets.
But the way that Bdubs said it⌠Doc couldnât help but tense his shoulders.
Bdubs wouldnât leave without Etho, right? Surely he knows where he is.
Should weâ
He clears his throat.
We should check Frogger first. Get that out of the way.
Bdubs was pulled out of his thoughts when Doc spoke. He nodded.
âYeah, heâll be there, I reckon. Lost in the redstone.â He snickered. Bdubs equipped his elytra (his own wings werenât strong enough for long distance flight).
A minute or two later they were poking around the wiring of Frogger.
âEtho?â He called, same as before there was no response.
Doc squints at the machinery standing before him.
Of course, with each month, the game has to endure upkeep, including occasional balance updates to keep it fresh. But some of the circuits seem⌠out of place.
This doesnât even look like Ethoâs redstoneâ he wouldnât wire it like this.
He points to a circuit on the ground, which has guiding gridlines beneath it. The floor is polished tuff.
Like, look at this. He wouldnât go out of his way to do this, heâd just leave the floor as stone.
Bdubs frowned, prodding the redstone with his shoe. Docâs belief that Etho had actually gone missing was getting easier to believe, and it scared him.
âThatâs⌠nevermind, maybe heâs at Joelâs base?â Bdubs suggested, as much as saying it put a bitter taste in his mouth (why, why Joel? Why not him, he was just as good as Joel, why couldnât Etho see that?) they was likely true.
[A Guardian in a boat has been mysteriously left on the tennis court. It doesn't make a very sportsmanlike opponent.]
@pearls-mailbox
Bdubs frowned, where did this guardian come from? He didnât remember bringing one here, but then again, he doesnât remember much.
Maybe he could try playing tennis with it?
He grabbed a racket and ball, heading to the other half of the court and serving the ball.
âŚ
Which was instantly punctured on the guardianâs spikes.
âYou CHEATER!â Bdubs shouted, flinging the racket at the guardian, who let out a series of noises that didnât sound particularly happy. He sniffled, tugging his cloak tighter around his shoulders.
Hi all :)
I am aiming to nab a code to get on Vgen as an artist and would be very grateful for interactions on this post!!
I need 100 likes + five unique comments!
Here is some of my work :3
he/him!!
Someoneâs standing at the side of your bed. It quickly becomes evident who woke youâ heâs got a pretty distinctive figure, and the glowing red eye doesnât leave much up for question.
Ey, man.
Rather quiet for someone who seems to want you awake.
You got a minute to spare for your nHo buddy?
@docs-mailbox
Bdubs grumbled something, shifting to bury himself further under the duvet. After a few moments he opened an eye, then realised who had woken him.
âDoc?â He mumbled, letters all slurring together. âDoc!â the next time he sounded more awake, shoving himself up to sit. âOh, yeah, yeah I got time, whatâs up?â Bdubs yawned, pulling his moss tighter around himself. He didnât bother to fix the rest of his clothing or hair, too much effort!!
Itâs about your cloak.
You still giving tours?
Bdubsâ eyes lit up.
âReally?!â He stumbled out of his bed, beaming. âYeah- oh, just a warning, you might grow an extra limb⌠but itâs fine!â Bdubs shrugged off the cloak and parted the moss, revealing a milky white rift with pink and purple marbling. âHop in!â
So long as I donât lose another horn, Iâm sure Iâll be fine.
His horn isnât fully healed, of course. But thereâs progress.
Heâs swift to enter, with his primed fishing rod tucked safely in his inventory.
Bdubs waited a few moments to giggle excitedly before following Doc in. There was no solid floor, here, but it was easy to float and move. The air was comfortable (if a little suffocating when you focused on it too hard) and warm.
Bdubs could feel himself getting tired already, heâd be in for a very long, very pleasant nap. He flapped his wings lazily a few times to propel himself over to Doc.
âHowâve you been, anyways?â He mumbled, eyelids already drooping and words slurring together.
Everything feels a bit warm and hazy. As if he were lost underneath a warm blanket.
Been fine mostly. Somebody messed up my redstone, and I seem to have misplaced my communicatorâŚ
It dawns on him that this endless expanse of a place doesnât have many spots to hide a device like his comm. Which is great! All the more reason to brush off all those silly anxieties about what BigB said.
Still, nothingâs been confirmed, one way or another.
âŚbut other than that, everythingâs been great. Projects ânâ all, and my wings are back in action too.
He flutters his as well. Matching motions!
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, âs rubbish.â Floating a little bit closer, he embraced Doc tightly. âBut itâll be okay, yâknow why? The moss is here to help us.â His tone dropped to a sort of purr. âThe moss is safe, and very, very wonderful.â There were some more mumbles about the moss, and how it was going to take over but it was too quiet to clearly make out the sentences.
Yeah, you and your moss, itâsâŚ
Indistinct.
Doc leaned into his embrace with a faint smile. His eyes, though, were fixed on something else. Far out in the distance.
And, even knowing the nature of the situationâ his comm being missing, with Bdubs probably not being the culpritâ I mean, come on, heâs my friend, obviously I can trust him more than famed liar BigBâ he canât help but entertain the idea of Dubs having it on him.
Less in the sense of Dubs having stolen it, and more along the lines of Dubs just having it on hand for no particular reason. A cosmic convenience of sorts.
And itâs the push that drives him to askâ
âŚdonât wanna accuse you of noân, but do you happen to have my, uh, my comm? Or know where it is?
âMmm? No, no- why would I know?â Bdubs blinked, peering up at Doc. That was weird, heâd been asleep for god knows how long, why would Bdubs have it anywhere near him?? Oh well. âYou should just sleep instead of worryinâ âbout all these small things.â He yawned.
Someone told me you had it. Didnât believe them, but I wanted to double check.
BigBâs not a very reliable source of information, Iâve found.
In other news, lapis is blue.
Yeah, I knew I was probably going to get caught up in this⌠idea, I guess, unless I confronted you directly. âs part of why I visited. That, and, yâknow, we havenât talked in a while.
Wanted to see your face.
All the warm, hazy airâŚ
He nodded along.
âYeah, no communicator here.â Bdubs closed his eyes for a moment before forcing them to reopen. Naps were important, but so was speaking to his friend. âAw, I missed you.â He beamed. âWhatâve you been upto?â
Ah, you know, the usual. Digging holes. Thatâs kind of been my M.O. for the past, what, three seasons? At the very least.
This holeâs a secret, though. Nobody knows where it is except for me. And itâs gonna stay that way for awhile.
Something skitters through the holes in his crocsâ a bug? Some kind of beetle? But it isnât there when he takes off his shoe for inspection. Strange.
A moist quality permeates the air.
Smells vaguely of petrichor and cocoa.
He tilted his head.
âWhy? Itâs just a hole, isnât it?â Bdubs frowned, why would anyone hide just a hole, unless- âooh, does it have all yâ stuff in it?â Honestly, heâd really like to sleep right about now, and wants to give Doc a little ânudgeâ into doing so because the man doesnât seem that tired! He hugged Doc tighter before pausing.
Wait. No, this was weird. As much as he enjoyed having Doc here, having someone appreciate his existence, having someone offer to nap with him, Doc just wasnât the type to want to nap with him for days on end. He had that whole grind thrive grind some more acronym that Bdubs couldnât really remember at this time. ââŚYou do know weâll be asleep for days, maybe even weeks, right?â He should check, it was the right thing to do even if itâd hurt when Doc left because no, he didnât know how long theyâd be asleep.
Doc shrugs.
Holeâs still gonna be there when I get back.
And thereâs a solaceâ that sort of solace one could see in anotherâs eyesâ in knowing that his fishing rod was tucked away in his inventory. He knew he was the one in control here. Docâs wings flutter for a few moments.
Worst comes to worst, you, uh, you canât exactly grief a hole without making a bigger hole, so⌠yeah, I donât have to even worry about that.
If anything, you should be the one whoâs worried. Youâre the guy they put in charge of the Nether hub, and youâre out here taking week long naps.
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, ân I donât think anyoneâs crazy enough to fill it back in.â Well, some people were but they then werenât crazy enough to mess with Doc. Unless you were Martyn.
He went quiet for a few moments. âI donât think they miss me.â Bdubs looked away.
Whâ
Noâ theyâ!
Docâs wings tense.
Listen to me. We do miss you, why do you thinkâ I wouldnât be here if I didnât think youâd be here. âS the whole reason I came down here in the first place.
He can feel something brushing up against his fur. Sharp leaves or⌠maybe itâs vines of some sort, heâs not entirely sure what it is.
We are not doomed, this doesnât have to be your life.
Iâd say it to Etho too, but we havenât found him yet.
You ainât alone here, man.
Really? Bdubs shot a wary glance at Doc. It didnât feel like he was missed much anymore. His antennae fell low as Doc continued. âDoomedâ?? Bdubs was feeling a bit low, that was normal, but doomed seemed slightly dramatic.
And Bdubs was alone most of the time, which really was his own fault for sleeping so much recently. People didnât tend to want to spend a lot of time with someone who was asleep. He curled up tighter.
âI- uh, thank you. Yeah, weâre together.â Something felt a little off with Doc but he couldnât quite place what.
And with Etho nowhere to be found, Bdubsâ company was everything to him.
So, of course, when he picked up on the odd look in Dubsâ eyes, he adjusted accordingly, as best as he could. Not that he was fully sure what it was about he said that warranted that, but surely he could figure this out along the way.
This fucking jungle, man.
He couldnât quite tell whether he was floating or walking, but he nearly tripped over a log, which would have been a bit inconvenient.
Howâs this guy managing to stay so sleepy during all this, this is the most awake Iâve everâŚ
âŚbeenâŚ
Is thereâŚ
He hesitates. Thereâs an idea floating around his head, and he hesitates, because am I really going to bail on him this early on? Maybe âbailingâ isnât the right word, Iâll come back as soon as I can, but it still leaves a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.
He ruminates for a moment.
Bdubs furrowed his brows as Doc began âwalkingâ away.
âWhere yâ goinâ?â He quickly buzzed his wings and followed after Doc, really trying to stick close, clinging to the interactions he craved. âDoc?â
Iâm right here, Iâm right here, what, can a guy not stretch his legs or sumân?
Like, I know this is your, uh, place, but⌠câmon.
Doc forces out a bit of a chuckle. Is he not worried aboutâ?
No, heâs definitely worried about Etho. Maybe he just doesnât want to think about it right now.
âŚah! Thatâs it! That has to be it, itâs so obvious when you really stop and think about it. Bdubs has had all the fuckinâ time in the world to think about Ethoâ heâs been looking all over for the guy, no oneâs seen himâ
It always feels nice when things fall into place like this.
âso by coming down here and immediately trying, like, to passively look for Etho⌠itâs kind of an asshole move, isnât it? Bdubs needs support too! Of course! Obviously! How did I not think of that sooner?
As much as it did make him feel like a bit of an idiot, it was equally as vindicating, being able to think logically about a situation. Especially given the circumstances!
But that did leave one problem.
Thereâs only one thing in his possession that he knows could quell the incessant pounding in his head, demanding he get ahold of Etho and Dubs and take a mad dash out of this fucking labyrinthâ weakness potions.
Which just so happen to be at his houseâ which of course, is not here.
So the plan of action involves somehow sneaking out of here without Bdubs realizing it, getting some potions, and coming back. This, of course, is going to be really fucking difficult if he canât even pace around without getting called out for it.
And⌠are there even lakes in the jungle anyway?
Bdubsâ antennae flattened.
âSorry, sorry.â Jeez, he was so needy, no wonder Doc was walking off somewhere. He stuck a little further behind him now, but didnât dare take his eyes off of him.
âDo ya⌠want me to wait here for you?â Bdubs paused, thatâd be less annoying, right? And Doc would come back for him. Doc would definitely, most certainly come back for him. He really, really hoped Doc would come back for him. âI can stop followinâ after ya, yeah, yeah.â
Well shit, that was easy.
Yeah, um, yeah, I was just checking to see if there was a lake around. Wanted to see if I could catch something, itâs nice and grounding, you know?
He takes out his fishing rod. His heart slows to a resting rate, looking at it.
If youâve, um, seen a lake around here, itâd be nice if you could point me in the direction of it. Iâll fish you up something nice, we couldâ we could chat over a campfire, thatâs always fun.
Yeah! Good save!
âA lake?â Bdubs frowned. A quick glance around confirmed they were still in the weird pocket dimension. He laughed, Doc must be joking. âWhere are ya findinâ a lake here?â
He yawned, blinking a few times. âWhy donâtcha come back over here ân we can finally shreep, itâll be-â he was cut off by another yawn. âA nice rest.â Bdubs finished in a mumble.
No lakes.
That complicates things.
I mean, itâd be nicer if we had, like, a bonfire going or something. Andâ and yeah, I guess weâre obviously not gonna find any lakes here, butâŚ
Think of something, think of somethingâ
âŚI could⌠pretend⌠to fish something up?
??????????
âOr we could finally sleepâŚâ
Bdubs nodded along. âIf you want to?â He didnât see why it mattered too much, but if it was important to Doc, then fine. âWe can have a little fire ân stuff when weâre out of here.â He promised.
