Susan "Mandark" Astronominov was plotting yet another one of his devious plans to destroy his rival's laboratory once and for all. How he loathed that cheeky grin that flashed his way whenever he got pwned at the science fair, the horrid laugh that echoed in his ears on the day he had been mistaken for a girl, and, admittedly, the amount of intelligence that could be produced by such a diminutive figure. This rival Mandark spoke of, who caused bile to climb up his throat whenever he so much as heard his first name, was none other than his atrocious next-door neighbor: Dexter McPherson.
Dexter Cornelius McPherson, son of Lillian Angelina McPherson ( née O'Connell ) and Joseph Eugene McPherson, brother of Deandra-Denise "DeeDee" Harmony McPherson, and notable friend of Douglas Anthony Mordecai, was none other than a "stupid stinky doody-head!" Or at least, that was Mandark's opinion on the matter. He had been trying to destroy that arrogant redhead's lab ever since the day he had been ridiculed with classic male chauvinism directed towards unfortunate female victims. Or in that case, a teenage boy who just happened to have long, silky black hair, a skin-tight light-pink t-shirt, matching pink overalls with a pink flower on the front, and hot-pink sandals.
Though he had attempted for many years now, he still had not managed to get his revenge. Past creations he made to crash through Dexter's ceiling...failed. Past viruses he had transported to Dexter's computer systems...failed. Past sissy fights he had gotten into with Dexter...failed. Past times he had tried to manipulate DeeDee into joining his side to defeat Dexter...failed. Speaking of which...
DeeDee: it brought an unmistakable nostalgia and pain to his heart when he happened to hear her name. She had been his first, albeit obsessive-compulsive, crush. He used to adore everything about her: the way she batted her eyelashes and dared you to stare with her azure eyes, the softness of her flawless skin, the way her golden tresses flowed in the wind, her proficient and graceful choreographic skills... And yet, out of all of her wonderful qualities, there was a glaringly obvious reason he could never have her besides the fact that she hated his guts. It was because of her low intelligence. However cute and innocent the way she saw the world was to Mandark before, he had grown to realize that they were not compatible. She was sweet and kind, sure, but Mandark desired somebody with mystery, with vulnerability...with book-smart qualities. Somebody, dare he say it, sort of like Dexter.
" Yeah...except less annoying. Pft," Mandark scoffed, before he could get too carried away with his thoughts. He slipped into his slightly-revealing villainous suit and cape before holding up his gothic weapon and giving his typical cheesy speech. " Get ready, Dexter! Today you will face the wrath of my new Mandarcopter and nothing is going to stop me! AH HA HA! AH HA HA HA HA!"
After he finished with his speech and his nasally cackle, he got into the new helicopter he had built overnight painted in black and red overtones sort of like a Twilight poster. He pulled the lever back into reverse and shifted it again. The helicopter stalled and Mandark nearly propelled forward. " Ugh, what a pain! I knew I should've gotten that standard for half-price! Stick-shifts are a pain in the butt! Literally, ow..." he complained, his hindquarters emphasizing their soreness. He shifted the lever a little more carefully the next time, and took pre-cautionary measures by placing a pillow on his pilot , he neared the Mandarcopter upon Dexter's house and counted down to impact with glee, a nasty smirk edged across his face. " Three...two...one..."
CRRRRASH! The Mandarcopter rammed through the ceiling, causing ginormous chunks of plaster to fall into the lab. If this plan doesn't work, at least Dexter could pay the price with community service, Mandark thought. By the way, where was that devil child?
"Dexter?" Mandark called. That was strange. Normally Dexter would've been on his tail by then, complaining in his strange almost-Russian accent about how the ceiling damage would take days to repair or sissy-fighting with him while wearing no shirt ( AN: don't ask). Perhaps he had gone deaf and could not hear him. "Yoo-hoo~! Dexter~!" Mandark called in a singy-song tone. Nada results. ...Okay, this was getting annoying. "Dexter!" he shouted, irritation in his voice. Mandark did not play children's games, darn it!
That was when he heard a moaning and groaning sound coming from somewhere in the laboratory. "WHAT WAS THAT?" He whispered zealously. Even though he tried to convince himself that ghosts did not exist and were simply a figment of one's imagination, Mandark's neck and arm hair still stood up on end. His heart pounded loudly enough in his throat to get him to start thinking that all of Canada heard it too. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead and his voice came out in a higher octave than usual. "V-Very funny, Dexter! You don't sc-scare me!" He sounded more as if he were convincing himself than Dexter.
" Ohhhhhhhh~!" Another moan. Mandark found himself involuntarily following the sound. Its source seemed to be the northeast corner of his rival's laboratory.
" K-Knock it off, Dexter! Don't you realize how i-immature you sound?!" he yelled, trying to conceal his fear with anger. Little did he know that immaturity was the least of Dexter's worries. Suddenly-
"WHO'S THERE?!"
