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Snowflakes sway as they descend to the once green meadow. Nothing but snow and leafless trees stand still in the endless field of white. As the cold crisp breeze blows signifying the season of winter. There amidst the white field two men walk.
“ACHOO!” a loud sneeze came from Avery.
“Are you okay?”
Avery's best friend D3rlord turned around to look at him. Rummaging in his inventory for tissues. Holding tightly on the map he was holding.
“No its alright…” Avery answered. Which made his friend continue walking. Head once again down at the map.
Avery hated winter. Everything was so cold that he either had to stay instead or wear countless layers of clothing which he hated. Worsen the fact that everything was either dead or sleeping so he was so bored.
So why was he even outside in the first place?
Well it was because of his roommate, best friend, definitely not crush D3rlord3. Out of nowhere D3rlord told Avery that they were heading somewhere and he needed to dress up.
Avery found that extremely strange. Out of the two of them Avery was the more spontaneous one but this was not the only strange thing that Avery noticed from the gladiator.
For a couple of weeks D3rlord has been going on solo trips. No matter how bad the weather was around 1pm like clockwork, D3rlord would head out. God knows where as when Avery asks he would also often respond with: “somewhere”.
It got even stranger where two days ago when D3rlord when he came back from his trip he was holding a green shulker box. Again Avery asked what was it for? But all he gave was vague answers.
“Its something”
“Nothing of importance”
“Don’t worry about it.”
All these answers wanted to rip his own slime hair out. Though he liked D3rlord for being all mysterious and shit the answers only made him even more curious what it was.
Why was he even hiding from him anyway?
Sure it's only been more than a year whole year since they met each other. But Avery was aware D3rlord considered him quite close. Often telling stories of his childhood, his interests, everything. So what was the sudden distance?
“So…” Avery asked, “Where are we heading?”
“You’ll see,” D3rlord said, not looking up from his map.
“Ah…okay..”
An awkward silence filled the atmosphere. The only noise came was the crunching of snow from their feet. Avery walked a bit closer to D3rlord poking his head to D3rlord's shoulder to see the map but D3rlord instantly moved it away from him.
“Come on D3r,” Avery whined, “Why are you being so secretive?”
“You’ll see,” D3rlord repeated, “Me telling you will ruin the surprise….shit”
Surprise? Avery raised an eyebrow.
“Suprise you say?” Avery intrigued, “So you’re plotting something for me. Can I get a hint? Does it relate to the box and the solo trips you've been doing recently?”
“No. I said too much,” D3rlord replied.
“What! Come on dude!” Avery shouted, “Least give me a hint! Please i won’t ask anymore”
Avery clasped his head and did his best puppy dog face.
“Please D3r pretty please with a cherry on top.”
D3rlord gave a large sigh before walking at a faster pace then ever before.
“Wait D3r wait!” The slime shouted running after him.
It didn't take long for the sky to darken. It felt like both of them were walking for hours, days! (even though it probably wasn’t). Soon D3rlord came to a sudden halt turning to Avery, and placing something in Avery’s hand. A blindfold.
“We’re close but I need you to put this on.” He said.
Taking the blindfold Avery put it on. He couldn’t see jack shit. Suddenly he felt a gloved hand grab onto his right hand. Before tugging him forward.
“Huh-what??”
Avery could feel his heart beating so fast. He didn’t expect D3rlord to do this kind of stunt. Guess he was wrong. Soon enough Avery heard something: the sound of people and music?
“You can take your blindfold off now ,” D3rlord said.
Unwrapping the knot from the blindfold. Avery saw himself at a village winter festival. The houses and street lights are decorated in snowflake lanterns and lights,and small shops shattered around the village. Then at the middle surrounded by birch trees covered in multicolour lights were:
“An ice rink!” Avery exclaimed.
D3rlord gave a small nod in response.
“D3r we have to go to the ice rink right now,” Avery cheerfully stated , running toward the ice rink only to be stopped by D3rlord instead.
“We can go to the ice rink later, let's explore the market first and get some hot chocolate first to warm ourselves up” D3rlord replied, pointing at a stall that was near the entrance.
“Alright…,” he answered.