Yeah, honestly I probably need to lie down at this point.
He casts the rod out, andâ
âŚ
Heâs notâ?
Heâs. Still here.
Mumbles something about junk treasure, heâs not even sure what heâs on about, and he casts again, and it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work.
âand yeah, so hereâs the fishâŚ
It didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
âŚand we can just⌠lie down now.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
Yeah, and itâsâ yeah. Sleep time.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work IT DIDNâT WORK IT DIDNâTâ
Bdubs stared at Doc, yeah, okay something was really wrong. He moved over to Doc, grabbing his shoulder.
âAre you okay?â Did he do something wrong? He didnât intend to make Doc go all weird.
No everythingâs fine nothing is wrong.
Spoken with the swiftness and tact of someone who has just witnessed everything going wrong at once. Thereâs really no hiding it.
Bdubs was pretty awful at dealing with emotions, not qualified at all. Hugs seemed the safest route, maybe? He hesitantly embraced Doc.
âWhat happened?â He tried instead.
He drops the rod on the floor.
His fingers curl. The only thing outpacing his heartâs rate are his own thoughts, a cycloneâ a sandstormâ some sort of unprecedented disaster that wrecks him from the inside. And as he tries to speak he can feel his throat closing and this ache in his chest and he hates the way he can feel his fingers shaking and when he looks at his mechanical arm being co-opted by this fucking sensation in his head he just wants to tear it out andâ
Iâ!
He nearly chokes on it.
And he starts talking, too low and too soft and too fast for either of them to make out.
âanniknow youâre doing your best anni appreciate youâre here butâ
He tries to breathe. Itâs stifled. Itâs shaky.
We need to find Etho.
Andweneedafindhim before Beef goes lookinforâim.
Bdubs is quiet for a few, trying to work this all out. He did make a mental note to check up on Doc more, aswell. Wait- was this all about season five?
How on earth does he deal with this- well, for starters, he pulls away to grab Docâs wrist and drag him along. After a bit of searching the opening was found and Bdubs led them through it.
He rubbed at his eyes, orientating himself before refocusing on Doc.
âEthoâs probably in his base, or off with Joel somewhere.â Both hands planted on Docâs shoulders. Was he doing this right?? ââŚWe can, I dunno, go check if you want?â
The prospect of leaving the jungle without Etho by his side leaves a pit in his stomach, butâŚ
Bdubs needs this.
And so he fights off that paralyzingâ that thing, that feeling, coursing through him, and nods along.
Yeah, Iâd be⌠fine with that.
Bdubs offers a smile and instead grasps his hand to lead him out of his house. He supposed his nap could wait for a little bit in favour of this.
He hadnât seen Etho in⌠uhm, he didnât know. Time had sort of melted together recently, wasnât really sure when was what ân stuff. But itâd been a while! Luckily he still remembered the way to his base because- well, he was Bdubs. It was his job to be weird about Etho.
Bdubs wound through the path until they reached Ethoâs base, this Japanese-looking thing, still had that ugly bright purple roof.
âI reckon heâs in here.â Bdubs nodded.
There isnât exactly a door to knock on, nor is there any sort of doorbell. Dust bunnies are scattered along the creaky wooden floorboardsâ Doc had figured Etho would be busy with Frogger, but this is ridiculous.
Still, he takes the liberty of inviting himself in. Maybe heâs just been in the basement? Thatâs where all the utilityâs located.
Cozy place. The smell of honey and overgrown produce wafts through the air, and the scintillating refractions of the lake are⌠theyâre very strong. It certainly keeps him grounded.
And the sounds are rather peaceful as well. Between the beavers, the rustling leaves, and the ebb and flow of the water, itâs anything but empty.
But Ethoâs nowhere to be found.
Etho?
Heâs got to be here, right?
Etho, you in here?
Bdubs frowned.
âHeâs, uhm. Probably at Joels, or Ravager rush, yeah.â He hated the fear crawling up his spine, because it was definitely irrational. Etho was somewhere, he was sure of it!
Joelâs. That place is⌠well, itâs huge. Really went all out with his debut base, itâs as if nobody told him about the resets.
But the way that Bdubs said it⌠Doc couldnât help but tense his shoulders.
Bdubs wouldnât leave without Etho, right? Surely he knows where he is.
Should weâ
He clears his throat.
We should check Frogger first. Get that out of the way.
Bdubs was pulled out of his thoughts when Doc spoke. He nodded.
âYeah, heâll be there, I reckon. Lost in the redstone.â He snickered. Bdubs equipped his elytra (his own wings werenât strong enough for long distance flight).
A minute or two later they were poking around the wiring of Frogger.
âEtho?â He called, same as before there was no response.

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
Someoneâs standing at the side of your bed. It quickly becomes evident who woke youâ heâs got a pretty distinctive figure, and the glowing red eye doesnât leave much up for question.
Ey, man.
Rather quiet for someone who seems to want you awake.
You got a minute to spare for your nHo buddy?
@docs-mailbox
Bdubs grumbled something, shifting to bury himself further under the duvet. After a few moments he opened an eye, then realised who had woken him.
âDoc?â He mumbled, letters all slurring together. âDoc!â the next time he sounded more awake, shoving himself up to sit. âOh, yeah, yeah I got time, whatâs up?â Bdubs yawned, pulling his moss tighter around himself. He didnât bother to fix the rest of his clothing or hair, too much effort!!
Itâs about your cloak.
You still giving tours?
Bdubsâ eyes lit up.
âReally?!â He stumbled out of his bed, beaming. âYeah- oh, just a warning, you might grow an extra limb⌠but itâs fine!â Bdubs shrugged off the cloak and parted the moss, revealing a milky white rift with pink and purple marbling. âHop in!â
So long as I donât lose another horn, Iâm sure Iâll be fine.
His horn isnât fully healed, of course. But thereâs progress.
Heâs swift to enter, with his primed fishing rod tucked safely in his inventory.
Bdubs waited a few moments to giggle excitedly before following Doc in. There was no solid floor, here, but it was easy to float and move. The air was comfortable (if a little suffocating when you focused on it too hard) and warm.
Bdubs could feel himself getting tired already, heâd be in for a very long, very pleasant nap. He flapped his wings lazily a few times to propel himself over to Doc.
âHowâve you been, anyways?â He mumbled, eyelids already drooping and words slurring together.
Everything feels a bit warm and hazy. As if he were lost underneath a warm blanket.
Been fine mostly. Somebody messed up my redstone, and I seem to have misplaced my communicatorâŚ
It dawns on him that this endless expanse of a place doesnât have many spots to hide a device like his comm. Which is great! All the more reason to brush off all those silly anxieties about what BigB said.
Still, nothingâs been confirmed, one way or another.
âŚbut other than that, everythingâs been great. Projects ânâ all, and my wings are back in action too.
He flutters his as well. Matching motions!
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, âs rubbish.â Floating a little bit closer, he embraced Doc tightly. âBut itâll be okay, yâknow why? The moss is here to help us.â His tone dropped to a sort of purr. âThe moss is safe, and very, very wonderful.â There were some more mumbles about the moss, and how it was going to take over but it was too quiet to clearly make out the sentences.
Yeah, you and your moss, itâsâŚ
Indistinct.
Doc leaned into his embrace with a faint smile. His eyes, though, were fixed on something else. Far out in the distance.
And, even knowing the nature of the situationâ his comm being missing, with Bdubs probably not being the culpritâ I mean, come on, heâs my friend, obviously I can trust him more than famed liar BigBâ he canât help but entertain the idea of Dubs having it on him.
Less in the sense of Dubs having stolen it, and more along the lines of Dubs just having it on hand for no particular reason. A cosmic convenience of sorts.
And itâs the push that drives him to askâ
âŚdonât wanna accuse you of noân, but do you happen to have my, uh, my comm? Or know where it is?
âMmm? No, no- why would I know?â Bdubs blinked, peering up at Doc. That was weird, heâd been asleep for god knows how long, why would Bdubs have it anywhere near him?? Oh well. âYou should just sleep instead of worryinâ âbout all these small things.â He yawned.
Someone told me you had it. Didnât believe them, but I wanted to double check.
BigBâs not a very reliable source of information, Iâve found.
In other news, lapis is blue.
Yeah, I knew I was probably going to get caught up in this⌠idea, I guess, unless I confronted you directly. âs part of why I visited. That, and, yâknow, we havenât talked in a while.
Wanted to see your face.
All the warm, hazy airâŚ
He nodded along.
âYeah, no communicator here.â Bdubs closed his eyes for a moment before forcing them to reopen. Naps were important, but so was speaking to his friend. âAw, I missed you.â He beamed. âWhatâve you been upto?â
Ah, you know, the usual. Digging holes. Thatâs kind of been my M.O. for the past, what, three seasons? At the very least.
This holeâs a secret, though. Nobody knows where it is except for me. And itâs gonna stay that way for awhile.
Something skitters through the holes in his crocsâ a bug? Some kind of beetle? But it isnât there when he takes off his shoe for inspection. Strange.
A moist quality permeates the air.
Smells vaguely of petrichor and cocoa.
He tilted his head.
âWhy? Itâs just a hole, isnât it?â Bdubs frowned, why would anyone hide just a hole, unless- âooh, does it have all yâ stuff in it?â Honestly, heâd really like to sleep right about now, and wants to give Doc a little ânudgeâ into doing so because the man doesnât seem that tired! He hugged Doc tighter before pausing.
Wait. No, this was weird. As much as he enjoyed having Doc here, having someone appreciate his existence, having someone offer to nap with him, Doc just wasnât the type to want to nap with him for days on end. He had that whole grind thrive grind some more acronym that Bdubs couldnât really remember at this time. ââŚYou do know weâll be asleep for days, maybe even weeks, right?â He should check, it was the right thing to do even if itâd hurt when Doc left because no, he didnât know how long theyâd be asleep.
Doc shrugs.
Holeâs still gonna be there when I get back.
And thereâs a solaceâ that sort of solace one could see in anotherâs eyesâ in knowing that his fishing rod was tucked away in his inventory. He knew he was the one in control here. Docâs wings flutter for a few moments.
Worst comes to worst, you, uh, you canât exactly grief a hole without making a bigger hole, so⌠yeah, I donât have to even worry about that.
If anything, you should be the one whoâs worried. Youâre the guy they put in charge of the Nether hub, and youâre out here taking week long naps.
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, ân I donât think anyoneâs crazy enough to fill it back in.â Well, some people were but they then werenât crazy enough to mess with Doc. Unless you were Martyn.
He went quiet for a few moments. âI donât think they miss me.â Bdubs looked away.
Whâ
Noâ theyâ!
Docâs wings tense.
Listen to me. We do miss you, why do you thinkâ I wouldnât be here if I didnât think youâd be here. âS the whole reason I came down here in the first place.
He can feel something brushing up against his fur. Sharp leaves or⌠maybe itâs vines of some sort, heâs not entirely sure what it is.
We are not doomed, this doesnât have to be your life.
Iâd say it to Etho too, but we havenât found him yet.
You ainât alone here, man.
Really? Bdubs shot a wary glance at Doc. It didnât feel like he was missed much anymore. His antennae fell low as Doc continued. âDoomedâ?? Bdubs was feeling a bit low, that was normal, but doomed seemed slightly dramatic.
And Bdubs was alone most of the time, which really was his own fault for sleeping so much recently. People didnât tend to want to spend a lot of time with someone who was asleep. He curled up tighter.
âI- uh, thank you. Yeah, weâre together.â Something felt a little off with Doc but he couldnât quite place what.
And with Etho nowhere to be found, Bdubsâ company was everything to him.
So, of course, when he picked up on the odd look in Dubsâ eyes, he adjusted accordingly, as best as he could. Not that he was fully sure what it was about he said that warranted that, but surely he could figure this out along the way.
This fucking jungle, man.
He couldnât quite tell whether he was floating or walking, but he nearly tripped over a log, which would have been a bit inconvenient.
Howâs this guy managing to stay so sleepy during all this, this is the most awake Iâve everâŚ
âŚbeenâŚ
Is thereâŚ
He hesitates. Thereâs an idea floating around his head, and he hesitates, because am I really going to bail on him this early on? Maybe âbailingâ isnât the right word, Iâll come back as soon as I can, but it still leaves a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.
He ruminates for a moment.
Bdubs furrowed his brows as Doc began âwalkingâ away.
âWhere yâ goinâ?â He quickly buzzed his wings and followed after Doc, really trying to stick close, clinging to the interactions he craved. âDoc?â
Iâm right here, Iâm right here, what, can a guy not stretch his legs or sumân?
Like, I know this is your, uh, place, but⌠câmon.
Doc forces out a bit of a chuckle. Is he not worried aboutâ?
No, heâs definitely worried about Etho. Maybe he just doesnât want to think about it right now.
âŚah! Thatâs it! That has to be it, itâs so obvious when you really stop and think about it. Bdubs has had all the fuckinâ time in the world to think about Ethoâ heâs been looking all over for the guy, no oneâs seen himâ
It always feels nice when things fall into place like this.
