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Rain pattered onto the crater that once was Lomedy’s farm; it had been a few moments since Spongs and Willie attacked them and blew up and took everything they had: the crops, the animals, the house that they shared. In the middle of the crater, stood Lomedy, who had been silently staring at the ground since the attack.
“LOMEDY, LET ME KILL THEM”
He had repeated the phrase as Spongs and Willie continued to plant more and more TNT onto the base. If he had killed them the first time, their animals wouldn’t have been taken away, their farm would be perfectly intact, and Lomedy would continue happily farming away for the rest of his days.
Amidst the constant pitter-patter of rain, Flame kept replaying the fight over and over again in his head. Why did he now care about this stupid farm? Why would anyone build a farm on the Unstable SMP, where griefing and robberies were an inevitability? And why was he upset over its loss, when he knew it was coming?
He thought back to what Spongs had said. How he had taunted him that he was holding himself back, that he couldn’t kill them all because of one simple farmer. Flame had quickly quipped back that he was doing it for a really fast horse that Lomedy had but now as he finds himself unsure how to approach Lomedy in the aftermath of the attack, he can’t help but think- was it really about the horse?
This silence was too damning. Lomedy was usually never silent, he would always happily share whatever was on his mind with Flame, reprimanding him whenever Flame would set out to kill a group of players or trying to help out whenever he can whether it’s through giving him loot or letting him use the mace. Even when he was focused on farming, he would always merrily hum a little tune.
Flame used to relish in silence, his base went untouched for so long out of fear what the Immortal Demon would do if he found the intruders. Now? As he looks at Lomedy, who was clearly trying to fight back tears (made obvious with his glassy eyes), he realizes he can’t stand another second of this silence.
“Lomedy, we need to kill them.”
Fuck this stupid farmer code, they can’t kill one another but they can take away their crops, animals, their entire home?
“Come on, we need to go to their base. Right now. Take back the animals and-”
“Flame,” Lomedy interrupted him. “You are the worst.”
Flame paused. For the past few weeks, he had been bombarded with insults from various groups of players across the server, whether it be for his supposed cheating or trash skills, he had always been able to quickly bounce back and come up with a quip right after. But he stood perfectly still, as Lomedy looked up to meet him in the eyes, or well, blindfold.
“You were never meant to be a farmer.” Pure vitriol emanated from his words, yet Flame noted the hint of a quiver in Lomedy’s voice.
“It wouldn’t be as bad if you weren’t here, these players, Sponges and Willie, they’re after you, Flame. It wouldn’t have gotten to this. My entire farm is just… gone.”
A look of defeat washed over Lomedy as he took in the entire sight, Flame felt a deep pit in his stomach. Flame was used to feeling like shit, for a lack of better term. He has experienced being exhausted beyond words after fighting for hours, he has felt the pain of a thousand punches, stabs and lashes and yet-
I think I’d rather fight a thousand battles than this.
“This farm was all I had, Flame. I- I don’t even wanna play on this server anymore if I can’t have this.”
Upon hearing this, Flame blurted out something he would have never thought in a million years. The words left his mouth before he even realized what he was saying, but there was only thought Flame had on his head and it was-
I can’t lose you too, Lomedy.
“C-can you farm with me? One last time at least, before you go? Please.”
Flame was not a farmer, it was boring and there were other more efficient ways of procuring resources. But for Lomedy, he would be.
Lomedy stayed silent, but he followed Flame to their destroyed patch of crops and watched as Flame pulled out his hoe and started tilling the soil. It was sad, tilling the little patches of dirt that they could still plant their crops on. But this was the first time, without any instruction, that Flame decided to help out on his farm. The first time he was deep in focus farming, rather than bored out of his mind and just willing to go with whatever Lomedy wanted him to do.
Lomedy pulled out his hoe and began to help him till the soil as well.
Flame had looked up from his work to see the light slowly returning to Lomedy’s golden eyes and simply smiled. The first genuine one in a long while.
He loved fighting, the thrill of battle and being known as the strongest player on the SMP. But he would spend his entire life living out on this farm if it meant that he could be by Lomedy’s side all the time, to see that precious smile a thousand times over.
Slowly but surely, they started rebuilding their farm– reconstructing the terrain, mending the broken fences, expanding their patches of crops and building an entire new house for themselves from scratch.
Lomedy and Flame stood atop the roof of their newly constructed home, taking in the sight of a few days’ worth of work.
Flame turned to Lomedy and saw that his once dimmed golden eyes had now returned to its original luminous form, sparkling with delight at the sight of his new farm, the wind blew through his soft fluffy brown hair and he had a small, yet genuine smile on his lips.
Lomedy caught Flame staring and grinned widely at him, grateful that Flame had pulled him out of this rough spot and rebuilt his farm all for him, and it dawns on Flame that-
“Oh, it’s you. It’s going to be you.”
As a warrior, it was damning if you had a weakness, but Flame finds that he couldn’t care. In a server as ruthless as Unstable, where he only sought glory and riches, to stand out as the strongest player and be able to survive in this cruel world– he finds himself truly happy that he has found respite. And that, he had found it in Lomedy.
His Lomedy.