and the stars will be their guides (hermitcraft space au)

flustered (sixteen)

*

~ outside, there's chaos and confusion, can we stay right here? ~

*

TWs: mentions of kidnapping

***

Etho can't stop smiling.

Things are alright in the world again. Beef's putting on the necklace Etho got for him, admiring it all the while. Etho is admiring him, trying to remember everything about this moment so he can look back and see it vividly in his mind in twenty years. There's just something so special about Beef sitting casually on Etho's bed after being gone for over a month. It fills Etho with a pleasant warmth.

Beef, who's just finished fastening the necklace, looks over at Etho and catches him staring. For whatever reason, Etho finds that he doesn't mind. Beef doesn't seem to, either, by the way he looks away and allows himself to be admired further. 

Etho, of course, drinks in the sight. It's not every day he can openly stare at Beef like this. The little fluttery sensation in his gut intensifies. 

After a while, Beef's gaze lands on Etho again. He gives him this sickeningly soft smile, and Etho feels his heart melting, dripping down into a puddle on the floor. Seconds later, Etho's in Beef arms and whispering, "I missed you," into his chest.

Beef's arms tighten around him. "I missed you, too," he says, tone just as silent and vulnerable as Etho's was. 

Etho never wants this moment to end. He wants to replay it over and over again for the rest of time.  He's already dreading leaving this cocoon of softness for the chaoticness of the world outside. 

He exhales; slowly, tenderly. Beef's hand circles his back; slowly, steadily. Nothing exists but Etho and Beef right now, and the gentle touches and movements they make.

"Thanks for coming to find me," Beef says suddenly. "And thanks for fighting for me. I can tell you don't really like to do it."

Etho speaks before he thinks. "I would always fight for you."

"I wasn't expecting you to be that sweet," Beef says around a little noise that sounds like a flustered laugh.

Etho nudges himself out of Beef's grip, pretending he's been offended. "Are you saying I can't be sweet?"

"N-no, I didn't-" Beef sounds so very nervous, and it almost makes Etho laugh. He holds it back as Beef regains his composure. "How about you prove to me how sweet you can be?"

Wow, that was smooth. Etho flusters, and now it's his turn to stammer. "S-sure."

Beef tilts his head, waiting, and Etho wracks his brain for something, anything. He internally curses himself for not knowing how to flirt. In his defense, he never thought he'd have the chance to flirt with someone, not after he'd given up on love back on Aur C37.

Since Etho's brain is blank and he's started to get stressed, he blurts out the first thing he thinks of, which is, "Your eyes are really pretty."

Beef flushes a beautiful shade of scarlet, and Etho rushes to add more, wanting to see just how flustered he can get Beef (and maybe he also wants to see crimson painted across Beef's face for longer). "I don't know how to describe them. They're just . . . perfect, and the stars always look better when they're reflected in your eyes and I could stare at them forever and never get sick of them."

Etho might've rambled a little too much, but Beef doesn't seem to mind. In fact, he's speechless, just staring at Etho with a bright red face.

"I- I think I can, uh, confirm that you're sweet now," Beef says with an embarrassed laugh, trying to distract Etho from how flustered he is. Etho won't forget, ever, but he leaves Beef alone for the time being.