The Sun, The Moon, And The Stars

EPISODE II: Sleepover!

"I brought popcorn!" Impulse said as he and Zedaph walked into the house together. He peeked into the living room, gaining no response, to see Tango and Skizz playing Tango's Decked Out game whilst Bdubs and Etho did their homework, Bdubs facing away from the TV. "Aw man, are we really the last ones here?"

Tango laughed. "You're actually right on time, sweetcakes," he said. "These bozos were just hella early." He leaned forward on the sofa, sticking his tongue out and furrowing his brows as if it would help him concentrate harder. "Come onnn..."

Zedaph stood behind him and watched the game intently as Impulse put the popcorn down on the coffee table where Bdubs and Etho were. "What's the end goal of the game?"

"Well, you see-" As soon as Tango started to explain, he was killed by some scary monster that had come out of nowhere. "Ah, dammit." He sighed as Skizz continued playing his round on his side of the split TV screen, Tango setting down his controller to turn and face Zed. "So, it's basically just a deck building or trading game but, y'know, scary. There's these dungeons you can collect stufff in sets from - which can be really difficult to find, but not for me 'cause I made it, y'know - but there's also scary monsters called Ravagers you have to worry about because if they find you, there's a high chance they'll kill you."

Zedaph nodded. "Sounds fun," he said, making Bdubs roll his eyes. "Can I play?"

"After Skizz is done."

Nodding again, Zed walked around the sofa to sit next to Tango and watch Skizz play the game. He had to admit, seeing how high-quality the game was compared to Tango's limited resources and time as a kid who had to work twenty hours a week to provide for his family... it was incredible. "I'm really impressed," Zedaph said, making Tango blush and smile shyly. "It looks really cool."

"Yeah, Top," Skizz said, sitting on the edge of the cushion now. "It's really good, and I'm really enjoy-" He stopped talking to let out a shriek as one of the Ravagers came out of nowhere to kill him. "God fucking-"

"Woahh, language, Skizz!" Impulse laughed.

"This game is a dick!"

Impulse grabbed a handful of popcorn and threw it at Skizz. "I said, language!"

Skizz huffed, then shot a half-hearted glare at Zedaph, who was giggling about Skizz's squeal. "Y- you-" He stopped to catch his breath. "Oh my god, that was perfect!" He tapped his phone screen (which Skizz didn't even know he had out) and Skizz's shriek was replayed, making the whole room laugh.

"Hey!" Skizz shouted, his face bright red. "That's not funny!" He groaned as he gave Zedaph his controller. "You guys are jerks!" He crossed his arms, then couldn't help but smile when he made eye contact with Impulse, who looked like he could barely breathe from laughing so hard. "Okay, okay, maybe it's a little funny."

"Impyyyy," Zedaph drawled, tickling Impulse's back. "You wanna play with me?"

Impulse shrugged and took the controller Tango was offering to him. "Sure, why not?"

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"This is really fun," Etho said, followed by a scream from Bdubs, who was currently being chased by a Ravager.

"This is not fun!" Bdubs shrieked. "This is not fun!"

Etho snickered. "You're just bad," he teased, to which Bdubs stuck his tongue out. "Hey, look! I beat the level!" His smile faded when the screen read, 'Level Lost.' "Huh?"

Tango grinned. "You made it out alive, but you didn't get the artifact," he said, and Etho groaned.

"HA!" Bdubs shouted, then tossed the controller down, startling the others. His side of the screen had text that read, 'Level Complete!' "I beat you!" He pointed at his boyfriend and laughed at him. "Take that!"

Etho smiled fondly at Bdubs' excitement. "Good job, Bdubs," he said, making Bdubs frown.

"You're supposed to be jealous," the brunette pouted, and Etho laughed.

The six of them ended up spending a few hours playing the game, and before they knew it, it was already after nind o'clock.

Tango yawned. "Man, is it really still light outside?" he asked while Bdubs and Skizz played another round. "Usually it's dark by eight."

Bdubs froze for a second, then looked over at the window. Sure enough, it was bright as day outside. Shit. "Uh, I have to go to bed," Bdubs said, setting his controller down and standing up. "Goodnight."

"But you're in the middle of a game," Zedaph said, sounding a little concerned for his friend. "Are you sure you don't want to finish it first?"

Bdubs smiled awkwardly and nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure," he said with a nervous laugh. "Believe me, I'm a hundred percent sure."

Tango and Zed looked at each other before shrugging. "You do you, man," Tango said, yawning again. "I think I might hit the hay, too." He stood up and stretched his arms over his head. "C'mon, Bdubs, I'll get you set up."

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Bdubs couldn't sleep. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't do it. Maybe it was all the screen time before bed, maybe it was because he'd just been playing a horror game, or maybe it was nervousness because he'd somehow lost track of time and now he'd messed up the one thing he was perfect at, making him a total failure of a being.

Yeah, it was definitely that last one.

How was he going to explain this one to his mom?