Work Text:
A creak sounded through the quiet room as a door opened and closed behind a tall figure. It walked inside, it's short but puffy black hair a mess on it's head, thin green streaks going all through it. With a sigh, Avery dropped his backpack on the floor, not even trying to shove it somewhere out of the way, before promptly collapsing on his bed, face first.
He then didn't get up for another few seconds. After that, he rolled over to his back and just stared at his darkened ceiling with half-lidded eyes.
Today was exhausting.
First, they had a lot of work at school. It felt like almost every teacher hated them, because they had like 4 tests right after each other. And of course he didn't study for all of them last night, especially since one of them was a complete surprise to everyone! Great!
And even after that nightmare ended, he wasn't allowed to go home! Nope, instead he had to attend this random event to represent the school that his parents forced him to sign up for! (Even though he was technically an adult and could decide for himself, he couldn't really refuse their requests since he still lived with them...)
And now, at around (he reached for his phone and checked the time) 9:17 PM, he was finally home.
Grunting slightly, he sat up and walked over to his desk. There, he sat down in his gaming chair and booted up Minecraft on the laptop.
It was honestly really convenient he found it. His parents had refused to buy him one, stating that it was too expensive and that he could surely do his work perfectly fine without it. He brought it, telling them he found it really cheap in a second-hand store (because they'd never let him keep it otherwise), and instantly brought it up to his bedroom, not wanting to continue that conversation.
It was only more of a delight to find out it already had Minecraft on it! And, sure, maybe it wasn't the most ethical thing to use someone's game without permission when he didn't pay for it, but come on, it was their fault it stayed there!
He clicked through the menu and pressed play on the only world there. It was there when he first opened it, probably from the previous owner, but when he loaded it up, there were no signs of anyone having played anything on it. So, he used it as his own.
When the blocks came on screen, he was greeted by the sight of his house. Sure, it might only be a cube made of dirt with mostly chests for storage, a bed, a crafting table and a single furnace, but he didn't need anything fancy! It was effective and so there was no reason to change it!
Deciding to try and finish his set of iron armour, he searched through his inventory and chests. Sadly, he only found 2 iron ingots, which isn't nearly enough for leggings and a chestplate. Seems like today will be a mining day.
He quickly made sure he had some food and that his pickaxe had enough health, before nodding with satisfaction and heading out in search of a cave. It didn't take long before he found one quite close to his base. Entering it, he ventured down through a small tunnel, the darkness getting worse with each step. After he could see almost nothing, he started placing down torches along the way, just enough to see. He didn't have that many and, while it wasn't ideal, he wasn't afraid of mobs. He was the king of pvp after all! He could bear to deal with some zombies.
He stopped a few times to mine some coal, in order to have something to smelt the iron with later on. He had just found a pretty big vein when he heard it.
The hissing.
Pressing W, his character sprinted forward and jumped up, just in time to hear an explosion go off behind him. Turning back, he only found a crater in the ground where the coal used to be.
Damn creepers.
With that crisis averted, he continued with his journey. And it wasn't too long before he got lucky and stumbled upon the very thing he was looking for! Pumping up his fist in real life, he quickly mined it all.
Unfortunately, it was only 4 pieces of iron ore, but he wouldn't complain. A few seconds of walking later, the cave ended with no visible continuation. Avery ventured back up to the surface, collecting torches on the way. He could just find a new cave.
It was then that his stomach reminded him of a little something: he hadn't had dinner. The uncomfortable ache was ever present throughout his playthrough, but only now, when it spoke up with pain, did he acknowledge it.
So, Avery paused the game and got up.
---
It was honestly an impressive feat that he managed to get down the stairs and into the kitchen quietly, but he'd take it.
At first, he debated grabbing some leftovers from the fridge, but decided against it. He didn't want to wake up his parents by using the microwave, which for some reason was the loudest at night.
So, he instead made himself a sandwich. He then sat at the table, going to eat his meal.
It was even darker here without the light from the computer screen, making the room look ominous. He was leaning back in his chair, not really paying attention to the world around him.
He always tried not to think too much about certain stuff, but when a person is surrounded by such a calm and silent atmosphere, there isn't really anything to do other than to think.
Earlier today, at the event, he really screwed up.
He had tried to join this one group in talking. They were some of his classmates, some of the more gamer-inclined ones, and so he thought to add in his insight on some of the things they were discussing. But...after he joined, it all just turned really, really awkward.
They all stayed silent while he talked and their responses were forced, delayed, uncomfortable. And there wasn't even a problem with what he was saying! He heard some of them have the same opinions!
No...it was him.
A hysterical cackle tore itself out of him before he almost instantly stopped himself and ran a hand through his hair, leaning back in his chair.
God, he really was the problem!
His arm dropped back down to his side and the manic grin left his face, replaced by a grief-struck expression, bordering on sombre acceptance.
Avery got up, sandwich finished long ago, and headed back up to his room.
Once he got there, he sat back behind the screen and unpaused the game. Best to get back to it, he supposed.
As he wandered further into the world, he easily got lost in the simplicity of its familiarity, the earlier crisis left forgotten (for now).
His avatar continued to run around the mountains, looking for anything resembling a cave or a ravine.
Then he saw it.
The cobblestone.
There was a two by two space in the side of a mountain filled with the block. This immediately set off alarm bells in Avery's mind, as that wasn't normal terrain for Minecraft.
Walking up to it, he confirmed for himself that yes, this can't be naturally generated. Selecting his pickaxe, he broke through the wall easily.
What surprised him was that behind it was a staircase downwards.
Okay, yep, 100% not supposed to be here.
Though...his curiosity was piqued.
So with a new flame for exploration, Avery started walking down this weird mine.