Title: Cozy Gaming
Part 3 of my "16-Bit Heart" series! Part 1 and Part 2 here!
Summary:
Mirai gets a little bored with just playing Forever True, so he asks his Guild Master if he had any other game recommendations, which leads to Mirai's new gaming obsession.
cw: Mirai smokes in this chapter
Reblogs are appreciated, just use my custom tag, #TheMaladaptiveWriter12, if you do!
Cross posted from my Ao3: TheMaladaptiveWriter12
“Whoever is chewing like a goat, mute yourself,” Gloomurai gruffed, spacebar spamming in the background.
“I am not a goat,” Fafnir shouted.
“You’re kinda loud there, ngl,” GotSkill? said.
They were currently farming a dungeon for upgrade items, and Gloomurai seemed to be in a bad mood today. He wasn’t as talkative as he normally was, even if it wasn’t much in the first place. He didn’t even go crazy over the cat in the harbor like he normally does. But it turns out that he had lost a game tournament and apparently needed a new game controller because of it.
“So what do y'all eat while you game?” Fafnir asked.
“I typically eat candy.” Mirai, playing as Apollo said.
“I don’t eat at all,” Rocinante said, “fog eating isn’t a good habit after all.”
“Who cares?!” Khan shouted. “Chips are the best!”
“And get cheese dust on your keyboard? Hard pass,” Leslie scoffed.
“Just keep wipes at your desk,” WarMachine muttered.
“I don’t particularly eat anything, but I will drink a Wendigo while I play,” PixieStic said quietly.
“Ooh! What’s your favorite flavor,” Mirai asked giddily. “I’m hooked on Blue Raspberry.”
“Blue Bloods? That one’s okay, but I like Toxic Sludge, the lime one.”
“Oh no, if we’re talkin’ Wendigos, Star Lord is totally S-Tier! We’re talking about the right balance of sweet and sour, not too lemony, but the flavor is still noticeable, and don’t get me started on the hints of passion fruit. It’s not too overbearing yet that flavor is there if you know where to look,” Gloomurai rambled. “And once you pair it with the right candy, I prefer Pomegranate Drops, the tart against the lemon is a total win.”
Mirai chuckled, “There he goes again.”
“You normies wouldn’t understand the power of the Star Lord,” Gloomurai scoffed. “Once you taste its power, you’ll never kneel down to any other flavor again.”
The guild chat burst into laughter.
It was late and the guild was silent, the majority of the already logged off for the night. Mirai was still farming for an upgrade item so he could finish crafting the new amour he wanted, but the thing was, he wasn’t strong enough to get to it. Mirai was tempted to see if Lilia was too busy to help him, but then again, that’s what his own Guild Master was for. Truth be told, Mirai was kinda intimidated by Gloomurai, even with his small crush on the guy’s voice. Gloomurai seemed to still be upset, his mic still cutting in and out, and Mirai guessed that he forgot to mute himself, because he was currently raging at a totally different game.
Mirai wouldn’t ask for him to farm then, but he’d ask if he knew any other easier spots.
“Uh, Guild Master?” Mirai meekly called out. He hated the way his voice sounded. It sounded small and weak, and he was by no means any of those things.
There was a bunch of feedback and some frantic muttering, but not soon after, Gloomurai’s voice rang through his headset. “Y-Yeah? What’s up?”
“I, uh, do you know where I can find Elven Chains? I found some, but I’m too weak to farm it.”
“Did you try The Last Bastion?”
“Yeah, and The Great War.”
“K, hold on.”
A second later, Gloomurai’s avatar was teleporting to Mirai’s.
“I’ll farm with you. Just heal,” Gloomurai muttered.
“Mn.”
They ended farming for an additional hour, but thanks to Gloomurai, Mirai was able to farm for the Elven Chains.
“Thanks man,” Mirai muttered. “How do I look?”
Mirai’s avatar, Apollo, did a little flourish, his character giving a little “meow” as he made his hands into paws. Apollo was now dressed in golden chains. His character was topless, gold sparkly chains covering his torso like a loose crop top. The bottom half was just two slivers of hanging ivory cloth that just about covered his character, and he wore no shoes, just gold anklets that jingled when Apollo walked, but other than that, it was nothing but a chain and smooth creamy freckled skin. Mirai was so busy admiring his handiwork that he hadn’t realized that the Guild Master hadn’t answered him.
“Boss? Ya there? You muted?” Mirai asked.
“Y-Y-Yeah, I-I, um, I yeah. C-Cool, really cool,” Gloomurai stammered.
Mirai cackled, his voice echoing through the chat. He laughed for a good minute before speaking again, “You good, dude? Need a minute?”
“Sh-Shut up,” came Gloomurai’s embarrassed shout.
“Okay, okay. I’ll stop messin’.”
Mirai could practically hear him pouting through the mic.
“So,” Mirai started, “You got any other games you play?”
Gloomurai scoffed, “What don’t I play?”
“You got any cozy game recommendations?”
