Work Text:
"A Minecraft wedding? Seriously?" Derek said.
Today was a quite peaceful day, and Avery and Derek were currently sitting in the living room of their apartment discussing wedding plans. Their plans contained the usual, discussions about the venue, food, which of their family they'd invite. Admittedly, they both wanted it to be quite simple, something easy and cheap to arrange yet memorable. But in the middle of their chat, Avery brought up an admittedly stupid idea, which was a surprise seeing as a lot of his ideas tended to be stupid.
"Yeah! Cause like, we have more online friends than we do real life friends!" Avery explained to Derek as he leaned back on the couch, "The real life wedding can be for our family, and then we can have an online Minecraft wedding for our friends a couple weeks afterwards!".
Derek let out a small laugh, softly shaking his head, "That has to be one of your most insane ideas ever, Avery".
"Hey, I have insane ideas all the time, Derek! And don't lie, you love them!" Avery replied back. And even though Derek turned his head away from him to look back at the notes on his laptop, he could still notice the faintest hint of a smile on his lips.
"Besides, Der! We met on Minecraft, remember?" he told him, gently poking him in the cheek to get a reaction out of him, "It'd be a cute way to pay homage to how we met!".
"How would a Minecraft wedding even go though? I don't think anyone's ever held one inside the actual game before," Derek replied, turning towards him.
"Well, it'd just be like a normal wedding, I guess! We can get one of our friends to be the priest, find someone to, I don't know, make a mini venue for us?" Avery said, tapping the arm of the couch as he thought, "And after the whole 'getting married again' thing is done, everyone can just hang out! Maybe we all go fight the Ender Dragon together at the end of the night?".
A laugh escaped Derek at that, "Aves, fighting the Ender Dragon can hardly be considered 'romantic'".
"Hey, I can turn anything romantic as long as I'm with you!" Avery grinned to him, beginning to lean against his side as he pleaded with him, "Come ooooon, Derek. Just consider it for a moment, please???".
Derek glanced back at Avery for a moment, how his eyes stared at him as he pleaded. He almost reminded Derek of a dog, how they'd look at you with those shiny big eyes when begging for food or attention. He couldn't help but let out an amused chuckle, glancing away for a moment before replying, "It would be cheaper than our real wedding...".
"See?? You get what I mean!!" Avery grinned to him. He suddenly wrapped his arms around Derek and hugged him, catching him off guard and causing him to blush.
"I didn't agree to it yet, Avery. But I'll consider it," Derek replied to him, crossing his arms as he let out a sigh.
Avery's hold on Derek tightened further as he grinned. "Yesss!!! Thanks, babe!!!" he excitedly said to him, pressing a kiss to Derek's cheek.
Derek let out a small laugh, eventually returning Avery's hug too as he put aside his laptop and wrapped his own arms around his fiancée, "Sometimes I wonder why I entertain your crazy ideas sometimes".
"Umm, because you love me and you care for me and you almost sacrificed yourself for me?"
"Ah, right. That".
==========
And that's how Derlord and Avery ended up attending a Minecraft version of their wedding, about two weeks after their actual in-real-life wedding.
It sounds crazy saying it out loud, but they never made it through life by following the rules, did they?
The sun was hanging high in the sky as Derlord stood at the altar, tapping his foot nervously against the ground as he waited. He wasn't used to having to wear so little armour on his avatar, instead opting out for a typical white suit to replace his chestplate and other accessories. Though he was allowed to wear his usual helmet, and a white cape replaced the red flowing one he usually wore.
In front of him, their friends stood amongst the pews, all chatting excitedly to eachother as they awaited for the wedding to begin and for Avery to arrive. The outdoor venue was lovingly put together by one of their mutual friends, who seemed happy to help them get everything together for the event.
"Ahem? Derlord?". His attention was suddenly pulled away from the scenery around him as he turned around to look at Wifies, their officiant. "You alright there? You look pretty nervous," he asked him, as he placed a book, presumably the Minecraft wedding equivalent of the Bible, onto the pedestal in front of him.
Avery was the one who had suggested getting Wifies to be their officiant in the first place. He had said it as a joke, something along the lines of "I wouldn't have found your Google Drive if it wasn't for him, so I think he deserves to be there!". Derek had laughed at the joke, thinking he wasn't actually being serious. But apparently, Avery had jokingly brought the idea up to Wifies himself, who immediately agreed.
