Work Text:
_____1_____
Etho was having a decent day. Sure, he had to attend a party (which really wasn’t his style), but he was surrounded by friends, and he was helping celebrate Grian’s win for MCC. The anxiety caused by being off-server was fairly low. Xisuma was right there, Keralis wasn’t far, and Scott (the admin of the MCC server) was a hybrid himself. Etho was sandwiched between Doc and Beef at a booth, watching Bdubs make a fool of himself on the dance floor with Grian and Iskall, who were in turn being closely watched by Mumbo and Scar over by Xisuma. He was as safe as it got, even if he wasn’t on Hermitcraft.
Which was why it was such a surprise when it all went wrong.
Doc stood to go refill his own drink. “It’s got a ridiculously low alcohol content,” he remembered the creeper saying, “I don’t drink much when you’re around, you know.” Etho personally disagreed with the “low” part of that statement, but he was also more than aware of Doc’s unbelievable limits, and he knew that Doc probably wasn’t even close to tipsy, much less drunk. He ignored the thought that just one of Doc’s “low alcohol” drinks would probably be enough to get Etho to blackout. Doc had 18 inches and about a hundred, hundred and fifty(?) pounds on Etho. Side effect of being small and lean with friends that are built like that. Bdubs on the other hand… Etho watched him trip over his own feet, almost spilling his drink all over Grian, who honestly probably had a higher blood alcohol content than anyone else on the dance floor (hollow bones and all that). But Bdubs was most likely a close second.
Doc reached over for Etho’s cup. Beef’s water was still basically full, and Etho suspected it was more for Doc and Bdubs (the latter more than the former) than Beef. The bull hybrid was just Like That, even back when they all went barhopping regularly.
“Just pop again,” Etho replied to the goat’s questioning look, “Thanks man.” He could get it himself, but he knew Doc knew that. He leaned against the bull hybrid on his left, closing his eyes and letting the noise of the party wash over him. It wasn’t nearly as comforting as the noise of movie night with the NHO (and sometimes Ren, and sometimes Keralis, and sometimes…), but he could pretend. Besides, caffeine always drained him of energy, and while pop didn’t have energy drink levels of it, he was still comfortably sleepy.
…until he heard a distinct tone shift in the yelling to his right. He felt his ears shift up when Beef tensed, listening for what was happening, but wasn’t too concerned.
He shot up when he recognized Doc’s voice in the yelling, shoving himself between the creeper and the two other men on the fox instinct to protect your skulk’s throats in a fight, only realizing what he’d done when it was just a split second too late.
The punch was aimed for Doc’s torso, somewhere around his 4th or 5th rib, nearer to his sternum. It was meant to knock the breath out of the much bigger man, so taking it directly to his jaw nearly dropped Etho.
Through the spots in his vision, he noticed the other guy shaking his hand out, and he remembered one particular tip from his “Defense for Ladies” class his mom made him take as a teen. Soft on hard, hard on soft. If you’re hitting somewhere hard, like a jaw, use the bottom half of your palm to strike, so you don’t break your fingers. If you’re hitting somewhere soft, like a torso, use a punch, as a palm strike won’t hurt nearly as bad.
Etho shook the spots out of his vision, pressed back against Doc’s front, and growled, doing his best to pull his ears up to bluff at more aggression than fear. (His ears stayed pinned and he could feel the smile pulling at his mouth under his mask, but he did try.)
“Aww, is the little vixen protecting the monster? Feral little freaks! Who wears a mask out partying anyway?” The man’s friend taunted, as the dude that punched Etho seemed to recover. They both started side-stepping, and Etho’s instincts really didn’t like the circling of two enemies, enough to completely override the memories of “You’re getting to be such a pretty vixen!”
Doc himself hissed at the taunt, which only seemed to add fuel to the fire. “The big bad creeper’s trying to be scary! Doesn’t he know what happens to hostile mobs?” The guy that punched Etho called out, taking a step closer and reaching for the hilt of his sword. Etho’s growl grew in volume, but it wasn’t doing nearly enough to ward off the men.
Then Beef swooped in, Xisuma and Scott not far behind. “What’s going on here?” Scott asked loudly, the picture of authority, which would work in most circumstances, but Xisuma had learned long ago that it didn’t work near a panicked Etho. Unfortunately, Etho’s instincts didn’t recognize authority as friendly, so it really just served to make him force Doc further back and keep all “threats” in his line of sight. The growling didn’t falter for a second. His instincts were screaming cornered, and his logical thinking was offline the minute his attackers began circling.
Beef stepped up beside Doc, and Etho recognized another member of his skulk, stepping in front of both of them. He recognized Doc’s voice, speaking to someone over his head, but he couldn’t for the life of him parse out what he was saying. Where’s Bdubs? was one of the only things playing in his head.
Someone two inches shorter than his 5’6 crashed into him, and he’d recognize the feel of that mossy coat anywhere. He took a couple steps to the side, still focusing on the threats in front of him, and shoved Bdubs behind Doc. As he took the couple steps back to be in front of Beef and Doc again, someone from behind him grabbed him, scooping him up. He knew it was Beef (he wouldn’t be that far off the ground otherwise, because he was pretty maybe probably sure that Xisuma was in front of him), but he was still confused. There were threats! Beef shuffled him around until he was face-first into his shoulder, which was also confusing, but he trusted his skulk with his life, and he knew Beef probably knew what he was doing, at least better than he did. What was happening, again?
Etho felt the movement of Beef walking, and eventually the nighttime air hit him. He was carried through the outside and into a portal. The noise of the hub assaulted his ears, and he whined, knowing Doc was with them at some point. Beef just hushed him, scratching behind his ear in a way that made his head twitch, and then they were on Hermitcraft again. They had all met up before logging off, and now they were all at Bdubs’, who honestly had the best place for meetups and hanging out at the moment.
He relaxed instantly at knowing where he was, and all of a sudden everything hit him.
His ears flattened themselves to his skull, and he held onto Beef, whining. Suddenly, he was tiny, and not just physically (again, 5’6, 130ish pounds, especially compared to Doc and Beef). His jaw hurt, which wasn’t abnormal, but it was a different kind of hurt, and he didn’t know what to do about that. He didn’t get muzzled again, but he did get punched, and did that mean he did something wrong?
The pain mixed with his normal phantom pain, sparking along his jaw, under his chin, and up over his nose. The throbbing epicenter was the quickly bruising punch to the right side of his face, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of the long-since-healed infected cut under his left ear, stretching up towards his nose and down across his throat, or the false firing of the nerves back by his molars.
