Chapter Text
The moment he left the cave, Yogurt could tell he miscalculated the time. The sun was long gone from the sky and the moment he went outside, he almost ran straight into a zombie’s arms. With no better weapon to use, he swung his pickaxe at it before jumping back and moving away from it. His attack stopped it for a moment, but it was fast to follow him, reaching after him in an attempt to keep him from moving. The distance he managed to get was just barely enough to drop the tool and get his hands on a proper weapon, a sword Fundy gave him as soon as he was able to hold one. With that ready to use, he had no trouble with defeating the monster and felt safe moving further through the forest.
Not too long after and with just a few monsters he had to fight on the way, he finally reached his shelter - his house. The old cottage was mostly dark except for a single lantern by the door and a torch burning dimly inside. Not taking any chances, he didn’t slow down nor lower his weapon until he was safely inside and the door was closed. Just then, he rested the sword against the wall and slowly walked deeper into the building, stopping to crouch down by two furnaces.
He set down the bag previously thrown over his shoulder and pulled out some coal from it, putting it into the furnaces somewhat equally. Then, he took out the more valuable thing he managed to find in the cave, a few blocks of gold ore, and without a moment to waste he put them inside to smelt them. He nodded to himself and stepped back, leaving the bag on the floor and approaching one of the chests instead. He briefly looked through it, pushing away all the items that shouldn’t be there in the first place before triumphantly pulling out a spider eye.
He grew to like the taste. He tried them plenty of times as a child, usually as an accident, it was hard to spot one out in a pile of berries, and he strongly disliked them back then. Now, though, now he knew what to expect when he ate one, he could brace himself better, and he ended up liking them more than he thought he could. He didn’t eat them too often either, he had a feeling his dad wouldn’t be happy if he did so, but eating one every now and then couldn’t hurt too much, could it? He could swear it did quite the opposite, really, felt as if each time he ate them, they had less of an effect on him.
Once he was done with the ‘snack’ and a couple of extra berries he grabbed to make sure he wouldn’t get hungry too soon, he was ready to head to bed. He moved his bag away from the working furnaces, brought his sword further from the door and hid it in one of the chests by the bed, and finally lied down on top of the sheets. He’d hide under them, but the night was surprisingly warm and he didn’t feel like melting in his sleep. He stretched before resting his head on the pillow, but rather than closing his eyes, he caught himself staring at the ceiling.
The bed felt too big for him. Well, it shouldn’t be too surprising, it was the size of three normal beds after all. Too big and too small, that was the better way to put it. He wanted to fill it, but he felt wrong for taking up as much space as he was now. He tried to ignore that feeling for a while, just close his eyes and let his tiredness take over, but it was too persistent to just disappear. With a sigh, he sat up, closed his eyes, and with the very little effort it took him, shapeshifted into a fox. He’d try sleeping normally some other night, he promised himself as he curled up into a ball on one of the pillows. It always felt better to sleep like that, especially in this bed.
Early in the morning, Yogurt was already leaving the cottage again. He took the sword he put away the night before, he re-packed his bag before throwing it over his shoulder and walking out of the house. He had to walk through the forest for just a few minutes before making it to the nether portal Fundy and he made a long while back. It still worked perfectly fine, and it was still connected to the same place in the other dimension, which apparently was somewhat rare. He fixed his grip on his sword before stepping through, preparing for the absolute heatwave to hit him.
He didn’t like traveling through the nether, it was far too hot for his liking. He didn’t like the weather his destination would have either, he’d pick somewhere colder any other day, but today he had a purpose. A plan so great he was willing to endure all this lava and fire and hot desert sands. An idea that put a smile on his face if he even thought about it. Making sure his bag was steadily on his shoulder and it wouldn’t accidentally catch on fire, he sped up, and soon enough, a new portal came into view.
“Finally,” he sighed to himself as he reached it. Maybe the hot weather on the other side wouldn’t be perfect, but it would be better for sure. And there would be some nice views to make up for it, too.
Foolish’s pyramid was as impressive as always, so beautiful and so giant. Knowing well how cool it is inside, in the shade, Yogurt didn’t wait long before quietly sneaking inside. Its owner was inside for sure, he knew that, but the man was probably still asleep. Who would want to get up when it's so hot outside, after all? He walked around it for a bit, looking around and making sure no one was near before finding just the right spot. It was somewhat hidden, but somewhat close to the entrance, exactly what he was looking for. With a grin just growing on his face, he knelt down on the sandstone and put down his bag. He had everything, and if he didn’t, he’d find a way around it. He planned this for too long to let himself fail.
Without a moment to waste, he got to work.
It took surprisingly long for anyone to spot him.
“...Yogurt?” someone finally asked, recognizing him. He paused, both of his hands resting against a dispenser he was just installing. Then, he spun around.
“Hi!” he greeted, and to his relief, no one but the person calling his name was there. He knew Junior wouldn’t tell on him without a good reason.
“What are you doing?” he asked, stepping a bit closer to get a better look at the machine behind Yogurt.
“Building a little… something. For your dad,” he explained. Junior looked his masterpiece over with confusion, so the boy continued. “It’s loud, annoying, and hard to turn off. I really want to see him try,” he added with a grin.
“Oh,” Junior nodded before taking a seat on the sandstone. “Don’t hurry, then. He’s out to collect more sand, it takes a while,” he assured. With a grateful nod, Yogurt got back to putting the dispenser just right.
“That’s good to know,” he muttered, stepping to his side and fidgeting with a repeater for a moment. “Do you want to watch?”