God knows if he knew how to officiate an actual wedding, but at least that was one less burden taken off their shoulders.
Derlord looked back at him, eyes widening slightly underneath his helmet before he gave him a nod. "I'm... fine, Wifies," he said, "It's just... I don't know, I guess this is my first time getting married in Minecraft? I'm not exactly sure what to do".
Wifies let out a chuckle. "I'm pretty sure it's everyone's first time at a Minecraft wedding. I definitely know it's my time acting as an officiant," he told him, before reaching out and giving him a pat on the shoulder, "But hey, you two already got married in real life. What's the harm in doing it again in Minecraft?".
Derlord looked at the ground, "You do have a point there...".
Just as he said that, the bells had began to ring, a sign that the wedding was about to commence. All the guests quickly got into their seats, their chatter soon dying into quiet murmurs and then silence. "Good luck, lover boy" Wifies cheekily winked at him, and Derlord had to repress a groan before the music began to play.
He wasn't... entirely sure how the music was playing. It wasn't one of the songs you could play with the CDs, and he couldn't spot any music blocks anywhere. But it was a soft, romantic song, perfect for a wedding scene.
And beneath the arch of flowers, vines and scaffolding, appeared Avery.
Averg in his matching suit, white flowers dotting his slime hair. He was guided into the aisle by Andrew, one of his friends, and while Avery's face was half obscured by the veil his avatar wore, Derlord could still see the smile underneath the almost transparent fabric, which almost seemed to widen once he locked eyes with Derlord.
He was glad then that he had decided to wear his helmet. He could already feel his face heating up underneath the cool metal.
He could barely keep his eyes off of him as Avery walked down the aisle, Andrew giving the slime a pat on the arm and whispering a "Good luck!" to him before making his way back to his own seat next to his friend and the other best men.
Avery muttered a quick "Thanks," to him before he returned his gaze back to Derlord. He stepped up onto the altar, only a few steps away from his husband, lending him a shy smile.
Derlord softly smiled back to him as he tenderly reached a hand out to pull back the veil. Now that there was nothing obstructing Avery's face, he could clearly see the light blush on his cheeks. "You look beautiful, Aves..." he breathed out, gently cupping Avery's cheek with his hand.
Avery leaned into his touch, a small smile on his face, "Thanks, Der. You look great too-".
"Hey, hey. No face touching until after the vows are said, you two!" Wifies interrupted them, lightly swatting Derlord's hand away from Avery's face with the book, "You two can get all your lovey dovey couple time later when we're not around,".
"Right, right. Sorry about that," Derlord quickly muttered an apology to him, while Avery had to suppress a laugh. Derlord's hands seemed to stutter for a moment, before settling on holding Avery's hands in his, his touch as gentle as always.
Now that everything was set in place, Wifies cleared his throat before opening the book on the pedestal to... whatever page he flipped it to. Admittedly, the book wasn't needed. It was a random book he had pulled from his bookshelf, it was really only there for immersion purposes.
"We are gathered here today, to witness and celebrate the union between arguably, two of the most intelligent, passionate and stubborn Minecraft players I have ever gotten the privilege of knowing," Wifies addressed the audience, before looking between Derlord and Avery and the absolutely lovestruck way the two looked at eachother.
"Now, I don't think you need me to tell you how much of a journey these two have gone on to even get to this position in the first place. From discovering that secret Google Drive link to defeating an eldritch terror together and finally settling down. And all the while, your love for eachother has never wavered, only strengthened from the trials and tribulations".
Admittedly, Derlord and Avery weren't listening to Wifies very well. Instead, their attentions were both captured by eachother. Wifies was right though. And even despite all the trials and tribulations they went through, even with all the scars and trauma that they couldn't hide or avoid, the absolute adoration they had for the other only deepened every single day.
"Now, it is to my understanding that you two didn't write vows. Or at least for the Minecraft wedding, you didn't," Wifies said, closing his book over, "So then, if you would-".
Derlord went to fetch the notes he kept in his breast pocket, "Well, I-".
Avery went to search in his pockets, "I actually wrote one a-".
The two grooms suddenly stopped, looking towards eachother in wide-eyed shock and surprise. A couple laughs and giggles surged through the audience, and Wifies couldn't help but let out a sigh and bury his face in his hands, muttering under his breath about "Why can't they be normal...".
