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The hostile mobs in this world aren’t aggressive. They roam the prairie as loose, uncoordinated dots, never in a group, occasionally in duos. They don’t attack unless provoked, and often barely even spare a passing glance towards them. Avery doesn’t like killing them for resources, but Derek has no qualms whatsoever, and usually after a night of foraging about, he comes back with a bundle of string, bones and an iron sword from a dead zombie. But what Derek notices truly lights up Avery’s eyes are the eggs, and a hen who clucks petulantly in his arms.
“Thanks, Derek-“ He says, pressing a kiss to Derek’s cheek, or what was a cheek. Derek still fails most times to process his body, and yet Avery seems to know it better than he himself does. “This is great, dude, where’d you find one?” Chickens had been scarce in this biome, and whenever they did spawn in, they’d die at the hands of an enraged wolf. Luckily, they know better now, and most are now tamed dogs that pant happily and wag their tails upon sight.
“Walked further down the river than we’d ever been and saw a Taiga biome.” He said, sliding the bundle off his shoulder and onto the log they use as a makeshift table. “Plenty of chickens there. Found melon seeds too, figured you’d like those. Got extra just in case you burn some while baking…” He adds, plopping himself down on the bed, looking out the windows. Even though they could, Avery uses trapdoors instead of glass as the panes. Derek’s still sensitive about his reflection, after all. The moon outside is full, and through the hills that roll in the distance, a few scattered mobs mindlessly wander. Derek doesn’t even have to think, and he knows already their wants, their needs, their bodily composition from muscle to bone. He can’t say the same for Avery. All of the knowledge Derek gained about him is from repeated, constant nights in bed, wrapped in his embrace.
“Dude, that’s so frickin’ cool. You know,” Avery says, walking over to Derek and straddling his lap. “You deserve a reward.”
“Really?” Derek teases. “Mm, what kind?”
Avery giggles, high pitched and excited as he sinks by Derek’s knees, nestling his head just between his thighs. He reaches up and sinks a hand into the hem of Derek’s pants, letting them catch over the growing bulge in his pants. He presses his lips to it, nudging his nose and mouth against the fabric. “This kind.”
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.
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Derek notices it first in the early morning.
By habit, he wakes before Avery, gently slipping out of bed and stoking the hearth back to life. The fireplace crackles alive, the scent of burning oak filling the cabin. Avery doesn’t come to until the sun truly rises, but Derek’s sleep has always been light in comparison. That, and the nightmares that plague him constantly from the influence of the King’s knowledge, makes him all the more apologetic every time he accidentally disturbs Avery from his sleep. He opens the windows. Their clothes lay strewn all over the floor, but Derek lets Avery take the blanket. Derek can handle the cold, could actually handle just walking around naked like an animal, Avery’s words, no frickin’ way is he going to let Derek alone like that. That’s considerate of him. No amount of time gets Derek used to the way he looks now, like the King in Yellow, indescribable and eldritch, phasing in and out of human comprehension. Omnipresent and utterly everything.
Maybe that’s why when he looks into the distance, even hundreds of yards away, he spots it: soft green eyes peering at their home, waiting.
He catches it again by noon. This time, Avery is full awake and happily tending to the crops and animals in the garden. They’d been hit with a particularly bad season of potato blight, and Avery had tasked Derek to dispose of the crop by burying them upon the other side of the stream.
“It’ll be easy enough!” He said, patting Derek on the back. “Don’t be scared of no frickin’ King, dude!”
It is, but to cross, Derek has to dutifully avoid looking at his feet, and by his feet, his reflection in the water. He does well for the first few strides. He stumbles and for a moment, sees a glimpse. It’s just as bad as he remembers, parts of him unheld by the constraints of reality, so much information crammed into each and every singular atom of his body that the universe and light itself cannot render it, and instead all he is now is a mass of dark matter that phases in and out of reality. Just like the King.
He feels the hairs on the back of his neck prickle up. Derek turns, and sees a crafting table where it should never be: at the stream’s floor.