âso by coming down here and immediately trying, like, to passively look for Etho⌠itâs kind of an asshole move, isnât it? Bdubs needs support too! Of course! Obviously! How did I not think of that sooner?
As much as it did make him feel like a bit of an idiot, it was equally as vindicating, being able to think logically about a situation. Especially given the circumstances!
But that did leave one problem.
Thereâs only one thing in his possession that he knows could quell the incessant pounding in his head, demanding he get ahold of Etho and Dubs and take a mad dash out of this fucking labyrinthâ weakness potions.
Which just so happen to be at his houseâ which of course, is not here.
So the plan of action involves somehow sneaking out of here without Bdubs realizing it, getting some potions, and coming back. This, of course, is going to be really fucking difficult if he canât even pace around without getting called out for it.
And⌠are there even lakes in the jungle anyway?
Bdubsâ antennae flattened.
âSorry, sorry.â Jeez, he was so needy, no wonder Doc was walking off somewhere. He stuck a little further behind him now, but didnât dare take his eyes off of him.
âDo ya⌠want me to wait here for you?â Bdubs paused, thatâd be less annoying, right? And Doc would come back for him. Doc would definitely, most certainly come back for him. He really, really hoped Doc would come back for him. âI can stop followinâ after ya, yeah, yeah.â
Well shit, that was easy.
Yeah, um, yeah, I was just checking to see if there was a lake around. Wanted to see if I could catch something, itâs nice and grounding, you know?
He takes out his fishing rod. His heart slows to a resting rate, looking at it.
If youâve, um, seen a lake around here, itâd be nice if you could point me in the direction of it. Iâll fish you up something nice, we couldâ we could chat over a campfire, thatâs always fun.
Yeah! Good save!
âA lake?â Bdubs frowned. A quick glance around confirmed they were still in the weird pocket dimension. He laughed, Doc must be joking. âWhere are ya findinâ a lake here?â
He yawned, blinking a few times. âWhy donâtcha come back over here ân we can finally shreep, itâll be-â he was cut off by another yawn. âA nice rest.â Bdubs finished in a mumble.
No lakes.
That complicates things.
I mean, itâd be nicer if we had, like, a bonfire going or something. Andâ and yeah, I guess weâre obviously not gonna find any lakes here, butâŚ
Think of something, think of somethingâ
âŚI could⌠pretend⌠to fish something up?
??????????
âOr we could finally sleepâŚâ
Bdubs nodded along. âIf you want to?â He didnât see why it mattered too much, but if it was important to Doc, then fine. âWe can have a little fire ân stuff when weâre out of here.â He promised.
Yeah, honestly I probably need to lie down at this point.
He casts the rod out, andâ
âŚ
Heâs notâ?
Heâs. Still here.
Mumbles something about junk treasure, heâs not even sure what heâs on about, and he casts again, and it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work.
âand yeah, so hereâs the fishâŚ
It didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
âŚand we can just⌠lie down now.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
Yeah, and itâsâ yeah. Sleep time.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work IT DIDNâT WORK IT DIDNâTâ
Bdubs stared at Doc, yeah, okay something was really wrong. He moved over to Doc, grabbing his shoulder.
âAre you okay?â Did he do something wrong? He didnât intend to make Doc go all weird.
No everythingâs fine nothing is wrong.
Spoken with the swiftness and tact of someone who has just witnessed everything going wrong at once. Thereâs really no hiding it.
Bdubs was pretty awful at dealing with emotions, not qualified at all. Hugs seemed the safest route, maybe? He hesitantly embraced Doc.
âWhat happened?â He tried instead.
He drops the rod on the floor.
His fingers curl. The only thing outpacing his heartâs rate are his own thoughts, a cycloneâ a sandstormâ some sort of unprecedented disaster that wrecks him from the inside. And as he tries to speak he can feel his throat closing and this ache in his chest and he hates the way he can feel his fingers shaking and when he looks at his mechanical arm being co-opted by this fucking sensation in his head he just wants to tear it out andâ
Iâ!
He nearly chokes on it.
And he starts talking, too low and too soft and too fast for either of them to make out.
âanniknow youâre doing your best anni appreciate youâre here butâ
He tries to breathe. Itâs stifled. Itâs shaky.
We need to find Etho.
Andweneedafindhim before Beef goes lookinforâim.
Bdubs is quiet for a few, trying to work this all out. He did make a mental note to check up on Doc more, aswell. Wait- was this all about season five?
How on earth does he deal with this- well, for starters, he pulls away to grab Docâs wrist and drag him along. After a bit of searching the opening was found and Bdubs led them through it.
He rubbed at his eyes, orientating himself before refocusing on Doc.
âEthoâs probably in his base, or off with Joel somewhere.â Both hands planted on Docâs shoulders. Was he doing this right?? ââŚWe can, I dunno, go check if you want?â
The prospect of leaving the jungle without Etho by his side leaves a pit in his stomach, butâŚ
Bdubs needs this.
And so he fights off that paralyzingâ that thing, that feeling, coursing through him, and nods along.
Yeah, Iâd be⌠fine with that.
Bdubs offers a smile and instead grasps his hand to lead him out of his house. He supposed his nap could wait for a little bit in favour of this.
He hadnât seen Etho in⌠uhm, he didnât know. Time had sort of melted together recently, wasnât really sure when was what ân stuff. But itâd been a while! Luckily he still remembered the way to his base because- well, he was Bdubs. It was his job to be weird about Etho.
Bdubs wound through the path until they reached Ethoâs base, this Japanese-looking thing, still had that ugly bright purple roof.
âI reckon heâs in here.â Bdubs nodded.
There isnât exactly a door to knock on, nor is there any sort of doorbell. Dust bunnies are scattered along the creaky wooden floorboardsâ Doc had figured Etho would be busy with Frogger, but this is ridiculous.
Still, he takes the liberty of inviting himself in. Maybe heâs just been in the basement? Thatâs where all the utilityâs located.
Cozy place. The smell of honey and overgrown produce wafts through the air, and the scintillating refractions of the lake are⌠theyâre very strong. It certainly keeps him grounded.
And the sounds are rather peaceful as well. Between the beavers, the rustling leaves, and the ebb and flow of the water, itâs anything but empty.
But Ethoâs nowhere to be found.
Etho?
Heâs got to be here, right?
Etho, you in here?
Bdubs frowned.
âHeâs, uhm. Probably at Joels, or Ravager rush, yeah.â He hated the fear crawling up his spine, because it was definitely irrational. Etho was somewhere, he was sure of it!
Someoneâs standing at the side of your bed. It quickly becomes evident who woke youâ heâs got a pretty distinctive figure, and the glowing red eye doesnât leave much up for question.
Ey, man.
Rather quiet for someone who seems to want you awake.
You got a minute to spare for your nHo buddy?
@docs-mailbox
Bdubs grumbled something, shifting to bury himself further under the duvet. After a few moments he opened an eye, then realised who had woken him.
âDoc?â He mumbled, letters all slurring together. âDoc!â the next time he sounded more awake, shoving himself up to sit. âOh, yeah, yeah I got time, whatâs up?â Bdubs yawned, pulling his moss tighter around himself. He didnât bother to fix the rest of his clothing or hair, too much effort!!
Itâs about your cloak.
You still giving tours?
Bdubsâ eyes lit up.
âReally?!â He stumbled out of his bed, beaming. âYeah- oh, just a warning, you might grow an extra limb⌠but itâs fine!â Bdubs shrugged off the cloak and parted the moss, revealing a milky white rift with pink and purple marbling. âHop in!â
So long as I donât lose another horn, Iâm sure Iâll be fine.
His horn isnât fully healed, of course. But thereâs progress.
Heâs swift to enter, with his primed fishing rod tucked safely in his inventory.
Bdubs waited a few moments to giggle excitedly before following Doc in. There was no solid floor, here, but it was easy to float and move. The air was comfortable (if a little suffocating when you focused on it too hard) and warm.
Bdubs could feel himself getting tired already, heâd be in for a very long, very pleasant nap. He flapped his wings lazily a few times to propel himself over to Doc.
âHowâve you been, anyways?â He mumbled, eyelids already drooping and words slurring together.
Everything feels a bit warm and hazy. As if he were lost underneath a warm blanket.
Been fine mostly. Somebody messed up my redstone, and I seem to have misplaced my communicatorâŚ
It dawns on him that this endless expanse of a place doesnât have many spots to hide a device like his comm. Which is great! All the more reason to brush off all those silly anxieties about what BigB said.
Still, nothingâs been confirmed, one way or another.
âŚbut other than that, everythingâs been great. Projects ânâ all, and my wings are back in action too.
He flutters his as well. Matching motions!
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, âs rubbish.â Floating a little bit closer, he embraced Doc tightly. âBut itâll be okay, yâknow why? The moss is here to help us.â His tone dropped to a sort of purr. âThe moss is safe, and very, very wonderful.â There were some more mumbles about the moss, and how it was going to take over but it was too quiet to clearly make out the sentences.
Yeah, you and your moss, itâsâŚ
Indistinct.
Doc leaned into his embrace with a faint smile. His eyes, though, were fixed on something else. Far out in the distance.
And, even knowing the nature of the situationâ his comm being missing, with Bdubs probably not being the culpritâ I mean, come on, heâs my friend, obviously I can trust him more than famed liar BigBâ he canât help but entertain the idea of Dubs having it on him.
Less in the sense of Dubs having stolen it, and more along the lines of Dubs just having it on hand for no particular reason. A cosmic convenience of sorts.
And itâs the push that drives him to askâ
âŚdonât wanna accuse you of noân, but do you happen to have my, uh, my comm? Or know where it is?
âMmm? No, no- why would I know?â Bdubs blinked, peering up at Doc. That was weird, heâd been asleep for god knows how long, why would Bdubs have it anywhere near him?? Oh well. âYou should just sleep instead of worryinâ âbout all these small things.â He yawned.
Someone told me you had it. Didnât believe them, but I wanted to double check.
BigBâs not a very reliable source of information, Iâve found.
In other news, lapis is blue.
Yeah, I knew I was probably going to get caught up in this⌠idea, I guess, unless I confronted you directly. âs part of why I visited. That, and, yâknow, we havenât talked in a while.
Wanted to see your face.
All the warm, hazy airâŚ
He nodded along.
âYeah, no communicator here.â Bdubs closed his eyes for a moment before forcing them to reopen. Naps were important, but so was speaking to his friend. âAw, I missed you.â He beamed. âWhatâve you been upto?â
Ah, you know, the usual. Digging holes. Thatâs kind of been my M.O. for the past, what, three seasons? At the very least.
This holeâs a secret, though. Nobody knows where it is except for me. And itâs gonna stay that way for awhile.
Something skitters through the holes in his crocsâ a bug? Some kind of beetle? But it isnât there when he takes off his shoe for inspection. Strange.
A moist quality permeates the air.
Smells vaguely of petrichor and cocoa.
He tilted his head.
âWhy? Itâs just a hole, isnât it?â Bdubs frowned, why would anyone hide just a hole, unless- âooh, does it have all yâ stuff in it?â Honestly, heâd really like to sleep right about now, and wants to give Doc a little ânudgeâ into doing so because the man doesnât seem that tired! He hugged Doc tighter before pausing.
Wait. No, this was weird. As much as he enjoyed having Doc here, having someone appreciate his existence, having someone offer to nap with him, Doc just wasnât the type to want to nap with him for days on end. He had that whole grind thrive grind some more acronym that Bdubs couldnât really remember at this time. ââŚYou do know weâll be asleep for days, maybe even weeks, right?â He should check, it was the right thing to do even if itâd hurt when Doc left because no, he didnât know how long theyâd be asleep.
Doc shrugs.
Holeâs still gonna be there when I get back.
And thereâs a solaceâ that sort of solace one could see in anotherâs eyesâ in knowing that his fishing rod was tucked away in his inventory. He knew he was the one in control here. Docâs wings flutter for a few moments.
Worst comes to worst, you, uh, you canât exactly grief a hole without making a bigger hole, so⌠yeah, I donât have to even worry about that.
If anything, you should be the one whoâs worried. Youâre the guy they put in charge of the Nether hub, and youâre out here taking week long naps.
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, ân I donât think anyoneâs crazy enough to fill it back in.â Well, some people were but they then werenât crazy enough to mess with Doc. Unless you were Martyn.
He went quiet for a few moments. âI donât think they miss me.â Bdubs looked away.
Whâ
Noâ theyâ!
Docâs wings tense.
Listen to me. We do miss you, why do you thinkâ I wouldnât be here if I didnât think youâd be here. âS the whole reason I came down here in the first place.
He can feel something brushing up against his fur. Sharp leaves or⌠maybe itâs vines of some sort, heâs not entirely sure what it is.
We are not doomed, this doesnât have to be your life.
Iâd say it to Etho too, but we havenât found him yet.
You ainât alone here, man.
Really? Bdubs shot a wary glance at Doc. It didnât feel like he was missed much anymore. His antennae fell low as Doc continued. âDoomedâ?? Bdubs was feeling a bit low, that was normal, but doomed seemed slightly dramatic.
