"Thanks for keepin' me, Mochi."

Definitely a surprising follow-up to a few rounds of Mario Party 9, but there it was, hanging in the air. And in the wake of those words, Glitch had his hands in his lap. Green eyes averted from his mentor's face, cheeks as red as rubies, he was the dictionary definition of shyness. It was as if he had suddenly gone back to the one he was once; insecure, frightened, wondering where to look without being swallowed alive.

Sitting next to the one that made him whole was kind of uncomfortable.

With wide, gentle brown eyes, Mo stared at his partner. His other half. The one that inspired him to get out of bed every morning. Living for his friend's smile pushed Mo to use his DCI badge to his advantage, resulting in a Wii U ending up in the Hi-Def suite. Something for them to play with at the end of a very long day. A day packed with high-octane dance-offs, TanCorps, the Glitterati, more dance-offs and of course, DCI's one-of-a-kind training program. The day had been wild from the get-go, never giving them a chance to breathe-

Until night fell.

Things got off to a fantastic start. Both halves of Hi-Def were on the same page, beating the crap out of each other at mini-games, with Glitch shoving Mo off their sofa whenever he stole coins, stars and pretty much Mario's dignity. "Ya big baby," Hi-Def's founder chuckled, all the while hijacking more of Mario's loot and even more of Glitch's patience.

"Quit yer belly achin'. Steal some shit from me, if yer so pissed!"

"Can't do a damn thing if yer always riggin' me, dumbass!"

"Well, ain't my damn fault, you just don't know how t' play!"

"You won't even gimme a chance, Princess! It's always gotta be about you!"

"Look, dunno what 'cher cryin' about, ya just won yer first game! Ain't 'cha glad, G?"

A long, drawn out sigh followed those words.

"Mo, it's the end o' th' damn game. We're two turns away from th' end. Ya took alla my damn coins, by the way."

"Get some more."

Mo's partner rolled his eyes. "Like it's that easy."

On it went for another three hours, with even more wholesome, family-friendly name-calling and thievery, until the end of yet another board, which brought about Glitch's:

"Thanks for keeping me, Mochi."

Smiling at his crew mate, best friend and hero, Mo kissed Glitch's forehead, then ruffled his hair.

"Ain't no thang, Nanobyte. Thanks fer keepin' me."