Chapter 7: And So It Ends With a Feast
It seemed like all it took was a week to break him.
He didn't necessarily hate what Steve had brought upon him, but he didn't really appreciate the fact that just a few short days ago, he had forgotten the difficulty of approaching humans other than the miner himself without the encounter being closely followed by an execution, and now, he had to worry about how he came across to others. He also found himself subconsciously worrying about the opinions of those humans, even if he usually threw that care away for everybody but Steve.
On the bright side, however, he was rather thankful for the fact that his bond with Steve had slightly grown stronger.
On the downside, he was still new to such a thing.
At the beginning of the week, they could've barely called themselves friends, maybe situational colleagues at best, but now, both could say in confidence that the other was their friend, and not as a brief assumption. It wasn't implied, it was certain.
All Herobrine had to do now was learn to properly navigate having a mortal friend without getting him involved in immortal troubles.
As he sat by the lakeside underneath the tree by the shore, the thought came to him once again as he waited for Steve to wake up and formally invite him into his house. Though he was entirely certain that they would be setting up the rail system within the cave, and that he could've been getting a head start on that, he found himself suddenly lacking the energy and motivation to do so. Besides, he didn't know where the mineshaft blueprint that Steve had drawn up even was, so if he went, he wouldn't have a clue on where exactly to place things.
So he sat silently, playing with a bit of torn fabric that hung from the hem of his leather gloves.
Their little run-in with the pillagers from yesterday surprisingly stuck with him, despite how easily it had been dealt with. It might've been the fact that a life that he now cared deeply about had been on the line, or it might've been the fact that he had been getting quite the side-eye from that golem Steve befriended (who now hung around the back of his house, stealing the demigod's hideout shamelessly), but whatever the case was, he was becoming quite disturbed by the idea of outside forces breaking the facade of the little patch of a haven within the forest that he was in. Dealing with something like that would've been nothing but a fond memory if he were on his own, but with the idea of forces armed with arcane knowledge came the troubling notion that at any point, whenever he wasn't around, something terrible could be walking up to his doppelganger's doorstep rather than his own. What if it hadn't been a group of spiteful patrolmen, but a group of witches? Stray mobs? Other demigods?
He had only intended to learn how to imitate the miner, not to give him a taste of his troubles. It almost disgusted him to think that, entirely willingly, he was initially going to do such a thing had he not lost their bet.
He was more disturbed by the fact that, so easily, he'd bent a knee to the will of a human in the first place, which had led him to his current predicament.
At first, he was just willing to tag along in Steve's journeys from a distance. Then he managed to gain the other's trust enough to let him walk by his side without too much fear of certain death should he push him past his limits. Now, he had gotten too emotional over the other. There was something about the miner that immediately led to him significantly lowering his guard, and half of him wanted to slap himself in the face for that.
There was no recovery for this that didn't include the possibility of just cutting off all contact with Steve, and he wasn't willing to go down that route. So he was left to suffer under his own confusion.
He both hated and appreciated everything that had been thrown his way.
He knew that he'd probably never get the chance to act so friendly towards someone like Steve again, so he didn't take it for granted. He only wished that he'd be able to process everything faster so that he wouldn't have to feel so weird about it.
Steve had woken up later than usual, but nevertheless, Herobrine was met with a smiling face that hid a mind that held the vast knowledge of different ways to mess with him. As he was invited in, he admired the very homey details of the other's house, including the small fireplace that was present and currently lit.
Pulling his gloves down, he looked at Steve with a bit of expectancy.
"So, we're heading out today to start placing the rails that we made?"
Steve gave him a confused glance before shaking his head with a smile.
"Nope."
The words shocked him more than what he was willing to admit. His eyes widened in surprise.
"…What do you mean, 'Nope?' Didn't we make those rails so that we could place them?"
"Yes, but not immediately. Reminder, we haven't finished up the blueprint of the complete map yet; we haven't even decided what hallways we want the railway to follow!"
Steve sat down at his table, hands folded in front of him as he looked at the other.
"Besides…If my calculations are correct, this is the last day that you'll be doing my chores and taking my place, yeah? No consequences for me if I ask you to do something?"
