Just The Two Of Us- A Hermitcraft/Ethubs Fantasy AU

Chapter Four

Etho blinked as BDubs tapped him on the shoulder. "Where are you going?" The Floran hybrid demanded.

"Why do you need to know?" That came out ruder than I expected it to-

It had been about a week and a half, nearly two weeks, since BDubs had started working with Etho, and he couldn't tell whether it had gotten off to a good start or a bad start. Half of the time BDubs was incredibly frustrated with Etho and had a sarcastic response to almost everything that the prince said, and half of the time BDubs was... well, he wasn't nice exactly, but he wasn't rude either.

"Because I'm meant to stay with you as much as I can, so I need to know." The brunette responded sharply.

"If you must know, I'm going for a walk in the palace gardens. You're welcome to come with me, if you'd like." Etho added brightly- he had quickly noticed the Floran hybrid's love for anything related to plants and nature.

BDubs suspicious expression faded slightly, although some wariness still lingered as he stared at the white haired boy with a curious expression. "Gardens? Will there be flowers?" He asked, the corner of his lips twitching into the beginnings of a small smile.

"Duh. It's the gardens. Gardens and flowers generally come hand in hand." Etho said with a snort of laughter.

BDubs shot him an odd look. "I guess if I have to go with you basically everywhere, I would prefer for it to be the palace gardens." He said with a huff, his smile fading slightly as he rolled his eyes.

Etho raised one eyebrow with a slightly skeptical expression. "Right. Sure. Anyways- let's go!"

——

"-oh, and this one is an allium! Fun fact about alliums, actually..." BDubs continued to talk as Etho watched him with a slightly amused expression. The brunette had been reeling off a list of facts about every type of flower they saw, and it was quite amusing (and slightly adorable) to watch.

The amount that BDubs knew about flowers and plants was also rather fascinating. Then again, he was a Floran hybrid, Etho supposed.

"Oh, and apparently they-" BDubs broke off at a shout from across the garden.

"Oh- Prince Etho! What a lovely surprise!" Etho glanced sideways, blinking in surprise as he spotted his friend Pearl waving in his direction. She was accompanied by a boy a few inches taller than her who had dark brown hair, a dark gray shirt with a yellow 'I' on it, brown eyes and silver markings all over him.

"Pearl! Hello!" Etho smiled under his mask as Pearl and the boy walked over. "This is my friend Pearl." He added quietly to BDubs, who nodded and shrugged with a slightly wary expression, his enthusiasm fading.

Pearl shot a wary smile in BDubs' direction as she reached the two. "Oh, who's this?"

"Uh- one of the hybrids. My new assistant. His name is BDubs." BDubs rolled his eyes quietly, his eyes widening as he stared at the boy stood behind Pearl.

"Huh- Impulse?" The brunette blinked, staring at BDubs for a moment before recognition appeared in his brown gaze.

"BDubs!" 'Impulse' smiled slightly. "Glad to see you."

"You two know each other?" Pearl asked with a slightly doubtful expression, looking between Impulse and BDubs.

"Yep. One of his boyfriends used to work with my friend Doc." BDubs explained. "Speaking of boyfriends- are Tango and Zed here as well?"

"Zed's here- he's working with someone called Commander Symmetry. Tango... is currently sitting in a dungeon cell because he tried to set a human on fire." Impulse said, wincing slightly. "Apparently all the hybrids who tried to fight back in any way are down there."

"Wait- did you say Doc? He's the creeper guy who nearly killed Commander Wels, right?" Pearl asked curiously.

BDubs stared at her, blinking. "He nearly killed- what? I don't think so. Doc might be a little grumpy sometimes, but he isn't capable of straight up attempted murder. The last I saw of him was when he ran into the village and-" The brunette broke off with a confused expression.

"So- how come Impulse is working with you anyway? I didn't think you'd exactly need an assistant as a lumberjack or whatever you are." Etho interrupted hastily, trying to change the subject as he looked at BDubs and felt a wave of pity wash over him.

"Lumberjack is correct- it is like, my fourth job in the past few months but whatever. And he's surprisingly strong, so he's very helpful where I work. Honestly I only really got him working with me because I'm friends with you- otherwise it's only staff that work in the palace and royalty that get hybrids helping them out." Pearl said with a laugh.

He glanced at Impulse. "What are you a hybrid of, out of curiosity?"

"Iron golem hybrid. Hence the insane strength." Impulse informed him with a skeptical expression, clearly biting back a sharp retort as his gaze flicked to the prince. I get that I'm the queen's son, but that doesn't mean all the hybrids need to hate me. I'm probably one of the only humans who doesn't hate them. Etho thought bitterly, frowning with a slightly anxious expression.

"Oh! Cool, cool, cool- well, I'm sure you two are very busy with whatever work you're doing, and we were just kind of walking, so-" Pearl laughed at Etho's statement, nodding.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll be leaving now." The woman said with a grin, making an odd gesture to Impulse before walking away. Impulse hesitated briefly, his gaze lingering on BDubs before he followed her hastily.

Etho glanced at the Floran hybrid next to him, who still looked incredibly confused and slightly unnerved by the conversation. "You okay?" He asked quietly.

BDubs looked at him with a slight frown, almost... surprised by the question. "Yeah. I'm fine." There was a small silence as Etho glanced around, his gaze landing on some dark gray flowers.

"What are those, by the way? I've always wondered." He queried, pointing at the flowers.

BDubs brightened slightly. "Oh- they're wither roses. They can be dangerous when handled incorrectly, so it's a wonder they're still here in this very open garden. Did you know that..." Etho smiled slightly as BDubs started talking again.

It was almost cute how happy the brunette was.