Work Text:
<VintageBeef> test
<cubfan135> test good?
<VintageBeef> not really. Bad connection day
<iJevin> that sucks :/ good luck dude
-
“Oh, whoa.”
Gem craned her neck to look at the massive, dark shape hovering above a mountain. She had never really looked at Beef’s UFO base all season, despite living fairly close by. She opened her elytra and launched herself into a glide over the area, finally landing on top of the hulking structure. "Beef?" she called. "Are you around? It sounded like you might need some help today."
No response. After a little exploration, Gem found an entry port at the center of the ship.
She dropped in - and immediately felt the claustrophobia of the narrow hallways. Every wall was white, with dark support beams every few feet. Harsh light from end rods highlighted the lack of color. Gem unconsciously hunched her shoulders tighter. "Beef?" she called again. "Hello?" Her words echoed off the hard walls.
She started walking down a hallway at random. A piston door kachunk-ed open at her presence, making Gem jump. She definitely didn't also let out a nervous squeak when it closed again.
"Who's there? Hello?"
Gem whirled around. That was Beef's voice, she was pretty sure. But she couldn't see where it had come from. "Hi! It's Gem!" she called. "Where are you?"
"Ha-a-" Beef's voice stuttered and cut off.
Gem trotted in what she thought was the right direction. Was that- no, maybe she had just seen a light flicker. She turned a corner and kept looking.
After a few moments, Gem heard footsteps coming down the hall toward her. They weren't the echoes of her hooves - this was the heavier sound of boots. She turned again, but just as she did, the footsteps stopped. No one was behind her.
She turned another corner, then looked back at where she had just been. At that moment, Gem saw Beef running past the T-junction. His movement looked strange, like his feet didn't quite meet the ground at the moments they should.
"Beef!" Gem ran to catch him, but when she got there, he was gone again.
"Gem?" A door opened, then shut. Gem tried to follow the sound, but the hallway she was in didn't lead where she thought it would.
She looked around another corner. Something was coming toward her! It was Beef, Gem could see, but he was lying face down on the floor, elytra stuck open, gliding unnaturally along the ground. Gem shrieked and ducked away in another direction.
After taking two more corners and getting jumpscared by another door, Gem slowed down, breathing hard. She looked around at identical white walls and dark support beams. The same in every direction.
"Oh, no." On top of everything else, Gem was lost in a haunted spaceship.
She closed her eyes, trying to think. Everything spun in her head. Gem had no idea which way was north or south, or closest to the edge or close to the entrance in the center. She frustratedly smacked her fist against a door frame.
Kachunk. The door opened. "Oh, hush," Gem told it.
"Gem? Was that you?"
Gem perked up. "Beef! Where are you? I'm lost!"
"Hold still for a minute," Beef called back. He must have been just around the corner. "I'll come to you."
Gem obliged, leaning against the doorframe for a breather. Seconds later, Beef came around a corner and walked up to her. He still looked like he was sliding a little, to which Gem gave a suspicious look, but his harried and relieved expression at having finally found her softened Gem's reaction. Surprising both Beef and herself a little, Gem threw herself into a hug, which Beef returned tightly.
"What are you even doing here?" Beef murmured before letting the hug go. "I mean, I'm always happy to see ya, but..."
"I... thought you might need some help with something," Gem explained. "You said something about some sort of bad day in chat...?"
"Oh." Beef sighed. "Right, you being a little new, you might not know. I get these moments - well, we all get them sometimes, but I get it a lot - where it just feels like I'm not... fully connected to reality. Everything kinda slows down. Lags behind. Things freeze in time and then catch up, usually yanking me around with them. Sometimes I feel like I'm about to pass out, although I hardly ever do. Some days, for me at least, it's an all-day event. A bad connection day."
"That's why you've been moving weird and we kept missing each other? I thought your ship was haunted, Beef! Or that you were possessed!"
Beef laughed. There was still a slight delay between Gem's questions and his responses. "There's probably some comparison to be made there, and someone like Joe could probably make it. But as far as I'm concerned, I'm not a ghost just yet. I guess a little assistance might be nice, though, if you're offering."
Gem nodded. "I am!"
Beef led Gem to a room filled with shulker boxes. "It won't be very interesting work, but you could be my chest searcher. It'll go a little faster for you than for me, and I'll only have to deal with the delay on trying to grab things instead of on every box I open. Is that okay?"
"That's fine." Gem opened a few boxes, familiarizing herself with the contents. "All I ask in return is that you show me the way out of this place when we're done."