"Whooooo…geez, how long did I go without cleaning ANYTHING?" Meggy heaved a massive sigh, wiping some well-earned sweat off her forehead. A quick glance at the time showed it was about twenty minutes left until her guests arrived. It felt like she had a true workout, running around the entire house, cleaning as much as she could. Having the place spotless was just not happening, so she did the obvious, big chores first. Like cleaning food off of the floor, cleaning food off the walls and sofa, cleaning food out the bathroom…

Man, she was gross at times.

Still, after all the munchables were cleared, next was cleaning. The main room and guest room were the first to be swept and wiped down. Under no circumstance was she gonna let her friends sleep like she has for even a single night! So after a few extra minutes of being thorough, she moved on to the rest of the house. Meggy couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed in herself, clearing cobwebs and month old stains. At least she's fixing up her home now…

And with the building in a more polished state, the next step was probably snacks and games to do at the sleepover. She rarely left her apartment these days for anything but snacks anyway, so she had plenty of those. Crisps, nuts, cakes, sweets, garlic bread, little party nibbles left over from New Years...and ramen. Tons and tons of ramen. She could just heat up the last of that on her own, so she kept an even spread of all of that into medium bowls and scattered them across the coffee table. Not a single carrot or celery stick in sight. Man her diet was awful these days.

Some bottles of cola and lemonade to bring it all in, all she needed now was some games. "Kirby does his Taxes 2", ooh that was a good one. "Super Smash Each Other in the Ass Bros", well that was all Tari seemed to play. Uh…"Legend of Lonk: Airpilot Angel", "Matt's Wrath 3: Mii-truction"..."Splatoon"? Was that…

It was. Meggy threw the case across the room in a fit of fear. A cold chill went down her spine.

"What's wrong, human?" came that voice again. Meggy clutched her head in pain. No...no please not now. She looked over to the battered game casing. A shadowy hand, drenched in purple, picked it up. The Shadow, taking on the form of Desti, looked at it. She looked up at Meggy and grimaced, "Still don't wanna accept the truth?"

"There's...bad memories there," Meggy whined, "I don't wanna go back to 'em. Just go away!"

"It's been a year, HUMAN," Shadow Desti growled, "One stinkin' year! You turned your back on your friends before...why invite them in now? So you can abandon them again?" Meggy couldn't respond, so choked up by fear. Shadow Desti snarled, "Whatever. Leader was right. You're a failure. Just another...human. Your so-called friends will see that soon enough…"

DING DONG

Meggy snapped back to reality. The Shadow was gone. She was all alone in her apartment. She wiped the tears from her eyes and put on her best face. Time to greet her guests, she supposed. Stumbling across the main room to the door, she took in a deep breath, exhaled loudly, and opened the door.

"MEGGY!"

And suddenly, a small object wrapped itself around her, snuggling into her folds. Meggy blushed heavily, babbling as the hugger's head nuzzled into her tummy. She looked down at the perp. It was Tari, of course. Even as wide as she was, Tari still dominated her in height but certainly not width, with the gamer girl's arms just barely getting around her frame. Meggy almost chuckled and patted the top of her head, "Nice to see you too, Tar."

"Well, it's been a while!" Tari said happily, "You know we're always there for you!"

"Yeah well...I wasn't," Meggy sighed.

"Oh hush," Tari shushed her, "That's why we're here! Me and a few friends!"

[Kore o hon'yaku suru no ni jikan ga kakarimashita.]

"Come on Saiko, Belle said she couldn't make it! She told me she was busy. Shucking corn. I think."

A disgusted sigh escaped someone in the back of the doorway. It was Saiko, the tall and psychotic anime girl given life through...some dark magic, Meggy was never sure. She towered over the two girls, her clothing a little more conservative than it usually was; a loose and baggy black nightdress instead of her midriff-showing shirt, garnished with leggings and no less than three bottles of red wine under her arms. She looked down at Meggy and spoke, her voice a jumble of Japanese. That everyone just knew how to speak. Somehow.

[Oh hey, Meggo,] Saiko said in a chill fashion, [It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, a year. Oh my, you've let yourself go. Weren't you like a stick last time I saw you?]

"Saiko!" Tari yelped in shock, "Be nice!"

[Ahh come on, Tari, I'm just joking,] Saiko walked over to Meggy and knelt down by her. She placed a hand on her shoulder, [Good to see you, kid. Been missin' you. Really, we all have.]

"What, did you try to replace me?" Meggy asked dryly.

Tari rolled her eyes nervously "Well…"

A soft yawn was heard behind the two visitors, who parted to let Meggy see. And… well, she wasn't sure what she was expecting. Another girl with a fruity theme was looking right at her with red eyes. Though she seemed more curious than anything. Or confused, it seemed to be a mix of both. She didn't even get a chance to speak before she walked right up to Meggy's face.

