"-and THAT is the entire history of the Bloons franchise!" SMG3 concluded his rant proudly, taking a quick sip of his coffee.
"Wow. Three, I think you literally just told me a video essay's worth of Bloons TD history." Meggy burst into a fit of giggles. "We're playing Minecraft right now, dude!"
"God made me autistic, so I'm gonna BE autistic!" SMG3 asserted shortly before giggling as well. Meggy only laughed harder.
It was about 11 PM. SMG3 had completely forgotten the concept of time while on a Discord call with Meggy. He couldn't even remember the last time he looked at the clock in the bottom right corner of his desktop. They were playing on a brand new Minecraft world together that was played on by some other friends of theirs. You could call it "The SMG4 Gang Minecraft Server" if you wanted. The two of them were having so much fun playing together. Others like Mario and even Kaizo were online earlier, but alas, it was getting late.
SMG3 was a complete night owl. It was definitely past Meggy's sleep schedule right now, but not that she really cared. It was the weekend and she didn't want the Minecraft fun to stop.
"You're funny, Three." Meggy was still chuckling a bit. "I love playing games with you."
"You do...?" Three perked up, grinning.
"Yeah, of course! You're fun to be around and you're really cool."
"Ditto for sure, heheh." SMG3 hoped that didn't sound awkward. "Four makes friends with the best people."
"Speaking of Four, where is he?" asked Meggy. "Is he asleep?"
"Oh, no. At least, I don't think so?" Three paused to think. "I know he told me he was editing a video today. And you know him, he gets super fixated on that shit, so it's just been us doing our own thing for today. He did come down and make me a coffee, though."
"I saw! You guys are so cute!" Meggy cooed, smiling widely. "I swear, Four is really lucky to have somebody like you."
"Aww, come on." SMG3 rubbed the back of his neck, getting a little shy.
"You know, I remember when you two were first dating."
"Yeah?"
"Mario and I made a bet on how long it'd take for you guys to just get over your feelings and ask each other out." Meggy chuckled at the memory. "I won the bet, you saw."
"Yeah, that certainly happened."
"Then I remember pretty much threatening your life if you were to break SMG4's heart."
"Haha, that... certainly happened, too." SMG3 swallowed thickly.
"He's been through a lot, y'know...?" Meggy's mood deflated a bit. "Losing the castle was the hardest on him. Trauma fucking sucks. He doesn't deserve any of what happened to him. I've always been scared for him and I just wanted to make sure you'd treat him right after all he's endured."
"...I know." SMG3 sighed, fixing his gaze on something in his room. "Of course I'll treat him right. I'm his boyfriend after all."
"And that you are. I saw you two being together a mile away, by the way."
"Yes, I'm aware." SMG3 rolled his eyes with a smile. "So did Mario. Was it really that obvious?"
"I mean..." Meggy trailed off. "You kept calling him a 'baka'. You are literally the textbook definition of a tsundere."
"Hey!"
"And you're also the textbook definition of a gay man."
"MEGGY!"
Meggy started cracking up with fits of laughter. "It was that obvious! Red wanted you two to get together so bad!"
"So you both were shipping us, is what I've gathered from this."
"Pretty much!" Meggy said it proudly. "I think Saiko was well aware of it, too. I remember this one time when you were all pissy about something and stormed off, she just said aloud next to me, 'That asshole needs to get laid and fast.' AND IT WAS THE FUNNIEST THING I HEARD HER SAY-"
"OI!" SMG3 raised his voice, getting flustered. "I DID get laid, thank you very much!"
"You are SUCH A DORK-" Meggy couldn't stop laughing. This was probably the hardest SMG3's ever heard her laugh. "Shit, dude, I think I woke Mario up-"
"Is he staying over with you?" SMG3 asked through snorts and giggles.
"Yeah! He asked if he could crash and obviously I said yeah. I mean, who am I to deny him?"
"You two are like, attached at the hip. You make literal biological siblings jealous with how good your dynamic is."
"He's always been the best to me, so I've always been happy to repay it." Meggy's voice was warm. "He really is like an older brother."
"Love that for you, girlie." SMG3 smiled.
"You know what I also love? How we've sat here making zero progress whatsoever on this Minecraft house."
"Oh." SMG3 pinched the bridge of his nose. "Uhh, tomorrow for sure! I've gotta head to bed."
"You had that entire coffee, though, right?" Meggy pointed out.
"I suppose I did." SMG3 nodded. "It's okay, though. Caffeine does absolutely nothing to me anymore. It only makes me tired, really."
"Mm, I see." Meggy let out a yawn. "I should get to bed, too. Red wakes up really early so I should be getting as many hours as I can before he wakes up the entire neighborhood."
"Aren't you an early bird, too?" SMG3 asked. "I hate waking up early. I dunno how you do it."
"Oh, I am! Just on weekdays, though, if that makes sense? Like, I get to sleep in on weekends! It's just that Mario's schedule doesn't really agree with mine on that whenever he stays the night."
"I'm surprised the idiot even sleeps." It was SMG3's turn to yawn.
"Either he functions on three hours or he passes out for a day or longer. There's no in-between." Another yawn from Meggy. "Okay, yeah, I really should get to bed. Today was fun! Thanks for explaining Bloons stuff to me."
"And thanks for tolerating it." SMG3 grinned. "Seriously. It means a lot."
"You know I'll always be down to listen." Meggy replied earnestly. "Goodnight, Three."
"Yeah, goodnight. See you."