By dusk, he's planning on telling Avery about the things he's been seeing. But the eyes he had seen peering at them past the horizon, the crafting table at the riverbed, are nowhere to be found. There is no disturbance, no missing anything, not a single blade of grass is unaccounted for. And so Derek holds his tongue. He doesn’t want Avery to think he’s crazy. Maybe it was a zombie. Perhaps an Enderman. But Endermen don’t pick up blocks with an inventory, and no mobs have naturally green eyes. Perhaps he hadn’t seen it at all. Even with this new body, there is a limit to how much he can perceive, and he might have felt eyes from that distance, and just thought they may have been green. They could’ve been another mob’s eyes for all he knew. Worst comes to worst, Derek has the body of the King. He protected Avery once. He can protect him again.
Dinner is baked potatoes and a bowl of beetroot soup. The potatoes are lathered in butter churned from their one cow, and are crispy at the edges, skin crackling off the soft insides and stuffed with roasted rabbit. The beetroot soup is equally as hearty. As Avery mops up the residual soup on his bowl with a chunk of freshly baked pumpkin seed bread, Derek can’t help but think of how exceptional tonight’s meal was. Usually, Avery’s a good cook, but he messes up very now and then. Burning things, knocking over pans, undercooking a side; one of that’s bound to happen. Derek looks to the horizon again.
There are no eyes, but he senses them, still.
“Baby…” Avery calls out, teasingly. “Are you done washing up? I have a surprise for youu~”
“Mm, really?” Derek asks, striding over to Avery. He lifts a hand to Avery’s cheek, stroking it with his thumb. Avery leans into the touch, humming contentedly. “You’ve already surprised me with dinner tonight.”
“Oh, I dunnooo…” Avery says, licking his lips, grinning from ear to ear. “But I’m glad you liked them. I’m so fucking excited, ‘cause…”
“Say that again.” Derek says, flashing Avery his most winning smile and cornering him against the wall.
“I’m so fucking excited!” Avery says breathlessly. “So, please — fuck!”
Avery cries out as Derek’s hands slam against his throat, knocking the breath out of him. “Wait!” He speaks, yelping when the back of his head hits the wall so hard it actually has the cabin shaking. Derek doesn’t buy it for a second.
“Who are you?” Derek yells. “Who the fuck are you?”
“I’m Avery!” This… stranger yells, gasping for air in between.
“No.” Derek growls. “You’re some kind of fucking doppleganger. When I was finding the King. Avery would never cook that much without reason. Avery calls me dude, not baby. I call him that. Avery minces his oaths, he doesn’t say fuck until I’m fucking the brains out of him. And I brought melon seeds home, not fucking pumpkin!” He squeezes down harder on the doppleganger’s throat, so ugh so that he’s practically turning blue by the second. This isn’t Avery. He knows it in his heart, his soul. The doppleganger tries to scream, but he’s got no breath to do so, clutching instead at Derek desperately, clawing down his forearm. “Where is he? Where is Avery?” He yells. He could kill him. He could kill this strange being now, he’s more than powerful enough to do so. But he can’t yet. He realizes this fully when he watches the doppleganger’s eyes roll back, not enough oxygen to reach his lungs at all. He lets go. The doppleganger crumples to the ground, clutching his throat, gasping for air.
“I’m sorry,” The doppleganger says. “I’m really sorry, I-“
“You’re going to be a hell of a lot more sorry if you don’t tell me where Avery is now,” Derek says.
The doppleganger is compliant. He doesn’t speak, just moves, as Derek keeps a threatening hand at the back of his neck, just to remind — though once human, he too, is a monster, and is more than willing to act it for Avery. They walk outside the cabin, into the night. Derek assumes they’re going to head further, but instead, the creature takes a right and points him in the direction of the garden. Derek scoffs, nudging him forward harshly regardless. Careful not to upset the plants, the doppleganger teeters over to the shed, where they hold the fishing lines and tools they use to tend to the rest of the house.
“Open it.” Derek orders.