Leaning back on instinct, Meggy stuttered a little before the newcomer just hugged her. What was happening?

"Soft..." The watermelon themed girl spoke. She smiled before letting go, hands to her sides as if she's making sure not to jump on the chubby human again, "Hi hi. I Melony."

"...I am so confused," Saiko snorted at Meggy's deadpan statement while Tari scratched her head, feeling a tad awkward about Melony's introduction, "No, seriously. Who is she?"

"I MELONY!" The girl pouted, stomping her foot in annoyance.

Tari gently placed a hand on Melony's shoulder, "Well, a creepy guy was selling masks that did a LOT of weird stuff-"

[Like turning Axol and Luigi into wannabe Marios, apparently.]

"- and during that chaos, a mask landed on a Melon that was around us for a while. And… well, here she is."

"Me. Melony!" She proudly grinned, though she looked at Meggy, once again curious. "You big. But soft. Like Mawio!"

A loud groan escaped Meg's throat, "Can we PLEASE drop the topic of my body weight?! And if you make a joke from that, I will shut the door on you all!"

Saiko chuckled and petted Meggy's hair affectionately, [Chill firecracker, we get it. Now, you gonna invite us in or are we sleeping like Bob does?]

"Melony no like card box…" Melony whined, "Card box cold and wet."

"Relax, Melony," Tari said, "It's just a joke. Come on, let's get inside."

"O-Oh, yeah!" Meggy said, standing by as the others clomped in, "Come in, come in! Just..ignore the smell."

[Ah, so I WASN'T going crazy, then…] Saiko grumbled as she stepped into the main room, [Smells like...beans.]

"Saiko, be nice," Tari scolded, though the former Inkling swore she saw her nose twitch for a moment, "Ooh… nice place."

Meggy looked around. Was it, though? From way back in the day, she had bought the cheapest, crummiest apartment she could, as far from the Mushroom Kingdom as she could hope to go. Which turned out to not be very far, but still. It was one of those apartments where everything was in a single room, barring the bedroom and the bathroom. The kitchen was dead in front; it was quite clean now, but for a time it had been buried under pizza boxes and unwashed plates. The main room was spacious, at least, some dressers lining the edge of the room and a TV and couch dotting a corner. The walls were...well okay there was nothing she could do about the peeling wallpaper or the odd stains in the carpet...or that smell. She wished she could.

Still, best to save face; "Th-Thanks…" Meggy said, rubbing her arm and wincing as her hand glided over a bruise, "What's mine is yours."

"Like this?" came that same curious voice. Meggy turned to see Melony pick something up off one of the dressers; it was plastic, neon green and orange, worn from use but covered in some dust. She looked it over and then to Meggy, "Toy?"

"No, Melony…" Tari hummed like a frustrated mother putting on a sweet face around strangers, "That's Meggy's old service weapon! A, uh...Spl...Splatza...uh…"

"Splattershot," Meggy replied tiredly, "My one. From back in the day."

[Man, it's in bad shape,] Saiko looked it over, [Didn't you say you were gonna burn it once?]

"Yeah, well…" Meggy sighed, "I kept hold of it, in the end. As a reminder...of, my failure, I guess."

"Aww, Meggy…" Tari cried, "Well, sounds like it's time to get on with this motherfu...uh, d-ducking sleepover!"

"Jeez, not in front of the kid, Tari," Meggy joked, before the room entered an awkward silence, "Uh...so...what do you, do on a sleepover?"

[I dunno,] Saiko shrugged, [We paint each other's nails, eat pizza, talk about boys, watch really shitty romantic comedies...and then we all pass out and wake up awkwardly clinging to one another. At least, that's how they went in my game.]

With Saiko being grumpy, and Melony currently looking down the barrel of the thankfully very empty ink weapon, the MetaRunner clapped her hands to gain everyone's attention, "I have plenty of co-op and party games we can start with!"

Everyone hummed in agreement (except Melony who was now waving the dusty gun around as if it were a magic wand) and all started to get set up in front of the TV. Nothing too big, Meggy couldn't afford that, but not completely tiny either. Tari started to use her arm to set up the console she brought along and re-synching the controllers. Saiko meanwhile moved the couch to a better position. And by 'moved', she just picked up the thing like it was a mere balloon. Meggy was almost certain she had abs like smooth beach pebbles by this point. Perhaps it was swinging that massive mallet of hers. That certainly would give you a workout.

Melony, now bored with the inert Splattershot, put it down and walked over to the couch. She hummed to herself, almost in thought before dragging a dozen or so pillows around the furniture. Very soft pillows, Meggy noted, pristine white and stuffed with feathers. Clearly this Melony wanted to be as comfortable as possible. Where she even had them was also a mystery, but she wasn't complaining. The watermelon girl softly sang to herself, mostly gibberish but there was an attempt.

