Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

-1

“Oh you absolute bitch.”

“You sound pretty salty down there, Sharp. ‘You good?” Jude snickered, leering down at Sharpness, not unlike a predator circling its prey. Which was, frankly, ridiculous—Jude was a bunny for crying out loud. A murderous, animatronic one, but still.

But, well, Sharpness couldn't exactly deny the idea that he looked like prey, at that moment. 

Vulnerable, defenseless, weak; all because he fell into Jude's dumb one-by-one trap. Again. 

He was really starting to gain a deep and passionate hatred for armor stands.

Sharpness swore to himself that when he got out of that god forsaken trap he'd make Jude's life hell, he even said so to the other man.

All he got in return was a smug, “if you're so sure, princess.”

The nickname made his eyes twitch. Of anger, probably. That's the only reasonable explanation for the red that threatened to overthrow his cheeks.

Jude stepped away from the hole he was peering down, presumably to go down the ladder leading to the trap. That gave Sharpness a good thirty seconds—don't ask why he remembered that— to figure out what he could possibly do next. 

Frankly, it was hopeless. Evading one of Jude's traps was one thing, escaping was a whole other, especially if none of your teammates were nearby. 

“I fucking hate that guy,” he cursed, just for good measure.

That's five seconds down the drain. It was worth it.

Hm. He could contact one of his teammates, maybe? But no, they'd not reach him in time. He'd be rabbit food by then. Well, unless they were secretly invis-potted somewhere near here… Okay, he was getting side tracked.

Great. He had twenty seconds left. 

God, just how many times had Jude managed to kill him now? How long had he been subjected to those tedious little traps? Far too long, is the answer; long enough that he should know them enough to avoid them. Jude had even showed him how they fucking worked when they were still teammates..

“..So what, am I just fated to always die to his stupid little traps?” he mumbled to himself, an annoyed groan tumbling out his lips as he got elbowed in the stomach by an armor stand.

With ten seconds left, he had already begun to accept the fact that he would be dying in the hands of a homicidal wannabe animatronic, and while he was far from okay with it, that was just how life was sometimes. 

…

‘But did he really have to die by Jude's hands again?’ a voice in his head spoke up.

He didn't have a problem with dying, of course. It was the Strength SMP, dying was an inevitable thing, really. But dying at the hands of Jude always made him feel. Hm. Strange? Stranger than dying to anyone else's hands, at least.

That feeling that bubbled through his stomach, that made him hold his breath and brace for an impact that wasn't just the blade of Jude's sword. 

Yes, that feeling…

That feeling of loathing. That was what it was. 

It made his heart pound, his mind go into overdrive.. just like the rage he always felt when he was losing in the arena—which wasn't often, by the way. 

Honestly, he had felt a bit guilty about it when he and Jude were teammates. That was why he always forced his heart to calm down, forced himself to think straight—it'd be a bad idea to let his less than ideal emotions of his teammate show, after all.

While that explained that, what he couldn't really explain was the weird feeling he got when Jude trapped other people. 

It gnawed at his insides, and made him feel something that was kind of like.. jealousy? But that couldn't possibly be it.

He decided not to dwell on it, and chalked it up to him feeling a strangely twisted sort of sympathy for their predicament.

But moving on. In conclusion, he hated getting killed by Jude, but getting killed in general wasn't that much of a deal breaker for him… So if he were to let the last bits of fire in him get extinguished, but not by Jude's grubby hands (were they technically paws because he was a bunny?)...

An idea popped into his mind.

Almost immediately after it had fully registered in his head, however, he furrowed his brows. “That's pretty stupid, though..”

“Yoohoo. ‘You having a good time down here, sweetheart?”

Shit. No, he didn't have the time to second guess himself.

With a quick breath,—and a strained battle with an armor stand so he could properly position his sword—Sharpness plunged his sword right into his own chest.

The last thing he heard was a frantic, “HOLY SHIT, WHY WOULD YOU—”

Then the world turned black.

conexion was slain by conexion

[_Tai]: ???

[_Tai]: lmao??

[saparata]: yo WHAT

[Spongs]: LMAOO?

[_Tai]: sharpness downfall is now

—

As light finally made its way to Sharpness’ vision, he couldn't help but groan. Who knew stabbing yourself in the chest would hurt so much. It was probably because it wasn't something he was used to; he was more used to people getting him slowly, not as cleanly as a good jab into the heart.

He grumbled as he sat up, then he processed where he was. “Oh. Right.” 

Now, see, while it may look slightly.. compromising, Sharpness had a good reason for why he set his spawn point in JudeLow's bed.

You see, it all started a little after they had become teammates…

-

“I've been meaning to ask this, but where exactly is your spawn point, dude?” Jude asked as he busied himself by the crafting table, putting together and pulling apart trapping mechanisms that Sharpness couldn’t really be bothered to understand.

Sharpness blinked up from the blade he was shining, sat on top of a chest a few steps away from Jude. “Uh. Spawn?”

That made Jude pause. Slowly, he put whatever he was holding down, and turned to face Sharpness, expression neutral. Sharpness was about to ask what was wrong, but then Jude's face split into a manic grin, a loud cackle bouncing off the walls.

“Bro. What the hell?!” Sharpness screeched, confusion in his tone and probably on his face. He took back every bit of worry he held for the other man.

Jude wheezed. “Hah.. So you really are just homeless.”

Sharpness frowned. “Well, no. I'm just.. a wanderer.”

The smirk Jude flashed him was anything but convinced. “Uh huh.  And you're definitely not pouting right now. Yep. Whatever you say, Sharpness Conexion.”

“I'm not pouting,” he huffed, but a weird tingly feeling coursed through him, and he decided to look back down at the sword he was sharpening to take his mind off of it.

Jude chuckled, before turning to go back to whatever he was doing. 

A silence enveloped them, and weirdly enough, it was.. pretty comfortable? Sharpness never thought he'd say anything close to comfortable with Jude in the context, but there he was. Maybe this was just how it felt to have actually half-competent teammates?

But now that Jude reminded him… He really did need a spawn point that wasn't spawn. It was pretty inconvenient, in all honesty. 

Sharpness glanced back up, gazing at the back of Jude's purple head; he looked utterly engrossed in his work, yes, but he was pretty sure Jude was still hyper aware of Sharpness’ presence. Sharpness knew he himself was. They may be teammates, but trust was still something they didn't exactly have yet. Maybe ever..

But hm. Teammates, huh? 

“Hey, Jude?”

A hum.

“Can I sleep in your bed?”

Jude whipped his head around so fast Sharpness was a bit worried it'd crack. “Can you what?”

Sharpness tilted his head. “What? You just laughed at me for not having a spawn set. You're my teammate now, aren't you? Isn't it a good idea to share the same spawn area?”

“..Right. That's why,” he drawled, expression blank. Although, there was a slight pink on his cheeks, for some reason. “‘You ask this of your old teammates as well?”

Sharpness shrugged. “Eh.. We were teammates, sure, but we never really talked about things like this… Hey, I'm just asking ‘cause you mentioned it in the first place.” 

Jude let out an exhale. “Jesus, dude. Sure, I guess you can set your spawn here.. do you really need my bed, though?”

“I Just thought I'd save mats. ‘S not like I'm gonna be sleeping here much,” Sharpness said.

“Do you even sleep?... Don't answer that, I don't care. Just.. do whatever. As long as it doesn't fuck up my base.” Jude sighed, turning back around.

Sharpness took that as a victory, and marched off, sword in hand, to Jude's bedroom.

If he ended up falling asleep in it, sword cradled against his chest, well, that was his business and his business alone.

-

…And Sharpness just never really bothered to set another spawn point. So. 

He got up slowly, legs feeling like wet noodles. God, he would kill for a health potion right about now.. Wait. He was in Jude's base. He could just steal some. It would be a bit of revenge for killing—not directly, but still—him.

He limped his way through the corridors of a base that he had grown to memorize by heart now. He could probably navigate it blind. 

Finally reaching his destination, he practically threw himself at the potion brewing stand, grabbing a health pot and chugging one immediately. He grabbed another one and moved to lean against a wall, sipping slowly this time.

He should probably hurry up. He didn't think Jude would do anything bad with his gear, per se,—he's strangely kind about it, actually. Always gives Sharpness all of his gear back, at most stealing some basic loot (that may or may not have come from Jude himself in the first place)—but because it'd be a bit.. rude to keep Jude waiting, he supposed.

Just as he was about to finish the second health potion he got, he heard quiet, barely noticeable footsteps creeped down the base stairs. He perked up. 

That meant Jude was home. That sure saved him the trouble of looking for him..

He finished the potion up, walking to meet Jude halfway. He side stepped the wall he was leaning on and said, “yo. Can I have my stuff ba—”

“—WHAT is wrong with you, dude?!”

Sharpness paused. “Huh?”

Jude pinched the ridge of his nose. “Literally what reason would you have to stab yourself?”

“Uh. It was better than being killed by you?”

“Seriously? That's why you committed suicide?” And wow, he looked pissed. Sharpness frowned. Was Jude really that sad that he wasn't the one who ‘officially’ slayed him?

