Because the last chapter took so long, I'm posting this one already. Enjoy!
Twenty minutes ago, it had been funny. An hour ago, it had been downright the most hilarious thing he'd ever seen.
Now, it's just painful to watch.
For the last hour and a half, Steve has sat in the same spot against the side of his house, watching first in gleeful anticipation and then later in sympathy at Herobrine attempting to wire together a "simple" redstone machine. The man now stalks back and forth in front of his broken creation, muttering under his breath what are most likely threats and curses. Herobrine, no matter what he says in rebuttal, does not have much patience with tasks such as this, and that had been made clear the second his machine refused to work correctly for him.
Steve wants to help, and he would have from the beginning, but if Herobrine is clueless when it comes to redstone, Steve is brain dead. He knows it glows and can carry a charge of some sort. That's about the extent of his knowledge.
So Herobrine's attempt has not gone totally in vain, not for Steve at least. Herobrine, despite his growing frustration and agitation, has been in quite the giving mood, answering any question Steve can think up, and not with a glare. He's learned what a dropper is and how it works, as well as information about each of the different types of rails there are. He understands the fine red dust better now, but still doesn't fully grasp the purpose of a repeater or comparator. Thinking about it gets his thoughts in a twist and makes his head hurt.
Steve has to commend Herobrine though. He probably would have given up to figure it out another day, but Herobrine refuses to leave it unfinished.
Steve sighs and shakes his head at Herobrine's stubbornness. He notices the sun going down and knows that Herobrine would rather figure out his mechanism than rest for the night. Ever since Herobrine had forced him to confront the mobs at night, he finds he's not as uncomfortable being out at night. He doesn't feel at home, like Herobrine does, but he doesn't want to run screaming anymore either.
Still, night gets cold.
"Maybe we should try again tomorrow...?" Steve ventures, eyeing the sunset. He turns back to look at Herobrine.
"If you want to retire for the night, do so. I will remain here." Herobrine remains with his back towards him, arms crossed tightly against his chest. His anger is palpable in the air.
"Um...okay, sure," he relents, standing up. "Good luck," he says before retreating into his house to sleep the night away.
He's woken up by an explosion and a loud yell of anger.
He sits up, gasping and scrambling to get out of bed, only to get tangled in the bedsheets. He topples over and nearly knocks himself out, but manages to kick the offending sheets away and run out the door.
He's not sure what to expect, but he can say for sure that it's not the large crater in his front yard. For a moment he's not sure if Herobrine is even still around, but then he hears a long, drawn out sigh coming from within the hole. Taking a few steps forward, he peers down into it, bringing a hand to his mouth in a poor attempt to not laugh.
Herobrine is standing in the center of the crater, the remains of his redstone machine laying in pieces around him. He's covered head to toe in a layer of redstone dust and dirt, the only distinguishable feature about him visible the intense glow of his white eyes. He doesn't look happy.
"Is everything...okay?" Steve asks, hesitant. To him, it's funny and amazing to see Herobrine, of all people, in situations like this, but he knows when to laugh and when to keep it to himself. If Herobrine is truly angry, laughing will only exacerbate his temper.
"No."
Herobrine's suddenly not in the crater and instead standing right next to him, fists clenched tightly together. Without another word he turns and starts stalking into the forest.
"Wait, where are you going!" Steve calls out. Herobrine, not bothering to answer, simply walks away.
Steve huffs and eyes the giant eyesore in front of his house. Well, Herobrine's not going to clean it up, is he? Dang guy.
The rest of the day continues by in a slow, easy pace. Steve fixes the hole, harvests from his farms, and feeds his animals. He then paces about his house, totally not worrying about where Herobrine is or what he could be doing. That definitely doesn't happen.
...Except it does and he stops. Growing up, he never had many friends. Maybe when he was a young boy he had one or two, but he honestly can't remember but it's okay. It's been just him all his life and he's happy, he is. Whether it be mining or farming or fishing or fighting, he can't say he wishes there was someone there with him. In the absence of a good connection with other humans, Steve's always believed that he connects better to nature, but Nether if he can explain why. All he knows is that watching other humans build through the land instead of with it has always disgusted him. How could anyone destroy the natural beauty of their world?
