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mindcrackloveGerman title because lol
So, I suddenly got inspiration to write this at about 1:30AM, now finishing at 3AM EDT >.> Sleep is for the weak anyways lol. If there are mistakes, that's probably why. I'll look over it again in the morning. Knowing me, it'll probably be minor things like missing letters and entire words.
Sort of a continuation to Predator and Prey, though this one is heavily based on the little after party part in Etho's perspective. But, we get Doc PoV! :D
So, as before, UHC spoilers for season 5, as well as minor spoiler for season 3.
The event of ruthless killings was now over. Doc could tell, because almost everyone in the friendly realm of the Mindcrack server that participated suddenly reconnected to the realm known as UHC without reason. That was the signal that it had ended. Who had won? He tried to think back as to who had died and who hadn't. Weren't Pause and Etho the only ones that hadn't returned? He then had a sinking feeling, recalling season 3. It was his and Etho's first season, and Pause completely wiped out his ninja friend in the nether. But, Doc wasn't going to jump to conclusions and instead let his mind drift into the UHC realm like the others to see the victor.
His spirits were lifted for a moment, when he saw Etho and a few of the others (including Pause) laughing and idly chatting in a desert around a small puddle of molten lava. His friend, despite the mask blocking most of his face, was clearly smiling and seemed to be in a great mood. From where he was standing, Doc could hear snippets of conversations as the small group discussed the previous battles.
"-many did you kill, Pause?" Beef was looking a bit worn still, seeing as he was the last one to come back.
"Only three."
"Only? What about you, Etho?" Of course, the Canadians had their own little clique and were close enough to be able to brag about their achievements to each other. Doc briefly wished the Europeans were more closely knit.
As he approached the three, he heard the ninja's response to Beef's question.
"I got two." Two kills? One was him, and he hoped the other was Pause, as sad as that sounds. He decided it was time to get his answer.
"Hey guys, who won?" Almost too smugly, Pause smirked and leaned back a little on the pile of sand they were sitting on.
"I did." He should've known. So much for optimistic thinking. However, despite the Indian's boastful attitude, Etho just chuckled and shook his head. He always was a good sport.
"Only because you were a little liar." Liar? Doc looked at Pause confused, but got no real response since the victor was too busy petting a slightly burnt dog.
"You should've known I was lying through my teeth. You had plenty of time to get a wolf or two of your own." The Indian then wrapped an arm around Etho's shoulder, a cheery grin still adorning his face. Doc could feel a pit of jealousy bubbling ever so slightly in his chest; despite their closeness, Etho would never let Doc do something like that. At least, that's what he assumed; his ninja friend had never really shown interest in that sort of relationship. Wanting more than anything to push Pause away, he cast aside those rude thoughts to instead search for a topic changer, preferably one that would let him talk with Etho.
"So Etho, did my diamond chest plate help?" To Doc's joy, the one he was addressing gave him a warm, sincere smile, looking at him.
"Yes it did," his smile dropped, indicating that something was on his mind. Thankfully, Pause noticed and backed off, pulling Beef with him elsewhere to apparently go look at a trap Nebris made. Doc gladly took the seat that was now free next to Etho, eager and nervous as to what his friend was going to say.
"Did you notice me?" The question was a little off-putting, and he wasn't quite sure how to respond. Probably noticing this, Etho restated his question, "I mean, did you see me before we fought?" Oh.
"No," he gave a nervous laugh, "But when I saw you behind me, I was like, the friendliest person. I was like, 'hi Etho my friend'." The ninja laughed at that, a glorious sound, prompting Doc to continue his narration, "Then slowly pulling my bow and shooting an arrow, 'oh, let's see what Etho does. Oh, he runs at me'. And of course, I didn't hit you."
Etho gave him that warm smile again, and Doc felt his heart skip a beat or two as he returned it with a small chuckle. To his surprise though, the ninja gave him a small pat on the back.
"You did good in that fight. You got some damage on me, that's for sure." Doc shyly looked to the side, unsure of how to respond to such a praise. It's not like he did that much damage, seeing as Etho still looked fairly good as he was slipping out of conscious hours earlier.
"Yeah..." He laughed, trying to brush his embarrassment to the side, "But really, when I saw you it was like, be friendly reaction automate. I don't know," he laughed again, fiddling with the edge of his lab coat. Etho hummed in response, causing Doc to look up at his friend in interest, only to find a similar expression mirrored in the others face.
