"So, you live at the lodge too?" Gem asked as Impulse joined her at the table for breakfast.

"Yeah, for now at least–"

"Yes, and he will be moving out soon." Xisuma interrupted Impulse mid answer, popping up from behind the demon and making him jump. Gem giggled a bit at Xisuma's sudden appearance.

Impulse sighed sarcastically and pushed back the wave of dread that came with Xisuma's remark. "Jeez, X. But yeah, I only arrived in the village a couple months back, and I decided to stay, become a hermit! Xisuma wants me to build my own house soon."

"Ooh!" Gem's eyes lit up. "Building is fun! What kind of style do you think you're gonna go for?"

Sighing again, Impulse shrugged. (He'd had a hunch Gem was a builder, she seemed the type. Hunch confirmed. Ugh.) "I'm not sure, I haven't done much building. Maybe something cottage-y?" He waved his hand in a so-so motion.

"You could get help with it you know," Xisuma pointed out, sitting himself at the table across from the other two. "You could get advice from Scar, or- I'd say Bdubs but he can be... confusing."

"Scar's not that much better, honestly." Impulse laughed a bit, before sobering. If he really was going to be building a house, he wished he had either Pearl or Grian's help on it- but of course, they weren't here. "I wish I had their help," he found himself mumbling aloud on accident.

"Who?" Gem peeped with a curious tilt to her head, and Impulse realized he had, in fact, voiced that thought aloud.

"Just some old watcher friends of mine, they're good builders," Impulse answered honestly. He wasn't sure why he didn't lie like he always did. Something about Gem made him feel like he shouldn't, it was like she was too sweet and kind to lie to.

"You're friends with watchers?" Gem gasped, eyes widening with surprise. "That's cool!"

"Yep," Impulse answered, puffing up his chest. He put on a confident flair for Gem, but inside he was hyper aware of Fuzzy perched on the back of his horn, and of Xisuma's eyes on her. He hoped and prayed that Xisuma (and his stupidly mischievous expression) didn't say anything about the moth being a watcher's eye, because he didn't feel like talking about her right now. Something else might slip, other truths he'd been keeping to himself.

Instead, Xisuma decided to redirect the conversation. "So, maybe you could go ask your watcher friends for help building? Demons have transportation spells, you can go see them."

Impulse swallowed back a sudden lump in his throat. Xisuma's words felt like a horrible taunt, even though he hadn't meant them that way. "Right, transportation spells... haha..." he repeated nervously. The interdimensional transport spells that he didn't have . The spells he didn't have because he'd decided to be a crap demon and now he was on a punishment mission with locks on half his spells. He wasn't strong enough to break through the handcuffs on his magic. He couldn't tell the others that. Then they'd find out why he was really here.

"Umm," Lie- lie lie lie lie, now. He looked away from Gem, refusing to meet her eyes. "They're both really busy though... I wouldn't want to bother them, you know?"

A beat of silence passed between the other two. Xisuma and Gem shared a skeptical glance with one another, before Xisuma decided to gloss over his worry. "Sounds to me like an excuse to not build, but sure." He shrugged. Impulse could imagine he was smirking under his mask.

"Well, whatever you do end up deciding to build, I'm excited to see it!" Gem wrapped up, smiling encouragingly. Impulse let himself breathe internally, knowing they hadn't felt the need to push. His moment of reprieve was quickly interrupted by the doorbell ringing, and Gem jumping from her seat with an excited shout of "I'll get it!"

Xisuma took a moment to chuckle, eyes following Gem and watching the happy skip in her step until she was out of view. He turned back to Impulse with a softer look, something careful, quiet, and concerned. The mayor motioned towards the watcher's eye on Impulse's head. "Are you-"

"It's fine, She's- I'm fine." Impulse quickly deflected. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Okay," Xisuma returned, with nothing but a solemn nod. The end-born wasn't all that good at hiding his worry. Or his pity. Impulse looked down at the table and his breakfast that sat upon it, trying to ignore him.

