Mac awoke early, his neck stiff and his stomach in pits. He couldn't remember having ever had a worse night's sleep. He hated himself for feeling guilty, though he did. It wasn't a part of his nature to be impassive. He didn't want to be harsh towards Dennis, but he felt trapped in endless longing. He often wished it was solely physical attraction that plagued him. It was the least important part of it, comparatively.
Mac simply felt too close to Dennis. All he had wanted was some space and despite Dennis' embarrassingly obvious discomfort, he refused. It felt counterproductive and cruel to Mac.
While trying to quickly dress, the button on his shirt caught on the cross he'd slept in, yanking it from the chain as he pulled it off. "You-" He huffed quietly in frustration. "Dammit." Shaking his head, he placed it to the side to be fixed later, all the while desperately trying to convince his superstitious self that it wasn't some bad omen for the day. He already felt sour enough.
Mac was unbothered at being perceived as immature, for sneaking out early so as not to run into his roommate. With the most grace, he'd ever possessed he silently pulled a protein shake from the fridge, keeping his back to it, so he could have his eyes trained on the eerily spacious living room. Dennis' close door taunted him in the quiet and open expanse.
A minute later he was sighing with relief as he stepped out into the hallway. He made easy work of his trek to the bar, comforting himself that he would be safe once he got there. Dennis was far too proud to rehash their fight in front of their apathetic friends.
It would all die down eventually; Mac was just determined to keep busy in the meantime. He wondered after adding to his weekly gym time; it would give him an excuse to be out of the apartment and he would be able to get out some of his frustration. He didn't want to keep running away, but it really seemed his only option. He wanted to feel nothing around Dennis, but he wasn't quite there yet. Still, he didn't want to hurt their friendship for anything. It seemed perfectly unfair that he had to be in this confusing predicament with the one person his entire life seemed to revolve around. There wasn't room for anyone else.
He tried to shake away his pessimistic thoughts as he opened the bar up. It was much too early to begin any of the cleaning or prep, so he stepped into the back office.
As he sat down, his phone dinged, a text from Terrence. He hesitated for a moment to open it. Mac couldn't admit it aloud, but he felt out of place with a man so sophisticated. He wasn't a fancy guy, and deep down, he knew he wasn't really a smart guy either. He wasn't sure he could handle somebody so highbrow. He would be sure to embarrass Terrence somewhere down the line.
Mac felt in low spirits, but he remembered how much fun he had at dinner and the warmth he felt every time Terrence had complimented him. It was nice to feel seen and excited by someone. He'd spent his whole time out of the closet with discreet hookups; he was finally wanting to experience something honest and balanced.
He exhaled all of his anxious analyzing and opened the text:
'I had a great time last night. I'd love to do it again some time. Sorry, the night started off so tense, I hope you were able to get things settled with your roommate.'
The corner of Mac's mouth turned up in a grin to see Terrence's consideration. He was about to text back, but quickly thought of his friends the day before. He paused for a moment, cataloging all of their spotty relationship histories.
He smirked and shrugged off the collective advice as he typed up his reply:
'Yeah. I had a great time too. Lol, yeah sorry about that. My roommate and I are kind of in a stand-off about routines currently.'
He sighed, leaning back in the chair, and gulping some of his protein shake. He hated to be without a scheme to focus on. Mac very briefly thought about taking the time to do some research and further his understanding of bar management but decided against it.
After 3 minutes too long in the grating silence, he hopped up from his seat and walked out to clean up. He approached the stereo and popped in his Morning Pump Jams. The atmosphere did seem to significantly change, and he tried to shake off any remaining tension.
His phone went off just as he was about to cut into the limes.
'Oh, did somebody violate the tubesock on the door understanding?'
Mac smirked and tried to keep details somehow both vague and concise.
'More about communal space and errands. Sorry.' He finally decided on.
Mac returned his attention to the bar and moved to the music. After a half an hour, he heard the doorknob rattle. His entire stomach seized up.
