Chapter Text
It's been seven weeks.
Avery has learnt the upload schedule by now. It's not exactly rigid, but D3rlord3 tries to post a video every Monday and Friday, around lunchtime. He's very apologetic when he doesn't, despite the fact that it's very unlikely one of his few viewers genuinely took the time to notice…
…though, unlikely doesn't mean impossible. Avery has. He has memorized it, and he finds himself annoyed and distraught with the delays sometimes. D3rlord3 doesn't seem particularly off-set by the lack of an audience, anyway, considering he's posted hundreds of times to a grand number of 60 viewers (at most, honestly). Newer uploads tend to get around 5 views.
It's fine. Avery has done his best to keep him posting, and he's happy to have found him just a few months into his YouTube career. He's also not bothered by the lack of viewers in the slightest, considering how intimately he takes these videos.
To be frank, D3rlord3 isn't great at this. His videos are poorly cut, choppily voiced and weirdly formatted, consisting of vanilla Minecraft survival. He plays alone, and he talks to himself, sharing details about his life that you really shouldn't be sharing. He doesn't even seem to notice he's doing it, and talks with clear awareness that few people are watching, despite the fact that he mentions hoping more people would.
Avery, once again, does not.
He began commenting recently, and D3rlord3 responds with a great deal of enthusiasm each time. He'd rather not share this enthusiasm with anyone else, and whenever D3rlord3 gets additional comments, Avery can't help but be a bit jealous.
Still, none of them comment as consistently as he does. But this isn't because he's some freak who goes on every upload to rant, D3rlord3 simply doesn't get many repeat viewers. The most consistent one, aside from him, commented thrice. Avery comments every two posts, making sure to take a breather between them, and then casually references one of the previous videos in his next comment.
It's great. D3rlord3 has come to recognise him, and it makes him really happy. In fact, he's mentioned him in videos, once laughing at a joke he'd made in a comment. Hearing that, Avery had to take a step away from the computer for a moment, as he'd felt something above regular joy. He realizes it's breaching some limits, but finds that he can't put a dramatic halt to it, in case D3rlord3 stops uploading.
Now, could he? Yes. He's not personally responsible for this guy's YouTube career, or well-being, but he's also an empathetic person. D3lord3 has mentioned how much this channel means to him, and he can feel the happiness and excitement radiating from him every single time someone (Avery) interacts. It would be pretty cruel to take that away from him, wouldn't it? He's not being, like, that weird about it. Everyone has their favourite YouTubers they check with regularly, and D3rlord3’s videos aren't boring. He's very knowledgeable about Minecraft, and Avery even finds himself learning some new things from him, so in the end, this is good for both of them.
Onto the present. Today is Monday; Avery is returning home from his part-time job. His apartment is on the third floor, and he struggles to carry the groceries he'd gotten, as the weight is unevenly distributed; everything is crammed into a single bag that he's carrying with one arm. It hurts like all hell, especially with the added effort of walking up the stairs.
Everyone can definitely hear him groaning across the halls, and he doesn't care. The plastic shuffling should cover it just fine… Plus, the other tenants can be just as noisy. They'd be hypocrites to complain about it.
Avery makes sure to keep his posture straight. He'd rather not break his back…
…but he still might, as due to his tunnel vision, he ends up bumping into someone.
Avery trips and nearly falls down the stairs, being caught by the person he collided with. His focus, however, goes towards the bangs and clangs his groceries make upon hitting the floor, and rolling down the stairs.
All of it spills out. He's baffled, and he doesn't react immediately in the hopes that this is somehow a prank; that someone will jump out with a camera and reveal it was fake. It isn't, and the guy who's currently holding him in a weirdly close embrace seems to be just as shell-shocked as he is.
“Sorry,” They say in unison, and the other guy lets him go, realizing how awkward their previous positioning was. Avery dusts himself off, takes a look around, and feels his knees pleading for rest preemptively.
The two of them stand there for some time, before the man kneels to pick up a can of tomato sauce and hands it to Avery. He sighs, and looks around as well. “My bad. Do… you want me to, um, help you with this?”
“No, thanks.” Avery takes it, and picks up another item within their vicinity. “Also, it's okay. I wasn't watching my steps either.”
An obnoxiously loud clang is heard from the very first floor.
“...”
“...”
“Are you sure you don't want help?”
Avery groans, placing his hands on his hips. “Fine, yeah. I'd appreciate it.”
The other man’s shoulders drop, and he begins walking down the stairs to grab what fell. Avery is picking up the stuff around him, while also searching for his keys. It doesn't take that long to find them, and with that, he begins moving said stuff towards the kitchen counter.
“Oh, we live on the same floor!” The other guy points out, upon returning upstairs with his arms full.
“Oh? I don't think I've seen you around.”
“I’ve never seen you around either…” He gets closer, and it's clear he's struggling a bit with everything he's holding. “How long have you been living here?”
“A few months. You?” Avery tilts his head.
