#colewrites

He didn't take his mask off: no. He kissed your hand through it.

While the colour of the fabric is dark, perfectly hiding his face away from the world, it's actually thinner than what you had expected.

You can feel his warm breath through it and he pressed his lips to the bottom of your palm, before slowly sinking to your wrist.

It's warm. You're not sure if it's because of his breath, or because of the fact that you're just absolutely flustered by his action.

With how his lips are pressed firmly, yet gently right on your pulse, you're made aware of how his actions affect your heart.

Pulling away, he look back up to you, you can feel his grin behind the mask:

"You seem a little flustered there sweetie. What'd I do? Hm? Care to explain?"

Kiss his wrist back. Just pull up the edge of his gloves enough, and kiss where his pulse is.

You can feel it quickened underneath your lips, but you know Etho.

He would just take your action as a challenge.

Now you're in a competition against your boyfriend, good luck, he's hard to defeat when it comes to flustering the hell out of you.

Xisumavoid [Neck]

This might be out of the blue, but if anything, Xisuma is a tease from the bottom of his boots to the top of his head.

So it's no wonder that his favourite place to surprise you with a kiss is your neck.

Just like Etho, his mask doesn't stop him from showing you his appreciation through kisses.

When no one's around, he likes to pull you in his embrace and just buries his face to the crook of your neck.

It calms him down, whenever he feels you so close in his arms.

But when the feelings of sentimentalism are over; he'd start pecking.

Firm kisses, butterfly kisses, hell he would even blow a raspberry on your neck just to hear your protest and struggle as he keeps you close.

Even with his mask on, you can feel that he's enjoying it.

And well, you can't blame him. You enjoy this type of affection from him, too.

"You're not gonna get away from me. Did you really think you could escape? I mean you probably could but you wouldn't. Would you?"

Doesn't mind if you kiss his neck back, if you can reach it that is.

Would actually love it if you do, though. It most likely will happen when you too cuddle.

He likes holding the back of your head and keeping you there: it gives him a sense of protection where he can both protect you, but also be protected by you.

Though if you want a more intimate scenario on his kisses, naturally, it's not rare for his pecks to turn into more intimate and desperate kisses.

The rest, really is up to you on where you want to take his kisses to. :)

Mumbojumbo [Palm]

One would think that Mumbo's main form of kisses are to kiss the back of your hand, or your knuckle.

-which are correct. But you would be surprised at how much he enjoys kissing your palm over the back of your hand.

Usually it would start with a greeting. Him taking your hand in his and pulling it up to kiss knuckles on your hand.

Then he would hold it there: breathed in your presence, before holding your hand in his and pressing your palm over his lips.

He likes burying his face in your hand, that's it.

He just likes to appreciate the tenderness and intimacy of giving appreciation to your hand.

It has finished many tasks and built many things, as well as going through many challenges. It should be right to appreciate and treat it as it deserves.

Bonus points if you greet him by cradling his face in your hands first!!

He'd just hold either of your hands and turn his face to kiss them each.

He's so soft, please kiss him back.

"Hello to you too, love. How was your day?"

Or you can just sit there, leaning your back against his chest while watching him scribble away. Listening to a bit of mumbling, muttering a bit of silent frustrated huffs from him.

If you passed out on him when you're on his lap, he'd leave the blueprints and tools on the table before carefully picking you up, and walking you over to a more comfortable surface like your shared bed. Of course looking at your cute face he'd coo and tease you a bit, but he's not as cruel as to purposely wake you.

"Don't worry you tried your best to stay up. Maybe I should take a picture.. Nah. I'll keep it in my memory bank. Sweet dream beloved."

Occasionally he sneaks an arm around your waist and just hugs you. His chin propped on your shoulder or the top of your head as he continued working.

Overall he's actually pretty normal about it, 10/10 would recommend.

//Docm77

Doc is.. Surprised. That was his initial response.

Neither of you have actually ever confessed that you wanted to cuddle or do any physical contact- After the initial politeness in the relationship, both of you just give physical affection to the other without words exchanged.

So with you suddenly being bold and asking him if you can sit on his lap baffled him!

"You wanted to.. What? Sit on my lap? Are you sure about it, Schatz? I can get you your own chair if you want t— Okay. Okay, of course you can, love."

He wouldn't mind, of course. Saying yes to your request as he watches you walk over to him and promptly making yourself comfortable leaning back against him.

He's a bit nervous though, somehow.

He's just worried you'd get uncomfortable sitting in his lap for too long. Not many of his body are flesh, so he's scared that his mechanic body may cause you discomfort.

"Are you alright? Do you want to stop? I can get you a blanket or a pillow?"

Reassure him by kissing his mechanical hand! Kiss where it hummed with redstone, and slowly move towards his skin.

He may not feel it when you kiss his mechanical part, but the sight of you just pressing your smiling lips to the palm of his hand is enough to make him run with affection.

He gets comfortable after you've done this a few times.

So comfortable to the point that he'd drag you into his lap, whether you ended up sitting on him or not, he'd have an arm wrapped around your waist as he told you about things.

"Come here, beloved. Look. I've got this part of the project planned out but I think I can thin out the layer of this side by a few blocks. What do you think?"

Overall 8/10. The metal is a bit cold and is actually hurting your butt, but you love him and he compensates by massaging your site spot later on.

//Vintagebeef

Mr Vintagebeef is a cuddle bear.

Your request shocked him. He just gave out a small gasp with his hand over his mouth while he slowly put down his cartography tool.

But he's quick to switch to a laugh before tugging you towards him!

"I don't know where you're getting these kinds of ideas from but I don't want to disappoint my lovely partner so- Come here!"

Beef is a hardworking man, but it doesn't mean that he'd deny such a precious request from his lover! Besides, he can use a little bit of emotional support every now and then.

He might look like he's not experienced with having his partner on his lap and that is true, but the way how he easily can hold you and make you steady on his lap while he works on his maps with the other hand actually surprised you.