“Look, I know you wanted people to know you were the reason why I died and shit, but it's not that bad, you still basically killed me—”

“That's not why I'm mad,” he huffed, placing down a shulker box that probably held Sharpness’ items.

Sharpness furrowed his brows. “Then why?”

Jude stared at him, face blank. Sharpness stared back.

Jude hesitated, ever so slightly,—the only reason Sharpness even caught it was because he had grown used to paying attention to the little shifts in Jude's expression—then he sighed and shook his head. “Nah, it doesn't matter. ‘Shouldn’t have yelled at you, sorry. Take your shit back.”

Now Sharpness was even more confused, but he moved to get his things anyway, mumbling a plain, “thanks.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Just helping out a damsel in distress—call me prince charming.”

Sharpness squinted at Jude. “That doesn't fit. You were the one who made me distressed in the first place.”

“‘Didn't say I wasn't also the evil witch,” he countered. “Now get out of my house.”

Sharpness grumbled, “very hospitable.” But the ghost of a smirk followed him long after he stepped out of the base.

-2 

It was during times like then that Sharpness was reminded that he truly, absolutely hated _Tai. 

This was the scene: Sharpness, sporting pretty damn noticeable head injury, hair in a pathetically dishevelled state, all because of fucking Tai.

God, he was so killing him later.

Sharpness was just minding his own business, walking through a field, when he was suddenly bombarded with arrows.

Fortunately, thanks to his superior reflexes, he managed to evade them well enough to avoid them hitting any major spots. 

Unfortunately, with the sheer amount of arrows, he couldn't exactly avoid all of them.

That was why he had to spend a good five minutes pulling an irritatingly stuck arrow out of his forehead. It hurt like a bitch (Tai). 

Thankfully, however, it wasn't anything a golden apple and health potion couldn't fix. Small mercies.

But oh no, that wasn't all. If he thought his forehead was bad, his hair was straight from a nightmare. 

He didn't know how it was possible, but it seemed like all arrows that managed to hit, sans the one in his forehead, ended up in his god damn hair.

That was how he found himself sitting atop a ruined pillar, seething. He gripped his fists tightly, ignoring his urge to bring his hands up and try to remedy his situation.

He didn't trust himself with his hair, not at the moment; he was pissed, might accidentally pull too harshly, and—god forbid—damage his hair. Not to mention the fact that he wouldn't even be able to see what he was doing.

He couldn't even use a health potion or something to fix it; it wasn't like it was hurting him in any way, other than mentally. There were no quick ways out of this.

He thought about calling someone, but the titan that was his pride stopped him. He couldn't let anyone see him like this. 

So there he sat, pondering, mourning, thinking of bloodshed—The usual. 

If only he could reset whatever happened to his hair…

Wait.

“Huh.” He totally could. The incident a few days ago where he fell into Jude's trap came to mind.

He stared down at the sword he let lean on the pillar he was sitting on, contemplating.

On one hand, he'd die. It'd also be a crazy embarrassing reason to die—He may have to hide away for a couple of days in shame.

However, on the other hand, it could save his hair and some of his pride. 

With a sigh, he stood up, gripping his sword’s hilt. He raised it up, turning it to face him, tilting it in such a way that it perfectly aligned with where his heart was; a true testament to his skills as a swordsmaster.

A deep breath. 

And just as he was about to plunge it in, just as he was expecting the world to fade to black, a yelp cut through his thoughts:

“—JESUS. Seriously, again?!”

Sharpness swiftly turned his sword away from himself, spinning around to face the source of the all too familiar voice. “What do you want, Jude? I'm not in the mood.”

“Well, clearly. I was here just minding my own business, but apparently I now have to connect you with the suicide help hotline.” Jude scowled, crossing his arms.

“Wuh—What the actual fuck are you talking about, bro?” Sharpness creased his brows. 

The scowl on Jude's face faded away, replaced by an expression of exasperation; like that, his face was much.. softer. Sharpness didn't know what to do with that information. 

The other man exhaled. “Look, I don't know what's gotten into that smooth brain of yours, but c'mon. You're The Sharpness Conexion. You're like, one of the most stubborn people I know, and..” 

Jude groaned, a strangled, begrudging sound coming from his throat. “Listen, I'm only saying this as your former teammate, but just.. don't give up, okay? Life sucks, but—”

“Wait, wait, wait. Do you—” Sharpness’ eyes widened. “Do you actually think I'm suicidal?”

“What other conclusion am I supposed to get from.. all this?” Jude said, with an accusing flail of his arms and an annoyed twitch of an ear. “You killed yourself in my trap only three days ago, and now I catch you trying to do it again, alone in the woods.”

“Well.” Sharpness thought about it, placing a hand under his chin. “..Okay, I can kind of see your point—”

“No shit.”

“—But I'm not killing myself because I'm suicidal! I just thought it would be..” He bit his tongue, searching for the right word, “convenient?”

“Convenient,” Jude muttered, a disbelieving look on his face. “That's what a lot of suicidal people say, you know.”

“Look at my hair!” Sharpness brought the hand not currently gripping his sword to gesture frantically at the mess that was the back of his head. “I just thought it'd be easier to start over with it. I don't have the patience to deal with it right now, and I just really wanna pummel—You good?”

Jude was strangely quiet, ruby red eyes trained on him with an intensity that would make anyone who wasn't Sharpness shiver. What was up with him? “Jude?..”

The other blinked. “Right. Of course you'd be pissed, nobody gets to mess up your Disney princess hair and get away with it unscathed.”

Sharpness scoffed. “You're just jealous.”

That certified smug smirk made its way back on Jude's face, like it had never left in the first place. “Aw, throwing a little hissy fit over some hair? That's real cute, princess.”

And there was the Jude he knew. The spark of annoyance that coursed through him shouldn't be as comforting as it was. “If you're just gonna be a bitch about it, fuck off.”

Jude chuckled, before a somewhat.. hesitant expression took over his face. Which was. Strange, to say the least. JudeLow, hesitant? “..Can I see the damage?”

Sharpness huffed. “I'm serious, Jude. I'm not in the mood for your games—”

“I'm being serious,” he retorted, face passive, no hint of mischief on it at all. 

Sharpness knew better, though; knew that Jude was as good as a liar as he was a trapper. Well. He should know better. But, oddly, a part of himself couldn't help but want to believe.

He bit his lip. He was being reckless, he knew, but to give into his inane whims, just this once… He relented. Storing his sword in his inventory, he flopped back on top of the ruined pillar. “Fine. Just.. don't make it worse.”

Jude huffed, half amused and half—Now, Sharpness wasn't really sure what the other half was, but it felt strangely close to fond, which was probably just a sign that his mind was still healing from the arrow that was impaled near it earlier.

Anyway, Jude made his way over to him, steps unnaturally quiet like always.

“Relax, I won't do anything bad.” Noticing the wrinkle of Sharpness’ nose, he continued, “I swear on it, darling.”

“You are such a bitch,” Sharpness grumbled, but made no moves to get away. 

Jude settled behind him, hovering over him. He was silent for a few beats, before he whistled. “That does not look pretty. Someone must've gotten you good; who was the lucky one?”

“I was saying who earlier, but someone interrupted me—Also, lucky? What the hell?” Sharpness griped.

“Well, anyone who's managed to get you all bothered is a lucky one.” Jude poked one arrow lodged in Sharpness' hair experimentally, and Sharpness’ eye twitched. “Wish it was me..”

“You are so weird.” Realization hit him, then he turned around and pushed Jude away, though it lacked the strength it would, should normally have. “Are you saying you'd do this to my hair?”

Jude put his hands up. “I never said that, did I? I just said I wanted to be the reason you get all disheveled, I didn't say anything about wanting to commit blasphemy.” He brought a hand up to flick a strand of Sharpness’ hair. “I like your hair too, princess.”

“Oh,” was all Sharpness could mumble out, a strange shyness taking over. He turned back around, brain trying to process what he was feeling. “Thanks.”

Jude snorted. “No problem. Anyway, you were saying?”

“Huh?”

“Who fucked up your hair?”

“Oh.” Sharpness grimaced. “Fucking Tai.”

Jude snickered, and Sharpness could practically feel the shit eating grin on his face. He moved to sit on the space left on the pillar, which wasn't exactly much. Sharpness could feel Jude's arm brushing against his back. “No shot, really?”

“Shut upp..” he hissed, an embarrassed flush coating his cheeks. “How was I supposed to know he had some dumb ass arrow cannon just lying around in the open..”

Jude perked up, then, with amusement in his tone, “oh? You seriously got hit by his trashy arrow cannon?”

Sharpness sputtered, “I didn't know it was there, okay! I was just walking by..”

“Heh. I'm kind of impressed, actually. ‘Surprised he didn't accidentally pick up all the arrows again… Well, that's probably ‘cause I told him how stupid he was,” he muttered that last part mostly to himself, but Sharpness bristled.

“Wait, is this the same arrow cannon you told me about before?” ‘When we were teammates,’ goes unsaid.

Jude hummed. “Was it on the side of a mountain overlooking some plains?”

“Yeah..”

“High chance it is, then.”

Sharpness whipped his head to face Jude—and damn they were sitting way too close; he could practically count Jude's eyelashes—and gave him an accusatory glare. “You're one of the reasons he managed to screw up my hair, then.”