“Depends on what you’re looking for. If you want mindless simulations, I’d go for My Zootopia, if you want a story mode and some bit of a challenge, I’d go for Orchard Adventurer. But if you want a little more of an interactive game, I’d totally go for Harvest Valley, it’s all the talk right now among the ‘Cozy Game’ community. You move to your Grandmother’s old farm and start a new life in this small town.”
Gloomurai was rambling, like, he sounded like a motorboat at the rate he was talking. Mirai realized he got like this when he was really passionate about the topic. It was cute, but hard to understand at times.
“W-Wait, wait, I can’t keep up,” Mirai said, trying to stop Gloomurai’s rambling, “Uh, Harvest Valley? I’m always down for a good farming rpg. Can you romance townies too?”
“Yeah, but who cares about the townies, it’s the lore that’s more interesting. It’s like, I, no, you know what, I’m sending you a link. I hope you have no plans for tomorrow, because we’re about to have the longest Harvest Valley sesh ever.”
As the game downloaded, Mirai went out for a quick snack run, the both of them promising to reconvene in thirty minutes. Mirai dressed himself quickly, lighting a cigarette on the way. He knew he should’ve quit long ago, especially now that he started smoking for leisure again, but with the stress he had to endure since being dropped off here, he was bound to relapse. Although, some days, he wished for something a little stronger.
Mirai decided to go to one of the vending machines that were located outside. It was one thing to sneak inside the building for a snack, but to go in with a lit cigarette in his lips? That was expulsion waiting to happen.
“Gummy worms or gummy bears?” Mirai muttered indecisively, looking over his options, “Gummy worms or gummy bears?”
“Gummy worms are better.”
Mirai jumped, whipping his head around, seriously hoping it wasn’t one of the staff, or anyone who’d tattle on him, but his terror was short lived because it was just Idia and his tablet.
“Oh, hey Idia,” Mirai greeted, taking the cigarette out of his mouth. “And yeah, Ima go with the gummy worms.”
Idia seemed to be taken aback by Mirai, he would have never guessed that the Prefect would have a bad habit of smoking, but then again, he really didn’t know what he thought about Mirai.
As Mirai paid for his candy, Idia browsed the drinks, and once they were done, they promptly switched spots. Mirai chuckled quietly, retrieving his Blue Raspberry Wendigo.
“Shoot,” Mirai cursed, trying to find a big enough pocket to put his gummies in.
Mirai heard a snicker and immediately pouted as he looked up at Idia. Idia looked smug as he shoved all his stuff into the large pockets of his jacket.
“Curse you and your cool practical techwear,” Mirai pouted.
Idia didn’t respond, but he seemed to crumple in on himself.
“Welp,” Mirai said, placing his cigarette back between his lips, “see ya, Idia.”
Back at Ramshackle, Mirai took a quick bathroom break, cleaned off his desk, and got back into his loungewear, which was just shucking off his shirt and tossing it into some random corner. Putting back on his headset, Mirai could hear Gloomurai muttering to himself.
“I’m back Gloomy,” Mirai called.
“You done downloading?” Gloomurai droned.
“Yeah, just about.”
“Cool, I got started already. I’m just creating my character.”
“You can even create your own character?!” Mirai asked excitedly, “So cool!”
Mirai’s loading bar finally filled out and the game was ready to play.
“It’s done,” Mirai said, popping open his drink.
“Sending the invite now,” Gloomurai muttered.
“Invite?”
“We’re playing Co-op.”
“Ok, this is officially the best game ever!”
Gloomurai chuckled softly.
“I’m in,” Mirai chirped.
“Cool. Ima play through the prologue so you can create your character.”
Mirai opened up the game and was immediately floored with the style.
“Aww,” Mirai gushed. “It’s a 16-bit rpg!”
“It’s like one of the biggest 16-bit farming games out there. It has become quite the staple in the “Cozy Gaming” community. Many are trying to replicate it, but we all know they’re just biters.”
“That’s annoying,” Mirai replied.
“Yep.”
“Oh, don’t get me started on popular games that bit before that claim other games are biting off of them.”
“UGH,” Gloomurai groaned. “Those people are the worst.”
After the prologue, Mirai’s character woke up in a little farm house. It was cute, and so were the graphics. Mirai was currently cleaning his yard when he saw Gloomurai’s character run by. He was cute. He had shaggy black hair, gold eyes, and a skull tee. Mirai chased after his character, throwing emotes as he circled around him.
Gloomurai scoffed, “You look like a total chad.”
Mirai’s character had long blonde hair, green eyes, and a red varsity jacket.
“Hey,” Mirai shouted, “Gross. He’s supposed to look like a skater boy. Yours looks like one of those emo dudes.”
“Whaddja name him?” Gloomy asked.
“Jasper,” Mirai chirped.
“Now he sounds like a pushover.”
Mirai laughed loudly. “What’s yours-no wait, I got it! Jorris!”
“What in Twisted Wonderland is Jorris?!”
Mirai cackled loudly.
“And no, his name is Shadow.”
“Total e-boy name.”
“Can it.”
Mirai and Gloomurai ended up staying up too late, which Mirai regretted because of his early shift with Sam. But after two energy drinks and three donuts, Mirai got through his shift with just a little more energy. Sam seemed to notice his fatigue and let him off thirty minutes early without docking his pay. Mirai was so grateful as he dragged his feet home, he really had to buy the guy a card or something.
