Okay, this is it Three. You got this.
The purple SMG stood at the entrance to the showgrounds, watching his Guardian partner from afar.
Just a super easy, super simple, super NORMAL interaction! Just go over there, and ask him to dinner.
SMG3 could feel his heart pounding in his chest. Was it usually this hot outside? Did his hair look alright? Is that a stain on his shirt? ARGH! Focus Three!You can't mess this up.
SMG4 was currently doing some kind of obstacle course with Beeg SMG4 and Mario. He looked like he was having fun. Mario suddenly tripped over one of the obstacles and SMG3's ears pricked up as he heard SMG4's gorgeous laugh.
Boy he could never get tired of hearing that...
He smiled longingly at Four and felt a blush rise to his face. He couldn't help but admire absolutely everything about the man. His creativity, his terrible sense of humour, his deep blue eyes, his adorable smile, his cute little blue hat, and don't even get me STARTED on how those overalls of his hugged his ass soperfectly-AHEM!
Three quickly cut off that train of thought and focused on the task at hand once again.
Asking this perfect man on a date.
Working up all of his courage, Three marched over to the man in blue.
Come on Three! You can do it! You're SMG3 for memes sake!! Ruler of the internet graveyard! Successful coffee shop owner and most importantly, an evil mastermind! There's absolutely nothing I'm afraid of! NOTHING!!!
"HEY! SCRUB!"
SMG4 turned around and smiled pleasantly and he saw SMG3 walking towards him.
"Oh hey Three!! Wanna hang out with me and Mario? We're trying to see if he can beat Beeg in a race but he keeps tripping over the obstacles."
He smiled fondly at his best friend before being grabbed by the shoulders and swivelled around to face Three.
"Uhhh Three? What are you-"
"GO ON A DATE WITH ME!!!....... Please."
SMG4's eyes widened in shock and a pink blush was lightly dusted on his cheeks. Even Mario stopped what he was doing to look at the two, his face overtaken by a crazy smile.
"Wha... really?" Four asked, unsure if the other man was messing with him.
"YES really! What do you take me for? Some kind of liar?!"
"N-no nothing like that! I just didn't expect-"
"WILL YOU GO ON A DATE WITH ME OR NOT?!!"
Three was red in the face as he asked this. Despite seeming angry or frustrated, he was terrified for Four's answer. You could practically see his heart bursting out of his chest when he looked into Four's perfect eyes.
"Y-yeah sure! I'd love to go on a date with you!"
SMG4 didn't try hiding his smile and giddy laugh as he answered. Three's expression went from one of anger to a look of relief and adoration.
"O-oh wow, really? That's great!"
The two SMG's smiled at eachother, like a couple of lovestruck teenagers before SMG3 snapped back to reality and remembered he was supposed to be the cool, emotionless villain.
"W-well, duh, of course you'd say yes! I knew you'd agree from the beginning!" SMG3 looked away and went back to his angry persona.
"Uh huh, surreee~" SMG4 gave him a teasing smirk.
"Shut up!" Three whined. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a crinkled piece of paper and handed it to Four.
"Come to Bowser's restaurant at 8PM. I'll be waiting outside. Don't be late and don't forget. And I swear to god if you stand me up-"
"Don't worry Three, I wouldn't dream of it." Four spoke with sincerity is his voice.
Three blushed, feeling his heart squeeze at he looked at Four's beautiful smile.
"Y-yes, well... good." He said awkwardly before speedwalking again, face as red as Mario's hat.
SMG4 watched as he walked away, not even trying to hide his adoring smile and tinted cheeks. Mario peeked over his shoulder with a big grin.
"OooooOOooooOooo...." He said, catching SMG4's attention.
Four rolled his eyes and pushed him off his shoulder.
The fat Italian quickly recovered and smirked at SMG4.
"Mario thinks you two are very fruity."
"Yeah yeah whatever." Four smiles to himself. "Man... all these years we've known each other. Who could have predicted he felt this way about me?"
"Mario could!" The Italian chimed in.
"Alright fine I'll give you that one." Four sighed.
"WAHOO!! Oh Mario can't wait for the date!! Do you think Bowser still serves spaghetti?" Mario asked excitedly and Four gave him a confused look.
"Y-yeah he still does... why'd you ask?"
"So Mario doesn't need to bring his own spaghetti on the date of course!! I can just get some there! SMG3 is paying right?"
Mario gave a big smile at the thought of free spaghetti but SMG4 seemed less excited.
Mario noticed this and was confused.
"What's-a wrong ES-EM-GEE-4? You don't-a want some spaghetti?" He asked with big eyes.
"Uhm, Mario... you know you can't come on this date... right?"
As these words left SMG4's mouth, it was like Mario's world had been shattered in an instant.
"Wha- WHY NOTTTTT!!?!!?" Mario cried as he rolled around on the floor, throwing a pity party for himself.