Just as Impulse was about to give another basic, false reassurance that everything was fine to fill the empty, silent space, Gem came rushing back into the room, hooves clicking against the wood floors. Impulse looked back up, and Xisuma turned towards the sound.

"It was Tangy- no- Tango," Gem began before X could ask her anything. "He wants to bring me on his village tour!" She swiped her breakfast plate off the table, eating up the last few bites of the omelet she'd had before placing the dishes in the sink.

"Oh no, not the village tour," Impulse found himself groaning out with a laugh. That had been a trip for sure, when Tango had taken him on it.

"What's wrong with the village tour?! It sounds fun." Gem seemed offended.

"Well, it's something, that's for sure," he answered vaguely. The tour hadn't been bad necessarily, it was just tiring, and Tango did not know when to stop talking about all the wonderful things they could see. Gem just smiled and rolled her eyes, grabbing her windbreaker from off the back of her chair and heading back towards the front door.

"Why don't you go with them, Impulse?" Xisuma suddenly offered out of the blue, the other two turning their heads towards him.

After a beat, Impulse quipped back, "You just want me to go to keep Tango in check, don't you?"

"Whaaaat? No!" Xisuma laughed quickly. "It'll be fun, just go," he urged. "And," his voice dropped down lower, "You can look at the empty plots and free spaces again to pick where you want to build–"

"Okay, dad, I'll go." Impulse cut him off, sighing loudly and earning a full chested chuckle from Gem. After getting up and clearing his plate, Impulse ran over to meet Gem and follow her to the door, where Tango was waiting with his typical hyper expression, red eyes wide behind his glasses.

"Oh, Imp! You're coming too?" Tango's tone was friendly, and he bounced on his feet a little.

Impulse gave a quick nod. " Someone's gotta make sure you don't keep her until midnight," he teased.

The netherborn gasped in response. "Hey! I wouldn't!"

Gem moved to stand by Tango's side. "Yeah, he wouldn't! It's not gonna be that long," she said, sticking up for him.

Impulse just fell into laughter, giggling quietly as the three left the lodge. Oh, but she didn't know the full extent of Tango's tour guide 'abilities' at all. "Gem," Impulse leaned towards the newcomer, voice hushed in her ear. " My tour took two whole days."

Gem slowed down, one ear flicking. "Oh-"

Before she could speak up or back out, Tango took a step forwards and spun around theatrically. "Welcome to the Hermit-Village-Official-Tango-Tour!"

And thus, the tour had begun. Impulse nudged Gem with an elbow reassuringly. "Don't worry, It'll be fun!"

. . .

Shortly following Tango's tour (which only took one and a half days this time!) came the hermit's biweekly meeting. It went similarly to Impulse's first town meeting, all of the hermits going around and introducing themselves, and everyone having a good time all around. Gem was very happy to meet so many new faces, and everyone else was excited to meet her.

Then, shortly after the meeting, came a well planned and exciting get together that most of the hermits had decided to attend in order to interact with Gem some more. Much to everyone's enjoyment, Ren and Tango were hosting a bonfire.

The hermits had had many bonfires before, and it showed. The firepit was well worn, and the logs that surrounded it looked used and loved. Coals were piled up along one side, leaving a black residue on the bricks surrounding the pit.

Some hermits took it upon themselves to bring some extra goods to the bonfire, even though they didn't need to. Keralis brought along some fresh cut firewood. Bdubs came bearing several shulker boxes of blankets for the night, so many that he had to recruit Etho in helping to carry them down. And Scar brought a bunch of treats from his bakery to share. But one hermit's contribution in particular piqued Impulse's interest.

On one of the tables they'd set out, Stress had placed a small collection of snacks. There were some graham crackers, marshmallows, and even some bars of chocolate. Impulse had to admit he wasn't sure why she'd brought the strange assortment of food, but he assumed it might be some sort of tradition. Or, Stress did like baking, so maybe they were baking goods and she was going to try making a cake over the bonfire.

Ha! How silly, baking cake over a bonfire, that would never work. Impulse could see the image in the back of his mind though, and how much of a disaster it would probably turn out to be.