Beef readjusted him carefully. Over the bull hybrid’s shoulder, he noticed Bdubs talking animatedly (in the way he only did when regressed himself) to a clearly tiny Doc. Etho was rarely tiny, usually regressing to a teenager, and therefore still able to help Beef on the rare occasion that all three of them were small. He whined again, feeling guilty.
-
Beef plopped down on the couch, still holding Etho, and spoke gently, but firmly enough to get everyone’s attention. “Okay, everyone, I need age checks. Kit? You wanna start?”
Etho ducked his head, but held up one finger, frowned, then two, then none. He switched between two and none a couple times before he forgot what he was doing and just started playing with his own fingers, doing the crab hands stim and other tappy stims. He always had a range, although it was usually somewhere between 12 and 16, old enough to help. Or, if you asked Beef, “help.” (Beef personally wondered if Etho was actually 12-16 at these times, or much younger but putting on that helpful front that he always had to have as the oldest kit in his family. The man had grown up too fast. Beef hadn’t worked up the courage to ask). Being this young wasn’t too abnormal, but usually meant something was going on, and Beef supposed that it might have been the fight. He’ll talk to Etho once he’s older. It felt… strange.
“Okay kit, that’s alright. Such a tiny fox we have, and no wonder. You did such a good job today. Although next time, try not to get hurt, alright?” Beef didn’t wait for his complaints, turning to Doc. “Alright sprout, how old are you?”
Doc held up three fingers clumsily. He shook out his hands immediately, which quickly turned into a full body shake with some bounces, even if he looked like he’d rather be on the couch taking a nap. Doc almost always knew exactly how old he was, and three was honestly higher than what Beef was expecting. His absolute highest ever was five, and that was just the once. Three was normally his highest.
“Alright sprout, thank you. You’re such a good little creeper. Thank you for protecting Etho’s back when the mean men were there. They lied, sprout. They were being mean on purpose. You’re not a monster.”
He waited for Doc’s nod before moving on. Doc crawled up next to him and Etho on the couch, leaning on the arm that wasn’t holding the fox hybrid. Beef wrapped it around him, choosing not to comment on the tears as he turned to Bdubs, who was fidgeting nervously.
“Hello flicker. How old are you feeling sweetheart?”
Bdubs’ face crumpled, and he fidgeted a little more. “Can be big kid.”
Beef frowned, concerned. “Bdubs, flicker, come here.” Bdubs stepped up right in front of him, and Beef immediately wished he had another hand. Since Etho was in his lap and clinging to him already, he used the one behind his kit’s back to cup his flicker’s face.
“Sweetheart, what age do you feel like? It’s okay if you’re tiny.”
Bdubs shook his head, making big gestures and getting loud, like only Bdubs can. “No no no! Needs help! I gots help!”
Beef shook his head, speaking softly to bring the little glare hybrid’s volume down. “It’s alright flicker, I can take care of it. We’ll talk to Xisuma if we have to. Now, how old are you?”
Bdubs frowned, unhappy still, but ultimately held up seven fingers, swaying. “I’m six…” This wasn’t super unusual for Bdubs, but it was on the lower side. He was usually somewhere between 5 and 9, most commonly 7 or 8. Beef thought about correcting his fingers, but ultimately decided against it. No harm, no foul.
“Alright, thank you flicker. I think Etho and Doc are pretty tired, so we’re gonna be really quiet for a little bit so they can go to sleep, but then we can do whatever you want for half an hour, and then it’s bedtime for you too. Alright?”
Bdubs nodded clumsily, still swaying, and Beef had the sudden realization that he had two regressors with alcohol in their systems, and one with caffeine in his system. Ah. He thought some less-than-kid-friendly words, then set about like normal. Maybe it wouldn’t be a problem? Two of those kids (Doc and Etho) were more likely to sleep with what they’d drunk, so maybe… maybe it’d be fine.
…right?
…Right.
…
He called Xisuma. The admin was already outside.
“Hello everyone! Is it bedtime?”
Beef shushed him, realizing that Etho was already out, and Doc was not far behind. Quietly, he brought the voidwalker up to date.
“Bdubs gets another half hour, that’s fine. I can play with a little flicker for a half hour, even if he has probably had too much to drink. You have the sleeping sprout and kit?”
Beef nodded, fairly tired himself.
X shot him a look. “Am I going to have a little calf on my hands as well?”
Beef bristled. “No. That was one time, and only one time!”
X looked like he wanted to argue, but ultimately let Bdubs pull him away. Beef made a mental note to give the kid some candy or something next time.
Doc whined against his shoulder, and it was the same whine he always made when he didn’t feel well. Etho shifted in a way that let Beef know he also wasn't feeling the greatest. Beef let himself think more curse words.
He settled in for what was looking like a long night.
_____2_____
Beef regretted every life choice he’d ever made.
He woke up with a headache, one that distinctly told him that he had not slept nearly enough. Almost immediately after, Doc woke up still tiny, whined, and promptly puked all over him and Etho. This woke up Etho, who was also still regressed, and that was when Beef discovered that getting puked on twice in quick succession actually is much worse than getting puked on only once. It is not a logarithmic function, and is instead multiplicative. Fun.
Xisuma, looking like he hadn’t slept at all, came around the corner. “Bdubs is sick, what about- ah.”
Beef groaned the second he processed the admin’s words, letting his head fall against the back of the couch and thinking even more curses. Both of the little hybrids chose that moment to start panicking about the fact that they just puked all over and he got to work calming them down and getting all three of them bathed and changed. It was gonna be a long couple days. There was no way he was coming out of this healthy.
-
Eventually, Beef, Xisuma, and Keralis (the admin called him sometime during baths, it was good to have someone immune to most diseases) got everything under relative control. Each took a kid, and they all set up side-by-side in the same room of Keralis’ place. X took Bdubs, Keralis got Doc, and Beef curled up next to Etho.
After about half an hour of watching Etho sleep fitfully, the little fox hybrid woke up, tearing at his mask. The second it was off, he tensed and moved his jaw around, whining slightly on each exhale. Beef, on his side next to him, placed a hand high on his chest, over his collarbones, and waited for the kit to look at him.
“Hey kit,” Beef smiled at him, “what’s wrong, sweetheart?”
Etho whined at him, reaching up to touch his jaw, right where it was bruised from the fight, but also across from it, on a nasty scar. Beef hadn’t looked at it; it was a Rule with a capital R that only Etho touched his mask. He had asked Xisuma to scan for broken bones last night anyway, and Etho was clear. But now, Beef was wincing at how bad the bruising was.