He knows what he's doing! Well he doesn't, but you don't need to know that! He just subtly asks you every now and then if you need to get up or if you're uncomfortable. Very sweet indeed. He loves the affection but he doesn't want to keep you forever if you're tired!

"Do you need anything? Water? Food? No? Okay. Just tell me if you need to go get something alright? I'll be here for a while so just tell me if you need to go do some work yourself."

He'd sneak a kiss on your cheek, neck, hair, wherever is accessible to him, all while holding your waist and giving gentle squeezes on your side every now and then. 

He'd listen to you talk, or he can do the talking, or the two of you can just stay there silently being a comfort to each other while he does his work.

Absolutely the best, 10/10. His laugh keeps you awake and his touch keeps you comfortable.

//Bdubs

Bold of you to assume you've never sat on his lap before.

Bdubs is always dragging you over for cuddles, he doesn't care about the position or about who gets to be the big spoon or who gets to be the small spoon, he just wants you to hold him and vice versa.

And one of those positions happens to be just sitting between his legs with your back leaned on him.

Just like Doc, it felt more like an act on intimacy that doesn't require words for it to be done.

But when you do ask him whether you can sit on his lap or not, he'd actually give a laugh.

"What nonsense are you talking about! Have you been hanging out with mister Zedaph? Silly goose, of course you can sit on my lap! Come here beloved."

Why are you so shy! He'd just pull your hand, walk towards the nearest chair, plopped himself down before tugging you down with him and snuggling into you.

He's super comfortable, too! This man knows his cuddle and he knows which position hurts your neck/back and which doesn't. And he's also super warm!

But unlike the other three before, Bdubs absolutely does not want to cuddle you when he is working.

He loves you to death but if you keep distracting him with cuddles and kisses, he might just need to ban you from his workspace!

He still loves you, though. You're just too distracting but he still has shops to take care of and attend to.

"No- No. Beloved listen to me. I need to get this print done before King Ren finds out that I haven't finished this quest after a week. Yes I do love you, I love you so much but I need to get this done okay. I promise you I'll take good care of you after this but for now you're banned from the office!"

You had left the SMP just a few weeks after helping the Blood God break Dream, Ranboo (and somehow Connor), out of prison.

You couldn't quite bother with Dream as your main objective was to rescue Ranboo and find out why he was kept there in the first place. You were a figure he often looked up to as you were the first person to help him adjust to the server many many moons ago. You had let him do his own thing after taking him in once again during the final battle of L'manberg.

Honestly you didn't hear much of him after he moved to Snowchester. Which is why there's just too many questions lingering around your head as you wait for Techno to come back out of the Pandora's Box with the Enderman hybrid.

The plan was already carefully crafted, you and Philza waiting for them right by the flank of Pandora's Box while Niki distracted everyone else with a wither on the other side. It was supposed to be easy; Dream is absolutely on board with the plan and following each and every order you gave him down to the T. But with Ranboo, something seems off.

You had held Sam at gunpoint with your crossbow as you screamed at Ranboo to immediately take one of the horses and run away as fast as possible. You had hoped to hear the horse galloping away and were prepared to fight Sam with whatever necessary to let him escape; but neither of those scenarios ever happened.

Pulling your gaze away from Sam for a split second to check on Ranboo, you saw him take off his netherite armour that Techno had given him prior. Throwing the metal gear on the ground, while clutching on a piece of paper in his hand.

You were about to ask him what the hell he thinks he's doing, but Sam had acted faster and taken advantage of your confusion to snatch your crossbow off of your hand, and immediately fired the charged rocket right back to you.

The rest from that point was blurry. You had taken direct impact from a highly explosive rocket shot that even a netherite chestplate couldn't fully protect you from. You were awake, but barely.

Techno took over your place as you coughed on the ground, blood seeping from between the crack made on your chest plate as your skin burns underneath. Looking up through blurry eyes, the last thing you saw was Ranboo's guilty look, a silent plea of apology right to you, before Sam had taken his last life right in front of you and the Blood God.

The next thing you know as you're awoken with bandages all over your left shoulder is Phil and Niki, telling you that Ranboo had died that day with his last life to Sam, and Techno had went on a quest to avenge him with Tubbo while you were unconscious.

A few days after that you had gone through stages of grief. Losing Ranboo right in front of your eyes felt like the biggest failure you could've gotten. He was just a kid- He had been through so much, and his life was taken from him right under your nose.

Sam had done it. The name and the feature of the creeper hybrid as he stabs through Ranboo's chest have been recorded clearly in your mind. As much as you want to catch up to Techno and avenge him, you don't think your mind or body can handle it.

The shot of that one single firework burns underneath your skin. It doesn't necessarily cause you severe pain, but every now and then it spikes up and there are nights where you're forced awake because of the burn it left on you.

Phil was the first to suggest that you leave the SMP. He believes that whatever revenge and punishment you want to befall the creeper hybrid would definitely be fulfilled by Techno and his unstoppable bloodlust. Though as much as the idea feels nice to execute, you're not sure where you would go from the server hub once you left the Dream SMP. You've been there for a long time; you don't really have anywhere else to go.

That is, until an invitation came to you from a hermit outside of the SMP. An invitation to join the Hermitcraft server as they're going to start their ninth season. You were surprised by this sudden coincidence. The hermits are well known across the hall of the server hub, so you're quite surprised to get an invitation, knowing well that you don't really have that high of an achievement in building nor redstone to be able to gain their attention.

Before you can ask any questions or be hesitant about yourself, Philza had shut those thoughts away and encouraged you to join the SMP. He convinced you that even though it sounds a little suspicious, he knows that the hermits are good people, having known some of them prior.

You, just wanting to take a break and leave the Dream SMP behind, put a lot of trust in Phil's words and set off to the Hermitcraft server. Hoping to find a community with less war, less fighting, and perhaps finally living a normal, peaceful life and move on from this mess.

Finally entering the server, you were greeted by the sight of a larger group of people talking to each other excitedly, perhaps, about their plan for the season ahead. None of them seems to have noticed your appearance yet, as they seem to be still happily chatting with each other.

