Fanfic: Settle In, I'm here to Stay - Chapter Four
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: 1,808/?
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: Sorry about the lateness in getting this up! Been a little distracted and bogged down with classes and such. Thus, I'm afraid it's possible I won't be updating next week. The semester will be over in the next three weeks and I am stressing out a little. Once the hectic of finals are over though, you can rest assured weekly updates will resume. I've written a side fic for this which will be posted presently. This might be turn out to be a series.
AO3: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine |
LJ: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine |
Chapter Four
Gavin was the first one to react. Between one moment and the next he'd launched himself against Michael, who let out a stream of profanities as he struggled to keep balance and Mogard out of the way.
“Gavin you idiot get off me!” Michael shouted but there was no real bite in it.
Gavin on the other hand was babbling, voice both grateful and excited in turns. Ray rolled his eyes but he was grinning. Jack and Geoff looked unimpressed and Ryan had gone back to inspecting the map.
“These guys,” Ray muttered to himself. He turned to Ryan, and in doing so caught the slight frown on Dan's face. That was weird. “Guess we're ready to going now?”
Ryan nodded. “If we leave now, we should make it to Achievementburg before nightfall. Caleb can duplicate some more maps for you and you can stock up on more food supplies. From there you guys are on your own.”
Once Gavin let go of Michael they began their way out of the city limits. Waving goodbye, Ray took one last glance at his house. He really hoped Geoff and Jack would be too worried about them to think of doing something to it. Knowing them though, that was highly unlikely. Their somber attitude from before was already rapidly clearing up and there were smiles on their faces as they waved goodbye.
The road they took was mostly paved until they reached the trees. From there the road was mostly sectioned off with flowers. Achievementburg was a small village that had been destroyed by creepers and plagued by Endermen. Caleb, Joel, and Ryan were the ones working to get it back up in order but really, it was mostly a lost cause and no one really ever passed through there. Geoff however had insisted upon taking it into their territory on the grounds that it could be useful if they ever found it was too late to reach the city before night fell.
As they walked over a hill and came onto a patch of grassland, Ray became aware of the steady silence that'd continued since they left. It wasn't particularly difficult to notice the sudden tension between Michael and Gavin. All previous moments of happiness seemed suddenly forgotten as they did their best to keep from bumping too close to each other. Gavin was walking a little further ahead of him, just behind Ryan and Michael was bringing up the rear, just a few steps behind Ray and Dan.
Ray rolled his eyes, knowing that such movement wouldn't be caught behind his survival shades. He hadn't changed into the proper attire for their journey and neither had Gavin but being the weary fucker that he was Ray had at least decided to switch out his glasses, and Gavin in turn had pulled on his gloves. However from the way he kept fiddling with them, it was probably as a way to give his hands something to do.
Ray suppressed the urge to sigh and shake his head. His friends were being stupid. In an effort to keep things from becoming even more awkward Ray turned to Ryan and began to ask him about his plans for the small village. As far as conversations went, it wasn't the most riveting but at least Gavin started to speak more, offering suggestions and asking questions.
As soon as the village came into view, Ray cheered up considerably. He liked Achievementburg because it was the only place around here that had any proper farms even if most of them had been blown up by creepers. The few still intact were enough to keep them fed and Ray liked to give Caleb tips on the best way to grow bread. He vaguely wished he had thought to bring his hoe along so he could have helped harvest some of the wheat. He'd just have to ask Joel or Caleb to borrow one of theirs.
Caleb was the first to appear, coming out of a mostly intact house, there were parts of the foundation that had been blown off but at least the stairs were still there. He held a pickaxe and a block of stone in the other arm. After a quick exchange of greetings they divided up, Michael and Dan to help harvest wheat with Caleb while Gavin, Ryan, and Ray went off to dig out some coal from the nearby cave two creepers had discovered for them.
After changing into their survival clothing, they headed down, Ryan at their side, talking about the village again.
“How's Joel?” Ray asked.
“He's fine,” Ryan replied. “He keeps trying to rebuild the houses with dirt though. Not sure why.”
“Weird.”
. . .
After they had gathered a sufficient amount of coal, they headed back for the houses. Joel was waiting for them at the entrance of the cave and he was frowning.
“It's dangerous out there.” He said by way of greeting. “I'm pretty sure this is a bad idea.”
“Most of our ideas usually are,” Gavin replied cheerfully. “But when has that ever stopped us?”
Joel's frown deepened even further but he otherwise said nothing as they headed back to the house where Caleb and Michael were in. Dan was standing outside, looking over at the fields. Ray wondered if they'd separated themselves from him on purpose. Caleb was usually fine with strangers but given Michael's attitude toward Dan, Caleb might have thought it best to accommodate Michael instead. Leaving Gavin and the others outside to talk amongst themselves he headed into the house, nose perking up at sweet smell of baking bread.