"Yes?…"
"Then, I want to give you something to do that you can't kill me for asking for."
"And that thing is?…"
Steve gave him a mischievous smirk.
"I want you to cook for me."
Herobrine stared at him.
"What."
"…I don't usually have time to cook every day, so whenever I find the time, I make a bunch of stuff one day to eat through the rest of the week. If I run out, I make more."
Steve almost started laughing when the other narrowed his eyes at him in suspicion.
"…Is that actually the truth, or are you just trying to mess with me one last time here before I get free range to retaliate how I see fit?"
"It's the truth! I wouldn't lie to you, would I?"
"You lied to me in order to stop me from outright killing you back when we first met, that sort of set a precedent, no?"
"It's been a while since then! People can change, and I'm almost 100% certain that you of all people know that."
The words struck a chord in him, and Herobrine nearly believed for a moment that somehow, Steve might've finally fully unlocked the ability to read him like a book. Did his facade finally crack and the miner was now able to read the worry on his face?
He hadn't realized that he'd been spacing out until the other's snapping fingers reached his ears, and suddenly his focus was brought back to Steve.
"Brine, you okay?"
Herobrine nodded slowly.
"...Yeah. I was thinking about how I'm going to get you back for this if you're lying, later."
"Hey! You said-"
"-I'd freely take your place for a week, but we never agreed to the idea that I couldn't return the favor somehow, no? You have my trust, Steven. If you're making me cook for you just for the hell of it, and not because it's something you actually do, I'll find out eventually, and I'll be certain to enact my revenge upon you when you least expect it."
Herobrine got closer to him than what he deemed as 'comfortable enough' and 'perfectly far away enough to not be within choking range', giving him an intimidating glare that sent a chill down his spine.
He meant every word of what he said.
Steve jokingly rolled his eyes with a smile, shaking off the feeling of unease.
"I can't believe you think I'm lying about this. I work in the mines all the time! Do you think I have the free time to cook every day?"
The demigod slowly leaned away from him, though he kept his serious expression.
"…I suppose that's a reasonable explanation, then."
"Yeah, thanks."
"But still, you better not be messing with me. Or else."
Steve waved him off.
"I'm not, I swear! Don't fuss too much about it, Brine. This won't be too hard. All you have to do is make something that'll last long, and that's pretty much it!"
"…Something that'll last long? You have any preferences?"
Steve shrugged.
"…Eh, it doesn't matter to me. I don't really expect five-course meals when I'm down mining or when I come back up, so you don't have to make anything special."
"You have all the supplies?"
"Of course! You bought a couple of them, remember?"
Herobrine groaned.
"How could I forget?"
Before he could turn away and start his preparations, Steve gave him an innocent smile.
"Make whatever you want, get creative! I eat literally anything, so you can't really disappoint me."
Betting silently otherwise, Herobrine began to get to work, rummaging through the other's belongings in order to find what he was looking for.
Despite his all-knowing and slightly cocky nature, he had to acknowledge the fact that he knew next to nothing about cooking more diverse meals (or really, anything at all). Well, he knew how the process went, and how to add things together and all that, but he didn't know many recipes other than a couple that were easy and quick to make. He didn't necessarily need to eat in order to survive, and he had other people who were willing to take up the task anyway, so why even bother? He'd trained himself to ignore the feeling of hunger if it ever managed to affect him, so food has only become a slight inconvenience to consume. He never even made any second thoughts about what to eat either; a dish could fully well be poisoned, and he'd still eat it like it was nothing.
Herobrine didn't have any preferences for food, so what would Steve even want?
He decided to just throw something, anything, out into the open.
"…You can store food properly, yes?"
"Yeah?…"
"…How do you feel about bread, baked potatoes, possibly some steak, and possibly some honey-baked ham?"
Steve stared at him in silence, expression completely unreadable before it turned to one of disbelief.
"Wait, hold-up. Pause. Honey-baked what?"
Herobrine raised a brow in amusement at the other's words.
"Ham. You heard me. Haven't you heard of it before?"
Steve's shocked expression told him everything that he needed to know.