And Jude.. was frozen? He blinked, slowly, very obviously—his shades weren't much help in obscuring his eyes—looking Sharpness up and down, the little mechanism in his left eye focusing downwards. Jude was doing that a lot recently. Then, quietly, so quietly that Sharpness almost didn't even notice, he gulped. 

Sharpness considered asking him what was wrong, but looking back at his track record with that, he knew Jude would be back to himself in just a second. 

And he was right. 

Like he never fumbled in the first place, Jude grinned, leaning slightly closer and grasping a lock of golden blonde between his finger tips. “How about I make it up to you, then?”

Jolting, Sharpness nearly fell off the pillar he was sitting on, backing away from Jude instinctively. The strands of his hair that were previously in between Jude's fingers slipped out gently. Sharpness mentally berated himself for missing the warmth.

Speaking of warmth.. Sharpness would like to say that he had no control of how his body reacted, meaning he had no control over the weird blush dusting his face. “You.. are so weird.”

“That's not a no,” Jude sing-songed. A smug look on his face that Sharpness wanted to wipe off immediately.

“What are you even going to do?” he asked as he settled back down on the pillar.

“I was gonna offer to deal with your hair problem—I get to touch your hair, and you won't have to be the most likely Strength SMP member to be on a suicide prevention list,” he said, matter-of-factly.

Sharpness frowned. “Really? That's all you want? Wouldn't it be in your best interests for me to die? It's not like you get much from this.”

Jude shrugged. “I've always wanted to touch a princess's hair.” 

That was probably one of the worst reasons Sharpness had ever heard.

Even so. Sharpness.. was probably still dealing with brain damage or something, because the next thing that fell out of his lips was a simple, “okay.”

And just like that, with a short hum, Jude got to work; fingers expertly navigating through Sharpness’ thoroughly ruffled hair, plucking out arrows in a way that could only be described as gentle.

It was.. nice. He was slowly starting to accept that Jude did in fact have a part of him that wasn't just bloodthirsty, and he was slowly starting to like it.. A lot.

Subconsciously, he found himself leaning into the other's touch. 

“Nice. Your hair smells just like the shampoo I use,” Jude mused.

“Stop sniffing my hair, creep.” Sharpness’ brow twitched in annoyance. “Don't act surprised; You're one of the only people on this server who actually has a good shower.”

“How'd you even manage your hair back when you were stuck to being a ‘wanderer’?”

…

“Let's.. not talk about it.” What mattered was that he managed to keep his hair maintained and not smelling like shit.

Jude chuckled. “That bad? What would you ever do without me…”

The conversation faded away after that, replaced by a type of comfortable silence that Sharpness only associated with Jude; comforting, but not one where you should let your guard down.

He didn't know how many moments passed, with Jude just carefully carding through his hair, but he did know that at some point his eyelids started feeling heavy. He really shouldn't be letting his guard down like that in front of others, especially not JudeLow, but. He couldn't help it.

The mood just.. felt right; the sun was shining on him gently, the breeze was tickling his cheek, and the soft feeling of fingers in his hair was a lullaby without words.

The fact that he never really got the chance to sleep on most days, anyway, didn't help. The cons of being a notorious fighter and… ‘homeless’. 

He grimaced. There was nothing wrong with not wanting to settle anywhere.

Fortunately (unfortunately), the idea of sleep is pulled away from his mind, as an amused voice from behind him spoke up, “you enjoying yourself, sweetheart?”

Sharpness blinked himself awake. Or tried to, at least. “No,” but the sluggishness of his words betrayed just how sleepy he was.

“Oh, don't mind me. Don't let me ruin your beauty rest,” Jude snickered.

“What.. So y'can kill me in m’ sleep? That's… not very nice,” he mumbled.

Jude hummed. “Never said I was.”

“You aren't," Sharpness agreed, eyes bleary. “Only.. sometimes. When you think I don't notice.”

The fingers in his hair paused, and Sharpness couldn't help but lean his head slightly backwards to chase after the feeling. They continued their course shortly after.

“..You're seeing things. You should get that checked out,” Jude said, voice clipped.

An unconvinced sound sprouted from Sharpness’ throat. “When we were teammates.. y'gave me things you said were ‘a bother’ for you to keep.. they were always things I needed, though.”

“Well. They were a bother.”

“Mm. Sure.” Sharpness thought again. “You always helped me back up whenever I died, even if you said t'was annoying..”

Jude huffed. “Who else would take care of your sorry, whiny ass?”

“..Y'didn't have to, ‘just did,” Sharpness hummed, the haze of sleep threatening to fully take over him.

“It's what teammates are for, right? It's not like that matters anymore,” Jude muttered.

“You're.. still nice to me though.”

Jude's fingers twitched. “Alright, we get it. You don't have to rub it in.”

That made Sharpness want to go on. “You give me all my stuff back even if you trap me, you don't mind if I grief your traps when I get chased, you thought I was suicidal and tried giving me a bad pep talk—”

“—A bad pep talk? Jesus, try to help a guy who's about to kill himself and he dogs on your attempt at advice. What a world we live in.”

Sharpness took a second to pause, before mumbling, “..’you one of those.. tsunderes, or something?”

“What.” 

“Those characters who act like they don't care, but really, they do—”

“Yeah, I know what a tsundere is,” Jude said, voice steady. Too steady to be considered normal. “If we're talking about tsunderes, what about you then, huh?”

A confused sound escaped Sharpness’ lips. “..Whadyou mean?”

Jude chuckled. It was a nice sound, Sharpness had come to accept. He leaned in, or at least Sharpness thinks he did, considering he could feel the heat of Jude's breath by his ear. “Don't pretend you don't like it when I coddle you.”

The face he was making must've been funny, because Jude let out a small snort.

“What, didn’t think I’d notice the way you’d perk up whenever I spoil you? You can deny it all you want, but you like when I call you different little pet names, do things for you without you asking.” Jude toyed with the strands of hair by his ear, and Sharpness let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

“You love the attention I give you, I can tell; you’re even greedy for it sometimes.. You’re just like a real princess, princess.” Sharpness could feel the amused breath of air he let out.

Now. Sharpness didn't know what exactly to call what he was feeling at that moment, but what he did know was that he couldn't let Jude have the upper hand of.. whatever was happening. 

Sleep deprived, mind feeling as dishevelled as his body, Sharpness opened his mouth, “‘s not like you're any better.. bitch.”

Sharpness was surprised he had managed to say anything at all, so he let himself continue, “you like when I do tedious shit for you.. that I do it even if I complain, all ‘cause you asked me to.”

Sharpness shifted, leaning even more against Jude. “‘That I listen to your trap rants, even though I don't get any of that shit.. You also like the attention.”

Jude was still silent, for whatever reason, so Sharpness went on, “back when we were teammates.. you liked it when I did crazy things for your plans, ‘cause that meant I trusted you, even just a bit..” He frowned. 

“I did, y’know. You're a big bitch most times, ‘I dunno why I trusted you, but I did.” A thought passed his mind. “You know, I probably still d—”

A gloved hand abruptly pressed itself against his mouth, rendering him to muffles. 

“Whuh duh fuh—”

“Just,” Jude hissed. “Just shut up, okay?”

Sharpness obeyed, because his mind basically felt like slush. But he wasn't gonna not try to figure out what was up with Jude.

Craning his head, Sharpness turned his half-lidded eyes behind him, and he paused.

Oh.

If that was how Jude looked, Sharpness was a bit scared to see how he was looking at that moment..

This was the picture: imagine nefarious trapper Judelow all.. mushy. Cheeks flushed, eyes blown and looking anywhere but at him, and his ears twitching in a way Sharpness could only describe as.. endearing. He really wanted to touch them, actually, but his arms were more asleep than he was. Maybe he could ask Jude later.

Speaking of asking.. He really wanted to be able to speak again. Sharpness turned his head back to look in forward. Jude was too busy.. getting himself together, he supposed, so he'd need a way to get his attention. Luckily,—or unluckily, for Jude—Sharpness had an idea on how he could accomplish that.

Jude jolted out of his daze, an accusing look on his face. “Did you just lick me?”

Damn. It didn't work. He was still stuck to muffling, and now he had the taste of trap materials and heavy duty gloves on his tongue.

He tried to wriggle his way out a few more, unsuccessful times, but eventually he gave up, opting to just lay against Jude's chest fully, eyes closing shut. He sure was comfortable to lean on.. was it the bunny part of him that made Jude feel so fuzzy?

Jude let out an exasperated sigh and let his hand clamped over Sharpness’ mouth down. “You’re still so fucking annoying, even half asleep, princess.”

Sharpness let out a contented hum. “Y'gonna kiss me?”

“I—What?” Jude sputtered, before he cleared his throat. “Really selling into that princess part now, huh.”

“Are you?”

“..You want me to?”

“Isn't that what prince charmings are s'posed to do?”

Jude huffed out a laugh. “I told you that I was the evil witch, too, didn't I? Who's to say I won't just stab you now, take advantage of the situation?”

“But you won't.” Sharpness cracked an eye open, looking at the other man. “'S less cliche this way.. Why can't my prince charming also be my wicked witch?”