Maybe he's not meant to fit in with them.
Much like Herobrine.
He'd never of thought but he's becoming so...dependent on another person. He doesn't necessarily need Herobrine around, but he wants it. Having someone to talk to, or mine with, or just hang out with, feels right, even if the person in question is someone like Herobrine, who gets angry a lot and is prone to rage induced outbursts. And not to mention his tendency to leave without an explanation.
But Steve knows that Herobrine won't just abandon him, because he fully believes that their friendship actually means something to Herobrine, like it does to him.
So he can't help but worry when night descends and Herobrine isn't back yet. But with no way to contact him and no way of knowing when Herobrine will come back, Steve can do nothing but retire to bed, hoping that tomorrow his friend will return.
He doesn't wake up to an explosion, so that's something. He gets up and pulls his clothes on, worry festering in the back of his head. But he forces himself to eat some breakfast and not run outside to see if Herobrine is back. He can handle being on his own for a short amount of time, he did it all his life after all.
Still, there's a certain amount of anticipation he can feel when he opens the door. And to his surprise and relief, Herobrine is back.
He's standing where the large crater had been previously, the remains of the broken redstone device off to the side. New redstone contraptions lay at his feet, and his attention is directed towards the book in his hands.
Although he desperately wants to say something, he restrains himself, as well as forces himself to walk to Herobrine's side, looking at all the complicated redstone components on the ground.
"...Is everything...okay?" Steve asks. He notices that his friend is no longer covered in redstone and dirt.
"Yes, all is well," Herobrine responds calmly, his tone lacking the anger from yesterday morning. But he leaves it at that.
Steve wants to ask—demand—where he went after storming off into the forest, but he can't force the words out. All that really matters is that his friend is back, and that serves to reinforce his belief that Herobrine finds some value in their friendship.
"What is all this?" Steve asks. There's a peculiar block in particular that intrigues him. It looks to be made of glass and has a vaguely brownish color to it, or maybe a faint red.
"It's...a surprise, I suppose would be an adequate description."
Steve stops and turns round, eyebrows raised in shock. Did he just hear right? Herobrine's holding the book up higher, blocking the view of his face. If Steve didn't know better, he'd say Herobrine's experiencing something very human right now, namely the hot rush of blood to his cheeks from embarrassment. It's so human and endearing that Steve can't keep the smile off his face.
"For who?" He asks, though he knows. It's impossible to school his expression into something less telling.
Herobrine pulls the book down and there is indeed the faint remains of a blush, and he doesn't look happy about it, judging by the glare. "Do not play games with me. Who else in the world would I be referring to?"
"Oh right, right," Steve agrees, nodding his head as if he didn't already know. Sometimes he gets a thrill out of being able to act in such a way towards Herobrine. Who else got to say they'd back sassed the guy and lived to tell about it?
He turns back to the assortment. "Seriously, what is all this stuff?"
"That would ruin the surprise."
"Oh wow you were serious. Uh, okay, can you at least tell me where you got it? I was...I mean I wasn't worried when you disappeared yesterday, I'm just curious. Is all."
Herobrine closes the book and faces him fully, and now suddenly Steve wishes he had something to cover his face with. At times like these Steve gets the distinct feeling he's being examined and judged all in one look, and it never ceases to set his teeth on edge, especially under the harsh scrutiny of those eyes. But then the intensity of his stare diminishes into something softer.
"I apologize if my abrupt absence concerned you at all. I didn't...realize until I'd left that you would most likely worry—needlessly, but I understand it is a human trait I cannot fault you on. To answer your question, I traveled to a distant land to seek the advice of those more practiced in this art."
Steve cocked his head. "Art?"
"Redstone."
"Ah. But you were gone all day and night. Are these people really that far away?"
"It would take several days worth of travel on horseback in the Nether to reach their home."