"…I promised myself that I wouldn't interact much with the villagers, but the next chance I get, I'm bringing bees here. Your tastebuds sound sad, Steven."
Steve gave him a look of approval.
"Please. Even if the villagers won't take care of them, I could."
"And give yourself more work? Sure." Herobrine scoffed, taking a few ingredients from Steve's storage and placing them on the kitchen counter.
He turned back and leaned in towards the other, hands on his hips.
"I'll look over them and give myself a reason to hang around. Bees are pretty picky with how they're treated."
Herobrine walked back to the counter, prepping to cook while Steve sat back, silently amused by the other's reaction.
"Besides, knowing you, the moment that you start interacting with them, you'll somehow aggravate them and get stung."
"Hey, I'm good with animals, cut me some slack!"
Herobrine chuckled.
"...I know, I'm just teasing you. I know that you'd take good care of them. But still, I'll be handling the bees while you take care of your normal chores. Don't fight me on this, Steve. You'll be losing."
"Are you sure about that?" Steve asked, brow raised and a smirk on his face.
"Don't push it."
"Alright! I hereby dub you 'King of the Bees,' does that please you?" Steve exclaimed in a joking tone, gesturing towards the other as if he were introducing him to a large crowd.
"Commoners don't appoint the 'King', but I'll take it."
"I'm- wait, no. You're right."
"Of course I am."
The topic brought a smile to his lips as he prepped the meat, using a bit of fire from the palm of his heats to pre-heat the furnace before he did any sort of business.
Though he tried to focus all his attention on the task before him, Steve made it his mission apparently to distract him. Starting out with tapping his fingers against the kitchen table, Steve made several different rhythms for both of them to pick up on before fading out his unheard tune to speak once again.
"So…I'm wondering. How's everything going up there in that brain of yours, Brine?"
Herobrine turned around, giving him a quick "Hm?"
"…How did the week treat you? Your attitude has changed a bit, I think. Not too much, but enough for it to be noticeable."
"…What do you mean by that?"
Steve shrugged.
"I dunno, you're more eager to point out stuff, both harmful and not, you're more expressive than you were, and…well, you've kinda picked up a bit of my accent and slang, accidentally. I think I've also told you about how you actually talk more now! Which is great!"
The other's excitement nearly brought a smile to his face, but when he remembered that it was in response to him adapting to a human lifestyle, he kept his expression and tone neutral.
"I…I only wanted to better imitate you, so of course I picked all that stuff up."
Steve let out a small laugh.
"I also gotta say, you look less intimidating dressed like me. I don't get your usual 'Supreme Death Overlord' vibes."
Herobrine rolled his eyes.
"Well, that's more just because you're you. I've almost never seen a hint of black or anything darker on you, except for whenever you come out of the mines covered in coal dust..." he paused for a moment. "…matches your personality, I think."
As Herobrine turned away to continue cooking, Steve let out a small laugh.
"Speaking of style, you can go ahead and drop whatever magic-nonsense you're doing to make yourself look more like me. Nobody's coming near here today."
"Steven, what do you mean by that?" Herobrine asked with a raised brow, though the miner couldn't see it.
"I mean like, your hair? It was longer before, correct?" Steve pointed to his own for reference.
Herobrine froze.
He'd forgotten completely about his initial "preparation period."
Attempting to save face, he continued to work on the food before him as he slowly started to panic a bit.
"…Yeah, and?"
"You can change it back! Like, with magic!" Steve exclaimed, slightly dumbfounded with how the other could just simply forget such a thing.
Herobrine paused what he was doing, turned around fully to face the miner, and leaned back on the counter as he stared at him intently.
Steve was slightly confused by the eye contact, wondering why the other had suddenly faced him with an unreadable expression. Neither of them said anything, and the longer that Herobrine looked at him, the more confused he got over why the other hadn't just taken the opportunity to display his abilities once more.
…
…
…
He realized.
Steve, at first, attempted to stifle his laughter, only to immediately fail and burst out into spontaneous cackling when the other's intense gaze narrowed into a look of pure annoyance.
"You didn't!-" The miner began, in near disbelief.
"-I take my craft very seriously, Steven. Why do you think I've never been successfully captured?"
