When the Dawn Breaks [TBAU]

☆ Chapter 15 ☆

It didn't take a genius to figure out that something was up with Etho. His odd behavior had been going on for one and a half, nearly two weeks now, Beef concluded.

At first, Beef had simply chalked it up to Etho just being nervous around the newcomer, Impulse, but now he wasn't so sure. It seemed like it was something deeper than what he'd originally thought. Beef decided to just stay by Etho's side for support, and hoped maybe whatever was going on would dissipate on its own.

He hung around with Etho as often as he could, making little excuses here and there just so the two of them could be together. Etho wasn't necessarily a social person, and he needed his alone time, but Beef found that when Etho was in a bad mental place, it really helped him to just have someone there to snap him out of it.

In the time being, Beef was helping by walking to the town meeting with Etho. The kitsune was quiet the whole way, listening quietly as Beef rambled on and off about a few projects.

Etho was constantly fiddling with his gloves, and twitching his tails, and flicking his ears. He seemed distressed, Beef decided. What about, he hadn't a clue, nor was he sure he could get the answer out of Etho. As they approached town hall, and caught sight of all the other hermits funneling inside, Etho sucked in a nervous breath.

"You got this," Beef muttered supportively to Etho, "Everything's alright."

Etho looked up to him and nodded, though his eyes gleamed with worry. Beef smiled gently, and hopped up the steps to the building, Etho right behind him. The two weaved their way through the crowd and took a spot at the end of the meeting table.

Etho rested his hands in his lap, still fidgeting and scratching at the edges of his gloves like they were itching him. Beef knew it wasn't really an itch. "Take some deep breaths, yeah?" He whispered into Etho's ear, guiding him through their usual breathing exercise.

The slow breathing seemed to help, as Etho's expression softened a bit when they finished. Etho tensed up a little bit when Doc took the seat next to him, but he was quick to calm, shooting Doc a friendly smile. Hypno came next, taking the seat on the other side of Beef. They gave Beef a friendly elbow nudge, which Beef returned.

The seats at the table started slowly filling up, the chatter in the room getting louder the more hermits there were. Beef kept a good part of his attention on Etho, making sure he wasn't getting too stressed out or overstimulated by anything. He seemed to be doing fine, for now at least.

It was a good few more minutes before Xisuma made his way to the front, clearing his throat and instantly silencing the crowd. He was silent for a moment, eyes scanning across the hermits. "Okay, once TFC and Zedaph get here, we'll get started. Shouldn't be too much longer." Concern flashed across Xisuma's face for a brief, almost unnoticeable moment, before he smiled, and stepped back, letting the hermits chatter with one another again.

As if it had been timed perfectly, TFC ambled into the town hall with a friendly wave as he made his way to a chair by Joe and Cleo. They were just waiting on Zedaph now.

Normally, Beef wouldn't have batted an eye at that. Hermits (scar) showed up late to meetings all the time, it wasn't an odd occurrence whatsoever. However, the last time Beef had seen Zed, he hadn't looked all that well. He'd acted tired and distant. So naturally, Beef had to be a little worried.

It seemed his worry carried across the other hermits too, most of them wearing some sort of concerned expression.

Beef glanced back to Etho, only to see that the kitsune was staring intensely across the table towards where Impulse, Scar, and Cub were sitting. Beef directed his attention that way too, though he couldn't see anything odd that would've elicited Etho's staring. Sure, Impulse was fidgeting a bit, and sure, Cub looked a bit more spaced out than usual, but there wasn't anything weird about that. Maybe Etho was just zoned out in their direction.