And Bdubs was alone most of the time, which really was his own fault for sleeping so much recently. People didnât tend to want to spend a lot of time with someone who was asleep. He curled up tighter.
âI- uh, thank you. Yeah, weâre together.â Something felt a little off with Doc but he couldnât quite place what.
And with Etho nowhere to be found, Bdubsâ company was everything to him.
So, of course, when he picked up on the odd look in Dubsâ eyes, he adjusted accordingly, as best as he could. Not that he was fully sure what it was about he said that warranted that, but surely he could figure this out along the way.
This fucking jungle, man.
He couldnât quite tell whether he was floating or walking, but he nearly tripped over a log, which would have been a bit inconvenient.
Howâs this guy managing to stay so sleepy during all this, this is the most awake Iâve everâŚ
âŚbeenâŚ
Is thereâŚ
He hesitates. Thereâs an idea floating around his head, and he hesitates, because am I really going to bail on him this early on? Maybe âbailingâ isnât the right word, Iâll come back as soon as I can, but it still leaves a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.
He ruminates for a moment.
Bdubs furrowed his brows as Doc began âwalkingâ away.
âWhere yâ goinâ?â He quickly buzzed his wings and followed after Doc, really trying to stick close, clinging to the interactions he craved. âDoc?â
Iâm right here, Iâm right here, what, can a guy not stretch his legs or sumân?
Like, I know this is your, uh, place, but⌠câmon.
Doc forces out a bit of a chuckle. Is he not worried aboutâ?
No, heâs definitely worried about Etho. Maybe he just doesnât want to think about it right now.
âŚah! Thatâs it! That has to be it, itâs so obvious when you really stop and think about it. Bdubs has had all the fuckinâ time in the world to think about Ethoâ heâs been looking all over for the guy, no oneâs seen himâ
It always feels nice when things fall into place like this.
âso by coming down here and immediately trying, like, to passively look for Etho⌠itâs kind of an asshole move, isnât it? Bdubs needs support too! Of course! Obviously! How did I not think of that sooner?
As much as it did make him feel like a bit of an idiot, it was equally as vindicating, being able to think logically about a situation. Especially given the circumstances!
But that did leave one problem.
Thereâs only one thing in his possession that he knows could quell the incessant pounding in his head, demanding he get ahold of Etho and Dubs and take a mad dash out of this fucking labyrinthâ weakness potions.
Which just so happen to be at his houseâ which of course, is not here.
So the plan of action involves somehow sneaking out of here without Bdubs realizing it, getting some potions, and coming back. This, of course, is going to be really fucking difficult if he canât even pace around without getting called out for it.
And⌠are there even lakes in the jungle anyway?
Bdubsâ antennae flattened.
âSorry, sorry.â Jeez, he was so needy, no wonder Doc was walking off somewhere. He stuck a little further behind him now, but didnât dare take his eyes off of him.
âDo ya⌠want me to wait here for you?â Bdubs paused, thatâd be less annoying, right? And Doc would come back for him. Doc would definitely, most certainly come back for him. He really, really hoped Doc would come back for him. âI can stop followinâ after ya, yeah, yeah.â
Well shit, that was easy.
Yeah, um, yeah, I was just checking to see if there was a lake around. Wanted to see if I could catch something, itâs nice and grounding, you know?
He takes out his fishing rod. His heart slows to a resting rate, looking at it.
If youâve, um, seen a lake around here, itâd be nice if you could point me in the direction of it. Iâll fish you up something nice, we couldâ we could chat over a campfire, thatâs always fun.
Yeah! Good save!
âA lake?â Bdubs frowned. A quick glance around confirmed they were still in the weird pocket dimension. He laughed, Doc must be joking. âWhere are ya findinâ a lake here?â
He yawned, blinking a few times. âWhy donâtcha come back over here ân we can finally shreep, itâll be-â he was cut off by another yawn. âA nice rest.â Bdubs finished in a mumble.
No lakes.
That complicates things.
I mean, itâd be nicer if we had, like, a bonfire going or something. Andâ and yeah, I guess weâre obviously not gonna find any lakes here, butâŚ
Think of something, think of somethingâ
âŚI could⌠pretend⌠to fish something up?
??????????
âOr we could finally sleepâŚâ
Bdubs nodded along. âIf you want to?â He didnât see why it mattered too much, but if it was important to Doc, then fine. âWe can have a little fire ân stuff when weâre out of here.â He promised.
Yeah, honestly I probably need to lie down at this point.
He casts the rod out, andâ
âŚ
Heâs notâ?
Heâs. Still here.
Mumbles something about junk treasure, heâs not even sure what heâs on about, and he casts again, and it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work.
âand yeah, so hereâs the fishâŚ
It didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
âŚand we can just⌠lie down now.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
Yeah, and itâsâ yeah. Sleep time.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work IT DIDNâT WORK IT DIDNâTâ
Bdubs stared at Doc, yeah, okay something was really wrong. He moved over to Doc, grabbing his shoulder.
âAre you okay?â Did he do something wrong? He didnât intend to make Doc go all weird.
No everythingâs fine nothing is wrong.
Spoken with the swiftness and tact of someone who has just witnessed everything going wrong at once. Thereâs really no hiding it.
Bdubs was pretty awful at dealing with emotions, not qualified at all. Hugs seemed the safest route, maybe? He hesitantly embraced Doc.
âWhat happened?â He tried instead.
He drops the rod on the floor.
His fingers curl. The only thing outpacing his heartâs rate are his own thoughts, a cycloneâ a sandstormâ some sort of unprecedented disaster that wrecks him from the inside. And as he tries to speak he can feel his throat closing and this ache in his chest and he hates the way he can feel his fingers shaking and when he looks at his mechanical arm being co-opted by this fucking sensation in his head he just wants to tear it out andâ
Iâ!
He nearly chokes on it.
And he starts talking, too low and too soft and too fast for either of them to make out.
âanniknow youâre doing your best anni appreciate youâre here butâ
He tries to breathe. Itâs stifled. Itâs shaky.
We need to find Etho.
Andweneedafindhim before Beef goes lookinforâim.
Bdubs is quiet for a few, trying to work this all out. He did make a mental note to check up on Doc more, aswell. Wait- was this all about season five?
How on earth does he deal with this- well, for starters, he pulls away to grab Docâs wrist and drag him along. After a bit of searching the opening was found and Bdubs led them through it.
He rubbed at his eyes, orientating himself before refocusing on Doc.
âEthoâs probably in his base, or off with Joel somewhere.â Both hands planted on Docâs shoulders. Was he doing this right?? ââŚWe can, I dunno, go check if you want?â
The prospect of leaving the jungle without Etho by his side leaves a pit in his stomach, butâŚ
Bdubs needs this.
And so he fights off that paralyzingâ that thing, that feeling, coursing through him, and nods along.
Yeah, Iâd be⌠fine with that.
Bdubs offers a smile and instead grasps his hand to lead him out of his house. He supposed his nap could wait for a little bit in favour of this.
He hadnât seen Etho in⌠uhm, he didnât know. Time had sort of melted together recently, wasnât really sure when was what ân stuff. But itâd been a while! Luckily he still remembered the way to his base because- well, he was Bdubs. It was his job to be weird about Etho.
Bdubs wound through the path until they reached Ethoâs base, this Japanese-looking thing, still had that ugly bright purple roof.
âI reckon heâs in here.â Bdubs nodded.
Someoneâs standing at the side of your bed. It quickly becomes evident who woke youâ heâs got a pretty distinctive figure, and the glowing red eye doesnât leave much up for question.
Ey, man.
Rather quiet for someone who seems to want you awake.
You got a minute to spare for your nHo buddy?
@docs-mailbox
Bdubs grumbled something, shifting to bury himself further under the duvet. After a few moments he opened an eye, then realised who had woken him.
âDoc?â He mumbled, letters all slurring together. âDoc!â the next time he sounded more awake, shoving himself up to sit. âOh, yeah, yeah I got time, whatâs up?â Bdubs yawned, pulling his moss tighter around himself. He didnât bother to fix the rest of his clothing or hair, too much effort!!
Itâs about your cloak.
You still giving tours?
Bdubsâ eyes lit up.
âReally?!â He stumbled out of his bed, beaming. âYeah- oh, just a warning, you might grow an extra limb⌠but itâs fine!â Bdubs shrugged off the cloak and parted the moss, revealing a milky white rift with pink and purple marbling. âHop in!â
So long as I donât lose another horn, Iâm sure Iâll be fine.
His horn isnât fully healed, of course. But thereâs progress.
Heâs swift to enter, with his primed fishing rod tucked safely in his inventory.
Bdubs waited a few moments to giggle excitedly before following Doc in. There was no solid floor, here, but it was easy to float and move. The air was comfortable (if a little suffocating when you focused on it too hard) and warm.
Bdubs could feel himself getting tired already, heâd be in for a very long, very pleasant nap. He flapped his wings lazily a few times to propel himself over to Doc.
âHowâve you been, anyways?â He mumbled, eyelids already drooping and words slurring together.
Everything feels a bit warm and hazy. As if he were lost underneath a warm blanket.
Been fine mostly. Somebody messed up my redstone, and I seem to have misplaced my communicatorâŚ
It dawns on him that this endless expanse of a place doesnât have many spots to hide a device like his comm. Which is great! All the more reason to brush off all those silly anxieties about what BigB said.
Still, nothingâs been confirmed, one way or another.
âŚbut other than that, everythingâs been great. Projects ânâ all, and my wings are back in action too.
He flutters his as well. Matching motions!
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, âs rubbish.â Floating a little bit closer, he embraced Doc tightly. âBut itâll be okay, yâknow why? The moss is here to help us.â His tone dropped to a sort of purr. âThe moss is safe, and very, very wonderful.â There were some more mumbles about the moss, and how it was going to take over but it was too quiet to clearly make out the sentences.
Yeah, you and your moss, itâsâŚ
Indistinct.
Doc leaned into his embrace with a faint smile. His eyes, though, were fixed on something else. Far out in the distance.
And, even knowing the nature of the situationâ his comm being missing, with Bdubs probably not being the culpritâ I mean, come on, heâs my friend, obviously I can trust him more than famed liar BigBâ he canât help but entertain the idea of Dubs having it on him.
Less in the sense of Dubs having stolen it, and more along the lines of Dubs just having it on hand for no particular reason. A cosmic convenience of sorts.
And itâs the push that drives him to askâ
âŚdonât wanna accuse you of noân, but do you happen to have my, uh, my comm? Or know where it is?
âMmm? No, no- why would I know?â Bdubs blinked, peering up at Doc. That was weird, heâd been asleep for god knows how long, why would Bdubs have it anywhere near him?? Oh well. âYou should just sleep instead of worryinâ âbout all these small things.â He yawned.
Someone told me you had it. Didnât believe them, but I wanted to double check.
BigBâs not a very reliable source of information, Iâve found.
In other news, lapis is blue.
Yeah, I knew I was probably going to get caught up in this⌠idea, I guess, unless I confronted you directly. âs part of why I visited. That, and, yâknow, we havenât talked in a while.
Wanted to see your face.
All the warm, hazy airâŚ
He nodded along.
âYeah, no communicator here.â Bdubs closed his eyes for a moment before forcing them to reopen. Naps were important, but so was speaking to his friend. âAw, I missed you.â He beamed. âWhatâve you been upto?â
Ah, you know, the usual. Digging holes. Thatâs kind of been my M.O. for the past, what, three seasons? At the very least.
This holeâs a secret, though. Nobody knows where it is except for me. And itâs gonna stay that way for awhile.
Something skitters through the holes in his crocsâ a bug? Some kind of beetle? But it isnât there when he takes off his shoe for inspection. Strange.
A moist quality permeates the air.
Smells vaguely of petrichor and cocoa.
He tilted his head.
âWhy? Itâs just a hole, isnât it?â Bdubs frowned, why would anyone hide just a hole, unless- âooh, does it have all yâ stuff in it?â Honestly, heâd really like to sleep right about now, and wants to give Doc a little ânudgeâ into doing so because the man doesnât seem that tired! He hugged Doc tighter before pausing.
Wait. No, this was weird. As much as he enjoyed having Doc here, having someone appreciate his existence, having someone offer to nap with him, Doc just wasnât the type to want to nap with him for days on end. He had that whole grind thrive grind some more acronym that Bdubs couldnât really remember at this time. ââŚYou do know weâll be asleep for days, maybe even weeks, right?â He should check, it was the right thing to do even if itâd hurt when Doc left because no, he didnât know how long theyâd be asleep.
Doc shrugs.
Holeâs still gonna be there when I get back.
And thereâs a solaceâ that sort of solace one could see in anotherâs eyesâ in knowing that his fishing rod was tucked away in his inventory. He knew he was the one in control here. Docâs wings flutter for a few moments.
Worst comes to worst, you, uh, you canât exactly grief a hole without making a bigger hole, so⌠yeah, I donât have to even worry about that.
If anything, you should be the one whoâs worried. Youâre the guy they put in charge of the Nether hub, and youâre out here taking week long naps.
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, ân I donât think anyoneâs crazy enough to fill it back in.â Well, some people were but they then werenât crazy enough to mess with Doc. Unless you were Martyn.