“Yeah!” Junior confirmed. More confident in his skills, Yogurt continued to work, sometimes reaching down into his bag and pulling out a few more components he needed. After a while, he noticed a look of confusion growing on his friend’s face.
“Any questions?” he asked. Junior nodded and pointed near Yogurt’s feet.
“What’s with the bag?” he questioned. Slightly disappointed that it wasn’t about his genius contraption, Yogurt sighed.
“My dad gave it to me. I can’t hold too many things, two or three get hard, so I carry items in there,” he explained, and Junior nodded.
“Mhm. And what does that thing over there do?” he asked another question, pointing at a piston attached to a currently-off redstone clock. A grin returned to Yogurt’s face as he approached the part of his machine he was pointed to.
“I’m glad you asked…!”
“W-what’s going on here?!” Foolish asked, running into his pyramid and looking around in confusion. Junior ran in just behind him.
“I don’t know!” he lied, looking around as if he didn’t know where Yogurt’s contraption was.
“Hm… maybe…” his dad hummed, starting to walk around the building, searching for the source of the strange noises Junior warned him about. Yogurt, meanwhile, was hidden behind a pillar and doing his best to muffle his giggles.
It took Foolish full 7 minutes to find the boy’s machine, and Junior somehow managed to keep an innocent face through it all. Yogurt was really glad about that, every time they tried to work on something together, his friend seemed to be getting better at that. Foolish spent another minute walking around the contraption and trying to figure out what it did, why it did it, and how to turn it off. Then, he finally found a button the boy hoped he would, and cautiously pressed it. When a gold ingot shot out of a nearby dispenser and landed just by his feet, he initially jumped back. Then, encouraged by it even if the loud noises the contraption was making didn’t get any quieter, he pressed it again.
When another dispenser started to mercilessly spit out golden nuggets upon golden nuggets, basically showering Foolish in the valuable yet incredibly annoying items, Yogurt couldn’t help but burst out in laughter. Even that was tuned out by the loud contraption, though, so he could probably safely stay in his hiding spot and watch the man struggle to stop the machine from being loud and giving gold in the worst possible way, but he felt like he should leave anyway. As soon as he collected himself, he got up, secured his bag, and broke into a sprint across the pyramid. He could swear Foolish turned around and caught a glimpse of him as he was leaving, but he didn’t chase after him.
Good. There was still somewhere Yogurt needed to get, and he couldn’t spend too much time hiding and running. He couldn’t be late.
Crossing the nether never felt so quick, but before he knew it he was in the overworld again. And to his delight, a colder part of it. He took a moment to enjoy just that, the air he could freely breathe and the icy wind that felt so nice against his skin. Then, he started to walk, admittedly slowly this time, just enjoying this nice, chilly afternoon. His home wasn’t too far away anyway.
The building was nice, he really liked how it looked. It felt welcoming, and the lights always seemed to be on. He carefully walked up to the door and knocked on it a few times. At first, he was met with silence, but just a moment later he could hear footsteps thumping inside. And then, the door opened and he was greeted by a cheerful figure of his dad.
“Yogurt!” the man smiled at his son, stepping back from the door to let him inside. “Come in, come in,” he encouraged, and the boy gladly did so.
“Hi, Dad,” he greeted once he was inside, and Fundy closed the door behind him.
“I was wondering if you were going to show up,” he joked, his son chuckling nervously.
“Yeah… Sorry, I was doing… a thing,” he explained, and Fundy nodded.
“Was it fun?” he asked, and the boy nodded eagerly. “You can tell me all about it while we eat, then,” he offered.
“Yeah! What food do we have?” Yogurt asked, and his dad was already starting to head to the kitchen.
“I’m almost done baking some steak,” he answered. Smiling brightly at that, his son followed him. “And what did you eat for the past two days?”
“Uh… mostly berries,” Yogurt admitted, looking back at the time he spent in the house. “Some bread and chicken, too,” he added, and Fundy nodded.
“Good,” he praised. “If you need any extra food, let me know.”
“I will,” his son assured. He could already smell the dinner in the air, and he could tell it'd be tasty.
“And did he turn it off in the end?” Fundy asked, doing his best to muffle his laugh. Yogurt shrugged.
“I don’t know, I ran when he pressed the button the second time,” he answered, and his dad nodded.
“That’s probably for the best,” he agreed. “That sounds like an impressive contraption,” he added.
“Thanks! I’ll ask Junior how it ended the next time I see him,” Yogurt answered, very visibly proud of himself after hearing the compliment. Fundy laughed.
“I bet I’ll know first, when Foolish comes to ask me if I helped you,” he guessed, and the boy had to admit it was very probable. “I’ll let you know what he thought of it.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Yogurt smiled. Then, he glanced at the window and noticed the sky slowly turning orange. The sun was about to start setting. “Uh oh,” he muttered to himself, and Fundy’s gaze followed his.
“Oh, looks like you’ll have to leave soon if you want to make it before it’s too dark,” he realized. Then, he glanced in the direction of his bedroom. “Unless you want to stay here for the night.”
“I…” Yogurt hesitated. He was the one to request that his dad let him stay in their old place, it was his idea, but… “I think I want to stay home tonight,” he decided. Fundy nodded.
“Sure. I’ll go get some clean sheets for your bed, then,” he agreed, getting up from the table.
“I can wash the plates,” the boy offered, and Fundy paused for a moment before smiling.
“Thanks,” he nodded, and the boy got up to collect the dishes.
He liked sleeping at home. It always felt cozy, and even if his dad apologized time and time again for the beds there ‘not being as comfortable’, he couldn’t even tell the difference. His bed here never felt too big nor too small, and… he liked this place. He enjoyed going to the house, but staying at home with his dad was always a treat.