“Your prince charming. Okay dude.” Jude shook his head. “Go to sleep, Sharpness.”

“You're no fun..” He shut his eye back closed.

Silence overtook them, once again, but it felt.. softer. More vulnerable. Sharpness was really going to fall asleep at that rate.

As his consciousness started to slip away from him, he clung onto the feeling of fingers carding through his scalp, a satisfied noise escaping him.

In his last bits of consciousness, he registered a faint brush against his forehead, and a soft whisper of, “what should I fucking do..”

-3

Like many problems in Sharpness’ life, it all stemmed from Underscore Tai.

There Sharpness was, chasing after Tai with a fervor that could probably only be beat by the rage of Notch Himself, each swing of his sword scathing in its precision.

A rough jab at Tai's shoulder, and he squawked, “YEOWCH—HOP OFF ME DUDE.”

“Nah,” Sharpness supplied helpfully.

Tai didn't stand a chance.

_Tai was slain by conexion

[Spongs]: lmao

[JudeLow] L bozo

At least, he shouldn't have.

Don't get Sharpness wrong, he absolutely massacred Tai, but he.. overlooked some things.

Maybe Sharpness was too caught up in the bloodshed, too blinded by anger to think clearly. That was it, it had to be.

Because there was no fucking way he just got caught in a trap made by Tai, right as he killed him. 

He was beginning to suspect that the ‘Tai failing spectacularly at big inventions’ thing was a JudeLow only special.

Now Sharpness was stuck in a two-by-one hole, waiting for who knows what, HP draining slowly but surely. 

He took a deep breath—well, as good of a breath he could take considering he was being crushed by armor stands. 

Tai was freshly killed, he'd not be going back for him anytime soon, so Sharpness had time to figure out how to get out of—

“Damn, I didn't think Tai's fuckass trap would actually work,” N00b said, dumbfounded.

And there went Sharpness’ thinking time.

“That's what you think,” Sharpness hissed, opening up his communicator to scramble together a message for his only currently online teammate, Saparata. 

N00b snorted. “You are not getting out of this, buddy.

“Tai told me to wait until he got here so he could get you back, but I'm kind of impatient.” Footsteps reverberated across the hollow cavern, coming to a stop right in front of where Sharpness was stuck. “I'm giving him five minutes before I start swinging.”

Sharpness scoffed, elbowing an armor stand for room. “Some teammate you are..”

“Can you really be talking?”

“What the hell's that supposed to mean?” Sharpness furrowed his brows.

“Tai's been going on and on about the, and I quote, ‘Sharplow divorce’ for weeks, man,” was N00b's plain reply.

‘Sharplow’? That seemed familiar, he just couldn't remember why. 

His silence must have meant something to N00b, because he went on: “So, how are you and Jude right now?”

“Hah? What does that have to do with anything?” Something in Sharpness’ head clicked. “Wait, is that what Sharplow is—”

“—Right, okay. Got it. I won't push; love is hard,” N00b hurriedly interrupted. Weird.

Honestly, everyone was being so fucking weird recently…

Speaking of Jude, though.. Sharpness groaned. Jude would never let him live his predicament down. 

Come to think of it, Sharpness couldn't remember the last time he had fallen for a trap that wasn't Jude's. It was probably because Jude's traps had a certain quality to them that made other, less-than-equal-quality traps pale in comparison..

Huh. Low quality traps.

Sharpness looked around the small space he had to work with. He sighed.

No matter how much he and others dogged on Tai, he actually was pretty smart when it came to these things.. with many exceptions, sure, but a trap made by him definitely wasn't a simple walk in the park.

However. Sharpness had been through way too many JudeLow certified traps to just be any trapping victim; he had been forced (he could leave at any time) to sit through way too many lengthy rants of how various traps functioned to not at the least somewhat understand their inner workings.

He swept through his surroundings more carefully this time, taking note of all the little intricacies of the trap. A voice that sounded suspiciously like Jude whispered in the back of his mind, naming the different parts he could see.

After some careful inspection,—and an embarrassingly long period of him completely blanking out staring at a stray line of red stone—Sharpness had an idea.

One of the corners of the trap, where wood separated him from the cavern N00b was idling in, wasn't as fortified as the other parts. In theory, if Sharpness rammed into it hard enough, in an angle that didn't make him take too much damage from armor stands, he could totally break free.

Sharpness took a deep breath.

“Okay, times almost up, where the fuck is Tai—HOLY SHIT.”

Sharpness came barreling through the wooden divider, splinters of oak soaring through the air. He landed on his feet—obviously—and spent no time taking advantage of N00b's shocked state to get the hell out of there.

He was on two and a half hearts, and he definitely wasn't going to take his chances. 

Sharpness climbed up the ladder with haste, griefing it in his wake, ignoring N00b's scandalized shouts.

He splashed some potions of healing on himself and took some bites out of a golden apple, though the rate at which they were healing him was way too slow for his liking.

At the sight of daylight, he let out a relieved sigh. 

That relief was gone only a moment later, as he just barely dodged a fatal swing of an axe, instead taking blunt damage from its butt. He glared at his attacker.

“Bruh, how did you even get out?” Tai questioned, axe straining in his and Sharpness’ hold. 

Sharpness broke off with a kick to Tai's chest, knocking the other backwards. He looked down at his HP bar and cursed. Damn it, he was low.

He looked back up and at Tai's smug grin, then he made up his mind.

Sure, he was on two hearts, but this was Tai. Sharpness could totally take him. With a swish of his wrist and a wave of his inventory, he threw several potions on himself. 

He sneered at Tai. “I already killed you once, is that not enough for you?”

“Someone's gonna be dying here, and it isn't gonna be me,” was Tai's smug reply, lunging at Sharpness.

Sharpness brought out his sword and parried with gritted teeth, a burning determination in his eyes.

Tai must have assumed that Sharpness, low as he was, would be more focused on defense rather than offense (like an idiot), as he was attacking without a care in the world for his openings.

Sharpness wasn't complaining.

Tai swung his axe down, and Sharpness maneuvered to the side. Taking advantage of Tai's loss of balance, he jabbed at the other's torso. 

Yelping, Tai backed off, but Sharpness wasn't done: he connected the jab with a kick to his left shin, then a broad slash at his chest that scraped his armor. 

Tai just barely dodged the swing aimed at his neck, retaliating with a heavy hit to Sharpness’ arm, knocking him backwards. 

“Son of a..” Sharpness hissed. 

They stood there, for a moment, just glaring at each other. 

The sound of a block being broken cut through their stare off, and N00b emerged from the hole Sharpness had blocked up. “Stupid ass—Oh, you're still here.”

N00b and Tai shared a look, and then they were both running at Sharpness. 

Yeah, no, Sharpness had to run. He turned around and bolted, the other two hot on his tail.

He looked around his passing environment and grimaced; none of Jude's traps that he had shown him back when they were still teammates were anywhere in sight, so all he could really rely on was the idea that Tai and N00b would get bored of chasing him eventually (unlikely).

He ducked under some branches, just barely moving out of the way of an arrow—it bristled his hair, and the memory of arrows and his hair made him want to pummel both Tai and N00b very, very badly.

No, he had to calm down. He couldn't be reckless at that moment. 

But the more he thought about the incident, he couldn't help but feel even more angered.. To think that he would have killed himself if not for Jude—

Sharpness blinked. Right, Jude. The arrows-in-his-hair thing was horrendous, but at the least Jude was there to help him. 

He could feel his heart beat speed up at the memory, but if anyone asked, he'd blame it on the fact that he was getting chased. 

Sharpness was stupid enough to let the tiredness take over him then, and he couldn't deal with all the utterly embarrassing things he had said… 

He didn't exactly remember the last bits of what happened,—falling asleep does that—but he did remember waking up to Jude still being there for some reason and the sun setting. The conversation afterwards was pretty.. awkward, no matter how nonchalant Jude tried to pretend to be.

He kind of missed the feeling of Jude's fingers in his hair—

A surge of pain brought Sharpness out of his thoughts, the piercing sensation of an arrow in his shoulder reminding him of what was happening.

Fuck, he shouldn't be think of that either. He needed to get his head in the game—

He stopped, staring at the mountain of stone in front of him. Then, he turned, slowly, eyes hardened.

Tai cackled. “You cornered yourself, dumbass!”

Sharpness scowled. “It's not even that funny.”

N00b piped up, giggling, “it totally is, though.”

Sharpness pursed his lips. The odds were stacking against him, all right, and he was running out of time.

Where was Saparata? Did he even check his message logs? Scratch that, he'd be too late to save him anyway. Sharpness was as good as dead.

He let out a quick exhale, gripping his blade tightly. Well, he wouldn't go down without a fight.

Just as he was expecting the most pathetic 1v2 of his life, something.. happened.

Sharpness blinked, watching Tai and N00b fall into the ground, the telltale sound of pistons working through the air.

Did that really just happen? Who even—

“..Hellooo? You good, darling?”

Sharpness’ eyes widened. Of course. Of course it was him. He whipped around to face the source of the voice. “Jude.”

The man nodded, a short hum falling from his lips. “Sharpness.”