He went quiet for a few moments. âI donât think they miss me.â Bdubs looked away.
Whâ
Noâ theyâ!
Docâs wings tense.
Listen to me. We do miss you, why do you thinkâ I wouldnât be here if I didnât think youâd be here. âS the whole reason I came down here in the first place.
He can feel something brushing up against his fur. Sharp leaves or⌠maybe itâs vines of some sort, heâs not entirely sure what it is.
We are not doomed, this doesnât have to be your life.
Iâd say it to Etho too, but we havenât found him yet.
You ainât alone here, man.
Really? Bdubs shot a wary glance at Doc. It didnât feel like he was missed much anymore. His antennae fell low as Doc continued. âDoomedâ?? Bdubs was feeling a bit low, that was normal, but doomed seemed slightly dramatic.
And Bdubs was alone most of the time, which really was his own fault for sleeping so much recently. People didnât tend to want to spend a lot of time with someone who was asleep. He curled up tighter.
âI- uh, thank you. Yeah, weâre together.â Something felt a little off with Doc but he couldnât quite place what.
And with Etho nowhere to be found, Bdubsâ company was everything to him.
So, of course, when he picked up on the odd look in Dubsâ eyes, he adjusted accordingly, as best as he could. Not that he was fully sure what it was about he said that warranted that, but surely he could figure this out along the way.
This fucking jungle, man.
He couldnât quite tell whether he was floating or walking, but he nearly tripped over a log, which would have been a bit inconvenient.
Howâs this guy managing to stay so sleepy during all this, this is the most awake Iâve everâŚ
âŚbeenâŚ
Is thereâŚ
He hesitates. Thereâs an idea floating around his head, and he hesitates, because am I really going to bail on him this early on? Maybe âbailingâ isnât the right word, Iâll come back as soon as I can, but it still leaves a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.
He ruminates for a moment.
Bdubs furrowed his brows as Doc began âwalkingâ away.
âWhere yâ goinâ?â He quickly buzzed his wings and followed after Doc, really trying to stick close, clinging to the interactions he craved. âDoc?â
Iâm right here, Iâm right here, what, can a guy not stretch his legs or sumân?
Like, I know this is your, uh, place, but⌠câmon.
Doc forces out a bit of a chuckle. Is he not worried aboutâ?
No, heâs definitely worried about Etho. Maybe he just doesnât want to think about it right now.
âŚah! Thatâs it! That has to be it, itâs so obvious when you really stop and think about it. Bdubs has had all the fuckinâ time in the world to think about Ethoâ heâs been looking all over for the guy, no oneâs seen himâ
It always feels nice when things fall into place like this.
âso by coming down here and immediately trying, like, to passively look for Etho⌠itâs kind of an asshole move, isnât it? Bdubs needs support too! Of course! Obviously! How did I not think of that sooner?
As much as it did make him feel like a bit of an idiot, it was equally as vindicating, being able to think logically about a situation. Especially given the circumstances!
But that did leave one problem.
Thereâs only one thing in his possession that he knows could quell the incessant pounding in his head, demanding he get ahold of Etho and Dubs and take a mad dash out of this fucking labyrinthâ weakness potions.
Which just so happen to be at his houseâ which of course, is not here.
So the plan of action involves somehow sneaking out of here without Bdubs realizing it, getting some potions, and coming back. This, of course, is going to be really fucking difficult if he canât even pace around without getting called out for it.
And⌠are there even lakes in the jungle anyway?
Bdubsâ antennae flattened.
âSorry, sorry.â Jeez, he was so needy, no wonder Doc was walking off somewhere. He stuck a little further behind him now, but didnât dare take his eyes off of him.
âDo ya⌠want me to wait here for you?â Bdubs paused, thatâd be less annoying, right? And Doc would come back for him. Doc would definitely, most certainly come back for him. He really, really hoped Doc would come back for him. âI can stop followinâ after ya, yeah, yeah.â
Well shit, that was easy.
Yeah, um, yeah, I was just checking to see if there was a lake around. Wanted to see if I could catch something, itâs nice and grounding, you know?
He takes out his fishing rod. His heart slows to a resting rate, looking at it.
If youâve, um, seen a lake around here, itâd be nice if you could point me in the direction of it. Iâll fish you up something nice, we couldâ we could chat over a campfire, thatâs always fun.
Yeah! Good save!
âA lake?â Bdubs frowned. A quick glance around confirmed they were still in the weird pocket dimension. He laughed, Doc must be joking. âWhere are ya findinâ a lake here?â
He yawned, blinking a few times. âWhy donâtcha come back over here ân we can finally shreep, itâll be-â he was cut off by another yawn. âA nice rest.â Bdubs finished in a mumble.
No lakes.
That complicates things.
I mean, itâd be nicer if we had, like, a bonfire going or something. Andâ and yeah, I guess weâre obviously not gonna find any lakes here, butâŚ
Think of something, think of somethingâ
âŚI could⌠pretend⌠to fish something up?
??????????
âOr we could finally sleepâŚâ
Bdubs nodded along. âIf you want to?â He didnât see why it mattered too much, but if it was important to Doc, then fine. âWe can have a little fire ân stuff when weâre out of here.â He promised.
Yeah, honestly I probably need to lie down at this point.
He casts the rod out, andâ
âŚ
Heâs notâ?
Heâs. Still here.
Mumbles something about junk treasure, heâs not even sure what heâs on about, and he casts again, and it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work.
âand yeah, so hereâs the fishâŚ
It didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
âŚand we can just⌠lie down now.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
Yeah, and itâsâ yeah. Sleep time.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work IT DIDNâT WORK IT DIDNâTâ
Bdubs stared at Doc, yeah, okay something was really wrong. He moved over to Doc, grabbing his shoulder.
âAre you okay?â Did he do something wrong? He didnât intend to make Doc go all weird.
No everythingâs fine nothing is wrong.
Spoken with the swiftness and tact of someone who has just witnessed everything going wrong at once. Thereâs really no hiding it.
Bdubs was pretty awful at dealing with emotions, not qualified at all. Hugs seemed the safest route, maybe? He hesitantly embraced Doc.
âWhat happened?â He tried instead.
He drops the rod on the floor.
His fingers curl. The only thing outpacing his heartâs rate are his own thoughts, a cycloneâ a sandstormâ some sort of unprecedented disaster that wrecks him from the inside. And as he tries to speak he can feel his throat closing and this ache in his chest and he hates the way he can feel his fingers shaking and when he looks at his mechanical arm being co-opted by this fucking sensation in his head he just wants to tear it out andâ
Iâ!
He nearly chokes on it.
And he starts talking, too low and too soft and too fast for either of them to make out.
âanniknow youâre doing your best anni appreciate youâre here butâ
He tries to breathe. Itâs stifled. Itâs shaky.
We need to find Etho.
Andweneedafindhim before Beef goes lookinforâim.
Bdubs is quiet for a few, trying to work this all out. He did make a mental note to check up on Doc more, aswell. Wait- was this all about season five?
How on earth does he deal with this- well, for starters, he pulls away to grab Docâs wrist and drag him along. After a bit of searching the opening was found and Bdubs led them through it.
He rubbed at his eyes, orientating himself before refocusing on Doc.
âEthoâs probably in his base, or off with Joel somewhere.â Both hands planted on Docâs shoulders. Was he doing this right?? ââŚWe can, I dunno, go check if you want?â
Someoneâs standing at the side of your bed. It quickly becomes evident who woke youâ heâs got a pretty distinctive figure, and the glowing red eye doesnât leave much up for question.
Ey, man.
Rather quiet for someone who seems to want you awake.
You got a minute to spare for your nHo buddy?
@docs-mailbox
Bdubs grumbled something, shifting to bury himself further under the duvet. After a few moments he opened an eye, then realised who had woken him.
âDoc?â He mumbled, letters all slurring together. âDoc!â the next time he sounded more awake, shoving himself up to sit. âOh, yeah, yeah I got time, whatâs up?â Bdubs yawned, pulling his moss tighter around himself. He didnât bother to fix the rest of his clothing or hair, too much effort!!
Itâs about your cloak.
You still giving tours?
Bdubsâ eyes lit up.
âReally?!â He stumbled out of his bed, beaming. âYeah- oh, just a warning, you might grow an extra limb⌠but itâs fine!â Bdubs shrugged off the cloak and parted the moss, revealing a milky white rift with pink and purple marbling. âHop in!â
So long as I donât lose another horn, Iâm sure Iâll be fine.
His horn isnât fully healed, of course. But thereâs progress.
Heâs swift to enter, with his primed fishing rod tucked safely in his inventory.
Bdubs waited a few moments to giggle excitedly before following Doc in. There was no solid floor, here, but it was easy to float and move. The air was comfortable (if a little suffocating when you focused on it too hard) and warm.
Bdubs could feel himself getting tired already, heâd be in for a very long, very pleasant nap. He flapped his wings lazily a few times to propel himself over to Doc.
âHowâve you been, anyways?â He mumbled, eyelids already drooping and words slurring together.
Everything feels a bit warm and hazy. As if he were lost underneath a warm blanket.
Been fine mostly. Somebody messed up my redstone, and I seem to have misplaced my communicatorâŚ
It dawns on him that this endless expanse of a place doesnât have many spots to hide a device like his comm. Which is great! All the more reason to brush off all those silly anxieties about what BigB said.
Still, nothingâs been confirmed, one way or another.
âŚbut other than that, everythingâs been great. Projects ânâ all, and my wings are back in action too.
He flutters his as well. Matching motions!
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, âs rubbish.â Floating a little bit closer, he embraced Doc tightly. âBut itâll be okay, yâknow why? The moss is here to help us.â His tone dropped to a sort of purr. âThe moss is safe, and very, very wonderful.â There were some more mumbles about the moss, and how it was going to take over but it was too quiet to clearly make out the sentences.
Yeah, you and your moss, itâsâŚ
Indistinct.
Doc leaned into his embrace with a faint smile. His eyes, though, were fixed on something else. Far out in the distance.
And, even knowing the nature of the situationâ his comm being missing, with Bdubs probably not being the culpritâ I mean, come on, heâs my friend, obviously I can trust him more than famed liar BigBâ he canât help but entertain the idea of Dubs having it on him.
Less in the sense of Dubs having stolen it, and more along the lines of Dubs just having it on hand for no particular reason. A cosmic convenience of sorts.
And itâs the push that drives him to askâ
âŚdonât wanna accuse you of noân, but do you happen to have my, uh, my comm? Or know where it is?
âMmm? No, no- why would I know?â Bdubs blinked, peering up at Doc. That was weird, heâd been asleep for god knows how long, why would Bdubs have it anywhere near him?? Oh well. âYou should just sleep instead of worryinâ âbout all these small things.â He yawned.
Someone told me you had it. Didnât believe them, but I wanted to double check.
BigBâs not a very reliable source of information, Iâve found.
In other news, lapis is blue.
Yeah, I knew I was probably going to get caught up in this⌠idea, I guess, unless I confronted you directly. âs part of why I visited. That, and, yâknow, we havenât talked in a while.
Wanted to see your face.
All the warm, hazy airâŚ
He nodded along.
âYeah, no communicator here.â Bdubs closed his eyes for a moment before forcing them to reopen. Naps were important, but so was speaking to his friend. âAw, I missed you.â He beamed. âWhatâve you been upto?â
Ah, you know, the usual. Digging holes. Thatâs kind of been my M.O. for the past, what, three seasons? At the very least.
This holeâs a secret, though. Nobody knows where it is except for me. And itâs gonna stay that way for awhile.
Something skitters through the holes in his crocsâ a bug? Some kind of beetle? But it isnât there when he takes off his shoe for inspection. Strange.
A moist quality permeates the air.
Smells vaguely of petrichor and cocoa.
He tilted his head.
âWhy? Itâs just a hole, isnât it?â Bdubs frowned, why would anyone hide just a hole, unless- âooh, does it have all yâ stuff in it?â Honestly, heâd really like to sleep right about now, and wants to give Doc a little ânudgeâ into doing so because the man doesnât seem that tired! He hugged Doc tighter before pausing.
Wait. No, this was weird. As much as he enjoyed having Doc here, having someone appreciate his existence, having someone offer to nap with him, Doc just wasnât the type to want to nap with him for days on end. He had that whole grind thrive grind some more acronym that Bdubs couldnât really remember at this time. ââŚYou do know weâll be asleep for days, maybe even weeks, right?â He should check, it was the right thing to do even if itâd hurt when Doc left because no, he didnât know how long theyâd be asleep.
Doc shrugs.
Holeâs still gonna be there when I get back.
And thereâs a solaceâ that sort of solace one could see in anotherâs eyesâ in knowing that his fishing rod was tucked away in his inventory. He knew he was the one in control here. Docâs wings flutter for a few moments.
Worst comes to worst, you, uh, you canât exactly grief a hole without making a bigger hole, so⌠yeah, I donât have to even worry about that.
If anything, you should be the one whoâs worried. Youâre the guy they put in charge of the Nether hub, and youâre out here taking week long naps.
