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Jude stomped into his base, anger simmering beneath every step. The place had been torn apart by people trying to grief his traps as payback. At this point, he didn’t even know what more the server wanted from him. This was already the fifth time he’d had to regear after dying, and not a single person had returned anything useful. All he’d managed to recover from his last death was a handful of webs and gapples before making the long walk back home empty-handed.
With a heavy sigh, Jude opened his ender chest and pulled out his armor shulker, only to find it empty. His stomach dropped. In all the chaos, he hadn’t even realized that had been his last gear set.
He shut the chest quietly and sank to the floor, forcing himself not to make another impulsive decision that would only make things worse. Exhausted and frustrated, the trapper buried his face in his arms, resting them against the top of the ender chest, there was nothing left to do today as he was now broke and too tired to grind for gear.
A few moments later, Jude heard footsteps echoing down the entrance to his base. At first, he assumed it was Parker coming to check on him again, like he had after the last two deaths. Jude lifted his head, already preparing another exhausted complaint, only to freeze when he saw Sharpness instead.
And strangely enough, Sharpness wasn’t wearing any armor.
“I’m broke, Sharp. You’re not gonna get anything out of killing me,” Jude muttered weakly.
“Why do you always assume the worst?” Sharpness replied, sounding almost offended. He lifted his empty hands slightly. “I came down here without weapons, didn’t I? I just wanted to check on you because… honestly, I feel bad that you keep dying.”
With a dramatic groan, Jude dropped his head back into his arms. “Well, I feel like shit, so thanks for checking in.”
Sharpness stepped closer, studying him carefully. This was easily the worst he’d ever seen the trapper look. Not angry, not defensive—just exhausted. It was almost concerning.
Almost.
“Well… can I help you feel better?” the blond asked, his voice softer this time.
Jude looked up, ready with another irritated remark, but paused when he realized Sharpness had sat down across from him, the ender chest between them.
The sudden closeness caught him off guard.
“Why do you even care, Sharp?”
“Because I care about you,” Sharp said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I know we fight, Jude, but it’s not like we’re enemies or anything.”
Jude stared at him, almost shocked. Not enemies? Seriously? But knowing Sharpness, he could tell he meant every word.
Things were starting to make sense now — why Sharp always called it “OUR” base, why he acted so comfortable taking whatever he wanted from Jude, even though Jude had never actually told him he could.
“I guess,” Jude muttered. He didn’t have nearly enough patience left to argue with him.
“Are you gonna tell me what you need help with?” Sharpness asked, irritation creeping into his voice as his own patience wore thin.
“I just need to relax, Sharp. And honestly, I don’t think you’re very good at that,” Jude replied, resting his head back against the ender chest.
Sharpness frowned. “Well, I’m probably more comfortable than an ender chest.”
Jude looked at him like he’d lost his mind.
“Sharp, that’s gay.”
“Why do you always make it weird? I’m just trying to help you out,” Sharp shot back. “Come on. I’m pretty sure being around someone is better than isolating yourself.”
Jude genuinely couldn’t believe this conversation was happening. But he also knew Sharpness well enough to know he wouldn’t let it go.
Sharpness scooted closer beside him, clearly expecting something. After a moment, Jude gave in and rested his head in Sharpness’s lap.
“You comfortable yet, Jude?” Sharpness asked.
“Not really. These tiles suck,” Jude mumbled softly. “But it’s fine. It’s not like I’ve got anything better to lay on.”
“You could use my jacket,” Sharp offered. “It’s not much, but it might help.”
Jude felt himself soften a little at the offer.
“That’s okay, Sharp,” he said quietly. “I’ll be fine.”
He decided to let it go and just let them sit in silence for a while, with each minute he started to notice Jude easing into him more and more. Growing comfortable with the new closeness.
Sharp wanted to try something a little risky, as this may backfire completely and get him kicked out of Jude’s base, however he figured it was worth trying anyways.
Sharp started to pet Jude’s bunny ears with the back of his hand, slowly brushing up and down in careful strokes. Jude tensed instinctively at the contact. He had never let anyone on the server touch his ears before, especially not Sharpness, yet somehow he still couldn’t bring himself to push him away.
Every gentle stroke earned a small twitch from Jude’s ears, something Sharp found oddly fascinating to watch.
“Is this more relaxing?” Sharp asked quietly.
“Mm…” Jude hummed in response, not quite a yes or a no. Taking that as permission to continue, Sharp carefully moved his hand to the softer inside of Jude’s ears. Jude’s nails briefly dug into Sharp’s clothes at the sudden sensation.
Still, Jude showed no real sign of wanting him to stop, so Sharp continued, gently massaging the sensitive fur.
Each slow movement downward pulled a tiny squeak from Jude before he could stop it, accompanied by a twitch of his back leg. To make matters worse, he could already feel heat rising to his face from pure embarrassment.
The sight was heavenly on sharp’s end, he couldn’t help admitting that the bunny laying in his lap whining and twitching with a creeping blush was beyond cute.
“Do you want me to stop?” Sharp asked carefully, he still wanted to do this for Jude’s enjoyment as well.
“don’t.” Was the only word Jude choked out
Sharp couldn’t help smiling to himself at Jude’s eager response, he moved one hand to Jude’s back to start rubbing his back soothingly as well.
Minutes slipped by quietly after that, filled only with soft twitches and the occasional sleepy sound from Jude. Eventually, Sharp noticed the rabbit had gone completely limp against him.
Asleep.
Sharp paused for a moment, looking down at the peacefully sleeping bunny in his lap. He had never seen Jude this calm before.. no sharp remarks, no tense posture, no constant suspicion lingering in his eyes.
It was a sight Sharp knew he’d have a hard time letting go of when the time did come