Mirai crashed as soon as he got home and before he knew it, it was six o’clock and his phone was blowing up on his bedside table. Mirai groggily reached for his phone and checked his notifications. It was his Keyboard chat.
Fafnir: farm sesh
Fafnir: farm sesh
Fafnir: FARM SESH
Fafnir: FARM SESH
Fafnir: FARM SESH
PixieStic: OK ALREADY! IM COMING!
WarMachine: i’m down
Roci: I’m coming, Darlings
Khan: Gross
Roci: TnT
Leslie: Leave Roci alone
PixieStic: You on Boss
Boss: Yeah
Mirai got up, brushed his teeth, and got a snack before hopping on the server. Spawning in, Mirai readied himself and fast traveled to Gloomurai where he and the Guild were Dark Recluses. Dark Recluses were a stronger version of the Recluse, which were humanoid spider monsters, and it looked like the Guild was in trouble. Roci’s Lancer Elf was low at health, Fafnir, a Dwarf Paladin Knight, was trying to protect Leslie’s Skeleton Thief, who was being cornered by three Dark Recluses. Leslie was warping in and out of the fray to keep from getting killed, War Machine, an Armored Wizard, was casting spells left and right, trying to cast buffs and debuffs to keep the team alive. GotSkill?’s Dark Mage couldn’t cast due to the AOE damage the Dark Recluses were doing, and with his elemental magic being the same elemental type the Spiders were, his damage was reduced. PixieStic’s Undead Archer was on the outskirts of the battlefield, trying to get good shots in without harming the team, and Metaboy’s Armored Knight was trying to protect him. And lastly, Gloomurai, the Reaper, was reviving when he needed to, getting some hits in, but he didn’t look too engaged. In the Guild Chat, everyone was yelling at each other, cursing and swearing, and blaming each other, it was a total mess.
Mirai first casted an group healing spell, putting the team back at full health. Next he casted a speed buff on Khan, Metaboy, and Fafnir, damage buffs on GotSkill, Leslie, and Roci, and lastly shields on GotSkill?, PixieStic, WarMachine, and Lesie. And like that, the team quickly got themselves together as if they never were falling apart to begin with. And three minutes later, they took down the Dark Recluses, taking their much needed drops.
“Apollo,” Roci cried, “My angel!”
“Hey,” Mirai rasped, voice still groggy from sleep.
“Thanks man,” WarMachine sighed.
“No problem,” Mirai said dismissively.
“Boss,” Khan cried, “why didn’t you help us.”
“I’m only here to cast revives. You farm your own upgrade materials,” Gloomurai muttered out.
“But we were totally outnumbered!”
Gloomurai didn’t even respond, his avatar shrugging his shoulders.
“Apollo,” Metaboy cheered. “Nice outfit!”
“Oh! Yeah, I forgot I got this. Thanks,” Mirai yawned.
“Aw, Honey, you sound tired,” Roci crooned sympathetically.
“Just woke up. I had work this mornin’ and I stayed up late last night.”
“Oh, yeah! I forgot you stayed later to farm your materials,” Fafnir gruffed.
“Well I can’t take all the credit,” Mirai rasped, “If it weren’t for Gloomy, I wouldn't even have gotten the Elven Chains last night.”
The chat went silent, and Mirai thought he was lagging before the chat burst out in collective disdain.
“C’mon man,” Khan shouted.
“No fair,” Leslie griped.
“Are you kidding me?!” Fafnir gruffed.
“W-What, what's wrong?” Mirai stammered.
“Boss wouldn’t even help us just now, he never does,” PixieStic shouted.
“What gives?!” WarMachine gruffed.
“Apollo is still a noob, and he’s just a healer,” Gloomurai muttered dryly, “He can’t farm his own materials by himself.”
“He’s def not a noob anymore,” Khan shouted, “and he def can hold his own! You did his loadout, you should know!”
“Yeah,” Leslie shouted. “When I first joined, you made me get my own stuff, saying that the world wasn’t gonna just hand it to me if I didn’t work for it!”
“I did not,” Gloomurai gruffed.
“Did too!”
Suddenly Roci gasped, “It’s because he’s a cat, isn’t it!”
The chat went silent yet again, before they all began heckling Gloomy over his favoritism.
Mirai and Metaboy just laughed as Gloomurai tried to defend himself.
Harvest Valley became their new obsession. Mirai would rush back to Ramshackle, set up, and wait for Gloomurai to invite him to their private server to play. Gloomurai was so invested, he even made a schedule. Monday through Thursday at seven to ten, they get on Harvest Valley, Fridays they raid, and after the guild logged off, they would switch games. On weekends, they tailored it to Mirai’s working schedule.
They were currently in Summer in the game and Mirai was debating on who he should romance.
“So, like, Harper is cool all, but she’s kinda boring,” Mirai muttered as they raided the caves. “But Sabrina’s kinda, I don’t know, nosey? A Pick me?”