The anxiousness of feeling absolutely left out from the group gets to you. All you do as you wait for perhaps an announcement of some sort to happen, is to clutch on the clothing of the left side of your chest, feeling the everlasting burn somewhat comfort you in this awkward situation.

That was all you do until a voice with a thick accent and gruff tone calls out to you from behind with a simple, "Are you alright, friend?"

You flinched, only gripping your shirt tighter before sharply turning back to face the source, with a nervous smile, you took a sharp breath, "Oh! Uh, right. Yeah, I'm alright, uhm. Sir—"

But through your stammering, your eyes widened as you watched the taller figure who looked before you. The first thing you noticed from him was his green complexity, one which reminds you of a creeper- which, makes it clear that this man (?) Is a creeper hybrid.

Another, creeper hybrid.

Images of Sam flash for a split second then. You were reminded by the Warden's golden armour, gas mask, and his empty raven coloured gaze.

It took you a while, seconds felt like eternity as you snapped yourself back to reality, noticing the obvious differences that the man before you possessed from the Warden.

Instead of gold, he was dressed in white lab coat. The left side of his face seems to be mechanical alongside the right side of his body. And weirdly enough, while you're convinced that he's a creeper hybrid based on his height and skin colour, the goat horn that is growing on his head makes you doubt your guesses slightly.

He seems patient to your response, or rather, lack of, as he watches you try to take all of his appearance in. He knows his size and looks can be a bit overwhelming for a lot of people; but seeing that you haven't run nor scream seems to be a good sign to him to wait for you to process things.

You, on the other hand, were almost ready to pull your crossbow that you currently haven't obtained yet to put yourself on defense. But with enough time and enough self control, you finally brought yourself back to reality and managed to convince yourself that this man is not Sam. And that he won't hurt you the way Sam did Ranboo.

At least, that's what you want to hope for.

So you took a deep breath, clenched your first, before offering the hybrid the best, most polite smile you can mutter.

"I'm alright. I'm uh, just a little nervous. Thank you for the worry. Mister..?"

"Doc. Just Doc is fine." He seems relaxed, and somehow, contended that you've managed to calm yourself to reply to him even though it takes some time.

"I uh, is there anything I can help you with, Doc?" You nervously ask, the hand that was clutching on your shirt now rests firmly on your hip as you hold the ghost of your sword, your instinct never weakened.

"No, not really. But I feel like I should be the one asking you that," he hummed, his eyes seemed to soften slightly with worry, "You seemed to be slightly in pain earlier, clutching on your chest. Do you perhaps have any trouble breathing? Any.. Chronic illness?"

You squinted at his words, feeling slightly offended by the question. Sure you're grateful that he feels concern for you, and perhaps the thoughts that he'd like to help by asking whether you're sick is actually a good thing, you just.. Feel like that's a little bit quick.

He seems to notice your judgemental state before putting his hands up in defense and shaking his head, "Ah- Forgive me. I apologize.. Didn't realize how rude the question must be. I'm just.. Slightly worried about you and was just wondering if there's anything I can do to help."

Help. Right.

"It's.. It's quite alright. Thank you for the concern but I was just panicking a little, you know?" You let out a nervous laugh, shrugging.

Doc is quite an observant individual. He knows you're somewhat still skittish of him and are keeping up guards by the way your hand seemingly always on alert, ready to pull a weapon that you don't own yet. But he's also aware of your backstory and where you're from, so he's willing to be as patient as he can be with you, seeing how even being there seems difficult enough for you.

"I see, well that happens to the best of us. I know it can be a little scary coming to a new place with a bunch of new people you're not familiar with yet," and he smiled. Surprisingly enough, his smile looked really sincere, as opposed to his scary appearance. You suppose that is the first step to trust.

"Actually, if you're not sure on how to start, I can help you set up your base?" He offered, to which, you hesitantly raised an eyebrow. "I mean you don't have to, of course, absolutely no pressure. It's just that if you need any help, I'm willing to lend a hand whenever you need one."

He doesn't seem.. Like he has any further, hidden intention in his words. It feels like genuine honesty in wanting to help you. Something that you haven't seen in many people in your previous server.

So you just thanked him for his offer, saying that should you ever really need any help, he'll probably be the first person you'll come to. Probably. Planning for a far ahead future was not your specialty. Honestly you just want to start off somewhere with a good distance away from everyone and live normally out there.

He nodded. Your acceptance seems good enough. He's not sure whether you'll actually come to him or not; but it seems like at the very least, he's got his intention over to you.

And with that both of you parted ways rather slightly awkwardly after the annual meeting had ended. Everyone began to explore in pairs and groups to gather resources as the first night approached. You, on the other hand, opted to go off to look for stuff on your own, just like how you always do.

You venture up to the North side of the world. Exploring just far enough to not collide bases with anyone who's about to build their giant starter house, you settle in a random tundra biome, finding a slight nostalgic peace from the cold environment.

Weeks pass, and you've managed to build yourself a small cabin with a chimney that regularly breathes out smoke to a far distance. Greenhouse was made, the armory was filled with weaponry, and you're all settled for yet another peaceful, lonely life in the cold tundra.

That is, until someone finds your cabin and are standing right in front of your doorstep as you exit the greenhouse.

It's him, Doc. He seems to be fully geared up already with diamond armour and an elytra. He stood there by your doorstep, seemingly unaware of your approach from the greenhouse as you watch him lightly rubbing his arm.

Creeper can get cold?

"What're you doing here?" After putting down the basket of potatoes to the side and resting your hand at the hilt of your axe, Doc flinched at the surprise before turning to face you with wide eyes.

"Oh my God— you- you scared me a little there," he nervously chuckled, shoulder relaxing as he watched you keeping your distance, waiting for his answer.

"Oh! Right, I'm actually here to uh, check up on you. Xisuma told me that you haven't left your starter base yet and uh, yeah. I'm mostly here to check up on how you're doing."

"That's all?"

"Yes..?"

