If Mash Buttons was honest, he never would expect Sweetie Belle to do anything kind for anyone. He always expected to be given all the attention from the residents of Greasepit including Mash Buttons, and did nothing for anyone in return with a few incredibly rare exceptions. Not that he minded; after all, it was part of Sweetie Belle's character and that wasn't unusual in the slightest.
It was part of their daily cycle, and Mash Buttons wouldn't complain because it never bothered him. It was normal in their lives.
What was not in any way, shape, or form, was Sweetie Belle doing something nice for him out of the goodness of his heart without expecting anything in return.
The first time it happened, Mash Buttons was working on the Rouser's engine in their garage. He'd been fixing up the radiator which had gotten broken during their race the previous day, when Sweetie Belle strolled up and handed him a bottle of water and a pack of Fire Gut Jerky along with a proper thank you for fixing up their truck.
"Sorry, I don't think I heard you right, Sweetie Belle. Did you just… thank me for fixing the Rouser?" Mash Buttons asked with confusion written all over his face as he stared at his friend.
"Well yeah, Mash Buttons! Figured ya deserve some thanks for doin' all this for me again!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed cheerfully, slapping his friend on the back.
Okay… maybe he's doing this because he wants something from me in return, Mash Buttons thought as his brow furrowed. He'd done that before, yeah.
"So you expect me to something else for you, then?" Mash Buttons took the water and jerky from his friend and shirt the hood of the Rouser.
"Nah Mash Buttons, I don't want anything. Can't a guy do something for ya from the goodness of his heart?" Sweetie Belle asked, faking offense as he clutched at his heart. The ferret rolled his eyes, opening his water bottle and taking a drink.
"If that person wasn't you, I suppose," he muttered under his breath. He walked to their couch and flopped down on it, turning on the TV.
Mash Buttons had just written that little act of selflessness by Sweetie Belle off as a fluke by the end of the day.
Of course as it seemed to keep happening in the past few days, he was proven wrong.
It wasn't a big gesture, but it certainly both confused Mash Buttons and warmed his heart. Sweetie Belle had bought him a few much-needed parts to help with the Rouser's upkeep, and given them to him a few days after that first incident. He had just dropped them in a small pile by the ferret's side as he was working on a headlight.
"Thanks, Sweetie Belle! Are you sure you don't want me to do something for you?" Mash Buttons asked, still confused as to his best friend's motives.
"Ah, I'm sure, Mash Buttons! Ya needed these, so I got 'em! No big deal!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed as he once again brushed off his protests.
The ferret chose to leave that as it was. He was still confused, but again, it was probably nothing. He'd talked about needing to pick up those parts for days. Sweetie Belle was just annoyed at having to hear that every day, right?
As much as Mash Buttons wanted to believe that, it probably wasn't true.
Apparently Sweetie Belle was on a generous streak, because the very next day, he presented Mash Buttons with a new can of hair spray. It was incredibly thoughtful, and he certainly felt grateful and glad for the gift. The ferret accepted it with a thanks yet again, and Sweetie Belle brushed it off as no big deal, yet again.
It was getting tiring trying to figure out his friend's motives for doing these things.
As Mash Buttons had suspected, the gestures kept coming with no sign of stopping. Sweetie Belle had given him a new rag after they'd won another of their weekly races, a very poorly made but incredibly sweet friendship bracelet the day after that, more spare parts... it didn't seem to end.
Another new habit of Sweetie Belle's was to let Mash Buttons have the last hot wing every time they went to the Concho Bolo. That made things even more confusing; Sweetie Belle insisted that he should always have the last one,no matter what.
"Oh come on, Sweetie Belle, this isn't like you at all. Why would you let me have the last one?" Mash Buttons stared at the nearly empty bucket of wings on their table.
"Because you deserve it, stupid! Now just eat it so we can get outta here!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed while he crossed his arms.