The bull hybrid brought his hand up to carefully cup Etho’s jaw, hoping that the heat from his hands would soothe some of the pain. Etho relaxed only marginally, eyes slipping closed, but he counted it as a win.
“X!” He whispered. “X! Xisuma!” He reached over from his cot to Xisuma’s, slapping the voidwalker’s arm where it hung off the cot.
The half-asleep admin jolted from beside Bdubs, turning to look at him.
“Can you get the bruise cream?”
X blinked a couple times, and Beef reevaluated whether he had been half-asleep or fully asleep. His eyes eventually caught on the mask on the floor, and Beef’s hand acting as both a warm compress and a mask, and he blinked. A lot. Then he nodded tiredly, carefully getting up to go get the bruise cream. He came back with bruise cream and a dryer-warm towel, and Beef could’ve cried in gratitude.
Beef took the bruise cream and the towel, carefully applying both to the now-sleeping fox hybrid. They settled in to work through the rest of this illness.
_____3_____
Beef would like to thank EmergenC for the unbelievable miracle of him not getting sick as well. He got puked on multiple times and spent three days pressed up against a feverish and clingy Etho. Truly, EmergenC has to be a genuine deity at this point, to pull that level of miracle off. It could taste better, he supposed, but wow did that foul flavored powder get results.
The main problem he was having now was that he did still have to find Etho (adult Etho) and have a Discussion about his problems to try to figure out why he was so young. Beef didn’t know why he was so sure that Etho was hiding something (the man got in a bar fight and then got sicker than he’s been in years, it would make sense that he’d be stressed), but there was just something in his gut that didn’t like any part of this.
However, unlike regressed Etho, adult Etho was a master at avoidance. It was a week before Beef caught a single glimpse of the man, and it was from across the shopping district, too far to yell. He had to watch Etho fly off.
Eventually, he asked Bdubs, but the glare hybrid hadn’t seen much of Etho either. He said he went to go hang out with Iskall, but when Beef asked them, they just pointed him right back to Bdubs. Frustrated, he asked Xisuma, and learned that Etho had been spending most of his time off-world, in single-player.
A chill ran down his spine. Sure, Etho liked his solitude, but he had plans for the last week, or he did. He always informed his friends when he was going to be gone a while. Beef stomped a foot nervously, instincts not liking part of his herd being so far away, especially when he’s been so worried about him.
Beef told himself that he was being ridiculous. Etho was probably fine, he’s overreacting, this gut feeling is probably nothing.
…he gave Etho’s coming and going from the server alerts their own sound. Y’know, just in case.
-
Beef jolted up from sleep, the sound for Etho joining ringing through his hut. He fumbled for his communicator.
Etho joined the game.
You whisper to Etho: hwere r u
You whisper to Etho: herd’s gotat be togehter
You whisper to Etho: im tat my hut
Beef cringed at the terrible spelling, but in his defense, it was the middle of the night. He wasn’t super thrilled about how he used his instincts against Etho, but to be fair, he was getting to the point where it wouldn’t be pretty if he couldn’t find all members of his herd. He was pretty sure Bdubs and Doc were either going to kill him or trap him in a nest soon if he didn’t stop being so clingy, and he already wasn’t eating quite as well as he probably should be.
Etho didn’t message back.
Beef swallowed his distressed bellow, snorting a couple times instead. He gave into the instinct to stand and pace, stepping outside and walking purposefully back and forth. After about ten minutes, the noise of Etho leaving the server reached his ears from the communicator in his pocket, and a bellow slipped out on instinct, tearing at his throat, before he slapped a hand over his mouth. His ears lowered, and he just stood there, breath heaving and a hand over his mouth. Tears pricked at his eyes, which really was so stupid when you think about it, Beef, c’mon, it’s fine. You’re fine, you’re just overreacting, get a grip…
A shadow tackled him, almost taking him to the ground. It would have, if Etho was any heavier. As it was, Beef swayed slightly from the impact of Etho flying directly into him, the fox hybrid clinging to him when he couldn’t find the presence of mind to hold him up.
“Hey big guy, what’s going on?” Etho asked casually, like he wasn’t clinging to Beef like he’d disappear if he let go.
Beef broke.
His arms wrapped around Etho, barely having the presence of mind to avoid crushing the more delicate very-much-not-another-bovine hybrid as he started sobbing. With the removal of his hand, all sorts of embarrassing (and LOUD, how could he be so loud?) noises poured from his mouth. Unfortunately for him, a solid 70% of them were lower versions of his old calf bleats, and even more unfortunately, he knew that Etho knew that they were calf sounds, even if they were lower than your typical calves.
A hand scratched around his horns and behind his ears, causing his ears to twitch. He relaxed marginally, and eventually he was able to parse out what Etho was trying to tell him.
“Oh, buddy… It’s okay baby. You’re alright, I’m right here. Herd’s right here. You’re alright baby, you’ve got your herd, you’re protected, you’re safe. You’re okay, little calf.”
If he hadn’t already plummeted into regression, he would’ve at that.
As it was, he pulled his head up from where it was buried in Etho’s chest, and blinked up at him, ears swiveling up to him too. Herd. Herd was good. He lowed contentedly, tipping his head back to make room in his sore throat, but not breaking line of sight with Etho.
“Hey baby, there you are. How about I get Bdubs and Doc over here, huh? I’m sure that Doc’ll build a nest if you just wanna cuddle, even if I’m pretty sure that cattle hybrids don’t really do nests…”
Beef just continued blinking at him, basking in the attention, especially when Etho reached that one spot behind his ear…!
Etho chuckled, trying again. “I need you to put me down though, if you want Doc and Bdubs over here.”
Beef snorted at him, stomping his foot. He just found Etho! He didn’t want him to run off again!
“C’mon buddy, I’ll be right here. Don’t you want the rest of your herd too? You can do that lean thing you like to do, c’mon baby…”
His ears lowered, but he did as Etho asked, slapping a hand over his mouth when the fox hybrid took a step away. He had to be quiet, had to be good.
-
Etho glanced up from typing, confused. Beef always liked to do the leaning thing. The dude was almost two feet taller than Etho, but he still leaned against his “herd” (skulk, Etho’s brain insisted) like they were also cattle hybrids, and therefore able to withstand his whole weight.
The sight that met his eyes broke his heart.
