Work Text:
It’s not very often that Derek follows Avery on his out-of-world escapades, but Avery is quick to take advantage of the opportunity. The Hub - as it is lovingly called - is teeming with life, vendors, adventurers and a myriad of other characters filling the market streets. Avery sighs, drinking in the familiar sights and smells.
He turns to Derek. “So! First impressions? What do you think?”
Derek’s eyes are hidden beneath the shadow of his helmet, but the slight turn of his head lets Avery know he’s scanning.
“It’s.. Loud.” He remarks.
“Yep!” Avery chirps, “That’s the Hub for ya! C’mon, let’s get moving! There’s something I really wanted to show you.”
Avery takes Derek’s hand, leading him through the throngs of passers by. They make a few stops, buying snacks and bartering for Derek’s new cape. He immediately dons it once the gems are exchanged, and he throws it over his shoulder, allowing it to drape elegantly over his back. Avery doesn’t regret spending a single ounce, even if it was a bit overpriced. Eventually, they reach their destination, and Avery’s body wiggles with excitement.
“This is it!” He giggles, looking back at Derek, “Are you excited?”
Derek huffs softly through his nose. Avery can imagine the fond smile on his face. “If you’re excited, I’m thrilled.”
Avery beams, and yanks Derek through the arch leading into the arena. The path to the stadium is shockingly long, lined by food and fan merchandise, bathrooms and changing rooms littered between stalls. When they get closer to the opening to the stadium, Avery pauses, and puts a hand on Derek’s shoulder.
“Wait here, I need to change.” He grins, and runs into a changing room.
Derek watches the indicator switch from a green “VACANT” to a red “OCCUPIED” sign. Derek hums, and leans against the wall beside the door, feeling his plume brush the stone. He glances over the small - in comparison to the main Hub - crowd streaming in and out of the arena. Some groan, both in disappointment and in pain, bandaged and glowing with regeneration potions. Some cheer, occasionally battered, but mostly unscathed, carrying bags upon bags of gems and precious metals. There’s the occasional shadowy figure slinking through the crowd, hooded and mostly unnoticed.
Derek glances down the alley of space between the vendor’s stalls and the wall. Most have extra goods, a stash of food and a chair to sit in. Others have buckets of water or magma depending on their needs. He catches glimpses of many different kinds of people. Mostly plain and human, but so many others.
Feline, canine and avian, spiders and bugs, mobs of all kinds. He occasionally catches glimpses of Endermen-adjacent individuals, from tall to towering, dark skin and purple all over. He sees so many pets - foxes, cats, dogs, parrots, frogs, pigs, chickens. When he finally hears Avery unlock the changing room door, he finds himself appreciating the Hub a lot more than before. Seeing so many people in one place, thriving.. it makes everything feel like it was worth it.
Derek pushes off of the wall as Avery leaves, immediately caught off-guard by Avery’s new, fiery coloration. Where Avery was once green, he’s now a warm, bright orange, tinted red on the inside of his body. His silly, lopsided expression has been swapped for a much more devious, smug smile. His relaxed, flowy tanktop-Hawai’ian combo is swapped for a plain white tee, and his flipflops are sneakers instead. Avery crosses his arms, standing proudly before Derek.
“So! Whaddya think?” He begins to walk towards the stadium again, pulling his locs up into a short, high ponytail. “I like to call it my battle skin.”
“Battle skin?” Derek tilts his head.
“Yeah!” Avery tosses a glance over his shoulder, his more typical smile making itself known. “I use it when I play competitive games. It puts me in the zone.”
Derek hums. “Does it?”
“Oh, for sure,” Avery nods, continuing towards the - now visible - staircase. “Plus, people take me seriously this way.”
Derek nods, but says nothing. As they ascend, Avery falters. Derek pauses beside him.
“Something the matter?” Derek puts a hand on Avery’s upper arm.
Avery looks up at him, then grins. “Nah. Just figuring out logistics. I’ll get you a good seat, and then I’ll join the queue. It won’t take long for a match to start, trust me.”
Avery winks, then takes Derek by the hand, leading him up the staircase. When they finally reach the stadium, Derek realizes why the corridor was so long, and why the stairs went so, so high.
