#ethoc

Etho suffers a lot with anxiety, but thankfully he has Doc who can sense when the other is having a panic attack and help to deal with it by laying down with his full weight on Etho’s chest until the latter calms down.

Doc makes sure Etho gets all the necessary care afterwards as well.

At first Doc was afraid he'd crush Etho, but the weight is needed. Etho is hardier than he looks. Just as importantly, Doc's learned how to quietly steer Etho out of situations. Lying on him doesn't really help if he's still surrounded by people.

he was talking about people's Etho obsessions and then was like "Everyone knows I'm biggest Etho admirer"

later adding

"Who's the biggest Etho fangirl now?"

before this he had played one of Cub's horns and it's an Etho one, can't remember what it said but he moves on after that. Only for Etho to log on shortly after

Doc: I summoned Etho by playing his horn. Oh yeah, run with that.

Doc: I think you’re cute

Etho: Well I don’t think you’re cute

Doc: oh

The vibrancy of the jungle is extra apparent when it rains, heavy drops soaking the canopy above him and turning the dirt beneath his feet into saturated red-brown mud. He basks in it, standing in whatever small clearing he can find and holding his hands out to feel the warm rain on his skin, turning his hair heavy and sodden.

Sometimes, if he's sure he's alone, he dances in it. He has no rhythm, no choreography to follow, but he spins with his arms thrown wide and laughs as his hair slaps his face and sticks to his neck.

Doc lives in the jungle, something something about his loved ones, something something he will never let go, or maybe he just loves how happy it makes Etho.

Doc likes the rain, but only if he doesn't get too wet. He's a creeper, his fur is thick, double coated with a layer of feathers that mimic leaves and vines, and it's a pain when it gets wet. He has a very specific routine for when he showers, making sure to get clean without making his coat so heavy that he can't move.

Whenever it starts to rain and Etho conveniently disappears, doc stays in and prepares for when Etho gets home. He warms some towels in the dryer, makes some hot tea and gathers a change of clothes so Etho won't catch a cold.

And when Etho does come home, sopping wet like a puppy in an alleyway, doc is there to welcome him into his arms. The jungle is warm but Etho is cold, so even though he thinks doc goes a bit overboard, he appreciates the care. The gentle way doc dries his hair and helps him change into something warm and dry, the way doc curls around him in their bed while he takes sips of tea that warms him all the way to his ears.

Doc loves it too, he's not often seen as gentle, so he takes every opportunity to coddle the one he loves.

-carrie

It's not often that Etho stays still for so long. He's always moving, always somewhere to be or something to do.

It's not necessary a headcanon, but I personally think the thought of Etho having a "wait a minute" realization of noticing his Green-Coded Crushes Pattern to be incredibly funny

It's not that Etho thinks he has a type. He doesn't have a type. The people he's dated are all very unique to each other!

But he certainly has a colour.

He regrets the fact he didn't realise it before his partners did, because now he's never going to hear the end of it. He came back to his bedroom to find every single fabric item replaced by something green. Green curtains, green bedding, green rug...

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Etho was one of the dragons of the Hermitcraft server who have decided to live in houses made of blocks, spending more time in their human forms rather than as dragons, and learning from those who were born fully human

It wasn't a matter of belief or anything, really! One day Etho was flying by, and his eyes were drawn to shiny red items scattered all over the ground, near a human building. Ohhhhh, those would look FABULOUS in his horde, he just HAD TO sweep in and take a few!!!

However, before he managed to figure out how to fish those blocks out from the contraption that held them, a shout was heard from the house. A very tall and lanky human, with a fluffy moustache, almost tripped over his elegant shoes as he rushed outside. He wasn't about to let someone take apart his redstone machine, even if that someone was a dragon 10 times his size

Thankfully, Etho was a very calm dragon, so it was easy for Mumbo to explain why taking the redstone was a bad idea. Etho flew away, holding a few ethically sourced blocks from Mumbo's storage in his paws, but the thought of the shiny red dust that made machines work would not leave his mind, no matter what he did

This is how Etho found himself living amongst humans. He slowly but surely made friends with people other than Mumbo, untill he was well known and liked by everyone, and "he could call himself one of the Hermits" (the last part was Xisuma's words). It didn't take long at all for him to master redstone, he had a real knack for it and very shortly he was considered one of the best redstoners around

There were a couple other dragons living as part of the Hermitcraft too, so Etho was very content with his life. Talking and working alongside Tango, Impulse, Ren, Mumbo, and other people, sometimes going on flights with the mischevious feather dragon siblings Pearl and Grian, or just hanging around with his new friends, listening to Scar trying to swindle another item for his horde from someone, and being swatted upside down the head by Cleo, a stunning copper dragon

One day, when he was pouring over another solo project of his, a shadow covered his working area. Before he even managed to look up, a huge weight slammed into him, and had him pinned to the ground. It's good that dragons were particularly resilient, even in their human form, or else he'd be an Etho pancake

Once he managed to scramble from underneath the thing that fell on him, it turned out that it wasn't a thing at all, it was another dragon who crash-landed right outside Etho's base. No, crash-landed was not the right word, the dragon definitely just... fell out of the sky, passed out due to the many injuries he had all over his body

Etho panicked, quickly messaging other Hermits about the situation, asking them to come and help him. The dragon might be a stranger, but those injuries were so severe... he might just not make it...

