Young Writers Society

...If he hadn't already felt guilty about suddenly appearing in the kitchen, he would have felt even horrible about ruining the boy's plans - especially when he didn't even know his name. As he followed him out of the kitchen, he glanced at the note. Whatever his name was, it started with an "A".

He joined him in the doorway.

It was only when he was about to slip out into the rest of the house that he realized he might have looked just a little out of place. Unfortunately, he didn't really know what was normal for Earth.

"...What are the weirdest parts of my appearance?" he finally asked. "I don't want to stand out, but none of the chosen are here to help me right now."

Avery chuckled and pointed to his face. "Your eyes are pretty different," he said, walking out of the house and keeping the door open for Télos.

When he noticed his hair, Avery winced and pointed at it. "Uhh, men around Levis don't usually wear their hair long..."

He jingled his car keys in front of Télos's face in attempt to make him hurry up.

Télos glanced up at his hair, holding up a strand in front of his apparently abnormal eyes and staring at it. His long hair and golden eyes were the problem? He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but neither one of those had been it.

Still, he'd oblige.

He snapped his fingers - he didn't technically have to do it that way, but it was far more fun to. His hair was suddenly around Lex's length - not cropped too short, but with the longest parts in the back just barely going past the middle of his neck. He traded the golden eyes for amber ones.

Dearly missing the feeling of his braid on his back, he strode over to the door and slipped past the boy.

"There," he said, giving him a grin.

Avery gawked at Télos. When he realized he was staring, he shut his mouth and cleared his throat. "Yeah. Um. To the car, now." he shook his head and locked the door behind him and Télos.

Walking towards his gray Lexus, he stopped mid step and turned on his heel and looked at the God under the cloudless sky. There was no sign of the sun yet. "Do you... know what a car is? Do you have those in your world?" he asked, pursing his lips.

He shook his head.

"I've heard of them before," Télos said, walking towards what he assumed was a car - Lex had tried drawing him a picture, once, but Lex wasn't really an artist. "My chosen actually died in one - it's, uh, a long story."

Avery rolled his eyes, "You've been babbling about this 'chosen one'," he said, making quotes in the air with his fingers, "what is it, exactly?"

After a pause, "Come inside and we'll talk."

He opened the passenger's seat open for Télos.

"He's not a chosen one," Télos said, quietly thanking him as he slid into the seat. He wasn't entirely sure what he was supposed to do once he was inside, but it looked like there was some sort of buckle he had to pull over his chest. He fumbled for a few seconds before he finally figured out where it was supposed to go and how it was supposed to move.

"He's a chosen," he corrected. "It's different - er, I think it is. Chosen have a connection to a god, and the connection lets them use their powers, talk with them in their head, and end up on Minecraftia if they're from Earth. I have a couple, but Lex is from here so I've been bringing him up."

"Right." Avery said, shutting the door and walking over to the other side. He started the engine and pulled out of the driveway.

When Avery couldn't bear the silence any longer, he said, a little too loud, "So why are you here? If you haven't already told me the answer to that. And how will you go back? I don't want some God on Earth. I think presidents are good enough."

He turned the wheel to the right and stopped at a traffic light.

He stared at the red light above them.

Gods couldn't die easily. At least, he didn't think they could - there were so few of them left now, and they had all been so young when the Great War had happened. But Télos couldn't stop thinking about how something like this had been what had caused Lex to die. Lex had never said how, exactly, but Télos knew that it had something to do with cars.

And he couldn't stop thinking about how if the boy - the one who he didn't even know the name of - got into an accident Lex had, there might not be any survivors.

He clenched his hands into fists in his lap, trying to distract himself with the pain of his fingernails digging into his palms.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I was just walking down the hallway of the palace when I ended up here."

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, eyes still on the red light.

"...I don't know how I'll get back," he said. "Usually something happens that explains how I got here, and then I find a way to get back. But if that doesn't happen..."

He faltered.

Avery cocked his eyebrow. "This is still very weird." he muttered under his breath.

He wanted to honk the car loud and fast so he could get rid of the annoyance boiling in his blood, and the fact that the traffic light was still on red and there was zero cars around.

Avery hit the gas pedal and sped ahead, turning left, and stopping the car in front of a small building. "My apartment." he said quickly, turning off the engine and storming out. He waited in front of the front door, waiting for Télos and furiously tapping his foot.

He couldn't understand the boy's irritation, but Télos decided it was probably a good idea to get out of the car as soon as he could. He wasted no time in joining him by the door to where he must have lived.

"...You never told me your name, by the way," Télos pointed out, giving him the awkward kind of smile someone gives when they know someone's going to get mad at them but hope they won't despite that.

"Avery Ashton." he said quickly. "I prefer Ave. And once we get to my apartment, I'll make coffee. I get cranky with no sleep. I don't think coffee'll help, but who cares." he rambled, locking the car with the button n the car keys.

If looks could kill, Télos would have been dead as soon as he was seen.

But... he was immortal. But could he be killed if he was stabbed or shot? Avery thought of it, but couldn't come up with an answer. They got into the elevator and Avery pressed the number 10 button.

"Ave," he repeated quietly underneath his breath. His gaze traveled around the small room they were in. He could feel it moving underneath his feet; it was something he had never experienced before when visiting other worlds, and it definitely was throwing him off.

Avery looked at the God's expression and smiled to himself. "You've never been in an elevator, have you?" he said quietly.

He stared at the numbers on the wall increasing and closed his eyes, rubbing his temple.

Headache.

He sighed, pasted a smile on his face, and looked at Télos.

He shook his head.

"We don't have elevators on Minecraftia," Télos admitted. He stared at the changing numbers on the wall. "I might have seen them in a player's house or two, but I've never actually be in one."

He leaned back up against the wall, still very much missing the feeling of his braid on his back.

"I'm not sure I'm the biggest fan," he said.