“Don't you think this is a little too much?” Caleb asked.
“No,” came Michael's short reply. “It's not like we're bringing any resources back. We need to have enough for the trip back.”
There was silence then Caleb asked, “are... all of you coming back?”
“What's that supposed to mean?” Michael glared. “Why wouldn't we all come back?”
“Well...” Caleb fiddled with his shirt. “Geoff made it seem like some of you might not be coming back. He didn't really go into details but he mentioned that guy Dan was an old friend of Gavin's so...”
“So? So what, Caleb?” Michael rounded on him.
“Nothing! Just, forget I said anything.”
“Geoff was just joking,” Ray interrupted before Michael could carry on. “You know him. Hey why don't you take a break? Pretty sure, I can finish this up faster than you.”
Caleb nodded and headed out without question. Ray listened, waiting until the group had headed into the next building over (probably to eat). Ray turned to Michael and tutted.
“You have no idea how to properly bake bread. Give it here.”
“Baking is not that hard.” Michael handed over the bushels of wheat. “I've baked before.”
Ray scoffed. “Yeah, cookies.”
He stood in front of the crafting table, grimacing when it squeaked a little under the heavy amount of bushels being worked on. Michael hovered nearby, looking through his bag for any other pieces he might have left in there. As soon as he made sure of this Michael wandered over to the window.
“Looks like that guy's just standing around. He's not even helping!”
“Because you're being so helpful right now.” Ray rolled his eyes.
“Well at least I'm not just-”
“Okay, you need to talk to Gavin.” Ray announced. “Because you guys have got some fucking issues and it's starting to get ridiculous.”
Michael turned to him. “No, I don't have issues. Everything is fucking fine.”
“Jesus, are you listening to yourself right now?” Ray threw the bushels of wheat down. “You and Gavin need to get your shit together because this is going to get awkward and it's already awkward enough with Dan so you two are not helping.”
“What are you yelling at me for?” Michael snapped. “I don't see you yelling at Gavin about-”
“That's because yelling at Gavin does absolutely nothing.” Ray sighed. “You two. Are fucking ridiculous.” Ray stomped over to the door. “And make nice with Dan, he's going to be our guide to Slow-mo-ville so I don't think it's a good idea to get on his bad side.”
Ray headed outside and walked over to the next building where Caleb was setting up plates of food on a table. Ryan, Joel, and Gavin were looking over the map, discussing routes and exchanging knowledge of the land. Dan, however, was no where to be seen.
“Has he eaten?” Ray asked.
“Nope,” Caleb shrugged. “He just walked off a while ago. Said something about the fields or whatever.”
Ray nodded and looked down at his steak and vegetables. He reached for another plate and nodded at the door. “I'll go find him I guess. Make sure he eats.”
Everyone else nodded but otherwise ignored him. Stepping out into the chilly air, Ray was glad that at least the sun hadn't completely set, otherwise finding Dan would have been a little difficult.
He headed for the fields scattered across the other side of the house, away from the one where presumably Michael was still sitting in, baking bread. He found Dan sitting at the edge of a fenced field, watching the sunset. Ray stopped a few feet behind him, clearing his throat.
“Hey.” Ray held up the plates for him to see. “Thought you might be hungry.”
“Thanks.”
Ray took a seat beside him, making sure there was a sufficient amount of distance between them to at least make sure it wasn't awkward. “So uh...” Ray began. “What's Slow-mo-ville like?”
Dan paused in lifting his fork up to his mouth. He looked at the piece of meat thoughtfully. “It's warmer. Sand, water, and a lot of cacti. We have... books too.”
“Books?” Ray raised his brows a little. “Huh, sounds nice.”
“Yeah,” Dan nodded, smiling. “Gavin made the bookshelves for all the houses. Said a house wasn't a proper one if it didn't have books in it. The nutter never even read them so it was a probably a waste.”
Ray laughed. “Yeah, he's obsessed with paintings now. Doesn't even care what they have on them. Just likes to have them.”
They finished eating quickly and began to head back. Sunsets around here were definitely a thing to be wary of. He noticed that the lights in the two houses were still on. Maybe Michael and Gavin were finally talking? Speaking of...
“Hey,” Ray began. “Were you and Gavin ever-”
“No. We could have but,” Dan shrugged.
“Did he-?” Ray cut himself off. “Sorry, you probably don't want to talk about it.”
The rest of the walk back was spent in silence. When they arrived Ray noted that neither Michael nor Gavin were around. Hopefully that would work itself out. Ray chose a bed nearest the window and got ready to settle in for the night.
