Infected

11 - A Short Visit

That Sunday Tommy was waiting for Clay in City Hall. He had been told to wait outside while Clay took care of some business real quick. Tommy wandered through the busy hall, not really paying attention to anything.

"Hey! Watch it," Tommy snapped, as someone bumped into him, dropped the books and papers they were holding. Realizing what he had said and how rude it was Tommy quickly apologized.

"It's fine, I get that alot," the man said, he looked young, perhaps 18 or 19. He had sandy brown hair cut short, lighter skin, and wore a purple and green shirt. "Wait a second, I've seen you before."

"Oh, really, I don't actually get that alot," Tommy said, as he picked up the book that had fallen. The cover depicted a large underwater city made of glass, he struggled to read the title. "Did you do this?"

"The story's mine, but my boyfriend designed the cover," He said, "I'm pretty sure I've seen you with Sapnap and George on Airbender Island."

"I'm Tommy," he said, handing the book over.

"Karl Jacobs," The man helped Tommy up. "So, what are you doing here?"

"I'm waiting for my brother," Tommy said and they sat over on an empty couch. "What about you?"

"I was meeting with a publisher, but it didn't go so well," Karl sighed. "You can look at it if you want."

"Pog," Tommy opened the book to the first page, but was caught off guard by the amount of words he didn't recognize. It made his head start to spin.

"Are you okay, friend?" Karl asked as Tommy squinted at the story.

"I-" he didn't want to say it, of all things had he really forgotten to read? Antfrost was originally both his earthbending trainer, but he also had begun his basic education. No one on the streets taught him to read so it meant Clay had alot of catching up to do, but not the free time to do it.

"Can you not read?" Karl asked in a hushed voice. "It's okay if you can't. You come to Airbender Island nearly everyday, I could teach you."

"But you're a complete stranger, why do you want to help me," Tommy said.

"You seem like a good kid, and Tubbo loves hanging out with you. Sings like a bird when it comes to talking about you," Karl said, thinking back to all the dinners they had when he was still doing Airbender training.

"You're the announcer!" Tommy exclaimed, he had recognized Karl's voice; it just hadn't clicked until now. Karl laughed, "yeah, I am."

"It's so cool to meet you," Tommy said, he looked over and spotted Clay coming from the hall. "And yeah, it would be nice to actually be able to read."

"Tommy, time to go," Clay said as he walked up to them.

"Alright, see you around Karl," Tommy said, getting up and following Clay.

"Bye Tommy," Karl waved.

Oh boy, you guys are in for a roller coaster for the next few chapters. Enjoy this one while you can as I speedrun writing the next two or even three chapters cause I know exactly what it contains.

QotC: Favorite storyline? Egg arc, Training arc, Snowy bois arc, or even a smaller one that's appeared? Welp I'm off to keep writing and vibing to Philza's stream.

Thank you all for reading, please vote and comment. Peace out benders and Minecrafters from around the world!