The two of you spent a good minute looking at each other. You in slight disbelief and him, slightly shivering due to being rather underdressed for the environment.

You were about to tell him that you're doing well, and that you don't quite need any help, but seeing him just.. Standing there in the cold with his armour on doesn't really seem comfortable. You know cold armour can be awful to put on. And considering the distance he might've gone through to get here- You assumed he's been suffering, shivering for a long time.

"Get inside, the fireplace is always lit." You pulled your hand away from the hilt of your axe, an action that he noticed, as you turned you back away from him to pick up the basket of potatoes.

He seems quite.. Surprised, by your invitation. He had expected you to brush him off with formality, but it seems like the sight of a giant creeper hybrid shivering in the cold, tundra biome makes you take slight pity on him.

But he's not complaining! Watching you approaching the door, he instinctively opened the door for you and moved to the side to let you and the basket of potato in, only to follow suit right after you had descended into the kitchen inside the cabin.

"Take off your armour and hang it by the door, don't get snow in my house." You gave him direction as you placed the basket of potatoes onto the small table in your kitchen.

"Oh- Right, thank you." He seems to be still slightly nervous. Is he crossing the line by being in here? You did invite him in, so it should be fine, right? But what if your invitation was out of politeness and he's actually bothering you with your schedule? Doc has never been so parasocial before this, as he just stood there by the doorstep, awkwardly now with his armour off.

"Well, it's a nice place you've got here," he took a deep breath, deciding to break the ice and lead the conversation, since you seem quite focused on cleaning the vegetables you had just picked. "I saw your greenhouse outside, it looks quite lovely with the blue glass. Is it automated?"

"No. I.. Like processing my vegetables by hand," you replied to him while focusing on cleaning the dirt off of a carrot. Hearing his footsteps, you suppose he's just currently walking around your cabin, checking things that are worth seeing. "Besides I don't really know how to build an automated farm. I'm not really.. An expert at redstone. And honestly I doubt I will be in the near future."

From that comment, Doc laughed. Surprisingly a hearty laugh that comes in contrast to his currently freezing body.

"Automated vegetable farms aren't that difficult to create. But I suppose I understand what you mean by it," he looked at the fireplace and the couch near it, turning to look at you for permission, in which you only nod your head at before he let himself sink into the soft surface with a sigh. "I've actually haven't experienced this in a long while."

"Hm?" His last sentence caught you off guard as he seems to have lowered his voice by a note. Looking back to the creeper hybrid who had made himself comfortable at your house, you only watch the fire reflection crackle in his eyes. "What do you mean by 'this'?"

"This, I mean just.. Living, I suppose." He shrugged, leaning back on the couch, "I've spent years in this server, building and creating things never seen before."

"Hunting.. Farming by hand, all of those have become quite a bothersome errand when all you want to do is just.. Break that limit and create something new." He clenched his fist, and opened it, looking down at it with looks that are difficult to decipher from your view. "That's why automatic farms were built. To be rid of those repetitive tasks. Towers that reach heaven to milk whatever the universe gave us and use it to its fullest potential."

He seems to be deep in thought. Has your greenhouse made that much impact on his view in life to the point that he seems to be having a minor midlife crisis?

"Are you calling my farm inefficient and boring?" You laughed lightly, turning your attention back to the vegetables at hand. "I'm no hermit like any of you are, so I suppose it's hard to share views. I quite enjoy the normalcy."

This time, Doc looks at you. Slightly baffled by your sudden chattiness and laughter. It was small; but you laugh. An honest one, it seems.

"I didn't get much of.. Well, this, before. Buildings often come and go in one night. Instead of progressing ahead we were forced to look at the present and always be aware of tomorrow, it's.." you shut your eyes, placing the clean vegetables down as you took a deep breath. ".. Quite tiring."

Silence but the sound of crackling fire sets between the two of you. This was one of the first times you've recalled the old SMP after so long. You're reminded by the constant explosion, the constant fire, and moving from one base to another, it was always filled with running away. Always.

Slowly opening your eyes with a deep exhale, you see that Doc has stood up from where he was seated as he slowly walked over to where you are. Standing right across from you, he offered you that smile again, as he picked up one of the clean carrots.

"Well, cooking all of this by yourself sure is tiring too, won't it?" You exhaled another breath you didn't think was holding, "Do you mind if I lend a hand on this one?"

That was the small start of your, well, friendship, with the creeper hybrid.

Ever since then Doc visited every week or so, coming with small gifts he found or have farmed in his collection of massive automated farms. Everytime you kindly rejected his offer because you don't think you can repay him, he only asked for you to let him help around your greenhouse, by not making it autonomous, but just farming it alongside you, and perhaps stay over for a warm meal served in your cabin that are peacefully hidden away in the tundra.

You don't mind, actually. The pair of helping hands he's given is sure to be welcomed by you. He's been working in your greenhouse for so long he remembered where things are and memorised the whole layout. Not only that, you found yourself growing more vegetables by his constant visit, seemingly wanting to have enough for him to eat when he arrives since you feel like your small portion would never actually fill a man as big as him.

With the overwhelming amount of building blocks you've received, you have plans on perhaps finally building your base. And since you don't feel like asking Doc for more than what he already gave, you find yourself turning to other hermits for help such as Scar, Pearl, and others for building tips. Even to the point that they'd come to visit your cabin and help you first hand.

After weeks of having Doc coming over to your cabin, you've decided that it's about time for you to visit his base instead and perhaps, look around the server some more and check the now existing shopping district.

It became a routine of some kind. One week it would be you visiting him with your very own hand picked vegetables, the next would be him visiting you with some building materials or other items he thinks may be of use to you.

That night was one where you had visited him.

A storm had befall the area in which Doc is working his new project. And you, not being that much of an expert in using an elytra yet after so long not using it, doesn't want to risk flying through the storm and ended up staying by his small camp that he had set up in a small cave near his project.

You thought you'd stay awake through the storm. After all, it's not like you'd let yourself fall asleep somewhere that isn't home. It's unsafe, dangerous, and you'll be exposed and vulnerable.

