(forgot to write a chapter title last night sorry! I know this one sucks but I couldn't think of anything else, but if any of you think of a better one comment it!)

"Woah, this place is gorgeous!" Stress complimented as she looked around the area.

"Uh, thanks?" Skeppy responded awkwardly. It wasn't like he designed it or anything, he just worked here.

"Thank you!" Niki smiled, taking the compliment.

"Alright, I'll show you two the flower shop first since it's a little closer, then we can go to the cafe." Niki decided. Etho, Xisuma, Cleo and Stress nodded while Grian and Iskall looked to Skeppy for their plan.

"Uhm, we can just go straight to the portal?" He offered awkwardly.. Again.

Grian shrugged with a smile and Iskall gave a silent thumbs-up as they waited to go their separate ways from the rest of the group.

From their view, the flower shop was to their left, the portal straight ahead, and the cafe to the right in a nice open area you could easily run around in. There were more shops near the cafe corner and small trees and other flora closer to the flower shop and portal. The area was pretty empty with the portal being closed and it just overall being a slow time of year, but it was easy to imagine the place bustling with people and creatures from anywhere and everywhere.

Niki turned to the blue-hoodied weirdo before any of them separated.

"We should go over the supplies we need after we hand off our shops and, ehm- portal. Meet me at the cafe when you finish?" She offered.

Skeppy nodded and hummed. It would probably be helpful, considering he didn't really know what he was getting into heading to Earth. It had been a hot second since he had actually gone through the very portal he guarded; Little nervous to say the least.

The groups split off and waved to each other, calling out byes and other things like that even if they were still all pretty close to one another.

Xisuma and Etho inhaled the sweet scent of flowers as they entered the small shop. X's bees immediately rushed towards the colorful array of flowers and happily sat in the petals.

Niki giggled as she cooed at them, then made her way behind the counter, motioning for the other two to follow. Cleo and Stress had decided to stay outside to keep it less crowded, which helped for the small back room.

"Alright so here's the aprons for the garden." She said as she dug through a cabinet on the farthest wall.

"They're optional; But if you feel like gardening out back, then holding tools in the pockets is usually helpful." She tossed two of them behind her back and Etho caught both. He handed one to the bee enthusiast who beamed as he put it on immediately, while he himself just threw the other over his shoulder for now.

She closed the cabinet door and pointed to a poster on the wall.

"Here are the watering charts for each plant," She explained. "They look confusing, but I promise it's not too complicated. The rule of thumb is that if the soil is dry, water it. If it's pooling on the top for more than a few seconds, pour some out or use a towel if you need."

They both nodded, having probably already known that, as Niki led them back to the counter up front.

"Here's the cash register, I assume you know how to use one?"

"Yep!"

"Mhm!"

"Great. Here's the chart for costs of things and arrangements on the walls. Most are done by weight on these scales, but a few of them have individual price tags. Potted plants out back all have labels on them." She explained as she led them to the back.

It was quite pretty outside with trees lining the corners behind and in front of the gate guarding all of the plants. The flowers smelled just as nice, but with the added benefit of a light breeze to keep them cool and fresh. Xisuma immediately knew where he was going to be spending most of his time, and the bees around him seemed to agree.

Etho gave a quiet chuckle and silently agreed to take up the counter work so X could enjoy his time out here. Plus inside had wifi and a chair, which was all he needed during a slow work day.

Niki headed back inside, and X reluctantly followed with Etho.

"I'm not sure how long I'll be gone, but it shouldn't be more than a few days. Oh- and if you have any questions feel free to call me!" She smiled, writing down her number on a 3x5 card and pinning it to the wall with a spare tack.

"This is a lot, you run all of this by yourself? Plus the cafe?" X asked, skimming over a few of the charts she had shown them.

"Oh I run this shop with Puffy, actually! She works at the hospital part time though, so I'm thinking about hiring some help soon."

"That sounds like a good idea, don't want to overwork yourself!"

"I won't, I promise! Thank you guys so much again for the help," Niki said cheerfully, handing Etho the keys.

"It's no problem!" Xisuma smiled. Etho was quiet, but he nodded and had a clear smile in his eyes even if his mouth was covered by the mask.

"I should go to the cafe now," She walked towards the door, and grabbed the handle. "-and as a thank you, anything you get over there is on the house!"

"Free coffee!" Etho cheered and raised his fist in the air.

X chuckled with Niki and she walked out of the door, letting it shut behind her.

Cleo and Stress waved from a few feet away as Niki walked towards them and the cafe.

"Saving the best for last I see; Good choice!" Cleo joked, resting her arm on Stress's shoulder as the three walked together.