“Uh huh,” Gloomurai muttered. “Shadow Monger on your left.”
“Got it! But then there’s the actual skater boy, Jack, and he’s a total sweetheart. Hu-”
“Wait, w-wait,” Gloomurai said, hurriedly, “Jack is a guy.”
“Details, details, potayto, potahto. But yeah, anyways, Hunter, he-”
“Y-You’re g-gay? W-Wait, no, I-I I didn’t, I, f-forget that! Y-you don’t, you don’t have to answer that!”
“Bi.”
“W-What?’ Gloomurai stuttered.
“I swing more towards men, but I’m Bi,” Mirai supplied nonchalantly.
“O-Oh.”
“Does that bother you?”
“No, no! It’s cool! I’m good, I’m fine with it!”
“Okay, back to the real issue at hand.” Mirai didn’t even wait for the guy to speak up before he went off again. “Hunter, that sporty guy, he’s kinda cute, but he's too full of himself, total meathead.”
“O-Oh yeah, he so annoying,” Gloomurai muttered
“There’s the emo dude, uh, Seth! Yeah, Seth! He’s kinda hot, totally my type. Like, I don’t care if he’s a junkie, he gives me total bad boy vibes. He’s all mature, cooped up in his room, playing video games, doing drugs. Total shut-in material, but that’s what makes him even cuter.”
“Who’d like a disgusting shut-in?” Gloomurai sneered.
“Uh, me obviously! So who are you gonna romance?
“Ugh, no one.”
“What? Like, that’s the whole point!”
“No it’s not! You can totally beat this game without romancing anyone!”
“Then what’s the point?!”
“Lore! Duh!”
“Yeah, but like, romancing some of these character’s gives you more lore. Like some of these guys are mad shady.”
Gloomurai chuckled, “You said mad.”
“Says the guy who uses the word sus,” Mirai scoffed.
“What’s wrong with sus?!”
Their next session was longer than the last. Mirai had taken the middle shift, so he was free the rest of the day. And slowly but surely they were getting to know each other. They both liked Wendigo energy drinks and candy. They both were gamers, and highschool students, and they both were guys. But Mirai had learned that Gloomurai’s favorite color was blue, which was his favorite color. Gloomurai learned that Mirai liked rock music, which he didn’t mind, but anything closest to Techno and or EDM was always superior. Mirai learned the Gloomurai was quite the technophile, he even built and modded his own PC. And the more he got to know these little tidbits, the more Mirai fell.
“Favorite pizza topping,” Mirai rambled as he proceeded to place weird objects in Gloomurai’s house while he was out fishing.
“Can’t go wrong with cheese,” Gloomurai muttered.
“True. Candy?”
“Pomegranate Drops.”
“Are they really that good?”
“Uh, yeah,” Gloomurai said as if it was common knowledge. “Sweet sugar dusted outside, sour, tart, inside, a good hard candy crunch? You’re talking S-Tier candy eating experience.”
“I guess I’ll give them a try.”
After that, there was silence. As much as Mirai hated silence, but this type of silence wasn’t so bad, it was nice even. The game’s cute ost really set the calm and cozy mood, and if Mirai listened hard enough, he could hear the feedback from Gloomy’s end. There was the tall tale sound of Gloomurai’s keyboard and mouse, but behind all that, Mirai could make out the fans of his PC, the light techno music playing in the background, but most of all, Mirai could hear the soft muttering as he thought aloud. Mirai realized Gloomy had a habit of either thinking aloud or reading aloud, and he found it so cute.
But other than that, Mirai likes these moments, just gaming in each other’s company. No one needed to say anything, they didn’t need to see each other, just listening to each other’s quiet breathing, gaming on the same server was enough.
“Apollo! What in Harvest Valley is in my house?!”
Mirai burst out in a fit of laughter.
It was finally here. After Mirai reached level fifty, Mirai was able to buy a Forever True phone charm. The game had it set up where you could buy their achievements in real life with the extra step of putting in their player ID. Mirai found it a cute and cool way to have players interact and support their game outside of it.
Mirai pulled the shiny golden charm out of the box and stared at it in awe. It was so pretty, so shiny, and it was his. Mirai happily looped the band through his phone and pulled it taunt. It fit so perfectly, and it matched his phone case. Mirai couldn’t stare long, but he could definitely show it off as he walked to the Housewarden meet. Mirai was glad he had a warning in advance this time, that way if Malleus had already left, he wouldn’t be late.
Malleus hadn’t left yet, but he and Lilia were just about to leave themselves, so they happily walked to the Headmage’s office together.
“Ooh! Your charm came in,” Lilia commented, looking over at the dangling charm.
“Oh yeah! It came in this morning, and I just opened it before I left,” Mirai smiled.
“Sweet!”
“Although I know nothing of your little charm,” Malleus muttered, “It is quite charming.”
“Thanks Malleus,” Mirai smiled.