The host of the sleepover, realising she hasn't helped yet, went to the kitchen to grab the snacks she prepared, along with plastic cups. No glass here. Rule Number 3 with Saiko and any form of alcohol: any form of glass around a drunk Saiko resulted in a pissed and angry she-demon with quite the weapon on hand. Everyone learned that lesson during a Christmas celebration when Bob tried to hit on her. Everyone learned how effective a smashed glass could be as a shrapnel bomb that day.

She carefully placed down the cups and began to spread out what some would consider a mini buffet if intended for casual snacking. One thing she has learned in her year of shut in and wallowing was how to prepare food. Meg didn't cook often, but slowly began to learn how to without the entrance of a blazing inferno. After all, there's only so many times you can order pizza with the same delivery guy before it just gets awkward. So with her culinary arts now above arson, she laid out the treats for the night on paper plates. Again, no ceramic. Nothing sharp or that could shatter. A drunk Saiko was a terrifying thing. What was even the appeal of getting drunk? Meggy had only tried once...and she repressed what happened almost as hard as her Splatfest loss.

...Almost.

"M-Meg…" a voice broke through the haze of her internal thoughts and she snapped back to reality. She looked down at Melony, eying her curiously as she poured some cola into their cups. The green-haired girl looked up to her, her red eyes wobbling slightly as she focused, "Are...you, okay?"

"H-Huh?" She did a quick check, rubbing the back of her hand on her cheeks and eyes. Nothing wet. Yet. Still, she gave the fruity girl a small smile, "Yeah, I'm cool. Just, you know, never had a sleepover before."

"Welllllll..." Melony started, looking thoughtful as she could for her surprisingly adorable baby face, "We have friends. And friends…make friends happy! So no worry, friend Meggy!"

"You make it sound so simple."

"Is it not simple?" She tilts her head, confused at the seemingly simple scene. Maybe it was simple? Was Meggy making mountains out of mole hills? That was the human saying, wasn't it?

Still, the chubby girl smiled and patted Melony's head, her blinking at the motion, "Yeah, friends. You're right, I should…try to just enjoy the moment."

"And that moment.." Tari said happily, finally turning the console on, "Is video games!"

[Hell yeah,] Saiko said, vaguely sarcastically, [The world I was born in. It's...kinda shitty, actually. Ah well. I guess we're playing that Ass Smasher game or something?]

"Yeah! Always a favourite!" Tari chirps, handing out controllers to all the girls. Melony didn't seem to know what she was given, but seemed happy nonetheless, "You know, I wonder what it would feel like to be in the game you were in Saiko."

[You aren't missing much. Date sims only need stationary images and text. Not exactly a world to explore or anything.] She shrugs off, getting her own controller comfortable in her hands, [It's almost ironic, since those games are to lure sad, lonely players with no sense of relationships. Like SMG4.]

"...I mean, you're not WRONG…" Meggy chuckled, "Maybe we should bring someone else outta that game."

[Just don't bring Coco out,] Saiko growled, [She's a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch.]

Tari gently slapped Saiko's arm, getting a confused look, "We have Melony. I don't want her to pick up cursing. Try to tone it down a tad, please?"

The girl just shrugged, which was probably as good as she was gonna get from Saiko. After that, the girls settled down to play. First match was Meggy against Tari. Meggy wasn't THAT good at the game, but she felt she could still take Tari if she just mashed the controller hard enough. They picked their characters (which was which, even Meggy couldn't tell), and they began to fight. Meggy's character put up a brave fight, dashing this way and that, firing off blasts of plasma and swinging their sword, but Tari was in the zone. Really in the zone, she was doing that weird thing where her eyes would glow blue. Then, with speed and reflexes Meggy SWORE they didn't have beforehand, Tari's character burst out of the gate and pummelled her own into the dirt, before finishing them off with their Super. Saiko and Melony cheered, and Meggy felt a slight twinge of anger...and sadness.

"Look at you...can't even win in a video game…"

"And Tari-UH I mean Stormbroker wins!" the game screamed. Meggy swore she could see Tari in the game itself, looking upon her and waving cheerily. She blinked twice, Tari was gone from the screen and fully awake by her side. She shook her head, she was probably just tired and seeing things. She sighed.

"Well, GG Meggster!" Tari said happily. But she stopped when she saw the glum look on Meggy's face, "...Meggy?"

[You okay, kiddo?] Saiko asked, [You look a little upset. Sore you lost, or…?]

"N-No, it's fine…" Meggy sighed, "Someone else wanna play instead? I can't concentrate. Might have some battered shrimps look kinda...tasty."