They passed Skeppy and the portal, and Niki waved to them. Iskall poked Skeppy's shoulder to get his attention.

"Huh?-" Skeppy looked up from the buttons he was explaining. "Oh- Hey!"

"Remember to meet me at the cafe when you're done!" She called out, cupping her hands around her mouth so he could hear her better.

He held up a double thumbs-up. "I will!"

After the brief interaction with Niki, he looked back at the scanner and pointed to a white button next to it.

"Alright, so this button does the scanning and tells you the basics of the person and whether they're permitted or not, which is helpful for obvious reasons." He paused and pointed the biggest button to the right of all of the rest of them, a bright red color. "And this is the actual button to open the portal. Along with this one-" He pointed to a blue one next to the red one, "To close it."

Skeppy looked at the two to see if they seemed confused at all, and relaxed a little when they nodded along with everything he had said.

"And that pretty much wraps it up!" He waved his hand over the controls dramatically. "Any questions?"

"Uh- yeah! When do we get to fight people?!" Grian asked enthusiastically, flapping the tiny wings on his back in excitement.

Skeppy put his hand on his neck and rubbed it awkwardly, "Oh, well uhm- hopefully you won't need to fight anyone."

"Aw, maybe the prison one would have been more exciting," Iskall pouted jokingly. "At least this job is near the sweets place." They pointed to the cafe.

They all agreed that was a massive plus.

"In absolute case you do need to though, do you both have weapons? At least to use them to block the portal to someone trying to jump through..." His voice wavered with the last line. The image of Dream shoving him to the side flashed before his eyes and he shook his head to clear it like an etch-n'-sketch, hoping they didn't notice. Neither mentioned it.

Iskall whipped out a gleaming trident from his hoodie pocket which was no doubt a sewn-in magic bag of holding, and Grian summoned a dark purplish sword from thin air.

Both looked good as new, and Skeppy couldn't help but to compare it to the gear him and Velvet had used before. It outweighed their's indefinitely. Even Iskall's trident looked in much better shape than Bad's, clean and cut to perfection.

Skeppy hummed in approval, a twinge of jealousy knotting in his stomach that he only had the rag-tag supplies they had picked up randomly, when they were the one's actually going on the probably dangerous mission.

"Hey if you're not comfortable with answering it's cool, but do you mind explaining what's really going on?" Iskall asked.

"O-oh, uhm-" Skeppy stuttered a little.

"All we know is that we were called over for a dangerous mission or something. Doc's friend called him, then Doc told Xisuma and Xisuma told us that we were going on an adventure. Now we're guarding a portal?"

Skeppy took a deep breath. "Basically, we had a mission, and thought it worked out, but the guy escaped, and now we have to get him again. There's not much more I can say."

There was a pang of sharpess from his side, and held himself back from clutching his side and wincing in front of the hermits.

"So..- this is like mission 2, electric boogaloo?" Grian asked with a stupid smile on his face. Iskall broke out into a full hearted laughter while Skeppy chuckled even though he didn't quite get it. Probably an inside joke.

"Alright man, go get prepared for your mission redo. We got this covered." Iskall nodded with a reassuring smile.

Skeppy nodded. "Thanks again, guys. You're really lifesavers- I'll see you again when the whole gang meets up here."

"You're welcome! Also, we should trade numbers so we can send you the pictures from before," Grian added.

"Oh yeah, good idea-" Skeppy fumbled to get his phone out.

They traded phone numbers and made a group chat together, which Grian quickly named: 'Portal buddies!'

"Heh," Skeppy laughed but didn't change it. He realised he sounded like Technoblade and mentally cursed himself for it.

The red sweatered gremlin quickly sent the pictures they had taken of the balancing circus act from earlier, and the unsuccessful ones right after. They had a good laugh, with Skeppy adding the one with him on the ground and Grian flying above, and Bad to the side looking pretty tired of their nonsense, to his favorites.

The one where Grian successfully balanced on Skeppy's box didn't have Bad in it.

"Alright, well I better head to the cafe before I forget. Thanks again, again!"

"No problem!"

"See ya dude!"

Being reminded of Bad, he checked his phone to see if Bad had said anything in chat about Techno's message yet.

Nada.

He sighed and pocketed it, feeling a sinking feeling in his stomach.

"Maybe he is with Techno right now and that's why he didn't need to text back on the group chat?" Skeppy considered over in his head. "Yeah. maybe." He didn't really believe himself, but it was the only excuse he could think of that ensured Bad was safe.

