Fanfic: Settle In, I'm here to Stay - Chapter Two
Title: Settle In, I'm here to Stay
Author: ilcocoabean
Fandom: Achievement Hunter RPF
Character(s)/ Pairing(s): Dan/Ray, Michael/Gavin, implied Dan/Gavin, implied Ray/Gavin, past Ray/Michael, Joel, Jack, Geoff, Ryan, Caleb
Genre(s): AU, Angst, General, Slash, Romance
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2,285/?
Summary: Achievement City's been pretty quiet since Ray's arrival, so of course, they're due for another visitor.
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use.
Warnings: Character deaths, adult language, and violence.
Note: So I'm going to try and update weekly. I have enough written out that it shouldn't be a problem for the next couple weeks.
AO3: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine |
LJ: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine |
Chapter Two
The walk back home was uneventful for which Ray was particularly grateful. He kept a careful eye on the sun, knowing it wouldn't be long before night descended upon them. Leading a blindfolded Dan was difficult but Michael seemed quite at home with the task, pulling and pushing the stranger with ease. Gavin was quiet the whole way which was worrying, to say the least. Michael kept shooting Gavin looks, attempting to engage him in one of their usual silent conversations that dealt with eyebrows and grins but to no avail. Ray shrugged at him whenever Michael looked his way for help.
They got to Achievement City unsurprised to see Geoff and Jack waiting for them just on the edge of the city. Jack had his helmet and other gear on and he held a sword in his hand. Geoff had also suited up in his armor and in his hand he held some dynamite. Ray raised an eyebrow but otherwise said nothing as they motioned for them to follow. They led Dan to a small house just by Geoff's house, recently constructed with a steel door which, Ray realized as soon as they stepped inside, only opened from the outside.
Geoff quickly took Dan's belongings, starting with the sword Ray was holding, and cracked it over his knee before handing the pieces over to Michael who tucked them away in a bag along with Dan's other limited supplies.
“Leave us,” Geoff said. “Michael you stand guard outside, the rest of you, go sleep. Tell Jack to come in.”
Gavin who was the closest to the door took off first, striding in the direction of his home, without a word. Ray made a face. That wasn't like Gavin at all. Michael suddenly stood in front of Ray, evidently having waited until Jack was inside.
Michael looked uncertain. “Do you think we could-?”
“Yeah, go ahead.” Ray interrupted and handed over his bag. “Just drop my stuff in my house. Make sure he's all right okay?”
Michael smiled gratefully and took off running across the lawn. Ray leaned against the wall beside the door and sighed. The sun was already setting, he hoped Geoff and Jack got this over with soon.
. . .
It was like Ray learned how to curse himself or something. Clearly they had to take another look at the placement of their torches because they were certainly not stopping any enemies from naturally spawning within the city.
He took a deep breath, keeping his eyes open for any sign of another spider making its way across the lawn and occasionally gazing in the direction of Gavin's house. The lights were still on and Michael hadn't emerged from it yet. Behind him, he heard the muffled voices of both Geoff and the stranger. Dan seemed to be arguing and Geoff was calm and collected, just as Ray expected him to be. Jack hadn't spoken much whenever he did, his voice was always low.
Turning to his right, he wondered if the sun would be making its appearance any time soon because that would seriously help in his watch. Just as he was about to do another turn about the small house, there was a knock behind him. Ray scrambled toward the door, making sure it was a familiar face before pressing the button.
Geoff emerged, taking off his helmet before staring Ray down. Ray had the decency to look a little sheepish. Beckoning Ray over, Geoff walked towards his house, Jack following behind them. They walked in, taking off their gear as they went. Ray cautiously mimicked them: he pulled off his cloak and hat, letting them rest on a nearby table (the one Gavin had finally convinced Geoff to put in there after apparently months of owning nothing but a bed).
Geoff turned to him, crossing his arms. “Did you hear anything that was discussed in there?”
“No,” Ray shook his head. “I was a little busy with some spiders.”