You're not sure what came over you, but amidst your attempt at staying up, it seems like you had slipped and passed out with your head leaning on your arms by one of the desks at Doc's camp. A view that Doc didn't quite expect to come back to when he finished with his project for the day.

He had never seen you so peaceful before. Asleep, calm, and are away from the world even for a couple minutes or hours.

He would let you be and give you the rest that you're very much deserved (mostly he doesn't want to scare you by waking you up), but looking at how uncomfortable your position looks, he can't seem to find another reason to not take your to a proper bed.

He was about to wake you up, but he noticed the weird, breathing pattern that you're having at times during your slumber.

Your breath seems to have grown heavy and shallow, he can see beads of sweat rolling on your skin as you still seemingly stay unconscious.

Turning your head to the side, he placed the back of his organic hand to your forehead, only to find your cheek flustered red and your temperature slightly burning up.

You were dreaming- or rather, remembering that scene yet again by some bad omen. The fireworks that had blasted your chest burns your shirt right onto your skin, the look that Ranboo had given you that day, the way Sam doesn't seem unbothered by his own actions, it all came back in a flood.

What snapped you awake was the tense feeling of a pair of hands gripping onto your shoulder, shaking you awake, and Doc calling out to your name.

You didn't even realize you were crying until you felt the warm tear sliding down your cheek. You didn't respond to his questions for a few seconds, your hand instinctively crawled up to your chest, right where the firework was exploded, as you clenched your shirt.

Doc called out to you again. This time, you finally look up to him, his words finally registering in your mind as you look at his worried expression,

"Where does it hurt, schatz?" His voice falls a few octaves, you noticed, yet it felt raspier as if he had cried himself. "Please, tell me."

"He shot me here," you finally whispered out. Hand clutching tighter as your knuckles turned white, "It hurts, Doc. It burns every time I remember that place. It burned like a memory every time. But I lived through it, I survived and kept my life despite it. But he didn't."

"He didn't live.. Because I took that hit, he didn't— I should've—"

And he took you in.

Doc was big enough to engulf almost all of you within his arms. Part of him may be metallic, but the humming of the redstone fluid that runs his prosthetic is always warm. Always.

And that warmth melted your heart, and flood came through.

You clutched the back of his coat as you finally let everything out. Through your sobbing you let him know about all the regrets kept inside of your heart. The burning sensation you felt every night on your chest from the wound you received that night. How you often tell yourself that you deserve it because of what happened. That you think you deserve this punishment.

And he listened to it. He holds you firm enough to let you know he'll be there and that he's listening and nothing escapes him. Your secret was heard and your pain was shared. He felt it, as one of his hands carefully rubbed your shoulder where the edge of the burn lay, giving it humming comfort.

"Schatz, listen to me. Please, look at me," he softly called to you. Pulling you away from his chest to cradle your face in his hands as he wiped the tears off of your reddening face. He held you there, pressing your forehead against each other as he helped you breathe by making you match his pattern.

"It was not your fault." He held you, "It never was. Never will be. Fate can often be cruel but you have been through each second of pain it has given you and now you are here."

"You are here, with me. And I will be here with you through it." You cling onto his coat, "I won't let anything harm you and I promise you that. Not even time in the past can do you any harm. I will be here, and I will protect you."

"I love you."

At his confessions, you can only let more tears roll down your cheek as you let him hold you. Perhaps you do deserve to be here. Perhaps you do deserve to live- After all that you have been through. After all the death you had seen. Maybe you do deserve to be here, with him.

Striding over to where he's sitting as your blanket being dragged behind you, you stopped behind him before wrapping your arms around his shoulder, alongside the blanket, and placed your head on top of his messy blond locks.

He flinched, that is, until he recognizes your touch as he quietly melts in your hold. Pulling a hand up, he took one of your hands in his before kissing your palm, "Why are you still awake, baby? Aren't you sleepy?"

Just as if on cue, you yawned at his question, earning a chuckle as you buried your face deeper into his hair, "I am. Aren't you?"

"Yeah.." Lukas whispered, you held his cheek as he nuzzled his face to your cold hands, mainly letting you rub on his tired eyes, "But I need to get this sketch finished."

You mumbled something about how he can do that in the morning before peeking towards his paper-invested desk and raised a sleepy eyebrow.

"Is this for..?"

"Yeah, it's for next week."

The building competition next week, a small event held by the infamous group of Hermits as a way to bond with their fans and interact more with the community of building.

And while you're not one of the judges for next week's building competition, you're still one of the well known members of the Hermits.

Lukas is still absolutely questioning about how you, a Hermit, would want to be with someone like him, who's a merely small local building champion with his team. Not that he's complaining, he absolutely adores you, but it's just easy to say that he sometimes just wonder about how he can be worthy being seen standing next to you.

And next week's building competition can help him prove that! If he can bring the Ocelots to victory, then he might be able to finally stand proud next to you.

"Are you worried about it? The competition?" Resting your cheek back on his hair, he leaned back from the desk to let you hug him. Your touch is comforting; mixed with the hint of fatigue in his eyes, he doesn't want you to let go.

"Yeah, I mean, I stress over it if it's not obvious enough." He let out a tired laugh to which you only smiled with a light kiss on the crown of his head. "I.. Just want to do well. I really want to impress your friends."

You didn't answer, encouraging him to continue with his words by gently massaging his tense shoulder, hoping he'd open up.

You're not entirely unaware of his insecurity of standing by your side. You love him, whether he's just a local builder or not, it doesn't matter to you. But it seems like he often overthinks about it, and you will keep on reassuring him that he is, in fact, much much more worthy than what he gives himself credit for.

"There will be Good Times With Scar there— As well as Grian and Welsknight. There's just a lot of pressure you know and I.." he paused, heaved another sigh before pressing his lips onto your open palm. "I don't want to disappoint you."

"Never." You immediately whispered back, hugging him and giving him enough pressure to know your intention, and how honest you are through the sound of your heartbeat. "I would never- and I tell you, never, ever be disappointed of you about anything."

