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You hadn’t given it much thought before, but being friends with someone that had (to your knowledge) infinite knowledge could be kind of creepy. It sounds like a given, but you just didn’t realize how bad it could be.
For example, Verity somehow knows your exact measurements without you ever giving them to him. They’ve never asked, they’ve never tried measuring you themselves, they just got them somehow.
“Verity,” You start, already slightly exasperated, “Seriously, this is like- I-I don’t even know how to begin to tell you how weird this is.”
“That’s because it isn’t!” He chirps, “They’re just clothes, and they’re—“
“No, Verity,” You cut him off, only slightly put off by the glare he throws you for a split second, “How did you even- How did you get my measurements?”
He giggles your name, not at all bothered by your stern look. He never is.
“I know everything, you know that! I also know that you like the outfit, so I’m not sure why you’re being so stubborn about it!”
You roll your eyes and open your mouth to argue again, but they cut you off this time.
“Ah! And just because I know everything does not mean I cannot be confused every once in a while.” It’s like they read your mind. Creepy.
They barely give you time to wonder how that would work before they push the clothes into your hands, “Go ahead now, try them on!
Grumbling, you throw the clothes onto the bed and grab Verity’s shoulders, pushing and causing him to stumble backwards out of your room. You stop once he’s fully outside and put a hand on the door, ready to close it. “Never do anything like this again, got it?”
”Aye aye captain!” He chirps, putting a hand over his heart, or where you assume his heart is.
At that, you slam the door shut in his face and turn back around to look at the clothes. As much as you would hate to admit it right now, he was right, you do like it. The colors are nice, it all matches, and it’s something you could see yourself wearing on a normal day. You just…
God, you wish he wouldn’t be so creepy about it.
He knows so, so much about you, yet he doesn’t account for how weird you’d find it that he knew your measurements? Thats just so frustrating. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think he did it on purpose.
You begrudgingly put on the outfit and look at yourself in the mirror afterwards. As expected, it fit perfectly and made you feel fantastic. If only you were a little more stubborn, you could’ve pretended to hate it just to get Verity to never do this again.
Letting out a sigh, you approach the door only for it to be opened by Verity instead. Their unsettling smile seems to widen just slightly as they slowly look you up and down, taking in the sight.
”You- you can’t just do that!” You stammer, feeling as though you had just suffered a mini heart attack, “What if I was still changing?”
”You weren’t,” They respond, stepping inside, “I heard your footsteps.”
You really don’t have it in you to argue with him about how weird that is, so you simply let him do as he pleases, maintaining eye contact as he comes closer and straightens out your shirt.
”I knew you’d make this look good…” He murmurs, “You always do.”
Curse his manufacturers—or whoever the hell made him—for making him so stupidly hard to hate.
You hope to god that people remember you as a saint when you die.
You may be snippy at times and you may make some wrong decisions, but who can blame you with the situation you’re in? You don’t know many people that could handle Verity’s constant badgering without snapping.
Currently he is lying on top of you, contorted in a weird cat-like position covering most of your torso. They’re very committed to this bit as well, a purr vibrating through their body. It could’ve been cute if it didn’t literally feel like having the weight of the world on your chest.
Not even in a cute way, Verity is just heavy as fuck!
“Verity.” You say, pushing on their shoulders. Unfortunately for you, that only seems to make them heavier as they let out an acknowledging hum. “Shit-! Verity get off!”
“You didn’t have a problem with this earlier.” He says, acting like that fixes whatever he thinks is bothering you.
”Yeah, well, it didn’t feel like you were crushing me earlier, so!”
He giggles at that, the sensation feeling weird on top of you. “I couldn’t even crush your skull, silly… That’d take 235 kilograms—or 520 pounds—of pressure, I’m not that heavy!”
You don’t like that he knows that. You also don’t like how he can say it so easily.
”Gross.” Is all you say, but they take it as a sign to keep going.
”At most I might be able to break a few of your bones, but that’d only be if I were really trying!” You squirm underneath them, uncomfortable with the imagery. “That’s not crushing, though, so you don’t have to worry!”
”Quit!” You say, wiggling until you can finally manage to sit up, pushing him down into your lap. “I don’t wanna hear about that!”
Verity sits up, keeping his eyes on you. “I’m sorry, I was just trying to reassure you that you weren’t going to get crushed.”
”Oh yeah, so you tell me you could break my bones instead?” You scoff, rolling your eyes at him.
“I’m not going to.” He says. Despite the words being so simple, the way he says them makes you pause. He seems so serious, his voice sounding almost foreign when compared to just a second ago.
”Uh… I was just jokin—“
”Do you really think I would do that?” They ask.
