Chapter Text
They’d been wandering around another one of the strange spaces— this time a large palace-like place with a fancy ballroom— chatting occasionally when Derek paused for a moment after they spotted a statue of a woman with large wings, clearly typing with his character looking right at it.
<d3rlord3> you know that reminds me that my back really hurts right now
<d3rlord3> maybe more than my head
Avery stares at his screen for a moment just blinking. Why would his back hurt more than his head if he was having a killer headache from all the knowledge of the universe? Why would this statue make him remember that?
<TheMostMayo> how's that possible?
<TheMostMayo> spine so bad its beating a god in pain levels
He nearly slapped himself for that comment, grumbling under his breath about how stupid it was. Hopefully Derek would just ignore that.
<d3rlord3> I don’t know
<d3rlord3> it just does
<d3rlord3> not preexisting though I’m sure I would have noticed this amount of pain
<TheMostMayo> your infinite knowledge not helpful?
<d3rlord3> I mean maybe but it hurts to try and think of something so specific
<TheMostMayo> and no one’s come to check in on you?
<d3rlord3> I’ve lived alone for a while I don’t think anyone's coming
Another pause as he contemplated how similar their situations really were and what to do with what he was just given. A glance around his room only revealed that it was four hours into the new year and that he’s running out of snacks and water, he’d have to get up and replenish those soon if he didn’t want to pass out on his friend.
<TheMostMayo> anything I can do?
<d3rlord3> only thing I could think of would be coming to my house to see it for me
<TheMostMayo> wouldn’t mind that at this point
<TheMostMayo> lol
<TheMostMayo> might find other solutions to this whole thing too
This time the pause was from the other end.
It made Avery bite his nails from anxiety, worried that he’d just made Derek push him away. He’d never been good at calculated risks— it was all or nothing with him which is part of why he was so good at skywars— though there were times when he wished he was a little better at thinking ahead. Asking someone you’d only know for not even five hours over a video game for their address was definitely a risk he should have thought about.
<d3rlord3> stop chewing your nails
<d3rlord3> also fine
He almost leaped out of his seat in excitement, only able to stay sitting for long enough for Derek to send his address before he’s changing his clothes and hopping back over to see if he’d said anything.
<d3rlord3> please remember to close you’re game
Quitting was easy as it always was though this time it carried a sense of finality. Nothing was different of course; the homescreen was the same, nothing fought or glitched as he logged off, not even an audio cue to say that something was wrong and yet Avery was still hesitant to leave the laptop.
After a minute of just staring at it he managed to turn it off completely and shut it. It was then unceremoniously thrown into a bag and tossed over his shoulder.
Every second felt like an eternity even if it was only a handful to lock his door and dash out to the dorm's garage. He skipped the elevator entirely to hop down the stairs two at a time and hit the ground floor in record time, throwing the heavy metal door open with a loud bang he briefly hoped didn’t wake anyone who had attempted to sleep through the new year.
It only got to him how long he’d been awake and staring at his screen when he settled into the driver seat of his busted up little black car, everything momentarily going blurry from the lack of movement. He really shouldn’t drive right now but he couldn’t afford to wait any longer and Derek probably couldn’t either.
The fear that he wouldn’t make it in time kept him awake more effectively than any energy drink he’d ever had. He knew adrenaline was a hell of a hormone, felt it before while playing skywars and playing sports, but this was a new feeling. It wasn’t the giddy sense of competition with no real risk or the rush of a game that gave him a second wind even when his legs ached; this was an intense fear that made his limbs fuzzy and senses sharp.
The drive was maybe 20 minutes of sitting at lights and nearly screaming at stop signs before he was pulling into a neighborhood of townhouses with neat yards and clean streets. It felt surreal compared to the chaotic and messy dorms he’d grown used to though he’d never really bothered to ask Derek much about his personal life.
Finding the house number he pulled into the driveway of a house with too many boxes out front and mail packed to the brim in the mailbox. Definitely the place of someone who hadn’t stepped outside in a month.
With a deep breath he turned the car off and stepped out, a sudden nearly overwhelming sense of dread and something he couldn’t name coming over him.
“Now or never I guess.” He sighed as the neighborhood returned to silence minus the sound of distant fireworks.