Work Text:
Avery lives with a ghost.
Avery sighs as he walks inside, his hair and clothes drenched by an unexpected storm. He kicks off his boots, leaving them sideways on the floor as he walks over to the couch.
His clothes cling to his skin, damp and heavy, he shudders at the feeling.
Avery flops onto the couch, too exhausted to immediately get a change of clothes. Work held him for longer than usual, then it started pouring, and of course he chose to walk to work like an idiot…
Avery watches as the sunlight peeks through the bottom of his curtains, covering the space that Avery can barely call a living room in streaks of oranges and purples.
He shivers, it's cold.
Has it always been this cold or are his clothes just soaked?
Avery reluctantly peels himself off the couch. He'd rather freeze than search for his space heater, but it's mid-December and his apartment sucks.
Beep!
Oh, right, the ghost…
Avery's eyes dart towards the source of the sound; the microwave…He watches as it beeps over, and over, and over again…
Beep!
Beep!
Beep!
Bee—
Looks like this is a very impatient ghost.
Avery walks over to the microwave, he fights the urge to cover his ears as the high-pitched noise practically stabs into them…Finally unplugging the microwave, he takes a moment to appreciate the silence.
"Are you the one that made it so cold in here?" Avery wonders aloud as he slumps against his kitchen counter.
He blinks as he tries to keep his eyes open. The kitchen probably wouldn't be half-bad, Avery's fallen asleep in weirder places…But then again, it's freezing, and his clothes are gross, and—
Beeeeeep!
Ten minutes. That's all Avery wants, just ten minutes of silence…
Beeeeeep! Beep! Beep! Bee—
"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" Avery huffs.
The quiet patter of socked feet against hardwood floor can be heard as he walks down the hall and into his bedroom. Avery can hear the fan of his computer whirring like crazy before he even reaches his desk…
His computer is old, but it should not be making that noise.
Silently hoping that his computer isn't broken, Avery sits at his desk.
"Okay, what do you want?"
The computer lights up as soon as Avery opens it, skipping the password screen entirely. He squints as a bright blue light is reflected into his eyes— he should've chosen a different wallpaper.
Avery holds his hand in front of his eyes as he lowers the screen's brightness. Once he can finally see, he notices that his notepad is open…
Avery
Avery
Hello Avery
How was your day??
It appears that this is a very excited ghost.
Avery rests his cheek in his hand as he watches the letters pop up on the screen without his input.
"That's the third time you've said my name, Der…but my day was fine." He says, a small smile emerging on his face.
Oh,
Sorry, Avery.
You were gone for nine hours.
That's three hours longer than usual.
Are you okay???
Avery lets out a quiet laugh at Derek's concern. He moves his notepad to the corner of his screen as he opens his files, hoping that Derek doesn't notice.
Here he is: sitting in a freezing apartment as he talks to the ghost in his computer…How did he even get in this situation?
Avery knows exactly how he got here, and he hates thinking of it…Thankfully, Derek is a very good distraction.
"M'fine, Der. Work was just longer today, and like…twelve times more annoying. Plus, it stormed on the way home." He explains, suddenly reminded of the damp clothes that cling to his skin.
Oh :(
Sorry for messing with your microwave, by the way.
I didn't know if you were asleep
or dead.
What are you doing in your files, Avery?
I can't see :(
So far this ghost is inpatient, excited, and…has a weird sense of FOMO?
Avery freezes at the mention of his files, he subtly drags the notepad a little further away.
"Huh? Oh, that…You'll uh, you'll see it in a minute." Avery grins, leaning back in his chair as he waits for something to download.
His cursor jumps around every few seconds, mostly from Derek moving around the computer, and not because of his device being broken….Avery would probably die if he had to buy a new computer now out of all times.
Thankfully, he's downloading something that'll fix the cursor problem…A surprise of sorts.
"Hey, Der?"
Yes, Avery?
You're still in wet clothes.
Gross.
Go change.
"Whatever, whatever, I'll change in a minute, I promise." Avery says, "But! My original question for you before you judged me was—"
I made an observation.
That isn't judging.
Avery takes his hands off his keyboard as his cursor races across his screen. He doesn't ask Derek to stop, he never does…The weird cursor-moving is the only way that Derek can express himself, outside of his sad emoticons, of course.
A part of Avery wonders if it's like…ghost zoomies. Do ghosts even get the zoomies? Avery knows that he would if he had to spend his days stuck in a computer...
"Anyway, are those little emoticons, like, your actual expressions? Or are you just typing them? Wait— How do you even type?" Avery asks.
Question after question pops into his head as he thinks. Him and Derek don't really talk about the whole…ghost-trapped-in-computer thing often, and Derek usually shuts down the computer whenever Avery asks any meaningful questions.
I don't know, Avery.
It's hard to feel things when I'm like this. :(
That was a frown.
See? I frowned.
Very convincing, is it not?
Avery's smile falters as he reads the question…He doesn't want to be "convinced" that Derek is frowning, he doesn't even want to think of Derek frowning. Avery wants to see Derek laugh, Avery wants to hold his hand, Avery wants to be next to Derek in person…
"Heh, yeah…" He mutters, "Totally convincing, man." A weak laugh escapes him.
His download is finished…Avery clicks on a few more things before new text on his notepad catches his eye.
Avery?
What's that?
You downloaded something.
What is it?
"Huh? Oh, it's uh…something. Be patient, Der!" Avery jokes, a grin returning to his face.
Avery hesitates before standing up from his desk…He should change his clothes, and find his space heater…Come to think of it, when was the last time he did the laundry?