The doppleganger does. Derek’s heart floods with relief as he is met with the sight of his Avery, the real one, and rushes past the doppleganger to hold him. He is tied weakly with fishing line, mouth stuffed with a patch of carpet. Carefully, he unties Avery, freeing him and then turning to face the doppleganger.
“Oh my gosh,” Avery says as soon as he can speak, embracing Derek. “I knew you would find me. On the other hand,” He steps forward, and punches the doppleganger as hard as he can across the face. He falls onto the crops Avery had worked so hard to cultivate. “I don’t know why you frickin’ dared to do that to me.”
“Explain. Or I’ll fucking kill you, like I did last time.” Derek demands.
The doppleganger swallows. “I… It’s a long story.”
“Get to it then.”
The doppleganger sighs. His gaze switches between Derek and Avery, ashamed, petulant almost like a child berated. He doesn’t seem too affected by the punch, or the choking, which leads Derek to conclude he might be some extension of the world, or even worse, the King. Dropping him into the void last time worked just fine. So why is he back? Derek’s mind run endless, infinite ways to truly restrain this creature, so much so he almost forgets why he’s here. Avery has to nudge him to snap him out of his thoughts.
“…not here to harm you. Promise. I was going to let Avery go in a bit.”
“Liar.” Avery growls.
“Okay, yes, I was lying. I don’t have morals, at least not the way you guys process them.” The doppleganger admits, sighing. “But I do understand consequences. Derek would’ve found you anyways. I knew he already thought something was up, but he found me out sooner than I ever thought he would’ve. My plan was to… fuck him and then have him find you tommorow. Best case, you’d be angry, and hopefully leave and then I’d have him all to myself.”
“And all this for..?” Avery demands.
“Guys…” The doppleganger, still the splitting image of Avery flushes red. “I mean… I hear you guys do it every night.”
Avery’s face bunches up in contempt. “Every night? What the fuck, were you-“
“It’s not what you think!” The doppleganger responds. “I’m… I’m a part of the world, like how Derek is. Except I’m limited. I can take on the forms of people, though only for a short while. Like how the King can possess specific vessels. I have a small part of him too, so I came back when Derek did, and I keep hearing you go at it you know. And I… just wanted to try. Just a taste.”
Avery scoffs. “If you even think I’m letting you near Derek, you’re dead mistaken.”
“Pfft, I don’t need to get near Derek. I know he could crush me if he wanted to. But I can annoy you. I won’t really die unless Derek does. I already do piss you off. Who do you think caused the potato blight? I needed a reason for you to stay away so I could trick Derek, so… let me make you a deal.”
Avery snarls, irritated, as Derek pores over it.
“What’re your conditions?” Derek says.
“Derek!” Avery exclaims, but Derek stays firm. The doppleganger grins, and holds up three fingers in the air. “First, Derek fucks me.”
“Absolutely not.”
“Then I’ll go about ruining your crops.” The doppleganger says. “And unless you want Derek to die, or subject me to some kind of infinite torture that’ll keep me away but keep you up at night, you might wanna listen.”
Avery scoffs, but keeps his mouth shut.
“First, Derek fucks me, tonight.” He repeats. “He’s going to fuck me as hard as he’d fuck you. You’ll do this every once a week, and I’ll leave you guys alone the rest of the time. Last: I get to go around freely as long as I stay a mile away from where you live. I won’t attack or act in any hostile manner towards you. Deal?” He reaches his hand out to Derek, side-eyeing Avery and grinning from ear to ear.
“What’s the catch?” Derek asks.
“There is no catch.” He says, smiling. “I just want to fuck.”
The doppleganger looks to Derek, but he looks to Avery first. Avery thinks about it, poring over the idea and sighing. It’s just the two of them in this world. They can’t really afford to upset their only neighbor, and while Derek’s more than happy to find some way to restrain this doppleganger, this arrangement seems much easier and comes with the additional bonus of no hostility. Derek isn’t mortal, but Avery is. This might just be the better option.
Avery scoffs. “Fine,” He says, giving Derek the green light to reach out and shake the doppleganger’s hand. “I doubt you could do better than me anyways.”