That seemed to calm him down a little. His tense shoulder now slowly slumped down as he sink fully to your embrace, trying to absorb any warmth and affection you radiate for him, and only him.

"Though it's a different story when you stole my batch of cookies." And he snickered, "Or when you think it was a good idea to use mycelium near my garden. Hm?"

"Okay, right, I'm sorry about those—"

"Or when you stole my stash of limited elven kisses?"

"Alright, I get it, baby." He wheezes and snickered from your many accusations. Pulling your hand as you move from behind him to his front, hands holding your waist as he looks up to you. "No more, okay? You make me feel like a criminal there for making your garden mycelium farm."

"Guilt is the appropriate response, you thief." You faked a pout. Hand moving forward to hold his face, lightly scratching his jaw.

"But you know, I don't really mind you stealing from me sometimes." He hummed, raised an eyebrow as he tilted his head into one of your hands, still looking up to you with much adoration, as you slowly leaned down and bumped your forehead against his, "You did steal my heart, and I quite appreciate that."

And he smiled. His cheek burned red, even though you can barely see it due to being so close to him, you can feel that more heat are radiating from him along with how his grip on your hips tightened by your words.

"Well, I've you to thank for that too," he whispered before he leaned forward to kiss your forehead, your nose, your cheeks, and finally, planted a kiss to your lips.

Lukas is always gentle with his touches; but it seems like he needs a little bit more reassurance when you feel him seems to be getting a little more desperate than usual. With how he held you in place, you really have no reason but to reassure him back when you reciprocate his kiss.

After pulling back, he sighs to your lips, before pulling his head back and burying them to your neck. Feeling his muscles relaxed under your touch, you kissed his messy blonde locks.

"You're tired, baby. You need rest. Let's get you to bed, alright?" He shuffled. Groaning and mumbling protest under his breath, but he doesn't seem to really be fully against your advice.

You let out a small hearty laugh before pulling him away from you and kissing his nose. "Come on."

Pulling him up, and turning off the lights used in his working space, you dragged your now visibly sleep deprived boyfriend to where the two of you had shared your bed.

Seeing him so tired breaks a little something in your heart, but at least with how he clung to you till the morning, head nuzzled to your neck, is worth every diamond in the universe.

He doesn't really look much into it, he simply thinks it's just one of those days where you crave for a little more affection from him. Besides, those days used to happen to him too, and the only way to quell it is with a big hug from you.

So he does just that! When he noticed you nuzzling to his chest, he'd just hug you tighter and pull you closer! He'd even throw a little spin around with a fit of giggle while lifting you up.

But let's say, you're sitting next to him and just planted your head to his forearm, he would rest his head on top of yours.

Different with the greetings, should it come during calmer hours, he'd reciprocate your action more calmer, but with no less love than before.

He'd turn his head for a moment to plant a kiss to your head. Or, if you're taller than him, to your cheek.

If you insist on nuzzling him, bumping your head on his back, arm, or chest repeatedly or for a long period of time, he'd low-key grow concerned.

"Baby.. Is there something wrong? Hm?"

He won't push you away. Instead, he'd hold the back on your neck and rub a comforting circle on your nape, humming, trying to make you as comfortable as you can in case something is bothering you.

If there isn't anything that's bothering you at that time, and you tell him that you just want to be closer to him, he'd break to a small fit of giggle and kiss your nose.

"My sweet beloved baby darling. Feeling clingy are we? That's fine, you know. No need to be embarrassed! I'll give you aallll the affection a man could give. Come here!"

Overall he reacted very well!

This may be a bit late but perhaps he recognizes your action more better because most of the animals and animal-human hybrid he's seen have acted like so with him.

He's good at reading your emotions through gestures.

So bump him all you want! You look adorable to him either way when you do that. And he'll admit that his heart melts a little when he sees your face slowly hidden away in his arms or chest.

Sausages wouldn't trade it for another<3

//Pixlriffs

Pix is, unfortunately, less aware than Sausage.

Don't get him wrong, he notices things and details pretty quickly, but the deciphering part on what something means takes a while.

After all that's what it means in being an archeologist, right?

He's incredibly good at deciphering about what had happened to a broken down ruin.

But deciphering your odd yet adorable antique takes a while.

At first, when you just bump your head to his arm when the two of you are just sitting around, he'd think that you're probably just tired so he prevents himself from moving too much.

If you bump your head on his back when he's working, he'd reach a hand back and hold yours, rubbing small circle to your hand before asking if you need anything,

"What is it, dear? Do you need help with something? Tired?"

If you shook your head or told him no, he'd chuckle before kissing your cheek and letting you stick to him while he works for however long you feel like.

If you do tell him that you're tired and such, he'd turn away from whatever it is that he was doing and give you a full hug, asking you softly on what's wrong and if he can help with anything.

If you nuzzle him, that's a different story.

He'd know immediately what you were doing if you just plop your head on his back or his chest and start nuzzling.

He'd laugh! You're just too adorable.

He'd wrap his arms around you and nuzzle back to you.

You'd think he'd be gentle but if he knows you're craving for his touch- then he really won't hesitate to reciprocate.

Kisses! Hugs!

Nuzzle his beard. It may be a bit rough, but you know he took care of it daily to keep it clean. He loves the feeling!

Though if you attack him during work hour, he'd legit push you away.

Not because he finds you annoying or he's too focused on work, it's mostly because his work involves a lot of dirt and stone and dust.

And by a lot he means a lot.

Sometimes he stinks, too, after working days underground.

So he doesn't want to share the stinkiness with you.

Sorry, you can puppy dog but he's so intense on the hygiene that it's near impossible to let you touch him during this state.

"No, no. Darling, I genuinely don't think it's a good idea for you to be close to me right now. I found and fought hundreds of undead down there, their guts are disgusting, I'm telling you. I may look clean but I would admit that I'm the stinkiest man in the entire Empire."

If you let him continue he'd go into details as to how and why he stinks so bad.

