Chapter Text
Regect hated the rain. He absolutely despised it.
So, of course, it was no surprise when the storm pounding outside completely ruined the entity's mood. The normally chaotic antagonist had been reduced to a boneless, sulking lump of blankets and limbs in his room, his voice impossibly silenced by the dull patter of water on windows.
Usually, Ze didn't care. Sure, it was weird that Regect hated the rain of all things, but it's not like he himself liked it any better. Still, Ze never found himself as a moping pile of depression when it rained, unlike his roommate.
Besides, they were supposed to go visit Msak today. Ze had put it off long enough because of Regect's childish lurking, but Msak wasn't a very patient person. Ze had used every excuse in the book in an attempt to buy more- because he didn't want to deal with a 6-foot pile of whining, duh- but Msak had ignored it all. The storm, the Regect's grumpiness, a lack of chicken, and even his guns being unpolished- it all left Msak unfazed. Msak knew him too well to listen to his bullshit.
Also, he wanted to get out of the house. He'd been holed up inside with Moe and Regect for so long because of the rain- he just wanted to go for a walk. Maybe a hike. Anything that would soothe the ache in his legs from staying dormant for so long.
And so, here he was, leaning against Regect's doorframe while the entity grumbled and whined and turned over, back towards him as he curled up like a snail shying away from salt while Ze attempted to do the impossible- sway Regect's will.
"Regect- oh my God, stop moping, you chud. It won't even be that bad, you're just stubborn." Ze glared at the heap of fluffiness that was Regect. "It's just Msak and Ptolemy."
"No." Regect mumbled, scooching towards the farthest end of the bed like a toddler throwing a tantrum. "Tell Msak we'll visit later. And tell Ptolemy to suck it."
"I've BEEN telling them, dude, but it's been 2 weeks, and the rain hasn't let up, so you're just going to have to deal with it." Ze approached him, and Regect peeked over his shoulder, his golden eye narrowed stubbornly. Ze grabbed Regect's arm- or at least, what he assumed to be Regect's arm- and started pulling him back out of bed. Regect shrieked, kicking and clinging to his blankets like a little kid, and Ze resisted the urge to throw Regect out of a window.
"Dude, COME ON- it's just some RAIN!" Ze yelled over Regect's thrashing, pulling harder and dragging his own feet back in a desperate attempt to win an unwinnable fight. Regect hissed and pushed him off, his sharp claws raking against Ze and drawing thin lines of blood that only served to make his patience draw even thinner. Still, Regect's offense worked annoyingly well, because Z stumbled back, barely catching himself on the nightstand by Regect's bed while the entity backed up behind piled blankets like a soldier in war.
"I said I'm not going." Regect glared at him over the rim of the blankets he held as a shield, the chains on his tail rattling slightly. His gaze was drawn to where Z was clutching his arm, pale palm pressed to pale skin, and his posture went still for a mere moment.
Z shot him a nasty look, but he withdrew himself. Clearly, he wasn't going to win this argument- he'd just have to apologise to Msak yet again for their lack of a certain rejected antagonist when they showed up.
"Whatever, loser. Moe and I are going anyway. Don't mess up anything while we're gone." Ze muttered, his nerves cooling into something dangerously close to worry as Regect rolled back over into his heap. Regect didn't offer anything except a small flick of his tail before he disappeared under the covers, but Ze supposed it was enough.
He slid out the door, shutting it firmly behind him. The silence outside of Regect's room was loud, and it rang in his ears in symphony with the throb of his hurt arm. If Regect had been in a normal mood, Ze would've probably fought back, but the absence of Regect's witty humour and constant incessance gave him the slightest bit of worry- not that he'd ever admit it, of course. He'd rather kiss Regect's half-ass before letting that slip out.
Ze sighed, running a hand through his hair. If he was going to be completely, perfectly, crystal clear honest, he'd been hoping that Regect would come with him. After the whole 'hole' ordeal, the idea of venturing into the woods without both Moe and Regect by his side sounded worse than being publicly executed.
Then, like a lightning bolt through the storm outside, an idea struck him.
Moe opened her door from down the hall, honking excitedly when she saw Ze. She gestured at her outfit and started honking again, talking about how she'd wanted to show Msak her new outfit for a while.
Then she honked the killer question, and Ze avoided her gaze, hoping she wouldn't notice the way he was pressing his own arm and how he'd shrunk in on himself.