The ferret had to admit, he was a bit taken aback at how fiercely his best bro had insisted on him having the last wing. He did end up scarfing it down regardless, more than a little touched at Sweetie Belle's kindness.
Mash Buttons didn't really understand this sudden burst of generosity, but he certainly appreciated it. He'd learned to stop questioning Sweetie Belle. and just go along with it, seeing as all of the gestures and gifts were fairly small.
At least until they started becoming more and more thoughtful, and in some cases, bigger.
About a week after the hot wing incident, Sweetie Belle let Mash Buttons drive the Rouser to Leroy's to get some snack.
Sweetie Belle, who never let Mash Buttons even touch the steering wheel, who used to insist on being the only one who'd ever drive the truck, no exceptions whatsoever, let Mash Buttons drive it like it was no big deal.
To say the least, the ferret was in utter shock. But there Sweetie Belle was, saying he could drive the Rouser.
"A- are you sure, Sweetie Belle? Are you feeling okay? You're not sick, right?" Mash Buttons asked as he wrung his hands. He wasn't sure he heard his bro right.
"I'm feeling absolutely fine Mash Buttons, and of course I'm sure, ya dummy! Now come on and get in!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, waving the ferret over.
Mash Buttons ambled over and climbed into the driver's seat, shutting the door. Sweetie Belle went around and sat in the passenger's seat by him. The ferret hesitantly inserted the key and started the truck up, looking over to see Sweetie Belle's encouraging smile and nod. He smiled back and started to back the Rouser out of their garage.
Mash Buttons felt… weird, driving the Rabble Rouser. It wasn't a bad weird, but it was certainly strange as heck. It felt almost surreal to him. He kinda liked it though.
The trip didn't take long and Sweetie Belle let him drive both to Leroy's and back, much to Mash Buttons's mixture of confusion and enjoyment. At least he was able to marvel at how well if a job he'd done at keeping up the Rouser.
Sweetie Belle still wouldn't give his reasoning for doing all of these things for Mash Buttons other than "he deserved it." He certainly didn't feel deserving of any of these gifts he was being given.
He ended up getting a few more heartfelt items as well. One day it was a plain white tee shirt with Sweetie Belle's face blown up on it, which Mash Buttons had to admit, was really cute looking. He started wearing it under his jumpsuit whenever he had the chance, of course.
Another time, it was a macaroni art thing of the Rouser that Sweetie Belle gave the ferret. It was definitely out of nowhere even among the absurdity of everything he'd been given, but he really liked it. It was really well done; Sweetie Belle must've spent a long time on it. Needless to say, Mash Buttons hung it up on the wall by his bunk as soon as he could.
Mash Buttons didn't think it could get any more strangely sweet after that macaroni art. He was wrong.
It was after they'd won their weekly race and had driven home both exhausted but incredibly happy as they laughed and joked on their couch. After a few moments, they'd grown silent and comfortable with each other's company as they sat and watched TV when Sweetie Belle had suddenly gotten up and walked over to their beds. He climbed up to his bunk and started to rustle around up there, which Mash Buttons watched with a raised brow.
Sweetie Belle then cried out in triumph before he scrambled back down and over to his bro once more, a folded up sheet of paper in his hand. He shoved it into Mash Buttons's hands, smiling nervously, which was a new one for him.
"I made that for ya m'self, Mash Buttons. It took me quite a bit to make, but I swear, I made it from the bottom of my heart for ya," he murmured as he looked away.
Mash Buttons smiled back, looking down at the folded paper in his hands. He unfolded it carefully and saw one of the most surprising things he'd ever laid his eyes on.
It was a drawing of Sweetie Belle and himself standing at the winner's podium, holding up their trophy for first place together with big smiles on their faces. It was all drawn in crayon and it looked to be created fairly crudely. Sweetie Belle's signature was written in red crayon on the bottom right corner, with a little smiley face next to it.
Mash Buttons loved it.
He looked back up to see Sweetie Belle looking at him expectantly, apprehension writing all over his face. The ferret rolled his eyes and grinned.