The wait was rather short. Possibly because everyone was mostly huddled at the bonfires shattered around the village center or the ice rink.
The hot chocolate was in a decently sized cup a thick rich brown colour with a large blowntorch marshmallow on top.
Taking a small sip of the hot chocolate. Avery felt like he was in heaven. It was smooth and rich, the chocolate paired well with the marshmallow. It was sweet but not sweet enough that it ruined the drink.
“That would be six emeralds each,” the man at the counter said.
Six emeralds each? Wow. Guess that was the price to pay for something so heavenly. Avery grabbed the emeralds from his inventory. Hopefully he had enough.
“I can pay for them Avery,” declared D3rlord. Before giving the amount of emeralds to the vendor.
“Thank you, and hope you have a pleasant time at the festival” the man said before waving them goodbye.
“Thanks for paying, you know you didn’t have to do that.”
D3rlord shrugged before taking a sip of the hot chocolate. He let out a small hum in response, seeming to enjoy the drink as well.
As the two men continued to walk around the festival, looking at all sorts of trinkets and artisan goods the craftvillagers had on their display . Something caught Avery's eye. A weapon, selling swords.
Avery immediately dash toward the stall. Staring his eyes gleaming at the diamond sword on display. Inspecting it, a masterful of craftsmanship with little to no scratches or imperfection. The blade reflects both of the men's faces.
“How much is the diamond sword?” He asked the weaponsmith.
The weaponsmith was a burly older woman. Short gray hair and an eye patch on her left eye. She looked at him then at D3rlord. She placed her hand on her chin before answering;
“50 emeralds”
“50?” Avery repeated, “There’s no way that's 50 emeralds it doesn’t even have any enchantments!”
The toolsmith gave a shrug, “sorry kid I don't make the rules.”
“35.”
“No
“40?”
“No”
“45…?”
“Sorry kid 50 is 50 theirs no point in haggling this old woman ” she said, bumping her hand to her chest, “better luck next time.”
Avery felt his shoulders slumped. D3rlord patted on his back in comfort.
“Always another time Avery,” D3rlord said almost apologetically.
“Hey kid,” the woman uttered “Seeing how you were eyeing the diamond sword I made, you might have a knack for sword making.”
The slime looked at the woman, a large grin was plastered on her face and a strange mischievous glint was on her eye.
“Guessing by your age and me getting older it's about time I should pass down my teachings of making swords, who knows maybe with that skill I taught you can wow your future lover .”
“Wow someone?” Avery questioned, “How does sword making even relate to that?”
The weaponsmith let out a hearty laugh, “You see when I wee girl I made a nice diamond sword to my now husband, the stationary vendor not far from here. It's a long standing tradition to confess to someone giving them a sword. In fact this festival would be a perfect time to gif-”
“I think we should go,” D3rlord stated, cutting off the woman. His voice unusually loud and high. Yanking Avery by the shoulders and strutting off , “have a good rest of your day.”
The woman didn’t say anything again laughing before waving off to the two.
“Huh wait you didn’t let her fi-”
“Its nothing of importance Avery, she just saying some fluff to let you buy her overly priced sword”
Avery gave a nod, “Good point, everything in this festival is so pricey. Are all festivals like this?”
D3rlord nodded, “yep this festival especially because of the coup-”
D3rlord covered his mouth before finishing his sentence. Then suddenly letting out an array of loud coughs.
“ D3r you good?”
“Y-yes…” D3rlord immediately answered, “I think we explore enough of this place, shall we go ice skating?”
Avery looked at him. Why the sudden change of topic? Guess that would be a discussion after as it was now time for the main event, “Yeah let’s go ice skating!.”
~
Avery imagined ice skating wasn’t so hard.It's just moving around in ice in sharp shoes. He walked around in ice biomes and frozen lakes before with ease so surely this would be a piece of cake for him.
But he was so so wrong.
He felt a single step would result in him falling face first into the ice. His whole body was shaking.It felt like he was learning how to walk again.
He saw D3rlord. Clearly he had a better time like he did. Skating around effortlessly around the rink. He was about to pass by Avery. But he then stopped. Standing right next to Avery.
“I swear you are good at absolutely everything..” Avery sulked.