"No, Regect said he didn't want to come. He's throwing another tantrum over the rain again." Ze quietly told her, his prior anger melting into something warmer that ran through his veins. Still, ever petty, he made sure he was loud enough for his words to infiltrate Regect's door. He hoped the freeloading chud heard him and seethed.
Moe shook her head, honking concernedly, but Ze waved her off. "It's fine, Moe, I've got an idea to make it better." She tilted her head, following curiously as he went down the stairs, bee-lining straight for the house computer.
Z shot Moe a small smile, his lips curled smugly at the edges. "If we can't bring Regect to Msak and Ptolemy, then let's bring Msak and Ptolemy to him."
-
Regect had been on the brink of falling back into sleep when he heard something scuttling outside his door. He pulled a blanket over his ears with a groan, but the noise still persisted. Soon, a couple of voices joined the thrum as well- and even if they were muffled, they were still annoying.
Regect sighed, staring out his window in doom and despair for a couple of moments before the disturbances became unbearable. He dragged himself out of bed, slouched and tired, his tail's chains dragging on the floor as he approached his door.
He slammed the door open.
Nothing.
The noise had moved down the hall, and even though Regect had half the mind to return back to the comforting depths of sleep he'd been so rudely ripped away from earlier, but the sound of some very familiar voices drew him forward.
Sue him for being curious.
He came up on Moe's room- the door to which was cracked slightly ajar. Through the gap, he could see Ze, Moe, and Msak sitting on Moe's bedroom floor, porcelain teacups held in their fingers. Moe and Msak were very animatedly chatting, and Ze was just watching them, sipping his own drink quietly. That in itself was weird. Msak barely came over- unless it was a holiday or to see Ze.
And then he saw Ptolemy curled on top of Moe's bed like an absolute fatass, his own teacup comically small in comparison to the talons that carefully held it. He was practically asleep, his eyelids droopy as he gazed meaninglessly at the back of Msak's head, his freaky antenna twitching occasionally.
Regect pushed the door open- and dramatically so, because it slammed into the wall so hard that everyone jumped. Ze even let out a tiny, startled shriek, but the player's surprise melted almost in an instant at the sight of Regect standing in the doorway. Ptolemy lifted his head enough to make eye contact with Regect before letting out a long-suffering sigh, turning his head away with an air of disappointment that Regect definitely did not appreciate.
"Here comes the half-ass," Ptolemy grumbled, antenna twitching again. Regect just sputtered, staring between him and Ze and him again. His tail lashed behind him, his chains jingling like bells.
<Hi Regect!!> Msak said through the player chatbox, tilting his head cheerily. The white crescents that were his eyes narrowed, an amused mirth glittering in them. He raised an empty teacup to Regect in offering. <Care for some tea?>
Regect ignored him, turning to Ze. The player was very obviously avoiding his gaze, but he was also very obviously smug about the whole situation. Regect glared holes into the side of his head, opening his mouth to demand an explanation- or maybe just a fight- but then Moe honked for him to sit down, patting the spot on the floor next to her, and nobody says no to Monella the clown, so Regect reluctantly sat himself down, his tail tapping the carpet rapidly. He was still glaring at Ze, who finally met his stare with blinking, wide-eyed, totally convincing innocence.
"What?" Ze asked. "They needed to visit somehow."
Regect wanted to throw him out into the rain and leave him there.
Moe honked, tilting her head and handing him a cup. He took it, staring down into the tea that he'd been given and swirling it around mindlessly. He wasn't all that thirsty.
Slowly, the conversations around him devolved back into their usual chatter, undisturbed as Regect just sat there like a doll. Occasionally, he caught Ptolemy cracking an eye open to study him, but the centipede made no notion of caring besides that. Moe shifted closer to him, but she didn't talk to him, honking away to Ze and Msak. Regect zoned out after his fifth reimagining of his tea spilling all over Ze's blank white hoodie, so his teacup went from warm to cold. The rain outside Moe's window was loud, and it was a distraction enough for him.
His attention wandered to Ze's arm. He'd wrapped bandages around it, and it didn't seem to bother the player himself, but he did awkwardly shift his arm occasionally. Regect started at him for far longer than he probably should've, his gaze wandering up and down the unaware player while fluff filled his ears.
Then, he caught a fragment of a conversation.
<Ptolemy came out of the computer the other day! It was pretty cool.> Msak said, turning to look at the mentioned antagonist. Ptolemy shrugged, but there was an odd rigidity to his posture, like it hadn't gone as well as Msak was making it seem.