"Thanks for this, Sweetie Belle! I really like it, good job," Mash Buttons said, getting up from the couch and clutching the paper in his hands.
"Ya really do like it, Mash Buttons?" Sweetie Belle questioned, a small grin on his face.
"Of course I do, Sweetie Belle! This is so awesome!" The ferret exclaimed, embracing his friend in the heat of the moment.
A tense moment later, Sweetie Belle chuckled and hugged his bro back. Mash Buttons wasn't quite sure why he did that, but it felt like the right way of expressing his thanks at the moment. Plus Sweetie Belle seemed to be enjoying it, so that was pretty good too.
Mash Buttons pulled away just before it would become awkward, which was about four seconds in his book, and he caught a flicker of disappointment on Sweetie Belle's face for a split second. The ferret just played it off as his eyes playing tricks on him, but he still wasn't entirely sure.
The two didn't say much to each other after that moment, but Mash Buttons was okay with it. Sometimes when they weren't talking and joking, a small moment of quiet was appreciated.
When it was time for bed, the ferret made sure to hang the picture by the macaroni art before he went to sleep.
A few days passed after that and oddly enough, Mash Buttons didn't receive any gifts from Sweetie Belle. He guessed that his generosity phase must have ended with his drawing, which was admittedly rather disappointing. He was expecting to see something even more extravagant than before, but unfortunately there was nothing.
Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Sweetie Belle much in the past few days either. They'd share some form of breakfast and then he would say something about having to run an errand or go somewhere and take off for the entire day.
The ferret wasn't sure where he had been going, but it seemed to be a recurring thing, this erratic and strange behavior Sweetie Belle was exhibiting. It was incredibly exasperating even for his best bro.
Then came the most shocking day of all for Mash Buttons.
It started off fairly normal with the two eating breakfast together, but this time Sweetie Belle didn't up and leave. Instead he opted to flop on the couch and watch some TV. Still confused by Sweetie Belle's actions, Mash Buttons ambled over to the Rouser, determined on checking to see if it had any issues that needed to be taken care of.
Mash Buttons did end up finding a problem with the radiator as well as the fuel tank, and a piston that needed to be replaced. He needed to go to Leroy's and get more parts.
Bidding a quick goodbye to Sweetie Belle, he decided to leg it to Leroy's as it wasn't a terrible distance away from their garage.
The ferret ended up spending quite a bit longer then he'd intended there thanks to Leroy trying to sell him on some sort of new oil he'd just gotten shipped in. It seemed like no matter how many times he turned Leroy down, he would come up with another reason it was so amazing.
Eventually though, Mash Buttons was able to escape with the parts he needed and without any of that new oil about an hour later than he had intended, much to his frustration.
When Mash Buttons finally reached their garage, bag of parts in his hand, he was greeted with a sound he wasn't expecting to hear.
The sound of Sweetie Belle cursing loudly, followed by various banging and slamming noises.
The ferret had to say, he was intrigued to know what was causing his best friend so much distress. His heart lifted a little when he thought that it could perhaps be another gift. Maybe it was a really big one that had taken a few days to finish? He wasn't entirely sure.
But when Mash Buttons opened the door, shouting a cheerful greeting to Sweetie Belle, he was most certainly not expecting to see his best bro hunched over the Rabble Rouser's engine, wrench in hand and covered in grease and oil.
Mash Buttons stood there in shock, mind not processing what he was seeing. Sweetie Belle was… working on the Rouser, and he actually didn't look hopelessly confused.
His bro looked up from the engine and his grimace turned into a bright smile as he waved. "Hey Mash Buttons, ya took a while to get home!" He exclaimed, setting the wrench down on a table as he shut the Rouser's hood.
"Sweetie Belle… you…" Mash Buttons stuttered, finding that his voice wasn't really working that well to convey any semblance of shock that he had.
