#insert star wars prequel meme about sand here

[leopardmask-ao3]

NHH Fictober Day 7: Hybrids (Hybrid Hygiene)

Day 7 of the NHH Fictober Challenge. Being hybridized with another mob often comes with problems that neither creature would have had normally. As a silverfish hybrid, Wels has a carapace to deal with. Characters: Wels, TFC Words: 712

Wels could tell he was coming in too fast for a decent landing, but it was too late to slow down. He just barely managed to get his feet under him before skidding across the stone in front of his Bookery. Wels dug his claws in to stop himself, but that instead just turned the slide into a tumble that took him off a short ledge and deep into a pit of soul soil.

Wels sputtered and thrashed to pull himself out of the sticky, sandy mud. It was making it hard to breathe. He gasped in a deep breath through his mouth, and pumped the air out of the spiracles in his sides, getting some of the mud out of the way. He sighed, rested for a moment, then pushed himself the rest of the way out of the pit.

<Welsknight> hey, can I get a favor from someone <Welsknight> I got really muddy & need help getting cleaned up <Tinfoilchef> something i can do? <Tinfoilchef> don't have anything goin right now

So, Wels flew to TFC's base, this time being careful to stick the landing. TFC met him just inside the wall.

"Well, well," TFC grinned. "It's Wels!"

Wels grinned back. "Hey, man. You been holding up alright out at this end of the island?"

"Oh, sure, sure." TFC looked Wels up and down. "You really did foul yourself up, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Wels sighed.

"Alrighty then," TFC declared. "You've got your shell armor, right? You need any special tools or something to get this done?"

"Kinda?" Wels replied. "I have some stuff in my ender chest..." He set one down and looked through it, quickly pulling out two soft-bristled brushes. "Aha! I knew I had an extra."

He sat down on the grass, and TFC followed suit. Wels showed off how his exoskeleton was not attached all the way to the edges, and how to make sure everything was in order. "I'm not saying get every single speck of sand," Wels added, "but like... it'd be nice to get as much of it as possible."

Wels started with his head and face plates, and TFC tried his hand at one of Wels' shoulder plates. The edge of each plate could be lifted slightly, just enough to catch any number of annoyances under it, before it met Wels' skin. "It's kinda like cleaning under your fingernails," Wels explained, "but over my whole body. I don't think actual silverfish have to deal with this, but vertebrates with skin and stuff aren't really meant to have exoskeletons, to be fair."

Wels moved down to pick at his chest plating. TFC brushed at Wels' side. His brush hit an unexpected shape. Wels blew out a surprised breath - why could TFC feel the breath on his hands? - and leaned the opposite direction. TFC pulled away. "Oh, sorry! What did I do there?"

Wels straightened up and rubbed his finger at the spot. "No, that's my bad. I didn't think to warn you to avoid those. That's called a spiracle; it's one of my more, well, arthropodic features. It's how bugs breathe. Except since I'm a big ol' human, I have to use both them and my normal human breathing system together."

"So me finding one must'a felt kinda like someone unexpectedly sticking a toothbrush up your nose." TFC laughed.

Wels burst out laughing with him. "Yeah, something like that! They are kinda sensitive in the same way. Tell you what, I'll work on them. If you could get my back plates that would be great."

After a short while longer, Wels found himself slowing what he was doing, then stopping.

TFC paused. "Everything okay?"

"Oh! Yeah," Wels murmured. "This just feels... really good."

TFC smiled and started brushing again. "It always feels nice, having someone else making sure you're all groomed and looking good. It's like being a little kid again. Or a monkey picking fleas out of a friend's fur." He laughed.

Wels giggled. "I guess I just didn't expect it. It's not like it's fur you're working with here."

"Well, it's just the same as any other hybrid around here," TFC said. "You've got your shell and your whatchamacallems and your extra skills and challenges, but you're still more human than you realize."

#hermitcraft #hermitcraft fic #nhh fictober #Welsknight #tinfoilchef #nonhuman hybrids #silverfish Wels #insert star wars prequel meme about sand here