“A little over a year, I'd say?” He looks to the side, engrossed in thought. This process is halted by him nearly dropping a can of coke, which he jumps to save.
He laughs awkwardly. “Uhm. D’you mind if I come in and put these in there?”
“Nope.” Avery opens the door a little wider, pointing towards the inside. “Not much to see, if I'm being honest, so…”
The guy walks in, notices the fact that the rest of the groceries are sat on the counter, then places the additional ones there as well. He lets out a deep sigh of relief, which he quickly suppresses with a cough as Avery follows him.
“Pretty sure that's all.” Avery puts his hands in his pockets. “Thanks a lot, man.”
He smiles a bit. It’s somewhat hard to see, but Avery can still gauge it. “No problem.”
It's clear he's making an effort to sound more kind and excited than he naturally would; his voice is noticeably deep, and leans towards a flat affect. The man awkwardly gives his goodbyes, going in for a handshake after a long internal debate, which Avery reciprocates in mild amusement.
“I'm Avery, by the way!” He shouts, a bit too late. The guy shouts something back, though it can't be properly heard, given that it's coming all the way from the stairs. Avery shuts the door.
Well, that was a hassle. But that guy was nice, at least. Avery hasn't gotten along spectacularly with his neighbors so far, unfortunately, so he's glad to have given him a halfway decent first impression.
Now that he's properly home, the first thing he does is grab his headphones. He puts on some music, and begins tidying up the place, as well as sorting through the groceries. After approximately an hour, he finally gets the chance to sit down with his laptop, and what do you know? D3rlord3's posted a new video, earlier than he usually would.
Just 30 seconds ago, and it's 45 minutes long; a continuation of his regular Minecraft survival series, that Avery eagerly allows to play. The video starts with a 10 second pause, during which some keyboard typing and mouse clicking can be heard. Following it is D3rlord3’s usual greeting, as enthusiastic as always.
He starts talking. Avery listens. He talks about some tech projects he's been working on, briefly mentions his mother, discusses what he ate today and his usual preferences (that he's already talked about before), then goes silent for a while. He tries to do some building, and it is, admittedly, not that aesthetically pleasing; the rest of his Minecraft world is mainly automated farms and such, so it sticks out like a sore thumb.
He makes some jokes. Avery wouldn't find them particularly funny, had it been anyone else, but there's something weirdly charming about the way he says them. He does laugh a bit, though not for long, as he processes said jokes properly and realizes that they're not that great.
It doesn't matter. There's no need to overthink it. This is just entertainment; D3rlord3 is just doing his job. Entertaining him.
Still… The authenticity, intimacy and endearing lack of quality is what draws him in, at the end of the day. As unusual as the implications of that may be, Avery’s not particularly ashamed of it. Everyone has their peculiarities, and this is his.
D3rlord3 ends the video because he needs to eat. He talks about that as well, and then finishes with a simple “G’bye!”. Avery can barely process the fact that 45 minutes have just gone by, and before he can think about it too hard, he decides to play an older video of his.
It doesn't matter that it's the one where he laughs at Avery’s joke, it's really just that it's different. D3rlord3, in this video, decides to play Minecraft Bedwars. Which he's not particularly good at either, but he's a lot more reactive in an active environment, which is fun to watch. He makes a great effort not to cuss, which amuses Avery deeply, though he still raises his voice when he's angry or frustrated. Avery’s rewatched this one multiple times already.
Another hour passes. He doesn't like that… Time feels really wonky these days, when he doesn't have much to do. These videos are slowly turning into the highlight of his week, which is, once again, slightly concerning, but not enough to deter him from said videos. His life is a little less miserable now, why would he stop that?
…
Ugh, he's kind of pathetic. And sad. And awful. And a pushover. But it doesn't matter. He's doing something nice, for a small YouTuber, who really deserves it. It's not bad; it can't be.
Too much internal turmoil for the day. He shuts off his laptop, sits around for some time, and then decides to open one of his assignments. He realizes he's passed the date by now, and that he hasn't checked his email in a while. Putting that aside, he begins working on said assignment, which turns out to be quite short. Avery procrastinated this for nothing.
Uuuughh…… Whatever. Avery moves onto the next assignment within the pile, that he cuts halfway through, before he hears a knock at the door.
It freaks him out a little, in all honesty, considering he knows very few people. And those people would usually give him a heads-up before coming to visit.
He walks to the entrance, and looks through the peephole, which shows none other than the guy from earlier. Avery decides to open the door.
“Hi.” The man says, and Avery notices something in his hands. “I found this on the base floor, and I think it's yours.”
Another can of tomato soup… Avery doesn't remember buying more than one, but who knows? He takes it. “Thanks.”
“Yeah. Avery, was it?”
Avery's ears perk up. “Yes. I didn’t really catch your name, though.”
“Oh, it's Derek.” He says. “Nice to meet you. Kind of unfortunate our first meeting went like that…”
Avery sneers. “Don't worry about it. Nice to meet you too, neighbor.”
Derek smiles again.