"You actually cut your hair for this?!"
"I'll cut yours too if you don't stop within the next few seconds, Steven." He said, nearly growling his words out as he felt a wave of red flush over his face.
Though it took a bit for Steve to regain his composure, he nevertheless gave the other a bit more of his respect, even as a couple of giggles escaped his lips afterward.
"Sorry, sorry. It's just…I didn't expect you to go that far. I thought that you'd just shape-shift your hair or whatever to make things easier."
"…I was more concerned about how I'd play your part more than how I would get into costume. Especially since I didn't wish to ruin your reputation."
"So you just chopped it all?"
"Well, technically it wasn't me who did it. Andi did."
Steve let out a small "Oh." as Herobrine turned back around to focus on the food.
"And besides, I look better with your haircut than you do."
Steve rolled his eyes.
"We literally look identical. How would you look better in it than me?"
"Simple. Everything that I do automatically surpasses your abilities, no matter what it is. So naturally, anything of yours that I wear looks better on me, than you."
Though Steve took clear offense at his words, it took him a moment to think of something to say in response.
"Well, apparently you're 'better at everything' than me except when it comes to people skills. And mobs don't count."
"...Touché."
Slightly upset that he'd been bested by the other, Herobrine decided to change the topic a bit before Steve could gloat over his victory of words.
"…I actually used to wear my hair like this all the time."
Slightly surprised, Steve pressed on.
"What made you decide to grow it out? Did you just want to, or what?"
The question dug a bit deeper into his past, and Herobrine wasn't exactly sure that he was ready to fully address it, but regardless, he found himself willing to relinquish a little bit more of his mysterious nature.
"…It's a combination of things, really. I was more concerned with other matters that were at hand so I had almost no time to consider my appearance, but also, I just wanted to separate myself from my previous image as much as I possibly could."
"How different were you from now?"
"…Very."
"What was the main issue?"
Herobrine stood in silence for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh.
"…I was vulnerable."
Steve's expression turned to one of sympathy, before suddenly shifting into one of offense.
"Hey! Doesn't that mean you see me as vulnerable?"
Herobrine shrugged.
"I mean, yeah?"
Steve crossed his arms over his chest.
"After everything?!"
"I've said time and time again, you have the unfortunate fate of keeling over. I do not."
"…Y'know, I really gotta knock you off your high horse sometimes."
Herobrine glared at him.
"You already did when you won the bet. You've done so the entirety of the week. I haven't been in a position this low since the last time I decided to tolerate humanity."
"But you at least had fun, right?"
At first, he was planning on answering the question negatively, which surely would've drawn more laughter from the other's lips in response. However, he found that his answer rested on his tongue, silencing him as he became more shocked at himself than anything else.
Would he be telling the truth if he said no?
The more he looked back on it, the more he was convinced that yes, indeed, he was insane. He'd hit his breaking point and now was in a state of utter delusion. Because that was the only way he could possibly rationalize the idea that despite how uncomfortable he had been throughout the entire experience, he ended up liking it more than he had expected to.
All because of Steve.
Maybe it was because it presented an opportunity for him to show off. Maybe it was because he was able to prove that, in more ways than one, he held superiority over the other, even if he was acting in his place.
Or maybe it was because he finally got the chance to hang out near a human that liked him. Somebody who didn't immediately run away in fear or put up a sword in defense. Somebody who tried to look past his threatening exterior to find a soul who was more than willing to dub him his equal. Somebody who didn't immediately write him off as a monster and abandoned him, instead choosing to test how long their interactions would remain either neutral or peaceful. Somebody who chose to fight for his respect rather than his malice; somebody who wanted to be a friend and not an enemy.
Maybe he enjoyed spending time with Steve more than he thought he would.
Maybe he did have fun.
But hell if he was going to admit it.
"Eh. Debatable. Did you have fun watching me struggle?"
Steve nodded, a look of amusement on his face.
"Not gonna lie, I thought that this would end with more casualties, but I'm shocked that you only ever attacked to defend the village, not harm it."