"We're gonna start the fa-fa-fa-fire!!!" Impulse heard Keralis call out, pulling him out of his imagination for the time being.

He turned around and watched as Keralis dumped an armful of wood into the firepit under Ren's supervision, before arranging them into neat shape, three logs sticking up to form a triangle of sorts. Then, rather than lighting a match, Keralis picked up Tango under the arms and tossed him into the firepit as well. "Burn fire boy, burn!"

With a chuckle at Keralis' enthusiasm, Tango lit his hands, hair, and tail aflame, and, subsequently, the fire starting materials piled around him. The bonfire roared to a start, flames stretching up and dancing high above the hermit's heads, and casting a warm glow into the dark clearing below. The hermits erupted into a chorus of cheers.

Tango took it all very humbly, leaping from the firepit no longer ablaze and giving the crowd an overly dramatic bow.

With the fire started, the gathering had officially begun. Most hermits stuck to milling around, causing chaos, and having a good time. Gem was the life of the party, her voice the loudest and her spirits the highest out of everyone.

After a while, Impulse noticed Cleo and Stress messing around with stuff on the snack table. He started to go over and ask the two what they were doing when Cleo spun around, a bag of marshmallows held over their head. "Who wants S'MORES!?" They shouted, addressing the whole crowd.

With a chitter of excitement, every hermit's hand went up with a chorus of 'me!'s that made it sound like they were in an elementary school classroom. Several hermits rushed over to the table, clamoring for whatever the two hermitgals had.

Meanwhile, Impulse was the only one who hadn't raised his hand, wondering what the fuck a s'more was.

"You don't want any?" Zedaph stood in front of him suddenly, head tipped curiously.

"Uh..." Impulse flicked his gaze down to Zed, the sheep hybrid's sudden appearance unexpected. "I've never... uhm- a what ?"

Zed's eyes widened. "Hold on, have you never had a s'more before?" Impulse shook his head.

In response, Zedaph grabbed him by the shoulders, his hold much tighter than necessary. He seemed both excited and horrified. "Oh. My. Void." He exclaimed, each word punctuated with a shake to Impulse's shoulders. "Follow. Me. NOW!"

Letting go of his shoulders in favor of taking his hand, Zed dragged Impulse over to the snack table in a matter of seconds.

"This man," Zed pointed to him upon arrival, looking to Stress and Cleo, "Has never experienced the joyous wonder that is provided by a s'more." Both hermits gaped, faces shifting into expressions that matched Zed's.

" How ?" Cleo questioned, more rhetorically than not.

"Nevermind that," Stress waved off the other, "Come 'ere luv, you have to try one! I'll show you how to make 'em!" The butterfly hybrid took Impulse by the wrist, and pulled him over so he could see all of the ingredients laid out.

"What is it?" Impulse mumbled, even though he knew he was about to be shown.

"They're these little samwiches you make wif' graham crackers, chocolate, and roasted marshmallos- they're really good, you'll like 'em!" Stress explained. Behind her, Cleo had grabbed a handful of evenly sized sticks, each about the length of their arm, and was passing them out to the hermits. Impulse was handed one, along with a marshmallow.

"First, you need ta cook up your marshmallo, so put it on a stick," Stress directed.

Zed took a marshmallow and demonstrated, skewering it on the end of a stick. Impulse narrowed his eyes in confusion, but followed along anyway, piercing his sugary treat with the stick he was given.

Stress made her own, and stepped over to the firepit. "Now, ya hold it over the fire to roast it. This part takes a bit more time." She extended her marshmallow over the fire, holding it carefully so that it wasn't directly in the flame, but still being slowly charred by it. Impulse followed suit, holding his right next to Stress' "Once you think it's done, you take it out and squish it flat between two crackers, with some chocolate in the middle too."

"Ah," Impulse hummed, looking over to the snack table. Tango hovered over the supplies, roasting his own marshmallows quickly and efficiently by hand, using his fire abilities. He constructed the s'mores carefully, and ate them much less carefully. These s'more things did look good, Impulse thought.