"W-well dates are typically between two people. Especially since it's our first one..."
Mario perked up as he heard this.
"So Mario can come on the second one?" He smiled
"N-no! You can't come on any of them dude! Dates are just for two. Well, unless it's a double date..." SMG4 offhandedly mentioned before going back to his main point. "Anyway, you're not coming. Just stay here and hang out with Luigi!"
The meme guardian gestured to Mario's brother who was watering flowers not too far away. He smiled and waved at the two before Mario threw a forklift at him.
"Oh no! Luigi is sick with forkliftitis!! Guess I'll have to come along!!!" Mario gave a cheeky smile to Four who sighed.
"Mario, come on man. You know how long I've wanted this to happen! I just don't want anything to go wrong alright?" SMG4 tried to explain but Mario was still upset.
"Mario can make sure it's perfectly romantic!!!"
"Sorry Mario but you're staying here. It's not up for debate." Four said finally. Mario started rolling around and crying on the floor in protest but it was clear this time Four wasn't budging.
"Okay, how about you help me pick out my outfit for the date huh?" SMG4 said in an attempt to cheer him up.
"WAAAAHHH- NO! Mario wants to cooommeee wwwiiittthhhh yooouuuuuuu!!!!!!"
The fat Italian continued throwing his temper tantrum but Four was getting bored of this pretty quickly.
"Well that's not gonna happen. I don't have time for this Mario. I'm going to go get ready for my date."
He started to walk away and Mario say up.
"W-wait ES-EM-GEE-4! What if Mario got a date too?! We can do the double date thing you mentioned!!" He screamed desperately.
SMG4 scoffed, "Look, no offence Mario but there is no wayyouare gonna convince someone to be your double date in time for this meal."
"Mario can do it!! I'll a-prove you wrong!" He said with determination.
"Uhuh. Sure. And as much as I wouldloveto see that, I've got a date to get ready for."
SMG4 walked back inside the castle but briefly popped his head back out again to shout, "AND YOU'RE NOT COMING!!" Before slamming the door.
Mario was silent for a moment before smirking to himself.
"We'll-a see about that..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For the next few hours, Mario had drawn up a bulletin board of potential people to ask on a date. They had to be pretty enough that it's plausible he would go out with them, smart enough to know it's not a REAL date but stupid enough to say yes to him.
So basically nobody.
"AHHH THIS IS ALL-A BULLsh*t!" The angry Italian screamed, smashing his board in frustration.
"WHY IS EVERYONE-A HERE SO GODDAM UGLY! MARIO WOULD NEVER TAKE THEM OUT ON A DATE!!"
Mario was extremely close to finding a way to make another Inkweaver so he could draw up a spaghetti waifu to take with him; but Mario's artistic skills were almost as bad as his reading skills.
He groaned in frustration as he went though the list again.
Peach? Annoying as hell. Plus, she's probably dead. Bowser? No way. Although he's not as ugly as Peach, he is too stupid to understand why Mario would be asking him out. Boopkins? HA! Mario would never be seen in public with that freak. Saiko? She's too feisty for his taste. Axol? Dead. Meggy? Too young. Luigi? Has forkliftitis. SMG3? Oh wait he's on a date with SMG4.
ARGHH THERE IS LITERALLY NOBODY IN THIS KINDOM WHO MARIO COULD TAKE ON A DATE!!! He should just give up and watch some tv like he always- WAIT THATS IT!!
A lightbulb went off in Mario's head and the fat Italian grinned to himself.
He could ask Mr Puzzles to be his date!! That TV freak has been desperate for new video ideas for SMG4 ever since he came back. Maybe a romantic comedy would be perfect for him!! Also, although he wasn't the MOST attractive guy Mario knew, (that award went to Mario himself), Mario couldn't deny the idea of watching TV whilst eating his precious spaghetti was extremely appealing. Not to mention, the guy would be willing to do almost anything to convince the crew he's a good guy now.
Without wasting a second more, Mario ran out of his house to find Mr Puzzles.
The TV man himself was on his way to SMG4's castle. He had a list of new video ideas for SMG4 and he was desperately praying at least ONE of them would be good enough for him.
What should have been a peaceful stroll for him was soon interrupted by a very familiar scream. Puzzles turned his head at the noise before he was tackled to the ground by Mario.
"MR PUZZLESSSS!!!! MARIO NEEDS-A YOUR HELPPP!!!!!!!" He yelled, shaking the man under him.
"Wha- what the?! MARIO?!! Get off me you maniac!!"
Mr Puzzles shoved Mario off of him and stood up, dusting himself down and sighing.
"You filthy gremlin! You could have put a pasta stain on my glorious vest!" Puzzles checked to make sure Mario hadn't done any damage to his outfit before finally addressing the red man. "Now, what do you want? I'm a very busy man and I-"
"TV GUY! SMG4 AND SMG3 ARE GOING ON A DATE AND THEY WONT BRING MARIOOOOO!!!"
