Chapter Text
Verity was acting weird, though not as weird as when it was finally time for him to turn into that massive terrifying creature, the kind that made your skin crawl and your heart feel seconds away from jumping out of your chest.
But something about him still felt off. Verity seemed distracted lately, and sometimes his endless smile would disappear for a moment, making his face look oddly unfamiliar. Even his answers had become less cheerful, almost like he had grown tired of his role as a helper.
“Hey.” Mob called out while digging through the garden bed and pulling out carrots and other vegetables. “What’s happening to you? Is the three-day mark starting again?” he asked while brushing wet dirt off the vegetables after the recent rain.
Verity was beside him near his leg, quietly pointing toward which carrot looked best to pull out, but he didn’t hurry to answer. Mob looked over at him and the little yellow orb slowly turned his way. “No.” he replied, and such a short answer sounded strange coming from him.
Tired of trying to understand what was going on with him, Mob tossed the last root vegetable onto the pile and sat down on the cold ground, not even caring that his pants would definitely get dirty. He let out a mildly annoyed sigh while staring at the bright yellow shape near his leg, but Verity simply looked back at him before his usual wide smile returned like nothing had happened.
“I’m just lonely.”
Mob frowned in confusion. Lonely? How could Verity even be lonely? Mob was already spending all his time around him, constantly feeling that glued stare at his back. Did Verity seriously think Mob wanted any of this? Verity had only become someone who made the days less boring. He wasn’t even human, and now he was talking about being lonely while Mob was busy trying not to mess things up and hoping that skinny creature inside him wouldn’t wake up again, because next time it would definitely tear him apart.
“Lonely how? Then what do you think I’m doing here?” Mob shot back, watching the edges of the smile on the yellow round face twitch slightly. “Last time you were mocking me because I had nobody, and now suddenly this?”
“We only talk. You ask questions, I answer. That’s not enough.” Verity said quietly, and those words made a cold feeling crawl across Mob’s skin.
Mob slowly lowered his bent leg and asked more cautiously, “And what exactly do we need to do for it to be ‘enough’?” Honestly, he didn’t want to hear the answer. Why did Verity have to make everything so complicated?
“Glad you asked!” The little yellow orb instantly went back to normal, his voice once again full of genuine excitement. “First, we need to do the things all best friends do.” he said, leaning slightly sideways and lightly bumping against Mob’s knee.
“Best friends…? We’re not–, ahem, okay, then what exactly do best friends do?” Mob quickly changed the subject, not wanting to create even more trouble for himself.
Verity looked at him so greedily it was almost unsettling, like Mob wasn’t a person sitting in front of him but some juicy roasted steak that could finally satisfy his hunger. His tiny dot-like eyes blinked a couple of times.
“They go on walks together,” he said as he slowly rolled around Mob, dragging out every word like he was tasting it. Mob wasn’t even sure he had a tongue in this form. “cook together,” Verity continued circling him, slowing a little once he reached behind his back, and Mob had to resist the urge to turn around just to keep him in sight. “tell each other secrets,” he added after a small teasing pause.
“But we literally already do all tha–” Mob tried to interrupt.
“And they hug.”
Verity finally stopped in front of him, looking unbearably pleased with himself as he waited for Mob’s reaction. Mob’s first reaction wasn’t shock from the idea itself, or even the fact Verity thought they were best friends, but confusion over how they were even supposed to hug in the first place.
For a moment there was only the sound of wind and distant cows somewhere far away. Mob gave him a questioning look. “I’m not doing that with you in your horrible form, don’t even ask.” he protested quickly and started pushing himself up, but the little yellow orb suddenly jumped onto his lap before he could stand. Mob jerked in surprise and lifted his free hand, ready to pull him off.
“I’m not going to transform… yet.” Verity said with a sly narrowed look as he slowly moved closer. “We can hug like this.”
Verity pressed himself against Mob’s stomach, gently rubbing his cheek against him. Mob still had one hand frozen awkwardly in the air while the other supported him from behind, his fingers digging slightly into the wet ground. Verity looked… comfortable like this. Almost cozy, tucked into the folds of Mob’s oversized dark hoodie that contrasted sharply with his bright yellow color. After hesitating for a second, Mob finally lowered his hand and carefully placed it on the small yellow sphere.
It wasn’t like he didn’t know what Verity felt like. He had held him plenty of times before. But this felt different somehow. His hand was still dirty from the soil, yet Verity didn’t seem to mind at all. Instead, the little creature only pressed closer beneath his palm, trying to burrow deeper into the warm folds of cloth where Mob’s body heat lingered. Verity himself was always cool to the touch.
The hand resting on him slowly started moving. Mob carefully stroked him the same way he would pet some animal, earning a quiet purr in response. Then he lifted his other hand and held the sphere sitting in his lap with both hands, bringing him closer to his face. Verity’s eyes, closed until now, slowly opened and settled on him. Mob quietly studied him for any signs of change, but the creature in his hands only seemed calm and relaxed.