"Me go! Me go!" The youngest girl cheered, making Tari giggle. Those two got set up with their own match, not that the orange haired girl cared. She just had to get away. Filling her plate with a mixture of shrimp, chicken nuggets and mini sausages, she climbed onto the sofa next to Saiko, who was lying across it sipping wine.

Thankfully she had only just opened the first bottle, so she was still lucid, [Hey champ. You sure you're okay?]

"Y-Yeah…" Meggy said, trying her best to flash a smile, "I'm fine."

"You're not fine...you're useless...you're beating yourself up over something so pointless…"

[Hmm. Well, you know you can, like, talk to us if you ever get stressed, yeah? That's what we're here for. And, for fun. And for me, fun is watching Melony get her ass kicked. She's been doin'...weird things to Axol, lately.]

Meggy wanted to ask what, but the match was already on and underway. Seems like Tari was going easier on the melon baby, with items on and not instantly doing a combo that would make even the toughest gamers cry in pain. And hearing Melony's small cheers and noises as she explored the game should have made her smile.

So why wasn't she?

She huffed and stuffed some snacks into her mouth. She didn't even care to look at what she nabbed, trying to push her darker thoughts down. The two girls kept playing with Saiko half-heartedly cheering them on. Meggy wasn't even sure if she zoned out or something before the game finished…and called Melony the victor.

A random girl beat Tari? Are. You. Kidding?

"Woohoo! Nice one Melony!"

[Meh, it was alright.]

"Hehehe! I win! I win!"

I win!

I win.

I win…

...I never won…

"YOU NEVER WIN…"

Meggy snapped back to reality. She didn't know the others were staring at her, tears in her eyes. They looked on with worry. They didn't even ask if she was okay, they could tell she wasn't. Meggy swallowed the spit in her mouth and wiped her eyes, "I'm...I'm okay. I just...Saiko can I have some of that?"

[I shouldn't, but…] Saiko said, before she shrugged, handing a bottle to her, [God it looks like you need some. Just pretend we're in the UK, it's legal for you there. Just be careful. Fortified Zinfandel, strongest wine I could find.]

Meggy didn't care. Pouring herself a shot into her plastic cup, she took a strong swig of it and recoiled from the taste alone. She was pretty sure her liver and maybe other important organs just shrivelled up, but she didn't care. This would help, it should help. She poured a second shot, staring into the liquid for a moment before downing that one as well. She couldn't help the coughing choke and it burned her throat.

"Meggy!" Tari scolded, "Stop, it's not going to help. You can't just drown your sadness with alcohol. Not in front of Melony!"

"Sorry, sorry…" Meggy sighed, "I just...that, came outta nowhere."

"Is me?" Melony asked sadly, "You no like me winning?"

Meggy hesitated before she sighed, "I...no, it's fine Melony. You gals mind if I just watch? Saiko, you try to take down Little Miss Gamer."

[Heh, you say that like I can't,] Saiko said, finishing the first bottle of wine before she reached for her controller, [Alright, Cyborg. I am gonna CREAM you.]

"We'll see about that!" Tari said boldly, selecting her character and a new stage. Saiko selected a character that, upon closer inspection, kind of looked like her. Huh. Guest fighter, perhaps? Meggy watched the titanic battle, watching Melony cheer on Tari while she rooted for Saiko. For a while, the fog in her mind lifted. She felt…happy? Like, actually happy? For the first time in a year, she felt like she was actually enjoying herself.

Like...everything was going to be okay.

The fight continued as Tari and Saiko hammered each other mercilessly. Neither would relent, even if Saiko's clumsy button mashing let Tari get some well-timed hits in; she countered with relentless aggression, giving Tari no space to reposition or even defend. It was coming to a climax, but Tari still had the upper hand by a good margin. Saiko's expression was one of furious determination; teeth clenched, sweat dripping from her furrowed brow. The determination to beat any foe who steps in her way. It wasn't long before Tari's game ability kicked into overdrive, but Saiko's fast and brutal playstyle seemed to really keep the gamer girl on her toes. The match (quite literally) exploded in a climax, where both girls hit as hard as they could. Their respective characters flew off screen at the same time, with Meggy and Melony whooping! The game ended with a tie as Tari cheered with Saiko… well, she looked half happy. Hey, that's the closest Meggy's ever seen anyone beat Tari in her favourite game.

No. Melony's match DOESN'T count.

"WHOOOO! That was amazing Saiko!" The blue haired bean hugged the tall girl in a massive hug, adrenaline still flooding her veins.

[Heh, I get it. I'm awesome.] She remarked, looking a tad awkward. She was never good at physical affection. Tari practically had a degree in that area. She was VERY good with hugs and snuggles. [Anyway, we still gonna play games? Or do you guys want to move onto something else?]

Melony thought for a bit, then her face lit up, "Ooh, ooh, I know!"