Both of them exited the Discord call and logged off their respective Minecraft accounts, seeking to continue their progress tomorrow. Three got out of his gaming chair and did a huge stretch, feeling himself crack in some places of his body. A giant sigh of relief left his lips. He finished what's left of his (now cold) coffee, rubbed his eyes and made his way upstairs to the bedroom.
"Four?" he peeked into the room, looking to see if SMG4 was still at the desk.
He was indeed still there. He was slouched at his work space, clicking and typing away on his editing program. He seemed about halfway through, making strong and consistent progress despite how late in the night it was. A couple mugs were sat beside him, implying he must've had coffee to refuel.
"Wow, you're still awake?" SMG3 peered over his boyfriend's shoulder to admire where he's at so far.
"Yup, and I could ask the same about you." SMG4 joked. "I make memes and videos. A guy like me learns a thing or two on staying up really late."
"It's almost midnight, though..." SMG3 glanced over at the digital clock. "How far along are you on your video?"
"Uhh... About- Seventy or eighty percent?" SMG4 had to stop to think for a second. "I'm so close, babe, I can finish this within the next hour."
"Four." SMG3 folded his arms like a concerned mother. "We've talked about this."
"Th- This one's special, I promise! It's gotta be-"
"Four."
SMG4 was startled by the sudden firmness to SMG3's tone. Realizing that he was about to speak the word that shall not be spoken, he sighed and dipped his head. SMG3 frowned.
"It does not have to be perfect." SMG3 reassured him, his voice much softer now. "We need to get that outta your head."
"I-I'm trying." SMG4 put a hand to his face. "It's hard, it's been hard, it's-"
SMG3 only shushed him and embraced him in a hug, to which SMG4 quickly reciprocated, clinging to him like velcro. He tried not to cry.
"I'm proud of you, you know that?" SMG3 murmured to him, cradling him. "You made progress today and I am proud. Even if that's all you did today, it's still something, right?"
"I-..." SMG4 shut his eyes and sighed. "You're right."
"Let's call it a night, shall we?" SMG3 pulled away to gaze at him, cracking a smile. "You did good. You deserve a rest."
"Since you're so good at convincing me." SMG4 chuckled.
"I'll go get our medication and then join you."
"'Kay."
SMG3 went into their shared bathroom, flipped on the light and opened the sink mirror that doubled as their medicine cabinet. He rummaged through bottles to find his first, set them in one area, then set SMG4's in another. The easiest part of taking their meds was that they both took Trazodone for sleep in the same dosage. SMG3 also took Fluvoxamine with his Trazodone. SMG4 would take a Valium, Prozac, and Adderall each every morning, so SMG3 gathered those out and put them neatly on a napkin for him tomorrow.
He took his medication first with a bottle of water, then brought the bottle and SMG4's sleep medication to him. He gave him a quick kiss to the cheek. SMG4 had presumably saved his editing work and turned off the desktop.
"Is your medication helping you?" SMG3 asked, sitting down on his side of the bed.
"Oh, yeah, don't worry." SMG4 was in the middle of tossing on a random shirt to use as pajamas. "Dude, that Adderall makes me feel like a whole new person. I can get my shit done and I don't even feel any kind of executive dysfunction."
"Oh, that's great!" SMG3 beamed, genuinely happy at this news. "What about the Prozac? Anything noticeable yet?"
"Probably a slightly better mood." SMG4 shrugged, though smiled. "Meggy told me she used to take it a while after Desti died, and she said to me that by around four to five weeks, she felt... happy again. I need that to happen to me so fucking bad."
"You'll get there, hun. I promise." SMG3 reassured him.
"God, I hope so." SMG4 frowned a bit, but decided to change the subject. "Are you not sleeping with a shirt tonight?"
"No, why?"
"No reason, really. I just hope you don't get cold overnight. I'm leaving the ceiling fan on."
"You could always snuggle up to me." SMG3 winked.
SMG4 flushed red like a tomato, nodding excitedly. "Y- Yeah, of course!"
"You're such a simp."
"NO, YOU!" SMG4 immediately pointed a finger at him, pushing him onto the bed. "It's not my fault you're so-! Handsome-!"
"Aww, I'm flattered, baby."
"I mean it, too." SMG4's face grew hot. "I love how firm your arms are, and how chiseled your chest is, and- and your scars. Oh, your top surgery scars look so great on you."
SMG3 had the stupidest but happiest grin on his face. It was his turn to blush. "Four, you're getting all sappy..."
"I love you so fucking much." SMG4 rested his chin on SMG3's chest to gaze lovingly into his red eyes. "I'm so glad it's you. Out of everybody else, you're the man I'm with."
"I wanna marry you already, Four." SMG3 had tears rolling down his cheeks. "God, I fucking love you."
He squeezed SMG4 in his arms, not wanting to let go from him. The two lovebirds held each other tight, with SMG4 pulling the covers over them. He listened quietly to the gentle heartbeat of his boyfriend, which put him at complete ease and made him feel so, so safe.
"Goodnight, honey." SMG4 whispered to him.
"Mm, goodnight."
SMG3 kept his eyes open while he lay in deep thought for a bit. He really was lucky. Luckier than the number seven, in fact. Did the number seven have a godsend of a boyfriend? No, it didn't. He did. He felt like the happiest man in the world, and he never even predicted he'd feel this way in his life, ever. He felt happier than the emotion itself. How could he be so lucky?
He closed his eyes, smiling big. Winning the lottery didn't have shit on this.