Mario looked up at Mr Puzzles with big teary eyes as he explained his sob story.
Mr Puzzles merely scoffed, "okay? And? Why must you bother ME with this information?"
"Mario WANTS to go with them!! SMG4 said that the only time more than two people go on a date is for a double date! Sooooo...." He gave Puzzles a hopeful smile.
"Absolutely not." He said in a deadpan tone.
"PLEAASSEEEE!!!! OH PLEASE OH PLEASE BE MARIO'S DATE!! I GOTTA SEE HOW THEIR DATE GOES!! IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT FOR YEARSSSS!!!!"
"Mario, I have much more important things to be worrying about than you wanting to spy on your friends. I need to get these show pitches to SMG4 before he leaves."
As Mr Puzzles tried the walk past Mario, the short Italian grabbed onto his legs, preventing him from moving.
"HEY! Let go of me Mario!!" He tried to kick him off but Mario wouldn't let go
"No!! Mario needs to see first hand how their date goes!!!"
"I'm not going on a fake date with you!!!"
"Mario will forgive the evil TV man for all of his crimes!! Justplleeaaassseeeeego on this date with-a Mario!!!"
Mr Puzzles stopped for a moment and thought about Mario's offer.
If he just went on this one little fake date, one of the core members of the SMG4 crew would be open to talking to him! He could eventually use this to weasel his way into the group and finally be considered trustworthy!!
Mr Puzzles removed Mario from his legs and held him up to eye level.
"Okay. Fine. I'll be your fake date just this once." He sighed. Mario lit up in excitement and a big smile took over his face.
"OOOOOO THANK YOU TV MAN!!!"
Mario broke out of his grip and gave Mr Puzzles a tight hug, latching onto him like a koala. The Tv grunted in annoyance and gave him a reluctant pat on the back.
"Yes yes very good. BUT, you have to promise to be on your best behaviour. We can't allow SMG4 to know we are there. So you'll have to be sneaky."
"Mario can be sneaky!!"
Puzzles SEVERELY doubted that but there wasn't much he could do about it.
"Also, do not forget we are both there for mutual gain. You, to spy on your friends; me, to be forgiven and generate new ideas for my marvellous tv shows. Understood?"
Mario nodded in affirmation. "Yes Mr TV man! Mario understands perfectly!"
"Okay then..."
Puzzles put Mario back on the ground and dusted himself down once again.
"Just tell me when and where you want us to meet."
"On the piece of paper SMG3 gave to SMG4, it said they were going to be at Bowser's 5 star restaurant at 8PM so we should probably just-a go there." Mario smiled.
Mr Puzzles thought for a moment, "They'll see us if we arrive at the same time as them. We'll show up 10 minutes later to avoid being noticed."
"Oki doki!" Mario chirped happily.
"Well then, we both ought to get ready! And for the love of god Mario, do not forget." Puzzles said and Mario gave him a determined look.
"Mario would never forget something this important!!"
"You'd better not."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally, it was time for the date. SMG3 stood anxiously outside the restaurant, checking his watch every 2 seconds to make sure SMG4 wasn't late.
He was wearing his outfit from their little spy adventure. He remembered SMG4 made a comment on how he looked good in it during the wotfi so it felt like the best thing to wear for this dinner.
He watched as the time flicked from 7:59 PM to 8PM. He looked up and down the street nervously but SMG4 was no where in sight.
"T-that's okay! He probably just got held up a little!" SMG3 tried to soothe his nerves but after 2 minutes had passed, he was full on freaking out.
"Oh god did he stand me up?!! No, he said he wouldn't do that. He sounded sincere about wanting to go out with me. Then maybe he got in a fatal accident?!! Crap crap crap!! That adorable idiot could be in a hospital bed right now!! I should call him to make sure he's okay!!"
But almost as soon as SMG3 clicked on SMG4's contact, he felt a gloved hand on his shoulder.
"H-hey! Sorry I'm a little late dude. Bob stopped me as I was heading out and kept trying to sell me his latest pyramid scheme." SMG4 panted, a little red in the face from having to run here from the show grounds. But SMG3 was just relieved he was okay.
"Hey I'm just glad you made it here in once piece. You ready to go inside?" SMG3 smiled.
Four smiled back and grabbed his hand, making Three blush slightly.
"Yeah. I'm ready."
The two walked hand in hand inside the restaurant where they were greeted by Shroomy.
"Hiya fellas! You got a reservation?" The mushroom lad smiled.
"Yeah, it should be under SMG3?"
"Alrighty! Table for two! Follow me gentlemen!"
Shroomy led the couple to their table and handed them a menu.
"The specials tonight are koopa burgers and a... a.... mushroom.... Stew........"