"I fixed it!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed simply, chest puffed out in pride as he wiped a bit of oil from his forehead.
The ferret was in utter astonishment. He was so surprised that his friend had managed to do all of that by his lonesome and more than a little touched at the sentiment. It was quite possibly the best thing Sweetie Belle had done for him so far, and it was no easy feat.
"But… how did you do it?" Mash Buttons questioned, equally impressed and confused at his actions. There had seemed to be a lot of that going around in the past week or two.
"Ah, it was simple once I asked Leroy to tell me how ta do all this! Plus, you know, I asked him to keep ya busy while I did all this so I could surprise ya," Sweetie Belle replied, a cheerful gleam in his eyes as he walked over to the ferret who had dropped the bag of parts on the floor.
"But I still don't get why the heck you're doing all of this awesome stuff for me, Sweetie Belle! You haven't told me anything, but you keep doing all of this for me!" Mash Buttons exclaimed in frustration.
"Like I told you before, it's because you deserve all of this stuff, stupid!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, but something about his tone suggested he had more to say.
"That can't be it! You have to have more reasoning than that, Sweetie Belle. I know that most of the time you wouldn't, but not this time. Just tell me why you're really doing all of this," Mash Buttons pleaded, voice softer now.
"It's really hard for me ta say, okay? I just think that yer really cool and awesome, so of course ya would deserve all of this," Sweetie Belle murmured, deflating a bit as he spoke.
Mash Buttons sighed, knowing his friend too well. He still wasn't letting something out. "Come on, Sweetie Belle, there still has to be something-"
"It's because I love ya, okay?" Sweetie Belle shouted suddenly, stopping the ferret in his tracks.
Mash Buttons opened his mouth to say something, but then found he couldn't say anything. Sweetie Belle just said he… loved him.
What? Whoa, what?
"Ah, fart nugget," Sweetie Belle whispered as he slapped his forehead. He got in the Rouser faster than the ferret had ever seen him do it before and take off out of their garage before Mash Buttons could even blink.
Mash Buttons just stood there for a good few minutes, trying to process exactly what just happened.
Sweetie Belle said he'd been doing all of this good stuff for Mash Buttons because he loved him. Like, for real loved him in the romantic sense.
"Wow," Mash Buttons murmured while he stared at the spot where a frustrated Sweetie Belle had just been.
Sweetie Belle had finally told Mash Buttons what he had so badly wanted to know, and now he needed to figure out what, exactly, to do with that information.
Sweetie Belle loved him. That was insane.
Everything made so much sense now. All of those gifts and nice gestures were like Sweetie Belle's version flirting with him. That was really sweet to think about.
So Sweetie Belle loved him a lot. The more Mash Buttons thought about it, the more he realized he felt the same. Perhaps it wasn't something he'd ever felt that needed to be spoken because it was just how things were. Maybe that's how they'd always been for the both of them.
Mash Buttons had always felt whole around his friend. They stuck together, and always had been, for as long as each other could remember, all the way back since they were kids. There was always that underlying affection that never needed to be addressed.
Sweetie Belle just finally decided to take a huge risk and actually do something about it.
Mash Buttons hoped he could as well. He just had to figure out where his pal went so he could fix things. Where would Sweetie Belle go if he felt down? The Bolo would be too obvious, and Ziel's wouldn't be viable, considering the ferret had just been there.
Sludge Puddle Creek was a likely option, though. It was quiet, and quite a ways away from Greasepit's town center, so it was a pretty good chance he'd go there.
Unfortunately, that meant Mash Buttons had a long trek to make before he would get there.
It was sunset by the time Mash Buttons reached the creek, legs tired and chest hurting from exhaustion. His luck did pay off as he saw the Rouser parked next to the water a good thirty or so meters from him with Sweetie Belle sitting on the hood.
Mash Buttons sighed, walking up to the truck. Sweetie Belle hadn't seemed to notice him just yet, as he was too busy looking into the water. Mash Buttons caught him mumbling something as he got closer.