Ze blinked, surprised. "He can do that?" His attention turned to Ptolemy, who shrugged again like it wasn't that big of a deal.
"I can do that," Ptolemy affirmed, finally taking a sip of his tea- probably as an excuse to stop talking, Regect assumed. Coward. His hundred legs tapped quietly on the blanket, and Regect almost ripped his own invisible ears off right then and there.
"Regect, can you do that?"
Regect flinched, yanked out of his subconscious, observing state. Ze was staring at him now, eyebrows genuinely furrowed. Regect stared back at him, golden irises and all, and opened his mouth to speak-
"He can."
"FUCK YOU!" Regect spat at Ptolemy, who simply cocked a small smirk. "That was my big reveal, ASSHOLE." Ptolemy took a sip of his tea, closing his eyes in satisfaction while Regect glared at him, seething.
"Aw, man," Moe honked disappointedly. "I can't do that. Boo."
Ze was squinting at Regect, and Regect avoided his befuzzled gaze. "He's never come out of my computer. Huh." Regect clutched his teacup tighter, tail tapping the floor.
"Obviously. I don't wanna see your ugly room. It's probably covered in gunpowder 'n stuff." Regect muttered. Ze opened his mouth, probably to start yelling, but Ptolemy's UGLY, DOUBLE TRIPLE MULTI ASS FUCK SELF interrupted him, tapping his legs on Moe's blanket.
"He's done it before. Before Ze came around." Ptolemy blinked his eyes open and squinted, as if trying to recall the memory. "Yeah- the idiot came to ask me about it. He didn't tell me how it went, though…" Ptolemy turned to stare Regect down, attempting to prompt the story from Regect. Regect would not take the bait.
"You should tell us!" Moe honked, tilting her head. Msak nodded along, smiling curiously. Even Ze's gaze had softened in favour of listening, his dark eyes trained on Regect.
"I-" Regect hesitated before looking away from the three of them, forcing a smile. "Woah! The rain is very loud today, huh!" His tail shifted behind him, and Ptolemy stared, antenna flicking softly- almost like he'd realised he'd crossed a line. Moe gave him a look, but she opted to take another sip of her drink instead, and Msak immediately moved on, whispering something to Ptolemy and giggling.
Ze's eyes lingered on him in a combination of squinting, glaring, and full-on staring. But he ignored it.
He just took another sip of tea, looking away from the window.
The rain was almost loud enough for him to pretend he was back.
-
The moon was high in the sky when the rain finally, slowly, calmed down, going from a heavy shower to a light sprinkle. Msak, Ptolemy, and their comically large umbrella had left just before dinner with polite thanks for being invited, which Regect barely heard. Ze seemed relaxed, too, like he'd enjoyed it, and Regect had felt bad for keeping Ze alone for so long. At least, he would've felt bad, had Ze not turned around five milliseconds after they'd opened the front door to leave to yell at him and force him to stop "weeping into the couch cushions".
Which he wasn't! Regect had shed a single, manly tear at most. Nothing more, and it was all the rain's fault anyway.
The day had been relatively peaceful after that. Moe made them all soup, and they'd piled on the couch to watch some romance movie that she had picked out. It wasn't horrible, but it was a slow burn, and it wasn't loud enough to drown out the drum of the rain in his head, so Regect had zoned himself out for most of it. Moe had excused herself in the middle of it to go drink some water, but she didn't come back, so Regect assumed she was asleep. Ze had been commenting on the movie, and everything stupid the male lead did until the end, but then the loser also fell asleep, leaving Regect to watch the rest of the movie alone.
Regect sighed loudly, spread out across the couch as the last couple of minutes of the plot ran through in the background- something about how the guy was promising to never leave the girl. Stupid, boring, cliche stuff, really. Regect wasn't all that interested in it- he wasn't a romantic guy. Ze was slumped on Regect's shoulder, leaning uncomfortably sideways onto him and snoring. To be fair- it was Regect's fault- the arm Ze should've been sleeping on was his injured one, so he was stuck with putting his weight on Regect's shoulder instead, which couldn't have been comfortable at all. Regect still had his neck cuff on.
Regect glanced over at Ze, who was submerged in a blissful dreamland, as far as he was aware. Then he slowly shifted out from under Ze, holding the man and gently lowering him onto the couch. Regect opted to sit on the floor, next to Ze's head, and finish the movie before heading up to his room and sleeping again.
It only took a couple of seconds for Regect's attention to be directed back to Ze's arm.