He sighed gratefully when Charlie emerged from the door. "Mac," He huffed, looking around. "You guys are here early, where's Dennis' car?"
"Oh, it's just me." Mac said as nonchalantly as he could manage. "I just had a hard time sleeping and thought I should get a walk in, you know, move around." He shrugged for good measure as he popped the top of a beer for Charlie.
His oldest friend looked at him strangely for a moment. "Did you guys get into a fight?"
"What?" Mac's eyes widened, not sure if Charlie would see through a direct lie. "I just felt a bit restless. I had a date last night."
"Is that not a good thing?" Charlie asked before gulping his beer.
"It was." He nodded, almost absentmindedly. "It's just like a whole other level of coming out; actually dating."
"Mac, you've been out for a couple of years now."
"Charlie," Mac polished off a glass. "As long as I continue to meet different people, I have to keep coming out." He sighed. "And there's a chance it will always be something I need to be careful about, but no, that's not what I meant." He leaned on the counter.
"It's two different things discreetly hooking up with the guys on the DL and being out on a nice dinner date with a guy."
"Don't you go on Dinner Dates with Dennis though?" Charlie curiously inquired.
"Not anymore." Mac said as if it was entirely unimportant.
"Hmm." Charlie shrugged. "That used to be your guy's thing."
The Boys Are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy began playing and Mac's jaw instinctually clenched. "Things change." He defended, turning his back to change the song.
"I guess." Charlie said uncertainly from behind him. "It's just hard to picture you with a boyfriend besides Dennis."
Mac rolled his eyes and turned around. "I don't have boyfriend, Dennis or otherwise. I'm still figuring myself out."
"Yeah, well, no pressure, buddy, just…"
Charlie's odd pause grabbed Mac's attention. "What?"
He looked around the empty bar. "We said we'd hold off, but I just want to ask that you bring no dud to the bar every day."
Mac laughed with a soft grin. "What?"
"Well, you were smirking like a dork over that guy and look, I'm not opposed to meeting anybody you're seeing, I just don't want us to force some new guy into the gang only because he's dating you."
Mac nodded. "No, don't worry, dude. I totally hear you."
"I feel this way about all of us, but to be fair, Dee seems only capable of regrettable hookups for the future, Frank has his 'sex workers'." He moved his fingers for air quotes, before shrugging. "Me, I couldn't make it work right with the waitress, so who cares? And Dennis, well," He sighed. "I don't think I could ever picture him caring about a woman enough to learn her name, let alone invite her into the gang. I mean, he couldn't handle seeing anybody that much, but you," He widened his eyes as he took another gulp of his beer. "Mac, you're clingy. You want somebody to love and fawn over, but dude, I wouldn't be surprised if I couldn't stand your type of guy, no offense."
"That's fair, I've had terrible taste in the past." Mac thought for a moment. It was true that Terrence wasn't his typical type, still he knew a good deal when it presented itself. He was attractive, funny, smart, and attentive. There were a lot of things to like there, but he couldn't deny that Terrence was relatively fancy compared to his group of friends. He definitely wouldn't have time for their schemes, nor the patience, Mac suspected, somewhat fairly. He knew how ridiculous they all could be at times.
He shook it off, like Charlie had said no pressure, it was all new and fun still. He checked his phone and smirked to see he had a new message. "Just because I've decided to start dating doesn't mean I'm thinking about inviting anyone else into this. We've all been through so much together; I don't think somebody else could understand it."
Charlie huffed a sigh of relief that turned into a laugh. "Cool, dude." He patted his shoulder. "Like I said, introduce, sure, incorporate? Eh." He shook his head.
"I got ya."
"Okay, well, good." He smiled and clapped his hands. "I'm going to go check the rat traps." Charlie gave a small glance to his beer before ultimately deciding to throw back the last gulp.
Mac took care of the bottle before reading his text and thought for a few minutes prior to typing up his reply.
