Chapter Text
Avery’s life was the most average life someone at his age could live; he worked as a cashier at a convenience store, lived in a one bedroom apartment which had utilities that his landlord refused to fix, coming home after five to play games and watch YouTube until one in the morning where he usually fell asleep on top of his blankets and pillows. The occasional call from his mother was the cherry on top: ‘Avery! You’re twenty three, go out, meet someone, do something!’ And then she’d rant about that community college computer technician thing Avery never finished.
Needless to say, with all that, Avery wasn’t exactly happy with the way his life had turned out. Dropping out of college wasn’t a good sign for his family that he was going to make something out of himself.
If there were two things that made Avery’s day to day unique; they were urban exploring, and storage rooms. He liked going through old things, it made him feel important somehow. Like he was part of something bigger, even if it was crawling through abandoned pipes inside an old mall. Avery whistled as he walked through the hallways of the mall, the echo answering him back constantly like a friend that he never had. Yeah, it would be nice to have a friend who he actually had met in person…
That was basically all there ever had been to Avery up until he turned twenty three. Just a burnt out, cashier, college dropout, with a passion for games and a normal, albeit slightly boring, type of life.
However, in one year after turning twenty three, Avery would find himself in cohorts with inter-dimensional travel, an odd transformation while in another world, a monstrous creature chasing after his body to make him a vessel, multiple blood transfusions with the follow up hospital trips, and an omniscient boyfriend, all before turning twenty four. Avery had a lot in front of him he had no idea about, but…for now, Avery was just a nine to five worker.
For now.
***
“Thanks for coming in!” Avery yelled after what he assumed was another faceless customer, he sorta stopped meeting their gaze after month three of working here. “Ah, they left some change, just gonna…” he scooped up the few pennies and put them into the small jar next to the register, except for one quarter which he spun on the table. “This sucks. Late shift, again. For the second time,” Avery grumbled as he watched the quarter spin, “it’s not like I have a life or something, I mean I don’t, but still!” The quarter kept spinning as Avery finished his rant, “I could be home playing bed wars.”
Restocking the shelves always reminded Avery that he had to buy groceries soon. “Need potatoes…the chips go here. Oh! And I need milk and bread…twinkes go here. Chicken or other meats…ah where does the jerky go again?” As he was restocking, he heard a shrill, “Avery!” “Uh, yes Miss Oaklyn?” A small, more stubby old woman came from the front of the store to where Avery was kneeling with a pack of jerky in his hands, “You were supposed to get off of your shift four minutes ago! I’m not paying you overtime!” Oh. Avery had completely forgotten about that, “Sorry Miss. just…sorry I’ve been lost in thought a lot lately.”
Miss Oaklyn spat out her words, “Lost in thought! What does that even mean?” Avery sat down, his knees hurt from kneeling, “I mean…like what am I doing? With life! The only time I look forward to another day is to explore the same old mall or storage unit I always go through: nothing more. I don’t have a boyfriend, or a girlfriend, and I’m stuck working here-“ he looked up at her narrowing eyes, “-and loving every second of it…!” As Avery plastered on a strained grin, Miss Oaklyn responded, “Go home Avery. This sounds like a you issue more than a store issue. And I’m not paying you for staying five minutes over!”
Avery went to the back after punching out and grabbed his coat, “I’m not paying you overtime…!” He mocked as he put on his beanie, and walked out the front door to the lightly snowing street, clutching his black coat tight to his body, “I’m just here to tell you to clock out…! Not what to do with your life! Ugh!” Avery flopped down onto a bench looking at the people passing by through his fingers, “I’m twenty three. I’m. Twenty. Three. I’m twenty three and I’m having a midlife crisis like my uncle. Real great job Avery.”
Like always when he felt like this, Avery walked the same path he knew to the old Lansing Mall. The mall was closed off with a useless broken fence surrounding it, easy for someone like Avery, who was on the smaller side, to slip through. Although it wasn’t great being reminded that 5,6 is considered short by guy standards. “Hello mall! I’m home!” His voice echoed through the abandoned mall, only cut off by the sounds of spiders scurrying through their webs at the sound of their urban exploring god.