Derlord looked at the piece of paper Avery was going to pull out of his pocket, "I-I thought you said you weren't writing one?".
"Cause it was supposed to be a surprise, duh!!" Avery yelped back at him, the blush on his slime face deepening further, "You said you weren't writing one either!! You already said your vows at our real life wedding!!".
"Well- mine was a surprise too!" Derlord responded back, "Besides, I can actually talk more about how we met in my vows this time since I don't need to hide the whole King in Yellow thing-".
"Oh my god, can you two wait until you actually become a married couple before you start arguing like one?!?" Wifies suddenly yelled at them, interrupting their argument before the chaos from before died into silence, only a few audience members chuckling amongst themselves.
"Right. Sorry, Wifies..." Derlord muttered.
"Yeah, really sorry 'bout that," Avery replied.
Wifies let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose before clearing his throat, "Well. You two wrote vows. Without telling me. You wanna recite them first before we continue with the ceremony?".
"Ah, right," Derlord said, quickly getting his notes out of his pocket before looking over at Avery, "You don't mind if I go first, do you?".
"Hm? Nah, go ahead!" Avery smiled to him, giving him that signature grin that Derlord swore set his heart ablaze, "It'll make me feel less nervous about my own vows anyways if you go first,".
Derlord smiled back to him, opening up the folded paper in his hands and clearing his throat. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous right now, they had done this before, and he's faced much more daunting situations with more confidence. Though he guessed there was the added pressure of him being the D3rLord3, the Minecraft player who tanked infinite knowledge twice, defeated an eldritch being and was about to marry the same guy who brought his situation to the public eye, rather than just being some college dropout that managed to somehow get together with Avery.
He took a deep breath, trying to steady his breathing and rapidly beating heart before he began. "I still vividly remember the first time I met you. Or rather, saw you, I guess, if we're being technical here," he started, "I remember seeing your wide grin, the way you carried yourself, and even if I had only seen you in visions at that point, you made me feel a way that I had never felt before, Avery". He could already begin to feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, but he hoped the shadow of his helmet was enough to hide them for now.
"Even if I hadn't met you yet, I knew then that you were worth protecting, worth fighting for and worth sacrificing myself for. Because I could see how much potential you had in your future, Aves. I just....". His voice seemed to trail off then, head turned down as he gently rubbed Avery's hand with his thumb, "I guess I just never expected I could be a part of that future".
He could hear Avery suck in a shaky breath, hands clasping just a little tighter, "Derlord.....".
Derlord looked back at him. "It was... scary, at first, I'll admit. Having so much new feelings about a guy I barely knew, especially in the circumstances we met in, not knowing if I'd even make it to New Year's or not," he said, "But we made it. And I couldn't be more glad to be able to call you mine. To be able to call you my husband and the love of my life".
He hadn't realised it until he finished his vows, but his vision was beginning to blur, tears streaming down his face. He tried to blink them away, muttering out a small "Sorry" to no one in particular, wiping at them with his hand.
He felt a gentle touch on his face, and it took him a while to realise that Avery had taken a step towards him. "You don't have to apologise for anything," he told him, a soft smile on his face as he wiped his tears away.
And despite Wifies' earlier scolding, he let the two be intimate for just a little while longer. But eventually, he cleared his throat and turned his head towards Avery, "Right. And, umm, your vows?".
"Ah, right, sorry," Avery quickly apologised to him, quickly letting go of Derlord's face before getting his own notes out of his pocket, "Let me just check they're in the right order first...".
He quickly reorganised his notes, clearing his throat before he nervously looked back up at Derlord, who simply looked at him with so much love and adoration in his eyes. "Derlord... Fuck, Derek, I... God, when I first stole your laptop from that storage unit, I wasn't expecting my life to change so... suddenly," he began, his voice stuttering a few times as he spoke, "Sure, it was probably illegal of me to take stuff from my college without asking, but at the most I thought the most I'd get was a scolding from one of my teachers, maybe a temporary suspension. And not discover a weird Minecraft world and discover... you.....".