He pointed an accusatory finger at him. “You saved me.”

“Yep,” he agreed, popping the p. 

Sharpness furrowed his brows. “Why?” 

“Well.” Jude paused, a contemplative look on his face. “..Wouldn't want you to drive another sword through your chest in desperation again, I guess.”

Sharpness frowned. “I wouldn't.”

“Really now?” Jude raised a skeptical brow.

“You told me it bothered you.” Sharpness put a hand to his chin. “Not directly, but I could tell anyways. I don't get the big deal, though, I said I wasn't suicidal.”

Jude stared at him like he was crazy. 

Sharpness sputtered. “What?”

“Nothing. You're just..” Jude waved his hand in the air, “weird, is all.”

“You're calling me weird? You're not even telling me the real reason why you saved me,” Sharpness huffed.

“Hey, I am telling the truth; when have I ever lied to you?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?” Sharpness deadpanned. 

Jude sighed, shoulders sagging, before he said, “..I saved you ‘cause we're.. sorta allies, aren't we?” 

Like that explained anything.

Still, Sharpness nodded. “Right. Of course..”

They stared at each other for a few beats, stuck in place.

Jude coughed, and the spell was broken. “So. Anyway, you wanna kill those losers?”

“Who..” Sharpness’ eyes lit up, a smile taking over his face. He could think about.. whatever he was thinking about later, what mattered most at that moment was Underscore Tai and by addition N00bs’s head on a spike. “Oh! Okay, let's go then.”

“You sure are bloodthirsty,” Jude snickered, breaking a dirt block and gesturing at the ladder underneath.

Sharpness gave him a look. “Says you.”

“Fair enough.” Jude shrugged, before jumping into the hole. Sharpness followed, even despite the nagging voice in the back of his head telling him to beware of a trap.

As they reached the bottom, they were met with the sight of N00b and Tai squished together at the bottom of a one-by-one hole, bickering loudly.

“—should've known his situationship would swoop in and save him..”

“Can you please shut up about Sharplow?!” Whatever they were talking about down there, N00b seemed to be suffering. Sharpness almost felt sorry for him.

He and Jude poked their heads into the hole, the latter already holding dripstone in his hands.

Jude glanced at him, smirking. He dropped a few pieces of dripstone. “You wanna do the honors, princess?”

Sharpness smiled back. “I'd love to.”

“Wait—does this mean Sharplow is back together?” Tai asked aloud, a weird excitement in his voice.

“Did they ever even seperate..” was N00b's tired reply.

Well, no matter. They could go on and on about this ‘Sharplow’ shit for as long as they wanted; As long as Sharpness got to kill them, he'd be satisfied. “Fuck you both.”

Sharpness placed dripstone, one after another, a twisted sense of pride welling up within him at the sounds of terror coming from below. 

Revenge sure was sweet. 

_Tai was skewered by a falling stalactite

[Nufuli]: L

[LuigiToan]: L

[Spongs]: L

[Spongs]: L after L is crazy

Miraculously, N00b was still alive, and he was being very vocal about it. 

“C'mon guys.. Show me a little mercy here, please?” he pleaded, side-stepping the remains of his fallen teammate as best as he could.

Sharpness and Jude shared a look, then, said in unison, “nah.”

Sharpness placed the last piece of dripstone he had, watching it fall and pierce N00b's shoulder. He still didn't die.

N00b was getting desperate. “Guys. Please. I'll swear my allegiance to DeathTrap duo or something—”

‘DeathTrap duo’... That was another name that was strangely familiar. Whatever, Sharpness could worry about that later, what he needed most at that moment was another piece of dripstone to finish the job.

Before he could open up his mouth and ask Jude for another, Jude spoke up, a grim look on his face, “too bad. I prefer Sharplow.”

N00b's eyes widened. “Bro, what the fu—”

ItsNoob was skewered by a falling stalactite

[_Tai]: F

[_Tai]: shieldless duo rip

[Nufuli]: lmao

“I thought you were gonna let me kill them,” Sharpness complained, but the small smile on his face betrayed him.

Jude caught on, of course, and just shrugged. “Whoops.”

“You don't sound sorry at all..”

Instead of replying, Jude mined a block of stone, revealing another passageway that presumably led to where Tai and N00b's loot could be claimed. “I don't know about you, but I'm gonna go get—”

“Thank you.”

“What.”

“Thanks. For.. saving me.” Sharpness pointedly didn't look Jude's way, admiring the stony texture of the.. stone. Yeah.

Sharpness knew Jude, knew that if he looked, he'd be met with a shit-eating grin, mocking in its cruelty; a teasing remark resting on the tip of Jude's tongue—

“Hngh.”

What? “What the fuck?”

Sharpness’ eyes immediately dropped his previous command of ‘Look Anywhere but at Judelow’, zeroing on the other man's retreating figure, just barely registering the alarming amount of red on his face—Wait, retreating?

Jude clasped his hands together, a deliberately audible slap of his hands bouncing off the walls of the hollow cavern. “Ahem.. Well, I wouldn't say that.”

Oh. Oh shit.

Mostly on instinct, he lunged forward, just barely evading the sudden loss of flooring, tackling Jude in the process.

They both fell into the hole Jude had just dug out, a strangled yelp escaping the two of them. They hit the floor with a thud, both groaning.

“Fuuuuck..”

“Damn.. I.. I shoulda done that earlier..”

Sharpness blinked the dust out of his eyes, only to be met with the sight of Jude's face. Right in front of his own.

Their position was in Sharpness’ favor, he realized a bit numbly; Sharpness was right on top of him, boxing him in, leaving him no room to escape.

He could feel the other man's breath on his face, could feel each dull, covered by too much machinery thump of his natural pulse, could trace the exact area of his skin that transitioned from metal to flesh with his eyes, and—Was it just Sharpness, or were Jude's eyes a shade redder than usual? Not that he'd been paying that much attention to them in the first place, but still.

They stayed like that, for a bit, breaths steady, too steady to be normal. 

However, it didn't take long for Sharpness to register what exactly just happened, and he dug his sword out of his inventory and rested it just above Jude's neck, a scowl on his lips. “You. You are such a bitch.”

Jude blinked out of his daze soon after, that trademark smirk of his crawling back on to his face. He raised his arms up in surrender. “Okay, yeah, that's fair enough.”

“I can't believe you saved me just because you wanted to kill me yourself.” Sharpness pressed the blade harder into Jude's neck. “You fucking weirdo.”

Jude, the madman he was, cackled. “What can I say? I don't take too kindly to others trying to steal my princess away.”

“Your princess?” Sharpness squinted at him, thinking over the words. Yes, what Jude meant was.. “Are you that jealous of others trying to kill me?”

At his words, something in Jude's expression twitched, a flash of annoyance passing through him before fading completely. He grinned. “I mean, have you seen how gorgeous you look, all desperate and weak?”

Sharpness frowned. He was about to just shame Jude for such a thing, when he.. thought about it. Not himself being the vulnerable one, but someone like Jude? And by Sharpness’ own hands?

…

Yeah, he could kind of get that, actually.

His expression must've revealed his thoughts, because the smirk on Jude's face only grew. “Would you look at that! You should've fallen into my trap if you liked it that much.”

Sharpness made a face. “I think you're projecting. Just say you like being sadistic, or something.”

Because that was what Jude was in the end, wasn't it? He liked the thrill of it, and it wasn't like Sharpness had any room to judge; that same yearning for that rush ran through his own veins, after all. But. Sharpness didn't know why, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt.. off.

It was an out of the blue thing—Maybe it was spurred on by what they were talking about, maybe it was something he always had resting in the crevices of his mind, but Sharpness couldn't stop thinking about the fact that he enjoyed being the one the strike Jude down; the reason a curse was on tip of Jude's tongue every time he respawned.

It was a twisted thing, he knew, but that wasn't what made his insides churn uncomfortably against his ribs—

It was the idea that others could be taking that opportunity away from him.

The thought left a bitter taste on his tongue, and he honestly wasn't sure if he was more terrified of the fact that such a desire existed within himself or the fact that it didn't even feel like a recent development—It was more like a classification of something that was already long lurking.

Then, another sinister little thought dawned on Sharpness; this, 'possessiveness’ wasn't only limited to him killing Jude—

“Oh hoh, don't tell me you actually do? ‘Guess you're more freaky than I thought,” Jude snarked, but this close, Sharpness could see him tensing up, could feel the abnormal stutters of his patchworked heart.

..Not that Sharpness was doing any better. That sudden discovery of his had made every thought that passed through his head feel overwhelming, his own pulse beating in his ears.

The more seconds that passed, the thicker the air felt; like it was waiting for something to shatter.

He should say something. He needed to say something, anything. A firm, ‘you're the only freak here’, or even a more simple, ‘what are you talking about?’

But.

But saying just anything felt wrong, and he had no idea what the right thing would even begin to sound like.

Sharpness swallowed, the saliva sticking to the back of his throat. He couldn't open his mouth, couldn't bring himself to say a word. Annoying.

Forcing himself to say something he didn't mean wasn't working, but he couldn't let the silence lapse for too long—It jumbled up his nerves like how a triggered TNT trap made him count the seconds before it exploded.