"You live next to it, anything I do there can affect you in return. Besides, I haven't had a closer look at a village that wasn't in flames in a long time. It's…entertaining, to say the least. Watching everybody go about their day like there isn't a whole, dangerous world outside of their safe village walls. Acting like I'm one of their own."
Steve leaned a bit in order to catch the other's expression, finding an air of wistfulness about him.
"…If you had the chance, would you live in a village like this?"
Herobrine thought hard for a moment, before shaking his head no.
"Mortals tend to live willingly in ignorance. While I think that I'd appreciate the peace, I don't think that I'd be able to handle the dynamic for very long. Besides, after what I've seen in my life so far? I know how humans treat other humans who don't particularly follow the status quo. I'd be confronted within days."
Steve shook his head.
"Nah. If you're quiet enough, I think that they'd leave you be."
As Herobrine moved to put the potatoes and meat with the furnace, he gave the miner a quick look that silently screamed, "Really?"
Steve laughed.
"It's true! At least for this village, people didn't even look in my direction until I started talking to people outside of work."
"If it's true for this village, then I doubt it's the same everywhere else."
"You can't be so sure of that!"
"I can. And I will be."
Herobrine moved away from the furnaces to sit across from the miner, staring at him with slightly-faded violet eyes.
"Again, villagers hate magic, but they'd do anything to go on a witch hunt. This is one of the only villages that I've encountered that is even willing to tease the idea of there being occult forces at play that are even bigger than the mobs."
"Why do you think we have so many golems?" Steve hugged the back of his chair as he jokingly asked the question.
Shrugging, Herobrine played around with the fabric of his gloves.
"I just assumed that the village had a particular problem with mobs sneaking through the walls. Not that it was a paranoid thing."
"...Yeah, I can see how you'd think that. We only have to deal with what you send us, and since that's a lot, I guess it's appropriate that we have so many golems. I didn't think that there could possibly be worse out there until I met you directly, but hey, I've only been here a bit more than half of my life so far, and I've only seen what, three more golems appear here? Maybe four? Maybe the Elder saw you beforehand and decided that there needed to be more protection."
"How many do you even need for such a small space? It's only a matter of time before you have more golems than people."
Steve laughed at the other's remark.
"I guess enough to protect each villager? We don't have that many people to begin with, but…"
"You already have that much. At this rate, you'll have to dig further into that mountain you guys built into so that the golems will have enough space to rest."
"They'll be fine! Besides, I don't think anybody will mind much if the golems are more comfortable."
Though Steve's smile did nothing to change his thoughts about the golems, Herobrine couldn't help but silently accept his viewpoint.
"But Brine, back to what I was saying before, if you really wanted, I could try and put in a good word for you so that you could come closer to the village, if you want."
"Steven, I appreciate the thought, but that's how you get murdered in your sleep. I'll have to decline your offer."
"But what if it doesn't lead to that?" Steve looked up at him with a bit of puppy-dog eyes.
"You really think that suggesting those villagers to let me, Herobrine, live in their village won't get you in some sort of trouble? You think that they wouldn't believe that you were possessed by me, and then try to 'cleanse' you of my influence like a bunch of others before you?"
Steve shrugged.
"I dunno. I like to think that after the whole mob-slaying debacle they'd listen to reason, y'know?"
"Not for me. Maybe in a blue moon, but not anytime soon."
The miner hummed, resting his head against his arm that was slumped over the back of his chair.
"Well, if it means anything, I wouldn't mind you living here regardless if they did the same or not."
Herobrine let out a small chuckle.
"...Yeah, I expected that from you. Still, the second they see two of you, one of us is getting shot and/or skewered."
"Not if we run fast enough!"
"Or if we telepor-"
"Brine, no."
"Oh, but yes. It'd be quicker, and a much better getaway!"
"I still don't like the feeling. Also, that'd just freak them out more!"
"Well, they'd know by then that I was there, wouldn't they? It wouldn't matter at that point whether we ran or teleported away."
"True, I guess…"
The two continued with the idle conversation as the demigod worked almost effortlessly at the kitchen, keeping his attention split in two so that he could adequately entertain the other while also managing to not horribly screw up his meal as he did so.