Beef’s tail was between his legs, his ears lowered. He was hunched in on himself, like the 7’4 hybrid was trying to be physically tiny. Tears were brimming in his eyes again, and the worst part? One hand was gripping the edge of his shirt, and the other was over his mouth.
Cattle hybrids were loud, everyone knew that, especially when they were lost in instinct. Cattle themselves are massive herd animals, it’s important for them to be loud for their own safety. They need to be able to keep track of themselves and their herd for protection, across acres and acres of pasture. But Beef had always been quiet, even back when Etho first met him.
Beef was quiet.
And Etho was starting to think that maybe, he wasn’t meant to be.
Baby Beef was unknown territory. Beef never regressed, except for the Incident, and they’d all reluctantly agreed not to talk much about what had happened. Etho wasn’t there for the Incident anyway, just the aftermath, after Xisuma called him panicking because he couldn’t calm Beef down, after Doc and Bdubs arrived first, after he had already been calmed almost to sleep. Even if they weren’t supposed to talk about it, Etho still remembered a sleepy little calf reaching for him almost urgently, only drifting off to sleep with all of them there and close.
Etho was running on nothing, just what he knew from the maybe half dozen times Beef had slipped into instinct over the years. Happens to every hybrid at some point, but from what Etho could tell, baby Beef was very much a calf. He knew that herds were important, that physical closeness was important, that ears and horns were made to be pet and scratched, but that was it. Etho was flying blind.
“Hey baby. You alright?” Etho glanced down, sending the half-message he’d typed, and threw his comm in his back pocket. He looked back up, smiling under his mask at the little calf blinking at him.
Beef didn’t really seem to respond to the question, just staring and blinking at Etho.
Etho tried a new tactic. “C’mere buddy, you’re alright,” he said, stepping closer. Beef’s ears raised at the step closer, and Etho could count that as a win. He reached for his arm next. “Hey buddy, it’s alright. You can be loud, baby, no one’s gonna be mad.” It was a shot in the dark, but Etho was taking a lot of those, and most of them seemed to be hitting. This one…
Beef balked, ears shooting back down. He shook his head quickly, hand not coming off his mouth, as he stamped nervously. Etho held his hands up, away from Beef, and took a step back, not really feeling like getting charged today. “Okay, okay, that’s alright baby. That’s alright. Do you wanna lean? Is that okay?”
Beef stared at him, then nodded.
“Alright baby, c’mere then.” Etho was a little concerned about the way the calf’s nails were digging into his face, but he also knew that he had to handle this delicately.
Beef stepped up close to him, hesitating inside Etho’s bubble, but not touching him yet. Etho leaned against Beef after a second and watched as the other hybrid’s ears went up.
“There you go baby. Can you come down here please?” Etho reached a hand up. Beef was just under two feet taller than him, and it was much easier if he would lean.
Beef plopped down on the ground, leaning his torso and head against Etho, blinking up at him. Etho lowered his arm. “That works.”
He started scratching around his horns and ears, cautious of how close the clumsy calf’s horns were to his throat and very sore jaw. Eventually, he managed to relax the little calf enough to let him grab at his hand, removing it from where it was hurting his face.
The little calf blinked up at him tearily, seeming to just now realize how much the small scratches across his face hurt.
Doc and Bdubs arrived just as Etho opened his mouth to comfort him, and he turned his attention to them, not pausing in his petting of Beef. Both Bdubs and Doc were windswept and concerned. Doc was hissing just slightly, and Etho could see how Bdubs pupils were dilated, signs that they were both having Major Instincts™. He sighed. Being the only one who could think semi-clearly was going to be rough with the way pain was dancing up and across his jaw and stealing his thought processes in the middle of sentences.
“Bdubs, Doc, could you make a nest in Beef’s place please? There should be moss around there somewhere, check the cache. And bring out some granola bars or something from the cache if you think of it, he needs to eat.” Etho was hoping that the two of them could still follow direction, and he was not disappointed. He stretched his jaw out in vain, like always. Moving around his jaw never helped the jaw pain, but it felt like it should, so he still did it, even all these years later. If he did nothing, he would go insane.
A movement from the silent calf sitting at his feet snatched his attention. Beef was staring up at him, concerned. The little calf brought a hand up cautiously, but Etho still flinched. Beef snorted, definitely concerned now.
“It’s alright buddy. I’m okay. Don’t really feel like anyone touching my face right now though, okay? Here.” Etho reached for the little hybrid’s hand with his own, and Beef’s ears went up when Etho laced their fingers together. He leaned back against Etho, his head reaching to the middle of his chest, and closed his eyes.
Etho would talk to him in the morning. Tonight, he had three friends to look after and feed, and he let himself settle into his dependable caregiver headspace. They would figure out everything wrong in the morning.
_____4_____
Beef woke up with no memory of the previous night, which was concerning. Even when he was lost in instinct, he still remembered all the stupid things he did. The only time he didn’t was when-
Beef shot straight up. Etho, Bdubs, and Doc were gathered around him in the nest (the nest? There was no nest in his bed. He was a bull hybrid, he didn’t nest) and he only realized how comfortably warm he was when the cold morning air hit him. All three of them had various startling awake reactions to the movement. Bdubs jolted up with a “What’s the big idea?!,” Doc just startled before sitting up slowly, and Etho went still.
“Please tell me I didn’t,” Beef pleaded, “Please.”
Etho sat up, rolling out his shoulders and stretching his neck and jaw. “You did. Beef, my dude, I love you, but we can’t keep not talking about it. You’re not okay, and that’s alright, but we can’t help you if you won’t talk about it.”
Beef shook out his hands. “I mean… Do I have to?”
Etho leaned back on his hands. “Would it be better if it was just one of us? Too many people can be stressful, we get that.” Doc and Bdubs nodded along.
Beef shook out his hands some more. “You’re one to talk.”
The only response he got was a crinkle between Etho’s eyebrows, like he was actually confused.
“You’ve been avoiding me. I’ve been trying to have this talk about you since Grian’s MCC win.”
Etho’s ears turned red and he unconsciously reached a hand up to his jaw. Beef felt his own face flush, and he looked away.
“...How about a deal?”
Beef’s gaze snapped back to Etho. “What do you mean?”
Etho stared back unwaveringly. “Me and you. You answer my questions, I answer yours.”
Beef looked away again, shaking his hands. “I-” He glanced at Bdubs and Doc, who were just watching them debate.
