Chapter Text
Bdubs was tired, tired of running, tired of the fighting, and tired in general.
He needed a bed.
A squishy mattress to sink into, with a soft blanket hiding him from the world.
From the hatred in his previous allies’ eyes.
It was all just meant to be a game, but after a while, things heat up, and feelings get hurt.
Bdubs dug his nails into his moss coat, his gaze low as he walked down the spottily lit path.
A sharp pang struck his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts. Blood seeping out from under the arrow that struck him.
Dry grinding drew his attention to the still dark forest, as a skeleton drew back its bow to fire again.
Bdubs returned fire, dodging backwards as more monsters came creeping out of the forest.
“Awh, come on!”
Bdubs turned on his heel and retreated. Too many for one man to try and deal with, and he’d rather not lose this life.
Not after what he did to keep it.
An explosion echoed in the trees behind him, whether it was a standard creeper he got too close to, or a trap he’d narrowly avoided.
A lone torch hung from a tree, providing a slight amount of light, enough for him to catch his breath and try and heal his wounds.
The sounds of monsters got closer, along with a much more unsettling noise.
Voices.
Other people. Bdubs didn’t want to get caught out by a Red name out here alone in the dark.
Or his former teammates.
Bdubs glanced around, there was no movement in the trees, none that he could see. His back was to a small hill. For a moment, there was silence.
Then the unmistakable hiss somewhere above him. An assured death, alone in the dark, with no one to mourn him.
And then he fell.
Bdubs blinked, and he was suddenly hanging onto a ladder, as the sound of a trapdoor shut above him.
Bdubs looked up, and crouched on a ledge beside the ladder was, to his surprise, BigB.
Who was glanced up through the slots of the trapdoor, as the creeper diffused itself and wandered off, as its target vanished out of thin air.
BigB gave him a nervous glance, neither were Red, but both knew why they, of all people, were alone out here.
“That was close.”
Bdubs nodded, descending the ladder to let BigB climb down as well.
At the bottom, there was a very basic hideout setup. Carved out of the stone and dirt, with only the essentials to stay alive.
“Thanks.” Bdubs mumbled, why he had gone further down instead of just leaving once the creeper left was beyond him.
The bed in the corner called out to him.
“No problem.”
Neither made full eye contact, awkwardly shifting and shuffling in the small hideout.
“Why-?”
“I didn’t want it to blow up my base.” BigB answered with a shrug, “I thought you would have just come down; you were standing right on opening.”
“I didn’t see it.” Was he really that unfocused, he hadn’t seen something so obvious right under his feet.
Tense silence continued. Bdubs shuffled towards the ladder again.
“Thanks, again. I guess I owe you now.”
Bdubs got one hand on the ladder before BigB spoke up again.
“You don’t have to go. You can stay the night, if you want to.”
Bdubs paused, glancing over his shoulder.
“I’m not looking for an alliance right now.”
“I’m not either.”
There was still blood seeping into his moss coat from the skeleton’s arrow. If he tried his luck out there again, his chances weren’t very high.
With an agitated groan, Bdubs let go of the ladder. There wasn’t anywhere to sit other than the bed, which looked more and more inviting with each passing second. So, with a huff he slid down the side of a wall to sit on the floor.
“So, what’s with the hole? I thought you were with Lizzie?”
BigB’s eyes darted to anywhere but Bdubs. “Yeah, I am…I think. This is just…a backup I’m working on. There’s a few. I’m not taking any chances.”
“Yeah. ‘cause you made Cleo angry. Which is the stupidest thing I’ve seen someone do in a while!”
BigB gripped his sweater tighter, leaning against the wall opposite Bdubs.
“Yeah? And why are you out here on your own?”
Bdubs swallowed down the emotional lump in his throat, and didn’t respond.
That tense silence returned.
BigB yawning broke it. Bdubs watched him walk over to the bed, and crawl in.
“Well, I’m going to try and get some sleep. And hope I don’t wake up dead. You can stay down here, or if you really want to, you can leave. Your choice.”
Bdubs stayed put, picking the dirt out from under his nails. Dried blood coming out with the filth.
“This game’s stupid.”
BigB didn’t answer, could he really have gone to sleep that quickly? It did leave Bdubs with open air to voice his thoughts into.
“I mean really! On top of everything else, one of us gets picked randomly to go a kill someone, and if we fail, we lose a life? S’not fair.”
BigB shifted, but still didn’t response.
“Tango was so mad at me. He’d just given me heart and I…did that. I had to! You understand that, yeah? Like, I think he’s forgiven me. But, uh, tonight I thought, maybe I’ll give him some space.”