If the logical part of his brain was going to fail him, maybe he should take a chance with his more illogical, instinctual side to back him up—

“If you knew that already, why trap others?” 

…

Sharpness really needed to shut the fuck up, actually.

The mortification struck him immediately after he had let the words fall from his mouth,—he could barely even recognize the weight in his own voice—like a splash of water to the face. 

Eyes widening, he scrambled to backtrack, “uh—”

Uh..

Huh?

He blinked. For.. some reason, Sharpness looked way more mortified than Jude, in fact, if Sharpness wasn't simply hallucinating, he swore he could see a faint flush on Jude's cheeks. 

He blinked again. Jude blinked back past his shades. Both of them were unmoving.

Jude, never the type to be caught off guard for too long, recovered first.

Soon enough, a smile curled onto Jude's lips. However, it felt.. different. Considering their positions, and all. Sharpness could feel the way his own cheeks reddened, mind racing.

Jude cooed, “I can't just not trap other people, sweetheart.”

Sharpness was about to speak up, tell him that that literally wasn't what he meant (liar), when Jude continued, “but, if you're gonna be a whiny little brat about not being the only one of my victims..”

Jude brought a hand up and maneuvered around the blade aimed at his throat, bringing a finger to Sharpness’ chin and tilting his head to peer at him through his shades; like that, the red of his pupils were hypnotizing, captivating like a river of blood. 

The smirk on Jude's lips only grew at the attention. “..Then maybe you should up your game. Make me only want to trap you.”

A sound escaped Sharpness’ throat that he would deny till the day he died, and he simply stared into Jude's eyes, a mesmerized sort of shock freezing him in place.

..That is, until an abrupt attempt to wriggle free from Jude snapped him out of his daze, eyes sharpening. “..Don't even think about it, bitch.”

Sharpness tossed a leg over Jude's torso, securing him to the ground even more firmly. He used his free arm to grip Jude's right, relying on the pressure of his body weight to pin down the other arm. They were still way too close, but the change in position allowed for a little more space between their faces.

Jude huffed out a half laugh, half groan, arms shifting uselessly against the ground. “And here I thought we were having a nice chat. Come on, princess—If you let me free, I'll make sure to trap you as many times as you want.”

A flare of annoyance flickered through Sharpness. God, dealing with Jude was always such a pain. 

More as an act of defiance than anything, Sharpness pressed his sword into Jude's neck, a quiet satisfaction at the sight of the red that seeped through the cut. “I think you're a hypocrite.”

“Oh?” Jude hummed, not sounding the least bit bothered by the sword against his bare skin. “I never said I didn't like it when you fall into my traps.”

“You didn't,” Sharpness agreed. “But don't act like you don't feel the same about me. Always fucking trapping me… but that's ‘cause you want attention, right?”

Sharpness knew he was projecting, that he was leaning far too into his hope that Jude maybe felt the same as him, but he just couldn't help it. Maybe he was making a fool out of himself, or maybe—

“..Touche.”

—they were more alike than he had thought.

Sharpness couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him. “You freak.”

“‘Takes one to know one,” Jude said with a snicker.

…

“Sooo.. ‘You gonna release me now, or..”

Sharpness snorted. “Nope—”

“SHARPNESS?!”

they both jolted. Sharpness leaned back, a breath he didn't realize he was holding escaping his nostrils. He furrowed his brows. That voice..

“Oh my god, I finally found you, dude! I was worried as hell when you weren't at the cords you sent me—Wait, Jude's with you? You good?”

“Sapa!” Sharpness frowned. “Bro, you took way too long. ‘Had to run for my life.”

Jude snorted, whispering under his breath, “sucker.”

Sharpness clicked his tongue. “No one asked.”

“Err..” Saparata chuckled guilty, the sound of blocks being broken following after him. The final block separating Saparata from the two of them was broken, Saparata falling through. “Sorry, I got too locked in finding mats for my—I mean. Our team's tower—”

Saparata froze, and even with his face obscured, Sharpness could feel the shock on his face. Wait, why was he so shocked?..

Sharpness slowly remembered who he was on top of, the gears turning in his head. 

Saparata beat him to it, however. “I—I am so sorry for interrupting you two.. I'll leave. Right now. Uh, maybe add a sign or something, cause another poor soul might think something less.. ‘fun’ is happening and rush in to help. Like me.”

It was Sharpness’ turn to blink. “What—No, Saps, this isn't—”

A heavy shove at his chest knocked the wind out of him, and he glared at the perpetrator. Jude's grin was now laced with irritation, struggling even more against Sharpness’ hold.

“Right, I'll just..” Saparata said, rather awkwardly.

“No, don't—” Jude headbutted him, and he cursed. “Fuck! Stupid metal—”

“That's pretty animatronic-phobic of you, sweethea—”

Sharpness finally brought his sword down, slicing through Jude's throat.

JudeLow was slain by conexion

[Spongs] LMAOO

[_Tai] WTF

[_Tai] chat sharplow divorce reinstated ://

[ItsNoob] SHUTUP

[ItsNoob] SHUT THE FUCK UP

He didn't want to admit it aloud, but he relished the sight of seeing Jude's eyes fade far away, even more so at the fact that he was the one who was the cause of it. 

Not long after, Jude's body despawned, leaving a scatter of loot on the stone floor.

Sharpness got up, dusting his armor off, and looked up at Saparata in the most normal smile he could manage. “Whatever you thought we were doing, it was all a misunderstanding. Are we clear?”

Saparata visibly and audibly gulped. “..Riiight… Listen, I really do respect you man, but I really just want to forget ever seeing whatever was happening here take place. So.”

“Nothing was happening. Jude was being annoying, and I killed him.”

“Sure. I believe you.” Saparata looked anything but convinced. “..Anyways, were Tai and N00b's deaths related to this, or?”

Oh, right. The whole reason he even ran into Jude was because of N00b and Tai—Wait. 

Sharpness’ eyes widened. “The loot.”

Saparata tilted his head. “The loot?”

“The loot!” Sharpness groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Damn it. It's probably all despawned by now.”

“You must've been too distracted, I guess,” Saparata commented.

Sharpness narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying something?”

Saparata mimed zipping his lips, shrugging. Sharpness rolled his eyes.

He glanced at the loot by his feet, a thoughtful look on his face. “At least I got some of Jude's things..”

Saparata approached, looking down at all the gear. “Aren't you gonna like. Give most of it back, though? Isn't that you guys’ thing?”

He was glad he couldn't see Saparata’s face, because that saved him from seeing the grin he knew was on it. 

Ignoring the heat that threatened to rise up his cheeks, he hissed, “shut up and get me a chest.”

It was safe to say that the walk home was filled with an embarrassing amount of teasing for Sharpness. 

±1

Jude had been acting.. strange, recently. Well, Jude was always pretty fucking strange, but still. He was being stranger.

Sharpness was pretty sure that the other man was avoiding him, for whatever reason. It ticked him off, to his mild confusion.

They never had much reason to interact—civilly, at least—after the whole betrayal happened, but this avoiding streak had made Sharpness realize just how present Jude was in his life, and how obvious his absence was.

Barging into Jude's base for materials? Jude was never there. 

Running through spawn carelessly? No traps were activated beneath his feet.

Jude hosting an event to scam and trap other server members? Sharpness was not invited or told directly by Jude himself at all.

Him and Jude are the only ones online? The server was practically a ghost town.

It made Sharpness feel exasperated. What the fuck did he even do??

Maybe Sharpness was just imagining things, but he suspected that he must have done something to upset Jude. And, with all the recent self reflection he had been having, he could come to terms with the fact that he didn't like the idea of upsetting Jude in such a way.

So, the most obvious next course of action for Sharpness was to ambush the man for answers, of course.

It would take a lot of planning and a lot of asking, he'd come to figure out, because god if Jude didn't want to be found he'd just disappear off the whole fucking map; Sharpness couldn't count the amount of times he had been given questionable suggestions on Jude's whereabouts—a pizzeria, an underground facility, a heavily surveillanced family home.. Seriously?

Even then, he had reached a dead end. Anyone who knew anything was unwilling to simply give the information to him, no matter what. He wondered what exactly Jude had told them to keep them so silent…

Confused and pissed off, Sharpness was walking mindlessly across the server, mouth forming a scowl.

“Stupid rabbit..”

Crunch.

Sharpness spun around to face the noise. “Who's there?”

He squinted at the shrubbery, barely managing to make out a figure amidst it all. Who the hell—

“To your left, princess!”

Sharpness ducked down, just barely registering the sound of arrows in flight wooshing past him. If he had stayed in place, the arrows would have gone straight into his hair..

He craned his head to glance at the source, the sight of Tai scampering away, bow in hand, made irritation course through him, but he needed to stay calm.

As desperately as he wanted Tai six-feet under, he had more important things to do.

He stood up, and not bothering to turn around, said, “Jude.”

“..Sharpness.”

Without warning, Sharpness materialized his sword and came rushing at Jude, earning him a disgruntled screech from the other. 

He pushed him further into the woods, a flutter of leaves soaring through the air with each swing of their swords. Eventually, that led the two of them to the center of a clearing.