Doc took that as his cue to jump in. “That sounds like a great idea man,” he slapped a hand down on Beef’s shoulder, “Bdubs and I will get out of your hair so you and Etho can have that talk.”
He scooped up Bdubs, who was just about asleep again, and carried him out of the hut. Beef heard the rockets and Bdubs’ complaining growing quieter, and then it was just the two of them.
Beef could feel Etho’s eyes on him. He avoided them. There was never awkward silence between them, it felt… wrong.
They both started at the same time, and to be honest, Beef wasn’t sure which words were coming out of his mouth and which were coming out of Etho’s. He gestured at him to go ahead.
Etho stared at him for a couple more seconds before actually starting. “So… I ask one, you ask one?”
Beef nodded, picking at the moss making up the nest.
“So, I’ll just… okay. Uh… Why aren’t you- um… I noticed that you, uh, you don’t make noise? And- and I thought cattle hybrids were loud. And I’m really sorry I didn’t notice sooner, but uh… baby you was hurting himself to keep quiet. And I just- What happened, Beef?”
Beef raised an eyebrow at him. “Is that your question? What happened?”
Etho hesitated. “I mean… why aren’t you loud? Why are you so quiet?”
Beef sighed, settling back against a wall. “I guess- well. I know. It’s not- I can’t. I can’t. It just… I can’t be.”
Etho stared at him for a few seconds, like he was expecting more. “That’s not an answer. Why can’t you be?”
Beef grinned at him suddenly. “Technically it is, because that’s a different question. Ask a better question next time. Now, Etho,” Beef leaned forwards, arms crossed, “Why have you been spending so much time on singleplayer worlds? You didn’t say you were going to be gone, and it was right after you slipped all the way down to a baby. What’s wrong?”
Etho suddenly found a lot of interest in the quilt across his lap. “Which question? What’s wrong or why am I on singleplayer so much?”
Beef hesitated, seeing how “what’s wrong” could be bullshitted out of. Better to be specific. “Why are you on singleplayer so much?”
Etho picked at the quilt. “Logging onto a different server resets your teeth to clean, but there’s a timer on it… I have to spend enough time away that it resets, but spend enough time here that the timer over there resets, and that way I don’t have to brush my teeth.”
Beef was even more confused by that answer. “But why-”
Etho interrupted, and he could see the way his half-grin pulled at one of his eyes. “You had your question, now it’s my turn. Why can’t you be loud?”
Beef found great interest in the wall by Etho’s hip. “I uh… medical reasons. Why do you log out instead of brushing your teeth?”
“Medical reasons, wise guy.”
They stared at each other, at a standstill. Eventually, Etho broke eye contact, going back to picking at the quilt. “I’ll tell you mine first, then you tell me yours.”
Beef nodded. “Deal.”
Etho stared at the quilt, completely still, for long enough that Beef was starting to wonder if he heard him. Then he sighed, reached a hand up, and unhooked his mask from one ear.
Beef had, a long time ago, gotten used to the scars across Etho’s face. He didn’t even really see them anymore, just Etho. They were as much a part of him as his arm or leg. But as Etho brought a finger up to trace exactly along each scar without looking, Beef’s attention was snapped to the scars that crossed his throat, jaw, and face, one going up through his eye.
“This one was the worst one,” Etho traced a right angle under his left ear along his jaw and back up towards his nose. “It was infected for probably a year before I got out? On and off. Never got enough treatment at that place for it to go away fully, just enough so it didn’t spread.” Beef could see where the infection had been, the scar transitioning from silvery and thin to red and thick.
Etho swallowed, nervous. “It- after I’d been out a while, and the doctors finally cleared me medically, I was so confused. It never felt like they healed fully. They got better, I could focus again, but there was still so much pain, especially around here.” He traced under his ear again. “So I asked. And they scanned and scanned, and they couldn’t find anything wrong. My hearing in that ear is a little worse, but nothing too terrible. Honestly, they told me that, medically, it was a miracle that I could hear at all in that ear, that I could feel when things touch my face. They told me that they couldn’t find anything wrong. Medically.
“I remember when the doctor figured it out, before she even told me, because her whole face dropped, and she turned to her nurse like she didn’t know how to tell me. And the nurse’s whole face changed, and he looked at me… He looked at me like he did when he had to tell me that I’d never see out of my left eye again.
“I left with pamphlets about living with phantom pain and experimental surgeries that I’d have to spend weeks, maybe months, in a big hospital for. And they all had terrible success rates. They were meant for amputees anyway, not for something as complicated and delicate as a face.
“So I was discharged, with permanent pain and no left eye, but I was alive, and I was free, and honestly that was enough. I hated being in the hospital. I couldn’t sleep, was told what to eat and when, people kept touching me… I hated it. And they all just… did things. Without talking about it or explaining it. Because I was considered… not all there. Mentally. Because I’d been a pet so long. They evaluated me as not being able to understand, and then when I freaked out because I didn’t know what was happening and everything was happening too fast, they just used that as evidence that they were right. Especially because of how I reacted to oxygen masks. I honestly don’t know what they expected, putting an oxygen mask on a patient with injuries from being muzzled for years. I still have a record as a violent patient in any off-server hospital. I suppose you already knew that bit, you’ve known parts of this.
“I started my singleplayer world, and you know the rest. Made a redstone eye, applied for sanctuary in Mindcrack and then Hermitcraft, after Pause- er, after Mindcrack… well, you know. But when the pain gets real bad, I can’t brush my teeth. Hurts too much. I mean I can, but… I already know how bad it’ll hurt, and it’s like trying to put your hand in a campfire. You probably could if you tried hard enough, but your brain stops you. Or tries to.”
Beef reached across the nest for Etho, and he only hesitated a little before falling into the hold. He laid his head against Beef, curling small in the shelter between the hybrid’s torso and arm.
“Your turn,” Etho poked him in the side.
Beef squeezed him once, just barely, and began himself, hesitantly.
“I don’t- I don’t think you know much of this at all, actually. I don’t really… I don’t talk about it. But uh… I was born in a herd. There was my mom, and me, and a whole bunch of my aunts, and a couple of grandmas, and a whole bunch of cousins. And my dad. Cattle hybrids… the actual social structures and stuff, of cattle hybrid herds, is probably really strange to you. I’ve honestly learned more about it after I left than I ever learned there, I suppose.