“Alright…which way…” Avery held up his hands, making the left and right symbols, still unaware of his own lefts and rights. “Uh, the old gumball machine was right? I always go to see that and the movie theater. So the playground today? And that means…left!” Avery smiled as if he had just cracked some unseen code before turning right, his directions as messed up as his day to day. Soon enough, he landed at the gumball machines. “Come on! This wasn’t left? Man, I-I’ve got to get better at that.” But as he was about to turn around…
Smash!
Avery heard the sounds of someone grunting and panting for breath, and something hitting the ground with a loud smash. He whipped around with his flashlight, “Come on out! I’m a fellow explorer!” He called cheerfully, after all no one in this town seemed to do anything remotely interesting like urban exploration. Even more stupidly, Avery began to walk towards the sound, “Yo! I don’t have a weapon. But if you’re breaking stuff in here for the fun of it I must warn you, I’m a purple belt in karate!” Avery’s sister always said if he were to ever be in a horror movie, he would be the first one killed. To this day, he never got what she most obviously meant.
But the footsteps stumbled away from the sound of the smash, and Avery found himself staring down at a broken laptop, losing focus on the person now attempting to run away in the darkness. “Why? It looks in good condition, except for the now broken parts.” Picking it up he blew off the scraps of plastic and with a shrug or no further thought, put the computer straight into his bag. Free stuff was free stuff, and Avery certainly didn’t have the money to buy a new laptop. “Maybe it’s time for that degree course to pay off.”
“Avery Milo Rivers!”
Now, while Avery’s sister may have said he would be the first one to die in a horror movie, Avery wasn’t completely stupid. If someone whose voice he didn’t recognize called out his full government name, he would run away. Avery scrambled back away from the voice, dropping his flashlight to the ground and turning heel, running for the exit in the dark. While the person seemed to be following him, it sounded like whoever it was, couldn’t keep up. Avery might be a little on the shorter side, but when he had a reason to run, he was up out of that place like a flash.
“What was that!” Avery stumbled outside into the light of the setting sun and streetlights, “I get like another explorer being there, but…only my mother and sister know my middle name! Unless it’s my boss but…there’s no way that was a woman’s voice!” The terrifying thought that perhaps through all the online games he’s played, someone might have gotten his information hit his mind and he didn’t hesitate any more. Avery scrambled past the gates, through the snowy parking lot, into the streets, and onto the sidewalk, running like a madman despite the stares from the people around him.
Making it back to his apartment, Avery locked all the doors and threw the now forgotten laptop onto his bed, “Okay. How hard is it to move?” Avery began to ramble as the idea of a crazy stalker still permeated his head, “I just have got to change my name, I like Avery so maybe…Avery…uh…” his eyes drifted to his fridge, “Mayo! Yeah, that’s a good alias! Then I’d have to move, but I like Grand Rapids. Maybe south to Detroit?” In the midst of his rambles, Avery heard a knock on his door…
Grabbing a small knife from the kitchen, used for butter of course, he approached the door and opened it. In front of him stood a man, wobbling back and forth, as his glazed eyes barely focused on Avery, “Are you…Avery Rivers…?” Avery swallowed and nodded, “Y-yeah. Are you a package delivery guy?” The man ignored his question and continued barely getting out words, “Did you…open that laptop?” Avery clutched the butter knife behind his back, “No…” The man smiled, “Good. Here’s a hint; don’t. It’s not worth it…it’ll…I’ll…” His eyes rolled back into his head, and the strange man collapsed in front of Avery’s feet, passing out on the apartment hallway’s floor.
Avery watched with a wide open mouth as the stranger slept on the floor. “What the heck?” He closed his door when he suddenly thought, “Oh! What if someone finds him at my door and they think I did something to him! Then I’d be framed…or worse he’s dead and people think I killed him! Plus! I can’t just leave him there, or…maybe. But how did he know my name? Ugh!” Avery slammed his foot against the ground before turning around, opening the door, and dragging the strange man by the shoulders into his apartment.