Derlord was already beginning to feel the tears well up in his eyes again, his heart soaring as he watched Avery continue. "And, well, what else can I say? You were smart, cool, went through hell and back just to make sure I would be safe. It's not everyday someone goes out of their way to do that for me, you know?" Avery smiled at him, "A-And I promised you that I would stay with you no matter what. That whatever happened to us, we'd do it together. And I meant it, Derek".
He gently reached down to clasp Derlord's hands, the two staring at eachother like they were the only ones left in the world. "I love you, Derek. More than words can say, really..." Avery said, "I want to spend the rest of my future with you, no matter what that future is...".
And while the couple had their moment together, Wifies turned towards the front pew where the ringbearer, a young boy with a white avatar and a single purple hand sat. He motioned for the kid to come up to the altar, and the boy immediately nodded and got off his seat, handed the pillow with the rings on it by his strange-looking friend before he made his way to them. (God knows where the hell Wifies got an actual child to serve as ringbearer or if he was even aware of the couple's history. But hey, nobody's complaining).
The boy quietly offered the rings up to the couple, before quickly scurrying back to his seat next to his pal. Derlord and Avery gently took eachother's hands, taking turns slipping the rings onto eachother's ring fingers. They were silver, encrusted with a single colourd gem, red on Avery's and green on Derlord's.
"I now pronounce you two husbands," Wifies smiled to them, giving them a nod as he closed over his book, "You may now kiss the slime".
Avery gently reached his hands up to pull Derlord's helmet up and off his face. Now that there was nothing hiding it, Avery could see the tears streaming his face, and the soft smile on his lips. He gently pulled him in for a kiss, his arms wrapping around Derlord's neck as Derlord settled his hands on Avery's waist.
They held the kiss for a moment, and as they pulled away for air, it was only then they had realised that everyone had started cheering and clapping for them.
Avery turned to look back at Derlord, before he pressed another kiss to his cheek, "I can't believe you wrote vows and didn't tell me".
"You wrote vows too, don't forget that," Derlord replied, though there was still a hint of a smile on his lips. He turned his head to pull Avery back into another kiss, "But god, I love you so much, Aves".
"Mmm. I love you too, Derek," Avery let out a giggle against his lips.
==========
The rest of the day had gone by quite quickly. After some food, celebrations, chatting and the tossing of the bouquet ( which ended up with Andrew getting a bunch of flowers to his face ), they had ended the night with a trip to the End to defeat the Ender Dragon. Perhaps not the most romantic way to end a wedding, but it's not like typical rules mattered when in Minecraft.
It was late at night now, everyone had already left the server after congratulating them on getting married. So now the only people left there were Avery and Derek.
The lanterns of the wedding venue had turned on, and fireflies had begun to float around them as they sat down in the empty pews. Besides the buzz of the fireflies and the sound of their own heartbeats, it was a silent night.
"I still can't believe you actually agreed to let us go fight the Ender Dragon after our wedding," Avery chuckled, leaning his head against Derek's shoulder.
Derek let out a small laugh as he leaned against Avery back, resting his cheek atop Avery's head, "I still can't believe I agreed to any of this, to be honest".
"Hey, it was a great idea, be honest with me! You enjoyed it too!" Avery laughed, jokingly hitting Derek in the arm. The two shared a laugh for a moment, their shared joy being the only sound for miles.
The two then settled as Avery rested his head on Derek's shoulder again. "But thinking about it now, I really am glad that we met," he softly told him, letting his eyes close over as he simply enjoyed the moment, "Even if the way we met wasn't... the best".
Derek gently smiled at him, turning his head slightly so he could plant a kiss atop Avery's forehead. "I like to think we would've always met. With or without the King's involvement," he said, pressing another kiss to the bridge of his nose, "You're special to me, Avery. You're important, and I couldn't be any more glad to have met you".
Avery let out a giggle, leaning into his warm touch. He raised a hand to cup Derek's cheek, their eyes meeting eachother's gazes before he pulled him in for another kiss. Now that there was nobody there to watch or judge them, the kiss was longer than their one at the altar, the two pouring out all of their unsaid words and affections into the kiss.
After a while, they finally separated for air, leaning their foreheads against eachother as they shared this moment together. All was quiet in the venue then, the only witnesses to this moment being the fireflies, the moon and the stars above.
Derek pressed another kiss to Avery's cheek, earning him another chuckle from the slime, "I love you so much, Aves".
"Mmm, love you too, Der" Avery smiled back, leaning into another kiss.