“It- I was a little bull calf, and that meant something important, so everyone was kinda excited, when I was born. But I just- I was weak. As a calf. Sickly. Thought I was a fading calf for a while and just about gave up on me, and then when they realized I was gonna live, it didn’t really… I wasn’t strong enough. To follow the herd. We were nomadic, after all, and when the time came to move from the birthing grounds back out, all the rest of the calves were strong enough, and I wasn’t.
“My calls were broken, too. And they hurt. In my throat. The closer I got to them sounding right, the worse they hurt. None of my bleats sounded right, I could never copy exactly the call my mom tried to teach, and so it was hard for her to find me. She… she tried, I guess. But I think that she was just ready to try again. I was not her first, but I was the first that was so… strange, and she just wanted to try again and get a normal calf this time. A bull calf that would go on and make his own herd. Guys are so… disposable, with the way herds are set up. And I wasn’t… I wasn’t what they needed, I suppose.
“I uh… got lost. I don’t know if they meant to lose me, but I don’t think they looked too hard when they realized- if they realized. But I got lost. Stumbled into a portal - because the way that server was set up, you had to find the hub portal - and ended up in the hub. And I was tiny compared to the rest of my herd, but I was massive compared to anyone in the hub. I was a kid, but even as the toddler I was, I was already tall enough to be considered a threat. Especially since my horns were growing in. And I cried, I made so much noise, because I was scared and lost and…
“They didn’t like that I made noise, and they took me away. I wasn’t… they didn’t really treat me as a human, there. I was a work ox. That was… that was it. I ended up working for a butcher shop, which was fine, cattle hybrids still eat beef, and my herd had cattle, but it was just… I was a kid. And I was scared, and they were treating me like an animal, and they were killing all these cattle, and I knew I was different than cattle, but I couldn’t tell if they knew I was different than cattle, and I was so scared.
“My lungs were failing. And kept failing. And had been, my whole life. And I just… it was so scary, to be yoked and carrying things and have my lungs fail, and have my vision start to darken, and not be able to tell if they would just… just end it, there. Because I couldn’t breathe.
“The guys on Mindcrack got me. I was still a kid, and they were some of the first to realize that I was, because I was bigger than most grown men, even though I’m definitely not even close to how big a bull hybrid should be. They stopped by to get meat to feed everybody, between seasons, and they caught sight of me in the back. They got me out of there. I apparently had some form of criminal record, I don’t know, I was never taken to court or put on trial or anything, and they got me.
“I was a mess as a kid. When I got old enough, I entered the public contest and won, and they let me be a public member of the server, but before that, I was a kid on the server, an orphan refugee, officially. Some days Guude couldn’t get anything done, with how I’d cling to him. I was so far behind developmentally that it’s a wonder I ever caught up. But they all realized just how young I was, even though at that point, I really wasn’t. I was a teenager, but some days it was probably more like they had a toddler. A giant toddler.
“I was really only allowed to meet the rest of you guys when I became a public member, because I was such a disaster, and they had to go through all these hoops to legally be allowed to have a child on the sanctuary server. Only a couple people were allowed to interact with me. I got through it, and I eventually caught up and became a semi-normal person, but it was rough there for the first couple years. And then from then on, we met, and you know the rest.”
Etho was silent. Beef was beginning to get anxious (well. More than he already was), when Etho finally spoke.
“You know it wasn’t your fault, right?”
Beef blinked a few times, confused. He finally managed to open his mouth to respond, but Etho beat him to it.
“Any of it. It wasn’t your fault. Your herd… your herd should’ve cared. The authorities should have been kinder to a child. Anything… anything along there should’ve been different. Beef…”
Etho pulled away from Beef’s side, looking up at him. “I’ve been around cattle hybrid herds before, and they always had disabled or chronically ill members. Including calves that couldn’t keep up. Yours was just… yours wasn’t supposed to be like that. I’m sorry that happened to you. And not knowing if you were going to be killed- slaughtered, really… that messes you up, as a kid. As an adult it would screw with you. You weren’t a disaster. You were traumatized. And probably a ‘failure to thrive.’ Which-!“ Etho interrupted himself, hurriedly, “-is a failure on your guardians’ parts, not yours. You’re not a failure, just because you weren’t given the love you needed as a kid. That’s on them.”
Beef stared down at him. He didn’t even realize he was crying until Etho made a soft sound and brought a hand up to brush the tears away. Beef leaned into it.
“We’ll… we’ll work with it, okay? When you’re a calf. And the rest of the time. You need some extra help, and that’s alright. That’s alright.”
Beef… Beef couldn’t bring himself to disagree. He… he liked caregiving, it felt great, to take care of someone (or multiple someones), to be strong and solid and there, to be trusted to protect, it was amazing, and he wouldn’t trade it, that was true, but sometimes…
Sometimes the fuzz pressed into his brain, and he just wanted to be allowed to cling. To press close and feel protected, to be held when his lungs wouldn’t work, for someone else to worry about whether he eats. He wanted to be cared for, like… well, like a calf.
…maybe that was okay.
Beef nodded, absentmindedly. Then he remembered something, and his focus shifted.
“Don’t distract. Sir. We- I can ask Xisuma tomorrow if there’s any way to make your teeth easier to brush when it hurts like this. And you… I don’t like the idea of leaving you to deal with this all alone. Tell someone when it gets bad. Or just if it’s harder one day, even if it’s not technically worse. Let us be there for you.”
Etho appeared overwhelmed slightly. “I… Beef I can’t. It just… it’s not rare. It happens all the time. No one wants to keep hearing about this stuff all the time.”
Beef cupped his face, leaning down and pulling him close. “Etho. I want you to tell me when it hurts. Even if that’s every day. Even if it’s multiple times a day. Tell me. You have to handle it every day, the most and least I can do is listen.”
A tear fell from where it was gathering in Etho’s eye, and Beef moved his thumb to wipe it away. Etho’s entire face crumpled, and he took a heaving, silent breath, faceplanting into Beef’s side. Beef ran a hand up and down his silently heaving back, slowly, offering comfort.
“B-Beef. It. It hurts. It really-“ Etho’s wavering voice cracked, and he pushed himself impossibly further into Beef’s side.
Beef continued running a hand up and down his back as he dissolved from silent heaves to silent sobs. He brought a hand up to run through the man’s hair, knowing how to comfort a sobbing Etho.
“Thank you for telling me, Etho. You did such a good job. You can cry out loud, if you want. No one’s going to be upset, and I’m certainly not judging.”
Etho’s silent sobbing gained quiet little gasping sounds and faint whines. Beef settled in to provide a steady presence to his friend, really the only thing he could do.
