This was requested by TinyAzalea101 , here we go!

Warnings for hanahaki- blood, vomitting, the whole thing.

WC: ~2,300

Enjoy!

Jevin didn't consider himself to be the kind of person to chase after love.

It was just kind of a thing that was there- he'd get crushes, yes, but it wasn't extreme. More 'aesthetic attraction', as xB often liked to put it.

But then he met Wels, and everything changed.

Why, just why did he have to fall for someone like Wels? Perfect Wels, with his glittering smile and eyes like condensed skies, summer blue and-

"Hello-?" xB said, waving a hand in front of Jevin's face. "Earth to Jevin! All good?" Jevin blinked.

Right. He was supposed to be talking to xB about the new season start.

"Ohhh," xB continued, ocean blue eyes flickering over to the knight Jevin had been staring at. "I see."

"See what?" Jevin shot back.

"Wels!" xB replied cheerfully. "And you. I know the face of a lovestruck slime when I see one."

"Right," Jevin sighed. "First off, when have you ever seen a lovestruck slime. Second, I am not lovestruck."

"First, I see lovestricken slimes every time we talk with Wels," xB retaliated. "Second, in what world?" The words earned an eyeroll, but no further reaction.

Little did he know where things would go soon after.

After he waved xB goodbye and made his way back to his starter base.

And right after the first coughing fit.

"Oh my god," Jevin breathed out, staring at the blue orchids that he'd just spat out. "Oh my god."

At this point, hanahaki wasn't a stranger to the server, but the shock that came with it was unfamiliar, at least for Jevin.

"Okay... okay..." Jevin mumbled, pacing back and forth, still clutching the petals. "Who am I sick for?"

He groaned and facepalmed, the hand sliding down to cover the bottom half of his face.

"Great," he mumbled. "I'm dead."

Well, his brain argued. Isn't that what everyone else said?

Yeah, the other half of his mind snorted. But they were all just oblivious. I'm not oblivious, Wels just doesn't show any romantic interest towards me.

Again. Dead.

"Not my fault he's attractive," Jevin sighed to no one. "Can't help it when he just walks into a room looking like that-"

His tangent was cut short by another storm of flower petals. It was as if his disease was mocking him, practically saying 'You're in deep'.

And it was entirely correct.

He was in deep.

His instinctive reaction was to tell someone- Hypno or xB, perhaps?- but second thoughts held him back.

What if they just decided to tell Wels?

What if he got rejected?

But, then again, his life was at stake. Rejection meant death, but keeping to himself also meant death.

So, with a sigh and a perpetual itch in his throat, he made his way over to xB's place. He climbed down the stairs, only to whip around and go right back up them again upon seeing Hypno and xB kissing. There was loud laughter from inside and Hypno came to welcome Jevin in. xB's face was flushed red from embarrassment, but Hypno just shrugged it off.

"What brings you here?" he asked, as if he hadn't been making out with his boyfriend just seconds before.

"Suffering," Jevin said dramatically. "And flower petals."

Two pairs of eyes, blue and gold respectively, went wide with horrified shock as the realization hit.

"...What?" Hypno whispered.

"Yeah," Jevin sighed. "A lot of suffering."

"Aren't you going to tell him?" xB asked. "Wels, I mean."

"I will," Jevin assured him. "I die either way, so it's worth just getting it out there."

"Don't say that!" xB cried. "I know he'll return the feeling."

"Sure," Jevin scoffed. "The only thing this'll do is make Wels feel guilty about my feelings." He paused. "Actually, maybe this isn't the best idea-"

"Absolutely not," Hypno interrupted. "You're going to talk to him today, before the disease progresses."

"Fine, fine," Jevin huffed under both his friend's glares. "I'll do it right now."

"Dang right you will," xB snorted. "Only took like- seven years?" Jevin sighed.

He didn't even bother to defend himself, just walked out and made his way across the village. Conveniently, Wels was outside, building.

"Hey, Wels," Jevin tried to force a nonchalant tone on, but to no avail.

"Hey Jev," Wels hummed. "Need something?"

"I need to talk to you," Jevin's words were rehearsed, the same words he'd been repeating in his head.

"Is it important?" Wels asked.

"Uh..." Jevin paused.

It wasn't life-or-death yet.

And if Wels was asking, he was probably really busy.