Approaching his other side, Zedaph let out a hum as he observed his and Stress' roasting progress. "I always do mine quickly, I don't like to wait." With that, he held his marshmallow on a stick into the lower part of the fire, instantly setting it aflame. He lifted it back quickly and blew out the flame, revealing a burnt marshmallow, charred and black instead of the toasty brown that everyone else's had.

As Zed made his way back to the snack table, he received the annoyed and exaggerated stares of Bdubs and Scar.

"Why do you do that?" Bdubs whined, "It ruins all the flavor!"

Zed, in response, stuck out his tongue, made his s'more, and ate it.

Gem approached that table with a marshmallow in a similar charred condition, giggling, "I like them like that too!"

Her words caused several other hermits to subsequently launch into arguments about the state in which they liked their mallows. It got rather heated , pun intended. Joe said something about never even roasting theirs that fully triggered someone else. Doc dived into a deep explanation of how he perfectly calculated the best way to make them. Gem and Zed stood by their opinions with stubborn ferocity.

Impulse just stood back and laughed at the chaos, taking his marshmallow out of the fire once it was done. He copied Stress as she showed him how to make a s'more, and even though his turned out looking a lot more messy than hers, it still looked wonderful.

"Go on, eat it," Stress said with a full mouth, hers already half gone.

Without any hesitation, Impulse dug in. The s'more was a crumbly, falling apart mess, but it was one hundred percent incredible.

Its taste and scent was like a warm hearth, like smoky, crackling firewood. It was sugary sweet, crunchy and soft and smooth, something kind to his tongue. It was perfectly imperfect. It was like home, this home, his home- it was everything it needed to be and nothing more.

"That. Is. Amazing," Impulse breathed out, smiling giddily. How had he never had one of these before? How had he lived without it?!

Bouncing on his toes, he pulled Stress into a quick hug that she'd been unprepared for, letting out a little squeak. "Thank you!!!" he cheered, voice a pitch higher than usual. "Aw, ya welcome!" Stress returned the embrace.

"They're the best! I'm gonna go make more!" Impulse exclaimed, releasing her with stars in his eyes. He scurried off to toast up some more marshmallows, happier than he'd been in quite a while.

. . .

Later, when Impulse had had his fill on s'mores, the hermits had settled down a little more, all sitting around the fire. Stories were being swapped back and forth, some fictional, some real, some small, and some grandiose. Gem had the most hermits huddled around her, asking for her to tell them tales of her travels and her past.

Impulse was relatively close to everyone else, sitting on a log next to Tango and Zedaph facing the firepit. He could feel the warmth from the fire on his face, and the warmth of the bodies pressed up against him. If he closed his eyes, he swore he could feel it more, could hear them and the crackling fire more.

Gem started talking about how she had really wanted to live in a new town as a fresh start, and because she wanted somewhere to belong. Impulse knew she would fit right in and belong perfectly here, and that she deserved to have that. He did wonder, though, if he belonged.

He wondered if this was his home too. It didn't really feel like something he could just call temporary anymore.

Zedaph rested his head on Impulse's shoulder, and Impulse pulled the hybrid closer with one arm. Yeah. This was happiness. This was family. This was home.

With a content sigh, Impulse focused on the heat of the fire seeping underneath his skin, on the familial love around him. He thought, for a moment, maybe he really was getting close with all of them. Close enough to talk to them about everything going on, perhaps.

As Gem finished her current story, the rest of the hermits broke off into their own quiet conversations and short anecdotes for the crowd. If Impulse spoke up, maybe it would be helpful. Maybe they would care.

A few simple words floated to the forefront of his mind and danced on his tongue for a moment.

Hey guys.

I need help.

He thought about saying them aloud. He should, but he couldn't.

Impulse opened his mouth once or twice, voice falling mute as he tried and failed to choke out the simple phrase. Maybe it was for the better if he didn't. He wanted this moment of peace to last forever. Because, surrounded by the hermits like this, he could, if for only a little while, ignore the timer on his soul and the weight in his heart.