"-can't believe I'd go an say somethin' as dumb as that, I mean, what was I thinkin'? He probably hates me now! Ah, jeez, I'm such a screwup! Stupid Muncie saying I should stupid do all of this stupid stuff," Sweetie Belle mumbled to himself.
Mash Buttons deflated a bit, not liking all of the self-hatred coming from Sweetie Belle. It never was like him to do something like that, not ever.
"Uh, hey Sweetie Belle," the ferret greeted softly, climbing up on the hood of the Rouser to sit next to Sweetie Belle.
Mash Buttons's greeting gave Sweetie Belle a good start as he jumped, looking over at his friend in fear and shock.
"Do you know why I made the Rouser myself?" Mash Buttons asked, staring at Sweetie Belle intently.
This question seemed to completely catch him off guard, and he cocked his head to the side. "Uh, so we could win races and get a ton of money right?" He asked uncertainly, scratching one of his ears.
Mash Buttons shook his head. "I made it because when you got your license, all you'd talk about was getting your own truck so you didn't have to take the family car around, even though you couldn't afford one. That's all you'd talk to me about so I decided to make the Rouser just for you. I made it because you wanted it more than anything in the world," he explained, smiling as he did so.
Mash Buttons hadn't ever told him that story because he never felt that it needed to be explained. With what was going on between them at the moment, it felt like the right time to say it.
Sweetie Belle's brows raised in shock. "That… that can't be it, can it? Ya made it for me because I said I wanted a truck, just like that? Come on man, there's gotta be another reason," he murmured in disbelief.
Mash Buttons chuckled. "Guess you're asking me for better reasoning now huh?" He questioned, feeling a little embarrassed.
"Well, yeah, since you're not screaming at me like a wild animal right now on account of what I said earlier," Sweetie Belle replied dryly.
"Oh boy, I really gotta say it, huh." Sweetie Belle nodded expectantly at Mash Buttons, and he cleared his throat. "I, ehm… I thought about it and stuff and I love you too, Sweetie Belle," he murmured, feeling his face heat up as he scratched the back of his neck.
Sweetie Belle looked at him for a second, his face unreadable, before it broke into a huge smile and he laughed.
"You mean that, right? Not foolin' me?" He questioned.
"I wouldn't do that to you, not ever," Mash Buttons stated, grinning back at his… well, not just his best friend anymore.
Sweetie Belle laughed again, and in his sudden rush of adrenaline, he leaned over and kissed Mash Buttons full on the mouth for a second, much to the latter's surprise. Mash Buttons smiled sheepishly, looking over at his friend- no, not anymore.
"We're a thing now, huh? That's awesome," Mash Buttons stated, laying down on the hood to look up at the sky, which was rapidly fading into darkness.
"I guess so, yeah. Awesome," Sweetie Belle replied, laying beside the ferret, getting close enough that they were both touching.
The ferret yawned loudly. "It's been a long day, I'm exhausted. We should probably go home, you know," he murmured, but in all honesty, he didn't want to get up.
"Why don't we just sleep here tonight? It's not a big deal, and we're a ways away from everything. It's all good," Sweetie Belle stated, yawning as well.
"If you say so, Sweetie Belle," the ferret whispered, turning to his side and curling into him.
Sweetie Belle wrapped an arm around Mash Buttons. "It's all good, dude. Night," he whispered back.
"Night, Sweetie Belle, and thanks for, you know, doing all of that cool stuff for me. That was really awesome," Mash Buttons said as he closed his eyes.
The ferret waited for an answer, but then he started to hear snoring coming from Sweetie Belle, signaling he'd fallen asleep. He wondered how his… his boyfriend was able to get to sleep so quickly. It was something he wished he knew how to do.
Mash Buttons yawned once more, feeling himself starting to drift off into sleep. He was glad all of that had happened the way it did, and he was glad this was able to come out of it.
He fell asleep feeling warm and loved.