"AAAAAAA!" Mandark nearly jumped out of his skin when the voice blurted from behind him. There, in the tall boy's shadow, was Dexter. He did not look very good. His face was pasty and his eyes were a mix of baby blue and red. His head hung and he was in a sulking position, as if nothing mattered to the boy genius anymore.
"Oh. It is you. Hello, Mandark," he sighed. The other boy was astonished by his demeanor. If a lion broke into his lab, he would still respond with that same uncaring tone of voice. Something was fishy, there.
"Dexter? Dexter, are you okay?" Mandark asked, with concern lacing his voice. Of course, he figured he only meant it in terms of his rival acting weirdly.
"Yes, yes, I am fine, Mandark. Now if you'll please, I have work to do." The redhead sighed and began to clean up the fallen plaster with a broom and a dust pan. Now Mandark was doubly confused. Dexter never turned down an opportunity to fight against evil.
"B-But don't you wanna fight me? And- and thwart with my evil plans that I have been working so hard on to destroy your lab? And-"
"No. Not today. Could you please leave, now? You're distracting me from my work." Mandark frowned in thought. This simply would not do. He stalked over to where Dexter was crouching over the mess of plaster and interrogated him once more.
"Seriously, Dexter. You've never refused to fight against me before. Why are you doing it now? Is it something I did? I don't get what's wrong." He reached out slowly to Dexter, wanting to show SOME sort of sign that he was uncomfortable with his chosen behavior. Dexter's eyes grew as if Mandark's hand were a knife and he reacted reflexively.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!" he screamed, slapping Mandark's hand away with his own. The older boy held his reddened hand in surprise, but he did not strike back. Immediately, Dexter regretted what he had done. He turned his head away. "I-I'm so sorry, Mandark! I didn't mean it! I-I just- Monkey died last night. That's what my problem is. So if you want to make fun of me or hit me back, then go ahead! I deserve it! It was all my fault. See, I didn't know he was at "that" age until it was too late. I should've played with him more! I should've gotten him a monkey girlfriend! I should've interacted more with him, but I can't! It's too late for that now, he's gone! He was my best friend and I let him down like the idiot I am..." he sniveled.
Mandark was positively shocked by seeing that vulnerable side of Dexter. He never thought he would see the day when the boy genius's eyes were filling to the brim with tears and not because his lab was destroyed but because...because he would never see that one person he cared for alive ever again. Rivals or not, it positively broke his heart to see Dexter in that much pain when he had not caused it. But even then, was it really worth it?
No. Of course it wasn't. If Dexter retreated to his room and sobbed because of what Mandark had been doing to him for all those years, it was definitely not worth it. He felt guilt for being so nasty to the boy. He had never intentionally tried to hurt him, he just wanted to provoke an annoyed response every now and then. Finally, he decided that it was time to make up for all the times he made Dexter feel this way even when the boy hid his emotions. And so, without hesitation or regrets, he pulled the smaller boy closer to him and anchored his arms around his violently shaking body.
By then, Dexter was sobbing hysterically. He was so upset by Monkey's death that he didn't fully notice who had pulled him onto a supportive lap. He just snuggled closer to that person and dug his fingers into the person's shoulder blades. Mandark didn't even care that Dexter's salty tears were ruining the fabric of his cape. All that mattered to him was helping out the sad, sensitive boy he held in his warm touch. " Shhh...it's okay. It'll be alright now, Mandark's here. Mandark's here, Dexy..."
The younger and smaller boy's face was flushed like a little pink rose and tears rolled down his face like individual tributaries leading to the river of water that soaked into Mandark's shoulder. Mandark looked upon it with an odd sort of fondness. He wasn't such a bad kid, after all. He probably didn't even mean to make fun of him in that slightly-sexist way when he first saw him in feminine form. He was only human, and humans made mistakes. Mandark knew that: he had just realized his own awful mistake a few minutes ago. Heck, Mandark went as far as to think that he...he actually kind of liked Dexter.
He thought about a more proper way to comfort him and started doing what he called "The Tree". His parents used to do it to him when he was young and sad, and as much as he hated admitting it, it felt nice whenever they did. First, he started rubbing his right arm up and down Dexter's quaking back, or the "roots". Next, he moved on to his neck, or "trunk", placing his hand on the nape and gently stroking it with his thumb. Finally, he carded his hand through his scarlet locks, or "leaves", and listlessly curled them between his middle and index fingers. And all through the process, he whispered soft, reassuring words in his ear. Dexter began to calm down a little bit more, and Mandark smiled: his new non-evil plan was working.
He decided that it was time to respond with more words this time, to actually talk with the boy. And so, he lifted his chin with a graceful hand and looked at him with the mutual understanding in his eyes that had been hiding for all those years. "You're in pain. And I get that. I would never have wanted to make fun of you or hurt you if I had known that I caused you this much pain. I just wanted you to know. As for what happened to Monkey, I completely understand how that feels. In fact, I understand so much that looking back, I don't know if I should have stopped your mourning. I probably should have allowed you to have privacy, but I couldn't help it when I saw how despondent you were."
