Chapter Text
Avery groaned at the sound of his alarm, clinging to his pillow. Why did he not turn it off last night? It was the weekend! It’s not like he had work today, either. “Alright, alright I’m up!” He shouted, still clinging to the pillow as he sat up. His alarm continued to beep until he jammed his finger onto the power button. He rubbed his eyes and grumbled, it was 6:30.. He could go back to sleep, right?
While trying to decide his morning plans, he unplugged his phone, looking through all the notifications. A handful of messages from some friends, though most of them were just dumb TikToks. A few notifications about his channel… he swiped those away before he could give them too much thought…
Finally reaching the end of the list he saw.. An email? He sat up, reading it slowly “Holy shit…” He threw his blanket to the floor and darted from his room. “MOM! DAD!”
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Avery couldn’t believe it, he actually got accepted into his dream school! He’d wanted this since he was 12, and there it was on his phone, proof of his hard work. Practically jumping around his living room, he pulled his parents into a hug (one of many that morning).
“Oh, we’re so proud of you!” His mother squeezed him so hard he swore he heard a rib crack, he wheezed in relief when she finally let go. “What have your friends said?” His friends.. He hadn’t even told them yet!
The texts he was sending were utter madness, they were riddled with spelling errors. He didn’t fully care how formal it looked, he just wanted to get the word out. He’d shout it from the rooftops if their landlord would allow it. His thumb hovered over one of his contacts, Derek.. Avery wanted to tell him, obviously. But they hadn’t talked in a while..
It’s not like they would talk every day or anything back when he first learned that Derek was alive, they kept in touch but it wasn’t ever anything more than Derek occasionally checking in on him, or Avery asking for help with school. He’d tried to invite Derek to hang out a couple times, but it never got anywhere. He’d always had something to attend to, though he’d never tell Avery what. The only time Avery had gotten Derek out somewhere was his graduation party in February.
But even those few sparse interactions suddenly stopped about a month ago. In all honesty, Avery was starting to miss him a bit.. He exited the messages, promptly pressing Call, biting his tongue while it rang. His anxiety started spiking the longer it rang.
…Did something happen that Avery didn’t know about? ..Has Derek been dead this past month without him knowing?? The line suddenly went silent, a voice slowly answering.
“Hello?”
“Derek! Hey! I didn’t wake you up, did I?”
“Huh? No, I was already awake.”
“Oh good! I was wondering if you were busy? I had some news, BIG news. And I was wondering if I could head over some time today, so I could tell you.” The line went silent as he thought.
“I’m not sure if…” Derek turned away from the phone or something, cause Avery couldn’t make out what he said. “I mean.. Maybe you could stop by for a bit.. Does noon work for you?”
“Yeah that should work! Oh, and-” A crash rang through the call, cutting him off.
“Oh sh- I’m sorry, Avery. I gotta go. I’ll see you later-” The phone hung up…
…Well that seems…
…He’s sure it’s fine… He slipped his phone back into his pants pocket, looking over to his parents, who were now working on breakfast.
“Who was that?” His dad asked him idly.
“Hm? Oh, Derek.”
“Derek.. Was that the homeless looking man at your graduation party?”
“Mom- I-.. yeah, that was him. I’m heading over to his house later today to tell him about the college stuff.” His parents exchanged a glance, they never fully liked that him and Avery were friends. ”Doesn’t it seem a bit odd for him to hang out with somebody your age? He looks like he’s in his 30’s!” (“He’s only 25, Mom!”) “Haven’t we taught you not to talk to people online?” (“Technically, I didn't meet him online! I.. nevermind..”)
“...Well… If you’re heading over that way. Can you stop by the store and get some butter?”
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The elevator dinged cheerfully, the doors opened slowly. Avery stood in the hallway.. was it 3rd on the left or the 4th? He took his chances and knocked on the door closest to him. After a few moments Derek opened the door, somehow looking both exhausted and alert.
“Hey, Avery.” He smiled warmly and stepped aside. Avery stepped in and tried to ignore the ‘off-ness’ he’d felt the few times he would come over, like there were more people in the room than there were. Derek would always brush it off as Avery’s imagination, so Avery tried doing the same, though it got difficult at times.
“Thanks for letting me come over, man! What's uh..” Avery looked around the room, confused. He hadn't been here in forever but he definitely didn't remember this much stuff. The whole room was in a state of orderly disarray. “...What's going on..?”
“Oh nothing.. Don’t worry about it..” Derek led him to the table, “what did you want to talk about?”
“Oh, right!” He took out his phone and pulled up the email. “I got an email this morning from a certain somewhere…” He slid the phone to Derek.
“You got in?”
“I got in!” Avery jumped from his chair and hugged him.
“Avery, that's amazing!” Derek laughed nervously and patted his back, quick to push him back to his chair and return to his own seat. “College's going to be a big change.. Got everything planned out?”
