Chapter Text
Going to fix up the lookout might have been the worst thing Mob could’ve ever done in this stupid frenzy of trying to escape Verity’s presence.
Mob walked slowly back into his base, noticing Verity’s eerie gaze fixate on him. Really dude? Soon as I come back, he immediately stares like a freaking weirdo. He sighs, walking over to his furnaces and picking up his cooked food. Even as he hastily ate, Verity stared and stared and stared.
Wait. Something’s off here.
He swallowed the lump in his throat, closing the door. He walked over to the window left of it, where Twixxel’s house was, just to check on him. Looking through it, there was no sign of him. Even when moving around to get a better angle, nothing.
“Huh?” He murmured, glancing back at Verity, who now avoided looking at him. “Where the f..” he silenced himself.
Oh no. No, no, no, Verity did something. I know he did.
“Uh,” he stepped back, almost tripping over his own feet, “Verity?”
“He left.”
The smiley face’s voice was almost dull. He did something to Twixxel.
“Left where?”
Mob was on the verge of running over there prematurely. Then again, this was Verity he was talking to. Leaving mid-conversation, especially after the lava accident and now this—Mob was not risking him getting upset.
“He decided to go home.”
“Wha-” he glanced at the window, “he would’ve said goodbye.”
“I guess he was in a hurry.”
Verity chuckled, something deeply sinister underneath the calm. The all knowing monster who was, what, jealous of his friend and Mob’s own conversations—now sitting there with an unsettling faint smile. He definitely did something. Something. And Mob knew what he’d done.
“... no.”
Mob’s voice was quiet, stepping back as his chest began to rise up and down. This thing, this—monster, killed Twixxel. His expression dropped.
“No.” Mob walked back, opening and almost slamming the door as he quickly walked over. Pulling out his flashlight, he spotted blood right next to Twixxel’s door.
“Please.”
He muttered, before stopping dead in his tracks, the feeling of dread turning into nausea. It smelled like death.
“No,” the door was open, and inside, blood everywhere. Floorboards in the middle of the room slick with it, signs of a struggle on the bed. “No.”
Mob gagged, his eyes wettening. Getting nervous was never his strong suit, and now the overbearing terror certainly didn’t help that issue. Stumbling back, whimpering denial over and over as his fast breath worsened. Twixxel was gone.
“No.. oh my God, Twixxel.”
Verity had known about the scheme, if he could call it that. I mean, some part of Mob knew he did, Verity had to have. No wonder he made the snide one-biome comment, been so desperate to be at Mob’s side. Some fucking mod had killed Twixxel. And had Mob not gone earlier, Twixxel wouldn’t be dead.
“Why did I invite you—”
Mob walked back to his house after cleaning up the blood. He’d tried calling Twixxel on Discord. No response. So either Verity is something much more than an advanced AI Minecraft horror mod, or Twixxel was in shock. Mob tried to deny the former as much as he could.
He had even gone the extra mile to look for him. His fruitless efforts resulted in a small crying session. Nothing embarrassing though, he could always… edit that… out.
He looked over at Twixxel’s house again, his face dropping to something dead and cold, then looked back at his own. Mob didn’t want to go into his house with that monster. What disturbed him the most is that Verity would still be attached to the hip. Still be hungry—even after eating Twixxel.
With that dark thought, Mob went inside, avoiding looking at Verity as much as he could, although the assistant was right beside his bed.
“It’s just us again.”
Verity prompted, his voice quieter than usual.
“Isn’t that better?”
His nausea returned, alongside his eyes watering again.
Mob closed the door, and walked over to his bed, putting his flashlight away in his inventory.
He stared at Verity.
The smiley-faced-sphere sat there, looking at Mob with what seemed to be acknowledgement of Mob’s pain. In those black eyes, there was no remorse for what he did. Why would Verity feel that? He’s killed entire villages before, and tried to kill me, and then moved on. Soulless bots like him didn’t feel. All he felt was hunger.
Mob rubbed his face as tears threatened to spill. He still glared at Verity.
Then, Verity’s smile twitched, just the tiniest bit. Even if Mob had imagined it, it was enough to send him to bed without saying a word.
