★Amethyst★

Sometimes I think about how it would feel for the spirits to wake up in a world so different than the one they left behind...

One day, your bad habits are gonna catch up to you.

It’s something you’ve heard over and over again, sometimes spoken to you and sometimes not. Either way, you hadn’t expected it to show up and ruin your life just like that!

It shouldn’t have even been that big of a deal, honestly! Maybe if you had the balls to admit your mistake, you’d be able to have a conversation with Verity that wasn’t awkward!

Unfortunately, you can’t seem to be able to talk to him without being reminded of that stupid slip up.

More accurately, he won’t stop reminding you of it.

It had just been a normal day of reorganizing your stuff. Who knew that stuffing all your items into chests haphazardly would lead to them overflowing? Obviously not you, and because of this, Verity had offered to help you out like the good helper he was.

You have to admit that they were very helpful, coming up with good organization strategies and honestly doing most of the work, but that might’ve been the problem. They were too helpful. Maybe if they were a little less good at their job none of this would’ve happened.

“Did we have a chest set for potions yet?” You asked Verity, shaking a small consumable potion (you aren’t that reckless!).

Verity, who was about elbow deep in one of your cluttered chests, looked around before directing you to a chest positioned up on a shelf.

”Try not to just drop them in there, please?” They added before returning their focus to the chest

You scoffed at the idea that you’d ever break a potion that you worked hard on. Sometimes you might drop a glass of water, maybe even drop him when he’s nothing more than a ball, but you would never even dream of dropping something as precious as a potion of healing!

Well, that’s not to say they aren’t precious to you either, it’s just… Whatever! You know what you mean!

Looking up at the chest was when you were presented with your first challenge. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Verity is much, much taller than you and while you normally wouldn’t complain, whenever he sets something down he feels the need to put it way above you.

If you didn’t know any better, you’d think he did it on purpose. He’s lucky you give him the benefit of the doubt.

Reaching as high as you could proved to be pointless, even with you on the tips of your toes you could barely even get the chest open. You’d kind of have to drop it in if you wanted to get it in there.

See, maybe if you had actually thought about it a little bit first, you wouldn’t have gotten yourself in this mess.

Unfortunately though, there is no changing the past, and there is no changing how you called for Verity to come over.

You had flinched when Verity leaned over you, somehow already right behind you when you distinctly remember them acting super busy with their chest just seconds before. They’re always doing things like this—seemingly teleporting from place to place—but you doubt you’re ever going to get used to it.

Verity, oblivious to your thoughts, simply hovers over you with a smile. “Do you need help?”

For a moment all you could do was stupidly look at him, trying to figure out why he always felt the need to rush over the second someone mentioned his name. Then, you nodded.

Never one to leave you hanging, Verity is quick to quickly yet carefully take the potion from your hand and reach up to put it in the chest before looking back at you expectantly.

Ah, yes, silly you… He’s started to expect thanks from you, even if he’s only done some menial task.

”Thank you, baby,” The endearment slips from your lips before you could stop it. You hadn’t even caught it at first, actually! Not until you realized how he had frozen up on the spot.

Normally, you wouldn’t have even lingered on it. It’s a name you call your friends often and looking back now you’re surprised it took you so long to use it on Verity, though now you wish you’d never used it at all.

Back then when they had seemingly buffered, you worried that maybe you made them uncomfortable with the sudden pet name. You were actually about to apologize before a bashful smile took place upon his lips and he turned away, going back to his chest.

Back then, you naively assumed that would be the end of it.

Now, you know better than that. He makes it extremely hard not to.

”Hi, baby!” He greets you as you walk downstairs for the first time today, the name sounding so genuine yet so odd at the same time. The weight behind it makes you cringe.

“Hi,” You pause, taking in how eager he looks to hear what may come from your lips next. It’s expectant, like he knows what you’re going to say. “…Verity,”

They shrink a little at that, reacting exactly like they have for the past few days. You’re not sure why they’re still holding out hope that you’ll call them that again—maybe you would if he wasn’t so clingy about it—and it sort of makes you feel bad but it’s not like you meant to call him that in the first place!

“Ahah… Do you have anything planned for today?” They ask awkwardly, putting their hands behind their back.

”Not really, no.” You say with a shrug, walking over to adjust a crooked item frame. You aren’t really surprised when they trail behind you.

