More Hermitcraft Oneshots

"cold and dead" (cub x joe)

word count: 680
A/N: I should probably say there are spoilers for demise in this but it's already kinda obvious from the title n stuff. tread carefully! I am incredibly sad about it lol.
no one asked for this but you know what? I wanted to write it. two of the hermits I see the least shipfic for... I get it. but still this idea popped to mind and I was like y'know what? why not.

—

"Finally."

Everything was dark for Joe, and the only thing he could feel for certain was the floor beneath his feet. The last thing he remembered was dying and having a breakdown in the endless void, so waking up to another black void wasn't something he found he liked. "Who's that?" he said back to the only other voice in the supposedly small, stone room. Joe knew his acoustics.

"Oh. It's Cub," the other voice responded. Then he laughed. "Sorry. Lost my character there. Let me just..." Cub cleared his throat, and spoke again in the same low voice he started with. "I've waited weeks to say this. Welcome to the Dead Team, Joe."

Joe snickered gently as he tried to hold back his laughter. He just couldn't take Cub being serious seriously. "Thanks. Sorry, but could you turn on a light maybe? I can't see."

"No. It's meant to be dark and creepy," Cub said normally. "Stop interrupting my initiation ceremony." There was a giggle in his voice.

"Sorry," Joe whispered, and gestured for Cub to continue. Of course, Cub couldn't see him, so it didn't matter anyway.

"Okay. So." Cub dropped the serious act. "Welcome to the Dead Team. I already said that. You know what?"

Joe heard a bit of shuffling around the room, then the lights flickered on. He was right. It was, as he thought, a rather small room made out of stone bricks. He squinted his eyes at Cub. "Oh, hey Cub! It was you all along?" he joked.

Cub laughed and shook his head. "It was me." He took a step towards Joe, but paused after Joe visibly tensed. He pondered for a moment what was the matter, then smiled when he realized. "Dude, it's okay. We're both dead now."

Joe relaxed and hugged his arms across his chest. "Sorry. I'm just so used to you wanting to kill me. It's become Pavlovian to be afraid of you."

Cub nodded in understanding. "I don't blame you. I was literally on the hunt for your life." He made his way to Joe and gave him a friendly pat on the arm.

Joe snorted. They could do better than that, and it made him realize that he really needed more than that. "C'mere. Just, bring it in." He pulled Cub into a hug, and closed his eyes in comfort when Cub hugged back. He nuzzled into Cub's neck.

"Joe," Cub said and rubbed his hand up and down Joe's back.

Oh wow. The hug actually felt really good. "Just, shhh. I need this." Joe took a deep breath. He hadn't had this much human, or dead-human, contact since the whole Demise game started. It was comforting, despite the fact that he had died.

Cub chuckled, still rubbing his back. "You good?"

Joe sighed and pulled away, but kept his hands on Cub's arms. He smiled at him. "Yeah. I'm fine. Still a little upset I'm dead in Demise but whatever." He felt a little better about it, though, especially if he got more hugs like that.

"I'm not."

Joe laughed. "I know you're not."

"You just gotta embrace it, man. Start setting up traps. Kill the remaining players."

"I'm definitely going to kill Mumbo," Joe said a little too quickly, and it made Cub laugh. Joe dropped his hands to his sides and awkwardly rubbed them on his jeans, feeling awkward he had held on to Cub for so long.

"I encourage it," Cub said.

—

small bonus:

—

"Cub..." Joe was practically whining.

"Joe..." Cub mocked back.

Joe hugged Cub from behind as Cub sorted through a chest full of junk at the Dead Quarters. "Please."

Cub closed the chest, turned around and hugged Joe back. "What's this all about?"

"I am so cold and dead."

"And so you need another cold and dead person to warm you up?"

Joe nodded into Cub's shoulder. "I can't believe you killed me." His voice was muffled as he spoke against Cub.

"You dropped into that lava trap yourself," Cub chuckled, and Joe groaned in response. Cub hugged him tighter.