“I had a similar experience when I first started. Even standing I would hit face first in the ice.” D3rlord sympathetically revealed.
Avery smiled in response. It was rather funny to imagine the ever multitalented gladiator struggling.
Suddenly Avery felt himself going out of balance.His body moving frantically. Before falling. But instead of face planting on the ice he was saved by D3rlord who wrapped him around his arms.
Avery covered his face, flushed orange in embarrassment. It felt like those cheesy Christmas movies he and D3r would watch.
“T-thanks for saving me!” Avery said.
D3rlord made a noise in response before removing his arms from Avery. An awkward standstill filled the air around them.
“I can teach you,” D3rlord said, breaking the silence, “Let’s try to do one lap around the rink”
Avery let out a relief sigh. Glad D3rlord wasn’t thinking too much about it. D3rlord let out his hand to Avery which he happily accepted.
Lapping around the ice rink wasn’t so bad at least what Avery thinks. Sure he fell a couple of times but D3rlord was always there to bring him back up. Having a couple of laughs before being able to finish the goal.
After both of them had enough.Avery said that he needed to go to the ‘washroom’. Absolute lie! He was actually finding a gift for D3rlord. A form of thank you as a token of their friendship.
Avery quite pride himself in his gift giving abilities. He relished in glee when he saw his friends' reactions as their eyes lit up when they saw their gifts. Today D3rlord will be one more friend added to the list.
D3rlord wasn’t really picky or practical when it comes to things from what Avery observed. Avery knew that whatever gift he gave to him he would happily accept it but that doesn’t mean he should be sloppy on it . Of course not, he wanted to blow D3rlord away!
He considered his options on a gift. A bouquet? Too basic. A music disk? They don’t have a music box in their house. Maybe something food related? No he would just share with Avery despite it only being for him.
Then he recalled the toolsmith mentioning her husband. A vendor selling all things stationary. That was a perfect gift for D3rlord. He remembers D3rlord telling him that he has a hobby of journaling.
Avery hunted down the vendor. Searching across the market for a stall. When he finally did he saw a graying man with kind eyes and a soft smile selling notebooks, quills, and inks. Perfect.
Choosing what to get was easy. A red leather bound notebook, and a quil set with red ink with golden sparkles. He gave the amount of emeralds before returning back to the bonfire where his best friend was waiting for him.
He couldn’t wait to see his stoic friend reaction on receiving the gift.
When he finally returned to the bonfire. He saw D3rlord wasn’t there.
‘What the?’
Avery looked around the area. It didn’t seem he was at the ice rink. Nor did he see any glimpse of him at the market. Where was he?
“Hello excuse me, are you Avery by chance?” A voice called out to him.
Avery turned to see two people sitting by the bonfire. Two women who he would assume were a couple by their matching outfits, and by the obvious sign of them holding hands.
“Yes I am, have you seen a guy with a golden helmet by any chance?”
“He told us that he went ahead to the hill near the village. Something about seeing the best view of the fireworks that's gonna happen around midnight,” One of them said.
“There’s a firework show?” Avery asked, “I didn’t know they had a firework show here. This is my first time attending this festival.”
The two women looked at him dumbfounded then looked at each other before giggling. Leaving Avery entirely confused.
“Wow you really don’t know?” the other woman questioned, “well you better hurry and meet your friend. The firework show is going to happen soon.”
Avery gave them a thank before waving them off goodbye.
It didn’t take long before Avery arrived on the hill. The woman's reaction still left the slime confused. Was there any significance to the midnight firework show?
Avery then spotted D3rlord. Standing next to a rather large tree. Its branches droop down a bit due to the snow on top of them. Paired with the starry winter sky and the full moon shining brethren them it gave a rather eternal site.
“Der!” Avery called out. Running to him
Avery’s voice immediately caught the attention of D3rlord as he turned around to face Avery. There D3rlord spoke, in a tone so soft Avery almost couldn’t here:
“Avery…you made it..”
Avery chucked an eyebrow, “Of course I did, a couple told me I would find you here. Told me to hurry up to meet you. Why are you even here? Surely we can see the fireworks at the festival. ”
D3rlord let out a nervous laugh in response fiddling his fingers together.