Thankfully, because of the collaboration of Cub (who despite all his grumbling, did a stellar job with knitting torn flesh together), and the redstoners of the server (including a very worried Etho), the strange dragon was brought back to full health, and there was a custom made set of redstone-powered prosthetics (complete with a mechanism that allowed them to adapt to both a dragon and a human body) waiting for him, when he wakes up

It did take a while for the dragon to wake up. Etho... was very very worried about the stranger. It sure was weird for him, to be this invested in someone's fate, but he couldn't help but to feel drawn towards the other dragon. He spent a lot of time waiting by the den the other dragon occupied, hoping to catch the moment he woke up. And well, when the stranger's condition was stable, and there was no imminent threat hanging over everyone, Etho couldn't help but to notice just how deep the green of the other's scales was, how the magnificent goat horns curled on the sides of his head, how powerful were his wings... oh dear, did he just manage to develop a crush on the other dragon??? While that one was unconscious as well??? Oh no....

Eventually, the strange dragon woke up. Etho was not there to see it, but he rushed over as soon as he heard the news. The dragon, slightly disoriented still, introduced himself as Doc. He explained how he ended up right outside Etho's base (running away from dragon hunters, that one made everyone wince. It was rare for a place to be as accepting as Hermitcraft...) and in turn, he was filled in on where he is and what is happening around him

Doc took it all in stride. And he started recovering very quickly as well. Getting used to his prosthetics, and shifiting forms with them, was a bit of a challenge, but everything settled down soon enough

And just as it was with Etho, the Hermits welcomed Doc with open arms. He quickly proved to be wonderful person, and he made a home for himself on the server. Yet again, Xisuma extended an invitation to a dragon, and Doc accepted, becoming a Hermit. The server was a safe place for him, and now no dragon hunters could get him; his new friends would rip them to shreds in his defence. It was... a good feeling

All this time, Etho stared at Doc from the distance, trying to find a reason to go talk to Doc. Besides "oh hey, you kinda squashed me when you fainted mid air, wanna be friends?' he couldn't think of another reason, and that was incredibly weird, so he kept his distance

But!!! Soon enough it turned out that Doc also knew how redstone worked, and he was damn good at it. He was invited into the inner redstone circle of the server, and soon enough Etho was seeing him every day, even talking to him for hours on end!!! It... sure did nothing to stop his crush from developing... nuh-uh. He often found himself drowning in thoughts about how wonderful it would be to have a mate like Doc...

Meanwhile Doc himself was also enamoured with the other redstone dragon. He was trying to figure out how to maybe... change their solo redstone-meetings into dates... He was pretty positive that Etho might like him too, as whenever the conversation shifted from strictly work-realted into something more private, the other man's cheeks turned as red as the redstone he so often had sprinkled on his clothes

But Doc has spent so much time alone and on the run, he didn't know what to do! He was not used to interacting with others... How would he even ask Etho to be his mate... oh no...

Alas, they were pretty damn obvious with their feelings, despite thinking themselves very stealthy. At this point, their friends stopped being amused at the duo circling each other, and instead became annoyed. How long can they keep this up!? Ugh, this is too much. The Hermits hatched the "Get Two Idiotic Dragons Together" plan, and once Hermits have a plan, it just MUST succeed

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(Ahh... it's not quite as good as I was hoping it'd be, but I dunno what to change here... sigh...

Anyways, I might submit more things, so can I please be the 🌠 anon?)

They don't want to push the two so much that it forces them apart, but it's getting a little silly. The pair are clearly close! They think they just need some encouragement to take that final step.

They go for the obvious first. Bdubs and Beef try to nudge both of them into at least admitting they're interested in each other! Which... Etho is a terrible liar and spends several minutes going "Doc? Nooo, absolutely not! Why would I- no!" And Doc waves it off but doesn't specifically say no. But neither of them say yes, either!

So, it seems like they're going to have to go to plan B.

Plan B involves a spontaneous 'redstone problem' that somehow both Doc and Etho got called on to fix! They joke about it at first, before getting into the work, trying to figure out what's gone wrong with the contraption. It takes longer than it probably should (Bdubs' redstone is perfect, okay), but then a piece of paper spits from a dispenser reading 'just go on a date already'.

Doc and Etho both try and brush past it, joking, until they realise... A date wouldn't be terrible, would it? If it goes wrong, they can just leave it there and go back to being friends (and pack, as well.)

Doc got the white haired males number along with it, and a new crush

He is very interested, listening to Doc rant about the books eagerly and doing his best to figure out who the author could be. One time, Etho leaned over Doc’s shoulder to read one of the cryptic books with him. Having Etho there, close enough to feel every breath against his ear, Doc could barely register a word, much less breathe.

Doc starts asking Etho for help on everything regarding the chunk from then on; showing off any new progress he makes, asking for help in converting the binary (something he absolutely could look up by himself) and generally just mulling over the weird lines of code with him for hours. This is all done with the excuse of ‘He’s Etho! He understands code better than me!’ And hey! Etho seems more than happy to help! So that’s a plus!

Iskall and Ren get tired of them very quickly.