Fintan and Bronte play Minecraft

minecraft

Note: this is before Fintan gets discovered as a Neverseen member. Probably. 

Late into the night, lights illuminated the top floor of Councillor Bronte's castle. He sat on his most comfortable couch facing his new TV he had somehow acquired and managed to set up from the Forbidden Cities. 

Bronte's mind wandered to the thought of sleep, it was late, and tomorrow's Councillor meeting would be tiresome. But he pushed it aside for now, focusing instead on Minecraft, absorbed in building his house. Sleep can wait a little longer. Oblivious to the sound of a window opening. Once Bronte heard footsteps, he realized he wasn't alone. He paused his game and turned to see a shadowy figure skulked in the darkness. 

“What are you doing awake at this time of night?” The voice was loud compared to the Minecraft music playing in the background. Bronte would recognize that voice anywhere. It haunted his nightmares. 

Bronte ignored the question, his eyes fixed on the screen as he stood up. “Fintan, I told you not to break into my house.” 

Fintan smiled, undeterred. “I couldn't help myself. I saw your lights on and I had to know what was keeping you up so late. Some troubling paperwork, perhaps?” 

Bronte turned to face him, ready to shoot him a glare that could cut steel and give him a piece of his mind. But his eye caught Fintan's loose button-up shirt, hanging open just enough to be distracting. Fintan's footsteps were silent as he drew closer, his fingers lightly traced along the back of Bronte's neck, sending an unexpected chill down his spine. 

Bronte jerked away, his pulse rising as he fought to stay composed. “You should be asleep too, you know,” he muttered, hiding his flustered face and sat down on the couch, moving to turn off the game. 

Fintan was faster and snatched the controller out of his grasp. “What is this contraption?” He said, examining it with curiosity, turning it over in his hands. 

Bronte sighed, realizing he wasn't going to get rid of him anytime soon. “It's a controller to play video games with. It's a human invention. Sophie taught me how to use it,” he gestured to the screen where Minecraft was still paused. 

Fintan's face lit up, his eyes sparkling. “I want to play with you.” 

You already do, Bronte almost blurted out, instead he sighed, crossed his arms and said, “Fine, there's another controller under the table.” Fintan grabbed it and sat beside him, a little too close for comfort. Bronte unpaused the game and connected the second controller. 

“How do I use this?” Fintan kept pressing random buttons until Bronte said, “You could try holding it the other way.” 

The pyrokinetic glared at Bronte with fiery eyes until he showed him which buttons did what. Then Bronte showed Fintan over to his wooden box treehouse in the taiga biome, and he laughed at it. 

“It's only been a few hours, not nearly enough time to get resources for a decent house,” Bronte said, but his words didn't get through to Fintan because he was still laughing. 

Finally, his laughter slowed, and he said, “I'm going to build a better house than you. Not that it's going to be difficult to beat that tragedy.” 

He then set up his base in the nearby mountain, but building it was harder than Fintan expected, because he had only just begun placing walls when night came, and mobs spawned in. 

“What are those things appearing?” Fintan asked when a skeleton started walking his way. 

Bronte smiled wickedly. “That's a skeleton, a monster that tries to kill you.” His response was too late though, as it fired upon Fintan, and half his health was already gone. 

“How do I kill it?” He yelled, sprinting around, failing to dodge the arrows. 

“By punching it, or hitting it with a weapon.” Bronte enjoyed watching him flail about while in the comfort of his own home. Inevitably, Fintan died and his items plopped on the ground. 

“I told you this game was harder than it looks.” He laid back on the couch. “You should get your items back before they despawn in five minutes.” 

Fintan grumbled about not explaining the entire game to him and respawned. Sprinting back as fast as he can, then went straight to building. He stepped back to review his progress. 

It was not much better than Bronte's house. Worse if you consider the scattered creeper holes nearby and the tree that was mysteriously on fire. So Fintan didn't mention his challenge from earlier. 

Meanwhile, Bronte had found a cave and was exploring it, finding a mineshaft. His luck wasn't with him though, as he found junk in the chests and kept running into cave spiders. 

“Why can't I sprint anymore?” Fintan asked, walking at a snail's pace. “Your hunger bar is low. Grow a farm or something,” Bronte grumbled as he found yet another chest full of junk. 

Fintan had built a measly farm, watching as it slowly grew. His patience ran out, and he tilted his head in Bronte's view, deliberately blocking the screen. “Wouldn't you rather… do something more fun?” Fintan licked his lips suggestively. 

Bronte barely registered the comment, too absorbed in the game. “Minecraft is fun,” he replied, focused on a cave spider crawling towards him. Bronte tried shoving Fintan away so he could concentrate on attacking the spider. 

But Fintan wasn't one to give up easily. He leaned in closer, whispering in Bronte's ear, “Why don't I show you fun?” Then Fintan wrapped his arms around him and pressed his lips to Bronte's. 

Bronte's brain went blank, and his heart skipped a few beats as time froze and he forgot about the game. Fintan's lips were sizzling hot as Bronte gave in to his desires. When he snapped back to reality, he shoved Fintan away to see the death screen. “No! All of my items are going to disappear!” Bronte couldn't remember the way back to the cave. He sank back into the couch in dismay. 

After he came to his senses, he set out to find his items just as they were disappearing, he went back to his sparsely decorated house, sleeping in the Minecraft bed. He explained to Fintan that to skip the night, everyone needed to be sleeping in beds. 

Fintan crafted a bed and made his way to Bronte's house, placing his bed next to his. He lay down with a playful grin. “Aww, look how cute we are, sleeping together.” He sighed, resting his head on Bronte's shoulder. 

“Get out and sleep in your own house.” Bronte pushed Fintan off of his side of the couch. 

“Fine.” Fintan said, taking his bed and heading back to his mountain base in the game. 

Bronte stood in front of him, eyes serious. “I meant in real life. I'm dead serious. Get out.” 

Fintan didn't budge, lounging back on the couch with an infuriating smirk. “Make me.” They locked eyes until Bronte's patience snapped. He couldn't take his cocky grin anymore and inflicted pain on him. Fintan let out a weird mix of a pained grunt and something suspiciously close to a moan. With Fintan distracted, Bronte threw him out the door and locked it behind him. 

Finally alone, Bronte let out an exasperated sigh, shaking his head at how ridiculous Fintan could be.