And he could pretend that he was having his happy ending.

The world was calm, for a minute. Still, for a second. Quiet, for a tick. Impulse slowly thought through his options in his head. Tell them, or don't.

He was tired. He didn't want to explain his life or death mission to them if there would barely be a chance they could save him from it anyways. Maybe it was time he let go, and enjoyed the peace while it lasted.

But on the other hand, he couldn't handle this. He didn't want to be on this void-forsaken mission and he didn't want to leave Hermit Village when his time was up and he wanted to see his friends again before it all... ended.

He should say something. He shouldn't.

Should, shouldn't. Should, should not. Could, couldn't. Would, wouldn't.

Yes- No- Maybe- Oh...

–He felt something touch his wing suddenly, and he jerked back away from it. Impulse snapped back into reality, only just realizing he'd been completely zoned out. He pushed his conundrum away for the time being.

"Oh, Sorry Imp'. Didn't mean to scare you," Tango apologized from behind him. The touch came back, and Impulse recognized it as Tango's hand, his long, spindly fingers resting on the coverts at the bend of his wing gently.

"Is- is this okay? I just wanted to brush your wings a little bit," the netherborn asked carefully, voice a little meek. Impulse hesitated, though he was touched by the offer. The only other person to have helped him groom his wings was Skizz... but Impulse found himself nodding anyway, smiling warmly at Tango.

Tango smiled back. "Okay! Preen-ification is go," he said, hands moving back to Impulse's dark feathers. And when the netherborn worked his warm hands into his wings, Impulse felt like he was going to melt back into him.

Impulse shivered at the touch, feeling like sparks were going off in his chest. He hadn't preened his wings properly in so long, and Tango was being so gentle, meticulously straightening each feather, the tips of his thin fingers brushing the skin underneath.

The warmth from Tango's hands, which always seemed to be the part of his body closest to burning, spread through Impulse's wings, comforting and calming. Impulse leaned back into his person-shaped heating pad with a shaky sigh.

"Oop, I guess you like that bud," Tango hummed, voice edging on a laugh. He didn't stop stroking through Impulse's feathers for even a moment, his soft, ruby red gaze focused solely on their deep indigo shades.

Impulse tried to give a response to Tango's comment, but it came out as nothing but a rumbling purr at the back of his throat. Tango let out an awed breath, and simply purred right back at him, long and rhythmic. The netherborn's hands worked down towards his primaries, careful around the spots that were more sensitive, or where he was missing a few feathers that had yet to grow back.

It felt like he was being healed, all of the pain and hurt and misery ebbing away.

Shutting his eyes, Impulse tried to soak up as much of this moment as he could. He tried to commit the feel of Tango's soft fingers and the sound of his clicking purr to memory.

He wasn't going to tell them, he decided. This was too impossibly perfect to ruin. Maybe sometime later, he could.

But right now, he was getting his happy ending.

"Mmmmm, my two cat boys, all for me," Zedaph hummed, cuddling into Tango and Impulse and earning a burst of endless laughter from the rest of the hermits. Impulse could care less. He kept on purring, not intent on stopping anytime soon.

Tomorrow, he could be stressed. On Monday, he could be anxious. And at the end of the month, he could finally die.

But right now, he could live.

Right now, he was re-writing his tragic ending as a happy one.

And later, in the quiet cover of night, he could grieve and cry.

~ end chapter twenty eight ~

[ONE OF THESE DAYS I'LL FINISH THE CHAPTER ART]

A/N: Oh, silly silly Impulse. If only he was a bit smart and talked to them, but alas, he has few brain cells. I'm super happy I got this out before the weekend though, because oh my gosh, I am bursting with excitement for hc 10!!!! I'll definitely be spending most of tomorrow watching it, and I want to check out Bdubs' videos in particular since I haven't watched him much.

On another note, we recently hit 5k on this book here on wattpad!!! Thank you guys for all the love and support you've given me on this little passion project of mine, it means the world to me <3 See you all in the next one!