His eyes were so heavy, at this point, he couldn’t care less where he was going to sleep as long as he did.
So, with little else, Bdubs curled up on the floor, the moss was soft enough to act as a pillow and comforter.
“Skizz will keep me on the team. I know it. Everyone just needs some time to cool down.” Bdubs curled up tighter, burying his face into his arm.
“I’m not a traitor.”
He didn’t know who he was trying to kid with that statement.
Bdubs tried to get comfortable, stretching out his legs and shuffling around. Grumbling to himself and stretching at random intervals in annoyance at his own discomfort.
A low sigh came from the bed.
“I’m only going to say this once. Get in here.”
Bdubs’ eyes widen more than they usually were, rolling over, looking up at BigB. He was holding the blanket up as an invitation.
“Just take off that coat first. It’s way too big.”
Bdubs sat up, it didn’t seem like a trick. The bed was only so big, and BigB was, well, bigger than Bdubs at least.
He shrugged off his coat, which felt wrong, but he was quickly enveloped by the blanket.
“Thanks.” He mumbled, as the two went back-to-back.
“Don’t mention it.”
Trying to fit two adults into a single was harder than Bdubs originally thought. BigB was pressed up against the wall but wasn’t complaining about it.
Bdubs tried to stay on the edge but felt himself slipping as BigB tossed and turned to get comfortable.
He almost voiced how this wasn’t going to work, when an arm draped over him. Bdubs tensed at the sudden weight over his chest.
“Ah, sorry.”
“No, is’ fine, didn’t scare me.” Bdubs felt BigB’s chest against his back. “Can’t trust anyone, y’know?”
“...I know.”
BigB’s chin was now resting on top of Bdubs’ head, his own head in the crook of his arm. His heart had finally begun to calm itself from the adrenaline race it had been running. Bdubs hadn’t even noticed how fast it had been.
It was the most relaxed Bdubs had been since this game had started.
It was just to be comfortable, fitting against each other like puzzle pieces. If anything, if someone tried to attack them, they had safety in numbers. And besides, it was cold at night, his moss cloak had nothing on the warmth of a bed.
Or the body warmth of someone pressed against him.
There was silent understanding, they were both traitors, with nowhere else to go. So just for tonight, they had each other.
Just for tonight they could touch another without it resulting in bloodshed.
Bdubs slowly reached one hand up and pressed it against BigB’s that was resting over his chest. There was no plan, or reason, Bdubs had no idea what he was doing.
So, he was surprised when BigB quietly reciprocated.
Their hands were pressed together against his chest. BigB’s thumb traced circles on the back of Bdubs’ hand for a moment, before he seemed to realize what he was doing.
There was no more twisting and rearranging, the position they had found themselves in was where they were going to stay.
Both had cuts that were half healed and fading bruises from previous fights. Calloused fingers, sore ribs and dirt stuck in their hair.
Their respective cloaks they used to hide themselves under, left on the floor.
Outside it was quiet for once, no more explosions, the clashing of swords or arrows sailing through the air.
Respite.
Bdubs could finally close his eyes.
---
Bdubs woke up expecting to have a sword wedged in his back.
But instead, he found himself on the other side of the bed, and halfway on top of BigB.
He tensed again, and slowly peeled himself on of him. Gently prying his arms away, and shuffled to get off the bed.
“Don’t wake up, don’t wake up, don’t wake up.” Bdubs chanted to himself in a whisper.
“I am awake.”
Bdubs couldn’t stop himself from shrieking as BigB spoke so suddenly, which did get a small laugh out of him. BigB pushed himself up, seeming the most relaxed since before the fairy fort incident.
“Good morning to you too I guess”
Bdubs slid off the bed, feeling his face go red. “Mornin’”
Without saying much else, Bdubs grabbed his mossy cloak and pulled the hood up. His heart was pounding again, but this time he hadn’t been on the run from anything.
“Thanks, again.”
He didn’t want to deal with the awkwardness of sticking around, of the potential talk of alliances. He had one to go back to.
“For what it’s worth. It was nice.”
Bdubs swallowed down a different kind of emotion. He gave BigB a little nod of reciprocation.
“Good luck out there.”
“You too.”
With that, Bdubs left BigB in his barren and cold hideout, climbed up the ladder and set off back down the path towards his base.
BigB stayed sitting on the bed. Taking in the last of the warmth the bed had radiating off it.
A night of a simple gesture that ended at dawn’s light, nothing more, nothing less.