It wasn't like he hadn't hurt Ze before- and it wasn't like he hated doing it. It was actually really funny to scratch Ze and hear him yell. Ze always got pissed off- but it didn't seem to really hurt him in any way, so Regect didn't see the problem. Ze usually just patched himself back up and moved on.
No, that wasn't what had Regect bothered. It was that, well-
On a bad day like this, he didn't really want to look at bandages.
It was pathetic, really, how much it affected him. He used to be fine with the rain. He used to be fine with bandages. He used to be so much better than this.
Regect studied Ze's. His mismatched eyelashes- black and white- fluttered against his skin with every breath he took. That small mole next to his left eye that moved imperceptibly when Ze's closed eyes twitched. The crooked bridge of his broken nose, the stark paleness of his coarse skin, the slight stubble growing alongside the curve of his jawline, his choppy black hair with its faded roots, and the segment shaved out from his right eyebrow- Regect knew that some semblance of it all was real.
Micha's computer had always been able to recreate a person like that- almost uncannily, Regect would've claimed, if Minecraft wasn't his norm. Regect knew that if he stepped out of the computer right now, he would be able to recognise Ze to some degree.
He could- He could do it. He could step out right now. Ze was asleep.
The credits of the movie ran behind him, a slow, final song starting up. Regect rubbed his face with a sigh, fumbling for the remote to turn the TV off. When he found it, he clicked the TV off, and the living room was plunged into complete darkness.
He didn't have a problem with "stepping out", persay. Sure, it felt weird and tingly, and the "real world" was so humid and cold- the air felt like it was pressing in on him. But it was bearable.
No, it's just that- he just-
It was a breach of privacy. That was it. The reason Regect would never leave the computer again was because it would breach Ze's privacy, and he was definitely above that. Totally.
Regect looked at Ze and then- slowly, hesitantly- he reached out to put two fingers to Ze's cheekbone. He barely twitched, and Regect pushed harder, splaying all his fingers out over Ze's face, claws catching onto skin where they could. Ze frowned then, shifting, but Regect didn't move.
Finally, after some struggle, Regect's hand was jerked into Ze's face to the elbow. Regect caught himself on the couch, biting back a shriek. His mouth filled with the tingly, metallic taste of the tongue he'd just bitten, and he swallowed shakily, staring at where Ze's face started, and his arm stopped.
Then he closed his eyes and, with a quiet gulp, let himself be pulled in.
-
Regect didn't know where the disturbing feel of Ze's face ended and where the computer started until he caught himself on its plastic frame, yanking himself out to the waist to take a gasp of unfamiliar, wet, sweet air.
He opened his eyes and almost fell backwards at the sight of a head inches away from his invisible nose. He gripped the frame tighter, tilting his head as far left as he could to try and get a glimpse of the face buried in a crossed forearms.
Was that-?
Is that Ze?
Ze looked far from what Regect had expected. For one, he was not a pale white guy like he was in-game. His hair was black, but cut close in a short buzzcut, and he had no white roots or eyes in his scalp. His arms were scarred and decently muscled, but there were no bandages from what Regect could see. Figures- that version of Ze was only in the computer, after all. Nothing Regect did would stay for real.
He didn't know if that thought was comforting or scary.
Regect carefully freed one of his hands and tried to tilt Ze's head without waking him up. His own black palm was large- his whole hand making Ze's head look small. He would've found it stupidly cute if he wasn't so nervous to be out in the open again.
Regect got a better look at Ze when he had a tentative hand under his chin. His face wasn't as foreign as the rest of him- he had that same cut eyebrow, the same dark circles under his eyes, and the same eyelashes- save for their lack of white. When Regect's gaze dipped lower, he caught sight of gleaming, silver metal- snake bites, maybe? They rested under his bottom lip.
His lips seemed pretty soft for a guy spending all his time on Minecraft- OKAY, WHERE DID THAT THOUGHT COME FROM.
Regect leaned a bit farther out of the computer, sliding his hand up to cup Ze's jaw as he stared. The guy looked different- not that he was bad looking at all, which was something Regect would never tell him to his face, of course. He was also a heavy sleeper- but he could just be tired, it was late after all. His room was pretty dark- dark enough that Regect had to squint to see most of Ze's things, like his bed in the corner or the hamper by his door.
Ze stirred, flinching Regect out of observatory state. Regect held his breath, but Ze seemed to be undisturbed, only adjusting to lean his head into Regect's palm-
Then he sleepily cracked an eye open to stare at Regect confusedly.