“So that’s what you wanted?” Mob asked, absentmindedly squishing the little yellow orb in his hands like it was just some normal ball. He held Verity by both cheeks, stretching and squeezing them until the small face twisted into funny expressions. Somehow that alone made him feel a little better, and a few small laughs slipped from his mouth. Verity was strangely nice to squish in his hands.
Verity seemed to brighten even more and leaned into one of his palms. Mob paused for a second, silently staring at the scene in front of him. Then he slowly relaxed his hands, set the yellow orb down onto the ground, and stood up, brushing dirt from his pants. “Okay, that’s enough.” he said before walking over to the carrots lying nearby.
“Aw,” Verity’s voice came from behind him. “Now I’m all dirty.” he said in a dramatic tone, clearly trying to make Mob feel guilty.
Mob looked faintly embarrassed. Holding an armful of carrots against his chest, he let out a tired sigh before crouching down, silently inviting Verity onto his shoulder so he could carry him back inside. In the bathroom, Mob grabbed the first cloth he could find, soaked it with water, and sat on the edge of the bathtub. He lifted the dirty yellow orb from his shoulder and started wiping the soil off him. The whole time, Verity kept his usual satisfied smile. In the end, the dirty rag ended up in the laundry basket together with Mob’s dirt-stained clothes.
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During the next few days, Mob constantly found himself stuck with Verity practically glued to him, like he might explode the moment Mob moved even a couple of meters away. Before this, they could separate without problems whenever Mob went to villages for materials or into caves for resources, but now they did everything together. Well, more like Verity followed him everywhere.
At night, Mob would put him on the bedside table before sleeping, all while feeling that sharp stare fixed on him until he finally drifted off. Then every morning he’d look toward the same table and immediately realize Verity wasn’t there anymore. The first time it happened, he jerked awake in panic only to find the yellow creature buried somewhere in the blankets beside him. Verity always somehow ended up curled against his side, near his leg, or sometimes directly on top of him.
One morning Mob woke up and found him lying between his legs way too close to his crotch. “Dude, you can’t sleep there, okay? That’s too much.” he said in a sleepy hoarse voice while stretching comfortably, lightly pinning the little yellow orb beneath his leg.
Verity only pressed himself more against his leg in a playful way, the feeling slightly tickling him. “Why not? It’s warm there.” he asked, sounding like he had absolutely no intention of moving.
Mob stopped stretching across the soft bed and glanced down between his legs again before grabbing the yellow orb and tossing him onto the floor. Only a few seconds later, Verity had already climbed back onto the bed, shooting him an annoyed look, but this time Mob didn’t care. He threw his arms behind his head and buried himself deeper into the pillow. “If you wanna sleep in my bed, then do what I say. Otherwise you’re sleeping in the furnace. It’s warm there too, you know.”
At that, Verity only gave an irritated little huff before scooting closer again, obeying even if he clearly disliked it.
Lately, Mob had started feeling calmer around the strange yellow creature, and honestly that realization made him uneasy.
On days when Mob went down into caves, carrying Verity in his hands became annoying, so he usually tucked him inside his hood instead. The yellow creature would instantly bury himself in his hair or press closer against his neck. There wasn’t really time to worry about Verity suddenly opening his mouth and biting into his shoulder anyway, because skeletons and creepers felt like a much bigger problem in moments like that. All of Mob’s attention was focused on swinging his sword and blocking with his shield.
Even if he tried denying it, Mob still often caught himself playing with the little yellow orb in his hands while watching some dull movie late at night, rain pouring outside while sleep still refused to come. The warm darkness of the house wrapped around him comfortably. During moments like those, Verity would hop onto his chest and curl himself into the space between his neck and shoulder where warm skin wasn’t covered by fabric. He would stay there quietly for a long time, sinking into the heat and the familiar scent of Mob’s body that he loved so much. Verity’s cool surface felt oddly pleasant against his skin, and eventually the two of them would fall asleep together with soft voices murmuring from the television in the background.
One day, after what Verity considered their personal hugging marathon, Mob casually asked him while they wandered through the fields beneath the hot summer sun and stepped onto a flower meadow. “So? You’re not lonely anymore now?”
Mob grabbed the edge of his hoodie and pulled it over his head. The black fabric landed somewhere off to the side, leaving his shoulders exposed. Verity rolled along beside him before stopping too. He lifted his tiny black eyes toward Mob, and something about that stare instantly felt suspicious.
“Yes, I’m not lonely anymore. Now we can move to the next step.”
Mob’s brows immediately pulled together. “The hell do you mean next step?”
Verity closed his little bead-like eyes and answered as casually as if he were talking about the weather.
“The next step is kisses!”