Oh, well, way to ruin whatever vibe you guys had going on. Despite being weirded out by his fun fact, you weren’t actually taking it that seriously. Should you have? It didn’t seem like such a big deal.
You don’t get the chance to think to yourself much more before Verity chuckles, the sound releasing you of the pressure that had snuck onto your shoulders.
”Because I wouldn’t!” They say, reaching over to boop your nose.
“Guess what I found?”
You turn around to face the source of the singsongy voice, finding Verity standing there with his arms behind his back, leaning down to be closer to your height.
It is way too early for this…
”I dunno,” You respond, mustering up a tired smile, “What’d you find?”
“Drumroll, please,” They say, standing up to their full height as a very convincing drumroll comes from their open mouth. You count exactly three seconds before they reveal a small journal. “Ta-dah!”
You feel the blood rush to your face before you can even say anything, staring dumbly at the journal—your journal—in his hands.
How did he get his hands on that? You open your mouth to ask, but the words are lost before you can even say them. You could’ve sworn you hid it away! Even you find yourself losing it on occasion!
“I- You- How did you-?” You stumble on your words, trying to find the right ones as a wave of confusion and irritation hits you.
“I know everything, that includes where you’re most likely to hide your things.” They say, waving your journal around like it’s some kind of toy.
With an indignant sputter, you snatch the journal out of their hands, surprising them for a moment. Then, they put their hands behind their back once more, simply looking at you.
”This- This is private, okay?” You say, gesturing to the book. “Do not read it!”
They let out a small “oh!” before tilting their head to the side, their smile widening as they stare at you with something you hope to god isn’t fondness. You can’t do this with them right now.
”Don’t worry about that!” They say, “I don’t need to!”
“You— Sorry?”
You had expected more of a fight from him, maybe a small argument. You hadn’t expected him to listen just like that. Some part of you was relieved, maybe even proud of him for respecting your boundaries.
”Mhm! I already know what you wrote in there anyways!”
Ah. There it is.
“You know you can’t hide things from me, right?” He asks, pinching your cheek like you’re a child. “I’m your friend, so there’s really no need to try!”
That’s the problem! Even if he is your “friend”, you still want to have something that is your own, which is proving to be impossible with him constantly taking what is yours.
With a glare, you slap his hand away. You can tell he doesn’t like that you did that, but you don’t really care what he likes at the moment. You don’t even give him the satisfaction of being able to voice his complaints as you make your way to the door.
Sometimes it feels like Verity was only sent to you to piss you off.
Seriously! You don’t know what you did to deserve such a punishment, but whatever it was must’ve been horrible if it warrants Verity finding your location.
You didn’t exactly need a secret base, but it was something you wanted. It’s something you think everyone wants. Oh, but not Verity, of course! Never Verity.
He’s basically hanging off of you as you stand with your arms crossed, pouting like you’ve committed the worst crime known to man. To him you probably have. He always gets so pissy when you try to have one thing to yourself.
Whining your name, they try to shake you, wanting a response to whatever they had said while you were busy thinking about how annoying they could be.
”What? What do you want, Verity?” You ask, wondering if you could maybe get them to let you have this if you talked.
Your tone doesn’t seem to help much, but it’s not like you can hide it! He knows everything, yeah? Then he knows how upset you are.
”Why do you hate me?” They mumble, sounding so small as they lean into your back.
You groan, hating how dramatic he is. “I don’t hate you, Verity, I just-“
”You wouldn’t have a secret base if you didn’t.” They argue.
”Yeah, well, it’s not very secret anymore, is it?” You bite back sarcastically.
They don’t respond to that, instead forcing their head into the crook of your neck. It’s an uncomfortable feeling; their breath on the back of your neck. It makes the hair on your neck raise.
You open your mouth again, though you’re unsure of what you might say. Maybe you’ll ask how he knew where to find you, or maybe it’ll be some sort of thinly veiled threat. Either way, a part of you is glad he interrupts you.
”I don’t like when you keep things from me.” He mumbles, his voice sounding a tad rougher, as if he were straining himself.
”I’m—“ You attempt a rebuttal but you flinch as his hands tighten until they feel like they’re bruising you.
”I don’t like it. I thought you- I thought we were getting closer. I-I thought you were starting to like me!” His voice wavers as his volume rises. “I was going to find out anyways! You could’ve just told me!”
You flinch as his hold grows stronger and stronger, trying to wriggle out of his grip but to no avail.
”Why don’t you like me?! Why do you always- why are you like this?!”
”Verity—“
”Am I not enough? I can be smarter! I can be so much more, I swear! If you’d just-“
”Verity, that hurts!” You finally manage to blurt out. Almost instantly, Verity lets go of you. It’s like he teleports away from you, his hands up in an attempt to be nonthreatening.