“Come on! Give me some slack dude!” Avery grunted as he hauled him onto the couch by his shoulders. After basically throwing the stranger onto the couch, Avery slouched against the side of it, catching his breath, “Oof! Who is this guy? Oh yeah, search for weapons!” Avery patted him down, albeit hesitantly, and got his first real look at the stranger. The man was taller than Avery, probably 5,11 if he had to guess, with greasy dark brown hair, one strand in the ponytail covering his left eye. Avery studied him a bit more as his search for any sort of weapon came up empty save for a weird clear tube, like the ones in hospitals, “He’s got some scruff he’s gotta shave…he looks Filipino like me…I like his hoodie, I should ask where he got it.”
Avery peered at the man’s face, before his eyes snapped open, “Avery!” Avery shrieked and fell backwards, scrambling back away from him, “No! I’ve got a butter knife! I’m warning you!” The man groggily sat up and blinked, “No…I’m not…relax Avery. I’m not gonna hurt you. I’m sorry I gave you such a fright.” Avery stayed on the ground, refusing to move, “Uh, thanks I guess. I’m sorry, who are you? How do you know me? How did you know my middle name?” The man gave a weak smile, “I…I’m Dwayne. Dwayne Luis Abadiano, since I called out your full name and all. You are Avery Rivers, right?”
Avery nodded, the tension in his shoulders lessening, “Uh, you know me?” Dwayne looked down at his hands, “Well. Yes. I know everything about you. I understand that makes me sound like a stalker…but…Avery I need to tell you a story. And I need you to save all your questions until the end, okay? After you listen you can do whatever you want to me, keep me here, throw me out, just listen first. Understand?” Avery nodded, and Dwayne launched into a whole regale of what had happened to him the previous day. The Minecraft world, the King, the laptop, and the most unbelievable part of it all, the fact that Dwayne insisted he knew everything.
“You don’t believe me do you?” Dwayne smiled as he looked at Avery. “No, dude, you mean to tell me you gained the knowledge of the whole universe and you’re not dead?” Dwayne nodded, “I thought I did, I woke up this morning at my desk, passed out with blood everywhere from my nose. But…I think, no, I know why I didn’t die.” Avery crossed his arms and Dwayne continued, “You see…my knowledge is different than the King’s himself. I can only focus on one possible path of the future and past at a time. The future is always changing, so with each decision I or you make, my knowledge of the future will change. A way for my brain to…cool down or something so I don’t overheat and die I think.”
Avery nodded and slowly lifted up his phone, to call 911 or perhaps a psychiatrist, and Dwayne waved his hands, “No! I’m serious! Literally. I know everything about you, not in a creepy way!” Avery got to his feet and stood up, “Dude there’s no other way to put that but in a creepy way.” Dwayne panicked, “No! I…your sister! You’ve got an older sister named Caitlyn, she’s two and a half years older than you.” Avery dropped the phone, “So? Any stalker could have picked up anything about my family.” Dwayne thought for a moment and tried again, “You love Half-Life 2, it’s your favorite game to play after a 9-5 at the convenience store you work at.” Avery crossed his arms, “You could have read my steam page to find out.”
Dwayne thought one more time, “Alright. If I dig up this memory and that haunts you, don't blame me. When you were ten, you went to a summer camp with Caitlyn. You met a boy there named Keith who was a year older in the same cabin as you, and you had your first kiss with him in the woods after sundown. You never told anyone because you were afraid of what your family would think if you told them you liked boys. Who else would know that? After all, the only person you told was Caitlyn, and she told you she already knew because of the way you acted. Now, how would I know that unless you told me or my story is true.”