Though it took a few hours, Herobrine eventually finished with Steve's food, placing most of it within storage while giving a good plateful to the miner for him to sample from. As Steve happily dug in, he couldn't decide for himself whether to appreciate the sight of him enjoying his cooking, or to lightly smack the other upside the head for making him cook for him in the first place. He decided on the former, but had to try his best to fight against the very core of his being that was telling him to do the latter.
Curiously, Steve eyed him, noticing the fact that he hadn't grabbed anything for himself.
Herobrine noticed his watchful gaze.
"…What?"
"Aren't you going to eat something?"
Herobrine shook his head.
"Nope. Don't need to."
"Already had something?"
"…No."
Steve gave him a look of worry, which he met with a look of exasperation.
"I'm not hungry, and even if I was, hunger won't kill me."
"…You're in my house, and you're refusing a meal?"
"A meal that I cooked, but yes. It's not important, Ste-"
"Just sit down and eat something, Brine. You know that I'll just bug you about it until you do."
Rolling his eyes, Herobrine went back to the place where Steve kept his food, took out an apple, and slumped down in the chair across from him, expression full of mental exhaustion.
"Happy?"
Steve nodded.
"Yup. Now take a bite out of it before I bug you about that too."
Reluctantly, Herobrine did as the other asked, making a point to make sure that he could hear the crispness of the apple well enough as it was consumed.
"You act like its poison." Steve said with a small laugh as the other finished chewing.
"And you act like me not having it will end with my downfall. I've gone through way too much to end up dying because I missed a meal or two."
"Whether you need it or not, just at least pretend to care for your wellbeing while in front of me, okay? You've hurt yourself enough this week! Can't believe that you think that I wouldn't be worried about something like this."
"You shouldn't."
"I will, though. You're my friend, it's the least I can do."
"...I appreciate it, but you really shouldn't concern yourself with how I go about my days."
"Well, I will, since you have nobody else to, anyway."
Herobrine gave Steve another glare.
"That's blatantly incorrect. It's almost as if you forgot that Andi existed."
Steve laughed a bit.
"Does Andvari really bug you like I do?"
"Ugh, yes. Somehow though, he's even worse than you are, even though I've known him for longer. I don't know what's with you two, or why you guys insist on treating me like I don't know my own body and my own capabilities."
The miner snorted and attempted to hide his smile at the admission of his grievances. Without hesitation, Herobrine plucked the stem of the apple and launched it towards Steve, hitting him on the forehead easily.
"Really, Brine?!" Steve exclaimed, reaching up to touch the spot that had been targeted.
"What are you talking about? I didn't do anything."
Now it was Steve's turn to glare at him, though there didn't exist the same level of intimidation in his eyes that the demigod had in his. Herobrine in turn laughed at the other's expression, putting up his hands jokingly in surrender.
"Hey, hey. Okay. Maybe I did do something."
"Like there was anybody else here to do it!"
Herobrine laughed as the other finished his meal, standing up to get something from a bag that was placed next to his fireplace, which he quickly realized was the other's traveling bag. Coming back to the table, Steve unrolled a familiar piece of paper, presenting it as he placed it onto the table.
"I think that we could map out the railway system a bit while you're still here, can't we?"
Herobrine looked over the paper carefully as he looked over the markings that had been written onto it; some bits were crossed out and others were circled, but the drawing that Steve had made of the mineshaft was more than halfway decent and pretty accurate from what he could see and remember from their time down there.
"Sure, why not? We've got a bit until the terms of the bet are technically done with."
There was a bit of arguing over where to go and the proper pathways for rails based on how many ores were present based on memory alone, but with a bit of compromise, the two managed to come up with a rough draft of their ideal railway system, which only needed an actual trip down to the mineshaft to confirm that the plan would work, and that they weren't going to place the rails in an area that was just a misplaced breath away from total collapse. Though the mineshaft had another level to explore, they decided to put off attaching a railway to that area until they could properly explore it first and cleanse it from any cave spiders (which Herobrine decided to bring upon himself) that may have been lurking.
Granted, it would take some work to see the idea come fully into fruition, but despite the fact that Herobrine would no longer be "bound" by the terms of the bet, Steve fully expected the other to show up alongside him in order to help, even though he probably had other, more pressing things to attend to. He was basically his own walking shadow before they decided to talk more, so it wasn't like he'd suddenly disappear and never talk with him again.