“Why were you outside and not Michael?” Jack asked.
Ray averted his gaze. “He went to check on Gavin.”
“Of course he did.” Geoff sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “Right. Well go check on them. Make sure they haven't killed each other. Then, get some sleep. We've got a long day tomorrow.”
“You got it boss.” Ray saluted and Geoff looked a little amused at that.
Quickly gathering up his belongings, Ray headed to the door, setting off in a sprint towards Gavin's house. Before barging in, he decided to take a peek in through the windows. Michael and Gavin were sitting on the floor, neither of them had taken off their gear, and from Ray's angle he could see that Michael still had Ray's bag on him. He'd probably been too worried.
Gavin was staring at the ground and he was talking in such a low voice which was even more worrying considering Ray often had to walk over and tell them to keep it down whenever he and Michael stayed up at night. Michael, was quiet, looking at Gavin with such concern that Ray almost didn't notice the fact that Michael was holding Gavin's hands between his.
Whatever they were talking about, he sure didn't want any part of it. Not tonight. He'd almost died and he'd just spent half the night fending off more enemies. He needed some sleep. Turning around he headed back to his house, where at least the scent of all the roses would help lull him into an easy sleep.
. . .
Ray woke to the sound of Michael's voice and the sound of iron and other precious metals jostling about. He turned in bed and squinted at his door. By the door was his bag which he'd given to Michael the night before and standing in the doorway was Michael himself, looking exhausted.
Sitting up in bed, he reached for his glasses and pushed them on. “Hey.”
Michael nodded his greeted and shut the door behind him. He leaned against it and rubbed his eyes as he slid down to sit with a sigh.
After a few moments Ray asked tentatively, “so... How's Gavin?”
Michael was silent before he replied, “he'll be okay, at least I think so?”
Ray nodded. Respawns were a touchy subject if they had to do with Gavin. Neither of them knew exactly why, but Jack once mentioned Gavin was a frequent respawner. Gavin's death eventually stopped being a problem and Ray was inclined to believe Michael might have had something to do with it.
“Where's he now?” Ray asked, quiet and wary of Michael's slumped figure.
“Geoff's talking to him,” Michael sighed. “Then he's coming over here to talk to us.”
Ray frowned. Gavin had been around longer than either of them so in a way he wasn't surprised he was being briefed first but as of late, they were usually all in the room to avoid miscommunication and repetition.
Some of Ray's confusion must have shown because Michael suddenly went on to add: “Doesn't this sound strange to you at all?”
Ray eyed Michael's face. There was anger there, suppressed and ready to come out so long as Ray gave it permission. He shrugged, as nonchalantly as he could, hoping his feigned certainty would seem genuine. “Yeah, but Geoff'll explain.”
Michael's shoulders relaxed a fraction and he let out a breath. He nodded. “I guess.”
Ray considered him for a moment. “Have you slept at all?”
Michael stifled a yawn and shook his head. “No, Gavin didn't-he couldn't sleep so I kept him company. We talked.”
Ray grinned and stood, heading over to his chest for a clean set of clothing. “Sure it was 'just' talking?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well...” Ray couldn't help but turn and smile. “I saw you two holding hands last night.”
Michael's eyes widened before he crossed his arms. “It's not like that. He just kept flailing and he hit me-”
“I'm not judging.” Ray raised his hands up in mock surrender. “I think it's cute.”
“Oh my fucking God no. Just. Don't ever say that. Ever.”
.
Ray allowed Michael to nap in his bed. It was the least he could do, given his role in their escape the day before. He searched through his chest for food before realizing he had taken his supply on the journey through the caves yesterday (they usually took turns as to who brought food for the others) and amongst the three of them, they'd finished the last of his bread.
Grumbling to himself he wondered which house was the best option to go to for food. He was starting to get hungry and Michael would probably be hungry as well when he woke up. He opened his door and looked across the lawn at Geoff's house. He probably had some food. He glanced over at Gavin's house. He could sort of make out Geoff's outline in one of the windows.