So don't. You really don't want him to get into details about how zombies' guts stick to his boot. It's horrible, and it doesn't leave a good image impression.

Just wait for him to shower and change clothes.

Patience. And he'll give you all the affection he can after <33

//"Jimmy" SolidarityGaming

Jimmy would shriek.

If you're being sneaky about it, that is. Whether it was intentional of not, if you don't make any sound approaching him, and just plop your head on his back, he'd screech and flinch away.

You'd either stare back at him in surprise to his rather.. Loud response, or you can snicker and laugh. Either way, he'd be absolutely embarrassed and sigh, running a hand down his face, messing his hair, all while mumbling to himself about how such a horrible sheriff he might be if his significant other can jumpscare him that easily.

"Oh my— Oh my God. I cannot believe you, I'm.. Gosh I can't believe myself, how would I- How should I go on knowing th— Ah whatever. Uh, yeah, love? Do you need anything?"

You'd feel a bit bad, so you sort of ended up reassuring him with your gestures.

Holding his face close to yours, kissing his forehead and nuzzle your nose against him before finding nest on his chest.

He'd be super confused!

And super flustered!

But he's enjoying it.

He doesn't know what's going on, he can't really find the means to let questions slip past his lips when he sees you so content and comfortable in his presence.

So he'd just awkwardly stand there, receiving your affection, perhaps sigh a little because as you felt his warmth, he too, can feel yours.

When you finish with your head on his chest, he's quite confused about what to do next, so he just awkwardly puts his arms around your waist and holds you there.

It would take him a while, but at the end, he'd be able to finally ask you what's wrong, and if there's anything specific that had happened that made you act that way.

"Is- Is somethin' the matter, dove?"

If you shook your head and just explained to him briefly that you just want to be close with him; it clicked.

He'd change 180! He'd actually coo at you! You're adorable!

At that exact moment he recalled everything you did to him during the past minute; the kissing, the nuzzling, you're acting exactly like Norman and Flick!

Well more of Flick, because Norman is often a sleepy boy.

But he gets it now!

"Aww.. You, you just wanted attention? Alright I'll, I'll give you all the attention you want sweetie. C'mere."

He'd spoil you rotten.

By rotten I mean every time you initiate physical touch that includes hugging, it means he has to put 240% more of his affection and attention to you during that exact moment. And he won't settle for less.

He'll often be the one coming to you for attention.

Either way, once he's used to giving and receiving this new type of affection, he'd spend at least thirty minutes holding you.

Don't complain or he'll get sad.

But honestly why would you complain?

Mornings are spent hours early before the sun peeked through the horizon. Scarred arms wrapped around your waist, engulfing you with warmth no blanket can ever radiate.

Shuffling, you've managed to match your wake up hour along with his, for the better of productivity and health. But surprisingly enough, this morning, it seems like you've managed to be awake earlier than the admin.

Dark tufts of hair nuzzled on your chest, he clung to you like there is no tomorrow, still fully asleep venturing the land of the dream. You took some strands between your fingers, lightly caressing the mess he's made, the shade that is underneath his helmet.

Shuffling, he groaned as the timer in his body clicked. He's awake, definitely, as you let out a hearty laugh and a kiss to the top of his head.

"Good morning, mister Void."

"My love," he spoke hoarsely, only nuzzling deeper into your stomach, earning a giggle from you while his grip tightened in a clingy manner. "Have you been awake long?"

"Perhaps," you hummed, trailing your hand from the knot of his hair to the nape of his neck, lightly massaging a specific spot for him, earning a content sigh and a relaxed shoulder under your hold. "I'm not sure, actually. Watching you sleep makes eternity felt like a snap of a finger."

"You've been watching me sleep?" He peeked up, eyebrows raised as you watch his beautifully scarred face give out a sleepy smirk. "That's a bit scandalous don't you think?"

"Pft, is it really?" You pulled your hand back away from his neck, to which he visibly got disappointed before you cup the side of his face. "Tell me then, oh Xisuma of Void. How many nights did you spend being awake before I do and watch me sleep, hm?"

"Well I couldn't help it, love!" He laughed lightly, turning his face just enough to press a butterfly kiss to your wrist, "You're just gorgeous."

"Well then let me appreciate and love you as much as you do me, then," a kiss pressed onto his forehead, just between the tip of the x that formed the scar on his face.

"If you insist," he hummed, basking in the morning gentle affection that the two of you are content in exchanging and appreciating. Warm and gentle, just like how his love is to you.

There have been an agreement between the two of you which acknowledged how busy you two can be, so you've made an agreement that for the last two days of the week, the two of you, no exception allowed, will have to take the days off and spend it with each other.

And he has broken that agreement.

You're upset at the dog hybrid of a husband (not too much, you couldn't bring yourself to be upset at him for long), as you're left alone deprived of his attention at home.

What makes it worse is that you don't have any work scheduled to do that day that can help you distract yourself. Days planned to spend it with your loved ones from the rise of sun to the rise of moon, spent alone eating and baking pies.

You need a way to cope.

So you do what Ren used to do when he misses you; steal a piece of his clothing and just absolutely hoard it until he came home.

Making a beeline for the closet, you open the drawer to pull out some of his shirt and jacket that he has kept as well as one of his spare capes. Honestly, anything will do.

With your newly found treasure, you make your way back to the bedroom, and throw the pile of clothing right towards the bed as it covers almost the entirety of it. Picking the cape, you let it drape around your shoulder before you let yourself dive into the pile of your lover's clothing.

During the minutes spent laying on his clothing, you began to slowly understand why Ren found this act therapeutic. The faint smell of wood and his smoky-ish cologne are somewhat covered by the smell of the detergent, but not all, giving it a scent that only your lover could ever possess.

You didn't even notice that you had fallen asleep clinging onto his coat, faintly and peacefully enjoying the substitute of your lover's warm embrace.

Ren had managed to come home early. Well, early is quite a stretch. What he thought to be work worth two days only consumed an entire day and a half, making him finish early, but not early enough to spare him the day he's supposed to spend with you.