The three of them made it to the meeting where the rest of the Housewardens and their Vices were trickling in. Mirai greeted Riddle and Trey, who were no doubt the first one’s there, Azul and Jade, who greeted him back with their cold, calculating smiles, and lastly, Vil and Rook. Rook was more than happy to greet Mirai with big smiles and flowery words, but Vil kept his greetings short and practiced. When Kalim and Jamil waltzed in, Kalim was more than happy to throw himself in Mirai’s arms, nuzzling his face against his as he greeted him.
“Mi-Mi,” Kalim cried, “I’ve missed you! You should come over more often.”
“Aw Kalim, I’m sorry. I’ll visit tomorrow,” Mirai cooed, rubbing Kalim’s back. He then turned to Jamil, “Is that okay with you, Jamil?”
Jamil seemed a little surprised that Mirai was asking for his permission and not just agreeing to Kalim’s whims like everyone else did.
“Y-Yeah, sure, that’s fine,” Jamil muttered, fiddling with his hair.
“Cool,” Mirai said, turning away from Jamil, putting attention back on the dejected Housewarden, “I’ll be over at noon. That way we can chat over lunch. How’s that?”
Kalim nodded happily, “Mn! It’s a date!”
“‘Sup, Prefect,” Ruggie called as he waltzed in with Leona in tow.
“Yo,” Mirai greeted back.
“Cutting it close,” Riddle commented, not looking up from his stack of papers.
“Shut it, Red,” Leona growled.
Leona tried to get to his seat, but Mirai was still petting Kalim’s little head as they spoke.
“Move, Herbivore,” Leona said as he tried to shove his way past Mirai to his seat.
Kalim backed out of Mirai’s arms, but Mirai didn’t move.
“Hmm?” Mirai hummed, feigning to think hard on his request, “Why should I?”
“Herbivore,” Leona warned, “Move.”
“I don’t hear a please,” Mirai sang.
Leona snatched Mirai from the front of his shirt, and the room erupted in chaos as Leona lifted him up until he was eye level, growling, “you gotta death wish?”
“Nah, but it wouldn’t kill you to be nicer,” Mirai smirked.
Leona just rolled his eyes, dropping the Prefect to his feet, and on his way to his seat, he flicked Mirai on the forehead. Plopping into his seat, Leona slouched down so far that his head was resting on the back of the chair.
Mirai sat down in between Lilia and Riddle, and took out his phone. They still had five minutes and Headmage Crowley wasn’t even in the room, so Mirai checked the Keyboard chat. The guys were chit chatting and Mirai added to the conversation, and as he did, Lilia flicked at the charm on Mirai’s phone like a little cat.
The doors opened once more and slowly walking in, dragging his feet was Idia, hoodie zipped up to his neck as he nervously chewed on the zipper.
“What are you, five?” Vil spat, “Take that out of your mouth!”
Idia startled with a high pitched shriek, the zipper falling from his blue lips.
“You’re three minutes late,” Riddle informed, glaring but not at Idia.
“The Headmage isn’t even here,” Idia’s tablet said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Riddle said, finally looking at Idia. “If the Headmage were here, you’d be late. One should always be on time, especially with your status as Housewarden, which you never take seriously.”
Idia didn’t say anything as he slunk to his seat in between Rook and Malleus, pulling his feet into the chair so that he was hidden from view.
Mirai felt bad. With the many overbots that Mirai had to diffuse, he knew the lot of them had their own mix of issues, issues that he had to play therapist for, so not a single one of them had the right to criticize Idia’s social anxiety. And that was another thing, Mirai hated the fact that this world, and his last, viewed mental illness as something that could just be corrected with a snap of a finger, especially introverted based illnesses. Mirai wondered if he should defend Idia next time, or keep his mouth shut, since he knew sometimes that made things worse.
“Mi-Mi?” Kalim called.
“Y-Yeah?” Mirai jumped from his thoughts, sitting up from his slouched position in his seat.
“What’s that?”
“What’s what?”
“That! The charm on your phone.”
“Oh,” Mirai shouted in realization, “That! Yeah, it just came in today. It’s from a game I play.”
“That’s cool,” Kalim chirped. “What’s it mean?”
“It’s an emblem that represents getting your avatar to level fifty. Here.”
Mirai stood up from his seat and walked across the room so that Kalim could see it better.
“Oh! So cool! It's so shiny,” Kalim said, handing it back. “Congratulations by the way.”
“Thanks,” Mirai chuckled, sitting back down. “But it’s nothing really. This is one of the smallest achievements you could get.”
“But you achieved it, so that makes it special,” Lilia added with a smile, tilting his head to the side.
Kalim nodded.
“I guess,” Mirai said thoughtfully. “But you should see the other ones. The guys in my guild are levels way higher than mine, so I bet they have all the cool stuff.”
“Show me some time?” Kalim asked.
“Sure. I can show you tomorrow.”
“Mn! And we can make charms of our own, to show our friendship! Don’t worry, I have a bunch of gold shiny things we can use.”
Mirai chuckled. “How about we make it ourselves? I can teach you how to braid using ribbon, string, and some beads.”
“Mn,” Kalim nodded excitedly.
“Saps,” Leona gruffed, eyes closed.
“Aww, don’t worry Leona, I can make you one too,” Mirai teased.
“Over my dead body.”