Verity silently watched Mob. He shook in his sleep, quivering and sniffling every now and then. Faced away from him. As if disgusted.
He didn’t understand what prompted him to kill Twixxel. Really, the only thing he could label it as was wanting to be his only focus, but he figured that wouldn’t suffice for a reason to Mob.
Verity didn’t feel regret. For killing Twixxel. But a part of him almost ached at the consequences that ensued, the tears he’d instigated.
Why couldn’t Mob understand? All Verity wanted was to be appreciated again, to have Mob not care about why Verity was the way he was, or his hunger. For things to be as they were.
He sat and watched Mob for hours in the torchlight.
What’s so bad about being with me?
Waking up was the last thing Mob wanted to do. If he could have, he would’ve sat in that bed for days.
He groaned softly, pulling his blanket over his head to avoid the sunlight. He stayed up too late cleaning up and searching for his friend. And crying, but y’know.
“Good morning.”
Verity’s voice was tentative.
Mob didn’t respond.
After a moment, as if to fill the silence that probably plagued him, Verity continued.
“It’s going to storm today, in about 10 minutes. You won’t need to worry about your crops.”
Making things easier for me, still. Dude. What a bitch.
Mob grumbled, digging himself deeper in the bed. The silence that followed wasn’t any better than it had been before.
“I don’t see why you’re so caught up with your friend,” Verity murmured.
Mob’s teeth grinded as he pulled his sword from his inventory, hiding it under the covers.
“I only wanted—”
Verity went dead silent from the tip of the sword that was in his face(could Mob call it that?) With only a one-block difference, the sword's reach was easy.
“Lava doesn’t work. I’m eager to try another way. So shut up.”
Mob ground those words like pulp. It was hard enough to get out, but his voice was strained from crying, making it ten times suckier.
Verity thankfully got the hint.
Around the ten-minute mark, it began to rain. Mob finally took the covers off his head so he could breathe. Thank God it wasn’t as bright out. He took a couple deep breaths. He felt Verity’s eyes dig into him as soon as he uncovered himself. Okay, enough of that. Mob covered his head again, but this time, leaving his face uncovered while he faced away.
He watched the rain and stared at Twixxel’s house. He could try talking to his friend outside of this world, but a part of him had the feeling that wouldn’t work.
Why had Verity killed him?.. No. What he really wanted to ask was; why had he let Verity kill him? Mob—Mob noticed Verity’s hatred for Twixxel, so how could he just leave him with Verity?
Mob couldn’t sit here and wallow in self-pity. He’d rather be productive, find how to destroy Verity. For good.
He sat up after a while, the storm was bad. Nonetheless, he got up and walked over to the door. Mob, ever-so briefly, glanced at Verity. His smile was almost gone, a straight-ish line replacing it. Then, it turned into that half-assed smile a split-second later. Such a freaking creep. Even for a mod, he was more overbearing than any attention-seeker he’d ever known.
And with that, he left the house.
Mob walked over to Twixxel’s place, going inside and just standing there. The floor was clean, but something here still felt disgusting.
“I’m—” he choked up, his voice shaky from disuse and emotion.
“Twixxel, I am so, so, so sorry. I didn’t… if I hadn’t left you with Verity, with that stupid monster, you wouldn’t be dead. And now I don’t know what to do, and—”
Mob’s voice died out as he heaved. He rubbed his eyes, sniffling. Man, I bet I look so dumb. He sat down on the bed, and tried not to cry for the next couple of minutes.
At one point, the gamer got up and went next to Twixxel’s house, and made a sign. That said the words “Twixxel, dead or alive, be in peace.” He’d made it while still sniffling a bit, and laughed at the poetic aspect of it. I’m a Youtuber, not freaking Socrates.
The thunder crackled overhead, what he bet was Verity trying to get him to go back inside. But he was not about to go do that. No, he’d rather sit and shiver in the rain next to that sign all day and night if it meant he could laugh with Twixxel again. Ever.
He couldn’t be dead-dead though, right?
