Confessions - LGBTQ+ Writing Contest

Instructions

Xay was never going to live this down. If it hadn’t been for their one little slip, Grian wouldn’t have found out about their secret. And they wouldn’t be about to lose a friend. /Why, why, why did I tell him?/ Grian, /of all people?/ Xay stood in the nether hub just outside of their portal, replaying the scene in their head. /Grian and Iskall stood with their heads together, whispering about something. They stood outside of The Barge, both with varying degrees of crooked grins on their faces. Xay walked out of the shop and overheard a bit of the conversation. “Hels... Xay... ship them... they’re so cute…” “Um, hi guys,” Xay said a little too loudly, announcing their presence. Grian jumped and his eyes widened. “Oh! Uh, hi Xay.” Iskall smiled. “Hallo!” he said cheerfully. “What are you guys talking about?” Xay asked, one eyebrow raised. “Uh, um, nothing-” Grian stuttered as Iskall simply said, “We think Hels likes you.” “Oh, good,” Xay said without thinking. Their eyes widened as they mentally caught up to what they’d done physically. Oh, crap, this wasn’t going to end well. It’d been no secret, really, that the Watcher had had a crush on the Nether Knight for a while. Or at least, Xay was pretty certain they’d been pretty obvious. But Hels didn’t seem to know. Xay had wanted to keep it that way, but they were a little tired of having to hide their crush on the perfect, handsome HelsKnight. “What?” Grian asked, voice cracking to a much higher note than originally intended. “Was it not obvious that I like him?” Xay asked quietly, intentionally whispering almost inaudibly. “Was it- huh- what did you say?” Grian asked again, even more confused. Iskall grinned in confusion. “Bye!” Xay said, backpedaling and taking off with their elytra, zooming towards... Well, they didn't really have a destination. “Xay, wait!” Grian yelled, his voice fading into the distance. A few minutes later, Xay got a message on their communicator. <Grian> do you like Hels? Xay sighed, swooped down to land near Grian’s mansion, and quickly typed a response. <EvilXisuma> was it not obvious? <Grian> i really had no clue Xay paced back and forth, debating whether to go to their base or to move to Alaska, change their name, and hide from everyone they’d ever known. Their communicator pinged again. <Grian> can i tell him? Xay stood there staring at their communicator until the message faded away. Then they stared some more. Xay would rather tell Hels themself, but with their low self-confidence and social awkwardness they’d just make a mess of it. If Grian doesn’t do this now, it’ll never get done, Xay told themself as they typed a response. <EvilXisuma> yes/ And now it was the next day, and Xay was still considering moving to Alaska. They hadn’t heard from Hels all day. Which they supposed was normal, it’s not like they talked every day. Just some days. Okay, more than just some. Try most. Screw it, maybe all of them. Xay was officially past the point of panicking and was now solidly at an existential crisis. Their communicator pinged. They waited a good minute or so before looking at it. <HelsKnight> can we talk? Xay wasn’t sure if they were happy Hels was still speaking to them or downright terrified for the conversation that was about to ensue. They decided it was both and replied to the message. <EvilXisuma> sure. where? <HelsKnight> spawn? <EvilXisuma> i’ll meet you there Xay took a deep breath. And then another five. Then they flew through the nether hub to the portal to spawn, took another three breaths, and walked through. After the swirling purple faded from their view, they saw Hels. The Nether Knight paced back and forth, the slight breeze blowing the red plume of his helmet back and forth. A few locks of blonde hair had fallen out of the inside of his black helmet, and his armor gleamed in the sunlight. Stop staring, Xay chided themself, running a hand nervously through their white hair. Hels looked up. “Hi.” Xay tried for a reassuring smile but was sure it looked more like a terrified grin. “Hi.” “You know you can, like, step further away from the portal. I’m not going to hurt you.” (Story cont. below)