Hermitcraft Oneshots

Fluff, Eskall - Cuddle Time

A/N: A bit of a spoiler if you haven't seen Iskall's new video, buuuut-

That part where Iskall was showing Etho the bedroom, and Etho declined sharing it, saying something like, "Nah, you snore I can tell." Then Iskall replied, "But I'm also a cuddler." They just stared at each other and the shipper in me started SCREAMING.

Now I have to write a cuddle oneshot for Isktho (or whatever the ship name is for Iskall/Etho, has one been decided yet?), so here we are. I'm going to give the Swedish gender-neutral pronoun "hen" a try for Iskall, suggested to me by Deformit_system a while back. Let me know what you guys think of that, and also let me know if I use it incorrectly somewhere.

Enjoy :D

--------------

A month.

Iskall let out a breath as the realization hit hen. A month had gone by since hen had last seen Etho.

Sure, they talked over comms, but it wasn't the same. They always seemed to be in different places or too busy to meet up, and time had gone by faster than Iskall realized.

As hen worked on a new area of the base, hen reflected on how much hen missed Etho. When they were together they hardly got anything done, too busy joking around, but it was fun. Things seemed brighter with Etho around, and Iskall concluded that there was more than friendship between them. Not that hen would tell Etho this... not until hen was positive the ninja felt the same way.

Placing the last few blocks, Iskall let out a hum and stepped back to view hens work. Hen had built a bedroom using a bit of a different style than hen had been using, but it looked nice. Noticing the sun was setting, hen placed down two beds inside as a finishing touch, then collected up hens leftover building materials and headed back to the main base.

To hens surprise, a familiar white-haired male had just arrived there.

"Etho!" Iskall cried when hen recognized him. Dropping everything hen was carrying, hen wrapped hens arms around Etho in a tight hug. "I missed you!"

Etho stiffened at first, then returned the embrace. "Hey, Iskall," he murmured.

Iskall stepped back at once, narrowing hens eyes at the exhaustion in Etho's tone. Of course, Etho got tired, but it was never so clear. "You've been overworking yourself again, haven't you?" hen accused.

Etho didn't meet Iskall's gaze, and his cheer was forced as he replied, "No, no, I'm fine." At Iskall's unusually serious look, Etho let out a sigh. "Okay... maybe a little."

"Right," Iskall said. "To bed with you, then."

"But I have to work on-"

"No."

"Iskall, please-"

"No."

Etho crossed his arms, a scowl barely visible under his mask. "Fine."

Now that Etho had agreed, Iskall brightened up again with a little "yay!". Hen grabbed Etho's hand. "Come on! I have something I want to show you."

Practically dragging a reluctant Etho behind hen, Iskall led the way to the new bedroom. Some of Etho's grumpiness evaporated when he saw the builds.

"Oh, okay, I haven't seen this," he said.

Iskall grinned and pulled him into one house. "This is the bedroom," hen declared.

"You have an actual bedroom?" Etho asked, glancing around.

"Well, yes. Technically we do," hen answered. "I thought we'd share."

"Oh, uhh..." Etho stepped back a bit, towards the door. "Actually I'm okay with staying in the main base."

Iskall blinked at him, confused. "What do you mean? Do you not like it?"

"No, no! It's great, but, um..." Etho struggled to find a reply, and Iskall was even more bewildered by the alarm in his mismatched eyes. "You, uh, probably snore loudly."

Iskall raised an eyebrow. That didn't seem like a good explanation for Etho's actions. Hens mouth moved before hens mind, and hen replied, "Maybe, but I also enjoy cuddles."

They both blushed at that.

"N-not that we have to! Cuddle, I mean!" Iskall tried to fix his slip. "Just... um... stay, okay?"

"O-okay," Etho agreed.

Silence fell between them as they climbed into their beds. Iskall mentally cursed henself and hoped hen hadn't screwed up too badly.

Iskall woke in the night to soft whimpers. Hen glanced around a bit before realizing the sound was coming from Etho. He was twitching as well, in the middle of a nightmare.

Quietly, Iskall slipped out of hens bed and tiptoed over to Etho's. Setting a hand on Etho's arm, hen whispered, "Etho? Are you okay?"

Etho didn't wake but relaxed a little at Iskall's touch. Hen hesitated before sliding under the covers and wrapping hens arms around Etho. Hen rubbed Etho's back reassuringly and murmured soft reassurances to him until he relaxed.

When Iskall was sure Etho was okay, hen figured hen should get back to hens own bed. But when hen tried to pull away, Etho's arms tightened around hen, pulling hen back. Hen didn't protest and quickly fell asleep again, snuggled up with Etho.

Morning came, and Iskall woke up first. Etho was soon to follow, his eyes widening when he realized he was in the same bed with Iskall.

"You were having a nightmare," Iskall explained before Etho could ask. "You calmed down when I touched you, so... I ended up cuddling you until you were back to normal. You wouldn't let me go after that."

"That's what I was worried about..." Etho murmured.

"Huh?"

Etho sighed. "Nightmares. I've been having them every night. I haven't had a good sleep since... since we stopped seeing each other."

"No wonder you were so tired..." Iskall realized.

Etho nodded. "Thanks for calming me down," he whispered. "Sorry if I made anything awkward or something."

"No, you're fine. I meant it when I said I like cuddles," Iskall admitted.

Etho let out another sigh and, to Iskall's slight surprise, snuggled close again, burying his face in Iskall's chest. "Have I ever told you I love you, Iskall?"

"Um... no?" Iskall replied with a blush, wondering if hen had heard Etho right.

"Well, I do," Etho mumbled, drowsiness creeping into his voice.

"I love you, too, Etho," Iskall replied softly.

Etho yawned, and his slow breathing moments later told Iskall he'd fallen asleep. Iskall realized hen wouldn't be leaving anytime soon, and hen was fine with that.

Building could wait. It was cuddle time.

--------------

Also, I wanted to apologize for not doing requests. I've been struggling a bit lately, only able to write when inspiration hits me, and of course, that inspiration always has nothing to do with what I'm supposed to be writing TwT

I hope you enjoyed this, though!