Disclaimer!
This oneshot contains mentions of pills, implications of an unhealthy relationship with food, implications of past self-harm scars, mentions of being hungover, and general implications of mental health issues! If you are sensitive to that, do not read!
Don't let the warnings fool you! This is indeed fluff, for the first time in never.
Those four just deserve some happiness and love after what I've put them through-
Also, remember these are just characterizations of the Hermits, them not actually meaning to represent them as they are in real life. I do not ship real life people together, only the characterizations I've made from the characters they play on screen.
Thank you and have a good day/afternoon/night/dawn! - Micheal
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"Sorry I took so long, my pwrtties!"
There in the doorway is Keralis, holding a tray of four drinks, a pill bottle, a little green bear plush, and a bowl of strawberries and yogurt in his hands with a big cheery smile, his mood seeping into the cozy fireplaced room.
The three others in the room acknowledge his presence with either a shy wave or smile, all comfortably relaxing, two even with blankets.
"Howdy there, Keralis. I hope nothing was a bother.", the one with the weighted blanket responds, immediately identified as Joe when Keralis playfully flicks his glasses, making his way further in the room. Feelings flicker for just a moment.
"Nope!", Keralis giggles, handing Joe one of the drinks and the bowl, and trying to fix the blanket with the back of his hand, "Here you go!"
The drink becomes identified as tea and Joe smiles reluctantly as he takes them both, more accepting towards the familiar beverage.
Keralis' own smile becomes softer and he nods understandingly, "Just try your best, ok?"
In reply once more, Joe nods slowly as well, remembering, realizing, with an odd expression as he faces the things Keralis gave him.
Keralis doesn't hesitate to skip over the next nearest person, someone with his exposed arms to the fireplace. Mumbo feels safe to do that here. It was mutual understanding that those scars didn't define him, now or ever, nor did anything that haunts him, nor did the things he did in the past and is trying to amends for.
"Hey, angel face!", Keralis chirps, giving Mumbo the pill bottle and a glass of water, "I managed to get Shashwammy to refill these for you! Don't worry, he doesn't know a thing.", Keralis winks lighthearted, but knowingly.
He knows how secrets work.
Mumbo scoffs amusedly back, to which Keralis pouts slightly, and asks, "A-And how did you m-manage to do that?"
"I told him it was for a project Doc and I were working on! That's a lie, of course. I got some cool things out of it though!"
At the mention of his name, the last person in the room chuckles from the couch, engulfed by a big, fluffy green blanket. The only part of Doc visible are his creeper toes poking out from under all the fluffiness.
"You need to stop saying we're doing experiments to people, Keralis. Zooma is getting to be on my case and I don't want to think about what Cub would do if he hears that I'm doing experiments without him..."
"But- But Dooooooc-", Keralis continues his pouting verbally, making puppy eyes to the man who can't even see him, "It's for the greater goooood!"
"I know. I know, Kerry.", Doc hums, muffled, "You just need to be careful. Overused excuses don't work as well as new ones."
"Finnnnnnnnnne.", Keralis sticks his tongue out, again, to the person whose eyes are covered, holding the 'n' for as long as possible, before excusing himself from Mumbo and going over to the fluffy mess that is Doc being covered by his blanket.
Keralis manages to peel off this blanket just enough to reveal the creeper's face, red light glowing softly from an amused robot eye and white from a tired black-scleraed creeper one.
"Give me your arms, you goatman."
Doc stifles a laugh and retrieves his arms from the void under the blanket fluff with mock disapproval as he shakes his head. Keralis puts the glass of orange juice in one hand and the little bear plush in the other.
"Orange juice? Really?"
"I heard it helps with hangovers.", Keralis winks cockily, turning away to place the tray down on the ground to take his own drink, adding on before Doc could say anything, "Don't think I didn't notice one of the wine bottles missing!"
Doc scoffs, obviously just joking around, "You have no proof."
"Says you, Mr. Blanket Man."
"Oh noooo~ My blanket incriminates meeee~"
After a moment of silence, everyone (except Joe, who just chuckles lightly) bursts out into laughter. Mumbo and Keralis both almost cause incidents, Mumbo almost falling into the fire and Keralis almost crushing his drink. Angel milk, to be exact. Keralis always had a sweet tooth.
When everything subsides, the safety in the atmosphere becomes apparent to all of the four men. From Joe with his barely-touched yogurt and his genuineness, to Mumbo with his arms exposed and his pills for all to see, to Doc with his fluffy things and his openness, to Keralis with himself, they are comfortable and safe.
They are their own kings here.
"A-Are you going to s-s-sit down, K?", Mumbo asks, motioning his head to a spot between him and Joe, who was still sipping his tea softly, lost in his thoughts.
Keralis doesn't even respond and everyone knows the answer. He bounces over to the spot Mumbo pointed out and sits there, stupid but content as he leans on him slightly, milk in his off-hand. Mumbo, as a belated response, leans his head on Keralis'.
It's not long before Doc decides to join them cuddling near the fire, keeping his blanket to himself as he leans on Mumbo's other side.
"Doc, y-you are going t-to break my shoulder."
"So be it."
And so it is, Mumbo with Keralis on his left and Doc on his right, straining his shoulders with the weights of their heads, and Joe on the sidelines, satisfied with none of that contact. Keralis just gives him an air hug instead of pestering him like he would with 'Bubbles' or 'Shashwammy' or anyone else. Boundaries were known and not theorized or questioned.
Here, they are happy. Here, they are safe. Here, they belong. Here, they can get away from their fears, and their hate, and the server in general.
Whether they are friends or partners or both, they don't care and it never mattered.
Everything was going to be ok.
Together.
~988
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Hermitcraft Art + Ideas
Fanfikce(Update - 1:28 PM, March 3 2024 - Little Mikey sure was something. I've moved to AO3 a while back, so if any of y'all are interested in what I'm up to now, my username is NatureWorld over there! I'm still into Hermitcraft and write a lot of Joe Hill...