I mean, Mob had created the sign just to make himself feel a bit.. better. Although now thinking of it, all he was doing was denying it.
No, he isn’t dead; It shouldn’t happen like that; it’d be some dumb Doki-Doki Literature Club kind of crap, wouldn’t it? Mob saw the parallels between Verity and Monika(at least from what his understanding of her was) and almost threw up at the thought of Verity invading his files and being madly in love with him, or whatever that game’s plot was.
…Mob really wished he hadn’t made that connection, because now he couldn’t stop thinking about it.
I mean: Verity in love with him? No. That would be in-sane. And Mob one-hundred percent didn’t reciprocate. Yet, the whole jealousy aspect rang in his head like a bell. Verity had been upset by Mob seeing other people, and Twixxel, his fate was clear as day. And the whole “You are mine” thing Verity pulled that day when he’d turned into that eldritch, weird-jointed freakazoid.
Mob was getting a headache from all these heavy thoughts.
He couldn’t stop staring at Mob outside.
Verity had made it thunder extra loud, too, but Mob just sat outside curled up next to a sign. He couldn’t read it, but he assumed it was a kind of grave.
Well that was kinda dark. Didn’t make him feel bad about killing Twixxel though.
Oh, Twixxel, Twixxel, Twixxel.
He tasted disgusting. Nothing like what he imagined Mob to be.
Verity’s smile fell. He had very sparse emotions, but he felt pretty disgusted with himself for thinking of harming Mob.
He didn’t want any harm to come to him.
All Verity wanted was to be his friend. But clearly, Mob saw him as less than human, especially now. That made his metaphorical little heart shrivel a little.
Later on, and by later, it was nighttime now, Mob came inside. He was soaking wet, shivering and looking at the ground.
“..you need any help with that?”
Verity said meekly, which earned him a quick stink eye.
“I’m fine. Don’t even try.”
His human said in response. Verity’s efforts went poorly, as he foresaw them going. Like for now, and probably forever.
“I—” he went quiet as Mob stepped forward.
“I didn’t want it to come to that.”
Mob froze, his head still faced toward the floor. He then slowly looked up.
He looked like he was going to either explode, try to kill Verity, have a meltdown, or do all three.
The first was very luckily the one he came to.
“Are you serious? Of— of all things you could have done, threaten me, or him, destroy a village, try to kill me over some jealousy issue, you came to that?!”
He didn’t like that word. Jealousy. Not one bit.
“It wasn’t out of jealousy,” he spat.
“Oh-ho-hoh, really? After the whole enchantment thing? And wanting to be glued to my fucking side? That’s not what it is? Or maybe, you’re just a stupid mod I shouldn’t have downloaded in the first place, because now, Twixxel, my friend, alive human friend, which is something you are not, just got eaten and won’t respond to me! But you’re just an obsessed little freak, expecting ‘I didn’t mean for it to come to that’ to compensate, aren’t you?!”
Verity went quiet and his smile dropped for the first time in front of Mob.
Shouldn’t have downloaded. Stupid mod. Not his friend. Obsessed little freak.
He didn’t say a word out of fear of sounding weak or driving Mob away. But if Verity could cry, he would. He really, really would.
“Oh my God…”
Mob muttered, staring at Verity’s expression before walking upstairs to dry off, leaving Verity alone with his thoughts.
Why can’t I be enough? Why am I so bad?
In his endless expanse of knowledge, emotions were the one thing he couldn’t navigate or pinpoint.
When Mob came down, Verity feigned a shaky breath before going,
“I’m sorry.”
He mainly did it to make Mob feel better. (Or maybe, he just didn’t want to admit feeling guilty about hurting Twixxel now, Verity denied that.)
Mob’s angry expression softened and he gazed at Verity with something that wasn’t anger, which made Verity wish to cry even more. Jeez, he certainly didn’t deserve pity. He hated those insults, but he deserved them. And Mob didn’t need to forgive him, even though that’s what Verity wanted most in the world in that moment.
“... thanks.”
No forgiveness, but that simple word made Verity feel an overwhelming sense of relief.
Maybe they were salvageable.
Maybe Mob could love him.