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: 1,808/?
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: Sorry about the lateness in getting this up! Been a little distracted and bogged down with classes and such. Thus, I'm afraid it's possible I won't be updating next week. The semester will be over in the next three weeks and I am stressing out a little. Once the hectic of finals are over though, you can rest assured weekly updates will resume. I've written a side fic for this which will be posted presently. This might be turn out to be a series.
AO3: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine |
LJ: One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine |
Chapter Four
Gavin was the first one to react. Between one moment and the next he'd launched himself against Michael, who let out a stream of profanities as he struggled to keep balance and Mogard out of the way.
“Gavin you idiot get off me!” Michael shouted but there was no real bite in it.
Gavin on the other hand was babbling, voice both grateful and excited in turns. Ray rolled his eyes but he was grinning. Jack and Geoff looked unimpressed and Ryan had gone back to inspecting the map.
“These guys,” Ray muttered to himself. He turned to Ryan, and in doing so caught the slight frown on Dan's face. That was weird. “Guess we're ready to going now?”
Ryan nodded. “If we leave now, we should make it to Achievementburg before nightfall. Caleb can duplicate some more maps for you and you can stock up on more food supplies. From there you guys are on your own.”
Once Gavin let go of Michael they began their way out of the city limits. Waving goodbye, Ray took one last glance at his house. He really hoped Geoff and Jack would be too worried about them to think of doing something to it. Knowing them though, that was highly unlikely. Their somber attitude from before was already rapidly clearing up and there were smiles on their faces as they waved goodbye.
The road they took was mostly paved until they reached the trees. From there the road was mostly sectioned off with flowers. Achievementburg was a small village that had been destroyed by creepers and plagued by Endermen. Caleb, Joel, and Ryan were the ones working to get it back up in order but really, it was mostly a lost cause and no one really ever passed through there. Geoff however had insisted upon taking it into their territory on the grounds that it could be useful if they ever found it was too late to reach the city before night fell.
As they walked over a hill and came onto a patch of grassland, Ray became aware of the steady silence that'd continued since they left. It wasn't particularly difficult to notice the sudden tension between Michael and Gavin. All previous moments of happiness seemed suddenly forgotten as they did their best to keep from bumping too close to each other. Gavin was walking a little further ahead of him, just behind Ryan and Michael was bringing up the rear, just a few steps behind Ray and Dan.
Ray rolled his eyes, knowing that such movement wouldn't be caught behind his survival shades. He hadn't changed into the proper attire for their journey and neither had Gavin but being the weary fucker that he was Ray had at least decided to switch out his glasses, and Gavin in turn had pulled on his gloves. However from the way he kept fiddling with them, it was probably as a way to give his hands something to do.
Ray suppressed the urge to sigh and shake his head. His friends were being stupid. In an effort to keep things from becoming even more awkward Ray turned to Ryan and began to ask him about his plans for the small village. As far as conversations went, it wasn't the most riveting but at least Gavin started to speak more, offering suggestions and asking questions.
As soon as the village came into view, Ray cheered up considerably. He liked Achievementburg because it was the only place around here that had any proper farms even if most of them had been blown up by creepers. The few still intact were enough to keep them fed and Ray liked to give Caleb tips on the best way to grow bread. He vaguely wished he had thought to bring his hoe along so he could have helped harvest some of the wheat. He'd just have to ask Joel or Caleb to borrow one of theirs.
Caleb was the first to appear, coming out of a mostly intact house, there were parts of the foundation that had been blown off but at least the stairs were still there. He held a pickaxe and a block of stone in the other arm. After a quick exchange of greetings they divided up, Michael and Dan to help harvest wheat with Caleb while Gavin, Ryan, and Ray went off to dig out some coal from the nearby cave two creepers had discovered for them.
After changing into their survival clothing, they headed down, Ryan at their side, talking about the village again.
“How's Joel?” Ray asked.
“He's fine,” Ryan replied. “He keeps trying to rebuild the houses with dirt though. Not sure why.”
“Weird.”
. . .
After they had gathered a sufficient amount of coal, they headed back for the houses. Joel was waiting for them at the entrance of the cave and he was frowning.
“It's dangerous out there.” He said by way of greeting. “I'm pretty sure this is a bad idea.”
“Most of our ideas usually are,” Gavin replied cheerfully. “But when has that ever stopped us?”
Joel's frown deepened even further but he otherwise said nothing as they headed back to the house where Caleb and Michael were in. Dan was standing outside, looking over at the fields. Ray wondered if they'd separated themselves from him on purpose. Caleb was usually fine with strangers but given Michael's attitude toward Dan, Caleb might have thought it best to accommodate Michael instead. Leaving Gavin and the others outside to talk amongst themselves he headed into the house, nose perking up at sweet smell of baking bread.