"Wha—days!? But that's so far!" Steve exclaims. The distance is nearly enough to blow his mind. As Herobrine had explained to him when they'd first met, the Nether does not work quite like the Overworld. Time and space seem to slip by one another, making it an advantageous but dangerous way to travel. Days of travel in the Nether could equal weeks of travel in the Overworld.
"Yes, and it is for the best. They live isolated because they are not like other humans."
"What does that mean?"
"I'm afraid I cannot say."
Steve rolls his eyes, a smug little grin tugging at his lips. "Why, because it would ruin their lives? Like that's ever stopped you before."
He's rewarded with a rare genuine smile and a chuckle in return. "You are not wrong my friend. But it is not so much that I won't tell you than it is I am physically unable to speak the words. I am bound by an oath even I cannot break."
Steve scratches his head, still trying to comprehend just how far away these people live. "Sounds like some heavy stuff."
"It is indeed."
"So I guess...I'll just...leave you to it then." Steve flashes a quick smile and even puts his hand on Herobrine's shoulder, something he usually would hesitate to do, but it just feels right. "I'm glad you're back."
To his relief Herobrine doesn't shrug his hand off, so that's something. "Again, I apologize for causing you undue stress. But it is nice to know there is a place I am always welcome, and that someone cares for my well-being."
Steve shrugs. "That's what friends are for, right?" He pats Herobrine on the shoulder and returns to his house, eager for his surprise.
It takes strength of will, but Steve manages to not peak outside the house at all, leaving Herobrine to construct his redstone contraption in relative peace.
The day slowly recedes to night, and with the knowledge that his friend is back, Steve sleeps much easier this time around.
Morning comes and goes, and soon Steve finds himself standing in front of his surprise.
"What is it?"
"Why don't you take these," Herobrine instructs, holding out some seeds, "and drop them onto the tilled dirt?"
"Uh, okay?" Steve takes the seeds and does just that. He nearly jumps out of his skin when the dirt raises up with a quick motion, the sound of pistons firing accompanying it. He also hears the click of dispensers, and suddenly there's more seeds and a fully grown piece of wheat laying on the ground.
"What...?" Steve whispers, taking a step back. He spins to face Herobrine, shock clear on his face. "What happened?"
"Why don't you try again?"
With more enthusiasm, Steve takes the seeds and drops them onto the dirt. It repeats its processes and now two pieces of wheat and even more seeds are laying on the ground. "What!"
"I believe they call it an automated farm," Herobrine says as Steve picks up the two pieces of wheat and examines them like they don't actually exist, and he fully expects them to disappear right before his very eyes. But as the seconds tick by nothing happens, and he remains speechless.
"Is it...satisfactory?" Herobrine asks, rather timidly. Steve just looks at him and then the wheat, then back at Herobrine, mouth hanging open as he struggles to find words. Herobrine feels slightly self-conscious for the first time in a long time, and has to ruthlessly suppress the urge to start rambling.
When he opens his mouth to do just that, he's shocked into silence when arms are suddenly thrown around his shoulders and a body is far closer to him than he believes he's comfortable with. He stiffens, unsure how to react.
He's being hugged.
It's something he knows humans do and he's seen them do it far more than he can count. But it's not something he fully understands, and now, experiencing it, he thinks perhaps he knows why humans do it. It's...not unpleasant.
Before he can do anything, Steve is releasing him and turning back to the wheat farm, a wide and excitable smile plastered on his face as he puts seeds in the dirt again and again, marveling over the face that this machine produces wheat at a rate far quicker than a normal wheat farm. Herobrine hopes that with this, some of Steve's burdens of caring for a house, and animals, and farms, is lessened, even if only somewhat.
"Wow...wow! This is amazing!" Steve says, holding an armful of wheat. His whole being is radiating happiness and it's a new experience but Herobrine enjoys seeing his friend so happy—even more so that he's the cause of it.
"I am glad it works." He knows it would, of course, given the very clear and precise instructions in the book.
"I'm going to have so much wheat! I don't even know what I'm going to do with it all."
"That is its function."
"Oh man, I—" Steve stops to take a breath and looks at him. "Thank you. Really."
"You are welcome. Now let's go find a place for all this wheat."
And that's what they do.
