Chapter Text
Thirty.
Shane was thirty years old as of today.
He didn’t feel much like celebrating. It was just another reminder of his depressing life, self inflicted through poor decisions and laziness. And how it shows his slow mortality and how he was another year to his enviable death.
He couldn’t care less for birthdays. Especially his own.
But Marnie got pizza for the family, so that was kinda nice. He picked it up on his way back from work, coming home to the table already set. Jas was walking around the table, putting little paper bows she had made on the back of the seats, until she saw Shane. She stopped what she was doing to run over and hug onto his leg.
It wouldn’t be farfetched for him to say she was his sole reason for living.
After he got her off and the pizza on the table, he went to the fridge for a beer. He saw the six pack he’d probably finish that night alone. Happy birthday to him. Maybe he’d top the cans off with the Tito’s he had hidden in his room. Woohoo, a party.
Marnie, who had been at the counter, tsked as she saw him grab the beer.
“Starting early tonight.” She commented.
Shane rolled his eyes, ignoring her. Marnie then broke open the pizza, starting their dinner.
It wasn’t too different from their normal family dinners. The only difference was at the end, Marnie went into the fridge and pulled out a surprise cake. It was a simple box mix cake with sprinkles on top. She was quick to tell the both of them that it was chocolate cake.
Jas seemed a little more excited than Shane. It made him smile- not just the kind gesture but Jas’ happiness. Marnie wasn’t finished, taking a hidden bag from underneath the sink.
“I know you don’t take out the trash so I didn’t have to worry about you finding your present there.” Marnie teased him, placing the decorative bag on the table. It had ‘happy birthday’ printed on the side. “You can open it once we sing for you.”
“No. Don’t do that.” Shane raised up his hand, telling her to stop.
She hummed, disagreeing with him. She found her lighter and birthday candle next. Through his disdain, Shane faked a smile (more of a grimace) for her as Marnie and Jas sang to him. As soon as the candle was out, he finished his beer and tossed it into the recycling bin.
“What’d ya wish for!” Jas enthusiastically asked him, but Shane playfully shushed her. As he relaxed in his chair, leaning back, he replied.
“I can’t tell you. You know the rules.”
“Aw.” She pouted.
Marnie shoved the bag towards him, a bit excited. “Now open your stupid present!”
“Stupid? Is that the type of words you wanna use in front of the youth?” He joked with Marnie but she continued to shove the bag at him.
Shane took out the blue tissue paper, setting it aside. He knew she reused it, so he was careful with it. Jas took it and even straightened it out for her as he peeked inside the bag.
“Socks.” He said aloud, seeing the bulk pack of black socks. She must’ve ordered it online. He did actually need socks.
“That’s not all! Look under it!” Marnie told him.
He took the socks out, placing them aside. His expression lightened up, seeing the case tucked nicely in the bag. When he took the case out, he examined it.
It was the new game he had wanted.
“How’d you know?” He genuinely asked her, raising an eyebrow.
“You told me. About a week ago.” She informed him matter of factly.
Shane pursed his lips, not remembering that at all.
“Thanks. I like it.” He told her. Marnie smiled.
Something seemed to occur to Jas as she ran off, telling them to wait there. She was back a moment later with a piece of paper she forced Shane to take.
“I drew this for you at school today.” Jas let him know. Shane held the paper out directly in front of him, taking a look. It was a crude child’s drawing but he could sorta piece it together. Two people, one tall and one short, near a lot of blue and yellow. Jas continued to explain it before he could. “It’s us! On the beach! Like last week!”
Shane did remember taking her to the beach. It was an easy kid trip where she’d splash around and he could sit in the sand with a cold one.
“You have some talent, kid. I’ll put it in my wallet.” Shane did mean what he said, that he’d put it in his wallet. He folded the paper into a size that would fit in front of her, took his wallet from his pants, and shoved it in. Jas seemed pleased by this and took her seat again.
Marnie now began to cut the cake, talking about something unrelated and unimportant as she did so. Shane scratched at his arm, itching to get out of his social obligations, to go to his room. The six pack in the fridge was calling to him and he didn’t want to hear shit from Marnie, so he had to wait.