Shroomy looked lost for a moment, staring intently at the menu item before smiling and returning to his usual perky self.
"Can I get you guys started with some drinks?"
"Uh, yeah sure I'll have some water for now. What about you Three?" Four asked
"I'll have the same."
Shroomy wrote down their drinks orders and wondered off to go hep another table, leaving the two pining SMG's alone.
"So uhh..." SMG4 started "it's pretty nice here then. What made you choose this place?"
"O-oh well, you know it's like you said, it's nice here, the food options are good and the servers are friendly. Plus we get a discount since we're friends with Bowser." SMG3 replied nervously.
"Oh okay so you only wanted to bring me here to save a few bucks?" SMG4 teased, causing Three to go red in the face.
"N-no! Nothing like that! Trust me, if I wanted to take you to a cheap meal I would just bring you to the Starbucks in the Internet Graveyard. But luckily foryou, I want this date to go well." SMG3 said with false confidence.
"Hmm... well if thingsdogo well, perhaps you could bring me to the Starbucks on our second date?~"
"S-second date?!" SMG3 blushed
"Assuming this one goes well that is." Four smiled at him.
"And how am I doing so far?~" SMG3 gave him a dreamy look and moved his hand to the centre of the table.
"Well, I get to be alone with you for a few hours so...I'd say it's goingperfectly..."
SMG4's hand met SMG3's in the centre of the table and their fingers interlocked gently. Both men blushed and smiled at each other, wanting to do nothing but focus solely on one another for the rest of the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mario! Mario whereareyou?!" Mr Puzzles whisper-shouted. He was standing outside of Bowser's restaurant impatiently waiting for his 'date'.
"Mario's-a right here!" The fat Italian called from around the side of the building. Puzzles let out an exasperated sigh and walked around to him where he saw Mario digging around in the dumpster eating leftover spaghetti.
"Dammit Mario you can eat spaghetti when we're inside!!" Puzzles shouted
"BUT MARIO WANTS SPAGHETTI NOOWWWWWW!!!!" The man child cried.
Puzzles rolled his eyes and scooped Mario out of the trash, holding him at arms length before putting him on the ground.
"Ugh you went and got your overalls all dirty." He muttered, wiping spaghetti sauce off of Mario's face with his thumb.
"Mario always wears dirty clothes! Nobody ever notices!" Mario insists.
"They'd better not. Come on." Mr Puzzles walked back around to the entrance with Mario following closely behind him.
They entered the restaurant and Shroomy greeted them.
"Heya guys! Do you have a reservation?" He smiled
Mr Puzzles drew a blank, realising he forgot to make one.
"Shoot, no we don't. Uhh... do you take walk ins?" He smiled hopefully.
"Aw sorry fellas. If you haven't got a reservation, I can't seat you."
"MAMA-F*CKER!!" Mario shouted angrily. Puzzles gave him a panicked look, worried that he would alert Three and Four of their presence.
"Shhh!!Mario keep your voice down!!" He hissed but Mario ignored him.
"Mario demands a table!! It's-a super important!!!"
"Sorry Mario, there's nothing I can do! Restaurant policy." Shroomy said
"SCREW YOUR DAM POLICY!! I should be allowed to eat here whenever!! I'm friends with the owner on club penguin!!!" Mario shouted, pulling out his phone to show his club penguin account to Shroomy.
Mr Puzzles groaned in embarrassment and Shroomy inspected the account.
"Hmmmm...." He took a look at the friends list and sure enough, Bowser was on it.
"Oh! My apologies gentleman. Please follow me to your table." Shroomy said, walking away.
Mario looked at Puzzles and smirked whilst Puzzles just have him a dumbfounded look.
"I cannot believe that worked." He said.
"Mario knows-a how to get what he wants." He winked and Puzzles who rolled his eyes.
The two followed after Shroomy, both being acutely aware of the two SMG's on the other side of the restaurant. If they were spotted before the 'date' even started then that would mean they did all of this for nothing!! They had to be inconspicuous.
"Alrighty fellas can I get you anything to drink?" Shroomy said as Puzzles and Mario sat down.
"Spaghetti!!" Mario said enthusiastically, doing a little jig.
Both Puzzles and Shroomy he looked at him with confusion.
"Ahaha... M-Mario dear, you can't have spaghetti for a drin-"
"Spaghetti!!" The Italian insisted and Mr Puzzles sighed.
He turned to Shroomy, "He'll have a glass of milk and I'll have a whisky."
The mushroom wrote down their orders and smiled, "You got it! I'll be right back with those for ya!"
Once he had walked away, Mr Puzzles turned to address Mario who was staring at SMG3 and SMG4 through a pair of oversized binoculars.
"Mario!" He hissed, kicking the Italian.
Mario put down the binoculars and looked at him angrily.
"Hey! What's the big idea!?" He said.
