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Honestly, Martyn should’ve stopped the moment he saw Doc turn from amusingly annoyed to genuinely pissed. He should’ve given back the singular diamond ore and quit the joke as soon as it stopped being funny. Anyone who kept going was an idiot and a fool.
He never said he wasn’t an idiot.
They were split up into groups to try out the Hermit games. While his group left already, he didn’t join them immediately. Instead he searched around the quickly emptying area for his friend.
He found him hunched over a shulker box. A grin pulled at his lips. He approached quietly, hands behind his back. Pranking Doc was a skill in and of itself, but scaring him? No one ever managed that.
Looking back on it, the ash-grey smoke rolling off the creeper’s fur should’ve been a very clear warning to him. A yellow and black sign saying ‘STOP’ in bold, white letters.
In the end all it took was a loud “boo!” from him to send Doc flinching behind his shulker box. Martyn didn’t get the chance to even laugh at his reaction, because the creeper took less than a second to snap his head to him and rise to his full size. His fur stood on end, a low sizzle came from deep down Doc’s throat and he’d unsheathed gnarly looking claws.
Martyn couldn’t even blink before a massive hand wrapped around his throat and sent him sprawling on his back. All the air was instantly forced from his lungs. Shouting came from around them but all he could focus on was the fear and rage coexisting in Doc’s dilated pupil and blood-red prosthetic.
He didn’t even think of trying to breathe, too caught up in his own mistake and fear to even remember. Only when three pairs of arms yanked the creeper away from him did his brain remind him. The first breath was nearly painful for his lungs. He coughed, backing away from the people. Black dots danced around his vision.
“Are you alright?” Bdubs asked. He groaned, but realised when blinking up at the man that he hadn’t asked him. He’d asked Doc.
Slowly but surely, with the help of Bdubs, Etho and Beef, Doc deflated back into his calm and composed self.
“Crap, I’m so, so sorry. ” It didn’t suffice as an apology he knew. Getting scared shitless himself was more than fair, but it wasn’t enough to make up for it.
“Mess with me again, and I won’t hesitate to kill you.”
He nodded as quickly as he could. He wouldn’t. He definitely wouldn’t.
“Good,” Doc growled before stalking off.
As soon as he was gone, everyone simultaneously sighed in relief. Martyn didn’t doubt that he was about to be scolded beyond measure, but again, he deserved it. And as soon as he gathered the courage, he’d find an enderchest and bring Doc’s ore back to him.