The door shook for a second and Mac's stomach plummeted as Dennis walked in. "Mac," He sighed his face displaying relief as he approached. "There you are. I was wondering when it was so quiet at home this morning."
Mac sighed and set his phone down with intention. "You could've texted me to see." He shrugged. "I wanted an early start. I-"
"I didn't want to text you." He sighed heavily.
"Why not?" Mac couldn't hide his confusion.
"Because I can't see your face over the phone." Dennis replied gruffly.
"What?" Mac lifted his brow.
"Well, I mean, your eyes are so pitifully honest." He looked away. "I just feel more certain if I can read you."
"I hope I'm an entertaining read, Dennis." He scoffed as he opened a beer for himself.
"Mac, don't be like that." He sighed, stepping closer. "I am sorry. It felt pretty ugly last night."
"That's my point, Dennis." He glared at his beer. "But you still refuse to acknowledge the best solution."
"Mac, I-"
"Okay," Charlie burst in from the basement. "Traps are checked."
"Thanks, Charlie." Mac said, his eyes still on Dennis.
There was a tense moment in the silence before the latter shied away from their intimate conversation, as he now acknowledged Charlie. "Hey, man. Where's Frank?"
"He had an appointment with the eye doctor."
"Well, that's good, right?" Mac chimed in.
"It better be." Charlie groaned. "I swear guys, I'm this close to strapping two magnifying glasses over his eyes."
"That bad, huh?" Dennis asked.
"Only when it matters, like when he's driving." He manically shook his head. "I'm thinking he should switch to a golf cart; you know, something he'll do less damage in."
"Did you say go-kart?" Mac asked as he handed him a beer.
"No," Charlie shook his head. "A golf cart. Although…"
"Could you imagine?" Dennis laughed. "Pure chaos."
"We would have to dress him up like Bowser." Mac humoredly suggested.
Dee walked in to find the three men laughing. "What's up, boners?"
"Okay, then, who am I?" Charlie asked excitedly.
"I get a Yoshi vibe from you, Charlie."
"That's cool." He nodded animatedly. "I like turtles. They can live super long."
"Yoshi?" Dee asked. "Are you guys doing Mario Kart?"
"Yeah." Charlie jumped in. "Frank is Bowser. What about Dennis?"
Reluctantly, Mac met his roommate's bright blue eyes. "Luigi." He answered, simply thinking of Halloween so many years ago.
"Mac is Donkey Kong." Dennis replied, unprompted, his eyes glued to him. "The arms." He forced a shrug. "Plus, the quick temper." He smirked until Mac turned away.
"What about me?" Dee asked expectantly.
All three men looked at her for a moment. "Man," Mac finally started. "It's a tough one, because there aren't really any bird characters in Mario Kart."
"Toad, maybe?" Charlie offered.
"No," Mac shook his head. "That's too much. It's not distinctive enough; we've said bird and fish in the past, but Toad? And Toad doesn't even look like a toad, so-"
"Goddammit! Princess Peach!" Dee screeched. "I'm obviously Princess Peach!"
There was a collective 'um' before Charlie spoke. "I don't really see it. She's not birdy enough." He looked over at the other two men. "Maybe, Roadrunner?"
"Yeah," Mac and Dennis agreed in unison.
"Roadrunner isn't a character in Mario Kart, you dumb sons of bitc-" She took a deep inhale to try and calm herself. "I'm tall, with blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin." She pointed out.
"Am I crazy, or did she just describe Big Bird?" Charlie asked.
"You know, she totally did." Dennis agreed.
"That's what I pictured." Mac nodded. "Could you imagine Big Bird trying to get into a go-kart?"
Dennis ventured a step closer to Mac as he playfully added to the joke. "I'd imagine it'd be exactly like watching Dee get into one. Just a bunch of awkward, bony limbs that overextend the size of the kart like some circus clown."
"Screw you, Dennis." She grabbed a beer. Frank walked in through the door. "I'm not Big Bird in a go-kart."