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, ân I donât think anyoneâs crazy enough to fill it back in.â Well, some people were but they then werenât crazy enough to mess with Doc. Unless you were Martyn.
He went quiet for a few moments. âI donât think they miss me.â Bdubs looked away.
Whâ
Noâ theyâ!
Docâs wings tense.
Listen to me. We do miss you, why do you thinkâ I wouldnât be here if I didnât think youâd be here. âS the whole reason I came down here in the first place.
He can feel something brushing up against his fur. Sharp leaves or⌠maybe itâs vines of some sort, heâs not entirely sure what it is.
We are not doomed, this doesnât have to be your life.
Iâd say it to Etho too, but we havenât found him yet.
You ainât alone here, man.
Really? Bdubs shot a wary glance at Doc. It didnât feel like he was missed much anymore. His antennae fell low as Doc continued. âDoomedâ?? Bdubs was feeling a bit low, that was normal, but doomed seemed slightly dramatic.
And Bdubs was alone most of the time, which really was his own fault for sleeping so much recently. People didnât tend to want to spend a lot of time with someone who was asleep. He curled up tighter.
âI- uh, thank you. Yeah, weâre together.â Something felt a little off with Doc but he couldnât quite place what.
And with Etho nowhere to be found, Bdubsâ company was everything to him.
So, of course, when he picked up on the odd look in Dubsâ eyes, he adjusted accordingly, as best as he could. Not that he was fully sure what it was about he said that warranted that, but surely he could figure this out along the way.
This fucking jungle, man.
He couldnât quite tell whether he was floating or walking, but he nearly tripped over a log, which would have been a bit inconvenient.
Howâs this guy managing to stay so sleepy during all this, this is the most awake Iâve everâŚ
âŚbeenâŚ
Is thereâŚ
He hesitates. Thereâs an idea floating around his head, and he hesitates, because am I really going to bail on him this early on? Maybe âbailingâ isnât the right word, Iâll come back as soon as I can, but it still leaves a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.
He ruminates for a moment.
Bdubs furrowed his brows as Doc began âwalkingâ away.
âWhere yâ goinâ?â He quickly buzzed his wings and followed after Doc, really trying to stick close, clinging to the interactions he craved. âDoc?â
Iâm right here, Iâm right here, what, can a guy not stretch his legs or sumân?
Like, I know this is your, uh, place, but⌠câmon.
Doc forces out a bit of a chuckle. Is he not worried aboutâ?
No, heâs definitely worried about Etho. Maybe he just doesnât want to think about it right now.
âŚah! Thatâs it! That has to be it, itâs so obvious when you really stop and think about it. Bdubs has had all the fuckinâ time in the world to think about Ethoâ heâs been looking all over for the guy, no oneâs seen himâ
It always feels nice when things fall into place like this.
âso by coming down here and immediately trying, like, to passively look for Etho⌠itâs kind of an asshole move, isnât it? Bdubs needs support too! Of course! Obviously! How did I not think of that sooner?
As much as it did make him feel like a bit of an idiot, it was equally as vindicating, being able to think logically about a situation. Especially given the circumstances!
But that did leave one problem.
Thereâs only one thing in his possession that he knows could quell the incessant pounding in his head, demanding he get ahold of Etho and Dubs and take a mad dash out of this fucking labyrinthâ weakness potions.
Which just so happen to be at his houseâ which of course, is not here.
So the plan of action involves somehow sneaking out of here without Bdubs realizing it, getting some potions, and coming back. This, of course, is going to be really fucking difficult if he canât even pace around without getting called out for it.
And⌠are there even lakes in the jungle anyway?
Bdubsâ antennae flattened.
âSorry, sorry.â Jeez, he was so needy, no wonder Doc was walking off somewhere. He stuck a little further behind him now, but didnât dare take his eyes off of him.
âDo ya⌠want me to wait here for you?â Bdubs paused, thatâd be less annoying, right? And Doc would come back for him. Doc would definitely, most certainly come back for him. He really, really hoped Doc would come back for him. âI can stop followinâ after ya, yeah, yeah.â
Well shit, that was easy.
Yeah, um, yeah, I was just checking to see if there was a lake around. Wanted to see if I could catch something, itâs nice and grounding, you know?
He takes out his fishing rod. His heart slows to a resting rate, looking at it.
If youâve, um, seen a lake around here, itâd be nice if you could point me in the direction of it. Iâll fish you up something nice, we couldâ we could chat over a campfire, thatâs always fun.
Yeah! Good save!
âA lake?â Bdubs frowned. A quick glance around confirmed they were still in the weird pocket dimension. He laughed, Doc must be joking. âWhere are ya findinâ a lake here?â
He yawned, blinking a few times. âWhy donâtcha come back over here ân we can finally shreep, itâll be-â he was cut off by another yawn. âA nice rest.â Bdubs finished in a mumble.
No lakes.
That complicates things.
I mean, itâd be nicer if we had, like, a bonfire going or something. Andâ and yeah, I guess weâre obviously not gonna find any lakes here, butâŚ
Think of something, think of somethingâ
âŚI could⌠pretend⌠to fish something up?
??????????
âOr we could finally sleepâŚâ
Bdubs nodded along. âIf you want to?â He didnât see why it mattered too much, but if it was important to Doc, then fine. âWe can have a little fire ân stuff when weâre out of here.â He promised.
Yeah, honestly I probably need to lie down at this point.
He casts the rod out, andâ
âŚ
Heâs notâ?
Heâs. Still here.
Mumbles something about junk treasure, heâs not even sure what heâs on about, and he casts again, and it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work.
âand yeah, so hereâs the fishâŚ
It didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
âŚand we can just⌠lie down now.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
Yeah, and itâsâ yeah. Sleep time.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work IT DIDNâT WORK IT DIDNâTâ
Bdubs stared at Doc, yeah, okay something was really wrong. He moved over to Doc, grabbing his shoulder.
âAre you okay?â Did he do something wrong? He didnât intend to make Doc go all weird.
No everythingâs fine nothing is wrong.
Spoken with the swiftness and tact of someone who has just witnessed everything going wrong at once. Thereâs really no hiding it.
Bdubs was pretty awful at dealing with emotions, not qualified at all. Hugs seemed the safest route, maybe? He hesitantly embraced Doc.
âWhat happened?â He tried instead.
Someoneâs standing at the side of your bed. It quickly becomes evident who woke youâ heâs got a pretty distinctive figure, and the glowing red eye doesnât leave much up for question.
Ey, man.
Rather quiet for someone who seems to want you awake.
You got a minute to spare for your nHo buddy?
@docs-mailbox
Bdubs grumbled something, shifting to bury himself further under the duvet. After a few moments he opened an eye, then realised who had woken him.
âDoc?â He mumbled, letters all slurring together. âDoc!â the next time he sounded more awake, shoving himself up to sit. âOh, yeah, yeah I got time, whatâs up?â Bdubs yawned, pulling his moss tighter around himself. He didnât bother to fix the rest of his clothing or hair, too much effort!!
Itâs about your cloak.
You still giving tours?
Bdubsâ eyes lit up.
âReally?!â He stumbled out of his bed, beaming. âYeah- oh, just a warning, you might grow an extra limb⌠but itâs fine!â Bdubs shrugged off the cloak and parted the moss, revealing a milky white rift with pink and purple marbling. âHop in!â
So long as I donât lose another horn, Iâm sure Iâll be fine.
His horn isnât fully healed, of course. But thereâs progress.
Heâs swift to enter, with his primed fishing rod tucked safely in his inventory.
Bdubs waited a few moments to giggle excitedly before following Doc in. There was no solid floor, here, but it was easy to float and move. The air was comfortable (if a little suffocating when you focused on it too hard) and warm.
Bdubs could feel himself getting tired already, heâd be in for a very long, very pleasant nap. He flapped his wings lazily a few times to propel himself over to Doc.
âHowâve you been, anyways?â He mumbled, eyelids already drooping and words slurring together.
Everything feels a bit warm and hazy. As if he were lost underneath a warm blanket.
Been fine mostly. Somebody messed up my redstone, and I seem to have misplaced my communicatorâŚ
It dawns on him that this endless expanse of a place doesnât have many spots to hide a device like his comm. Which is great! All the more reason to brush off all those silly anxieties about what BigB said.
Still, nothingâs been confirmed, one way or another.
âŚbut other than that, everythingâs been great. Projects ânâ all, and my wings are back in action too.
He flutters his as well. Matching motions!
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, âs rubbish.â Floating a little bit closer, he embraced Doc tightly. âBut itâll be okay, yâknow why? The moss is here to help us.â His tone dropped to a sort of purr. âThe moss is safe, and very, very wonderful.â There were some more mumbles about the moss, and how it was going to take over but it was too quiet to clearly make out the sentences.
Yeah, you and your moss, itâsâŚ
Indistinct.
Doc leaned into his embrace with a faint smile. His eyes, though, were fixed on something else. Far out in the distance.
And, even knowing the nature of the situationâ his comm being missing, with Bdubs probably not being the culpritâ I mean, come on, heâs my friend, obviously I can trust him more than famed liar BigBâ he canât help but entertain the idea of Dubs having it on him.
Less in the sense of Dubs having stolen it, and more along the lines of Dubs just having it on hand for no particular reason. A cosmic convenience of sorts.
And itâs the push that drives him to askâ
âŚdonât wanna accuse you of noân, but do you happen to have my, uh, my comm? Or know where it is?
âMmm? No, no- why would I know?â Bdubs blinked, peering up at Doc. That was weird, heâd been asleep for god knows how long, why would Bdubs have it anywhere near him?? Oh well. âYou should just sleep instead of worryinâ âbout all these small things.â He yawned.
Someone told me you had it. Didnât believe them, but I wanted to double check.
BigBâs not a very reliable source of information, Iâve found.
In other news, lapis is blue.
Yeah, I knew I was probably going to get caught up in this⌠idea, I guess, unless I confronted you directly. âs part of why I visited. That, and, yâknow, we havenât talked in a while.
Wanted to see your face.
All the warm, hazy airâŚ
He nodded along.
âYeah, no communicator here.â Bdubs closed his eyes for a moment before forcing them to reopen. Naps were important, but so was speaking to his friend. âAw, I missed you.â He beamed. âWhatâve you been upto?â
Ah, you know, the usual. Digging holes. Thatâs kind of been my M.O. for the past, what, three seasons? At the very least.
This holeâs a secret, though. Nobody knows where it is except for me. And itâs gonna stay that way for awhile.
Something skitters through the holes in his crocsâ a bug? Some kind of beetle? But it isnât there when he takes off his shoe for inspection. Strange.
A moist quality permeates the air.
Smells vaguely of petrichor and cocoa.
He tilted his head.
âWhy? Itâs just a hole, isnât it?â Bdubs frowned, why would anyone hide just a hole, unless- âooh, does it have all yâ stuff in it?â Honestly, heâd really like to sleep right about now, and wants to give Doc a little ânudgeâ into doing so because the man doesnât seem that tired! He hugged Doc tighter before pausing.
Wait. No, this was weird. As much as he enjoyed having Doc here, having someone appreciate his existence, having someone offer to nap with him, Doc just wasnât the type to want to nap with him for days on end. He had that whole grind thrive grind some more acronym that Bdubs couldnât really remember at this time. ââŚYou do know weâll be asleep for days, maybe even weeks, right?â He should check, it was the right thing to do even if itâd hurt when Doc left because no, he didnât know how long theyâd be asleep.
Doc shrugs.
Holeâs still gonna be there when I get back.
And thereâs a solaceâ that sort of solace one could see in anotherâs eyesâ in knowing that his fishing rod was tucked away in his inventory. He knew he was the one in control here. Docâs wings flutter for a few moments.
Worst comes to worst, you, uh, you canât exactly grief a hole without making a bigger hole, so⌠yeah, I donât have to even worry about that.
If anything, you should be the one whoâs worried. Youâre the guy they put in charge of the Nether hub, and youâre out here taking week long naps.
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, ân I donât think anyoneâs crazy enough to fill it back in.â Well, some people were but they then werenât crazy enough to mess with Doc. Unless you were Martyn.
He went quiet for a few moments. âI donât think they miss me.â Bdubs looked away.
Whâ
Noâ theyâ!
Docâs wings tense.
Listen to me. We do miss you, why do you thinkâ I wouldnât be here if I didnât think youâd be here. âS the whole reason I came down here in the first place.
He can feel something brushing up against his fur. Sharp leaves or⌠maybe itâs vines of some sort, heâs not entirely sure what it is.
We are not doomed, this doesnât have to be your life.
Iâd say it to Etho too, but we havenât found him yet.
You ainât alone here, man.
Really? Bdubs shot a wary glance at Doc. It didnât feel like he was missed much anymore. His antennae fell low as Doc continued. âDoomedâ?? Bdubs was feeling a bit low, that was normal, but doomed seemed slightly dramatic.
And Bdubs was alone most of the time, which really was his own fault for sleeping so much recently. People didnât tend to want to spend a lot of time with someone who was asleep. He curled up tighter.
âI- uh, thank you. Yeah, weâre together.â Something felt a little off with Doc but he couldnât quite place what.
And with Etho nowhere to be found, Bdubsâ company was everything to him.