Geoff wouldn't mind if he took a couple loaves of bread. Leaving the door open behind him, he crossed the small distance between their houses and pushed open the chest just outside Geoff's house. He paused briefly at the number of buckets (one of which held lava) before he shrugged it off and proceeded to take as many pieces of bread he could carry. He wrinkled his nose in distaste at the cake in one corner of the chest, fully aware that Michael would probably enjoy a slice, but otherwise ignored its existence. By the time he finished picking out a small selection of food, Geoff was already at his door, waiting.
“Morning Geoff!” Ray greeted cheerfully.
Geoff stared at the food in his hands. “You'll be replacing that later.”
“Hey, at least I didn't take the cake.”
They walked inside, Geoff carefully closing the door behind him while Ray went about in setting the food on the lone table in his room (courtesy of Michael who had gotten tired of seeing his cookies tossed in beside Ray's roses and made him a table especially for any food they shared). He motioned for Geoff to a seat before moving to wake Michael up.
They sat around his table, Michael on the only other chair available and Ray sitting on top of his chest, legs crossed neatly. They ate in silence, chewing and avoiding eye contact until Geoff finished his bread.
“Guess you're wondering what Gavin and I talked about?” Geoff directed the question at Michael.
Michael, kept his gaze down, and nodded. Ray set his food aside quietly and nodded when Geoff looked at him.
“Dan was telling the truth.”
That simple line was enough to set Michael on his feet, disbelief and confusion clear on his face. “Bullshit. He could be lying.”
“No, it's true,” Geoff sighed. “I know it's true because I knew them when they were younger. Well, sort of younger.”
“But Gavin told me he'd heard about you while he was traveling around.” Ray pointed out. “He never said he knew you guys.”
“Well when you've respawned as many times as I think Gavin has, your memory isn't exactly reliable,” Geoff said. “Gavin was visited us a couple times, and he told us about Dan and his life back home. Our city was an inspiration to so many villages, he said, and there were others trying to set up something similar elsewhere. Cities and villages just for heroes. Silly right? We're not heroes, I think.” Geoff leaned back in his chair. “We talked a lot over the radio, giving them advice since their village was so small and they were regularly being attacked by mobs or by others trying to steal their resources. Most of the people they'd been trying to protect moved on to other villages but Gavin and Dan stayed at Slow-mo-ville. They wanted to make something out of it.
“For a couple months Jack and I didn't hear from them. We assumed the worst and tried to forget until Gavin showed up in the city. He was different. Didn't recognize us, didn't remember Dan or their village. He must have respawned so many times while he was out there...” Geoff rubbed the back of his neck. “He said he'd been traveling for a long time and he didn't know from where just that he knew he had to come here. We took him in, tried to figure out what happened to Dan but never found out. We assumed he moved on or he just fell off the edge of the world since, well they did leave near it.”
Ray frowned. “Did you tell Gavin all this?”
“Yeah,” Geoff nodded. “Had to. Gavin doesn't remember much but he thought Dan made some sense.”
“So you never told Gavin you knew him before he came here?” Michael asked.
Geoff crossed his arms. “You didn't know him Michael. You have no idea how much he changed. Why tell him about someone who was probably dead? He was better off not knowing.”
“That's stupid.” Michael snapped. “This entire thing is so stupid and-”
Ray interrupted. “So, I'm guessing Dan never respawned?”
Geoff shook his head. “He went through hell trying not to. Otherwise he'd forget Gavin and everything that happened. He says, he sealed off Gavin's experience orbs and went looking for him.”
Ray's eyes widened a little. “So you mean, Gavin could possibly get all his memories back and then...”
Geoff shrugged. “If they're still there and if Gavin wants to of course.”
“And you'll just let him go?” Michael asked. “Leave Achievement City and-?”
“If Gavin wants to,” Geoff cut in quietly. “He can do what he wants. I'm asking you two, if he chooses to go, will you let him?”