If you had to liken Verity to anything, it’d be a lost puppy. A very dangerous, obsessive puppy, but still lost nonetheless. He trails you around pretty much everywhere he can, gets upset when he can’t, and you’re very sure you could get him to walk to the ends of the Earth for you if you asked nicely.

It’s obvious Verity wants to speak, though you’re not sure why he’s not just doing it. He’s not one to keep quiet when he’s got something to say.

Looking over your shoulder, you eye him curiously. “You good?”

”Huh?” They seem surprised by the question, though they quickly play it off. “I- Yes, I’m doing great!” They chirp.

You raise an eyebrow, waiting for them to say whatever is on their mind.

”Just, uhm…” There it is! “I have a small question.”

“Go ahead.” You prompt, nodding your head. Admittedly, it’s a little odd to be the one answering one of their questions and not the other way around, but if they think you can answer then you’ll definitely try.

“Why won’t you call me ‘baby’ again?”

Ah.

Heat rushes to your cheeks at that and you can’t stop yourself from looking to the side instead of maintaining eye contact. You knew you’d have to have a conversation about it at some point, but you weren’t expecting it so soon, let alone being initiated by him!

Dumbly, you only manage to stammer out a measly, “I-I’m sorry?”

”Well, you called me baby back when we were sorting through the chests…” He wrings his hands nervously as he speaks, “But you haven’t said it again despite me saying it… many times. Why is that?”

The explanation didn’t help at all, you didn’t even need it, really! Part of you just wants the world to open up and swallow you whole.

”I- Just- Uhm-“ You stutter awkwardly in your efforts to find the right words for what you want to say, eventually settling on the more straightforward option. “I didn’t really mean to call you that.”

”…Didn’t mean to call me that?” He asks, and from his perspective it’s a very valid question! You doubt he’s ever said something on accident before.

Embarrassed, you chew at your bottom lip. “Not really, no. It’s just a dumb thing I call my friends sometimes, I don’t know why I called you it, hah…”

You know you’re probably over-exaggerating but this feels like one of the worst conversations you’ve had in your life, it doesn’t really help that Verity is now staring right at your face.

”Sorry. I- I know it probably meant a lot to you,” It most definitely meant a lot to him considering he’s been clinging to the nickname like a lifeline, “It was just a stupid mistakes on my part.”

Once again, there’s that awkward silence. Verity continues to stare at your face, their expression unreadable yet still making the hairs on your arms stand. How long are they going to just look at you?

Unsure if you can handle this awkward silence any longer, you just start babbling nonsense.

”I can keep calling you that if you want, I guess- It’s just, uhm, it’s a bit awkward now, right? Haha. If you liked it we can just pretend this never happened—“

”Why would I want that?” Their voice cuts through your awkward rambling like a knife, the slightly deeper pitch catching you off guard.

”S- Uh, sorry?”

”I don’t want you to call me what you call others.” He says it with such finality that you cant even find it in you to question him. “Am I not special to you?”

Huh. Is he special to you? You have a unique relationship, yes, but saying that he’s special would be too… Intimate? Is that the right word?

They say your name and look at you expectantly, tilting their head slightly as they await your answer.

“Well, you…” You trail off, watching their expression harden. Wrong answer. You let out a defeated sigh before continuing, “Yes, Verity, you’re… special to me.”

They let out a hum, though you’re skilled enough at reading them to know it’s not a pleased one. Now that just makes you upset! You can’t say no since that’ll just make them mad, but you can’t just say yes either because that’ll make them mad too!

“Okay then,” They say, a smile much smaller than their normal one stretching across their lips. “Call me something else.”

Oh. Alright then, you can do that. You let out an internal sigh of relief that he’s not making a huge deal out of this.

Mirroring his small smile, you ask, “Like what?”

“Surprise me,” He says rather simply, patting your head, “I’ll make a name for you, you make a name for me.”

That sounds like a fair trade to you. You nod, ignoring how condescending it feels to be pat on the head when you’re a grown adult, instead using your head to brainstorm the many possible nicknames you could use on him.

He says your name once more and you perk up, noticing how much softer his expression has gotten. It’s much more comforting than that hard stare he was giving you earlier, so you’ll take it!

”Make sure to make it special, okay sweetheart?” The pet name rolls so smoothly off his tongue that for a moment you don’t even register that he’s called you that. The normality of it sends a rush of energy through your body and, as if it was on autopilot, you nod without thinking.

Special. You can do that.