"You can't just stare at them the whole meal! Don't you realise how obvious that looks?! We can't let them know we're here." Puzzles explained.
"But Mario wants to watch them!!!" Mario whined.
"If you're going to do that, you're going to have to do occasional side glances. Like this,"
Puzzles sat up and faced Mario. He then briefly shifted his eyes to the left, getting a good look at the two SMG's before turning his attention back to the man in front of him.
"See? Look for a few seconds and then stop. It's much less obvious don't you think?"
Mr Puzzles smiled, his tone dripping with patronisation. Mario let out a "Hmpf!" And crossed his arms in annoyance; he then begrudgingly repeated Puzzles' actions. Facing forward, glancing over at his friends for a few seconds, and eventually looking back at Mr Puzzles.
"Much better." Puzzles smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So you guys ready to order?" Shroomy said, notebook in hand.
SMG3 scanned over the menu one final time.
"I think I'll have the lamb chops. What about you Four?" He said.
Four looked up and him and then at Shroomy.
"I'll have the spaghetti."
Shroomy took their orders and disappeared once again. SMG3 smiled curiously at Four.
"Spaghetti? Really?" He asked
"Well, yeah. I just thought it'd be nice to have some." Four said.
"Mario's really rubbing off on you huh?" Three chuckled.
Four smiled at him fondly.
"Actually, I do really like spaghetti. But whenever I try to have some, Mario swoops in and eats it before I even take a bite. I've not been able to have some in years and I had pretty much given up trying to eat it. But... since he's not here, I can finally have some!" SMG4 grinned, making Three softly blush.
"Well I hope you enjoy it then."
"Yeah, me too."
The two SMG's continued making pleasant conversation. They talked about how Three's business was doing, Beeg and Eggdog, their friends and just life in general.
SMG4 excitedly rattled on about some new memes he had discovered whilst SMG3 listened intently. A love struck smile remained on his face as he hung onto every word that fell out of his meme partner's mouth. He could listen to him for hours.
SMG3 glanced to their hands that were still interlocked. He felt his cheeks warm and lightly squeezed Four's hand. SMG4 stopped talking briefly and looked at SMG3, then to their hands. He smiled softly and returned the squeeze.
"You okay Three?" He asked.
Three nodded, "Yeah yeah I'm..." he looked up at Four, blushing and with a grateful smile on his face.
"I'm justsohappy you agreed to come here with me..."
Four would be lying if he said his heart didn't melt a little at that.
"Aw... Three...I'mhappy you asked me out. Being here... withyou, well it's a dream come true. I love every second I get to spend with you and I... I just..."
They both looked at each other, an extremely strong blush on both of their faces. Four couldn't find it in himself to finish his sentence. No words could explain how much he cherished the time he got to spend with Three. But actions could.
Four slowly began to lean in, eyes lidded. Three noticed this and replicated his partner's actions. With his free hand he moved to cup Four's face, feeling his warm, soft skin again his glove. Their eyes closed but just as their lips were about to make contact...
"Heya we got a lamb chops and some spaghetti here!" Shroomy loudly announced, practically slamming the food on the table.
Startled and embarrassed, Three and Four immediately pulled away and sat up straight in their chairs.
"Oh, er- thanks Shroomy." Four said awkwardly.
"Nooo problem! Enjoy!!!"
Four looked up at Three, hoping to talk about what almost happened but the purple meme guardian had already started eating, face still extremely red. Four internally sighed and did the same.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Mario and Mr Puzzles watched the couple from afar. They were trying to be as discreet as possible but thanks to Mario's constant outbursts of demanding his spaghetti, they really sucked at it. The only reason Three and Four hadn't seen them was because they were too wrapped up in their own lovey dovey world. Puzzles was at least grateful for that.
"Mario's hungryyyyyy!" Mario whined.
"You'll eat soon. Just be patient Mario." Mr Puzzles rolled his eyes, glancing back over to the couple.
Mario groaned and looked at Puzzles. Being both bored and hungry was not a good mix for Mario. He stared longingly at Mr Puzzles' screen, causing the other man to turn to him, an annoyed expression on his screen.
"What?" He said in an irritated tone.
"Mario's bored." He moped.
"What do you want me to do about it? You're the one who wanted to come here to spy on your friends. Just do that."
"But Mario wants to watch Teletubbiesssss." He said
"No no no no no, absolutely not. You are not a toddler, you are a grown man. I'm not changing my screen to Teletubbies just to keep you entertained like some common flatscreen." Mr Puzzles said firmly.
"But nothing interesting is happening! Es-em-gee-4 and Es-em-gee-3 are just talking about boring gay stuf-G A S P!" Mario cut himself off and stared at his friends; eyes wide, jaw dropped.
"What? What is it- oh my."
Mr Puzzles and Mario looked at the couple with fascination as they leaned in for a kiss.