His eye wasn't the dark blue that Regect was used to staring at. It was a deep, warm, chocolatey brown that seemed to hold Regect in place like a dragonfly pinned to a board.
Regect glitched, and before Ze could prop himself up on the desk, Regect yanked himself back into the computer and out of game-Ze's face. He sat back on the familiar floor of the house innocently, digging his claws into the wood, as Ze sat up, rubbing his face and groaning.
"What the hell, dude…?" Ze mumbled, squinting at Regect. "What- what time is it?"
Regect forced a sharp grin, watching Ze yawn again. "Nunya." Ze frowned at him, sighing exasperatedly.
"Oh fuck off, dude." He muttered, pushing himself up from the couch. He stretched a bit, stumbling for his footing as he slowly made his way to the stairs- up to his room, probably. Regect stood up as well, trailing him at a distance.
"You asked!" He called to Ze, tail wagging quietly, as the man sluggishly dragged himself up the stairs. Regect stopped at the foot of the stairs, and Ze responded with another groan. He was acting as if he'd been through hell- his bandaged arm shakily grasping the stair's railing. Maybe Regect wasn't so good at this after all.
"Didn't," Ze responded, his voice far off as he went to his room. Regect had half the mind to follow up with a matching "did too", but Ze seemed tired, and he didn't want to wake up Moe again, so Regect gave up. He could always bother Ze tomorrow.
Regect stared up the empty stairwell, slowly sinking back into his thoughts. Ze looked like such an interesting guy beyond that screen- with his cut eyebrow and tiny piercings and gooey-melty brown stare. And he was tangible too- with a blank canvas of skin just barely littered by marks from his past.
And he was alive. He was one of the most living things Regect had ever had the fortune of witnessing. And that fascinated the entity.
Acknowledging that Ze had a life outside of this one opened up so many new questions for Regect. What did he do for work? What did a perfect day to him look like? Who were his other friends? What did his family look like, and what did he do for fun aside from hanging out with him and Moe? Of course, it did make Regect feel smaller in the grand scheme that was Ze's life. He was just the computer after all. He wasn't important.
But he didn't need to worry about that right now.
Regect retreated back to the couch, flopping down on it. His tail hung over the edge, chains clinking together like bells. He sighed, a warm feeling creeping up his spine and making him feel content. The rain in the background thrummed against the window panes of the house like the thump of tiny feet against the grass or the drum of dull fingers against a desk. It was quiet, and oddly soothing- a feeling Regect had long since unassociated with rain. It was enough to lull him into the deep confines of sleep, his eyes fluttering shut like a wilting allium.
Behind him, the rain slowly eased out, clouds drawing back like curtains giving way to the moon.
The storm was over.
-
"Dude, I had the weirdest dream about you yesterday."
Regect raised an eyebrow at Ze- and after a moment of awkward silence, in which he forgot his face was invisible- he gestured for Ze to continue, leaning against the kitchen counter. Ze rubbed his eyes, stretching in the morning sun.
"It was so weird. You like- you were leaning out of my computer. Like- you we're waking me up an' shit." Ze gave him a suspicious glance. "You weren't spying on me while I was asleep, were you?"
Regect snorted. "I told you I don't want to see your dogwater room, Ze." He crossed his arms. "But you dreamt about me! That's cute, Ze." Ze glared at him, ticked off by the sarcasm in Regect's voice.
"Fuck you, Regect," Ze grumbled, running a hand through his hair. "Last time I tell you about a dream, I guess."
"Don't stop dreaming about me! It's adorable that you think about me so much."
"Dude SHUT UP-"
"Stop arguing…" Moe honked tiredly, making her way down the stairs and rubbing her eyes. "It's too early for this."
"Sorry, Moe." Ze apologised, shooting Regect another dark glare. Regect just responded with a sharp grin before pushing off the counter, hopping up to stand next to Ze and nudging his shoulder.
"Yeah, Ze, stop arguing." Regect egged him on. Before Ze could respond, however, Regect started talking again. "We can't argue and go mining at the same time."
It was an invitation to exit the house. The rain had let up, and the sun was back, so nothing was stopping them anymore. The idea in itself seemed to make Ze light up, even if only by a fraction. He tilted his head to squint up at Regect's visible eyes.
"Only if we stop for food on the way." Ze nudged his shoulder back- harder than Regect initially had, but Regect only snickered at the sentiment.
"Deal."
"Great, then," Ze sighed. "Let's go out."
"Leeet's go see the SUN!"