“I’m sorry, what was that?” The doppleganger says, zipping towards Avery’s side, shoulders pressing up against his. He grins eagerly, a glint in his eyes as he slings an arm over Avery’s shoulders. They look exactly alike. Right from the colorful floral shirt, khaki shorts and green eyes, they are the complete and total splitting image of each other. This man could in fact, be Avery, but up close, Derek notices some discrepancies between how they act.
“I said,” Avery pushes off the doppleganger’s arm. “I doubt you could do better than me.”
“Oh really, in what? Sucking dick? Riding? You gotta be more specific. I bet I can make him cum faster than you ever could.” For one, the other Avery is more lewd.
“Huh? Who the frick do you think you are?” Avery says. “I suck cock just fine, thank you!”
“Yeah? Wanna prove it?”
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Derek finds himself sat on the edge of the bed, with both Avery and the doppleganger in between his knees, nursing his cock. He throws his head back in pleasure, firstly out of reflex, and secondly because if he looks down at the sight between his legs, he feels like he’ll fucking cum. Avery sheaths his entire cock in his throat, tears springing in his eyes, pushing himself down to the base out of pride. His lips stretch obscenely around the length, wet and drooling spit all over the thing, down to Derek’s balls, where the doppleganger licks vigorously, like an animal. He nuzzles them, burying his nose at the valley between each one, running his tongue back and forth, slurping up the drool and precum that falls from Avery’s mouth. He pops one of the balls in his mouth, fondling the other one, pink tongue running circles around it.
They don’t get along down there either. The doppleganger purposefully presses his hands against where Avery uses them for support, and Avery constantly jabs the doppleganger with his elbow. Both of them are naked, clothes strewn on the floor. Derek barely remembers who started it, just that he still has his pants on, and that Avery and his doppleganger had started stripping each other out of anger. Avery is much more needy, more clingy, humping his cock against Derek’s leg, crushing it up against his shin and moaning at the pleasure even as he fucks his own throat. The doppleganger is much more bold, eagerly fucking his own hole with his hands, four fingers slamming in and out.
“Daddy, am I doing good? Am I sucking good enough?” The doppleganger says, earning a heavy elbow to his ribs from Avery. “Hey, watch it!”
Avery pulls off the cock with a loud slurp noise and scowls. “That’s gross.”
“What, the nickname?” The doppleganger grins, returning his gaze to Derek. “I hope you like my sucking, daddy,” He moans, taking this moment to sit up straight and press his modest chest against Derek’s cock, rubbing it across his tits, smearing the precum and spit over it. “I can do even better, if you let me make this cock all mine…”
“No!” Avery says angrily, mirroring his doppleganger’s movements and pressing his chest too to Derek’s cock. Their twin nipples are stiff against Derek’s shaft, but their skin is all too soft and has Derek pressing his lips together tightly, trying to avoid his impending orgasm. The two of them butt heads, not lovingly, but like two animals trying to size each other up. Their chests don’t envelope Derek’s cock all that well, but the feeling of their skin is enough, wet and sliding vigorously, with hard pink nipples glistening.
“Fuck, fuck, you guys-“ With a groan, Derek cums violently, spraying white all over their chests and straight onto Avery’s sweet lips as he braces for impact, and the doppleganger’s open whore mouth. Tauntingly, the doppleganger spreads his lips apart, showing off to Avery.
Much to Derek’s surprise, Avery leans in and sloppily kisses his doppleganger. No, not a kiss. His hands are prying the doppleganger’s mouth apart, fighting for the cum inside, tongue scooping around for more. The doppleganger catches on quickly, but instead of resisting, he kisses back, mouthing the cum back into Avery’s throat, maintaining eye-contact with Derek the entire time. It is more than Avery can handle, and he coughs up the cum, sticky white semen dribbling down his chin, and onto his chest, where the doppleganger ducks to lick off those rosy nipples.
For once, Derek is thankful he isn’t a human anymore, because his cock is swiftly rock hard.