"Oh this will make great content for my shows!" Mr Puzzles said excitedly, making sure to record what he was seeing with his screen.
"EEEEEEEE MARIO HAS BEEN WAITING FOR THIS!!!!!!" The Italian was practically vibrating in his chair.
However before they kissed, Shroomy came over and placed their food in front of them, ending the moment.
Mr Puzzles let out a disappointed sigh and stopped recording.
"Ah, typical." He said.
He then heard another loud gasp from Mario and looked up to see what he was so excited about now.
He looked between the Italian and the food on Three and Fours table. Then, it clicked.
Oh no.
Mario had seen the spaghetti that Four had ordered.
Mr Puzzles gave a panicked look to Mario who looked as if he was preparing to launch himself off of his chair and into Fours spaghetti.
"Mario." He said firmly, catching the Italian's attention.
"Don't. Even. Think about it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wow! This food is really good!" SMG3 said, taking another bite of his lamb chops.
"Yeah, I honestly forgot how amazing spaghetti tasted." SMG4 said happily.
"Mind if I try some?" Three asked
"Help yourself." Four reassured him.
Three scooped up some spaghetti on his fork and ate it. Four did the same, not even noticing the singular string of spaghetti that led directly to Three's lips.
And it was getting shorter.
When they did realise, both SMG's blushed again but since neither of them had a reason nor desire to stop, they kept eating, allowing the string to get shorter and shorter until they were only an inch away from each other.
Their eyes closed once more as they leant forward....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mr Puzzles was trying his best to restrain Mario who was desperately trying to fight against his grip.
"LET-A MARIO GO!! HE NEEDS HIS SPAGHETTI!!!" He cried
"It's not... your... spaghetti!!" Mr Puzzles strained, desperate to not be spotted by the couple.
"You said you'd behave!! That you wouldn't be spotted!!"
"MARIO LIED!! MARIO NEEDS FOOOODD!!!" He struggled some more but Puzzles wasn't letting go.
Time to pull out the big guns.
With no other options left, Mario began to BLJ into Mr Puzzles.
"H-hey! Stop that you idiot!" Mr Puzzles tried to reason but the need for spaghetti had completely taken over Mario's mind.
He BLJ'd like a madman until he finally broke free of Mr Puzzles' grip. He then ran to the wall and pushed himself against it, launching himself at SMG4's spaghetti.
"MARIO NO!!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SMG3 and SMG4 leant closer, their lips moments away from being sealed in a kiss when they were once again interrupted. This time, by averyfamiliar "YAHOO!"
Before they could process what was happening, Mario had crashed onto the table, eating SMG4's spaghetti in one bite.
As the happy Italian chewed his food, Three and Four glared furiously at him with a mix of anger, confusion and pure annoyance.
"MARIO!? WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING HERE!?!!" SMG3 shouted angrily.
"Mario's-a here for the date!!" He smiled innocently.
"DAMMIT YOU IDIOT I SAID YOU COULDN'T COME ON MY DATE!!" SMG4 shouted, equally furious.
Just then, as if things couldn't get any worse, Mr Puzzles ran over to the table, desperate to save the situation somehow.
"Sorry! Sorry! I am so terribly sorry!" He said, grabbing Mario off of the table and putting him on the ground.
"What the- Puzzles?!! WHY THE HELL AREYOUHERE!??" SMG4 shouted.
"Uh-well, I umm..." Mr Puzzles scrambled for an excuse. In retrospect, he should have planned a lie in case they were noticed.
"I swear to god if you two don't explain yourselves right this instant, I will bring an army of Ugandan Knuckles' here to kick your asses." SMG3 threatened.
"Isn't it obvious what they were doing?" SMG4 said. "These assholes were spying on us!!"
"No no no you've got it all wrong! We weren't spying on you at all!!" Puzzles tried to lie but the meme guardians weren't buying it.
"Bull. sh*t. YOU have been terrorising and manipulating us for months!!!" SMG4 pointed at Mr Puzzles. "And YOU!" He turned his accusatory finger to Mario, "were practicallybeggingme to bring you on this date! Am I supposed to believe you justhappenedto be going here for a nice meal with the guy who tried to kill us?!"
"M-Mario can explain!"
"THEN DO IT! EXPLAIN!" SMG3 shouted.
Mr Puzzles then got an idea.
"I asked him on a date." Mr Puzzles said in a defeated tone. The two SMG's looked at him with confusion.
"What?" Four asked.
Mr Puzzles returned their look and continued.
"I asked Mario out on a date. There! I admit it! Ever since my initial defeat, I kept thinking back to all of the hours Mario and I would spend together. Granted, he was only around me to watch his silly shows but tome,I was just flattered that he loved my creations so much! And when I had you all under my control, despite constantlyruiningmy perfect 5 stars... I couldn't help but recast Mario in all of my productions. It was as if he brought a certain pizazz to my shows and I felt as if I couldn't afford to loose him as an actor. The dumbass has had me wrapped around his fat Italian fingers for weeks and doesn't even know it..."