"Not really," Jevin muttered.

"Sorry dude," Wels sighed. "I've really got to get all this done, can it wait?"

"Y-yeah," Jevin mumbled, ducking his head. "Sorry."

"All good," Wels replied. "I'll come over when I have a chance."

"Cool, cool," Jevin agreed. He waved Wels off and made his way, admittedly shamefully, back to xB's base.

"Did you tell him?" xB demanded.

"He was busy," Jevin sighed.

"Seriously??" Hypno cried. "That's a weak excuse."

"Season start, man," Jevin mumbled, coughing out a flurry of petals. He grimly watched them fall to the ground, and he couldn't help but notice there were far more than there were last time.

"Give it some time," xB assured him. "You've not started coughing up blood yet, we have time. We'll talk to him."

Jevin nodded.

"What a start to Season Nine," Jevin grumbled. "Just my luck, ay?"

Neither Hypno nor xB laughed.

"Wels!" Hypno called out. "Hey!"

"Oh, hey!" Wels replied, turning to face him. "What's up?"

"So, y'know how xB and I got together?" Hypno continued. Wels arched an eyebrow.

"Yeah?"

"Well, we figured that you might want to get with someone," Hypno hummed. "So. We're here for that."

"Not interested," Wels snorted. "Thank you."

"Come on," xB persisted. "I bet you have it for someone."

"I don't, in fact," Wels laughed. "But I appreciate the offer. I think."

"Then at least come hang out with us!" xB protested.

"Again," Wels chuckled. "I'm busy."

"That's garbage," Hypno scoffed. "You can spare some time." Wels raised an eyebrow, to which Hypno just stared back.

"You seem awfully insistent," he remarked. "Something you're not saying?"

Yes, xB's brain whispered. Jevin needs you, but he's too afraid to say it.

"No," Hypno lied. "You know what? Fine. We'll leave you alone. Come on, xB."

xB swallowed hard and nodded, going to join his boyfriend. Wels looked mildly confused and maybe a little annoyed, but he just shrugged and let them leave without saying anything.

The walk back to xB's base was silent and awkward, that is, until they actually entered the base.

"I hate early season," Hypno grumbled the moment he stepped inside. Jevin glanced up at that, his face falling upon seeing that Wels wasn't with them.

"I'll wait a couple days," Jevin reasoned. "He can't be that busy. Right?"

Unsurprisingly, there was no response.

Jevin wiped the blood from his mouth, wincing as the stabbing pain kicked in. He'd had hanahaki for a week or so, and apparently, the universe was out to get him. Maybe it was the degree of attraction he felt for Wels, or maybe it was the fact that hanahaki and Wels along with it was haunting his every thought, but it felt like everything was progressing a lot quicker than it was supposed to.

Xisuma once said something about the sevrer's lightning-quick processors having something to do with the speed of illness, Jevin thought. Maybe that's why it feels like everyone who catches this Void-forsaken disease ends up sprouting flowers in practically no time at all.

Jevin grit his teeth and continued to swing his pickaxe at the stone in front of him. Deep in the caves, he poured down a water bucket to wash his blood away before continuing on with his mining.

As he continued, he felt himself growing more and more sick to the stomach, until eventually, he had to sit down. Bile rose in his throat, the metallic taste of blood on his tongue, and in that moment, deep in the caves, he wanted nothing more than to simply erase his emotions for Wels.

But he couldn't.

He was stuck with these lung-eating feelings, and there was nothing he could do about i-

Wait.

If he didn't feel so sick, he would've sat up in a rush as the thought came into his head.

I could kill my feelings for Wels, Jevin thought. They're going to get me killed. What's the worst that could happen?

Admittedly, he didn't know much about the potion, but surely preserving his friendship with Wels would be worth it.

Making up his mind, he stood up on shaking legs to go and see what he could do about a potion.

The next two weeks were spent inside his base, alone, tediously brewing. It wasn't one of the potions that the standard books had, but rather one of the more complicated ones. Unfortunately, it could only be made once per server, so he couldn't drop it. It was a painful process, the mix of throwing up and avoiding Hypno and xB. Unsurprisingly, Wels never came.

But that was okay.

Wels didn't like him back. That was why he was avoiding him.