The arena is huge. Easily over 200 blocks in total, with ten small islands surrounding one larger island, all airborne. Hence, SkyWars. Derek is taken aback just by the sheer size of it, but as he allows his focus to shift, he can see huge monitors overlooking the match, projecting to the viewers a close-up spectator’s view of the participants’ goings on. He sees two of the participants begin to clash, and he catches a glimpse of light blue. And then- there. Hovering over the heads of the participants, several Allay hold tiny cameras, following participants through their match.
Derek huffs out an awed, astonished breath, all the while having been pulled along by Avery. Eventually, he’s pulled back to reality when Avery puts a hand on Derek’s shoulder.
“Here, scoot in!” Avery nearly shoves him into a seat, crowding over him so others can get by. “This should be perfect. Not this round, but the next round, I should be playing. I’m a little out of practice, so I might not win, but..”
Avery falters, feigning doubt before giving Derek a wide, self-confident smile. “Who am I kidding? I know I’m gonna win. I dedicate this round to you, Derek.”
Avery winks before disappearing into the crowd of bodies, but Derek turns in his seat anyway, trying to catch a glimpse of him. Derek huffs, turning back around in his seat, glancing over the monitors. A few of them are swathed in a red vignette, with “You Died!” in big letters across the screen. Three, however, are still active. Two are engaged in a swordfight, slashing wide and shoving, trying to force each other off of the thin bridge they’ve made between islands. The loner, seemingly coming from their own wrestle, dashes towards the pair.
The participant - a sleek, catlike figure from what little Derek garners from the other monitors - equips a fishing rod. They cast the hook quickly, hooking one of the wrestling participants and jumping onto a parallel bridge, yanking back with as much strength as possible. The other two, too caught up in their struggle, barely have time to gasp before they both go tumbling over the edge, falling into the void below. The Allay camera zooms out from the participant, allowing Derek to see them in full. A cat-hybrid - more cat than anything else - stands triumphant on the bridge, clad in mismatched leather armor and wielding a fishing rod. Their tail swishes back and forth, and they give the camera a smug, self-satisfied grin.
The cameras all cut, leaving the monitors black for a moment before they flash on again. Derek tears his gaze from the monitors, quickly spotting Avery on his own little island. Derek’s breath hitches, and he leans forward in his seat. He looks up at the monitors, locking onto one. For a split second, the Allay camera faltered, giving away a glimpse of red-orange slime in the bottom of the screen. Derek can’t tear his gaze away.
After three seconds, the participants leap into action. Avery digs into a chest nearby, throwing on what little armor is offered inside. He dons a fishing rod and an iron sword, and collects as many blocks as possible. Avery swivels his head left and right once he’s out in the open. To his left, a participant struggles with an opponent, and to his right, a very large, muscular pig hybrid quickly approaches Avery, deceptively fast. Derek can’t hear Avery, but he can imagine.
He huffs, smirking. “Bring it on, then.”
Avery’s opponent swipes an axe across Avery’s stomach, and he barely dodges before slinging himself forward, deftly striking the hilt of his sword into their chest before swiping it across their body, knocking them back. They stumble, falling off the edge, and Derek feels relief wash over him. Avery uses the previously constructed bridge to leap to the other island, meeting another opponent on the other side. A human, lithe and tall, sneers at Avery, and Derek can barely read their lips.
“What’re you gonna do? Jump on me?” They smirk, but it doesn’t seem to bother Avery.
Derek can see Avery on another monitor, responding. “I’m not a frog, I’m a slime.”
Derek snorts as Avery quickly switches to his fishing rod, yanking his opponent towards him. The participant stumbles, giving Avery just enough time to deal a few devastating blows to his ribs. His opponent tries to run, but Avery catches them by the shirt, turning and throwing them over the side of the island. Avery turns his head to the monitor. Four left, including himself.
He looks around, and sees the other three on the larger, main island, duking it out. He readies some wood blocks, converts them to planks in his personal crafting table, and quickly bounds across the open space, narrowly avoiding a fall into the void more than a few times. When he reaches the other side, a human can barely turn and look up before Avery crashes into them, sword-first. They stare, bug-eyed before their body goes up in a poof of smoke. Avery rolls out of the way, looking up at where he was.
In the space where his body used to be, another human stands. They’re quickly flanked by - what looks to be - a creeper hybrid. The hybrid stabs the human in the back, and their eyes widen before they, too, go up in a plume of smoke. That gives Avery just enough time to jump to his feet and launch himself at his final opponent, swinging at their head. They block with their own sword - made of stone - just in time, and Derek shivers as they open their mouth, glaring and baring their teeth, but make no sound at all.
