"That was probably the most boring class so far!" A German accent cut through the crowd, finding his way to his friend waiting outside for him.

"Well don't say that right next to the door, Doc." His friend chuckled. "He might assign you more work if he hears you."

He was crossing his arms in confidence with a smug look. Having a seat closer to the front was really coming in handy as he had predicted, and getting out of the classroom first everyday was his way of proving it to the creeper. He flashed a tired smile through the mask he wore and let his white hair fall back over his face, hardly holding up even with the bandana wrapped around his head.

"Damn Etho, you look worse for wear today." Their third friend came up from the other side of them from the classroom across the hall and didn't waste time slinging his elbow on the canadian. An act of friendship he was used to by now.

"You seem happy Beef, good class?" Doc asked as the trio made their way down the hall.

"You guys are really missing out!" Beef started, "They have the full section of knives, plus the plan is so diverse this year!"

To a stranger it would sound as if he was planning a murder -no confirmation or denial there- but Etho and Doc thankfully knew he was excited about the cooking class he had worked up the courage to take this year.

"There's going to be food from all over the world- scratch that, we're going to make food from all over the world. Ren's in it too, and once we pick stations and stuff we can probably partner up." Beef continued, excitement filling his voice. "I think he knows a person there too, so groups of three would work great. I'm not sure if it's 3 or 4 per station though."

"That sounds awesome dude! We'll have to walk in and steal food from time to time." Doc chuckled. "Or is the teacher strick?"

"Nah she's pretty chill, but just in case, I'll bring some food out here so you two don't make a mess inside."

"Are you saying we're messy?" Doc faked offence and put his metal hand to his chest.

"Well I'd say the standards for cleanliness are pretty low in there- she told us a story of some kid getting pasta on the ceiling- but it still might be crowded, and you might be able to break the record if you aren't careful."

"Break the record of pasta on the ceiling. I can't say I wouldn't like to go down a legend." Doc flashed a grin and crossed his arms across his chest.

"What about you Etho? You seem awfully quiet, how was the nerd programming class?" Beef asked.

"It was great!" Etho put his thumbs up a little awkwardly, his way of showing he was sincere.

"It was boring." Doc said at the same time, dropping his smile and relaxing his shoulders.

"Mixed reactions I see." Beef chuckled. He took his arm off Etho's shoulder and skipped a step ahead so he could walk backwards and face the two, "So which was it?"

"He kept droning on about wires in the lightswitch near the door." Doc complained.

"And told us we're going to actually get to code robots!" Etho countered.

"And his voice was so dull and slow. It was like not even he wanted to be there." Doc said.

"Well when has a college teacher liked their job? Other than cooking and arts classes of course. At least he tried to smile at the basics he's totally repeated thousands of times."

"And there's going to be soooo much homework!"

"Well duh, it's college." Etho chuckled.

"Soo Doc hates it and Etho loves it." Beef concluded. They made it down the hallway and beef opened the door for the two with a dramatic bow, getting a muttered thanks from Etho and a scoff and an eye roll from Doc- his way of saying thank you.

"Pretty much." Doc answered.

"Yep." Etho yawned and slowly blinked his eyes to readjust them to the light outside.

"I just want to do the hands-on work ya know?" Doc said, "This nerd here loves computer code but I want to do the real work."

"Code is real work Doc, without it, whatever you're making can't work." Etho yawned again and stuffed his hands into his pockets. It wasn't quiet sweater weather yet, but that wasn't stopping him from starting early.

"Are you ok Etho? You seem a bit tired." Beef asked, glancing at Etho's tired face and being met with eyebags he just noticed.

"Yeah I just didn't get great sleep. I'm fine, it'll wear off." Etho waved it off.

"Well what are you doing for the rest of the day?" Doc asked a little suspiciously.

"I'm just going to head to our apartment and finish up the coding work, then maybe get ahead on some of the environmental science and bio work."

"Dude you need a break, it's the first day of the school year, and you're already exhausting yourself." Beef said.

