Ego Daycare

Day 13

Mark woke the next morning and smiled at his empty bed. Getting up, he stretched, got himself dressed and headed downstairs. He glanced around at all of the sleeping egos and leaned over the couch to check in on King, who didn't happen to be there. Frowning slightly, Mark quickly counted, making sure the rest of them were all really there, which they were. With a sigh, he checked the bathroom and then the kitchen, where there was an open cupboard, and an open jar of peanut butter left on the floor. With a whine, Mark ran to the back door, looking through the glass and let out a relieved sigh as he watched King run through the yard with his face covered in peanut butter. He wasn't going to have to drive through the city and run through parks looking for him this time. He slid the door open and stepped outside, closing it behind him. "King!" He called. "What are you doing?"

"I'm King of the Squirrels!" King yelled as he ran back and forth.

"Where are the squirrels?" Mark called, just watching him run.

King stopped and looked around, before pointing at a tree, where the fluffy tailed rodent was watching him. "There!"

Mark nodded a little. "He's your subject?"

"Yes!" King smiled, before running to the base of the tree and looked up. "I'm king of you!" He shouted, and then started trying to climb the tree.

"Don't-" Mark started, then sighed. "Just don't get hurt, okay?"

By the time King reached the branch, the squirrel was long gone. "Don't you want to lick the peanut butter off my face?" King called after the squirrel and Mark chuckled, shaking his head. After a few minutes, King shifted, laying across the branch. "M-mark?"

"Yeah?" Mark glanced up at him.

"I can't get down..." King mumbled.

"Of course you can't." Mark wandered over and reached up, gently pulling him down out of the tree, and caught him against his chest, as King grabbed his shoulders. Mark quickly discovered that King's tiny hands were covered in peanut butter, dirt and small pieces of tree bark. "Well..." Mark cleared his throat. "Looks like I need a new shirt, and we need to get you cleaned up." He started carrying King into the house and King settled against him, laying his peanut butter coated face on Mark's shoulder. "Uh! Oh... well... whatever." Mark groaned, giving up as it was too late to stop it at this point.

"Where were you?" King asked quietly.

Mark felt a pit in his stomach, something about the tone of King's voice. "What do you mean?"

"You weren't there when I woke up." King said softly.

"I went to bed." Mark explained as he carried King into the kitchen, tip toeing around the sleeping bag land mines in the living room. "You're not sick anymore... I figured you could sleep on your own."

King was quiet for a moment, and Mark sat him on the counter beside the sink, grabbing a cloth and wet it. As he started to wipe the peanut butter off of him, King looked up at him with big sad eyes. "You... you didn't want me around?"

Mark froze, looking down at him. "That- that's not it." He shook his head slightly. "I just... I thought you'd be fine in the living room. With everyone else."

King looked down at his hands, and then Mark's shirt before looking up at him. "I'm sorry." He sighed. "I just wanted to be with the squirrels. They're my friends."

Mark nodded a little. "It's okay. You know, we're your friends too though."

"No." King sighed, glancing towards the living room. "I'm not like them."

"What?" Mark frowned. "Of course you are."

"I wasn't supposed to exist." King sighed.

"None of you were." Mark muttered, before realizing what he'd said and shook his head. "Not that I- what I mean is...." He sighed and stopped wiping at the peanut butter. "I'm glad you're here King. Okay? I do a lot of stupid shit. Uh, silly stuff." Mark smirked. "You... you represent the silly side of things. That's important too." He promised. "It's just as important as Darkiplier or Wilford Warfstache. I wouldn't be me without my silly side, and the channel wouldn't be complete without the King of the Squirrels."