(prob way too angsty for the theme but this scene is eating me ALIVE) (polyhermits implied)
Team ZITS had only ventured into the jungle for bamboo; safe to say they were very surprised (and horrified) to find what seemed to be the corpse of their old partner Bdubs tangled in a mass of vines. He had been lost to the wilderness several months ago, while all the hermits were split up due to being chased out of their old home. Dead or alive, the hermits assumed they'd never see him again.
However, as Impulse collapsed sobbing over Bdubs' body, he felt a faint heartbeat. Bdubs wasn't dead; just rooted and unconscious! After some expert vine-pruning done by Tango and his fire-aspect sword, the group was able to free him and carry him home.
The noise that came out of Doc's mouth when he saw Bdubs was nothing like any of the hermits had ever heard before. It was a haunting mix of anguish and relief; a breathless cry that was both ear-perkingly loud and yet oh so soft. All the hermits knew that Doc had a gentle heart under his prickly exterior, but in this moment, that facade shattered completely.
He cradled Bdubs in his arms, gentler than anyone had ever seen, and cried. Doc never cried. Cleo and Joe had to spend a full five minutes convincing him to let them take Bdubs to heal him. Even then, Doc stayed by Bdubs' bed for three days nonstop until he finally woke up.
The NHO were the last people Bdubs saw before he fell asleep the night he went missing, and they were the first people he saw when he came to, five months later. Doc buried his head into Bdubs' chest, sobbing in relief, with Beef and Etho taking their places by his side soon after. Doc had lived in New Hermiton for five months, helping to build it from the ground; but only now did it feel like home
🎬 anon
Adapting to life again was... Difficult. But it was made easier having his partners there to support him every step of the way!
Even when he found out he could talk to trees now. That was a pretty weird one.