So, of course, when he picked up on the odd look in Dubsâ eyes, he adjusted accordingly, as best as he could. Not that he was fully sure what it was about he said that warranted that, but surely he could figure this out along the way.
This fucking jungle, man.
He couldnât quite tell whether he was floating or walking, but he nearly tripped over a log, which would have been a bit inconvenient.
Howâs this guy managing to stay so sleepy during all this, this is the most awake Iâve everâŚ
âŚbeenâŚ
Is thereâŚ
He hesitates. Thereâs an idea floating around his head, and he hesitates, because am I really going to bail on him this early on? Maybe âbailingâ isnât the right word, Iâll come back as soon as I can, but it still leaves a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.
He ruminates for a moment.
Bdubs furrowed his brows as Doc began âwalkingâ away.
âWhere yâ goinâ?â He quickly buzzed his wings and followed after Doc, really trying to stick close, clinging to the interactions he craved. âDoc?â
Iâm right here, Iâm right here, what, can a guy not stretch his legs or sumân?
Like, I know this is your, uh, place, but⌠câmon.
Doc forces out a bit of a chuckle. Is he not worried aboutâ?
No, heâs definitely worried about Etho. Maybe he just doesnât want to think about it right now.
âŚah! Thatâs it! That has to be it, itâs so obvious when you really stop and think about it. Bdubs has had all the fuckinâ time in the world to think about Ethoâ heâs been looking all over for the guy, no oneâs seen himâ
It always feels nice when things fall into place like this.
âso by coming down here and immediately trying, like, to passively look for Etho⌠itâs kind of an asshole move, isnât it? Bdubs needs support too! Of course! Obviously! How did I not think of that sooner?
As much as it did make him feel like a bit of an idiot, it was equally as vindicating, being able to think logically about a situation. Especially given the circumstances!
But that did leave one problem.
Thereâs only one thing in his possession that he knows could quell the incessant pounding in his head, demanding he get ahold of Etho and Dubs and take a mad dash out of this fucking labyrinthâ weakness potions.
Which just so happen to be at his houseâ which of course, is not here.
So the plan of action involves somehow sneaking out of here without Bdubs realizing it, getting some potions, and coming back. This, of course, is going to be really fucking difficult if he canât even pace around without getting called out for it.
And⌠are there even lakes in the jungle anyway?
Bdubsâ antennae flattened.
âSorry, sorry.â Jeez, he was so needy, no wonder Doc was walking off somewhere. He stuck a little further behind him now, but didnât dare take his eyes off of him.
âDo ya⌠want me to wait here for you?â Bdubs paused, thatâd be less annoying, right? And Doc would come back for him. Doc would definitely, most certainly come back for him. He really, really hoped Doc would come back for him. âI can stop followinâ after ya, yeah, yeah.â
Well shit, that was easy.
Yeah, um, yeah, I was just checking to see if there was a lake around. Wanted to see if I could catch something, itâs nice and grounding, you know?
He takes out his fishing rod. His heart slows to a resting rate, looking at it.
If youâve, um, seen a lake around here, itâd be nice if you could point me in the direction of it. Iâll fish you up something nice, we couldâ we could chat over a campfire, thatâs always fun.
Yeah! Good save!
âA lake?â Bdubs frowned. A quick glance around confirmed they were still in the weird pocket dimension. He laughed, Doc must be joking. âWhere are ya findinâ a lake here?â
He yawned, blinking a few times. âWhy donâtcha come back over here ân we can finally shreep, itâll be-â he was cut off by another yawn. âA nice rest.â Bdubs finished in a mumble.
No lakes.
That complicates things.
I mean, itâd be nicer if we had, like, a bonfire going or something. Andâ and yeah, I guess weâre obviously not gonna find any lakes here, butâŚ
Think of something, think of somethingâ
âŚI could⌠pretend⌠to fish something up?
??????????
âOr we could finally sleepâŚâ
Bdubs nodded along. âIf you want to?â He didnât see why it mattered too much, but if it was important to Doc, then fine. âWe can have a little fire ân stuff when weâre out of here.â He promised.
Yeah, honestly I probably need to lie down at this point.
He casts the rod out, andâ
âŚ
Heâs notâ?
Heâs. Still here.
Mumbles something about junk treasure, heâs not even sure what heâs on about, and he casts again, and it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work.
âand yeah, so hereâs the fishâŚ
It didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
âŚand we can just⌠lie down now.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât workâ
Yeah, and itâsâ yeah. Sleep time.
âit didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work it didnât work IT DIDNâT WORK IT DIDNâTâ
Bdubs stared at Doc, yeah, okay something was really wrong. He moved over to Doc, grabbing his shoulder.
âAre you okay?â Did he do something wrong? He didnât intend to make Doc go all weird.

Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch ⢠No registration required ⢠HD streaming
Someoneâs standing at the side of your bed. It quickly becomes evident who woke youâ heâs got a pretty distinctive figure, and the glowing red eye doesnât leave much up for question.
Ey, man.
Rather quiet for someone who seems to want you awake.
You got a minute to spare for your nHo buddy?
@docs-mailbox
Bdubs grumbled something, shifting to bury himself further under the duvet. After a few moments he opened an eye, then realised who had woken him.
âDoc?â He mumbled, letters all slurring together. âDoc!â the next time he sounded more awake, shoving himself up to sit. âOh, yeah, yeah I got time, whatâs up?â Bdubs yawned, pulling his moss tighter around himself. He didnât bother to fix the rest of his clothing or hair, too much effort!!
Itâs about your cloak.
You still giving tours?
Bdubsâ eyes lit up.
âReally?!â He stumbled out of his bed, beaming. âYeah- oh, just a warning, you might grow an extra limb⌠but itâs fine!â Bdubs shrugged off the cloak and parted the moss, revealing a milky white rift with pink and purple marbling. âHop in!â
So long as I donât lose another horn, Iâm sure Iâll be fine.
His horn isnât fully healed, of course. But thereâs progress.
Heâs swift to enter, with his primed fishing rod tucked safely in his inventory.
Bdubs waited a few moments to giggle excitedly before following Doc in. There was no solid floor, here, but it was easy to float and move. The air was comfortable (if a little suffocating when you focused on it too hard) and warm.
Bdubs could feel himself getting tired already, heâd be in for a very long, very pleasant nap. He flapped his wings lazily a few times to propel himself over to Doc.
âHowâve you been, anyways?â He mumbled, eyelids already drooping and words slurring together.
Everything feels a bit warm and hazy. As if he were lost underneath a warm blanket.
Been fine mostly. Somebody messed up my redstone, and I seem to have misplaced my communicatorâŚ
It dawns on him that this endless expanse of a place doesnât have many spots to hide a device like his comm. Which is great! All the more reason to brush off all those silly anxieties about what BigB said.
Still, nothingâs been confirmed, one way or another.
âŚbut other than that, everythingâs been great. Projects ânâ all, and my wings are back in action too.
He flutters his as well. Matching motions!
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, âs rubbish.â Floating a little bit closer, he embraced Doc tightly. âBut itâll be okay, yâknow why? The moss is here to help us.â His tone dropped to a sort of purr. âThe moss is safe, and very, very wonderful.â There were some more mumbles about the moss, and how it was going to take over but it was too quiet to clearly make out the sentences.
Yeah, you and your moss, itâsâŚ
Indistinct.
Doc leaned into his embrace with a faint smile. His eyes, though, were fixed on something else. Far out in the distance.
And, even knowing the nature of the situationâ his comm being missing, with Bdubs probably not being the culpritâ I mean, come on, heâs my friend, obviously I can trust him more than famed liar BigBâ he canât help but entertain the idea of Dubs having it on him.
Less in the sense of Dubs having stolen it, and more along the lines of Dubs just having it on hand for no particular reason. A cosmic convenience of sorts.
And itâs the push that drives him to askâ
âŚdonât wanna accuse you of noân, but do you happen to have my, uh, my comm? Or know where it is?
âMmm? No, no- why would I know?â Bdubs blinked, peering up at Doc. That was weird, heâd been asleep for god knows how long, why would Bdubs have it anywhere near him?? Oh well. âYou should just sleep instead of worryinâ âbout all these small things.â He yawned.
Someone told me you had it. Didnât believe them, but I wanted to double check.
BigBâs not a very reliable source of information, Iâve found.
In other news, lapis is blue.
Yeah, I knew I was probably going to get caught up in this⌠idea, I guess, unless I confronted you directly. âs part of why I visited. That, and, yâknow, we havenât talked in a while.
Wanted to see your face.
All the warm, hazy airâŚ
He nodded along.
âYeah, no communicator here.â Bdubs closed his eyes for a moment before forcing them to reopen. Naps were important, but so was speaking to his friend. âAw, I missed you.â He beamed. âWhatâve you been upto?â
Ah, you know, the usual. Digging holes. Thatâs kind of been my M.O. for the past, what, three seasons? At the very least.
This holeâs a secret, though. Nobody knows where it is except for me. And itâs gonna stay that way for awhile.
Something skitters through the holes in his crocsâ a bug? Some kind of beetle? But it isnât there when he takes off his shoe for inspection. Strange.
A moist quality permeates the air.
Smells vaguely of petrichor and cocoa.
He tilted his head.
âWhy? Itâs just a hole, isnât it?â Bdubs frowned, why would anyone hide just a hole, unless- âooh, does it have all yâ stuff in it?â Honestly, heâd really like to sleep right about now, and wants to give Doc a little ânudgeâ into doing so because the man doesnât seem that tired! He hugged Doc tighter before pausing.
Wait. No, this was weird. As much as he enjoyed having Doc here, having someone appreciate his existence, having someone offer to nap with him, Doc just wasnât the type to want to nap with him for days on end. He had that whole grind thrive grind some more acronym that Bdubs couldnât really remember at this time. ââŚYou do know weâll be asleep for days, maybe even weeks, right?â He should check, it was the right thing to do even if itâd hurt when Doc left because no, he didnât know how long theyâd be asleep.
Doc shrugs.
Holeâs still gonna be there when I get back.
And thereâs a solaceâ that sort of solace one could see in anotherâs eyesâ in knowing that his fishing rod was tucked away in his inventory. He knew he was the one in control here. Docâs wings flutter for a few moments.
Worst comes to worst, you, uh, you canât exactly grief a hole without making a bigger hole, so⌠yeah, I donât have to even worry about that.
If anything, you should be the one whoâs worried. Youâre the guy they put in charge of the Nether hub, and youâre out here taking week long naps.
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, ân I donât think anyoneâs crazy enough to fill it back in.â Well, some people were but they then werenât crazy enough to mess with Doc. Unless you were Martyn.
He went quiet for a few moments. âI donât think they miss me.â Bdubs looked away.
Whâ
Noâ theyâ!
Docâs wings tense.
Listen to me. We do miss you, why do you thinkâ I wouldnât be here if I didnât think youâd be here. âS the whole reason I came down here in the first place.
He can feel something brushing up against his fur. Sharp leaves or⌠maybe itâs vines of some sort, heâs not entirely sure what it is.
We are not doomed, this doesnât have to be your life.
Iâd say it to Etho too, but we havenât found him yet.
You ainât alone here, man.
Really? Bdubs shot a wary glance at Doc. It didnât feel like he was missed much anymore. His antennae fell low as Doc continued. âDoomedâ?? Bdubs was feeling a bit low, that was normal, but doomed seemed slightly dramatic.
And Bdubs was alone most of the time, which really was his own fault for sleeping so much recently. People didnât tend to want to spend a lot of time with someone who was asleep. He curled up tighter.
âI- uh, thank you. Yeah, weâre together.â Something felt a little off with Doc but he couldnât quite place what.
And with Etho nowhere to be found, Bdubsâ company was everything to him.
So, of course, when he picked up on the odd look in Dubsâ eyes, he adjusted accordingly, as best as he could. Not that he was fully sure what it was about he said that warranted that, but surely he could figure this out along the way.
This fucking jungle, man.
He couldnât quite tell whether he was floating or walking, but he nearly tripped over a log, which would have been a bit inconvenient.
Howâs this guy managing to stay so sleepy during all this, this is the most awake Iâve everâŚ
âŚbeenâŚ
Is thereâŚ
He hesitates. Thereâs an idea floating around his head, and he hesitates, because am I really going to bail on him this early on? Maybe âbailingâ isnât the right word, Iâll come back as soon as I can, but it still leaves a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.
He ruminates for a moment.
Bdubs furrowed his brows as Doc began âwalkingâ away.
âWhere yâ goinâ?â He quickly buzzed his wings and followed after Doc, really trying to stick close, clinging to the interactions he craved. âDoc?â
Iâm right here, Iâm right here, what, can a guy not stretch his legs or sumân?
Like, I know this is your, uh, place, but⌠câmon.
Doc forces out a bit of a chuckle. Is he not worried aboutâ?
No, heâs definitely worried about Etho. Maybe he just doesnât want to think about it right now.
âŚah! Thatâs it! That has to be it, itâs so obvious when you really stop and think about it. Bdubs has had all the fuckinâ time in the world to think about Ethoâ heâs been looking all over for the guy, no oneâs seen himâ
It always feels nice when things fall into place like this.