There’s silence for a few seconds afterwards, the two of you simply staring at one another. A part of you is livid that they have the gall to look like they’re the scared one.
Despite having a very simple face, they could be quite expressive. Their eyes are wide and their ever present smile is strained like they’re nervous. You don’t know if you’d rather punch that stupid grin off their face or run off and leave them to grapple with the consequences of their actions alone.
Eventually, the silence is broken by a small giggle and the sound of Verity’s footsteps retreating towards the door.
”Wow! I’ll leave you to building our secret base then!” He says, the cheer in his voice so fake it makes you sick.
You can’t have shit to yourself, can you?
It feels like everything’s against you nowadays.
All the villagers you’d normally trade with? Oh, yeah, they’re gone. Verity? They were getting on your nerves like you were a jungle gym. Do you know how difficult it is to live in a world where you have to travel for literal days to find villages that were actually lived in? Now you do! It’s really hard!
You were actually preparing for another one of your village runs now, grabbing your armor, some food, and even materials for a bed to ward off phantoms. You really wish there was some easier way to repopulate the villages literally right next to your house but the world doesn’t work like that.
”Are you ready, Verity?” You ask over your shoulder as you dig in your chest.
The creature behind you lets out a small hum, one that lets you know they have information and are basically dying to share.
”We can’t go to the village we visited last time.” They say.
You groan dramatically, throwing your head back to really display just how sick and tired you are of this. “Lemme guess, something passed through again?”
”Something hungry.” You both say at the same time, though your voice is much more mocking than his.
“Verity, I seriously can’t keep doing this with you.” You say, slamming the chest shut and pushing yourself out of your crouched position.
”Doing what?” They ask.
”This! This whole vague story you keep repeating about something coming through!” You turn to face him, only mildly surprised by how close he’d gotten when you weren’t looking. It’s a habit of his to gravitate towards you, a habit that is becoming annoying.
They don’t respond, only staring at you as their smile turns into a thin line. It’s unsettling. It makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
Seeing as they aren’t keen on talking yet, you continue on. “For all that knowledge you claim to have, you really don’t wanna share any of it with me, huh? Maybe if you told me what was passing through, I could stop it and—“
”You can’t.”
You let out a crazed chuckle at that, “I’m sorry?”
”You can’t stop it.” He says, his voice deathly serious. “It is hungry and it will not stop no matter what you try.”
”Oh yeah, that’s real helpful considering you still won’t tell me what it is.” You grumble, pushing past him and heading towards the door.
Verity attempts to follow you but you place a hand on his chest, stopping him in his tracks. He looks down at you, waiting for you to say something.
”You are staying here.” You start to explain, but they suddenly speak up once more.
”What? But I always come with you! We- You always bring me along!” They whine.
And they’re right; you have always brought them along. No matter where you went, you always had Verity somewhere nearby. They keep you company and serve as a guide to find materials you need.
”Well, not this time, Verity.” You say, not giving them an opportunity to even open their mouth before you all but rush out the door.
You’ll be fine! It’s not like Verity is a necessity or anything. You’ve lived years without him there, so what’s a few days going to hurt?
It’s day two of your journey to find a new village and you already feel like you need to collapse.
You hadn’t realized how much you depended on Verity for your sanity until you no longer had him. No unfunny jokes, no old tunes, and no conversations. Before you left you really didn’t think you’d miss them, but you do.
Add an extreme level of paranoia to the ever growing list of why you may need to see a therapist, actually, because you swear something is staring at you, but every time you turn to look, you see nothing.
Maybe you should just turn back around and go home. You can apologize to Verity and ask him if he knows any other way to get enchantments, you’re sure that he does.
It’s settled then, you’ll go back home.
You turn around with the intention of sprinting home, hoping to cut your trip back in half, but the color of the sky catches your attention before you can commit to that.
The sky is shifting from its baby blue to a pretty mix of oranges and pinks, the moon now visible and rising as the sun sets opposite to it. It’ll likely be dark before you can even build a small hut to stay the night in. Is this the world’s way of torturing you?
It’s fine. It’s whatever. You’ll just think of it as… Sleeping under the stars. That’s calming, right? You’ve done it before, you’re sure you can do it again.
You set down your crafting table and prepare your bed for the night. You consider smelting some of the ore that seemed to be a permanent fixture in your inventory, but the faster you get to sleep, the faster you get to go home.
Only half of the sun is visible when you place your bed down and it just continues to go down, slowly painting the sky a very dark blue. You reckon it’d be much prettier if you were seeing it from your balcony or window.
You aren’t the type to be afraid of the dark and you haven’t been since you were little, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be unsettling. So many monsters wait out in the night, just looking for their next kill. Anyone would be a little cautious when spending the night camping, basically just a sitting duck until morning.