Avery dropped back down onto the floor, “You…you’re fucking joking…you’re…you do know everything…don’t you?” Dwayne pulled at the hoodie as if he was nervous, “Sorry I brought that one up, I just needed something specific. But I promise, I won’t focus on your past if you want your privacy. I have to focus on something to know everything about it.” Avery looked up at him and asked, “So why follow me then? What’s so important about me? I’m just a cashier, who plays games. Why would someone who knows everything go out of his way to come and find one of the hidden coolest people on earth?”
“Because…” Dwayne’s voice dropped, “the King is coming for you next, Avery.” “W…what? That king thingy you mentioned earlier? Why me?” Dwayne looked away, “I don’t know, but it is. It needs a new vessel like me or something. That's why I’m staying here with you. So I can protect you. That, and I need your help Avery.” Avery walked over to him and sat down on the couch next to him, “With what?”
“I think the King is trying to escape my mind. I…let’s just say that when I’m sleeping, I don’t really rest. I…I go to another place, another world. It reminds me of the Minecraft world I had, and I…well, I deal with things trying to escape from that universe into this one. Monsters of yellow, weird followers, creepy things. Like I’m in VR or something when I sleep. I’m trying to make this make sense, but it’s complicated. The point is, the stuff in my head is trying to use me to escape, and I need help killing them and protecting the towns inside that universe. More are showing up, and I don’t particularly want stuff crossing into this world through me. So, do you want to come with me?”
Avery muttered, “You’re insane. How would I even get there? And also, how does that exist in your head?” Dwayne shrugged, “Don’t know, I’m a vessel of some kind. Also I’m not lying, let me take you there! And I’ll show you what I’m talking about, hell maybe I can even find a way to keep you safe there. But first I need uh…where did I put it…” He searched through his hoodie before Avery responded, “That tube thingy?” Dwayne snapped his fingers and tried to stand, his legs wobbling as he fell over, “Ah…damn. Can you get it while I pull myself back up onto the couch?” Avery scrambled to find the thing while mumbling, “He’s insane, he’s insane…why are you doing this Avery? Here.” He held out the tube.
“Perfect, and you’re O- blood right?” Avery slapped his hand against his face, “Yeah, of course you knew that. Why?” Dwayne shrugged, “Wanted to make sure our blood is compatible, I need to hook this up to each other, so when you fall asleep with me, you can travel to the universe with me. Don’t ask how I figured this out, I saw this possibility the second you took me in.” Avery backed off, “Woah! I’m not hooking up my arm to yours! Isn’t that unsanitary or something?” Dwayne held out his hand, “Trust me. I know what I’m doing, and if this works… You’ll see I’m telling the truth, okay?”
Avery sighed, “You better not kill me or something, and if this doesn’t work; I’m sending you to a mental institution, got it?” Dwayne nodded, “Yeah. Now, get comfy.” Dwayne pricked the tube into Avery’s arm, “Sharing blood might feel…a little off. So…sorry. Can you set an alarm on your phone for five minutes? That should give us enough time before anything happens.” Avery rolled his eyes, “Sure, whatever.” He set his alarm as the blood slowly moved between the tube connecting their arms, “Ah…this, ugh! I can feel it in my arm!” Dwayne nodded, “Just..try to sleep as fast as possible…” Dwayne slowly nodded off and laid down, while Avery laid down next to him on the couch, “Fall asleep huh?” His eyes slowly began to close as he drifted off.
And found himself falling through a rocky cave.
And a giant lake that laid beneath him.
***
Splash!
Avery gargled the water as he fell into a giant lake, swimming up to the surface, “Ah! Where the hell am I?!” He found himself surrounded by trees, inside a giant glowing cave, “Where’s he at? Dwayne? Dwayne…!” But he was nowhere to be found…until. A knight in golden armor broke through the water’s surface, sputtering and splashing, “Avery!” Avery swam over and held him up, “Who the- who are you?” The knight, whose face could not be seen through the golden helmet gasped out, “It’s me, Dwayne! Come on, I have a hard time swimming, let’s get to shore!”
