can i please request an etho fic that is pure fluff and nothing but fluff?
MAN ON THE MOON
۫ ּ ִֶָ ࣪✦ PAIRING \ C!Ethoslab x GN!Reader
۫ ּ ִֶָ ࣪✦ SYNOPSIS \ (Space AU) Getting to visit Earth after a long year in deep space is great, but add in a frustrating crewmember and the personification of chaos and... well, there’s a reason you guys aren’t allowed to mingle with the masses all that often.
۫ ּ ִֶָ ࣪✦ WARNINGS \ Mild language, mentions of death
۫ ּ ִֶָ ࣪✦ A/N \ Happy Valentines day, y’all! I honestly loved this request, being a person who specializes in tooth-rotting, so-sweet-it'll-melt-in-the-rain fluff, and Etho? One of my favorite Hermits? HHHHHhhh- I can only hope that you'll like this as much as I do! (May or may not have gone a little hog wild)
When humanity first raised its gaze to the stars, some millions of years ago, it ignited a spark within them. A drive, a desire to see more, to do more. They weaved stories about the shapes that they drew between the stars, a rich oral history of monsters and heroes and all that is divine, passed down between generations. Only a hundred years after the first people managed flight, they were touching down on the surface of the moon itself.
“One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”
That’s what they had said, staring down at the beautiful, temperamental mess of an Earth that they called home.
When you were younger, you had always wondered how they had felt, being so small and far away from home. You had wondered if they had balked at all at the sheer size of their planet compared to them, or if they were afraid of being alone, stranded in the darkness of space with only a radio connecting them to home.
Now, as you watched the sunrise over the smooth curve of Earth’s horizon, setting the blue glow of the atmosphere ablaze in a riot of golden-red light, you couldn’t help but feel anything other than pure, genuine contentment.
It may not have seemed like it, but your entire life you had worked towards moments like these. Moments that stole your breath straight out of your lungs from the sheer majesty they exuded, just knowing that a millennia ago, you would’ve never had the opportunity to see them in person.
But here you were, standing in the bridge of one of the most famous starships in the known universe, staring down at a planet you hadn’t set foot on in months.
You smiled to yourself as your comm buzzed in your pocket, pulling it out to view the excited messages in the server as your friends and fellow crewmates expressed their excitement about going planetside, especially the few that had never set foot on the homeworld of humanity, and the crown jewel of the Mojang Federation.
Even for you, only having been traveling in deep space for barely a year, it was nearly unbearable to be so close to home, yet so far- you wouldn’t be able to board the shuttles primed to enter the atmosphere for at least another hour.
The rest of the bridge was bustling with activity, flight control and operations management tasked with last-minute checks on ship integrity and orbit speed. The background hum of consoles beeping and the hurried voices of your fellow crewmates would’ve been annoying if you weren’t so used to the sound, having worked in the busy atmosphere for nearly your entire time on the ship.
It had been nerve-wracking, of course, for you to be assigned to the Hermity right out of command school. Hell, you don’t think you had stopped gaping at everything for the first few days, stumbling wide-eyed through your duties, much to the equal chagrin and amusement of your superiors.
You looked back at that time fondly, if with a little bit of embarrassment at your naivete. It had certainly been a big adjustment to make, going from the familiar and controlled environment of school on Earth to being faced with a ship-wide catastrophe seemingly every other week, but it had certainly gotten a whole lot easier once some of the more senior crewmembers took you under their wing.
You jolted as an arm slung itself around your shoulders, whipping your head to the side to see a familiar smirking up at you.
Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
“BDubs,” you sighed, rolling your eyes emphatically and digging your elbow into his ribs as he started giggling. “I should’ve known you’d come and harass me sooner or later.”
The brunette squawked in faux offense, waving his free arm around exaggeratedly as the other one came up to rub at where you had hit him. “Well, excuse me for wanting to come and check on my best friend! Y’know, I don’t know why I stick around you when you’re so mean to me all the time.”
Huffing, you stuffed your comm back into the pockets of your flight suit, raising an expectant eyebrow at BDubs as he pouted at you. Despite his harsh words, you could hear the amusement in his tone- borne out of the bond of camaraderie that can formed between you over your time serving in the Federation.
“So, why’re you here?” you started, switching topics abruptly as the brunette forgot his pretense of anger, bouncing back over to you with his ever-present grin. “I thought you would be making plans with the rest of the gang.”
“Wweeellll,” he started, rocking back on his heels. “I was thinking that I could go and hang out with you? I figured you’d know the best things to do for someone who’s never visited Earth before.”
You blinked. Ah, right- Having been aboard the Hermity as long as you had, it was easy to forget that some of the people that you worked with weren’t exactly… human, per se.