Mr Puzzles dramatically put his head in his hands and Mario looked up at him curiously.
Wait, is this really what had been going through the TV man's head all this time? Did he... enjoy Mario's company??
The Italian felt his cheeks warm very slightly at the thought but nobody seemed to notice.
"So then, I finally worked up the courage to ask him to dinner so I could figure out how I truly felt about him." Mr Puzzles continued. "I told him to pick the location since I'm not as familiar with the mushroom kingdom and he chose here. I swear, if I had known you two would be on a date here, I never would have allowed it. Please accept our deepest apologies."
Finally finished, Mario stood up and looked at the TV man who towered above him. He glanced at Puzzles' hand which hung by his side.
Carefully, Mario reached to hold Mr Puzzles' hand. He doesn't know why he felt inclined to do it but if this is how Mr Puzzles truly felt, it was the least he could do. As he slipped their hands together, he looked away, cheeks tinting ever so slightly.
Puzzles looked at him and smiled, giving Mario's hand a little squeeze in return.
SMG4 watched the interaction and sighed. He didn't fully believe Puzzles' words but at this point, he just wanted to get back to his own date instead of worrying about Mario's supposed one.
"Just... get out and leave us alone." He said, defeated.
"Yes of course." Puzzles said, "Come along dearest!"
He started walking, Mario still holding his hand and trailing along beside him.
Once they had left, SMG4 let out an exasperated sigh and sat back down. Three gave him a sympathetic look and returned to his own seat.
"You good?" He asked
"I just wanted this to be anormaldate. Non of Mario's wacky nonsense. Just you and me. Instead we got this disaster..." he said.
"Well... despite what happened, I don't think this date has been a total disaster." Three smiled at Four who raised an eyebrow.
"Really?Thiswasn't a disaster to you?" Four gestured to his now empty plate and Three chuckled.
"Just a regular day with your friends."
"Our friends." Four corrected.
"...ourfriends." Three agreed.
They smiled at each other again as Three took Four's hand in his own.
"If you want to, you can share my food? I'd rather leave room for dessert anyway..." Three said
"Yeah, I'd like that."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now outside of the restaurant, a million questions were flowing through Mario's head.
Did Puzzles mean all of that?? Had he secretly been harbouring feelings for him for months? If so, is that why he agreed to go on this date so easily??
Mario was pulled from his headspace by the feeling of Puzzles letting go of his hand.
He then turned around and smiled at the Italian.
"Great show my good man!! That acting was top notch from both of us!! Honestly, for a second there I didn't think we were going to get out of there alive but thanks to my amazing improv and your sense of emotional timing, we managed to fool them into thinking we were on an actual date!!" Mr Puzzles celebrated but Mario was only left more confused.
"Huh? What is the TV man talking about?" Mario questioned.
"Your acting my dear!! Oh when you tenderly grabbed my hand after my 'confession' it justreallywas the perfect final touch! I will definitely be taking note of that for my next movie!!"
"So... you were acting...?" Mario asked.
"Why of course! You knew it was a fake date from the start! I just used my talents to get us out of that sticky situation you created."
Puzzles gave Mario a patronising pat on the head, messing up his hat. Once he had readjusted it, he looked up to see Mr Puzzles walking down the street, humming his theme song to himself.
"W-wait! Where are you going?" Mario asked
"Hm? Oh, I'm going back to my studio my dear! Better get working on this next script right away!!"
Puzzles continued his walk but was stopped by Mario running up to him and grabbing his hand.
"L-let's get ice cream! To... you know, finish the script." He said with an awkward smile.
Mr Puzzles gave him an irritated look.
"I'm not buying you ice cream, I've got better things to spend my money AND time on-"
"Mario will pay!" He said
Puzzles raised an eyebrow, his expression unreadable. Fortunately for Mario, Puzzles' curiosity got the better of him.
"Okay..." he said cautiously.
Mario grinned and took his hand again and led him back down the street.
Was this just an excuse to spend more time with Mr Puzzles? Maybe. Did Mario weirdly like holding his hand? Kinda.... Was Mario going to let these thoughts and questions bother him? Absolutely not.
After a short walk, the two stood outside of an ice cream shop ran by non other than Marty. Mario greeted his cardboard friend and ordered two ice creams.
He walked back over to Mr Puzzles and handed him one of them. The TV smiled gratefully and they both walked beside each other, enjoying the evening air.
There was a peaceful silence between the two which was especially unusual for Mario. But for once, the Italian had nothing to say. He was just enjoying spending time with his possibly evil TV. That was enough for him.
After finishing their ice creams, the two sat down on a park bench and admired the scenery. Well, Puzzles admired the scenery. Mario was too busy staring at his screen like a deer in headlights.