Avery shoves his opponent backward, swinging low, swiping at their leg. Avery’s leg bounces off of their shin, a gritty, grey sand - certainly gunpowder - pours from the wound. They bare their teeth again, swinging at Avery’s shoulder. Avery moves through the attack, allowing their sword to phase through his slimy body as he shoves them back, toward the ledge. They retaliate immediately, attempting to kick Avery in the stomach. Their leg stays up, and they give a bewildered look before Avery brings his sword down on their ribcage, stabbing straight through. Before their body can react and explode, it dissipates into smoke.
Derek jumps out of his seat, letting out a shout of triumph. Some join him, cheering as the Allay camera zooms away, showing Avery in all his triumphant glory. He looks up at the camera and winks, hefting his sword over his shoulder before the camera cuts out. Derek has never felt such a bone-deep relief in his life. He turns and runs from his seat, weaving between the gaps as quickly as possible. Eventually, he reaches the top of the staircase down, and he spots Avery immediately.
“Avery!” Derek shouts over the crowd, waving his hand.
Avery lights up, smiling widely. “Derek!”
They squeeze through the passers-by as quickly as possible, eventually finding each other in the sea of bodies. Derek holds tight to Avery’s hand before squeezing out of the wave of other pedestrians, pulling him to the wall. Derek hugs Avery tightly, sighing heavily.
“You scared the shit out of me.” Derek grumbles.
“I told you I’d win that for you.” Avery replies, arrogant. But he wraps his arms around Derek anyways. “Seriously though, I’m sorry. Are you okay?”
“Yes,” Derek sighs, pulling away from Avery. He puts his hands on Avery’s shoulders. “Please, never invite me to watch one of your matches ever again.”
Avery chuckles, and gently pats Derek’s forearm. “I won’t. Next time, you can run errands, and I’ll have fun.”
“Deal.”
After Avery changes back into his “casual” clothes, they shop around a little while longer. There are a few End and Nether wares that catch their eye, but they don’t end up going through with any purchases they consider. Eventually, they return to their own world, both of them entirely exhausted. When they finally - finally - stumble back into their cabin, Derek pulls his helmet off and places it on their kitchen table.
“I’m going to sleep in my armor.” He shuffles towards the bed, but Avery catches him by the cape.
“Not on my watch. You’re binding.” Avery yanks Derek backwards.
Derek stumbles before huffing, looking over his shoulder. “You’re not normally so bossy.”
Avery chuckles, and quickly begins undoing the straps keeping Derek’s armor in place. “Yeah, well, sometimes you need it.”
Derek rolls his eyes, but doesn’t deny it. Once his armor and leather crevice-protection are off, Derek sighs, taking his shirt off himself. He lifts his hands, his arms resting on his head as Avery unwraps his bindings. They’ve fallen into this familiar rhythm - Derek gets ready without aid in the morning, and at night, Avery helps him undress. When his binding wrap is gone, he sighs, letting his arms fall. He rubs the side of his ribs, finally being allowed to stumble towards their shared beds.
Derek groans as he lays himself down, sighing into the wool mattress. Avery chuckles behind him, and after a minute or so, joins him on the beds. He tugs Derek’s arm, coaxing him onto the bed.
“C’monnn.. You don’t wanna lay your head on a pillow?” Avery teases, chuckling.
Derek sighs, and pulls himself onto the bed fully, tucking himself into Avery’s chest. Avery chuckles, and kisses the top of his head.
“Tired?” Avery’s voice is soft.
“Mhm,” Derek sighs, “It was a lot of... Stuff.”
Avery snorts, and gently rubs Derek’s back. “Yeah, that.. Pretty much sums up the Hub.”
A silence lulls between them, and Derek feels his body succumbing to sleep.
Avery mumbles something, and Derek perks up, looking up at him.
“Hmm?”
“Oh,” Avery chuckles, “Sorry, I didn’t know you’d nod off so quickly. I’ll let you sleep.”
“No,” Derek shuffles, “What did you say?”
Avery smiles softly, and kisses the bridge of Derek’s nose. “Just wondering if you’d ever wanna go back.”
Derek hums, and tucks back into Avery’s chest. “.. Maybe.”
Avery hums in response, kissing the top of Derek’s head again. “Cool.”
As Derek drifts off, he can feel Avery’s kisses slow, and before long, he can’t feel them at all.