Mirai sneakily reached his leg forward and quickly swiped at Leona’s outstretched leg, causing the Beastman to fall off the chair with a gasp, his arms flailing as he tried to catch himself, eyes wide. Leona just barely caught himself before he fit the floor, and once he righted himself, he glared at the Ramshackle Prefect.
Mirai cackled, Ruggie, Trey, Vil, Azul, Jade, Lilia and Malleus following suit.
“Herbivore,” Leona growled menacingly, standing from his seat and just before he could reach Mirai, the doors flew open, the Headmage strolling in like he wasn’t twenty minutes late for his own meeting.
“Apologies my beloved students, but Professor Trein had important matters to discuss,” Headmage Crowely apologized without a hint of remorse.
The room collectively held back a groan and an eye-roll, while Kalim just smiled and accepted his apology.
“But how benevolent of me to give you the wonderful opportunity to better your relationships with each other,” the Headmage all but gushed.
Riddle cleared this through, gaining the attention of the whole room, “With all due respect sir, I find it’d be in all of our best interest to start this meeting. We are busy people, and I’d like to be back before Trey and I break curfew.”
The rest of the room nodded respectfully.
“Oh yes, forgive me, Mr. Rosehearts,” Headmage Crowley said, sitting down in his seat. “Let us begin.”
The moment the meeting dismissed Crowley was out of earshot, Mirai booked it down the hall cackling as Leona chased after him, hot on his heels, and by the time the rest of the group made it to the courtyard, Leona had the Ramshackle Prefect in a headlock.
“Tap out, Herbivore,” Leona growled a laugh, “Tap out!”
“Never,” Mirai laughed.
“Suit yourself.”
“That looks like fun,” Kalim shouted, and before Jamil could stop him, he was sprinting over to Leona, tackling him into the grass below.
“Get ‘em, Kalim,” Mirai shouted, jumping onto Leona as well.
Ruggie guffawed, holding his stomach as Leona struggled against the two of them.
“Ignore them,” Riddle huffed, sticking his nose up as he walked by.
The group was just getting to Main Street when Azul spoke up. “I didn’t know you were a gamer, Prefect.”
“Huh?” Mirai jumped, taking his eyes off his Keyboard Server, “Oh, yeah, that. Yeah, I used to game a lot back in high school, but once I graduated, I had to work more than anything to pay rent.”
“But you are in high school,” Vil said with a raised eyebrow.
“Technically I’ve already graduated back home, but since that blasted carriage kidnapped me, I now have three more years added to my suffering.”
Ruggie snickered.
“Sucks to be you,” Leona gruffed.
“What were your games like back at home,” Lilia asked.
“Uhh,” Mirai said, fiddling with the phone charm, “I mean, it’s basically the same as it is here. FPSs, MMORPGs, Cozy Games, Platform Games, we had them all. I typically like RPGs, MMORPGs, FPSs, and Cozy games, but I tend to lean toward farming RPGs.”
“Whatever you just said,” Leona gruffed.
Mirai stuck his tongue out at Leona, and Leona swatted at him from the back of the group.
“You should check out the board game club,” Azul suggested. “I know it’s not electronic, but it’s quite fun.”
“No, no, it’s cool,” Mirai said reassuringly. “I like board games, card games especially. We have one at home that is like the pinnacle of all card games, I could teach you if you’d like?”
“Just name the date, and it’s done.”
“Ok, cool.”
As they passed the vending machine, Mirai eyed the drinks, and before they got too far, Mirai cut through the group, pulled out two marks and put them in the machine. Once the machine dropped his drink, Mirai promptly cracked the Wendigo open and took a swig.
“You drink that trash?” Leona asked, disgusted.
Mirai snapped his head up and the group hadn’t moved.
“You didn’t have to wait for me,” Mirai said, highly confused.
There was a clatter and the group turned around just in time to see Idia pull a Wendigo from the machine. Idia seemed to sense the staring gazes and froze up.
“See,” Mirai said laughing, “Idia’s a man of culture. He knows what’s up.”
Riddle rolled his eyes.
“I salute you, O’ great one,” Mirai said, raising his can in mock cheer.
Idia breathed a laugh, raising his can.
“I can’t believe you put that stuff in your body,” Vil sighed disappointingly.
“Oh, honey, Vil,” Mirai said, smirking, “This isn’t even the worst thing I’ve consumed or put in my body.”
Vil scoffed, rolling his eyes and he walked ahead.
Mirai laughed loudly.
“Okay, now I’m curious,” Ruggie says, speeding up to walk in time with Mirai. “What was the worst?”
“I do not want to know,” Riddle fumed.
“Nor do I,” Vil said.
Mirai chuckled as he leaned towards Ruggie and whispered into his ear. Ruggie snickered.
“Really?!” Ruggie said, eyes wide.
“Mn.”
“Dang, I would’ve-wait, never mind, I can see it now.”
Mirai cackled.
“What’d he say,” Azul asked.
Ruggie looked at Mirai, and Mirai just waved him off. Ruggie pulled Azul to the back of the group where he muttered what Mirai had said.
“Well, color me surprised,” Azul said blankly.