Once the plan had a decent blueprint to work off of, Steve rolled it up and placed it back within his backpack, pleased with what they had managed to accomplish in such a short time. He looked towards the other, giving him a genuine look of appreciation.
"Brine, thank you for cooking for me today. And for taking my nonsense all week. And for, well...everything else that you did for me!"
Herobrine shrugged, a smile on his face as he took the other's words to heart.
"Eh, no problem. Glad to have gotten to look at a new perspective at least."
"...Would you ever do it again?"
Herobrine thought quietly to himself for a moment, before looking back up at the other with a tired expression.
"Hell no."
Steve gave him an understanding smile.
"...Yeah, I didn't really expect you to say anything else."
"Good. That at least means that you know more what to expect from me." Though Herobrine responded with a stern tone, Steve could tell that he was joking more than anything.
"And I guess that you know what to expect from me too, yeah?"
"Sure. Though, I guess that you have the full capability to surprise me as much as I've surprised you."
Herobrine got up from his seat and moved towards the center of the room, looking outside to catch the light of the sun hitting against the stone of the mountain that sat behind the house, glowing with a slight orange tint.
"Well, would you look at that? Day's almost over." He mused, glancing momentarily at Steve to find him looking in the same direction.
Steve broke his focus to catch the other's gaze, letting out a small chuckle.
"I guess the punishment is done and over with, Brine! You don't have to listen to me anymore, I guess."
Herobrine shrugged.
"Fine by me. Have a wonderful evening, Steven. Never say that I haven't done anything for you again."
Steve laughed at his remark as he waved goodbye, allowing Herobrine to leave as he dropped the jacket that he had initially borrowed by the other's backpack on the floor.
The whole week had been surreal, but at least the miner could say he could count on Herobrine to have his back.
...
...
...
Steve was possibly the weirdest human he had ever encountered.
The man feared his presence, but invited him into his house. He'd made an attempt on his life, but Steve just forgave him and tried to work towards a mutual understanding with the other. The miner had been dragged through mental hell and back just by his presence alone, but that didn't deter him from being optimistic enough to try and drown him with humour and lightheartedness.
Now that Herobrine thought about it more, Steve might've just been as deranged as he was, just in a more beneficial way.
He was crazy, but ultimately very kind. He was hardworking, but a bit scatterbrained. He seemed innocent, but he knew how to press all the right and wrong buttons whenever he pleased.
The miner seemed to be perfectly normal when viewed through a common lens, but in all actuality, Steve really was his equal.
They both truly were completely insane, but at least they had each other to express that insanity with.
Okay, turns out, we ended up having a dead week before finals, so I was able to write more then!
Ahahaha, I guess we're at the end of this short little fic? Well, this was extremely fun to write! I'm sorry that my updating schedule was pure garbage, but I'm getting better at managing my time. I managed to hit my word count goal for each chapter, and I couldn't be happier about it!
Thank you to everybody who left a comment and interacted with this piece! I'm not sure if I can leave a direct reply on FF, but I'm glad that you all enjoyed this fic! I'm definitely writing more at the moment, and I hope to follow up this fic with something else shortly (with a better posting schedule, hopefully)!
IDK what I'm going to work on next, but I might possibly end up starting to post the main Minecraft fic I had in mind that goes more into detail about how these two met and why they ended up interacting with each other in the first place? I've mentioned before that this fic will remain a bit separate from that one, but to be more specific, I wanna explain that this short fic explores a scenario different from that fic's "canon." There was originally going to be more characters involved here from that story (more of Herobrine's minions) who were involved in making sure that the details of the bet were fulfilled, but that would've required me to post a bit of that other fic first, and it's nowhere near finished DX
With that being said, thank you all so much for the support! If you have any thoughts or comments, whether it's about errors, inconsistencies, or anything else, leave a review! I kinda suck at reading my own stuff without my own voice, so I miss some things! Apart from that, I love reading your feedback and thoughts! Have a great day/afternoon/night, and I'll see you soon!