He had called you through the communicator a few times now, unfortunately, with no reply. He had assumed the worst that you're upset at him, and had prepared for that scenario by carrying a basket of Scar's finest cookie that you seem to specifically enjoy on a lovely day.

 Stepping into your shared home, Ren low-key tiptoed himself into the house. He may be home earlier than planned, but it's still midnight and he assumed you had fallen asleep first before he did. Hell maybe you'd make him sleep on the couch somehow because of him breaking the weekend agreement.

And he was right, you are asleep, just in a condition that he didn't quite expect.

The piles of clothes surrounding you are most familiar to him, as the compiled pieces of clothing radiate a strong sense of his scent that he's familiar with. 

It took him quite some time to finally register and actually respond to your actions. He's flustered! 

With the room now basically covered with his scent, you too, have been engulfed by that one smell of him. To normal humans such as you and many others it may seem like it's a normal matter, hell no one perhaps ever realizes such a change of smell on someone, but for him, this feels quite overwhelming.

So he did what he felt right, and just dipped onto the bed and slid himself into your arms, slightly stirring you awake from your warm sleep.

"Mh..? Ren, love?"

"I'm here baby," he breathes in, face buried in your stomach as your hand finds itself on his head by a lazy and sleepy reaction. "I'm here, I'm here."

"Sorry for the mess.." you lightly yawned, patting his head before he pulled himself up, reaching forward to plant a long, firm kiss to your forehead. 

"Don't be sorry baby, please," he moves down, planting another kiss to your cheek, "My beautiful, cute, perfect love."

You giggled, your hand lazily finding his jaw before gently bringing his lips to yours. You can feel him breathing you in more, kissing you softly but with a certain confidence and yearn, before pulling away to plant a kiss on your jawline.

"You smell absolutely perfect, love." His compliment continued, a trace of kisses left all over your neck followed by a series of giggles and sighs, "Dear Void, I love you so much."

"Hey," you softly called out to him, pulling his face away from your neck as you look back to him with a smile and a hand that is slowly tracing his jawline. He smiled, slightly crooked and full of love that showed a peek of his sharp, pair of canine teeths. "Hello, beautiful," he breathed out.

Taking your hand and kissing your inner wrist while grazing his teeth softly on your pulse, his voice changed, "Will you please let me make up for the time I left you, angel?"

Curiously, you stride over to his caged, sleeping body before peeking at the sign placed outside. Reading the signature at the bottom, you couldn't help but let out a small snicker. Of course it's Zedaph and Grian's doing— Who else would do something so bizarre?

Turning back to Tango's sleeping position, you kneeled just across from him. He was seated against one of the nearby rock of the Entity, his back slumped against the dark material and his head hung low.

It would sound creepy but you find him in this situation to be somewhat adorable.

You've always seen the Dungeon Master working. Even when he's having fun, he always looks at the technical view of things to make the most optimal outcome. He's always.. Full of spirit.

Not that you hate that fact! You love that he's really enthusiastic with anything he do, you just, have never seen him this calm before.

He stirred slightly, you noticed. You thought he was about to wake up but it seems like he was just trying to position himself better. Of course, sitting in that position— In that small space, must be uncomfortable.

So you tear down the glasses that were surrounding him. Changing it to wool as you spared some that you had just purchased from Beef's shop nearby. It's unfortunate that you can't change the grass block underneath him; but at least grass blocks aren't that uncomfortable to sleep on.

After building new walls for him to rest in, you carefully move his body to a laying down position. Keyword here is carefully. You've never been this close nor touch him this way before, you're absolutely nervous to the point that you're sure you could've wake him up just with the sound of your heartbeat.

Cradling his neck and holding his back, you let him lay on the grass block below softly. You were too focused on trying to keep him comfortable that when you finished, you didn't realize how close you actually are.

His sleeping face is just a few inches away from you. Sure his head may be hung low, but you can still feel and see small puffs of breath coming from him. You feel lucky that his body is cold because yours are absolutely burning right now.

You were so caught up in being so close in proximity to him that you just ended up leaning in and kissing the corner of his lips.

It was just a quick peck— Nothing more. You wouldn't want to accidentally wake him up because you kissed him! No no, that would be dangerous.

But as you pull away, you can't help but sigh and lightly touch your lips. It's cold, his lips are cold to the touch. You suppose that's the thing that came with being the Lord of a Frozen kingdom.

Well you suppose that's enough of embarrassing yourself in front of your sleeping crush! Immediately pulling yourself up away from Tango, you pull out the wool blanket that you quickly put up and cover him with it. Hoping it'll provide some warmth until he wakes up.

Really not wanting to deal with whatever embarrassment coming your way for whatever you did, you exited the wool igloo and tried to continue your day the way it was. Totally not kissing your sleeping crush just because.

As your footsteps grow more silent, and only silence surrounds Tango, he then slowly curls into the blanket, burying his head underneath the wool.

You may not have noticed it; but he has been awake ever since you broke the glass dome.

He didn't want to just- Stir awake! You found him asleep wherever he was and it's going to be embarrassing if you found out that even he doesn't know where he had just passed out! So he kept sleeping, hoping you'd just.. Leave him be.

But you didn't! During that whole segment, Tango has been fully awake! He listened to you breaking glasses and placing wools, not only that but you also hugged him! Which, technically aren't hugging, he supposed, but with how close you were to him it was enough to make his heart explode in his chest.

And you decided to kiss him.

It took all of his strength to not do anything about it because he doesn't want to rat himself out. Honestly he should get a reward with how good he is at acting and how well he can restraint from just— Kissing you himself.

And you left. You've finally left him and his poor, hammering heart alone. Inside the igloo of wool and the soft blanket that you had given him.

Well he suppose he's going to spend just a little more time inside the place you had built for him.

With his hand hovering over the place you had kissed, he can't help but feel his cheek burn with heat and his own body temperature rising up. Replaying the memories of how your lips touched the corner of his seems to have worsened his embarrassment.