Author: ilcocoabean
Fandom: Achievement Hunter RPF
Character(s)/ Pairing(s): Dan/Ray, Michael/Gavin, implied Dan/Gavin, implied Ray/Gavin, past Ray/Michael, Joel, Jack, Geoff, Ryan, Caleb
Genre(s): AU, Angst, General, Slash, Romance
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2,285/?
Summary: Achievement City's been pretty quiet since Ray's arrival, so of course, they're due for another visitor.
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use.
Warnings: Character deaths, adult language, and violence.
Note: So I'm going to try and update weekly. I have enough written out that it shouldn't be a problem for the next couple weeks.
AO3: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine |
LJ: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine |
Chapter Two
The walk back home was uneventful for which Ray was particularly grateful. He kept a careful eye on the sun, knowing it wouldn't be long before night descended upon them. Leading a blindfolded Dan was difficult but Michael seemed quite at home with the task, pulling and pushing the stranger with ease. Gavin was quiet the whole way which was worrying, to say the least. Michael kept shooting Gavin looks, attempting to engage him in one of their usual silent conversations that dealt with eyebrows and grins but to no avail. Ray shrugged at him whenever Michael looked his way for help.
They got to Achievement City unsurprised to see Geoff and Jack waiting for them just on the edge of the city. Jack had his helmet and other gear on and he held a sword in his hand. Geoff had also suited up in his armor and in his hand he held some dynamite. Ray raised an eyebrow but otherwise said nothing as they motioned for them to follow. They led Dan to a small house just by Geoff's house, recently constructed with a steel door which, Ray realized as soon as they stepped inside, only opened from the outside.
Geoff quickly took Dan's belongings, starting with the sword Ray was holding, and cracked it over his knee before handing the pieces over to Michael who tucked them away in a bag along with Dan's other limited supplies.
“Leave us,” Geoff said. “Michael you stand guard outside, the rest of you, go sleep. Tell Jack to come in.”
Gavin who was the closest to the door took off first, striding in the direction of his home, without a word. Ray made a face. That wasn't like Gavin at all. Michael suddenly stood in front of Ray, evidently having waited until Jack was inside.
Michael looked uncertain. “Do you think we could-?”
“Yeah, go ahead.” Ray interrupted and handed over his bag. “Just drop my stuff in my house. Make sure he's all right okay?”
Michael smiled gratefully and took off running across the lawn. Ray leaned against the wall beside the door and sighed. The sun was already setting, he hoped Geoff and Jack got this over with soon.
. . .
It was like Ray learned how to curse himself or something. Clearly they had to take another look at the placement of their torches because they were certainly not stopping any enemies from naturally spawning within the city.
He took a deep breath, keeping his eyes open for any sign of another spider making its way across the lawn and occasionally gazing in the direction of Gavin's house. The lights were still on and Michael hadn't emerged from it yet. Behind him, he heard the muffled voices of both Geoff and the stranger. Dan seemed to be arguing and Geoff was calm and collected, just as Ray expected him to be. Jack hadn't spoken much whenever he did, his voice was always low.
Turning to his right, he wondered if the sun would be making its appearance any time soon because that would seriously help in his watch. Just as he was about to do another turn about the small house, there was a knock behind him. Ray scrambled toward the door, making sure it was a familiar face before pressing the button.
Geoff emerged, taking off his helmet before staring Ray down. Ray had the decency to look a little sheepish. Beckoning Ray over, Geoff walked towards his house, Jack following behind them. They walked in, taking off their gear as they went. Ray cautiously mimicked them: he pulled off his cloak and hat, letting them rest on a nearby table (the one Gavin had finally convinced Geoff to put in there after apparently months of owning nothing but a bed).
Geoff turned to him, crossing his arms. “Did you hear anything that was discussed in there?”
“No,” Ray shook his head. “I was a little busy with some spiders.”