In fact, humans like you only made up a little less than half of the Federation itself, with the rest being various different sapient species that had agreed to become a part of the organization.
These days, it would actually be extremely uncommon to see a crew composed of singularly humans (or Terrans, as many tended to call them), and the Hermity was no exception, with BDubs belonging to one of over a dozen wildly different non-Earthen Federation members aboard the starship.
A member of the Glare species, BDubs was immediately recognizable as something… other. It had thrown you off, the first time you met him: his large, dilated yellow eyes that seemed to almost glow in the dimmer sections of the ship, and the numerous creeping patches of an almost moss-like substance that covered his body, oddly soft to the touch when he had offered to let you feel them.
Despite your initial disorientation, you had quickly grown used to the brunette’s childish antics and insistence on everyone going to sleep on time, sometimes even resorting to forcibly dragging you away from your work just to get you to bed. At the end of the day, it was really his personality that mattered, regardless of what he was, and it was exactly because of his personality that you had become friends so quickly.
You felt your face split open in a grin, suddenly excited at the prospect of showing BDubs around Federation headquarters. You had basically grown up in the city surrounding it, crossing through the main plaza on your way to classes too many times to count. It made you giddy, almost, to be able to share your old haunts with one of your new friends, even if the nostalgia threatened to swallow you whole.
“That sounds really nice, actually!” you enthused, bumping BDub’s shoulder with your own as you warmed to the idea. “I’m practically an expert on the area, y’know.”
He huffed fondly, rolling his eyes at your words. “Yeah, like you haven’t talked about that a million times.”
You squawked. “So it’s illegal for me to talk about my childhood, now? Oh, this is so mean. You’re so mean to me. You- you’re not invited to my birthday party anymore, because you’re mean.”
The brunette shoved you playfully, gasping like you had dealt him a fatal wound, before his eyes suddenly lit up. The look already sent apprehension swirling through your veins, too familiar with the Glare to not know that when he got ideas, they tended to be… interesting, to say the least.
“We should bring Etho with us!”
You choked, any calm you had felt flying out the window as you stared at BDubs like he had grown a second head. “Excuse me?”
“Well, he hasn’t been to Earth either!” the brunette said by way of explanation, rolling his shoulders in an exaggerated shrug.
Rubbing exhaustedly at the bridge of your nose, you pinned the Glare with a deadpan look. “BDubs. ‘Dubs. Honey. You’re asking me to invite Etho, as in, the same Etho that I’m pretty sure hates me with a burning passion.”
The brunette’s face did something complicated, features morphing through several different expressions too fast for you to catalogue, before finally settling on something that looked close to bewildered indignation. “What are you talking about? Etho doesn’t hate you!”
You rolled your eyes. “Yeah, sure.”
Despite whatever protests that BDubs had, you were more than certain of your white-haired crewmember’s less-than-friendly opinion of you. If you were being honest, you had absolutely no idea what could’ve set him off- those first few days of adjusting to spaceflight were awkward, of course, but it wasn’t like you had been particularly rude or cruel towards him in specific. Hell, you had even apologized for any weirdness on your part with a cupcake!
However, it didn’t stop Etho from acting… strange… whenever you were around each other.
Even if you had seen him happily chatting away with Iskall or BDubs a few minutes earlier, the second you joined the conversation it was like his eyes were boring holes in your head, just... staring.
The white-haired man seemed to take delight in torturing you as well, teasing and prodding everything you did until you were left a flustered, embarrassed mess in front of the whole crew. Hell- he’d even taken to suddenly appearing at your workstation, making it his mission to distract you from your very important work.
Prime forbid you touch Etho, either- on too many occasions you had accidentally brushed against him whilst grabbing something only for him to flinch back as if he was burned, face flushing bright blue in (presumably) anger, and brush off any of your apologies brusquely before leaving in a hurry.
So, naturally, the only logical explanation was that (for whatever Prime’s damned reason) he didn’t like you. You had no clue was BDubs was going on about, but before you could open your mouth to tell him exactly that, your words died on your tongue as you finally noticed the figure looming just behind BDub’s shoulders.
“I heard something about ‘Etho’? You guys talking about me?”
You blanched at the same time as BDubs whirled around, a winning smile on his face. “We sure were, buddy!”
Unlike the brunette, Etho himself was a Phantling- a naturally nocturnal species that was sensitive to sunlight, an easy thing to guess when one noticed the bluish tint to his already pale skin. His eyes, one coal-black and the other a bright red, shone green in the light for a split second as they flickered over towards you, something unreadable in their depths as he took your presence in.