Shaking your head in an attempt to dispel the thoughts, you sit down on the edge of your bed. That seems to be all you can manage though, unfortunately, as you stare off into the dark of the night.
You feel like you’re being watched. You always feel like you’re being watched, but something about this is just wrong. It makes your skin crawl and you just know you can’t go to sleep like this.
Standing up once more, you find yourself pacing around your small camp. You don’t want to go too far away from your bed, but at the same time you want to ease your mind by proving that there’s nothing nearby.
You look to the left. Nothing.
You look to the right. Also nothing.
You turn to look behind you, but not before the sound of an arrow flying through the air catches you off guard.
You see it before you actually feel it, shock momentarily nullifying the pain of having an arrow pierce through your arm.
While you were busy pacing around, a skeleton had somehow snuck up behind you. You feel a little stupid for not hearing its bones rattling beforehand, but there’s no time to think about that as you shakily pull out your sword, silently cursing the skeleton for injuring your dominant arm.
The skeleton couldn’t care less about your feelings or readiness, once more shooting at your injured arm.
“Shit-!” You gasp, turning to the side and just barely dodging the arrow.
Oh, who are you kidding? Even with a diamond sword, you can’t fight this thing! You feel pathetic admitting it, but—
Monsters don’t have the awareness necessary to be patient enough to wait for you to finish thinking. The skeleton shoots once more, nicking your side and causing you to hiss in pain.
Fine! Whatever! You’ll just think in little thoughts!
Your first little thought tells you to book it, so, with little regard for your bed and crafting table, you do just that. You ignore the throbbing pain in your arm, praying that hopefully some adrenaline will kick in and make that tomorrow’s problem.
Another arrow whizzes past you as the skeleton gives chase, falling a little behind you.
Maybe if you just keep running, you’ll lose the skeleton. Maybe you’ll manage to somehow stumble upon a shortcut and make it home. That’d be nice. Unlikely, but nice.
You start heading right instead of simply running straight. It’s harder to shoot at a moving target, right? So long as you’re careful, the dumb mob shouldn’t be able to hit you again. You’ll lose it soon, you know it.
Running in a zig-zag pattern, you hear as the sound of rattling bones gets progressively further behind you. Just a little bit longer of this wild goose chase and you’re in the clear. So long as you don’t fall or anything, you’ll be—
You let out a yelp as your ankle rolls at an uncomfortable angle. The joint gives out beneath you at the pain, causing you to crumple to the ground.
Your fall was less than graceful, leaving you with a mouthful of dirt. You didn’t even have time to process how gross that was before the skeleton shot once more. You were lucky that it had only hit the ground next to your head.
Well, this is it. This is how you die; miles away from any civilization to a mob you’ve fought plenty of times before. It would’ve been more embarrassing if you weren’t terrified at the thought of your death.
Turns out they weren’t lying when they said your life would flash before your eyes—images of Verity pop up as you slam your eyes shut, waiting for the eventual arrow to the heart. Maybe, if you were lucky, it would be a headshot instead, end your suffering quicker.
. . .
That skeleton sure is taking its time. You didn’t think they knew how to rub salt in the wound.
After a few more seconds pass with no sign of pain, you open your eyes.
”Wha—?” You startle backwards when you’re met with Verity’s face right in front of your own, him crouched down in an awkward position to look down at you.
”Is this what happens when you don’t have me around?” They ask, voice stupidly chipper for the moment, but you don’t find it in yourself to care as you throw your uninjured arm around their shoulders.
He doesn’t hesitate to return the hug, letting out a happy hum as he buries his face into your shoulder, though he retreats when you let out a soft “ow”.
“Verity,” You say his name with such awe that it doesn’t even sound like you. You’re so full of gratitude and regret that you don’t know if you should be thanking him or apologizing first.
”How… How’d you get out here?”
The question slips past your lips before you can even think about it. Your brow furrows once it processes, though. It was a good question—how did he get out here? You were hours away from the house.
You don’t get the chance to overthink it as Verity scoops you up in their arms without warning, giggling to themselves.
”I knew you were gonna get hurt and I didn’t want that to happen!” They say, holding you close to them.
”Uh… How?” Is that the only word you know how to say?
Luckily for you, Verity doesn’t seem to mind answering your questions as he begins walking in the direction you were running towards.
”You know this, silly…” They say, bouncing with every step, “I know everything.”
”I know what clothes you like, I know silly trivia, I know what you write about, I know your little ideas…”
Oh. Right. You’re really living up to that nickname, huh? You do feel silly for forgetting that, especially after all they’ve done so far.
”And I know we’re gonna have to take that arrow out at some point, just so you’re aware!”
Your gratitude is gone. You’re filled with hatred for what is to come as you glare up at him, earning you another giggle.