“Well, luckily it’s close enough that I can stay at home.” Avery drummed his fingers against the table while he talked. “My parents are happy about that, it’ll save me some money.. Plus if I ever get stuck on homework…”
“I’m not going to give you answers to your assignments, no matter how much you ask. The point of school is for you to learn the material."
“..Worth a shot.” He laughed and eased back into his chair. “How’ve you been anyways, Derek? I swear I haven’t heard from you in forever!”
“It’s only been 5 weeks… and 2 days.. Though if you wanted to get technical then 5 weeks, 2 days, 45 minutes-”
“You’re avoiding the question.”
“..Sorry. I promise you, I didn’t mean to suddenly become distant, I just.. I’ve been busy..”
“With what?” Avery leaned against the table. Derek opened his mouth to answer, as if on cue, a loud cry rang out from another room and cut him off. Avery turned and tilted his head at the sound, “...Babysitting?”
“Yeah… something like that.” Derek got up and left the room.
“I guess that explains the state of the place..” He looked at the toys strewn about before turning to the now emerging Derek, “No offense!” Derek gave him a faint nod in acknowledgement, a baby in his arms. “Aw.. What’s the little guy’s name?”
“Uhh..” Derek slowly sat down, bouncing his leg. “I’m.. not sure..?”
“What do you mean? Did they not tell you? I-“ All thoughts left Avery as the baby turned to him. Inhuman eyes bore into him, a bright yellowish-orange that was.. Familiar. Avery couldn’t figure out where he remembered it from.
“It’s.. Well.. Not exactly someone else’s kid..” Derek scratched his neck, the words took a bit to settle into Avery’s skull. Not somebody else’s? Was Derek saying this was his kid? How? It looked nothing like Derek! How did- Was he just hiding a baby from Avery for months? That’s impossible! And what’s with all the yellow?!
…Yellow..
…
..oh..
“Derek is.. Is that..” Avery struggled to get words out, they all wanted to spill at once. “...His..” He didn’t want to say it, it felt like if he said the King’s name it would suddenly cause Him to manifest and bring about the end of times.
“Yes. I guess? I don’t know. Look, Avery, I don't know how to explain this easily.”
“But- How?! I thought He was dead!” He suddenly paused and grimaced at a passing, intrusive thought, “..Ugh did you guys-”
“I’m not answering that.” Derek was quick to cut him off. “Look. I can explain everything, I think. Just give me a second to put things into words..” They both looked down to the baby, Derek stood and started for the kitchen. “..And make a bottle.”
Avery followed him into the kitchen, listening to Derek try and explain this predicament he’d gotten himself into. It was almost impossible for Avery to keep track of what was said, every few sentences Derek would seemingly switch topics. As if stuck in multiple conversations at once. “..And about a month ago.. He showed up.” Derek gestured to the baby.
“So..” Avery hesitated. “So the.. King isn’t.. Dead.”
“No. No, He isn’t. Whatever that incantation did.. Tethered us, I guess. Which was supposed to kill us both, but it clearly didn’t. Time went on and uh..” Derek cleared his throat and turned to Avery, “..How are you feeling?”
“It’s certainly a lot to process..” Avery mumbled, his head hurt just trying to wrap around this whole thing. And the look this baby kept giving him wasn’t helping him. “Is this why you never wanted to do anything?”
“I didn’t want you to worry about this stuff. I figured we could still talk before but.. It’s kind of hard to do with this one around.. It’s not all bad though.” Avery looked up at Derek, confused. “..They’re kinda nice to have around..”
“I guess that.. Makes sense..” ”Nice to have around”?? What kind of mind manipulation was this?! This was insanity! It’s bad enough hearing him talk about the monster who caused everything that’s happened to them in such a kind light. It’s even worse to have the offspring of said monster in your home, let alone take care of it like it was your own! (WAS it his own?? Derek didn’t say.. Oh god-) That baby was going to bring about the end of the world or something. Avery was fully convinced!
“..Avery?” Derek poked Avery’s shoulder. “..Did you hear me?”
“Huh?”
“You zoned out. I asked if you were okay..”
“Oh, I’m fine.. I just realized I needed to.. Uh.. stop at the store! Mom needs something for tonight. And how I should go get it before dinner time.” Avery turned for the door.
“Are you sure you’re okay? You look pretty shook.”
“Of course! I hope you, the baby and your.. 'Companion?’ have a nice night.. Bye!” He slammed the door behind him, trying to run out the complex faster than his thoughts ran through his head.
“Uh-.. Bye??” Derek mentally kicked himself.. That went terribly. Theoretically it had to happen eventually, and he thought this would’ve been the smart way to go about it. To just come clean, they would talk about it once the initial shock was over, and the whole problem would be resolved. A resonant voice arose from everywhere and nowhere all at once.
”I told you this was a bad idea.”
“It’ll be fine.. I think.. I’m sure he just needs time.”