âso by coming down here and immediately trying, like, to passively look for Etho⌠itâs kind of an asshole move, isnât it? Bdubs needs support too! Of course! Obviously! How did I not think of that sooner?
As much as it did make him feel like a bit of an idiot, it was equally as vindicating, being able to think logically about a situation. Especially given the circumstances!
But that did leave one problem.
Thereâs only one thing in his possession that he knows could quell the incessant pounding in his head, demanding he get ahold of Etho and Dubs and take a mad dash out of this fucking labyrinthâ weakness potions.
Which just so happen to be at his houseâ which of course, is not here.
So the plan of action involves somehow sneaking out of here without Bdubs realizing it, getting some potions, and coming back. This, of course, is going to be really fucking difficult if he canât even pace around without getting called out for it.
And⌠are there even lakes in the jungle anyway?
Bdubsâ antennae flattened.
âSorry, sorry.â Jeez, he was so needy, no wonder Doc was walking off somewhere. He stuck a little further behind him now, but didnât dare take his eyes off of him.
âDo ya⌠want me to wait here for you?â Bdubs paused, thatâd be less annoying, right? And Doc would come back for him. Doc would definitely, most certainly come back for him. He really, really hoped Doc would come back for him. âI can stop followinâ after ya, yeah, yeah.â
Well shit, that was easy.
Yeah, um, yeah, I was just checking to see if there was a lake around. Wanted to see if I could catch something, itâs nice and grounding, you know?
He takes out his fishing rod. His heart slows to a resting rate, looking at it.
If youâve, um, seen a lake around here, itâd be nice if you could point me in the direction of it. Iâll fish you up something nice, we couldâ we could chat over a campfire, thatâs always fun.
Yeah! Good save!
âA lake?â Bdubs frowned. A quick glance around confirmed they were still in the weird pocket dimension. He laughed, Doc must be joking. âWhere are ya findinâ a lake here?â
He yawned, blinking a few times. âWhy donâtcha come back over here ân we can finally shreep, itâll be-â he was cut off by another yawn. âA nice rest.â Bdubs finished in a mumble.
No lakes.
That complicates things.
I mean, itâd be nicer if we had, like, a bonfire going or something. Andâ and yeah, I guess weâre obviously not gonna find any lakes here, butâŚ
Think of something, think of somethingâ
âŚI could⌠pretend⌠to fish something up?
??????????
âOr we could finally sleepâŚâ
Bdubs nodded along. âIf you want to?â He didnât see why it mattered too much, but if it was important to Doc, then fine. âWe can have a little fire ân stuff when weâre out of here.â He promised.
Someoneâs standing at the side of your bed. It quickly becomes evident who woke youâ heâs got a pretty distinctive figure, and the glowing red eye doesnât leave much up for question.
Ey, man.
Rather quiet for someone who seems to want you awake.
You got a minute to spare for your nHo buddy?
@docs-mailbox
Bdubs grumbled something, shifting to bury himself further under the duvet. After a few moments he opened an eye, then realised who had woken him.
âDoc?â He mumbled, letters all slurring together. âDoc!â the next time he sounded more awake, shoving himself up to sit. âOh, yeah, yeah I got time, whatâs up?â Bdubs yawned, pulling his moss tighter around himself. He didnât bother to fix the rest of his clothing or hair, too much effort!!
Itâs about your cloak.
You still giving tours?
Bdubsâ eyes lit up.
âReally?!â He stumbled out of his bed, beaming. âYeah- oh, just a warning, you might grow an extra limb⌠but itâs fine!â Bdubs shrugged off the cloak and parted the moss, revealing a milky white rift with pink and purple marbling. âHop in!â
So long as I donât lose another horn, Iâm sure Iâll be fine.
His horn isnât fully healed, of course. But thereâs progress.
Heâs swift to enter, with his primed fishing rod tucked safely in his inventory.
Bdubs waited a few moments to giggle excitedly before following Doc in. There was no solid floor, here, but it was easy to float and move. The air was comfortable (if a little suffocating when you focused on it too hard) and warm.
Bdubs could feel himself getting tired already, heâd be in for a very long, very pleasant nap. He flapped his wings lazily a few times to propel himself over to Doc.
âHowâve you been, anyways?â He mumbled, eyelids already drooping and words slurring together.
Everything feels a bit warm and hazy. As if he were lost underneath a warm blanket.
Been fine mostly. Somebody messed up my redstone, and I seem to have misplaced my communicatorâŚ
It dawns on him that this endless expanse of a place doesnât have many spots to hide a device like his comm. Which is great! All the more reason to brush off all those silly anxieties about what BigB said.
Still, nothingâs been confirmed, one way or another.
âŚbut other than that, everythingâs been great. Projects ânâ all, and my wings are back in action too.
He flutters his as well. Matching motions!
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, âs rubbish.â Floating a little bit closer, he embraced Doc tightly. âBut itâll be okay, yâknow why? The moss is here to help us.â His tone dropped to a sort of purr. âThe moss is safe, and very, very wonderful.â There were some more mumbles about the moss, and how it was going to take over but it was too quiet to clearly make out the sentences.
Yeah, you and your moss, itâsâŚ
Indistinct.
Doc leaned into his embrace with a faint smile. His eyes, though, were fixed on something else. Far out in the distance.
And, even knowing the nature of the situationâ his comm being missing, with Bdubs probably not being the culpritâ I mean, come on, heâs my friend, obviously I can trust him more than famed liar BigBâ he canât help but entertain the idea of Dubs having it on him.
Less in the sense of Dubs having stolen it, and more along the lines of Dubs just having it on hand for no particular reason. A cosmic convenience of sorts.
And itâs the push that drives him to askâ
âŚdonât wanna accuse you of noân, but do you happen to have my, uh, my comm? Or know where it is?
âMmm? No, no- why would I know?â Bdubs blinked, peering up at Doc. That was weird, heâd been asleep for god knows how long, why would Bdubs have it anywhere near him?? Oh well. âYou should just sleep instead of worryinâ âbout all these small things.â He yawned.
Someone told me you had it. Didnât believe them, but I wanted to double check.
BigBâs not a very reliable source of information, Iâve found.
In other news, lapis is blue.
Yeah, I knew I was probably going to get caught up in this⌠idea, I guess, unless I confronted you directly. âs part of why I visited. That, and, yâknow, we havenât talked in a while.
Wanted to see your face.
All the warm, hazy airâŚ
He nodded along.
âYeah, no communicator here.â Bdubs closed his eyes for a moment before forcing them to reopen. Naps were important, but so was speaking to his friend. âAw, I missed you.â He beamed. âWhatâve you been upto?â
Ah, you know, the usual. Digging holes. Thatâs kind of been my M.O. for the past, what, three seasons? At the very least.
This holeâs a secret, though. Nobody knows where it is except for me. And itâs gonna stay that way for awhile.
Something skitters through the holes in his crocsâ a bug? Some kind of beetle? But it isnât there when he takes off his shoe for inspection. Strange.
A moist quality permeates the air.
Smells vaguely of petrichor and cocoa.
He tilted his head.
âWhy? Itâs just a hole, isnât it?â Bdubs frowned, why would anyone hide just a hole, unless- âooh, does it have all yâ stuff in it?â Honestly, heâd really like to sleep right about now, and wants to give Doc a little ânudgeâ into doing so because the man doesnât seem that tired! He hugged Doc tighter before pausing.
Wait. No, this was weird. As much as he enjoyed having Doc here, having someone appreciate his existence, having someone offer to nap with him, Doc just wasnât the type to want to nap with him for days on end. He had that whole grind thrive grind some more acronym that Bdubs couldnât really remember at this time. ââŚYou do know weâll be asleep for days, maybe even weeks, right?â He should check, it was the right thing to do even if itâd hurt when Doc left because no, he didnât know how long theyâd be asleep.
Doc shrugs.
Holeâs still gonna be there when I get back.
And thereâs a solaceâ that sort of solace one could see in anotherâs eyesâ in knowing that his fishing rod was tucked away in his inventory. He knew he was the one in control here. Docâs wings flutter for a few moments.
Worst comes to worst, you, uh, you canât exactly grief a hole without making a bigger hole, so⌠yeah, I donât have to even worry about that.
If anything, you should be the one whoâs worried. Youâre the guy they put in charge of the Nether hub, and youâre out here taking week long naps.
Bdubs nodded.
âMhm, ân I donât think anyoneâs crazy enough to fill it back in.â Well, some people were but they then werenât crazy enough to mess with Doc. Unless you were Martyn.
He went quiet for a few moments. âI donât think they miss me.â Bdubs looked away.
Whâ
Noâ theyâ!
Docâs wings tense.
Listen to me. We do miss you, why do you thinkâ I wouldnât be here if I didnât think youâd be here. âS the whole reason I came down here in the first place.
He can feel something brushing up against his fur. Sharp leaves or⌠maybe itâs vines of some sort, heâs not entirely sure what it is.
We are not doomed, this doesnât have to be your life.
Iâd say it to Etho too, but we havenât found him yet.
You ainât alone here, man.
Really? Bdubs shot a wary glance at Doc. It didnât feel like he was missed much anymore. His antennae fell low as Doc continued. âDoomedâ?? Bdubs was feeling a bit low, that was normal, but doomed seemed slightly dramatic.
And Bdubs was alone most of the time, which really was his own fault for sleeping so much recently. People didnât tend to want to spend a lot of time with someone who was asleep. He curled up tighter.
âI- uh, thank you. Yeah, weâre together.â Something felt a little off with Doc but he couldnât quite place what.
And with Etho nowhere to be found, Bdubsâ company was everything to him.
So, of course, when he picked up on the odd look in Dubsâ eyes, he adjusted accordingly, as best as he could. Not that he was fully sure what it was about he said that warranted that, but surely he could figure this out along the way.
This fucking jungle, man.
He couldnât quite tell whether he was floating or walking, but he nearly tripped over a log, which would have been a bit inconvenient.
Howâs this guy managing to stay so sleepy during all this, this is the most awake Iâve everâŚ
âŚbeenâŚ
Is thereâŚ
He hesitates. Thereâs an idea floating around his head, and he hesitates, because am I really going to bail on him this early on? Maybe âbailingâ isnât the right word, Iâll come back as soon as I can, but it still leaves a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.
He ruminates for a moment.
Bdubs furrowed his brows as Doc began âwalkingâ away.
âWhere yâ goinâ?â He quickly buzzed his wings and followed after Doc, really trying to stick close, clinging to the interactions he craved. âDoc?â
Iâm right here, Iâm right here, what, can a guy not stretch his legs or sumân?
Like, I know this is your, uh, place, but⌠câmon.
Doc forces out a bit of a chuckle. Is he not worried aboutâ?
No, heâs definitely worried about Etho. Maybe he just doesnât want to think about it right now.
âŚah! Thatâs it! That has to be it, itâs so obvious when you really stop and think about it. Bdubs has had all the fuckinâ time in the world to think about Ethoâ heâs been looking all over for the guy, no oneâs seen himâ
It always feels nice when things fall into place like this.
âso by coming down here and immediately trying, like, to passively look for Etho⌠itâs kind of an asshole move, isnât it? Bdubs needs support too! Of course! Obviously! How did I not think of that sooner?
As much as it did make him feel like a bit of an idiot, it was equally as vindicating, being able to think logically about a situation. Especially given the circumstances!
But that did leave one problem.
Thereâs only one thing in his possession that he knows could quell the incessant pounding in his head, demanding he get ahold of Etho and Dubs and take a mad dash out of this fucking labyrinthâ weakness potions.
Which just so happen to be at his houseâ which of course, is not here.
So the plan of action involves somehow sneaking out of here without Bdubs realizing it, getting some potions, and coming back. This, of course, is going to be really fucking difficult if he canât even pace around without getting called out for it.
And⌠are there even lakes in the jungle anyway?
Bdubsâ antennae flattened.
âSorry, sorry.â Jeez, he was so needy, no wonder Doc was walking off somewhere. He stuck a little further behind him now, but didnât dare take his eyes off of him.
âDo ya⌠want me to wait here for you?â Bdubs paused, thatâd be less annoying, right? And Doc would come back for him. Doc would definitely, most certainly come back for him. He really, really hoped Doc would come back for him. âI can stop followinâ after ya, yeah, yeah.â
Well shit, that was easy.
Yeah, um, yeah, I was just checking to see if there was a lake around. Wanted to see if I could catch something, itâs nice and grounding, you know?
He takes out his fishing rod. His heart slows to a resting rate, looking at it.
If youâve, um, seen a lake around here, itâd be nice if you could point me in the direction of it. Iâll fish you up something nice, we couldâ we could chat over a campfire, thatâs always fun.
Yeah! Good save!
âA lake?â Bdubs frowned. A quick glance around confirmed they were still in the weird pocket dimension. He laughed, Doc must be joking. âWhere are ya findinâ a lake here?â
He yawned, blinking a few times. âWhy donâtcha come back over here ân we can finally shreep, itâll be-â he was cut off by another yawn. âA nice rest.â Bdubs finished in a mumble.