Etho shrugged like he wasn't sure. To him it just wasn't that big of a deal. Plus he was a night owl anyway, what one or two sleepless nights that ended up in him being productive.

"Yeah, Vintage is right. If you don't relax we're going to force you too." Doc said sternly.

"That won't work, he'll just stay up all night to catch up." Beef sighed in retaliation.

"You guys talk like I'm not even here-" Etho started.

"I could try to force him to sleep? We share an apartment." Doc offered, ignoring Etho. "I'm not sure if I could stop him from just getting up when I pass out though."

"And I have a zero hour tomorrow so I can't stay over and keep watch on him." Beef continued, also ignoring Etho.

"You're taking a zero hour in college!?" Doc exclaimed, "What the hell Beef!"

"Hey, it offered free extra credit for math! And it's only one day a week, I can survive that."

"You'll be eating your words when you have to skip breakfast for it." Doc muttered. "Can you believe this guy?" Doc nudged Etho with a mix between a scoff and a chuckle lining his voice. At least he acknowledged Etho was there again.

"Oh oh! I just thought of how we can get Etho to relax!"

"I'm still right here guys-"

"What is it, Beef?" Doc interrupted Etho again.

"We could all go to that coffee shop! Ya know, the one we found a while ago? Then Etho can still be a nerd and get too far ahead in every class he has, but he still has to hang out with us and relax. Plus coffee!"

"Ooh great idea!" Doc said. "What'd you say Etho, man?"

"Actually I should probably just head home 'cause it's quiet an-" Etho tried to decline.

"Glad you agree!" Beef interrupted with a grin. He looked around to figure out what direction the shop was to them and pulled Etho's wrist towards the sharp angle they needed to turn. Doc chuckled and followed them. He knew Etho wasn't getting out of this.

----

They arrived at the cafe, this time Doc opened it to stop Beef from embarrassing the two with a dramatic bow, and the warm smell of coffee filled the air and washed over them. Despite having huge windows on one wall to let the currently harsh outside light in, it was still warm and cozy with a feel that could cure any winter depression in a second. It thankfully wasn't too crowded, probably because it was an odd time of day to come at. Most people didn't get their dose of caffeine in the afternoon after most college classes.

There were a few people with headphones on in various places in the room, probably doing exactly what Etho was planning to do -college homework- and Etho had to admit that the atmosphere was pretty perfect for studying.

"Whadda you think?" Beef grinned.

"Yeah I guess it's nice, but the real question is if the coffee's any good." Etho said.

"It is man." Doc confirmed. "Me and Beef found it awhile back and we can confirm it should meet your standards."

"What standards?" Etho chuckled.

Doc didn't answer the question and scanned the room. "There's a table over there we could sit at."

"Well since you two are such experts of the place, I'll let you order for me." Etho said, not bothering to scan the menu. "Just get me something with extra caffeine."

"Ahp!" Beef made a sound to get their attention. "If we do that you're just going to sit in the corner alone while we wait and get lost in homework. I'll sit with you to make sure you relax a little. Doc, you get the coffee."

Etho rolled his eyes, since there was no arguing with Beef. He had predicted exactly what he was planning to do.

Doc nodded and made his way over to the counter to order while Etho and Beef got the table. It was a nice spot that had a good view of the whole room while still being away enough from the crowds for Etho's standards, and the chairs were way more comfortable than they looked. Etho let himself relax a little and smiled at Beef across from him as he flipped open his laptop. Afterall, Beef still said he could do homework while they talked, and Etho was a master at multitasking.

He looked towards the counter Doc had walked up to and noticed the barista chatting happily while he supposedly was getting Doc's order.

"If Doc gets me decaf, someones dying."

---------

(1600 words above the line!)

Thanks for reading the first chapter of this nonsense! If you liked it, maybe vote or share with your friends? And if you're so starved for Hermitcraft content that you happened to find my small account, I have a few other Hermitcraft books still active I refuse to give up on that you could read! Thanks for reading, and have a great day or night!