Chapter Text
The room's temperature plummeted instantly.
Mob stopped breathing. Not figuratively. Actually stopped. The purring cut off so abruptly it almost sounded choked.
Verity noticed. Of course he did.
The tail tightened around his wrist.
Warm. Comforting. His communicator suddenly felt very far away.
Verity was still touching the base of his tail.
Still gentle. Still smiling. But something had changed.
The smile didn't reach his eyes anymore. "Mob."
He didn't answer.
"Who is Twixxel?"
"...A friend."
Verity blinked.
"Oh."
He sounded strangely flat. The hand on his tail didn't move.
"...A friend."
Mob swallowed. "Yes."
"A real friend?"
"...What does that mean?"
Verity seemed to think. "You smile when his name appears. You stopped shaking."
A pause.
"You wanted to answer him. You looked relieved."
Every word felt like a nail being hammered into place.
Counted. Again. Everything counted. Everything noticed.
Verity's hand moved. A slow stroke along his tail.
Mob hated the warmth that spread through him. He hated that his body reacted at all. It filled him with a sense of nausea.
The purring almost returned. Almost.
"You don't look relieved when you see me."
Mob stared at him.
Verity stared back. His expression was calm.
Too calm.
"You never smile like that at me."
"...Verity—"
"You don't." The interruption was immediate. Simple. Certain.
The room seemed smaller somehow. "You are usually uncomfortable."
Silence.
"Or confused. Sometimes annoyed."
His smile became smaller.
"But never relieved."
Mob didn't know what to say. Because Verity didn't sound angry.
He sounded… Like he was trying to understand. As though he had discovered something and couldn't make it fit.
The hand on his tail stopped moving entirely.
"...How long have you known him?"
Mob blinked.
"What?"
"Twixxel."
Silence.
"How long?"
"...A while."
"How long is a while?"
"I don't know."
Verity looked at him. Just looked.
"You do know."
"..."
"You just don't want to tell me." He felt Verity's grip tighten on him. Mob looked away.
Immediately. "You looked away." Mob squeezed his eyes shut.
"You always do that."
"Verity, stop."
"You do it when you don't want to answer."
"Stop."
"You did it before."
"Stop."
"You did it when I asked if you trusted me."
"Stop."
"You did it when I asked if you would come back."
"Verity."
"You are doing it now."
"VERITY!"
Silence.
The shout echoed.
Again.
Silence.
Mob's breathing had become uneven.
Again.
His hands shook.
Again.
The tail tightened around his arm.
Again.
Verity watched all of it.
Every little thing.
"...You're scared again."
The words were soft.
Mob's eyes snapped open. Verity was looking at him with that same fascinated expression. The one from before. The one he'd had while Mob was crying.
"You make this face a lot around me."
The room felt colder.
"I don't think you make it around Twixxel."
Mob said nothing. Because he didn't know if that was true. And somehow—
That felt like the wrong answer. Verity slowly removed his hand. The warmth disappeared immediately.
The tail unwound itself from Mob's wrist. Curled against him instead. Protective.
Verity watched that too.
"...It doesn't like me."
The words were quiet. Almost thoughtful.
"It likes him."
"It doesn't know him."
"It knows the messages."
"It is a tail."
"It is moving."
Mob looked exhausted. Verity looked at the communicator. Then back at Mob. Then at the communicator again.
When he spoke again, his voice was soft.
Dangerously soft.
"...If I disappeared."
Mob froze.
"Would you look relieved when I came back? ...Would you count the days?"
Silence.
"...Would you answer me immediately? ...Would your face look like that?"
Mob couldn't speak. Because Verity wasn't blinking. Because he was smiling. Because his voice sounded perfectly calm.
And because for the first time.
Verity looked jealous.
Verity waited. He didn't blink. Didn't move.
Just watched.
Mob suddenly became aware of every sound in the room.
His breathing. The distant waves outside. The soft hum of torches.
And the absence of everything else.
"...Verity."
"Yes?"
The immediate response made him flinch.
