The Red String: Tangled Up

Chapter 4 - What do I do if Forever isn't real?

Blue and Red, like Sonic and Shadow, Phoenix Wright and Miles Edgeworth, Lance and Keith – The pairing was everywhere.

Blue and –

SMG4 let go of SMG3. "Yeah, I'm-" SMG4 coughed. His voice sounding way too shaky for someone who was "fine".

"I'm alright. Just got a bit surprised that's all." He smiled slightly and turned away to pick up the shirt he had dropped during all this mess. He needed a break from looking into SMG3's eyes.

SMG4 turning around allowed SMG3 to take a look at his friends back, revealing the deep scars SMG4 had been hiding.

"What.. what happened?" almost as if in trance, SMG3 reached out his hand to touch the scars, but SMG4 winced, making SMG3 back away instantly.

"Oh, these.." SMG4 frowned "They're from that Adware monster that possessed me.. left some pretty funky scars. All the other stuff has healed by now but these apparently need a little longer." SMG4 put his shirt on and pulled at the sleeves a bit, trying to hide the scars as best as he could. SMG4 would be lying if he said that the scars didn't bother him, but he was in no mood to discuss his wounds right now.

"I'm- I'm sorry. I didn't know that thing left such deep scars on you" SMG3's words made SMG4 finally turn back around. SMG3's gentle tone had genuinely surprised him.

If he showed so much compassion and understanding for this, could he maybe also show it for his worries about the red string.
Could he understand?
Would talking about it help?
Or would the reality of the situation leave a scar on their relationship that was even deeper than any scar on SMG4's back?

SMG4 looked to the floor. He was suddenly overwhelmed with a feeling of shame. Just hours before, he had yelled at SMG3 for keeping the string a secret from him – but look at him now: He was doing the exact same thing.

"It's alright." SMG4 said, more to soothe himself than his counterpart. "Let's just.. let's just get to bed. It's late" SMG4 gave SMG3 a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Right, right." SMG3 stepped back awkwardly, letting SMG4 pass him and leave the bathroom. "I'll uh.. just get dressed and will be right out!"

SMG4 nodded. "Neat." The sooner SMG3 was asleep, the better.

- - - -

SMG3 didn't take long to get dressed. As opposed to SMG4, he didn't have an existential crisis and knocked himself out, which made the whole process of getting changed a lot faster.

So within a few minutes the two men were laying in their respective beds in the dark, taking in the silence of the night. While SMG3 was busy trying to fall asleep, SMG4 was actively attempting to stay awake, waiting for the right moment to sneak out of bed and follow the red string to a destination he didn't really want to see.

SMG4 listened carefully to the sound of SMG3's breathing, trying to determine if his friend was already asleep, but the sound of his breathing was still too irregular.

Not yet.

SMG4 was almost tempted to give up on his goals and just go to sleep when SMG3's voice broke through the silence.
"Hey, Dude?" He asked, quietly.

"Hm?" SMG4 responded, trying to sound like he was already half-asleep.

"Do you- Do you actually believe in Fate? Yknow.. with the whole string-thing?"

SMG4 blinked. He hadn't actually paused to think about this. Having a red string of Fate tied around you would imply the existence of some form of Fate but, for some reason, SMG4 couldn't bring himself to actually believe in it. Sure, crazy coincidences happen constantly around the mushroom kingdom but he never blamed Fate for them.

"No.. no I don't."

"You don't?" SMG3 yawned.

No, not Fate -There was only one "supernatural" force he believed in.

"I don't. This is probably just.."

Next to Maryo, there was only one true constant in SMG4's life: The audience.
Ever since he blinked into existence, SMG4 could never shake the feeling of being watched. A constant, unseen army of eyes following his every move. He actually began personifying the feeling, describing it as "The audience".

It's actually part of the reason he got into content creation: If he's being watched anyway, why not make something worth seeing?

The strengths of the feeling warries: Some days, he feels like there are no eyes on him, while other times it's like he can directly communicate with whatever is watching – Especially the mushroom kingdoms yearly WOTFI's are characterized by this feeling. WOTFI was also the time that the full extend of the Audience's power was truly visible: It seemed like their will alone was enough to change entire lives.

He glanced at the red string floating through the dark bedroom. If there was ONE entity powerful enough to create something like this, it must be the audience.

"...this is probably something different." SMG4 finished his sentence. "How about you?"

SMG4 waited for SMG3 to answer, but the answer never came.
Instead, all he could hear was SMG3's rhythmic breathing and barely noticeable snores.

Finally.

It's go time.