mindcracklove | It All Began With Fortune III, MCbris

Gift-prompt thingy for Fireredlily, who wanted cute MCbris gift-giving.

It started with a mining trip.

Nebris had been down in a system of winding caves for days and emerged with more than enough resources for himself - diamonds and gold and redstone aplenty. And Lapis. So much Lapis, though he supposed that was thanks to the Fortune III enchantment on his pick. It was far more than he actually needed, and he didn’t want the rest to sit in a chest, unused for however long.

But where to send it off?

The idea comes to him in an instant. MC, of course! The orange-suited man was absolutely wild over the blue ore, and would no doubt love a gift of the stuff. Content with his decision, Nebris headed over to where MC was supposed to be based. The walk wasn’t long, considering the border was still in place, and soon he came upon the village MC and Millbee had last been seen at.

It was empty. Neither man nor sheep-man were anywhere to be found. Nebris frowned softly and grumbled a little under his breath. But he was out here and it would be worth it to have MC smile over something he did. So he searched around a bit, found their base and pulled a chest out of his inventory, slapping it down and laying his precious blue bounty inside. Lastly he pulled out one of the few sheet of paper he had on him, scribbled a note to MC (that may or may not have contained at least one ridiculous smiley face) and left that inside with the lapis.

Task completed, Nebris turned back towards spawn, and his bed. Which he missed very much.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It continued with a chest’s-worth of glowstone.

MC stared down at the offending glowing object, Millbee standing next to him.

“How was I supposed to know Fortune III would work just as well as Silk Touch!?” MC just gave Millbee a disgruntled look. They’d only needed a little glowstone, but Millbee had gotten a bit enthusiastic and taken the Fortune III pick with him to the Nether. Now he had a single chest stacked full with Glowstone, and no need for it.

MC brightened considerably though. He knew just the person to give this to. And after the unexpected but very welcome gift of Lapis he’d received from the man, he thought a return gift would be received with Nebris’ usual enthusiasm for the Nether block.

He emptied his inventory of everything except his sword and some steak, emptied the chest of its contents and grabbed the chest itself. Millbee tossed him a book and quill with a knowing look and MC hid the heat that flushed across his nose behind the guard of his helmet. MC’s crush on Nebris was well-established, and while Millbee had been supportive of MC - and cheeky about the whole thing - MC still hadn’t gathered the courage to talk to Nebris about it. He wasn’t even sure that Nebris would return his feelings.

Shaking the dark thoughts from his head, MC instead began his short trek to spawn, which didn’t take long at a sprint. Spawn was a bustle of activity. He could see BTC working on the Royal Chicken, Seth putting some finishing touch or another on the apartments and Anderz heading back towards the lake with his pickaxe slung over his shoulder and a smug look on his face. Others were here and there, and MC waved to them as he headed towards Nebris’ castle.

It was beautiful, and far more completed than the last time he’d seen it. A sprawling structure of dark wood and stone brick, Nebris’ handiwork was something to be admired. However, said handyman was unfortunately nowhere to be found, and the castle was a bit too big for MC to go poking around in looking for him. Instead he headed towards the throne room - and wasn’t that just like Nebris? To have a throne for himself - and gently popped the chest down in front of the throne.

He relieved himself of his glowing bundle, scribbled a playful note to the purple-eyed man and then headed back out into spawn and then for home. He still had a field to replant today. Carrots weren’t going to grow themselves, after all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It carried on, as most things do, with a little bit of give and take.

Nebris was indeed delighted with his gift, MC found out. Guude had informed him that, passing through Nebris’ place to ask a few question, he’d seen the normally gruff man smiling softly as he held a book in hand and looked inside a glowing chest. MC had puffed up a little in pride at the news, and Guude had given him a fond, if slightly exasperated, and amused look.

Thinking that was it for now, MC continued on with this work. He wasn’t expecting an overly amused Etho to find him a few days later and gently hand him a magenta zinnia and a daffodil surrounded by bright red poppies. MC’s face had flushed bright red and he ignored Etho’s quiet snickering, taking the bouquet and shooing him away, flustered.

