Work Text:
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How could a programmed sun be so damn hot?
Avery's tools kept slipping through his now-slimy fingers, and he'd been building for hours.
The roof of the new house was starting to come together, slowly. Unfiltered and unblocked, the sun was unrelenting in its pursuit to make Avery as miserable as possible.
Could living slime get heatstroke?
But he kept placing blocks. Don't ask him how it worked, he just wanted a house to live in. The roof was always the worst, and therefore last, part he always built.
What else was he supposed to do now? Derlor— Derek had gone off to get more building materials, and Avery didn't even know where to start asking questions.
They were stuck. That much was obvious.
He couldn't feel his desk anymore, replaced by the sensation of the sun beating down on his back and the rough wooden planks under him. And of course, all the strangeness of his new body.
Avery thanked whatever god might still be listening that the world around them wasn't blocky anymore. He thought he'd go insane if it was. Everything looked real, beautiful, even. Too real.
He was in a video game. It shouldn't look real.
What was he doing in the real world? Was his body just sleeping, or was he still playing normally and couldn't tell? Was his body even alive? Did it even exist anymore?
Plank by plank, the roof would come together. Keep placing planks. What else was there to do? It was grounding, in a way.
This new reality disproved everything Avery ever thought he knew. ‘Video games aren't real’. Well, what of that now? Nothing made sense. If reality was this easy to break, did it even exist in the first place?
The dull beige of oak planks was all Avery could see. It was making him feel a little better. To keep moving, to have some semblance of control.
What was the point? Where was the line between true and false? Did it even exist? Did Avery even exist? Had anything ever existed at all? If it had, had Avery ruined it all? Was it his fault they were stuck like this, that reality fell apart?
Plank after plank after plank. God. Just keep building, Avery. Do something useful for once.
Thoughts of blue flowers and warm candles flooded his mind. If all of reality was nothing, what was he? Less than nothing, a fraction of a speck in a universe more grand and infinite than anything he could ever deserve to exist in.
The roof had to be perfect. To make up for what he'd done.
The mere action of existence was a sin, a sin against oneself and the reality they tainted with their awful, meaningless, nothingne-
Movement roused Avery out of his thoughts.
Pushing branches aside, Derek walked with his usual steady grace out of the woods and towards the clearing they'd set up in.
He pushed the door open, waving up at Avery before walking inside.
Derek. He was there. Derek was real. Avery knew that. He'd felt Derek's hands drag him out of the lake, had seen his eyes follow him carefully and crinkle with mirth at Avery's bad jokes.
He'd heard Derek's voice reassure him, answer his questions, and softly humming one of Avery's favorite songs. He'd heard the tone Derek spoke to him with, full of a fondness that made it seem as though they'd known each other all their lives.
And in a way, Derek had known Avery all his life. He knew Avery, knew everything about him.
As long as Derek knew him, he had proof of his existence.
He'd seen Derek fix impossible puzzles in minutes, moving with effortless grace as he did the impossible.
Derek was amazing, and he was so close. Avery couldn't hope for a better companion, and he was right there, right below him.
Closing his eyes for a long moment, Avery took a deep breath and put the leftover planks back in his inventory (how the hell did they get to keep those? Not that he was complaining). The roof was almost done now, but Avery made his way back down to ground level regardless. The roof would still exist when he came back to it.
Avery pushed the crudely made door open and shut it behind him, eyes immediately fixing on Derek. His back was turned, sorting through his supplies and trying to organize their storage.
Doing his best not to hesitate, Avery walked up behind Derek and lowered his head, so that his forehead was pressed into the other man's shoulder.
Derek didn't react much, but slowed his movements so as to not jostle Avery around too much.
Finishing the task, the two stood there in silence as Avery's fingers slowly tightened on his cape.
“Are you okay?” Derek asked after a long moment, turning slowly to face the other.
Reluctantly, Avery pulled his head away from his friend's shoulder. He looked into Derek's honey-yellow eyes that were so full of concern and tenderness that tears almost came to his own.
It took him a while to put his thoughts together, but he finally slipped out, quietly, “You know everything now, right?”
Derek nodded silently, so Avery asked him another question.
“Does that mean you know everything about me?”
His friend looked at him intently, faltering for a moment before he spoke. “Some things. Some things have been hidden from me, even now. But yeah, I know a lot about you.”
“Like what?”
That earned Avery another strange look. “Do you really want to know?”
Avery nodded once, still gripping to Derek's cape. His armor shone as if it were brand new in the torchlight, and the same light bounced off of Avery's own shiny green skin.
Derek sighed, hesitated, opened his mouth, closed it again, looked up, looked back down, and finally spoke.
“Well, I know your full name is Avery DeMaio, which is where you get your username.”
He spoke slowly, and after a long moment of consideration, he continued.
“I know you were born on May 15, 2005, and your mom, Gloria, raised you on her own.”
Avery thought about his mom, for the first time since he'd been sucked into this godforsaken game. He hoped she wasn't too worried about him.
She had to be real, didn't she? He couldn't imagine thinking otherwise. Of course she was real. And that meant everyone, everything else was real too, didn't it?
Distracting him yet again, Derek kept talking, getting faster and faster as he slowly wrapped his arms around Avery.
“I know you're in college, working on a degree for graphic design, and I know you always stay up late to get your work done.”
“I know you started playing Minecraft right before the Aquatics update, and I know you've built the same house in almost every creative world you've ever made, because it's the house the YouTuber who got you into Minecraft built.”
Avery leaned into Derek, pressing his face back into his shoulder as the other man spoke into his ear. His voice was so nice to listen to…
“I know you have a scar on your leg from a skateboarding accident, and your friend drove you to the hospital."
"I know you spent a really long time picking out the name Avery, and I know how much it suits you.”
Tears welled up in Avery's eyes, certainly not for the first time today. He pulled Derek even closer, letting go of his cape to hug him tightly. Derek returned the gesture, giving him a small squeeze.
Avery held in a sob. Derek knew him, knew everything, and he was still there. He didn't leave him, he didn't hate him. Despite Avery doing nothing for him, Derek helped him through everything.
“Avery.” Derek spoke softly, pulling him out of yet another inner tangent.
“I know sometimes you think you're not helpful. That you're unintelligent, or useless.”
“And I know that isn't true.”
Derek's voice cracked, his arms shaking slightly as he held Avery close.
“I know that you're one of the kindest, bravest, and most determined people I've ever dreamed of meeting.”
“And I know…” Derek took a deep shaky breath as the first tears fell from Avery's eyes.
“I know that I love you. I love you so much more than I ever thought I could love anyone.”
Avery's heart may as well have stopped.
Derek thought that highly of him? Derek… loved him? Tears flowed quicker down Avery's face, his hold on the other man not loosening in the slightest.
He said he was brave, kind. That he was worth something. And Avery believed him.
It seemed almost obvious now, how much Derek cared about him. It was even more obvious how much Avery cared about him.
“I love you too,” he whispered, muffled by Derek's cape. But of course, Derek knew what he said.