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The sun had just disappeared on the horizon as Verity and the player sat on the green grass under the trees in the limits of a forest near a meadow, receiving the warmth of a campfire they had just crafted. Lookout ate a cooked steak in satisfaction as he observed the blocky sky. He wondered if the stars in Minecraft were the same ones as in real life.
They were safe; no mobs could attack them there. Verity wouldn't allow that. Despite the beautiful seed they had spawned in, with cherry trees and high snowy mountains in the distance, the yellow ball couldn't help but look only at the human sitting next to him, leaning on a log and pretending to be unaware of Verity's constant gaze.
He adored that man, from his stupid catchphrase to every inch of his body and that dumb ass anime hat he refused to take off. It was amazing how, despite all the suffering he had caused the human, he still stayed by his side and kept coming back again and again and saving him.
But despite the peace, a question was brewing inside him. It had been there for a long time, and it wouldn't leave him alone even if it could ruin the night for both of them.
He rolled to be next to him, leaning into his arm to catch his attention, the warmth of his skin making him want to stay in there forever and never leave.
"Hey, Lookout?" He said, trying to mask his nervousness.
He looked down at the ball with a calm smile, taking a cigarette from his pocket as he had finished eating.
"Yeah, what's up, man?"
"I have a question."
The other let out a small laugh as he lit up the cig.
"A question? You said you knew everything."
The ball just rolled his eyes.
"Alright, shoot."
He sighed before asking and hesitated, but he really needed to know.
"Do you... love me?" He finally said.
Lookout's eyes widened, and he started choking on the smoke. It took him some uncomfortably long seconds to process the question.
"What?" He laughed between coughs. He looked for a hint of irony in the creature's eyes, but by the expression on his face he could tell he wasnt joking at all. "Are you Fr?"
"Im serious! I mean, we've been hanging out for a long time, you've touched me, you saved me multiple times, you said you liked me, we even had a kid, Lookout!"
The other just looked at the ball incredulously as he exhaled smoke.
"First of all, Freakity was not my child- second- Dude, you are a Minecraft mod. I cant have feelings for an AI!"
Verity did nothing but stare at the man, not because he didn't know what to say but because he was too heartbroken to do so.
"Don't look at me like that; it's not like you can, like, love me back or anything." Lookout continued, desperately going for another puff.
"What do you mean by that?" He slowly moved away from him, each step back (or roll) hurting more than the last one.
"I mean- you can say what you want; you cant really feel things; it isn't possible, man; you cant feel emotions like a human."
Verity felt seconds away from murdering the man. Something he would obviously never do. He doubted himself for a second; he thought his emotions were real, He had felt annoyance, he had felt lust and desire, he had felt pleasure, he had felt scared and lonely, and over anything, he had felt love, but then again, how could he possibly know how humans truly felt? He was supposed to know everything, but the complexity of emotion was a thing that couldn't be explained by simple data. Maybe what he thought he experienced was widely different from the humans' definition of feelings.
He brushed his doubts away, no, no, he knew he could feel, and he knew what he felt. There wasn't a thing in that world or in real life that could convince him he wasn't in love with that man.
"Why would you think that? Do you really think all of the things I've done to get you to stay with me and to have you back, didn't mean anything? Why do you think im like this, Lookout?"
"I guess you were programmed like that; I don't know. Look, a machine cant replicate emotions, dude. And I've made mods before; I should know that."
He was speechless, was much more than a machine, and Lookout knew that. He had appeared in real life, for god's sake! He had seen him, he had touched him, and still, he didn't think he was as real as he was?
"Even if it was like that, why would it matter? What's the difference between loving me and a human being? You can't feel the other person's love, only the one they make you feel. Why does it matter whether or not they really feel the same or if they even have the capacity to do so, as long as they make you feel love? Isn't that what matters? My affection is as real as any lover's."
Lookout thought about it for longer than he would like to admit.
"Man, shut your cornball ass up tryna be all deep and shii." He finally snapped, throwing his finished cigarette to the ground and stepping on it. "You clearly don't understand how relationships work, lonely ahh bouncer."
"Well, how do relationships work? Tell me." Verity said in a more serious tone.
The human was afraid the ground might start shaking.
"Well, I mean- it's based in mutual emotions and respect- you know? It isn't about receiving love or praise- it's about knowing you make someone as happy as they make you. It's about seeing the devotion in the other's eyes and knowing it's real." He realised how corny he sounded; fuck, that ball was affecting him. " Or something- I don't know."
What the hell was he saying?
"But I am real! I can feel things, and I can feel love. What can I do to prove that to you?"
Lookout sighed, covering his face with his hand.
"I don't think I can believe you, Verity."
"Then at least pretend you do." He murmured.
They both sat there awkwardly, not daring to even look at each other and listening to the endermen, sheep, and other mobs in the distance that wouldn't dare come near them. For a second, Lookout wished for Verity to just kill him already as he lit up his third cigarette.
Verity was about to leave it there and go to sleep when he realised something.
"Back?" He asked curiously with a smile, stopping the human who was already starting to lie down.
"Huh?"
Verity tried and failed not to sound too excited.
"You said I couldn't love you back. That's what you said!"
Lookout almost choked again when he realised his mistake.
"Yeah, yeah, same thing, whatever." He said in a panic, trying to hide his embarrassment.
"You do love me!"
"Shut up man- just- shut up!" He complained, lying down in the grass and almost immediately falling asleep.
Verity chuckled sadly. Maybe someday he would accept it, maybe one day he could convince him that all of that was and has been real, but right now he just smiled and buried himself in Lookout's chest as he felt arms unconsciously wrap around him.