He thought back to the conversation earlier with Fundy and the others. He hadn't really been paying attention-- Sapnap's statement had caught him a little more off guard than he wanted to admit --but he remembered something about a lab? Supplies maybe? It seemed safe enough at least.

Bad was probably perfectly fine, maybe whatever they did ended early so he went off to help another person trusting Skeppy with the portal, and simply forgot to check his phone.

Did notifications even work in the void?

That seemed like an answer Skeppy should've known.

He sighed, his thoughts being ended short by the building in front of him. He clicked the side of his box, cutting off half of the facial expression to just the tongue sticking out, and pushed the door open.

Niki welcomed the hermits in as she held open the door for the two, letting the waft of delicious treats and coffee hit them smack in the face before they even made it through the door.

"Oh this smells wonderful!"

"We definitely got the best pick! Bet X and Etho feel stupid now." Cleo smirked welcoming the place with open arms. Literally, as she walked inside and took it all in.

Niki giggled and led them to the back, showing them the small, but cozy kitchen she had.

"Oh oh oh! Can we bake things?!" Stress asked excitedly, bouncing on her heels.

"Of course! If you want to, that is. It's optional, but I like to do it to serve my customers the best there is."

"Yes!"

Cleo hummed in approval and stole a glance at the pink hermit who was having trouble containing her excitement. Niki handed them both aprons and showed them the fire extinguisher clearly, hoping silently they wouldn't need it. Cleo looked thankful the cafe had one, which slightly concerned the cafe owner.

Next she showed them how to work the coffee machine and other things like it, and showed them the posters with the prices. It was a little old school, but she hadn't had the money to upgrade to the tablets most stores had, so this worked for now.

"I think that's everything to it! It's not that busy right now as you can see so it shouldn't be too hard to handle, but if you need help in any way don't be afraid to call." Niki said as she repeated her number on a scrap piece of paper this time, putting it on the counter instead of the wall.

"Thank you both so much for the help. It truly helps a lot."

"No problem, luv!" Stress gave her a hug and although surprised, Niki didn't pull back.

"Of course! Any friend of Doc's or Doc's friends is a friend of ours!" Cleo shot her finger guns with a wide grin.

Right as Niki was about to thank them again, a familiar bell stopped her short.

Skeppy stepped through with his hands in his pockets, taking one out awkwardly to wave. The screen had the tongue sticking out, with the eyes the only form of emotion that could be seen.

"Uhm hi?" He really hoped he wasn't interrupting anything. If she wasn't finished, he was fine with sitting in a booth and waiting a couple of minutes.

"Hello!"

"Heya!"

The hermits said in union.

"Oh hi Skeppy! Perfect timing, I just finished." She smiled and handed the keys of the place to Cleo, who put them on the counter to fiddle with something on her wrist.

"Oh good few," He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, "Didn't want to interrupt anything."

"Nope, ready to make a list of supplies?"

"Yeah, I keep feeling like I'm going to forget something at the last minute. This'll help."

Niki turned back to make sure the hermits had everything they needed. While she went to the back for a second to answer some question Cleo asked that Skeppy couldn't hear, Skeppy decided to busy himself.

He grabbed a convenient pen from the counter and pulled up his sleeve, planning to write on his arm. He thought about a napkin for a split second before releasing it would probably rip and be more hassle than it was worth, plus the pen would wash his arm sooner or later.

Niki was turned around and helped them with something about bowls for baking? Recipes? Eh he wasn't really listening.

Instead, he was more focused on the turquoise splotches now running down his arm all the way to his wrist, clear as day in the cafe. He didn't give his eyes an extra second to analyze them or his brain an extra second to think about it, pulling his hoodie sleeve back down as fast as humanly possible. Or now, thinking about whatever the hell this weird blue stuff was, not so "human-ly".

Niki turned back and walked around the counter not a second too early.

"Uh hey-" His voice cracked halfway through his two word sentence. "Do you have scratch paper to write on?"

Niki hummed and looked around for scratch paper. She frowned, coming up short.

"I only have paper cups, is that ok?"

"Yeah whatever works." He quickly said, forcing himself to take a quiet breath and relax.

They sat down in one of the booths while Stress and Cleo idly chatted in the background. Stress was trying to help Cleo get her hair in a messy bun, which was proving difficult with how frizzy and tangled it was, but both were having a good time.

Niki joined him on the opposite side of the booth and slid over the paper cup so he could write.

"Alright, do you have weapons, armor, shields, battle stuff in general? Or do you need stuff? I'm sure Philza would be happy to lend some stuff you you needed-"

"Don't worry I have all of that sorted out. Me and Sapnap made a fun trip to Hell to get it, and I have it at home."