"You weren't scared?" Scared? Was he? He thought back, but couldn't remember ever feeling afraid of the ninja. It was a game after all, and there would be winners and losers. But in the end, fun was all that mattered. Sure, worry and nervousness sometimes caused him to be afraid for his general health, but in the heat of the fight that was all lost to the adrenaline. So, he waved Etho's question off.
"It was an epic fight," he paused, "but I really was surprised by you. I had no time to prepare." The ninja scratched the back of his head almost sheepishly.
"I was tracking you for around three days. I was sneaking the entire time." Wow, really? Doc couldn't help but chuckle. It seemed the only thing he needed to do to get Etho's full, undivided attention for a long period of time was to be his target in some assassination attempt.
However, this wasn't the time anymore. Etho's attention was quickly drawn away from the cyborg to where his fellow Canadians were rough housing around who appeared to be just_defy and Nebris. The "cheaty overlord" appeared to be showing off some sort of trap, something that Etho seemed very interested in. Not wanting to hold his friend back from where he clearly wanted to go, Doc politely excused himself and walked a bit away to observe the other from afar. If Etho could stalk him for three days, clearly Doc could watch him for a few minutes.
The ninja always seemed a little more relaxed around Pause and Beef. It was irritating to say the least. He had known Etho longer, they shared common interests, etc. So why had he warmed up to them faster? Doc still remembered the ninja's almost monotone voice when they first met, and how in the course of a year or so it got more and more confident and expressive. He was surely more open with his emotions than in the past; well, that is, some of them. There were certain things he would avoid directly talking about. Sadness, anger, love... Heh, the last one seemed to be something the other didn't even understand. That is, the non-friendship version.
He felt a pat on his shoulder as he started to call out his goodbyes, and he turned to see Baj giving him a small, knowing smile.
"Better luck next time?" Not a statement, but a question. To anyone else, it could be interpreted as a wishing for the next UHC, but to Doc...
"Maybe." That could be his only answer. Etho was still a complete mystery to him, even after all these years, and would probably remain so.
He would remain the puzzle he couldn't solve, the one that stole his heart.
So, I suddenly got inspiration to write this at about 1:30AM, now finishing at 3AM EDT >.> Sleep is for the weak anyways lol. If there are mistakes, that's probably why. I'll look over it again in the morning. Knowing me, it'll probably be minor things like missing letters and entire words.
Sort of a continuation to Predator and Prey, though this one is heavily based on the little after party part in Etho's perspective. But, we get Doc PoV! :D
So, as before, UHC spoilers for season 5, as well as minor spoiler for season 3.
The event of ruthless killings was now over. Doc could tell, because almost everyone in the friendly realm of the Mindcrack server that participated suddenly reconnected to the realm known as UHC without reason. That was the signal that it had ended. Who had won? He tried to think back as to who had died and who hadn't. Weren't Pause and Etho the only ones that hadn't returned? He then had a sinking feeling, recalling season 3. It was his and Etho's first season, and Pause completely wiped out his ninja friend in the nether. But, Doc wasn't going to jump to conclusions and instead let his mind drift into the UHC realm like the others to see the victor.
His spirits were lifted for a moment, when he saw Etho and a few of the others (including Pause) laughing and idly chatting in a desert around a small puddle of molten lava. His friend, despite the mask blocking most of his face, was clearly smiling and seemed to be in a great mood. From where he was standing, Doc could hear snippets of conversations as the small group discussed the previous battles.
"-many did you kill, Pause?" Beef was looking a bit worn still, seeing as he was the last one to come back.
"Only three."
"Only? What about you, Etho?" Of course, the Canadians had their own little clique and were close enough to be able to brag about their achievements to each other. Doc briefly wished the Europeans were more closely knit.
As he approached the three, he heard the ninja's response to Beef's question.
"I got two." Two kills? One was him, and he hoped the other was Pause, as sad as that sounds. He decided it was time to get his answer.
"Hey guys, who won?" Almost too smugly, Pause smirked and leaned back a little on the pile of sand they were sitting on.
"I did." He should've known. So much for optimistic thinking. However, despite the Indian's boastful attitude, Etho just chuckled and shook his head. He always was a good sport.