But unfortunately, that exact thought laced his mind around the clock, meaning that he was constantly thinking about Wels. Wels and his eyes, Wels and his voice, Wels and his Void forsaken-

Stop, Jevin thought fiercely. You're almost done with this. Then you can kill these thoughts and just get it over with.

He didn't know quite how mistaken he was.

Sitting inside his base, Jevin stared at the bottle in his hand. It was filled with a cloudy liquid, the potion that would cure him. Something about it was daunting, like a mistake liquified, a mistake that he couldn't identify.

He opened the bottle and took a deep breath, bracing himself.

Just as that happened, the door opened.

"Oh my god, Jevin," Wels's voice rung through, but it was too late for Jevin to register anything. "I completely forgot that you wanted to talk to me, I-"

And then his eyes landed on Jevin.

Jevin, with a flower coming from his neck.

Jevin, with blood on his clothes.

Jevin, with a potion that held more danger than he knew.

"No-" was all Wels could breathe out before Jevin pressed the rim of the bottle to his lips and drank it.

"No no no!!" Wels shouted, rushing over to take it away, do something, because orchids were his favorite and oh god, this is what Jevin wanted to talk to me about-, and just maybe it would be okay if he could save Jevin.

But it was too late.

Jevin gasped out a breath as he finished the potion and only then did he see Wels, and his eyes were full of horror right before he blacked out.

"Jev? Jevin? Nod once if you can hear me."

Jevin groaned and blinked his eyes open, managing a weak nod. Before him was some kind of knight, someone vaguely familiar, but there weren't any memories that he could place with him.

"Welsknight?" and the word slipped out, a name, but also something else. Something far more... distant. Confusion flashed on the knight's face for half a second before it was replaced with a smile.

"Hey, Jev," he whispered, his smile turning teary. But it was wrong, because why was he crying and why did he keep calling him Jev?

Jevin hardly knew this person, why was he so... attached to him?

"So you know who I am," Wels mused. "That's surprising. Do you remember why you blacked out?"

"No," Jevin replied.

"Can you think of any other Hermits?" Wels asked.

"Sure," Jevin shrugged. "Hypno and xB are my best friends."

Something else- was it hurt?- flashed across Wels's face.

"Uh, Xisuma is our Admin," Jevin said slowly. "I- sorry if this is rude- but we don't really talk much, so uh-"

"'Don't really talk much'?" Wels echoed, trying and clearly failing to keep his voice neutral. Jevin nodded.

Maybe it was just him, but Wels seemed to deflate.

"How do you feel right now?" he finally asked.

"Nothing," Jevin replied. "Just... nothing."

Wels stood up.

"Stay here," he said in a voice that Jevin could only describe as broken. "I'm gonna get Hypno and xB."

The moment Wels left, the excitement to see his friends set in.

When the pair entered, xB didn't say anything, just rushed over and hugged Jevin. Jevin smiled and returned the hug, though he wasn't really sure why it was so fierce.

Hypno joined them a second later, but his smile was bitter. Sad, even. Everyone's reactions were starting to freak him out, but Jevin didn't voice his thoughts.

"So... you really don't remember Wels?" xB finally mumbled.

"I know who he is," Jevin corrected him. "I just... don't know him that well, that's all."

"I'm just happy you're alive," xB finally murmured. "Even if it means..."

"'Still alive'?" Jevin echoed, horrified. "The hell?" Hypno and xB shared a glance.

"Don't worry about it," Hypno finally said. "Come on."

And as they left, any and all thoughts of Wels stayed behind to rot.

It had been a month since Jevin had taken the potion and stopped feeling anything around Wels.

To be honest, it sucked.

It absolutely sucked, because Wels couldn't even be friends with him, as it was pretty uncomfortable for Jevin.

So he just drifted away, stayed distant to Jevin, let him live in his own world, no matter how much it hurt.

Wels sighed to himself as he sorted out his items, trying not to think about Jevin. Trying not to think about how if he'd just listened, Jevin wouldn't have had to lose his emotions for Wels.

And Wels returned them.

He'd just been too late.

Wels coughed, then froze.

Horror filled his body as his eyes watched something slowly drift to the ground.

A single flower petal lay in front of him.

One word, breathed out as the realization of his situation hit.

"No."

whoopsie daisy I just doomed wels to death haha anyways

-Storm