“Alright,” Loana sighed, “just say it.”
“Now, I too, am curious,” Malleus said, intrigued.
“I was an avid smoker, sue me,” Mirai said, shrugging.
There was a beat of silence.
“Mirai,” Vil scolded loudly. “Tell me you’re lying!”
Mirai snorted a laugh, “Then I’d be lying.”
“Mirai,” Riddle yelled, face going red in anger. “Why would you do such a thing?!”
“Not going into the details of that,” Mirai said as he veered off to the path of Ramshackle. “Later party people.”
Mirai had started thinking about his current predicament, and that was that he was crushing on his upperclassman, Idia Shroud, who was quite literally shrouded in mystery and his sexy sounding Guild Master, who he knew little to nothing about. Sure, Mirai knew in both areas that he had absolute zero chance. One, he had no idea where his Guild Master lived, or if he really was who he said he was, so really, he had fallen in love with the person he made up in his head. But Idia was so close, yet so far. He went to the same school as him, and they saw each other quite a few times, but from what Mirai learned, Idia was a total recluse. Idia never left his room for anything, you had to legit drag him out kicking and screaming. And on top of that, he didn't have the best rep here at NRC, it was all either negative or nothing at all.
Mirai had just gotten done hanging with Kalim and decided to pay Crewel a visit. He liked hanging with Crewel, who was becoming a mentor and or father figure of sorts to him. Mirai would go to the Alchemy Professor with his problems, and Crewel would give him the advice he needed.
“It’s hopeless,” Mirai sighed, as he played with Crewel’s dog.
“What is?” Professor Crewel asked from his desk.
“My love life.”
Professor Crewel scoffed, “What are you on about?”
Mirai sighed as he crossed the room to sit beside Crewel. “Like there’s this guy I like, but it’s like we live in two totally different worlds.”
“How so?”
“I’ve only seen him in passing, and he’s so pretty, but he doesn't talk to me at all, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know I exist. But then again, I think I’ve fallen for my Guild Master.”
“Okay, I have no idea what a Guild Master is, but I might know the pup you speak of. Do you have his name?”
“Idia.”
Crewel just sighed.
Mirai chuckled a bit, leaning across Crewel’s desk, which earned him a glare that he ignored.
“Of all of the bad dogs in this school, you choose Shroud?” Professor Crewel asked, an eyebrow raised.
“But he’s so cool. His hair quite literally burns, he’s got the prettiest blue lips, the cutest sharp teeth, and the deepest eyebags I’ve ever seen. He’s got like three of the best features any hot guy should have,” Mirai rambled dreamily.
Crewel just started at Mirai like he had grown another head.
“But like, I’ve only kinda spoken with him, well, no not really, usually I talk at him, and if he does answer, he uses his tablet. Is he mute or just shy?”
“Shroud is a terrible introvert, as shut-in most times. He’s lazy, he never attends class, and usually will make his younger brother go to class in his stead.”
“He has a little brother?” Mirai asked.
“Ortho Shroud. He’s not hard to miss because he’s a child and an artificial one at that.”
“Artificial? Like a robot?”
“Exactly.”
“That’s cool,” Mirai said absentmindedly.
Mirai thought of his life growing up, secluded, excluded, and alone. If only he was smart enough, he could’ve built a brother to play with.
“I’ve always wanted a brother,” Mirai muttered quietly, “I wouldn’t care if he wasn’t human, as long as I had someone to talk to, to play with, I’d be okay.”
Crewel sighed and ran a gloved hand through Mirai’s hair. “I haven’t a clue on how to help you this time, but to tell you keep trying. Now quit moping and give Spot his walk.”
“You mean Poppyseed Muffin,” Mirai smirked as the puppy perked up at the name.
“That is not his name!”
“C’mon, baby! C’mon, Poppyseed Muffin,” Mirai cooed in a baby voice. “Say bye to Daddy.”
The puppy instantly jumped up from his spot at Crewel’s feet and yapped excitedly, tail wagging as Mirai leashed him. Crewel glared at Mirai as he walked out with the dog.
“What am I gonna do with that child,” Crewel sighed fondly.
The sun had long set, the now moon high in the cloudy starry sky. It was a nice enough night to leave the window open, the breeze a comforting as it brushed against Mirai’s skin as he gamed at his desk. And speaking of gaming, Mirai was currently playing Forever True.
Mirai was messing around with Roci, Leslie, and Khan, the four of them making their characters do weird emotes that they found funny.
“Apollo,” Gloomurai called.
“Yeah?” Mirai laughed as his character started acting like a chicken.
“Let’s go play Harvest Valley,” Gloomurai muttered.
“Okay!”
“Woah, woah, woah! Since when have you two been so buddy buddy?!” Khan asked incredulously.
“Whaddaya mean?” Mirai asked.
“Hey, now that you mention it,” PixieStic cut in, “The Boss has been playing favorites, hasn’t he?”
“I am not,” Gloomy shouted.
“Are too,” GotSkill? yelled. “You’ve been helping Apollo with any chance you get!”
“You wouldn’t even help us raid last week,” WarMachine gruffed, “But you helped Apollo.”