“Okay, what the fuck?” Jude scrambled to parry Sharpness’ attacks. “Shouldn't you be chasing, I don't know, Tai?!”

“Jude,” Sharpness said in lieu of answering. 

“Sha—” Jude yelped, “—rpness.” 

Sharpness brought a leg up and kicked Jude's side, making him wince. “Is it just me, or are you way more violent today? Maybe go direct that at Tai, Sharp—”

A wide and open strike directed at Jude's front, and their swords were clashing in the middle, battling for dominance. 

Jude gritted his teeth. “What is wrong with you; I haven't even done anything—”

“Exactly.”

“Hah?”

“You've not been doing anything to me.” Sharpness pulled back his sword, only to jab it at the hilt of Jude's, knocking them both out of their hands in the process. “You've been avoiding me.”

“...” Jude stared at him, eyes blank, stagnant even. 

Then, a smile creeped onto Jude's face, but it lacked the fire it usually had. In his eyes, there was a coldness Sharpness was unused to. “Avoiding you? Don't make me laugh. What, are you that clingy? I have other things to do that aren't centered around you, you know.”

Sharpness clicked his tongue. “Cut the bullshit, Jude—”

Jude chuckled dryly. “No no, I can promise you there's no bullshit here. I don't know what you've deluded yourself into believing, but you should quit it; for your sake more than mine.”

He took a few steps back. “I don't care about you like you think I do, and you certainly don't either, so drop it.”

“What are you on about?” Sharpness furrowed his brows.

Jude huffed. “I'm saying that I'm sick of this cat and mouse thing we have going on.. The one where we pretend we don't absolutely hate each other's guts.”

“I don't hate your guts. Not that much, at least,” Sharpness interjected.

“This is what I mean; why are we acting like we care? You're just some asshole who betrayed me, after all!” Jude exclaimed, sounding a bit breathless.

“Jude..”

Jude continued, “it's so fucking rich. You're a better actor than people give you credit for, I'll give you that. You really made me think everything was fine—”

“Jude—”

“But recently, I've realized something: I'm sick of it, I'm sick of you—”

“JUDE,” Sharpness yelled, placing his hands on the other man's shoulders. “I—Honestly, I don't know where all of this is coming from, but you're wrong. I.. care.”

Jude stared. And stared. Then, he burst out laughing. It was different from his usual laugh; more cold, more resigned.

“Uh.. Jude?”

Eventually, the laughter subsided, but the cold glint in Jude's eyes remained. He shoved Sharpness’ hands off of his shoulders, taking a step back. “No, you don't. You shouldn't.”

Sharpness crossed his arms. “Well I do. Deal with it.”

“I mean it,” Jude spit out. “Cause I certainly don't care about you.”

“...”

Jude went on, an all too calculated smile on his lips, “at best, you're a pretty little pawn I can use when I need something; at worst, you're this.. annoying brat who makes me feel all these stupid feelings—”

Sharpness narrowed his eyes. “..You're lying.”

“Don't act like you know anything about me,” Jude hissed, an ear twitching.

A spark of annoyance passed through Sharpness, and he huffed. “You're right, I don't know anything—because you never tell me anything! You ghost me for days, and then just.. come back to tell me you hate me, for what?”

Sharpness frowned, a determined look on his face. “I'm not stupid, Jude. You're not as slick as you think you are.”

Jude sneered at him. “Let me rephrase that, then: Stop acting like you know anything about me. Stop acting like you're.. okay with everything!”

“How many times do I have to fucking tell you,” Sharpness felt like he was talking to a wall, “I'm not acting, I never have been! You know I can't act to save my life—”

“Shut up. Go find someone else if you want a playmate, I have better things to do than play hooky with you.” Jude's eyes darted away from Sharpness’ own, unfocused.

“I don't need—” Sharpness started, “I don't want anyone else!” 

“That's a shame..” Jude drawled, a finger playing with a strand of his hair. “But when have I ever really cared about what you want?”

..Jude was a good liar; he could bullshit his way through anything. He said things he didn't mean all the time. That's what Sharpness told himself, anyway.

Even so. 

The pressure that threatened the edges of his eyes didn't want to cease.

Jude sighed. “Let's.. cut it at the root, alright? We're better off going back to just strangers; players who run into each other sometimes. It'd be better that way. For the both of us—”

“Can you stop with all the fucking  assuming you've been doing? When have I ever said that I agreed?”

“You should,” Jude stressed. “I told you, I don't care about you. You're basically already just another stranger to me.”

“Who says I should? Does it look like I care about what you think I should do?” Sharpness crossed his arms tighter. “Fine then, be sick of me, but I won't be sick of you—”

“Just fucking drop it!” Jude exploded. “Are you even hearing yourself right now? You're being pathetic! Why are you even doing all this?”

..Why was he, exactly? 

Why did the idea of him and Jude drifting away make his stomach churn? 

Why was he trying so hard to convince Jude? What did he even—

Oh.

Oh.

Maybe he was a bit of an idiot. God dammit, the answer was right there all along. 

The way his heartbeat would pick up, the way his cheeks would go aflame, the desire to have him—

“Because I somehow fucking love you!”

…

That was what broke the strange tension surrounding them, but it didn't ease the air around them at all; it replaced it with another, equally stifling one.

“...” Jude's eyes widened, yet.. they were still off. He looked more like a rabbit than ever, like he was prey ready to bolt—

Shit.

“Wait, Jude—”

“You really shouldn't. I—” He backed away, and Sharpness couldn't find it in himself to move after him. “Sharpness. This.. It just won't work out.” 

Ah.

“Why?” It sounded more like a plea than a question.

“I—I just.. I'm not..I can't,” Jude stammered, voice actually shaking.

“..You can't, or you won't?”

“Sharpness.. Look, I—Shit! Jesus, Sharp—”

What was he..

Oh. 

Sharpness could barely register the wetness on his cheeks, the numbness of.. everything else taking over his senses. He brought a hand up, swiping a finger under his eye. 

Huh. When was the last time he?..

“Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck… shit..” Jude cursed, a hand tugging a fistful of his hair. He glanced at Sharpness like he couldn't bear to look at him. “Sharp, I'm sorry, I really am—”

“..Just go,” Sharpness muttered. “Don't force yourself. I'll.. deal with it. We can go back to being strangers, like you wanted.”

“No, I—I..” Jude trailed off, the words not coming out, for once. “I..” He took a deep breath. “I'm sorry, Sharpness.”

Jude turned around and walked away. He didn't look back, even once.

Sharpness watched, ignoring the sensation of tears dripping down his face, eyes tracking Jude's figure until he vanished into the trees.

Heartbreak was something Sharpness never thought he'd experience, but there was a first for everything, he guessed.

+1

Sharpness exhaled, staring off and into the distance, feet dangling off the side of Saparata's tower.

(“Hey, it's the team's tower.. Technically.”)

It had been two weeks since he had last seen Jude, at that faithful clearing in the woods. 

Sharpness liked to think he was doing better, but he knew that he was far from being ‘normal’, if the pitying looks Saparata and Cow gave him were anything to go by.

The rest of the server seemed to notice a change, but other than that, they were the same as ever. Sharpness was glad for that, he could at least cling onto some semblance of normalcy.

Sharpness still dominated in fights, still wandered wherever his heart pleased, but it was different now.

He didn't have to worry about falling into a stray trap, no longer took pit stops by spawn to crash Jude's base, and had no one bothering him in the way only Jude did. He sighed.

Sharpness hadn't tried to contact him, and Jude hadn't either.

Sharpness’ reason was tied to the fact that he wasn't sure if Jude even wanted to see him, wasn't sure if being the first one to reach out was a good idea, wasn't sure if he should be angry at Jude.

He wasn't sure of a lot of things recently.

Of course, there was a bit of cowardice tied to the reason why he hadn't done anything to reach out, but still.

Despite what Jude had claimed, Sharpness knew that Jude didn't mean half the things he said back then. The other half, though? He tried not to dwell on the feeling of crying, alone in the wilderness.

Jude didn't like letting people too close, that much was obvious. Sharpness had just thought..

…

It didn't matter. He needed to move on, eventually. Maybe the feelings within him would vanish before he knew it, or maybe he'd have to play the long game.

He had no idea when the limbo he had been having with Jude would end. Wasn't sure if one day he'd fall into a trap and die with that familiar cackle passing through his ears, like nothing had ever happened between them—

His communicator beeped, snapping him out of his thoughts. He frowned.

Neither of his teammates were online at the moment, so who..

JudeLow whispers to you: hey

JudeLow whispers to you: 2347, -2320, 40

JudeLow whispers to you: if u wanna fight

Sharpness stared at the messages. Really stared at them.

Then, without a word, he got up; the coords were already engraved in his mind.

Following Jude was always a bad decision, but.. he'd take the risk, just this once. 

-

The closer he got to the coordinates, the more he realized where exactly Jude was leading him to.

He pushed past branches and bushes, doing his best to ignore the nervousness that permeated through his bones.

At last, he found himself in an all too familiar clearing. He didn't think he'd be back there for a while.