The two men worked together to get to the surface and dragged themselves out onto the sandy shore, Avery threw up some water and Dwayne took off his helmet, revealing the new form he had taken. His face was the same, but his hair was longer, almost down to his waist, and fluffier, with almost all below his head dyed red. Scars now dotted the sides of his face, and Dwayne looked much more put together than he did in the real world. “Uh…” Avery found himself stumbling over his words as he stared at him, “How…did you know about this place? And why are you…a knight?”
Dwayne sighed, “This is the village, the kingdom where the King resides. This was my Minecraft skin, but…I’m also a knight in this world. And I found out in the same way I know everything. You see, time is different here. Five minutes out there, is a full day here. So…every time I’ve passed out in the past day, I’ve been here. And I’ve been here for about…a few months total now. Makes sense, no?” Dwayne laughed, his voice a bit strong now. Avery watched him stand, his height a little taller in this world, and his armor gleaming in the cave’s lights, “Feels good to stand normally again.” Dwayne stretched and offered his hand to Avery.
But as Avery took his hand, he saw…his own hand had turned green, “Ah!” Avery shrieked and almost stumbled back into the pool of water, before Dwayne caught him in his arms, “Calm down! It’s fine. You’re just…one of the slime people in this kingdom.” “Slime people?!” Avery screamed as he ran to the lake, to see a slime version of him, curly hair put up into a ponytail and all, staring back at him. His eyes were dark, and his irises were white. His hair dripped slime bubbles around itself, as if he was magic. Avery began to panic, “Why am I like this again?”
Dwayne tugged at the red cloak, similarly to the way he tugged on his hoodie, “Well, it must be based off of your personality. The slime people are creative, reckless, and…a bit goofy. And if I know you, which I do, when your consciousness followed me here, it needed a form. So, it just used your personality to make one. So congrats on the slime form.” Avery’s legs felt like jello as he stood, in fact, his whole body felt like jello. Dwayne looked away from him with a small tint of red on his face, “So…I’ll tell you more about this place as we walk. And also…you might wanna put this on,” He held out his red cloak to him, “It seems your consciousness made you a body…but uh, forgot the clothing.”
Avery’s face blushed and he snatched the cloak, wrapping it around him, “Ah!” Dwayne shook his head, “We’ll get you some actual clothes at the village, come on. And whatever you do. Don’t turn left, unless I say otherwise.” Avery nodded as they headed off into the woods, “Hurry up, I want some clothes!”
As they walked, Dwayne began to tell him about this world, "Since I’m omniscient, I’ll tell you about your kind. The slimes as I said are carefree and joyful, so try to act that way. And they shapeshift, so you’ve got that going for you if you need to hide away.” Avery sputtered, “Hide?” “Yes, hide. Don’t cause a scene…or they’ll take you. And you might meet…him…” Dwayne stopped and stumbled, falling onto his knees and holding his head, “Shit…my head…” Avery, now forgetting the shock around him, kneeled next to him, “Hey, dude, you okay…? Do you…need something? I can get you some water-“
Dwayne held up his hand, “I’m fine…just…play your part. We’re just a normal knight and slime. We’re totally not trying to kill the King’s men who try to break through to our world. Yeah. I’m fine.” Avery shrugged, “I just…wanted to make sure. I’ll follow your directions.” Dwayne sat back up and stood, beginning to walk off before Avery chuckled, “Hey Dwayne?” He turned around, “Yes?” “I believe you now,” Avery smiled, whether it be from stress or disbelief, “I..I suppose you’re not all crazy. You’re just a normal guy like me huh? Well, as normal as you can be.” As Avery laughed, he could have sworn he saw Dwayne’s face turn red again, before Dwayne put the helmet over his face,
“Oh! And Avery, here my name is Durlord. Just a knight title or something. A knight of the King in Yellow, or whoever I’m supposed to be.” Dwayne muttered, “Even if I’m not brain dead hypnotized like the rest of them. Did you want to change your name at all Avery?” Avery thought for a moment before shaking his head, “Nah, Avery’s fine. I wouldn’t want you getting me confused with another slime person.” Dwayne nodded before saying, “You should keep my cloak then, once we find you some clothes. That way I can find you if you wander off, even if I told you not to. Besides…red…looks fine on you.” Avery laughed and waved his hands in front of the, frankly attractive, knight with a blush, “Aw, you’re just saying that.”