“You did,” Leslie agreed.
“He’s only level seventy six, miles lower than the rest of us, mind you. He can’t fight the mobs we normally take on,” Gloomy defended.
“Admit it,” Fafnir goaded, “you’re playing favorites! You like Apollo don’t you?!”
Gloomurai made a garbled noise from his end, and the chat erupted in laughter.
“And it’s all because he’s a cat,” Leslie shouted.
The game chat erupted in laughter.
Mirai’s face grew hot, more than relieved that the guys couldn’t see him at all. That had caught him majorly off guard. He had really thought they suspected the ladder, not that Mirai would have minded, but he really was trying to get over his crush on the guy.
“Cozy games bore me,” Khan muttered absentmindedly.
“Yeah, those put me to sleep, especially the farming ones,” Leslie agreed.
“I could care less for the romance aspect,” Warmachine commented.
“Since you scrubs don’t appreciate the absolute masterpiece that is Harvest Valley, Apollo is the only one allowed to play with me,” Gloomurai grumbled.
“Alright, alright,” Mirai laughed. “If yall don’t need me, I’ll be logging off.”
“Bye bye, Darling!” Roci called.
“See ya, dude,” Khan called.
“Bye Rocinante, bye Khan, bye guys,” Mirai called.
Mirai logged off and booted up Harvest Valley, and not a second later, Gloomy was inviting him to a private party. Mirai couldn’t even get a word in before Gloomurai’s voice filled his headset.
“Whadda they know about Harvest Valley? Am I the only one who’s based here? Cozy gaming is one of the best types of games out there. Can you even call yourself a gamer if you can’t even pick up a cozy game?”
Mirai laughed loudly. “Just ignore them. They clearly don’t know what they are missing.”
Gloomurai scoffed, “Obviously.”
Once the save was up, they got back into the swing of things. Mirai was currently trying to build his barn upgrade, while Gloomy was trying to fill the research center. They tended to split the work with that, the research center, Mirai did all the farm based and foraging items, while Gloomurai did all the fishing and mine based items.
“So you know how I was telling you that this game gets updated?” Gloomurai asked.
“Yeah, I think so,” Mirai muttered, his focus more on the slimes that were trying to kill him.
“So like this used to be way harder to complete, like some of the items you couldn’t get until year three. But now that we have a traveling merchant that comes by, she'll sometimes sell the items we need.”
“Oh, so we can just buy them, instead of struggling.”
“Yep.”
“That’s cool.”
12:45
“I’m naming the dark chicken after you,” Mirai laughed.
“Why?!” Gloomurai asked.
“Cus! It’s all dark and gloomy, like you are!”
“You makin’ fun of me?!”
“Nope!”
1:33
“Hey, Apollo,” Gloomurai called. “What fishing level are you at?”
“Zero,” Mirai laughed.
“Why is it at fricking zero?!”
“Cus,” Mirai groaned, “I hate fishing. It’s too hard, and boring.”
“How is it hard?!” Gloomurai shouted. “You’re pressing one frickin’ button!”
Mirai laughed.
2:07
“Ugh,” Gloomurai groaned. “I gotta go back up, I'm about to die.”
“Ooh! Ooh! Here! I bought some food! Here,” Mirai said, giving Gloomy’s character some food.
“Thanks man.”
“No problem! Now help me take out these skeletons before I die.”
Gloomurai snorted a laugh.
3:54
“Gloomy,” Mirai whined.
“No,” Gloomurai muttered
“Please.”
“No.”
“But-”
“Should’ve thought about that before you changed my wallpaper.”
“I’m sorry,” Mirai laughed. “I won’t do it again.”
There was silence.
“Tonight,” Mirai snickered.
“Bastard,” Gloomurai gruffed, but relented, giving Mirai the fish he had stolen from his chest.
“Yay,” Mirai cheered.
Mirai and Gloomurai played for a good while. The two of them got through ten levels of the caves, they got through to the next season, and they also finished two research center bundles. Mirai liked playing with Gloomy, his company was nice, and their banter, funnier. Gloomy liked to poke fun, always bragging when Mirai couldn’t do something himself and other times, Gloomurai was saying some off the wall rude remarks, but it was never truly toward Mirai.
And this had Mirai thinking long after they had got off for the night. Did Gloomy really like Mirai like his Guildmates implied? At first Mirai really thought it was because his character was a cat, but then again, it seemed more than that. Gloomy tended to make Mirai his top pick for anything, even with his hatred for lack of experience. He needed a partner for a dungeon run? He picked Mirai. Gloomy needed help on a side quest? He picked Mirai. Gloomy needed to farm for upgrade materials? He picked Mirai. He also didn't give Mirai lip when he messed up, died, or asked for help like he did with the others.And Mirai was starting to see it while they played Harvest Valley together. Gloomy liked leaving little items in his storage chest, they were “extras” or so he was told. Gloomy even danced with his character at the spring gala when Mirai couldn’t get Seth to dance with his character. Mirai was severely confused and his head was starting to hurt, but then again, maybe that was from the lack of sleep, so Mirai decided to just lie down.
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