"Oh that sounds fun!" Niki chuckled. Skeppy mumbled something under his breath which sounded like a: 'you have no idea' but she couldn't be sure.

"So, we have no idea how long we're going to be on Earth, and if we're tracking the guy I doubt we can stay at a hotel or something. That means camping supplies!" Niki smiled. The thought of sleeping under the stars and walking in nature with a bunch of friends actually sounded really relaxing, even if they were chasing down a psychopath during it all. It might actually serve as a break from work the more she thought about it!

"Tents, sleeping bags, food-" Skeppy started, "It would be really helpful to know how long this is going to take." Skeppy mumbled.

"Well how long did it take the first time?" Niki asked. She was there for the end of it, but still didn't have the full details about what went down before that.

"About a day, I guess. But that was only Dream, not 4 of them, and Sapnap died. We probably need to be more careful this time. I'd prefer not to end up in the hospital a second time." He mumbled again. Which really did nothing, Niki could hear everything he said from so close.

"Good thing he had crystals. Do you know if we have any this time?"

"I'm not sure," Skeppy felt the crystal Bad had given him in his pocket but ignored it. "I think a few of them still have theirs from the first run but that's about it."

"Alright, extra careful then." Niki nodded.

"Flashlights, night vision potions and warm clothes would be good too," Skeppy said, writing everything on the cup as best he could. "Velvet's probably at Ant's shop with him; I'll text him to get a few if he hasn't already. "

"This is going to be a pain to carry, so I guess bags of holding would come in handy? I'm sure Techno has some, and quite a few of our friends can use the void."

"Yeah I'm sure to have at least one good one at home. Plus I have camping stuff from that one time I tried a long time ago. Probably still in good condition right?"

"As good as we can manage. We don't really have time to buy new supplies huh?" Niki chuckled awkwardly, a little bit of fear lining her voice.

"Yeah.."

There was a moment of silence and the two heard the hermits in the back laughing and talking comfortably. Very different mood from their situation. Niki broke the silence.

"So camping stuff, and we both have armor. Bags of holding to carry everything and if we don't have any, then ask Sap or Bad to us the void if they can handle it. Do you have all of that down?"

"Yup!" Skeppy whipped out his phone and took a picture of the cup with the notes on it. He quickly sent it to Niki so she would have the notes too.

She heard the notification and opened it up to save it.

"Jeez, your handwriting is terrible!" She laughed quietly.

"Oh come on! The cup is hard to write on!"

She just laughed more and hearted the poorly taken picture so she easily could look back at it later. Also it was funny.

They both scooted out of the booth.

"Hey, could I use the bathroom before I go, and uhm, grab a muffin?" Skeppy rubbed his neck and asked sheepishly.

"Of course! There's only one left I think though, and it won't be warm."

"Oh that's fine, I'm planning on saving it for later anyway."

Skeppy closed the bathroom door and let out a sigh. He took off his box and looked at his reflection in the mirror. The blue had spread more, farther than the makeup that he had put on covered, and he swore one of his eyes was sparking more than it should have in the dim bathroom light.

He shook his head, trying to brush off the thought completely. He had more concealer at home and unless you looked closely the eye thing wasn't noticeable. It was fine.

He pulled up his hoodie and stared at the scar. The black lines were creeping up further and made him wince when he pushed a little too hard.

He ran his hand through his hair, almost considering keeping his box off until they all met up as he winked at himself in the mirror.

"Fluffy as always."

He chuckled at the thought of Bad messing with his hair, before feeling an odd knot in his stomach.

"Oh right, he hasn't seen the blue yet-"

He glanced at the ground and sighed, picking his box back up and putting it back on.

He decided he was thinking too much, (And going insane, talking to himself with no one there.) and decided to get out and stop worrying.

It was take two electric boogaloo or something? Yeah. Right. And that sort of comforted his nerves, knowing this was a redo and they had a little more experience under their belts. He gave a half hearted smile at the mirror and the box reflected it completely.

It was going to be ok.

Niki handed him a paper bag with the last muffin in the store for him.

"On the house." She gave him a kind smile.

"Thanks Niki." He smiled brightly, feeling a little better. She noticed the screen was back to normal.

"See you here at 3 ok?" Niki asked.

"Mmm," He hummed with a confirming nod.

He waved as the little bell signaled his departure and let it close behind him, putting the muffin in the empty cup and both his hoodie pocket to free his hands. He grabbed out his phone, glancing at it again.

Still no notifications.

Right as he was about to pocket it, he felt a familiar buz and pulled his attention back to the screen quickly.