"Only because you were a little liar." Liar? Doc looked at Pause confused, but got no real response since the victor was too busy petting a slightly burnt dog.
"You should've known I was lying through my teeth. You had plenty of time to get a wolf or two of your own." The Indian then wrapped an arm around Etho's shoulder, a cheery grin still adorning his face. Doc could feel a pit of jealousy bubbling ever so slightly in his chest; despite their closeness, Etho would never let Doc do something like that. At least, that's what he assumed; his ninja friend had never really shown interest in that sort of relationship. Wanting more than anything to push Pause away, he cast aside those rude thoughts to instead search for a topic changer, preferably one that would let him talk with Etho.
"So Etho, did my diamond chest plate help?" To Doc's joy, the one he was addressing gave him a warm, sincere smile, looking at him.
"Yes it did," his smile dropped, indicating that something was on his mind. Thankfully, Pause noticed and backed off, pulling Beef with him elsewhere to apparently go look at a trap Nebris made. Doc gladly took the seat that was now free next to Etho, eager and nervous as to what his friend was going to say.
"Did you notice me?" The question was a little off-putting, and he wasn't quite sure how to respond. Probably noticing this, Etho restated his question, "I mean, did you see me before we fought?" Oh.
"No," he gave a nervous laugh, "But when I saw you behind me, I was like, the friendliest person. I was like, 'hi Etho my friend'." The ninja laughed at that, a glorious sound, prompting Doc to continue his narration, "Then slowly pulling my bow and shooting an arrow, 'oh, let's see what Etho does. Oh, he runs at me'. And of course, I didn't hit you."
Etho gave him that warm smile again, and Doc felt his heart skip a beat or two as he returned it with a small chuckle. To his surprise though, the ninja gave him a small pat on the back.
"You did good in that fight. You got some damage on me, that's for sure." Doc shyly looked to the side, unsure of how to respond to such a praise. It's not like he did that much damage, seeing as Etho still looked fairly good as he was slipping out of conscious hours earlier.
"Yeah..." He laughed, trying to brush his embarrassment to the side, "But really, when I saw you it was like, be friendly reaction automate. I don't know," he laughed again, fiddling with the edge of his lab coat. Etho hummed in response, causing Doc to look up at his friend in interest, only to find a similar expression mirrored in the others face.
"You weren't scared?" Scared? Was he? He thought back, but couldn't remember ever feeling afraid of the ninja. It was a game after all, and there would be winners and losers. But in the end, fun was all that mattered. Sure, worry and nervousness sometimes caused him to be afraid for his general health, but in the heat of the fight that was all lost to the adrenaline. So, he waved Etho's question off.
"It was an epic fight," he paused, "but I really was surprised by you. I had no time to prepare." The ninja scratched the back of his head almost sheepishly.
"I was tracking you for around three days. I was sneaking the entire time." Wow, really? Doc couldn't help but chuckle. It seemed the only thing he needed to do to get Etho's full, undivided attention for a long period of time was to be his target in some assassination attempt.
However, this wasn't the time anymore. Etho's attention was quickly drawn away from the cyborg to where his fellow Canadians were rough housing around who appeared to be just_defy and Nebris. The "cheaty overlord" appeared to be showing off some sort of trap, something that Etho seemed very interested in. Not wanting to hold his friend back from where he clearly wanted to go, Doc politely excused himself and walked a bit away to observe the other from afar. If Etho could stalk him for three days, clearly Doc could watch him for a few minutes.
The ninja always seemed a little more relaxed around Pause and Beef. It was irritating to say the least. He had known Etho longer, they shared common interests, etc. So why had he warmed up to them faster? Doc still remembered the ninja's almost monotone voice when they first met, and how in the course of a year or so it got more and more confident and expressive. He was surely more open with his emotions than in the past; well, that is, some of them. There were certain things he would avoid directly talking about. Sadness, anger, love... Heh, the last one seemed to be something the other didn't even understand. That is, the non-friendship version.
He felt a pat on his shoulder as he started to call out his goodbyes, and he turned to see Baj giving him a small, knowing smile.
"Better luck next time?" Not a statement, but a question. To anyone else, it could be interpreted as a wishing for the next UHC, but to Doc...
"Maybe." That could be his only answer. Etho was still a complete mystery to him, even after all these years, and would probably remain so.
He would remain the puzzle he couldn't solve, the one that stole his heart.