“Uh, hi?” you offered uncertainly, giving the white-haired man a timid little wave as he stared you down, expression oddly closed off compared to how it had been a few moments ago.
Etho blinked, as if snapping out of a trance. “Hey.”
As if sensing the awkward tension brewing in the air, BDubs jumped between you guys with a cheery (and suspiciously mischievous) expression. “We were wondering if you’d wanna come with us when we go planetside!”
You sighed through your nose, allowing yourself to roll your eyes fondly at the Glare’s antics. Prime help you.
“What BDubs here meant to say,” you said, voice thick with exasperated amusement. “Was that he wanted to bring you along while I gave him a tour- which is completely fine if you want to, I guess.”
The Phantling tilted his head to the side, humming softly under his breath, and if you didn’t know better, it seemed as though he was pleased, although it was kind of hard to tell when the entire lower half of his face was obscured by that black mask he always seemed to wear. “Really?”
Hesitantly, you nodded. “Uh- sure? Why not?”
‘Why not’ indeed.
You soon realized what all the other crewmembers were talking about when it came to BDubs and Etho’s shenanigans- despite being almost functioning adults apart, it seemed as if when they were put together, they shared two brain cells. Biting back a chuckle, you watched as BDubs, once again, attempted to chase the pigeons into the street, only to be hauled back by the scruff of his green hoodie before he could get crushed by a passing car.
Being one of the few days that deep space personnel were allowed to visit Earth, given the Federation ceremony that was to take place in a few days, the streets were packed. Crew members, some still in their uniforms, flooded the city, visiting family and taking in the sights of Earth.
“I know you have the self-preservation instincts of someone who’s met Prime and wasn’t impressed,” you remarked drily, watching as the Glare spun on his heel to squawk at Etho, who was still holding onto his clothes with the iron grip of someone who’d had to do this a hundred times. “But I’m pretty sure this is an all-time record for the number of times you’ve nearly killed yourself.”
“You’d be surprised to learn this isn’t even the worst of it,” Etho said mildly, the unexpected interjection sending you scrambling to hide your surprised expression (Was it just you, or was he being more chatty?). “I’m just glad he hasn’t tried to climb in the sewer system you Terrans have, yet.”
You could’ve sworn BDubs had never whipped his head around so fast before. “The what?”
Before you could stop him, the Glare was breaking away with new rigor, speeding through the crown of confused pedestrians with the aura of a man on a mission. You groaned.
At least Etho had the gall to look a little remorseful, as he watched the brunette go. “Uh, whoops. I, er, probably shouldn't have said that?”
You shot him a look somewhere between exhaustion and a kind of existential amusement. “You’re just thinking of that now?”
“... Unfortunately.”
A moment of silence stretched between the two of you, and, once again feeling the tension start to rise in the air, you decided to extend the olive branch, so to speak.
“Should- do you think we should go after him?” you tried, stealing a glance at the Phantling next to you out of the corner of your eye. He shrugged, idly reaching up to ruffle his already wind-blown hair, and you quickly looked away once you realized you were staring.
“I dunno, it would be kind of funny to see what trouble he’ll get into.”
You didn’t expect the snort of laughter that escaped you, a hand shooting up to cover your mouth as you felt heat suddenly rush to your face. Mortified, you could only whine when Etho started laughing, rumbling chuckles that nearly shook his entire frame as your embarrassment only worsened.
“Stooppp,” you whined, smacking his arm lightly in a futile attempt to salvage some of your pride. The Phantling could only shake his head, letting an amused huff escape his lips as you scowled up at him.
Puffing out your cheeks in an exaggerated pout, you crossed your arms in front of your chest defensively. “You’re the worst.”
“And you’re cute.”
You nearly froze in your tracks, mentally bluescreening, and it seemed that Etho was on much the same page as you. His eyes, usually as calm and placid as a pond’s surface, were blown wide with surprise, almost as though he himself couldn’t believe what he had just said.
“What?”
“Um… sorry? That just- just kinda slipped out, I think? You are cute though, so, I don’t really feel sorry about that, but, uh, y’know.”
Jaw working, you finally managed to speak. “I thought you didn’t like me!”
“... No?” Etho honestly seemed bewildered, either not noticing or not caring about the scolding looks the other pedestrians sent your way as he took a cautious step towards you. “It’s very much the opposite, actually.”
“You have a crush on me?”
The white-haired man shrugged, either not noticing or blessedly not commenting on how flustered you had become in the last thirty seconds. “I mean, I have for a while? I kinda thought you knew, with how obvious I was, but- well, I guess not.”
Oh.
So, all those moments, all those weird behaviors…
You resisted the urge to slap yourself.