“Why were you outside and not Michael?” Jack asked.
Ray averted his gaze. “He went to check on Gavin.”
“Of course he did.” Geoff sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “Right. Well go check on them. Make sure they haven't killed each other. Then, get some sleep. We've got a long day tomorrow.”
“You got it boss.” Ray saluted and Geoff looked a little amused at that.
Quickly gathering up his belongings, Ray headed to the door, setting off in a sprint towards Gavin's house. Before barging in, he decided to take a peek in through the windows. Michael and Gavin were sitting on the floor, neither of them had taken off their gear, and from Ray's angle he could see that Michael still had Ray's bag on him. He'd probably been too worried.
Gavin was staring at the ground and he was talking in such a low voice which was even more worrying considering Ray often had to walk over and tell them to keep it down whenever he and Michael stayed up at night. Michael, was quiet, looking at Gavin with such concern that Ray almost didn't notice the fact that Michael was holding Gavin's hands between his.
Whatever they were talking about, he sure didn't want any part of it. Not tonight. He'd almost died and he'd just spent half the night fending off more enemies. He needed some sleep. Turning around he headed back to his house, where at least the scent of all the roses would help lull him into an easy sleep.
. . .
Ray woke to the sound of Michael's voice and the sound of iron and other precious metals jostling about. He turned in bed and squinted at his door. By the door was his bag which he'd given to Michael the night before and standing in the doorway was Michael himself, looking exhausted.
Sitting up in bed, he reached for his glasses and pushed them on. “Hey.”
Michael nodded his greeted and shut the door behind him. He leaned against it and rubbed his eyes as he slid down to sit with a sigh.
After a few moments Ray asked tentatively, “so... How's Gavin?”
Michael was silent before he replied, “he'll be okay, at least I think so?”
Ray nodded. Respawns were a touchy subject if they had to do with Gavin. Neither of them knew exactly why, but Jack once mentioned Gavin was a frequent respawner. Gavin's death eventually stopped being a problem and Ray was inclined to believe Michael might have had something to do with it.
“Where's he now?” Ray asked, quiet and wary of Michael's slumped figure.
“Geoff's talking to him,” Michael sighed. “Then he's coming over here to talk to us.”
Ray frowned. Gavin had been around longer than either of them so in a way he wasn't surprised he was being briefed first but as of late, they were usually all in the room to avoid miscommunication and repetition.
Some of Ray's confusion must have shown because Michael suddenly went on to add: “Doesn't this sound strange to you at all?”
Ray eyed Michael's face. There was anger there, suppressed and ready to come out so long as Ray gave it permission. He shrugged, as nonchalantly as he could, hoping his feigned certainty would seem genuine. “Yeah, but Geoff'll explain.”
Michael's shoulders relaxed a fraction and he let out a breath. He nodded. “I guess.”
Ray considered him for a moment. “Have you slept at all?”
Michael stifled a yawn and shook his head. “No, Gavin didn't-he couldn't sleep so I kept him company. We talked.”
Ray grinned and stood, heading over to his chest for a clean set of clothing. “Sure it was 'just' talking?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well...” Ray couldn't help but turn and smile. “I saw you two holding hands last night.”
Michael's eyes widened before he crossed his arms. “It's not like that. He just kept flailing and he hit me-”
“I'm not judging.” Ray raised his hands up in mock surrender. “I think it's cute.”
“Oh my fucking God no. Just. Don't ever say that. Ever.”
.
Ray allowed Michael to nap in his bed. It was the least he could do, given his role in their escape the day before. He searched through his chest for food before realizing he had taken his supply on the journey through the caves yesterday (they usually took turns as to who brought food for the others) and amongst the three of them, they'd finished the last of his bread.
Grumbling to himself he wondered which house was the best option to go to for food. He was starting to get hungry and Michael would probably be hungry as well when he woke up. He opened his door and looked across the lawn at Geoff's house. He probably had some food. He glanced over at Gavin's house. He could sort of make out Geoff's outline in one of the windows.