After eating the cake, cleaning up the plates, and cleaning Jas up from the cake- he was free from his responsibilities. He thanked Marnie and Jas one more time before retiring for the night to his room.
He waited a courtesy five minutes before returning for his beer. So what if he liked it cold and couldn’t afford a mini fridge for his room. The big fridge was plenty fine, it just meant he had to sneak it to his room. Despite being a grown ass adult. Thirty fucking years old.
With the newly acquired (half gone) six pack, he laid on his bed to relax and drink the beer.
It was a tranquil moment. As the liquid went into him, he felt a little relaxed for just a second. It made him want more.
His eyes traveled to the floor. Marnie had taken the gift bag back to reuse in the future. The socks and the game were next to each other, in an arm's reach. He grabbed the game to examine the front and back. It was a roleplay game that had very recently come out. Since he had nothing else to do and the day off tomorrow, he rolled out of bed onto the floor and grabbed his control.
“Let’s get this started,” He said to himself.
He put on his headphones (not just so he didn’t annoy Marnie, who he shared a wall with, but so he had a microphone just in case.) and shoved a pillow behind his back. Then he pressed the power button, beginning the game.
-
It was a good game, he’d admit that. The type he could lay back and lose himself in. He would admit it was a little silly, considering some aspects of the game were things he could be doing in real life. There were of course fantasy elements but he found himself doing the more mundane things. Similar to picking flowers and farming in Minecraft, it was just more fun.
When it was around midnight, he saved and put down the controller. Time to go to bed.
-
This was his life now. It sorta always was. He always drank at night and played the occasional video game, but he was really into this one.
It took a few days before he joined a small group of people to play with. He didn’t really have a choice if he wanted to progress, so he joined a small gathering that was beginning to resemble a village. As he carried on with his tasks, he could overhear the other people around him talking. He could talk with them. He chose not to. Why would he? They were all chud sounding dudes anyways. No one he wanted to associate with.
Like any other day, he signed on. The guys sorta joked about him, the silent guy, joining again. Shane honestly didn’t give a shit and ignored them. He had stuff to do anyways, considering his garden was almost done.
A singular person came towards him. This was unusual. It was customized as a girl, but that wasn’t too unusual despite the heavily male population. They were new to the game too as their stats were low. He continued what he was doing.
“What part of the flower has the most friends?” The person said through the game. The voice was a woman’s voice, followed by a bit of giggling. A soft voice, but with energy. Something he’d imagine a fairy to have. Or a mom. Fairy mom? He didn’t really know. It was proximity based, so it was definitely towards him. Was this a set up? He stayed quiet.
“The bud!” She exclaimed before laughing. Her laugh was infectious especially compared to all the gross asses he had been around. She continued with a throwaway joke. “Also, ‘cause you can smoke it.”
Shane now laughed. He wasn’t sure if it was the joke or the situation. It was a full laugh too, something hardy.
“Hey! I got you to laugh!” The person announced. Given how the voice chat worked, only the two of them could hear her.
Shane tensed. It was an eerily response. He double checked his mic settings- finding his mic accidentally unmuted.
“Fuck,” He mumbled.
“That’s not very polite.” She quipped.
“I didn’t know my mic was on.” He explained.
“Aw. So how’s your garden going?” She asked. Her character floated around the garden. Due to his shitty internet, she sorta jumped around.
“It’s… good. It’s good.” He replied.
“I like your garden. Can I ask a question?”
“You already are.”
“Why a garden? There’s lots to do in this game and you chose gardening?”
Shane paused. He thought over his answer, rubbing his thumb against his other fingers. He didn’t have a reason.
“I like my garden.” He finally answered.
“I have a proposition for you.” She giggled again at the end of her sentence. It was… cute. But she was definitely up to something.
“What.”
“I’m making a new server and need someone to help me with it. You have the most experience and have obvious attention to detail. And so far, not an asshole.”
In a strange moment for him, he was quick with his decision.
“Alright. Send me the link, I’ll join.”
“Awesome! I’ll send you a friend request.”
A little ding signified a friend request coming in. Her username, LavenderMatter, came up. She was his first friend (on the game station).
Within a few minutes, he spawned into her world. There was something unique about it. She had been building, unsuccessfully, but he could see what she was going for. No wonder she needed help.
“Let’s get started.”