That was him flirting?
Biting your lip nervously, you jolted slightly as something big crashed in the distance, immediately on guard at the shouting that sounded from a few streets away- including a voice that seemed awfully familiar…
Cursing under your breath, you met gazes with Etho once more, conflict evident in your twisted features.
“We don’t have to talk about this right now, but, ah-” his eyes crinkled as he looked down at you, before darting to the side, where people were beginning to run towards where the noise had originated. “Maybe we could go out sometime?”
You studied his face intently for a moment before lightly grasping his hand, peering up at the Phantling with a shy half-grin. Although this entire thing was new to you, you were always up for an adventure. “I think… that’d be nice.”
Another crash, and Etho winced. “We should probably go deal with that now.”
Nodding frantically, you pulled the both of you into a brisk jog. “Yes, lets.”
Neither of you elected to comment on the fact that you were still holding hands.
I have a lot of people that I write for, so for this ask I'll just answer for the Hermits :> (hope you don't mind anon!)
Grian... well, it's kind of hard to articulate the vibes that he gives me. Barely restrained chaos in the form of an unassuming Gremlin? Comedic relief that turns out to be the villain all along? The Fall by half●alive
Mumbo Jumbo... he's just a guy! A guy that wouldn't hesitate to murder, and would do it with a cheerful smile on his face, but a guy all the same! He does give me more nostalgic energy- a Walkman whose songs are almost crunchy in quality because of how many times they've been copied over. Chapstick by COIN
Scar... will inevitably scam you out of something. He’s not actually all that malicious, more like a cartoon villain than anything else, but he’s legitimately good at manipulating people. He has a kind of goofy charisma, an ambition for power and an involvement in things- a talent for living that is more often than not underestimated. Mamma Mia by Austin Webber
Xisuma... is a star burning from a million light years away, whose impression upon our worlds is a pinprick of light in the night sky. He’s ever-present, constant and steady... comforting, to some. For all that he is, though- a leader, a protector, a friend- you could never remove the memory of mystery from his being. Overthinker by INZO
Etho... he’s the ghost of the server. He has an undeniable talent for everything he deigns to put his mind to, as well as the time spent to perfect the skills under his belt, but at the same time he’s not in a rush to show them off. Where other people might train their entire lives just to stand before a cheering crowd, he is proving his worth to nobody other than himself. Wasteland, Baby! by Hozier
Tango... is an interesting mix of one of the most tenacious and talented builders in the server, as well as a littol guy who delights in destruction and hijinks. I mean- he built Decked Out, there’s nothing more I can say for this man other than that he has a kind of mental illness (/j) that would make gods weep. Crazy = Genius by Panic! At The Disco
Impulse... can and will convince everyone that he’s human when, in reality, he’s probably one of the furthest things from it. He just... something about him makes him capable of going to lengths few could even dream of, whether it’s grinding materials or moving his entire goddamn base up by a block. He behaves the most “normally” out of most of the Hermits, but he’s really Not. Adventure Is Out There by AJR
Rendog... is a theater kid who was given the ability to fight God and win, plain and simple. He’s dramatic, he’s stubborn with the stories he wants to tell, and he’s filled with a simple zest for life. It’s only an even bigger bonus that he gets to be able to make his friends laugh with the characters he creates, and what more could a dog want, really? Best Friend by Rex Orange County
DocM77... has no qualms about breaking the fabric of reality itself, not because he actually is a villain, but because, to him, it’s a normal Tuesday afternoon. He’s not a mean or a malicious person- hell, he’s really only antagonistic for the bit! It’s just become second nature for him to play the villain because it’s funny, so why stop? Supermassive Black Hole by Muse
Bdubs... he’s feral, he’s climbing on the walls, he’s going to descend into hell only to come back with a smoothie and one of those tropical shirts that dads wear like he was on vacation. He’s both someone that is hard to take seriously, and a cosmic horror that would melt your mind to fully comprehend. He can and has cried during an argument because he has that many Feelings. Under My Skin by Jukebox The Ghost
Ik it’s not even near Christmas but i just had this idea.
Do ya think that glare!bdubs would decorate himself with Christmas ornaments?
-mush
Despite my staunch belief that Christmas should stay in December, I'll allow you this one once, because I care you <3
While BDubs might decorate himself for a bit or something, I think it's much more likely that the other hermits (*cough* Etho *cough*) would take it upon themselves to make him a walking Christmas tree.
It gets to the point where you can hear him coming just through the sound of everything hanging off him clanking and jingling, and when he gets near enough, his irritated little grumbles and huffs.
He loves Christmas as much as the next guy, but when January comes around, he's a little bit glad to see it go.