The kingdom inside the cave was…massive. Avery had always read or imagined kingdoms before, but never of this size. Never filled with old timey people and knights, mages and markets, all inside of the mind of a guy who he frankly wanted to hang out with more. “Dwayne, pst, Dwayne! Where are we going?” He whispered as they walked past the villagers. Dwayne whispered back, “My home. I’m a knight after all. I’m a bit taller than you so you might need to practice changing your shape to fit my clothes.” The two approached a crumbling cottage, “You’ve gotta be kidding me Dwayne.” “Nope, unfortunately it’s mine. It’s the best I could do, and besides cut me some slack, I literally absorbed the knowledge of the universe, and had to navigate this world!”
After entering the home, Avery began the unfortunate task of trying to learn slime ways. “How do I…?” He tried to shift in order to adjust to the tunic that Dwayne, who was now sitting down with his hands covering his face, had given him, “Avery, it can’t be that hard. Just, take a deep breath, and imagine your bones lengthening.” Avery narrowed his eyes, “How would you know that? You’re human in this universe, how could you know-“ Dwayne’s eyes narrowed and Avery looked away embarrassed, “-oh. Right…”
Avery tried again and again, getting more frustrated with each failed attempt, more angry at Dwayne who constantly told him he was doing it wrong, until…he snapped. “Shut up Dwayne! Shut up! I’m trying! I just got to this universe, learned a fuck ton of information about this plane of your mind’s existence, learned I might fucking die or whatever, and now I’m a slime guy! Of course I can’t do this perfectly! So shut the fuck up!” Dwayne smiled, “There you go.” Avery suddenly realized he matched his height, in fact…his arms were no longer green. He ran to the mirror and saw Knight Dwayne, wrapped in the red cloak he was in, “Holy shit! I’m you! Oh…so that’s how I-“ Avery refocused, and slowly turned into his slime self, a little taller than how he really is, just below Dwayne’s eyes, “Better, now the clothes fit.”
The rest of the day was spent exploring under Dwayne’s watchful eye. The fountain, the market. It seemed like all was peaceful in Dwayne’s mind, and Avery’s curiosity only grew. “So when do we fight bad guys?” Dwayne thought, “When I see one trying to leave, I’ll direct us to the forest and know where one is. One should appear in three days from now.” Avery kicked a rock with his boot, “Hey, if you can see everything and know when they try to leave, why do you need my help anyways?”
He sighed, “Because Avery, I may know everything, but sometimes my body isn’t built for all the people. I know that there are four people trying to leave, but I can barely fend off four people, see? What I know versus how much I can handle is different. So, that’s where you come in. You help me fight, keep me grounded, and with you, I only focus with the possibilities that come from you, not everyone else. You kinda do some of the heavy lifting when I see the future, you only make it so I see possibilities that involve you.”
“Like what?” Avery smiled and nudged him, “What possibilities?” Dwayne tapped his helmet before taking it off, “Let’s see…you and I are kidnapped by the king and die, we succeed and the world is saved as we know it, you and I end up splitting off because you think I’m going to kill us both, we end up together as boyfriends, more stuff-“ Avery stumbled, “End up together?! You? Me! No way! You are- so not my type!” Dwayne smiled, “Relax, I know I am. I’m not going to make fun of you for it, I’ll focus on the other three possibilities more than the ones where we get together then. If it makes you feel any better, I’ve got a thing for guys with curly hair so…” Avery watched his slime hair curl up and down as his green face blushed, “Thanks.”
