Hermitcraft Oneshots

Musically Inclined - Etho-centric (fluff?)

1256 words. This is kind of an AU where Etho loves music to a much, much larger extent. There may be some bits that are canon divergent but I'm an author the world can be whatever I please mwahahahahhhh

It had been a few hours since he'd woken up and after lying in bed for so long relaxing, Etho was beginning to grow restless. As he pulled the duvet off his body and face (which it had previously been covering) the daylight left him squinting for a moment. After a few moments, he got used to the air foreign to the den that was his bed.

Now was one of the very rare times that his eyes didn't feel like they were ready to sew themselves shut. The days before had all been spent getting a particularly large and difficult section of his base done, so once the last blocks had been placed, he retired to his bed and slept for a solid 15 hours, before relaxing for another 3. He'd promised himself a day off once the build was finished, and now that day had come.

He knew exactly how he was going to spend it.

Luckily, it was the end of the season (most people had finished already and were getting ready to go), which meant he had no lack of choice. The white haired hermit placed a jukebox next to a small seating area and went over to his selection of discs.

It was always difficult to get them, and he couldn't carry them from season to season so they needed replacing every time. Normally, at the start of new seasons he could only play things in his head, which was okay enough, but he definitely preferred the luxury of actually hearing it.

Xisuma had once asked him if he'd like the admin to code the discs to automatically carry through into the new worlds, but Etho had refused the offer, not wanting to be a nuisance.

"Don't worry about it, I don't need to hear the music to know it." He'd replied.

There were so many to chose from.

The decision was too big, so he split it up by asking smaller questions.

What composer? Mozart today, definitely. Maybe Chopin later but for now Mozart. Oh actually maybe Liszt- no, Mozart for now.

Major or minor? Minor, not sad though, maybe sad. Half sad... ?

Orchestra, quartet, quintet or solo? Orchestra. Something big, something powerful, something LOUD but not destructive.

He looked through the collection of symphonies, his mind set on a particular piece. It was already ringing in his ears, e flat to two d's repeating three times, to b flat... it was in g minor and was one of his favourites by far.

Symphony 40.

He found the disc and took it over to the cubby hole, careful not to scratch the circular black treasure.

A grin spread across his face as he slid it into the slot and listened as the first phrase spilled out.

It was beautiful.

Just so beautiful.

Etho fell back into the chair and leaned his head onto the table, closing his eyes to concentrate on the beauty.

Subconsciously, he started tapping his finger as though he were a metronome. The notes were perfect, the violins carried the melody as other orchestral instruments supported them. There were flutes and clarinets repeating the more fragile phrases while the brass sections steamed through the deeper and just as beautiful yet more powerful phrases.

No words could describe accurately how music made his head gravitate around it like it was the only thing in the universe that mattered; like it was the only thing in the universe. No words could describe how the notes going up and down made his emotions follow religiously. No words could describe just the sheer amount of amazing this piece was. And every other piece.

Etho was the kind of person who didn't use the term "genius" lightly. Sure, he would joke about it from time to time, but while others would consider Mumbo a genius for his redstone abilities, he wouldn't. Some might even call him a genius but he'd disagree.

Mozart was a genius.

As was Beethoven, as was Paganini, as was Bach.

Bach!

Don't get him started on Bach. He'd had to ban himself from listening to some Bach pieces since once he'd been rendered useless for over a week because the high note of a violin part had been stuck in his head. It had given him a raging headache, yet he hadn't tried to stop the sound. Not that he could, he had no say in what music played in his head. He did want to stop it sometimes, when his head was getting too busy, but he couldn't. It was a gift and a curse.

The first movement ended and he sighed contentedly. It was amazing music, and the second movement was his favourite.

Most people liked the first and fourth most, and while they were good, the second was just so... there was such harmony in it it was unbelievable. The third was just as good, though under appreciated. It wasn't like the second movement was always his favourite, it changed all the time because the were all equally as genius.

The first few notes were simple, and then it started to build up. His favourite parts were the high parts releasing the tensions built in the phrase before them as it had previously been going lower and lower.

No words could describe it.

He didn't even know what it felt like other than the fact it felt so so good. There was no exact feeling. It was just pure joy, pure euphoria, pure ecstasy.

He was the only one who felt it. No one else on the server understood. Nor did anyone else he'd met in his life. No one understood why as soon as there was music he was gone from the conversation or whatever event was happening beforehand. Not that it mattered, all that mattered was the small resolution that turned false and then the phrase that followed.

The cellos and violins travelled down and the clarinets took over, going back up.

Halfway to the next false resolution it stopped. It went silent.

No no no no no, where did it go? Etho thought as his eyes snapped open. He glanced to the jukebox, which was empty, and then to the hand that was holding the black disc. The hand was green and he followed it's arm up to Doc's face.

He huffed and gave the guilty creeper a small glare. The music's gone, make it come back, he thought pointlessly.

"When did you get here?" He asked, trying to sound as cheery and normal as possible when in fact he was so utterly heartbroken inside at not getting to hear the rest. Not even the end of the movement.

"Dude, I thought we were meant to meet up today to finish up a few things." Doc replied, putting the disc on the jukebox.

"Oh, was that today?" Apparently this wouldn't be a quick thing and he wouldn't get to hear the rest. I want it back. His inner voice pleaded the gods he didn't believe in.

"Uh-huh." Doc said, he was probably a bit annoyed.

"Oh, err, okay then, just let me get ready." Etho put the disc in it's case and onto it's shelf, before wandering over to the storage system to get his essentials and armour.

As they flew around the world, Etho played the piece in his head absentmindedly as Doc talked. Yep, he was going to miss his music disc collection in season eight. It wasn't nearly as good in his head as it was out loud.

I will probably do a part two to this if Etho and Beef are both in season eight.