Later, he and Etho would talk to X. About both their problems. Later, X would offer some solutions, some extra help. Even later, they would explain everything to the other half of the NHO.
But for now, Beef would simply be here.
_____5_____
Beef had his hands full, so seeing Etho appear in the doorway was a relief.
…Until he realized that he was regressed too.
Not as young as Doc or Bdubs, mind you. His kit was a teenager at this moment. But Beef was trying to juggle a very tiny, clingy baby Doc, and a very energetic and playful Bdubs, and both of them had needs that were the exact opposite of what the other needed, and when he realized Etho had regressed too, he could’ve screamed.
He loved them all, don’t get him wrong, and he loved being the dependable caregiver, and he 100% felt needed, but maybe… maybe just a bit too needed? He was fine, he loved this, he was having a great time, but they all needed different things, and he couldn’t take care of all of them at once, and there was so much crying, and…
So. He maybe. Just a bit. Messed up? On accident! On accident…
“Hey, kit, how old are you?” Beef questioned as he flew by, with a teary Doc on one hip and a spoon in the other hand, and yes, bdubs, I’ll play with you in just one second, please don’t pull my sleeve when I’m stirring the sauce, no, I’m not mad at you, wait it’s alright Doc, I’m right- Bdubs, I’ll play with- shit the sau- I mean…
And so, when Etho answered “sixteen, about” without even trying to tell Beef that he was too old to be called a kit, Beef should’ve noticed. When he hesitated when asked if he could play with Bdubs, he should’ve thought about how out of character it was, for as old as Etho said he was. When he heard arguing from the other room about Etho, c’mon, we’re supposed to be playing!, he should’ve taken it as a red flag.
But he didn’t. He was too distracted.
It was the high-pitched yelp from the other room that finally broke through to him, a sound that he’d only heard Etho make three times in the almost fifteen years he’d known him, and by that point, it was too late.
Because the sound that followed immediately after was unmistakably a snarl, the click of teeth, the wailing of one startled Bdubs, and the immediate guilty shushing of an older sibling that did something that they didn’t mean in a moment of fog-headed emotion.
So Beef threw a mournful look at his sauce as he immediately turned off the burner, and raced to the other room as quickly as possible.
-
Etho was having a rough day.
He had regressed, and he was younger than he probably wanted to admit, but when a frazzled Beef asked how old he was, he lied. Like always. He always had to be the responsible older sibling, so even though he was closer to at most 5, he said 16, like expected. Like the helpful daughter vixen friend he was supposed to be.
And Beef didn’t notice. So it was fine.
And then he was asked to play with Bdubs. Which he could. He could totally do. Yeah. Totally. Nevermind the fact that even just walking was getting difficult, that he could barely think through the pain in his jaw, that half his thoughts screamed vixen, daughter, girl at him, and all he really wanted was to cuddle and fall asleep on someone’s shoulder. He. He could play with Bdubs. Yeah.
He could not play with Bdubs.
Bdubs, a whole 3 years older than him at this particular moment, was trying so hard to rope him into whatever he was doing with the trucks and Barbies and action figures on the ground, but the Barbies just cemented the vixen daughter girlgirlgirl playing through his head. And, yeah, Bdubs liked the Barbies, and Bdubs was a boy, so the Barbies were toys for boys, but…
And then the toy Bdubs expected him to catch sailed right into his jaw.
And then he was suddenly across the room, and Bdubs was bleeding, and oh he did that, didn’t he, he was in so much trouble, he was going to be punished so bad, pleasestopcryingBdubsI’msorry…
And there were heavy footsteps, and a gasp, and a male yelling, and she’s so sorry, dad, she didn’t mean to… wait that’s wrong, Dad isn’t-
There were hands on her, and she went limp. Why is he- She… she knew how this ended. But he’s not there any- Dad was so mad. Dad was so mad at her. He hadn’t seen Dad in years and Beef was never- And Mom was gonna be mad too, and she was such a bad daughter, and she was going to have to sleep in the closet, and her sister wasn’t here, that meant she’d have no bandages in there, no way to patch up her wounds… no one on Hermitcraft will hurt you, Etho, I swear as admin-
The base of her ears was being scratched, very gently.
There was a hand gently rubbing up and down her back, staying well above her tail.
Someone was talking, very softly.
She… where was she?
She opened her eyes when had she closed them and was met with Beef gazing at her in worry. Her? That’s not-
SheHe caught a glimpse of Keralis in the background, entertaining and distracting Bdubs from the bandaid he’d definitely pick at otherwise, and Xisuma sitting with Doc, comforting the baby.
She?He turned heris attention to Beef, who smiled at him.
“Hey, kit, back with me?”
He hehehe nodded slowly, staring at the hybrid in front of him.
“Okay. Good. I think we need to have a talk, young man.”
Etho’s ears pinned to his head, and he could feel the anxious smile pulling at his face, but he nodded anyway. He was in so much trouble, and he deserved it-
Beef pulled him close, rubbing his back again comfortingly. “You’re not in trouble, Etho. I just- I’m missing some information, I think.”
Etho squished his face as far into the crook of Beef’s neck as physically possible, hiding. He knew Beef knew what he was doing, but he didn’t pull him from his hiding spot to demand answers. He just held him, and asked questions into his hair.
“Okay, kit. You’re alright. I’m going to ask a really important question, and I need an honest answer, Etho. You’re not in trouble, but I really need the truth this time.”
Etho pressed closer into his hiding spot.
“How old are you, kit? Really.”
Etho carefully tapped Beef’s elbow three times, trying to curl impossibly smaller, shame burning in his belly.
He felt the kiss pressed into his hair. “Thank you, kit. How old were you earlier, when you came through the door?”
Etho hesitated, tapping five times eventually. The intake of breath made him try to press impossibly farther into his hiding spot in Beef’s neck, bringing one hand up to cover the scruff of his neck.
Beef rocked him, careful not to dislodge him from his safe spot. “Shh, it’s alright, I’m not mad, I won’t scruff you if you don’t want me to-”
Etho relaxed only slightly, keeping his hand over his neck. It was comforting!
“Etho, does your face hurt? Worse than normal?”
He nodded, almost imperceptibly.
“Okay, kit. Okay. I’m sorry, baby. I should’ve noticed-”
Etho shook his head, frowning unseen. This wasn’t anyone’s fault other than his own.
“Etho?”
He shook his head again. It wasn’t Beef’s fault! He asked. He was busy. He shouldn’t have to assume Etho was lying.