Geoff wouldn't mind if he took a couple loaves of bread. Leaving the door open behind him, he crossed the small distance between their houses and pushed open the chest just outside Geoff's house. He paused briefly at the number of buckets (one of which held lava) before he shrugged it off and proceeded to take as many pieces of bread he could carry. He wrinkled his nose in distaste at the cake in one corner of the chest, fully aware that Michael would probably enjoy a slice, but otherwise ignored its existence. By the time he finished picking out a small selection of food, Geoff was already at his door, waiting.
“Morning Geoff!” Ray greeted cheerfully.
Geoff stared at the food in his hands. “You'll be replacing that later.”
“Hey, at least I didn't take the cake.”
They walked inside, Geoff carefully closing the door behind him while Ray went about in setting the food on the lone table in his room (courtesy of Michael who had gotten tired of seeing his cookies tossed in beside Ray's roses and made him a table especially for any food they shared). He motioned for Geoff to a seat before moving to wake Michael up.
They sat around his table, Michael on the only other chair available and Ray sitting on top of his chest, legs crossed neatly. They ate in silence, chewing and avoiding eye contact until Geoff finished his bread.
“Guess you're wondering what Gavin and I talked about?” Geoff directed the question at Michael.
Michael, kept his gaze down, and nodded. Ray set his food aside quietly and nodded when Geoff looked at him.
“Dan was telling the truth.”
That simple line was enough to set Michael on his feet, disbelief and confusion clear on his face. “Bullshit. He could be lying.”
“No, it's true,” Geoff sighed. “I know it's true because I knew them when they were younger. Well, sort of younger.”
“But Gavin told me he'd heard about you while he was traveling around.” Ray pointed out. “He never said he knew you guys.”
“Well when you've respawned as many times as I think Gavin has, your memory isn't exactly reliable,” Geoff said. “Gavin was visited us a couple times, and he told us about Dan and his life back home. Our city was an inspiration to so many villages, he said, and there were others trying to set up something similar elsewhere. Cities and villages just for heroes. Silly right? We're not heroes, I think.” Geoff leaned back in his chair. “We talked a lot over the radio, giving them advice since their village was so small and they were regularly being attacked by mobs or by others trying to steal their resources. Most of the people they'd been trying to protect moved on to other villages but Gavin and Dan stayed at Slow-mo-ville. They wanted to make something out of it.
“For a couple months Jack and I didn't hear from them. We assumed the worst and tried to forget until Gavin showed up in the city. He was different. Didn't recognize us, didn't remember Dan or their village. He must have respawned so many times while he was out there...” Geoff rubbed the back of his neck. “He said he'd been traveling for a long time and he didn't know from where just that he knew he had to come here. We took him in, tried to figure out what happened to Dan but never found out. We assumed he moved on or he just fell off the edge of the world since, well they did leave near it.”
Ray frowned. “Did you tell Gavin all this?”
“Yeah,” Geoff nodded. “Had to. Gavin doesn't remember much but he thought Dan made some sense.”
“So you never told Gavin you knew him before he came here?” Michael asked.
Geoff crossed his arms. “You didn't know him Michael. You have no idea how much he changed. Why tell him about someone who was probably dead? He was better off not knowing.”
“That's stupid.” Michael snapped. “This entire thing is so stupid and-”
Ray interrupted. “So, I'm guessing Dan never respawned?”
Geoff shook his head. “He went through hell trying not to. Otherwise he'd forget Gavin and everything that happened. He says, he sealed off Gavin's experience orbs and went looking for him.”
Ray's eyes widened a little. “So you mean, Gavin could possibly get all his memories back and then...”
Geoff shrugged. “If they're still there and if Gavin wants to of course.”
“And you'll just let him go?” Michael asked. “Leave Achievement City and-?”
“If Gavin wants to,” Geoff cut in quietly. “He can do what he wants. I'm asking you two, if he chooses to go, will you let him?”