We Could Be Sleeping in the Flowers (A Hermitcraft Story)

Chapter One: A Floral Dilemma

It could be worse, Grian thought to himself as he grimly scaled the wall of his base to attach another few strands of glow lichen. He could have come down with much worse diseases. Something incapacitating, maybe even fatal. Hermits didn't get sick often, but it did happen, and it could mean losing weeks of work or even having to leave the server entirely for treatment. He was lucky, he still had plenty of energy to finish his starter base, look after the entity, maybe even cause a little bit of mischief in his spare time! Being sick was barely slowing him down. It was just... embarrassing.

"Helloooo neighbor!" The cheerful voice from the ground nearly startled Grian off the sharply-pitched roof. Coughing and sputtering, he dug his fingers into the lichen he'd just secured and pushed himself back into place before daring to look down. Scar waved cheerfully from the ground, the silly gold headband he was using to hold up his "elf ears" glinting in the afternoon sun.

Grian still wasn't used to the whole "Luscious Tree Elf" aesthetic that Scar had chosen for this season, but he couldn't say it didn't look good despite the ridiculous fake ears. Very good, really, especially with the long hair and fitted robes. Of course Scar always looked good, whether he was wearing a tailored suit, an elf robe, or the shortest cutoffs he could get away with and no shirt... Grian coughed again, covering his mouth with one hand.

"Hello, Scar!" he called back, his voice a little hoarse. "If you're looking for more logs, you're out of luck. You've already bought out my whole supply!"

"Can't a guy just stop by and visit his neighbor?" Scar asked, all innocence. Grian caught a glimpse of an enchanted bow before Scar stuck his hands behind his back, all but whistling. "Jeez, everyone is so suspicious these days."

"Gee, I wonder why, Hawkeye," Grian shot back, unable to suppress a laugh. He knew he shouldn't be encouraging what was technically very antisocial behavior, but it was hard to ignore or begrudge the childlike glee when Scar successfully potshotted one of his friends. Usually Grian, come to think of it. He cleared his throat hard a couple of times. "Don't shoot me today, I'm trying to save up levels."

Scar gave a very put upon sigh, but pulled his empty hands from behind his back. "Fine, fine. Hey, do you know where I could find a vegetarian axolotl?"

"A what?" Grian asked blankly.

"A vegetarian axolotl!" Scar pulled out a handful of rockets and shot himself into the sky, narrowly missing Grian and then doubling back to sit on the roof next to him. "I've got a bee-you-tiful new pond that I stocked with tropical fish and an axolotl would be a perfect finishing touch! They're so cute! Did you know Tango calls them water kittens?" Scar was not stopping for breath at all. "I figured I would get one and put it in the pond and name it Jelliefish, but do you know what that naughty creature did? It ate my fish! Every single one of them, right off the bat!"

"Scar, they're literally labeled the cutest predator," Grian pointed out, laughing. "What did you expect?"

"I thought it was just a fun joke!" Scar exclaimed. "Anyway, Jelliefish lives in a bucket now and she's happier there, I'm sure. But I need an axolotl that won't eat my fish."

"You could ask Joe if he's got something in his store," Grian offered doubtfully, "but I think they all eat fish. Maybe you could enclose your fish in glass so the axolotl can't get them?"

"Not a bad idea," Scar decided after a moment's thought. "It'll keep not-fish Jellie away from the fish too, that's a bonus." He looked around the steeply-pitched roof. "You've got a nice view across the river from up here. You ever come up at night and just look at the lights?"

"Once or twice," Grian admitted, not quite looking Scar's way. He wasn't about to admit that the lights he looked at most were the pale blue lamps in a certain magical tree. Or that he'd thought about what it might be like to go stargazing with someone beside him... Before he could stop himself, he began coughing.

"Ouch, that sounds rough," Scar sympathized, rummaging in the pocket of his robe. He pulled out a white handkerchief, tied to a red handkerchief, tied to a polka-dot handkerchief, tied to a blue handkerchief. "Oops, this is from Season Seven," he admitted, hastily untying the first one and handing it to Grian. "I didn't wear robes much last year! I think I might have some healing potion around here somewhere..." He dug into another pocket.

Grian accepted the cloth and spat into it hastily, wiping the corners of his mouth and wadding the hankie up small. "Don't worry about it," he told Scar, pulling out a water bottle of his own and finishing it. "It's just allergies. I'll be fine, just going to finish up waxing the roof and go inside."

"Waxing your roof?" Scar brightened immediately. "Say no more! I'm not waxing professionally this season, but I can do this roof up for you in two shakes of a lamb's butt, no problem!" He held out his hand for the wax, so matter-of-factly that Grian gave it to him without even thinking about it. "You go inside and take a shower. You shouldn't be harvesting in the flower fields when your allergies are acting up."

"Huh?" Grian asked dumbly. He hadn't done any harvesting all day.

"Look at you, you're covered!" Scar pointed out, gesturing to Grian's clothes. Looking down, Grian suddenly realized that he was covered with tiny bits of exploded dandelions, not only on his hands, but anywhere he'd wiped his hands and on the shingles around him.

There wasn't any way to stop the blush he could feel rising on his pale cheeks, so all Grian could do was beat a hasty retreat. "Oh yeah, of course! How silly of me, I'd better change my clothes right away. Thanks for the help! And don't fall off the roof!"

"You know me, safety first!" Scar called blithely as Grian glided to the ground. Ten minutes later, just as Grian finished changing his clothes, his communicator beeped. GoodTimeWithScar fell from a high place. Grian sighed and coughed up another handful of dandelions. Embarrassing.