Once Etho was gone, he took a better look at the flowers themselves. They must have been freshly picked, and they smelled lovely. With a soft smile he gently undid the bit of string holding them together and found a glass bottle, which he filled with water and gently slid the flowers into. Etho, through his quiet laughter, had told him they were a gift from Nebris.

Did Nebris understand what these flowers could mean? MC did. Having heard Millbee go on distractedly about his secret gardening hobby, he knew enough about the “language of flowers” to see what Nebris might have meant.

Fresh courage surging through him, MC decided he would return the favor. Nebris had been working almost non-stop on something in the castle, and maybe he would enjoy a warm meal for once?

~*~*~*~*~*

Nebris dragged himself out of the hole in the ground where he’d been working on redstone for the last countless hours. It was too damn bright out, his head hurt and was starving. Not even Etho’s news that MC had received his gift with pleasure was enough to shake off his exhaustion-induced bad mood.

Growling like a wolf with a sore paw, he stalked back to the castle, intent on shoving something into his stomach for food and then passing out for a while. What he wasn’t expecting was a plate being kept warm on top of the furnace, which he caught sight of as he lumbered into the sleeping area. The scent was intoxicating, and Nebris smelled baked potato and steak. He made his way over and sunk into the chair, bringing the plate in front of him and digging in with gusto.

This must have just been made, it tasted so fresh. Once his meal was done, he was about to get up and put the plate aside to be washed later when something caught his eye. Sitting on one of his crafting benches was a glass bottle filled slightly with water and overflowing with what appeared to be Acacia blossoms.

Delight raced through him as a gentle heat settled on the bridge of his nose and a soppy grin settled on his face. He knew now exactly who had come to make him a meal and brighten up his day. MC had been here.

Puffing up like so proud a dragon he contented himself for now to strip down and crawl into his bed, staring happily at the Acacia blossoms and reveling in their message. He would return the favor after he’d rested for a while.

~*~*~*~*~

What happened next would later be referred to - mostly by the cheekier members of the Mindcrackers - as the “MC and Nebris can’t discuss their damn feelings mating dance.”

It was always little things; a meaningful flower left on a bench or delivered by an exasperated friend, little odds and ends found in caves and sometime treats they knew the other favored. Everyone else was just waiting for them to make their move already.

But MC was too nervous and Nebris was displaying none of his usual confidence when it came to approaching a challenge. But that was just it, wasn’t it?

MC wasn’t a challenge for him to conquer or rule over. MC was a person, and an amazing one at that. MC was someone he wanted to devote himself to. Someone he wanted to cook meals with and spend long lazy nights just curled up under the stars making lame jokes. Never before had he wanted so badly to make someone laugh and smile, just for the sake of the warmth that came with it.

Nebris may have been hopelessly in love with MC.

It had taken him a while to admit that to himself, mainly because he wasn’t sure he was cut out to love someone as kind and gentle as MC. But time and secret late-night drinking sessions with Pak and Generikb had allowed him to think that maybe he could be someone almost deserving of MC.

And that led to now. He’d finally gotten up the courage to approach MC, and he was standing in front of the door of Orange Wool’s base. He’d carefully picked a special bouquet of flowers, made sure he was clean and did his hair so it looked less bed-messy. Millbee had flashed him a knowing grin and ducked away into a nearby woods when he’d shown up, but for that Nebris was thankful.

Bolstering himself once more he knocked on the door and waited until it opened to reveal the man of his dreams. As cliche as that sounded, it was true to Nebris. He wasn’t wearing his usual orange suit; instead, he was wearing a pair of slightly oversized pajama pants and a baggy t-shirt. Nebris melted a bit more inside.

“Hey MC,” he rumbled.

“H-hi Nebris. What brings you out here this evening?” MC was looking at Nebris, but from time to time he looked down at the flowers. Nebris gently handed them to him, a shock of warmth and affection rolling through him when MC smiled brightly.

“I was wondering if you’d do me the honor of going on a date with me?” Okay, so a little formal, but he was nervous. MC blushed just as hotly as Nebris knew he himself probably was and was silent for a while. Just as Nebris was getting nervous and was about to retract his request, MC turned his blinding smile on him.

“I would love to.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And, like all the best stories, it ended with a kiss.