“Hey you doing okay?”
“Yes..Avery..I am just…sorry for hiding all of this to you..”
D3rlord went through his inventory and slime the green shulker box. Avery’s eyes widened.
“I hope you like it..”
“What?! The box was for me? D3r you didn’t have to hide something or go somewhere far away to give this to me.”
Immediately Avery opened the shulker box. There was only one item in the box. Avery holded it in his hand. His eyes widened in happiness.
A netherite sword.
Examining the blade it was quite beautiful handiwork though he did notice a few chips near the edges but that didn’t matter to him. It was a netherite sword of all things.
“Holy..Der wow.. You didn’t have to do this.. oh wow this stuff must be expensive, did you get it from the lady?”
D3rlord shook his head, “No, I made it myself….”, his voice sounded awfully weak.
“You did?!” Avery said his voice a lot louder than he expected, “Wow is that why you've been going to those mysterious solo trips. You’re so sweet. You know this kinda reminds me of the weaponsmith story and how she wowed her husband by gifting her the swor- oh.”
Avery felt his heart beating so fast that it could rip out of his chest at any moment.
He saw D3rlord's shaky hands grabbed onto his helmet. Slowly but surely he carefully removed his helmet. Revealing his extremely beautiful but extremely flustered face.
“Avery..” his voice choked out, “theirs an old tale that's been told about this festival where a hero gave their long-time crush a sword they made to symbolize his deep love for them at this very day.”
D3rlord took a deep breath before grabbing one of Avery’s hand and stroking his thumb on Avery’s hand.
“What i’m trying to say Avery is that Avery I will be my bo-”
“Yes!” Avery shouted “yes yes yes!”
“Avery….” his voice sounded disappointed which contrasted his flustered expression.
“I’m sorry I’m sorry!” Avery said, a stupid wide grin was on his face, "continue"
“What I meant to say is that every year soon to be couples would confess their undying feelings for one another. My parents did the same, my grandparents, and their parents before that, and today I will be doing the same with you. So Avery, what I want to say is that I liked..no loved you for quite a while now. So Avery please can I be your boyfriend?
“That’s so fuckin cheesy dude,” Avery answered his face also flustered like him, “but yes, of course, absolutely! If you didn't hear me before, I like you too and I love your boyfriend too!”
Similar to Avery a stupid smile appeared on D3rlord face and Avery felt himself fall harder than he ever thought he could.
“Thank you!” D3rlord smiled, “thank you, thank you, thank you!”
No, I should be thanking you!” Avery laughed, “oh right I have something to give you.”
He could feel D3rlord watching quietly as Avery looked through his inventory. Before handing him his gift.
“Taadaa!”
“Notebook and a quill set, I couldn’t thank you enough Avery.” He said, examining the gifts. Mission accomplished.
“Eh no sweat Der.”
D3rlord's eyes widened at Avery's response.
“Huh you okay?” Avery asked.
“No it's fine just..” D3rlord laughed a bit, putting the gifts in his inventory, “I have something to confess..D3rlord isn’t my real name.”
“What?” Avery was shocked by this news, “Your name is not D3rlord? I- What is it then?”
“It's Derek.”
“Derek?!”
Suddenly a large sound came. Surprising both men. Suddenly the whole hill top was coloured in pink before turning back to its original white. Both of them looked up at the sky. The firework show was starting.
An array of red, white, and blue fireworks then burst all around the sky. The now couple watched in awe. Avery looked at D3rl- Derek. His face was glued to the firework display. Looking so beautiful.
Then a mischievous idea pops into his head.
“Derek.” Avery said, turning his head to him.
He noticed Derek's golden eyes widening in surprise. Before turning to Avery.
“Yes?”
Avery placed his right hand on Derek’s cheek feeling the softness of his ebony skin. Before kissing him on the lips.
He saw Derek's eyes jolt up and his face turning completely red.
“I love you Derek,” he said.
Derek took a moment to process what just happened. Before smiling.
“I love you too. Avery.”
There the two men's hands intertwined with one another. As they watched the fireworks. Avery felt that maybe winter wasn’t so bad after all.