One problem reveals a myriad of others. Sometimes Avery wishes that Derek could come with him, even to do the most boring of tasks.
"I'll be back soon, alright? Don't, uh, don't touch the file…And don't mess with my microwave." Avery teases.
He already knows that Derek is going to mess with the file…What even is Derek if not curious?
Now dressed in a pair of new, not soaking wet clothes, Avery sits on the floor next to his washing machine. He scrolls silently on his phone as he waits.
…
……
Beep!
Avery freezes as he hears the tune of his washing machine…It's only been twenty minutes, his clothes can't be done yet. He stands up to check on the machine, maybe he just used the wrong settings.
Or maybe the machine is broken…Avery cannot afford another washing machine right now, he dreads the thought of it.
The machine makes another noise, the same little tune that it usually makes when a load is finished. Avery glances at the display console and sees…a knight.
A small knight, drawn in blue pixels, is jumping across the screen on his washing machine.
"…Der?"
Beep!
Avery lets out a nervous laugh. What else is he supposed to do?
"I, uh…I thought this was supposed to stay on my computer." Avery mumbles.
His surprise has been ruined in the weirdest way possible. It was only supposed to be an attachment on his computer, so how did it worm its way onto his washing machine?
Derek looks excited as his sprite jumps across the screen. It only makes sense, Derek hasn't had an actual "body" in a while.
Text starts appearing on the display console—way smaller than the text on his computer— forcing Avery to squint in order to read it.
Avery
Avery
Is this for me??
I saw it on your computer
Thank you, thank you
I can move around the house now,
and you can see me
Thank you, Avery.
It's as if Avery can hear Derek's happiness through the screen…Or maybe he's just sleep deprived. Regardless, he smiles, his eyes darting from the text to Derek's sprite.
"You're welcome, Der, but…How are you here? This was, uh, only supposed to stay on my computer."
Derek's excited running comes to a halt. The sprite is still for a few seconds until it eventually shrugs.
Avery laughs as he sees the movement. Something so small shouldn't make him feel so, so happy…
"Hey, you wanna head back to the computer? Y'know, where I don't have to squint to see what you're saying?" Avery suggests.
Yes.
Wait, Avery.
I'll race you there.
Avery's eyes widen at the challenge, he blinks at the knight on the control console…
"You'll race me? Derek Hutchins wants to race?"
Derek does a little jump, unable to stand still; Avery hasn't seen Derek this happy in ages…
He's quiet as he watches the sprite walk toward the edge of the console. Derek makes it all the way to the edge and just…disappears, as if he just walked off.
Poof. Gone.
Avery is left looking around in fear confusion for a few moments, until he suddenly hears his TV turn on…
Avery finds Derek's sprite on the TV, he follows the small knight throughout the house as it jumps from screen to screen.
"Derek— You're moving way too fast…" Avery laughs.
Gosh, his neighbors probably think that he's crazy…That's a thought for another day.
Avery follows Derek all the way back to his bedroom, the small knight is already bouncing around his laptop screen when Avery enters the room. There's the sprite he originally wanted Derek to see…It's a tiny version of his Minecraft skin, just…less blocky and way more animated; a desk-pet of sorts, but for a ghost.
"See, this is what I wanted to show you!" Avery smiles, gesturing to the current sprite, "I guess it looks different when you're on another screen?" He ponders aloud.
Avery,
Thank you.
But, why did you do this?
And how??
Avery's eyes light up as he hears the question, he's had this "surprise" in the works for a few months.
"Oh, I got it commissioned!" He explains, "And what do you mean 'why?' I'm sure you were tired of just…floating around my computer."
And I wanted control of my cursor again. Avery thinks, but that thought goes unsaid as he focuses on Derek's happiness…He never thought that Derek could be so expressive.
Really?
Commissioned?
Thank you, Avery.
I love it :)
Avery watches as Derek's sprite continues to dance across his screen, jumping across his games and climbing up his windows…
"You're like…a weird cat. A weird ghost cat." Avery teases.
A cat???
I am a knight.
How dare you >:(
Avery laughs at the angry emoticon.
"Focus on getting an actual voice first, Mr. Weird Knight!"
Avery locks his cursor onto Derek's sprite, he lifts him off his notepad as he starts to pull him higher and higher up the screen.
Derek's eye widens from under the helmet, Avery watches as he kicks his legs and laughs upon being lifted further up.
Wait, Avery,
Drop me
Avery coughs, nearly taking his hand off the touchpad.
"What!?" He blinks, "I'm not gonna drop you! What if you take…ghost fall-damage or something!?"
Avery,
Avery.
Drop me, seriously.
I'll be fine.
Avery hesitates before finally taking his finger off the touchpad, watching as Derek silently falls to the bottom of the screen…He lets out a sigh of relief as Derek lands safely without any…ghost-guts being splattered.
He's taken out of his thoughts as he sees the next message on the notepad…
Again?
Please?
Stunned by the words, Avery is quiet for a few moments…
"You— You're insane! You're one of the craziest ghosts I've ever met, Der…" Avery shakes his head, already starting to drag the sprite back to the top of the screen.
Correction,
I am the only ghost you've ever met.
"…Making me wanna drop you isn't gonna get me to do it sooner, y'know." Avery says.
:(
Please, Avery? :(
Avery was not getting bested by the ghost version of puppy eyes, he was not.
…Okay, maybe he was.
"Alright, geez…" Avery takes his finger off the touchpad once again, watching as Derek kicks his feet on the way down…
Maybe he'll try to get Derek an actual voice next…