Muffin head: hey geppy! I got a cape at Ant's shop from the hermit-friends! Want one?

Skeppy's face lit up in more than one way and he unlocked his phone to answer.

There was a picture of Bad in a red cape with a black fade and a large hood. He was smiling at the camera, with counters and shelves littered with potions behind him.

Diamond Boi: u look awesome! ;) and nah thanks, don;t want a cape to get the way while we're chasing the baddies

Muffinhead: alright, your loss! Wanna meet at the portal a few minutes early and get some cafe treats?

Diamond Boi: sounds great, I just have to head home to grab the hll gear me and sap got, then im all ready!

Diamond Boi: also me and niki thought night vision pots would be helpful for camping, you said you're at Ant's so could u get some?

Muffinhead: already on the list!

Diamond Boi: see ya at 2:50ish then?

Muffinhead: yep! bye geppy! <3

Diamond Boi: see ya Badboy~!

Skeppy realised the typo as he hit enter, but shrugged it off. He felt his muscles relax now that he knew Bad was safe and felt more comfortable to leave him alone for more time. Plus he got to see him a little earlier than 3 which was a plus. All he had to do now was hurry home and grab the supplies, shove them in a magic bag of holding, cover a few annoying blue spots, find the meaning of life, and meet Bad at the portal early! No problem!

A few seconds after Skeppy left, another person briskly walked into the doorway. His yellow sweater popped out and Niki noticed him quickly.

"Wilbur! How are you doing?" She started his coffee before he said a word. The hermits were still in the back, possibly preparing to bake some of their own goods with the recipes she showed them, and she knew his order by heart anyway.

"Could I actually have an extra shot or two in that?" Wilbur asked with a slight chuckle.

She looked at his face more clearly now that he was closer and noticed the bags under his eyes. It could've been explained by the fact he hadn't had his normal morning coffee yet, but this seemed a little worse than that. His hair was a little messier than normal, some parts of it dried to his face in a way he didn't care to fix.

"Oh- uhm sure.... Are you alright Wilbur?"

"Heh, yeah. I think. Unexpected takeover of government property drained a bit more out of me than I expected." He chuckled, tiredness lining his voice clearly.

"Government property? Techno would be proud." She chuckled, not even questioning what he stole.

"I'm sure he would be, even if he claims he doesn't need them. Glad to see you haven't left yet though, are you still going to Phil's place for gear right?"

"Yeah, do you need supplies from them too?" She asked, finishing the coffee, adding the extra shots before closing the top off.

"I might snag a sword or bow, but I have the rest covered."

"Care to walk together?" She asked, sliding over the coffee to him.

"Of course, Niki!" He smiled, grabbing the coffee and relaxing a little when he took a sip. He slid the exact cost on the counter.

She turned around and went to the back while Wilbur waited patiently.

"You guys all good? I need to head to a friend's place for gear." Niki told the hermits in the kitchen. They had already gotten to work on what looked like cookies, and even just the dough smelled amazing.

"We're all good! You go get prepared for your mission!" Cleo called out.

"Thanks so much again for all of the help!"

"It's no problem luv, now go and get the cool battle gear! And send us a picture of you with it! I'm sure you'll look gorgeous."

"Aw thanks! Bye!"

"Have fun!"

"Kill someone for us!"

"Cleo!"

"What? They've said mission so many times I can only assume they're out for someone's blood!"

Niki giggled and left the two to their cooking.

Her and Wilbur left the cafe towards the ice portal, talking about guitars and adventure, respectively, as you do.

Time to get some cool gear!

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Right- so sorry this took so long to get out! But thank you for reading! I'm currently drawing the cover for both books, and once I get on a good stopping point with this book I'm probably gonna take a week break to edit and fully finish the last one, also re-reading it so I remember what I wrote and don't screw things up. Anyway thanks again and have a good day or night!

(and if you saw this being published twice then no you didn't)

edit: so i posted this right before i went to sleep and realized i forgot to write a chapter title and credit StarFox (my sibling) for helping me edit a ton of this! so if you liked this chapter then maybe it was their writing you liked, and if it was, go check out their Hermitcraft camping story that's also posted on my account since they don't have one!

link to their's: https://www.wattpad.com/1111493547-hermitcraft-camping-trip-high-school-au-chapter-1/comment/1111493547_c8a51caedf1ebdf6e0eb42d53cc5f048_1629188516_090fac5478

thanks for reading and have a good day or night, bye!

edit again: right screw it i'm editing the old stuff now so i can remember what the heck i wrote since the next chapter sorta requires me to know what the heck is going on.