Dexter made a sound similar to giggling, and Mandark smiled. Dexter's laugh is actually kind of adorable, he thought. Wait, WHAT? He shrugged off the thought and continued. "When my pet duck Quackor died, I locked myself in my room for days. You lost your best friend, and that hurts a whole lot. It was not your fault, though. Naturally, he became so human to you that you just forgot how short-lived he really was. Then yesterday, he just got tired of all the pain he was going through because of his sore body and failing senses, so he died of old-age. Do not r, beat yourself up for his knowing that what he had to do was right. And you know something else? He's probably up in Monkey Heaven right now, getting a banana smoothie with a cherry on top and heading towards the Jungle of Fun, where his spirit can roam about as freely as a bird."
"Oh, Mandark! Banana smoothies were Monkey's favorite!" Dexter cried, tears of appreciation running down his face. Mandark gingerly wiped the drops of hot water away with his thumb. He didn't want Dexter to cry: he wanted him to be happy again, with that laugh and smile of his that he had come to appreciate. Along with his intelligence, of course. Dexter was a really smart boy.
"That's right. I'll bet he just found some monkey colleagues and is currently chattering up a storm with them about his true best friend. Not Quackor, Not some monkey girlfriend he's had in the past, not King Kong...you. He's talking about all the good times you've shared since the moment you got him. He doesn't hold any grudges against you for your busy schedule and he hopes you know that he loves you very much and that he will always watch over you from up above. I know this because if you are truly friends with somebody, they will not hold anything against what you do. They take what they can get and are satisfied with it. ...Dexter, you are a very sweet and sensitive guy who doesn't deserve to feel morose or underestimate the love radiating from his greatest friends. And from now on, whenever you feel sad about something, I want you to tell me what is wrong immediately so that I can bring back that smile of yours."
Mandark found that his heart had taken over his thoughts, but he meant every word of it. The moment he stopped speaking, his heart caused him to do what he didn't know he had been wanting to do for a very long time. He caressed Dexter's temples and leaned his head forward, slowly puckering his lips. What followed was a tender peck on the forehead. It sent purified warmth buzzing through Dexter's skull and both boys were flustered and shy. Mandark was afraid that Dexter did not feel the same way towards him and felt stupid for emitting these sudden...feelings. Just as suddenly, Dexter opened his mouth. Oh, God, here comes the rejection, Mandark thought.
"Thank you," Dexter whispered, a smile spreading across his beautiful face. Mandark was speechless; he thought he was going to get thrown out of the lab and that Dexter would spread a mean rumor about the older boy being queer for him. But here he was, looking at him as if he were a guardian angel sent from the heavens. It took Mandark everything he had not to melt into a heart-shaped puddle within that moment.
"Why do you thank me? You don't thank the air for giving you oxygen or the sun for shining, so why am I an exception?" he responded. Dexter didn't need to thank him as if he had volunteered against his own will. Mandark had wanted to help and comfort the smaller boy. Dexter's trembling hand took Mandark's in his. Mandark hitched his breath, then relaxed and curled his fingers around the violet glove.
"I'm thanking you because you made me realize just how much I really liked you," said Dexter. He stroked his hand and gently pressed his lips to it. Now, tears of Mandark's own were forming in his eyes. He shuddered and cried whilst laughing.
"Oh g-gosh, I'm such a mess today!" he sobbed. Dexter in turn comforted the older boy until he, too, was reduced to hiccups. They got up off the floor after a little while. Mandark got a pen and paper and scrawled something down. Dexter asked what he was doing. "I'm making an agreement for us," was his reply. Then he stuck out his hand. "From now on, we'll be the best of friends, and perhaps more if you would like, so that I can protect you from hurt and never hurt you. Deal?" he asked gently. Dexter smiled.
"Deal." They shook hands and signed the agreement on paper. Mandark took a hold of Dexter's hand and began to walk towards one of the doors. "Where are we going?" He asked curiously.
"We, my dear friend Dexter, are going outside to hold a special funeral service for Monkey. He deserves the best that he can get from us," said Mandark. Dexter looked up in approval, his eyes shining.
"Thanks," he said, "I-I love you." Instead of saying "I love you too," like he had originally planned, Mandark just smiled silently and squeezed the younger boy's hand. He would tell Dexter those exact words once he fixed the Mandarcopter and drove it to the Eiffel Tower.
Dexter was vulnerable, mysterious, and intelligent. Mandark wanted him to be his boyfriend. Out of all that had happened, there were losses and gains throughout the day. Monkey was a lost friend, and their rivalry was lost as well, but Monkey's spirit that watched over Dexter was gained and the geniuses' friendship was gained. Mandark looked at the sky as if he were expecting to see Monkey's spirit. It seemed to say,
"Thank you for looking out for my greatest friend." Mandark smiled.
"You're welcome."