His eyes scanned the area. Where was Jude—

“..I'm gonna be honest, I didn't think you'd actually show up,” Jude commented, leaning against a tree, fidgeting with his gloves.

“Me neither,” Sharpness agreed. “I—” ‘’m sorry.’

“Don't.” Jude stiffened, before he pushed himself off the tree. “I know what you're gonna say. Don't.”

Sharpness felt a scowl crawl onto his face, irritation swelling. “What do you want from me? You are so fucking confusing..”

“...” Jude sighed, then, in a voice more serious than Sharpness had.. ever heard from him, he said, “I want way too much from you; things that I really don't deserve.”

He brought out his blade, twirling it in between his fingers. “That apology’s one of them. Anyways, let's get this fight started before I piss myself.”

Sharpness’ eyes widened. “Wait, you seriously wanted to fight me?”

“What, you too good to fight me now?” Jude grinned, and while it was still pretty strained, it was a much better improvement from the last time he saw it. “..This is the only way I can talk to you without running away, alright?”

Despite himself, Sharpness snorted. He missed Jude's stupid wit. “..Weirdo.”

Jude hummed. “That's not a no.”

“It isn't.” Sharpness brought out his own sword, baring it at Jude. “Rules?”

Jude stepped forward, sword mimicking Sharpness’ own. “No gaps, no potions, etcetera; just a good old classic sword fight, if that's okay with you.”

Normally? No. But this was anything but a normal situation. 

“Sure.” He surveyed his surroundings suspiciously. “‘You trap this place?”

Jude shrugged. “Not this time—If I did, it'd be a death trap for myself.”

“And you called me suicidal.”

“Recent changes have been making me reconsider things,” was all Jude said about the matter. “You ready?”

“Wait. What's the win condition?”

Jude huffed out a laugh. “Still have your eyes on victory, huh? Well, this whole thing is mainly for fun and for me to.. ahem.. ‘communicate my feelings’, so there isn't really a winner or a loser.”

Sharpness narrowed his eyes. “That's what losers say.”

“And that's what bloodthirsty princesses say.”

Sharpness blinked. “..It's been a while since you've called me that.”

Jude coughed. “Look, we'll see how it goes. And, if one of us just so happens to get killed in the process.. at least we'll go down the way we like most, right?”

Sharpness shifted into a fighting stance, eyes trained on Jude. “You're on, bitch.”

Jude smirked. “Do your worst.”

Sharpness leaped in first, blade crashing into Jude's fiercely. “You gonna tell me why you were being all weird before?”

Jude grit his teeth, jumping sidewards and landing a kick to Sharpness’ torso, knocking him back. “Right. Well, I had recently convinced myself that you were this master manipulator who was toying with me—”

“I—Seriously?” Sharpness frowned as he rushed back in, this time opting to swiftly and lightly slash at Jude in a barrage. 

Jude grimaced. “Yeah, I gave you way too much credit.. But anyways—” 

Jude parried as best as he could, but he couldn't defend against all of Sharpness’ slashes. Through the consecutive slashes, however, Jude's eyes zeroed in on an opening, jabbing forward. Sharpness ducked backwards.

“—as I was saying, I was in a bit of a slump, you see. This terrible phenomenon called moping got to me.”

“So you decided to ghost me?”

“I was moping because of you. Augh, this is so fucking stupid..” he grumbled as he sprinted forward, using the force he built up in his swings.

“Because of me?” Sharpness repeated, brows furrowing.

“Mhm. You and your stupid pretty hair,” a slash, “stupid pretty eyes,” another, “stupid fucking adorableness—”

Sharpness swiveled on his heel and backed away, sword raised cautiously. “Where does the problem come in?”

“The problem comes in the fact that I couldn't stop myself from liking you. No matter what I did.”

Sharpness felt his eyes widen, and in that moment of shock Jude took the chance to get a good hit on him. “Fuck! Fuck you—”

“You snooze, you lose.” Jude ate his words soon after, as Sharpness stepped to the side and landed a hit on Jude's side.

Then, Sharpness’ brain caught up to him. “..So, you like like me?”

Jude, still recovering from the hit, squinted at him. “What are you, five?”

“You were the one who said ‘like’ in the first place,” Sharpness argued, rushing back in.

Jude winced. “..Yeah, I do.” He managed to successfully deflect Sharpness’ hit, then he propelled his sword right through Sharpness’ shoulder.

Jude continued, “I had it in my head that I was in some sick and twisted unrequited love story, and it made me feel like shit. That's why I avoided you for so long; ‘thought it'd make things better.”

The sensation of a blade lodged in his shoulder made Sharpness groan,  but he wasted no chance getting his get back via spearing his sword into Jude's stomach. “You showed up eventually, though.” 

“Shit—” Jude lurched, a splatter of blood escaping his mouth. Sharpness admired the sight, for a moment.

“Fucking.. Yes, that was a coincidence,” Jude hissed. “ ‘Was planning on staying quiet, too, but I noticed Tai aiming at you, and considering how you feel about arrows and your hair, well..”

Sharpness skillfully dodged Jude's attempt to pierce his abdomen, a thoughtful expression on his face. “So my hair was what made you stop ignoring me.”

Jude clicked his tongue. “When you put it like that—”

Sharpness interrupted him, sword grazing Jude's neck. “I'm still pretty angry, you know. You said a lot of things back then.”

Jude flinched, not at the attacks, but at the accusation. “..I hope you know I meant a grand total of nothing back then—Well, except for everything I said after you started getting teary.

“I was just saying anything to.. I dunno, make you hate me. ‘Cause if you got hurt before I did..” Jude trailed off, focusing instead on defending against Sharpness’ attacks.

“I mean.. I knew that, but I wasn't sure how much you were lying about,” Sharpness thought aloud, each swing of his sword lacking the intent it usually held. “..Did you mean it?”

Jude tilted his head, parrying each swing of Sharpness’ sword absentmindedly. “Did I mean what?”

With a final clank of their swords, Sharpness jumped back. “When you said you didn't think we should be together.”

“Oh,” Jude mumbled. He looked to the side, faltering his stance slightly. “..Yeah.”

“I see.”

What was he even hoping for? God, he was a mess. 

Sharpness didn't know what expression was on his face, but it must've been pretty pitiful if it made Jude raise his hands up in surrender. “Hey—Okay, let me explain.” 

Jude let his hands fall to his side, lips in a straight line. “Look, Shar—princess, I think you can do better. Way better than me, alright? I was moping ‘cause of the idea of you not liking me back, but I'd probably mope if I thought you did like me anyway—”

Oh.

“Oh, that's all?” 

Jude scowled. “Fuck you mean, ‘Oh! that's all?’?”

Sharpness felt his lips curl into a small smile. “I thought you lost feelings for me or something, in the moment—”

Jude rolled his eyes. “As if. You're like a parasite, ‘can't get rid of you.”

“—Turns out you're just stupid,” Sharpness finished, feeling all of his worries slip from his mind.

Jude stared at him. “Okay, what the hell.”

Sharpness abruptly lunged forward, leaving Jude to scramble to keep up. “Listen, you don't get to decide if I think you're deserving or not, cut that self loathing bullshit—”

Sharpness attacked with a vigor that left Jude yelping. He paused his advances and leaned forward, uncaring to the advantage it gave Jude. “I want you, and I don't care what you say.”

“You are such a brat—” Jude hissed under his breath, using the opportunity to plunge his sword right into Sharpness’ chest.

Sharpness didn't even flinch. “No, shut up and listen to me.”

“You're annoying, you're weird, you're considerate, you're the dumbest smart person I know, and I wouldn't want anyone else. You hear that?” He enunciated his point by plunging his own sword through Jude's chest.

Jude let out a small, strangled noise from the back of his throat. “..Loud and clear.” 

They couldn't hold themselves up for much longer, and soon enough, they came crashing down.

Sharpness heaved out a breath, body pressed against Jude's equally tattered one. Their swords dug impossibly deeper, crimson blood gushing through the scene—Yet, neither were paying any mind to that.

It was a mirror of what happened back in the cavern when they had trapped Tai and N00b,—Sharpness atop Jude, faces way too close for comfort—only a lot more.. red. Speaking of red..

“I like your eyes too, by the way,” Sharpness hummed, releasing his grip on his sword in favor of bringing his hand to poke at the skin by the corner of Jude's eye.

Jude shuddered, an exasperated breath escaping him. “You're insane; you know that, right?”

Sharpness hummed, fingers idly toying with strands of Jude's hair. “I wouldn't be here right now if I wasn't.”

“‘Can't argue with that,” Jude huffed, amusement and, what Sharpness had come to understand was fondness in his tone. Then, cautiously, he relented his hold on his own weapon, bringing a hand up to cup Sharpness’ cheek. “Hey, Sharp?”

Sharpness leaned into the touch without a second thought, blinking down at Jude. “Mm?”

Jude sucked in a breath, wincing at the action, considering a sword was currently plunged into him. 

He muttered, in a voice just loud enough for Sharpness to hear, “..I think I love you.”

Sharpness snorted, leaning down and pressing a quick kiss onto Jude's lips. “Well I know I love you too, you weirdo.”

JudeLow was slain by conexion

conexion was slain by JudeLow

Maybe they were both a bit weird.