"You… don't disappear." Verity tilted his head.
"I don't?"
"No. You've been here for…" He didn't even know anymore. "Days."
"Oh."
"You don't leave."
"Oh."
"You watch me all the time."
Another pause. Mob stared. How did he keep sounding surprised by things he was actively doing?
Verity seemed to think. "So you don't know."
"What?"
"You don't know what your face would look like."
Mob frowned. Verity smiled.
"I can't come back if I never leave."
The answer was simple. Matter-of-fact. Like discussing the weather. The room felt cold again. Because he was right. Because somehow that was worse. Because Mob couldn't remember the last time he'd been alone.
Not truly alone.
Verity was always there.
Watching. Looking. Counting.
"I could leave."
Mob froze.
The words had been soft. Very soft. He looked up. Verity was still smiling.
"I could disappear. Would you want that?"
The question hung in the air.
Mob's mouth opened. Then closed.
Because the answer should have been easy. Shouldn't it?
This thing had chased him. Broken his ankle. Trapped him. Terrified him.
Of course he wanted him gone.
So why? Why couldn't he say it?
Verity's eyes narrowed slightly.
"You are thinking." Mob's stomach dropped.
"You always think for a long time before difficult answers ...I counted that too."
Mob looked away.
Immediately. "There."
He looked back. Verity looked pleased.
"You did it again."
"Can you not turn everything into an observation?"
Silence.
"I don't know how." The answer was immediate. Again.
Mob stopped.
Because for the first time Verity looked genuinely confused.
"I look at things and I know things. I don't know how to stop."
His hand absent-mindedly brushed against Mob's tail again. The purr threatened to return.
"I know when you are annoyed. I know when you are scared. I know when you're trying not to cry."
Mob froze.
"I know when you're pretending."
Silence.
"I know when you're lying."
Another pause.
"And I know…"
For the first time, Verity's voice faltered. Barely.
"...I know you don't want to answer my question."
The smile was still there. But smaller.
Mob swallowed. The room suddenly felt strange. Because Verity didn't sound angry anymore. He sounded…
Uncertain. Like he had reached a problem he couldn't solve.
"You don't know if you'd miss me. You don't know if you'd be relieved."
Silence.
"You don't know."
Mob's throat felt dry. Because somehow.
Somehow.
That sounded disappointed. Verity looked at the communicator. Then at him. Then back again.
"Do you miss Twixxel?"
"...Yes." No hesitation. The answer simply came out.
Verity blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Slowly.
"Oh."
His voice had gone flat again. Mob suddenly wished he could take it back. Not because it wasn't true. But because something about the way Verity had gone still was making his instincts scream.
"Interesting."
Verity smiled. But it looked wrong somehow. Too calm. Too deliberate.
He reached forward. Tucked a strand of hair behind Mob's ear.
"You know… I don't think I have ever missed anyone before."
His hand lingered.
"But I think…"
Another pause.
"I would miss you. I think I would miss you very much." The room felt colder. "And…"
He smiled wider.
"I don't like that Twixxel got there first."
Mob stared, disgusted. Being treated like an object to own was starting to become very old to him and he despised it.
"Let's play a game." Mob stared, giving no response.
"See how long you can last without missing me. I wonder how fast you'll realise you need me when you're alone."
"I don't need you." He surprised himself with how fast he said it, the frustration behind his voice.
Verity stared at him. Then he got up and just like that he had disappeared.
Mob didn't know whether to celebrate or be confused. He got up, really taking a look around the place. It was almost an exact replica of the one he had made. Little things gave away that it wasn't the original.
Mob took a look in one of the chests and felt bile rise up in his throat.
Ender eyes.
Why would Verity need those. The other contents of the chest were far from re assuring. Axes, swords and healing potions.
The more Mob searched the more worried he got, he realised an issue.
There was no food.
He looked outside to be reminded it was just a vast ocean and realised how bad of a situation he was in.
He was trapped alone. With no access to food. No access to outside the building which contained nothing but ender eyes and weapons.