“Well, it’s about time to wake up. Let’s go home.” They headed back to the cottage, where Dwayne gave one last instruction, “Avery, I must warn you. If you and I fight here, we may get hurt. And if we get hurt here, we get hurt in real life. Granted not as badly, but still. I want you to be aware of this. Okay?” Avery nodded as they went upstairs to the cottage bed. “Good. I don’t want you getting roped into a fight you don’t want to be in. And uh…you’ve got to be next to me when we wake up or else you might get trapped here and your tea body will be in a coma. I don’t know how this works, something about you having to be touching me when we wake, but…yeah. Trust me, I know.” The two laid down again, with a large space between, before Dwayne held out his pinky finger, “Here. So we’re touching when I wake.” Avery nodded and held his pinky in his, as an alarm pierced through his skull.
“Night…knight.”
***
Avery woke to see Dwayne still asleep, but back to his normal, burnt out looking self. Avery rubbed his eyes, his skin was back to normal, his hair no longer slimy, and checking the clock, it had only been five minutes. “Dwayne. Pst, Dwayne…” he shook him, “Get up man.” Dwayne mumbled and groggily woke up, “Where…oh yeah. Your apartment…mind if I crash here tonight?” Avery nodded, “Yeah. I’m gonna get some real sleep anyway. Can you actually sleep?” He asked as he pulled the transfusion tube out of his arm. Dwayne shrugged, “I can dream in the other universe, so I kinda fall asleep, wake up there, then sleep there. Complicated huh?” Avery nodded, “At this point, nothing shocks me. I’m accepting whatever you say man.”
Dwayne’s face relaxed, “Cool. I…I’m sorry…for dragging you into this. Can you forgive me?” Avery hit his shoulder lightly, “Of course I can. Now you’ve given me something to look forward to! I’m…kinda bored with life right now, as I’m sure you know.” Dwayne sat up, “I’m trying to not focus on your past and stuff Avery. Privacy reasons and all, but…yeah. I can tell. I didn’t mean to be all, ‘Your life is ordinary and you should do what I say’, on you. I hope that’s not how this is coming across. I think you’re pretty cool Avery. Not many people would trust me. Not even your sister.”
Avery smiled, “Cait? Nah, she’d kill you for just being in my apartment. Well, you’ve got the couch, and I’ve got my bed, so…imma sleep after all that! And maybe throw up at the possibility that I might die fighting monsters next to you!” He laughed before running off. Dwayne called out after him, “Goodnight Avery! I guess…”
Avery closed the door to his bedroom and sat down in front of it, "What the hell am I doing? He’s a stranger! But…if I could see a world like that…and he’s not lying about what he said. Maybe he really is what he says he is. Ah, Avery, what did you get yourself into? Although, it is better than waiting for something to happen with my life.” Avery spied on a now asleep Dwayne in the other room, “He’s in that other world right now…I hope he’s alright. He’s not completely horrible, after all, there are plenty of worse people who could have this power.” He watched him twitch and jerk in the sleep, clearly fighting off something. Avery smiled and opened his door, now armed with blankets. “Here knight, your battle cloak.” He draped a red blanket over Dwayne, who almost seemed to smile before going back to his dreams.
“You fight so hard to protect this world huh? And you’ve done all of this in one day in our world?” Avery spoke to him as he slept, “You really are carrying the world on your shoulders. Dude, I don’t think I could, and yet you’re doing it right now, without me. The whole world of knowledge, and you decide you’re going to save me from your own fate.” Dwayne’s words from earlier at the fountain stuck in his head, “You’re in danger, I won’t lie to you. But as long as I’m here Avery, I won’t let my fate happen to you. I swear this to you, as your knight.”
“I swear to you then,” Avery whispered, curling up to him like a cat near a fireplace, “That I’ll find a way to rid you of this, I swear this to you, as your slime friend. Huh, doesn’t sound as cool as ‘your knight’ does it?” He stroked the red streak of his hair absentmindedly, before stopping, “Jesus, now I’m the creepy one. Although, you’ll probably know what I’m doing, you know everything about me huh? I hope not, it’s always fun learning weird stuff about your friends.”
The two stayed on the couch all night, and when Dwayne woke up with a nosebleed, Avery was there in the morning with tissues, and his promise to watch over the stranger, who it seemed had now become his only real friend.