Beef was silent for a long moment. “...I’m sorry for yelling at you. I shouldn’t have done that, and I’m sorry.”
Now that was something he would let Beef apologize for. Etho nodded, tightening his grip on Beef’s arm shortly. I forgive you.
Beef was quiet for another long second. When he spoke again, Etho imagined that he could hear a waver in his voice. “Okay. Let’s- How about we talk more when you’re an adult? You’re not in trouble.”
Etho nodded, curling up small and deciding now was sleep time. Panicking made him tired. He reached a hand up and blindly pulled Beef sideways, trying to make him lay down on the couch and nap with him. He got a watery (that can’t be right) chuckle, and then they were moving.
Later, there would be conversations, important conversations, conversations they should have had ten years ago. But for now?
For now, he was tiny. He curled up with Beef and fell asleep, safe.
_____+1_____
Etho was very suddenly awake.
He held very still, carefully trying to obtain information about the space around him before jumping in. He sat up as the knock on the door registered. He looked at the clock; red numbers read 3:45 AM.
Etho sighed, stretching, before making his way to his front door. Who was outside at this hour?
Etho opened the door, and looked up. And up. And up, into the face of one goat-creeper cyborg. He blinked a couple times, before his brain finally processed the stuffie held to the hybrid’s chest, and pieces of the puzzle started clicking together.
“Hey Doc.” Etho blinked a couple more times, trying to make his mouth figure out what words were. “Do you- inside?”
The little hybrid nodded seriously, stepping forwards into Etho’s… into Etho’s. He’d figure out what his combination of blocks and chests was supposed to be called when he was a little more awake. For now, he shut the door behind Doc and stood there for a minute, like a zombie in a Creative world.
“What- why…?” He eventually attempted to ask.
Doc whined, and that let another fraction of his consciousness return to him. He stared as the hybrid brought one hand up to scratch at the air over his cybernetics and across his face, very carefully not touching.
Etho blinked at him a few more times, before trying, “something wrong with the… the metal-y bits? The…” He just shook his head. Words that complicated were a bit far at this juncture.
Doc whined at him, seeming to think for a minute. Slowly, he reached for Etho, carefully tracing a finger over one of the scars on his face, before bringing his hand back to his own cybernetics and across his face.
Etho blinked a little bit more, before a moment of clarity slammed into him like a bucket of water dropped on his head.
“It hurts, doesn’t it.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.
Doc whined in response.
“I know, buddy, I’m sorry. I…” Etho stopped. He didn’t know what worked on missing limbs, he just knew what worked on his face. Or at least made him feel better, even if it didn’t work. He’d heard something about stretching out the missing limbs, but how do you do that on a face, and how do you do that if there’s no prosthetic?
He sighed. Might as well try.
“Hey bud. How about you stretch your arm out, and far as it can go. Can you do that?”
Doc whined at him, frowning and shaking his head. He rolled his shoulder a couple times, and then deliberately shook his head at him, bringing his other hand up to do the universal hand gesture for “explode.”
Etho took that to mean “no, you idiot, it makes it worse.” He blinked at him for a few more seconds, processing.
“You want a warm towel?”
Doc whined at him again, seeming to get more frustrated. He stomped his foot once, a precursor to a tantrum. (Etho wasn’t too concerned, Doc only ever had tantrums out of frustration or fear. Bdubs had them for fun.)
Etho just stared at him. “Buddy, it’s about 4 am. I don’t know what you want, and I’m stupid this time of day.”
Doc stated at him, tears gathering in his eyes. Eventually, he brought both hands up, careful not to drop his stuffie, and put both under his head like a pillow.
“You want to sleep?” Etho was clearly missing something still.
Doc nodded, tears starting to fall. Etho took a couple steps forwards to brush the tears from his eyes on reflex. He didn’t let him. The second Etho got close enough, Doc grabbed him, settling his face in the crook of Etho’s neck and holding on like he was about to leave.
Etho eventually brought his hands up to hug Doc back. “If you wanted cuddles, you could’ve just asked.”
Doc glared at him, which he felt was deserved, honestly, and he told him as such. Etho was so freaking tired…
He awkwardly led Doc back to his nest, pulling the regressor down on top of him like he knew he enjoyed. Creeper hybrids liked protecting their nestmates, Doc in particular. He was always the top layer in a nest.
Etho relaxed at the pressure, realizing exactly how much physical contact he hadn’t been getting lately. Whoops.
With that, the two of them drifted off to-
Wiggle.
Ahem, they drifted off-
Wiggle. Wiggle. Shift.
THEY DRIFTED-
Etho got the wind knocked out of him by Doc’s elbow, and decided that he was awake.
“Doc, buddy, go to sleep…”
Doc held still, and Etho was almost asleep again, when he heard a sniffle.
He sat up, pulling Doc up with him. The little creeper’s face had tears rolling down it, and he avoided Etho’s eyes. He signed “sorry” almost frantically.
Etho brought a hand up to wipe away some of the tears. “Hey, buddy. Let’s try this again, okay?”
Doc just stared at him, apprehensively.
Etho sighed. “I know. I’m sorry. How old are you, bud?”
Doc blinked at him, before holding up two fingers, then dropping to one, then back up to two. Older than one, younger than two. Etho felt even more like a dick. He should’ve paid more attention.
He carefully pulled Doc towards himself, being careful not to jostle him too much. “I’m sorry buddy. You said you wanted to sleep, but it’s hard, isn’t it?”
Doc nodded, whining slightly. Etho felt the little creeper’s hands ball in his shirt and smooth out, ball up and smooth out, almost like a cat kneading, and he knew that it was in time with each spike in the waves of pain. He felt Doc hold his breath sometimes, in time with the tensing of his hands, and he could feel the rest of him tense too. Sometimes, a little whine would slip out while he was holding his breath, and he’d gasp or pant afterwards.
Etho just held him, knowing that sleep was probably out of the picture for at least a while. He was careful to hold his breath when Doc did and hold perfectly still, knowing how much even the movement of breathing could hurt. In between these times though, Etho talked about everything and nothing, careful to pay attention to Doc’s signals. He reminded him to untense, getting whines for his trouble, but eventually more and more time passed between each wave, and Doc fell asleep in his arms.
Etho carefully lowered the creeper down, curling up on top of him. It was his turn to protect a nestmate, and hopefully Doc would wake up feeling it, even if Etho was tiny compared to him.
Finally, well after the sun rose, Etho managed to slip back into sleep. His skulk were more important than uninterrupted sleep anyways.