"Well, this has certainly been a strange end to the evening." Puzzles said.
"Mario thinks it has been nice." He smiled. Puzzles smiled back.
"Yeah... Puzzles does too. I'm glad you suggested we do this. It'll make a sweet conclusion to my next production."
Mario's smile dropped ever so slightly at this.Did he only ever think about his work?
Mr Puzzles leaned back and yawned stretching as he did so. His arms fell on the back of the bench, one of them going behind Mario.
"It's getting late... we should head back soon..." Puzzles looked down at Mario. The plumber looked back up at him and without thinking much about what he was doing, he leant into Mr Puzzles, his head landing on his chest.
"In a few minutes. Mario's tired." He mumbled.
It didn't take long for Mario to fall fast asleep whilst leaning on Mr Puzzles. Unable to do much, Puzzles sighed and put an arm around the Italian, making sure he was comfortable.
Feeling his systems beginning to go into sleep mode, Mr Puzzles rested his head ontop of Mario's. It's not like he could do much else. Besides, he could use this for his shows!
That was all the justification Mr Puzzles needed before allowing himself to fall asleep, cuddling Mario on a park bench.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Despite all of the problems, SMG4's date with SMG3 ended up going quite well.
They had each gotten a dessert and stayed talking in the restaurant for hours until closing time. It was now almost midnight as they approached Four's castle, laughing and talking loudly the whole way.
"Haha! And THEN, Luigi turned into Walter White and started making meme drugs!!" SMG4 giggled as he reminisced about his friends.
"HAHA AW MAN! IwishI had seen that!!" SMG3 laughed.
Three leant closer to Four as they walked and inconspicuously put an arm around his waist, wanting to keep him close.
"Oh you haven't even heard the HALF of it! Wait until you find out about Bob's 'great rap career'," Four snickered, subconsciously leaning into Three's embrace.
"Well as much as I would love to hear all about that..." SMG3 stopped walking and smiled sadly. "We're home."
"Oh... I didn't even realise we entered the show grounds." Four said, looking around.
Not wanting the moment to end just yet, Three took Four's hand, causing the latter to look him in the eyes.
Three blushed and nervously smiled.
"Thank you... for being with me today." He said
"Thanks for inviting me." Four smiled back, blushing just as much as Three.
"Would you- uhm... would youpotentiallywant to... er..."
"Want to...?" Four tried to coax the answer out of his partner.
"Would you like to go on a second date?" Three finally said, face redder than anything.
Four's smile widened and he nodded enthusiastically.
"Y-yeah! I'd love to go on a second date." He said.
Three's face flooded with relief upon hearing that and Four gave Three's hand a reassuring squeeze.
"Well... I should probably let you get to bed." Three said.
"Yeah, but I'll see you tomorrow! And you better not keep me waiting for that second date!~" Four teased, making Three blush.
Before going inside, Four gave Three a long hug goodbye. It was warm. Comfortable. Three never wanted the hug to end. Holding the single most important man in his life was something he could do forever.
After a while, Four slightly pulled away from the hug and blushed, looking into SMG3's crimson eyes. There was still one more thing he wanted to do.
"Hey... you know back at the restaurant, when we were about to...y'know, before Mario and Shroomy interrupted?"
Three blushed at the memory. "Y-yes..." he said.
"Well..." Four glanced around briefly, "There's nobody else around right now..."
"No, I suppose there isn't..."
"...would you like to try and finish it?" The blue cladded man asked, face redder than anything.
SMG3 smirked at him.
"Is this your way of asking for a kiss?~" he teased.
"Either kiss me or I'm going to bed." Four said flatly.
Three didn't need to be told twice. He held Four's face in his hands and gently brought their lips together in a sweet kiss. Four's heart fluttered as he felt Three's warm, soft lips pressed against his own. His arms wrapped around Three's neck, pulling him closer and deepening the kiss.
The passion and love exchanged through just this one kiss was incredible. Neither of them wanted this moment to end. Four gently caressed Three's soft, black hair as they held each other. In response, Three leaned further into the kiss as he firmly held Four in his arms.
Eventually, they had to part ways. They pulled away, faces red, bodies close.
Four was the first to speak up.
"Three I... I love..."
No. You shouldn't say that on the first date. Everyone knows that...
Four smiled at him "I loved spending time with you today."
Although it's not the words he was so desperate to say to Three over and over again, it would have to do for now.
Three smiled back and gave him a small parting kiss.
"I loved spending time with you too..."
"Want me to swing by the coffee shop tomorrow?" Four asked
"I'd love that."
And with that, Four opened the door to his home and stepped inside.
"Goodnight Three." He said once more before shutting the door.
SMG3 smiled lovingly at where SMG4 just was and blew him a kiss. He then turned around and headed back to his own home. He couldn't wait to tell Eggdog about all of this!!!
