Whooo, long overdue update FTW. By the way, I lost my list of words, so if you could drop a review with a word, that would be much appreciated. x_x

And no, this is not just a way to get you to review....... okay, maybe it is. Just a little. I really do need words from you guys.

BTW, I don't play many MMOs, but I do play Perfect World International. My username is Akefia on there, Tideborne class.

WORD: MMORPG

Definition: Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (ex: World of Warcraft, Runescape, Perfect World International, etc.)

The sun had yet to rise, but the lighting of the sky told Marth that is was probably around 5am. He occasionally woke up early; sometimes he'd get up and make preperations for the day, the early bird catches the worm after all, other times he'd roll over and snake his arms around Ike, falling back asleep for another hour or two. Today he had planned on the second option. Planned being the key word, as when the young prince rolled over, his thin arms reaching out to feel the warmth of his lover; he touched naught but empty air.

Teal eyes shot open to discover the spot next to him very much empty. Where was Ike? There was no way he was up already, Ike never woke up early. In fact, Marth could specifically remember Ike having been up late last night; he hadn't even come to bed with the prince. Which meant one thing: he was still up.

With a groan of annoyance and a yawn, Marth slid his legs out from the warmth of the covers and rose out of bed. Well, there was no way he was getting back to sleep now. Feet trudged out into the hallway, down to the living room, into the kitchen, out to the training grounds; no Ike. If the mercenary wasn't in his usual haunts, where was he? With no clue, Marth was forced to check every room he came across in the Altean castle; tedious and fruitless work when you lived in a palace with hundreds of possible rooms for one mercenary to be in.

As he ventured on, the soft sounds of a computer grew louder and louder. It was one of those Begnion inventions, only recently brought to Altea. That was partly thanks to Ike, whose efforts to find a pathway between Tellius and Akaneia had opened up trading. Regardless, Ike had taken to the new machine, especially since the use of internet had been added. It was all scientific stuff created by the best of Begnion's magicians; things Marth didn't understand.

"Ike," the teal-haired prince's arms crossed as he looked at his lover. Ike's sapphire eyes were glued to the screen before him. "How long have you been up?"

"All night." He didn't even look back at Marth, his fingers pressing fifteen different buttons in rapid succession.

Marth sighed. "You need to sleep, baka," he walked forward, his arms snaking around Ike's waist, his chin on the mercenary's shoulder, "How else is my best mercenary going to protect me from the bad guys?" But Ike didn't respond, too immersed into what he was doing. the prince followed Ike's intense gaze. On the screen was what seemed to be a little man with words above his head. He was running around and fighting strange creatures. Ike seemed to be controlling him. "What is this anyways?"

"MMORPG."

"What?"

"Massively Multiplayer Online-... Nevermind. It's a game."

"And what is the point of said game?"

"You create a character and train them to become stronger, doing quests and things like that." Ike was still pounding away at the keys.

"Mmm," Marth mused, "Sound's like what you do everyday. Except this time it's in a virtual world. I don't see much point in that."

"It's fun. You should try it sometime."

"No thanks." Marth stood, righting himself, "I'd rather train for real than with some made up character. Now come on~" he tugged lightly on Ike's headband. "That game isn't more important than me is it?"

"No," Ike said, though he didn't pause or turn from the game.

"Then come with me and make me tired so that I can sleep again, with you this time." The suggestive hint in his words was obvious, and obviously too much for Ike to deny, because the game was off in a second. The prince giggled as he was swooped off the ground and carried back to the room.

Feet tiptoed cautiously into the computer room. Marth looked around and back out into the hall to make sure no one was near, then closed the door with a click and booted up the computer. It wasn't that he was actually interested in the MMWhatever, just that he wanted to know what it was that Ike seemed to find so damn inportant.

The screen for the game popped up, asking for Marth username and password. Well, he didn't have either of those, no what? Eyes scanned the screen until he found the "New User" button, that must be him. With a click of the mouse he was taken to a new screen, this time with a little virtual person. Through a little experimentation, the prince found that he could alter the person's appearance. He made a mini-marth that looked like him in almost every way, the wonders of Begionian technology.

Suddenly MiniMarth was in a room with a bunch of other people, and a man telling him how to fight monsters. "Left click the monster and press A to attack," the prince repeated the words on the screen under his breath. He did so. MiniMarth ran up to a giant Mouse and slew it with one hit. Marth grinned, watching as other people around him fell to the Mighty Mouse's hands, er, paws. He wasn't half bad, if he didn't say so himself. He bet he could even become the best fighter in the world, the virtual world at least.

"Marth? What are you doing?" Ike ran his fingers through blue tresses. He'd just woken up from a rather invigorating sleep, only to find the spot nest to him empty. Yet here was his prince, eyes glued to the computer screen, the last place Ike would expect him.

"I've only got two more levels to go before I can learn the Meditation skill and move on to the Doomed Mountains of Ho'ar," Marth said quickly, his teeth bitting his lower lip as MiniMarth tackled monster after monster.

"What? How long have you been up?"

"What time is it now?"

Ike inspected the clock, "7am."

"Uhh..." With his mind on the game before him, math took a while. "14 hours."

Ike only grinned to himself.