“Don't you think this is a little too much?” Caleb asked.
“No,” came Michael's short reply. “It's not like we're bringing any resources back. We need to have enough for the trip back.”
There was silence then Caleb asked, “are... all of you coming back?”
“What's that supposed to mean?” Michael glared. “Why wouldn't we all come back?”
“Well...” Caleb fiddled with his shirt. “Geoff made it seem like some of you might not be coming back. He didn't really go into details but he mentioned that guy Dan was an old friend of Gavin's so...”
“So? So what, Caleb?” Michael rounded on him.
“Nothing! Just, forget I said anything.”
“Geoff was just joking,” Ray interrupted before Michael could carry on. “You know him. Hey why don't you take a break? Pretty sure, I can finish this up faster than you.”
Caleb nodded and headed out without question. Ray listened, waiting until the group had headed into the next building over (probably to eat). Ray turned to Michael and tutted.
“You have no idea how to properly bake bread. Give it here.”
“Baking is not that hard.” Michael handed over the bushels of wheat. “I've baked before.”
Ray scoffed. “Yeah, cookies.”
He stood in front of the crafting table, grimacing when it squeaked a little under the heavy amount of bushels being worked on. Michael hovered nearby, looking through his bag for any other pieces he might have left in there. As soon as he made sure of this Michael wandered over to the window.
“Looks like that guy's just standing around. He's not even helping!”
“Because you're being so helpful right now.” Ray rolled his eyes.
“Well at least I'm not just-”
“Okay, you need to talk to Gavin.” Ray announced. “Because you guys have got some fucking issues and it's starting to get ridiculous.”
Michael turned to him. “No, I don't have issues. Everything is fucking fine.”
“Jesus, are you listening to yourself right now?” Ray threw the bushels of wheat down. “You and Gavin need to get your shit together because this is going to get awkward and it's already awkward enough with Dan so you two are not helping.”
“What are you yelling at me for?” Michael snapped. “I don't see you yelling at Gavin about-”
“That's because yelling at Gavin does absolutely nothing.” Ray sighed. “You two. Are fucking ridiculous.” Ray stomped over to the door. “And make nice with Dan, he's going to be our guide to Slow-mo-ville so I don't think it's a good idea to get on his bad side.”
Ray headed outside and walked over to the next building where Caleb was setting up plates of food on a table. Ryan, Joel, and Gavin were looking over the map, discussing routes and exchanging knowledge of the land. Dan, however, was no where to be seen.
“Has he eaten?” Ray asked.
“Nope,” Caleb shrugged. “He just walked off a while ago. Said something about the fields or whatever.”
Ray nodded and looked down at his steak and vegetables. He reached for another plate and nodded at the door. “I'll go find him I guess. Make sure he eats.”
Everyone else nodded but otherwise ignored him. Stepping out into the chilly air, Ray was glad that at least the sun hadn't completely set, otherwise finding Dan would have been a little difficult.
He headed for the fields scattered across the other side of the house, away from the one where presumably Michael was still sitting in, baking bread. He found Dan sitting at the edge of a fenced field, watching the sunset. Ray stopped a few feet behind him, clearing his throat.
“Hey.” Ray held up the plates for him to see. “Thought you might be hungry.”
“Thanks.”
Ray took a seat beside him, making sure there was a sufficient amount of distance between them to at least make sure it wasn't awkward. “So uh...” Ray began. “What's Slow-mo-ville like?”
Dan paused in lifting his fork up to his mouth. He looked at the piece of meat thoughtfully. “It's warmer. Sand, water, and a lot of cacti. We have... books too.”
“Books?” Ray raised his brows a little. “Huh, sounds nice.”
“Yeah,” Dan nodded, smiling. “Gavin made the bookshelves for all the houses. Said a house wasn't a proper one if it didn't have books in it. The nutter never even read them so it was a probably a waste.”
Ray laughed. “Yeah, he's obsessed with paintings now. Doesn't even care what they have on them. Just likes to have them.”
They finished eating quickly and began to head back. Sunsets around here were definitely a thing to be wary of. He noticed that the lights in the two houses were still on. Maybe Michael and Gavin were finally talking? Speaking of...
“Hey,” Ray began. “Were you and Gavin ever-”
“No. We could have but,” Dan shrugged.
“Did he-?” Ray cut himself off. “Sorry, you probably don't want to talk about it.”
The rest of the walk back was spent in silence. When they arrived Ray noted that neither Michael nor Gavin were around. Hopefully that would work itself out. Ray chose a bed nearest the window and got ready to settle in for the night.