They change positions. Avery and the doppleganger on their stomachs, side by side on the bed, with Derek kneeling over them. He runs his hands past their bottoms, admiring the smooth, identical asses. Truly indifferentiable save for the obvious gape on the doppleganger’s, from where he’d been playing with his ass.
“Fuck me first!” “No, me first!” “You get to sleep with him all the time!” “That’s because he’s mine!” The two of them fight and bicker over who gets the privilege of getting fucked, not sparing shoves and smacks as they fight over the bed. Derek doesn’t even have to think. Practiced and this time familiar, Derek’s fingers find Avery’s tight pucker, even in the dark. He encircles it gently, pushing one, then two fingers in and out before making it three. Avery is leaking so heavily that four fingers is an easy feat, but the same goes for the doppleganger.
“Baby,” Derek says, gently reaching for Avery’s face, tilting it up and kissing him. “Always you first.” He says, sliding his cock between Avery’s asscheeks, teasingly too close to popping right inside the tight pucker. “Yes, yes, oh-“ Avery sighs happily, grinding back up against Derek’s inhumanly large dick, hips up in the air, back in a perfect arch. His toes are poised sharply, curled in anticipatory pleasure at the feeling of big, fat cock inside his guts.
The doppleganger pouts, reaching for Derek’s hand, guiding it into a fist. “Touch me too,” He whines. So occupied with Avery, Derek barely notices what the doppleganger is doing to his hand until he feels warm heat envelop his first. Instinctively, he pulls his arm back, only to be caught at the wrist. “Don’t be scared, daddy,” The doppleganger says. “Keep your fist there, please, that’s exactly where I need it. Keep it there.” He continues, encircling his fingers around where Derek’s arm juts out of his ass. His rim stretches obscenely around it as he breathes, slurping at Derek’s forearm for more, rivers of lube drooling down to Derek’s elbow and onto the bed. “I’ll do most of the work, so just stay and keep your fist inside me.” He feels every inch of the doppleganger’s insides. They envelope his hand, his wrist, half his forearm. Both the doppelganger and Avery have their skin flushed red, eyes dilated, and identical twin cocks standing at stiff, wet attention, leaking precum every time Derek moves.
Derek pushes easily into Avery. “Faster, faster!” He cries out. His hole is wet and eager, swallowing his cock and gulping it down into its guts. The heat within Avery is so profound, so all-consuming that Derek groans as he starts moving into Avery’s upturned hips. Avery moans eagerly at every thrust, rocking back from where his face is buried in the pillow, screaming unfiltered obscenities. The sound of their skin slapping together fills the entire cabin, and the bed creaks wildly. Avery pants madly, his untouched cock dripping onto the sheets, as the doppleganger fervently jerks off his.
The doppleganger cums first, with a cry of Derek’s name, spilling into his fist. Avery follows not soon after, just as Derek floods his insides with hot, sticky seed, reminding him of who exactly he belongs to, and who exactly belongs to him. The sheets are disgusting, wet with sweat and cum and drool, but all of them are too tired to move at all. They take a moment to bask in the afterglow, waves of arousal pulsing through them even minutes after their orgasms. Tidying up is a matter left predominantly to Derek, who settles himself for just stripping the bed of its sheets and laying in between the two. All out of fight, the doppleganger falls asleep first, snoring away. But Avery stays awake a little longer, and Derek notices it too, scooping him up in his arms, pressing a kiss to his head. Satisfied with his presence, Avery falls asleep too, using Derek’s arm as a pillow, head nuzzled in his chest.
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By the time Derek wakes up, the doppleganger is gone. He makes no attempt to look for him, and instead tends to the hearth, stoking up a new fire in no time. He tosses the leftovers from last night, the bread, the potatoes. The soup, he finishes. He would’ve normally hated to make such a waste, but he wants that when Avery wakes up, no reminder of the doppleganger is visible. Granted, Avery didn’t stop them at any time, but Derek doesn’t want to see the food anyways, and instead settles for throwing some fish over the fire and watching it roast, like the first time they saw each other in this new body.
Last night was fun, but he prefers it this way, just him and Avery.