"What the shit are you guys talking about?" Frank asked as he sat at the bar.
"Nothing, Frank." Dennis shrugged it off. "How was the eye Doctor?"
He scoffed, speaking to Mac behind the bar. "Beer me." Mac obliged and Frank continued. "He wants me to wear these ridiculous goggles. He's all paranoid about my eyes."
"Rightly so." Charlie added. "He hasn't even seen you drive."
Mac looked down and typed up his reply before speaking to the group. "So, how did the thing go yesterday?"
"We called it off." Dennis answered abruptly, grateful when it brought Mac's eyes to him again."
His eyes were sad, as he briefly bit his lip before beginning. "If we spent less time on schemes, and more on the success of the bar, we might not get so desperate."
"Not as bad as being too serious." Dennis said with a deceptively calm demeanor that hid his pointed tone. Mac looked down when his phone dinged.
"It's what we do." Frank asserted with certainty. "We don't want to get stagnant."
"We're too out there for that, Frank." Charlie offered.
"I don't know." Dennis said with a false voice. "Maybe we need to get in touch with our roots."
"That sounds like a lot of work." Charlie said heavily.
"I'm with Charlie on that one." Dee agreed.
"No," Dennis shook his head. "Not work, nor a game; no, I foresee a war."
Charlie gasped. "You don't mean?"
"Yes!" Dennis commanded.
"No!" Mac pushed back decisively, his eyes actively glaring at Dennis.
"Yes!" Dennis kept his voice level and his expression certain. A smirk lurked in his eyes, the only outward sign of his antagonistic provocation.
"What?" Frank asked impatiently.
"Chardee Macdennis, Frank." Dee spoke up. "Are you sure, Dennis?"
"Yes, Dee." Dennis stood taller. "We need a reminder of just what this gang means."
Mac didn't even try to hide his eye roll. "Or, we could just do the bar thing for once." He looked back at his phone and started typing.
"That doesn't sound very grounded to me." Dennis accused.
Charlie's eyes widened. "He's right, dude. We can't abandon our roots." He insisted.
"I'm just talking about watching the bar." Mac defended.
"Chardee Macdennis is our roots, Mac." Charlie argued. "Not Bar Management."
"Dammit, Charlie." Mac complained.
"Count me out." Frank spoke up.
"Thank you." Mac pleaded.
"You're only saying no because you can't read the cards, can you?" Dee challenged.
"Shut up, Deandra." Frank cleared his threat. "The timing feels off. It's been a hell of a day already, so I'm not forcing anything."
"Fine." Dennis announced. "Original teams, then. Frank could act as commissioner."
Dee shrugged, quietly nudging Dennis. "Maybe Frank's right. Is this derivative?"
"Hush!" He shook his head. "Let's amp up the stakes." He waited for everyone's full attention, Mac's coming last. "Winners get to keep the losers game pieces."
"Woah." Charlie's eyes widened as he regarded Mac. "If we win, we could destroy their game pieces a little more every day. We could have revenge for our countless years of defeat."
"Charlie," Mac tried.
"Come on, Mac. This could be our chance to actually win. Like our legacy."
Mac thought for a moment. He knew what Dennis was doing, still the possibility of such a win tempted him, even if he risked being manipulated by Dennis, it's not as though he wasn't already used to it.
Dennis stepped closer, biting his lip as he extended his hand to Mac. "Deal?"
Mac breathed deeply, reluctantly offering his hand back to Dennis. They shook, "Deal."
"Well, then I'm going to order a pizza." Frank interjected with palpable boredom.
"Good. We shall require the sustenance." Dennis exhaled theatrically.
"I'm not sharing my pizza." Frank grumbled.
"So, get two." Dee solved apathetically.
He thought for a moment. "Eh, why not? The Pizza Place has those hot delivery drivers. I'll just double the tip." Frank winked deviously.
"Ugh," Dennis grimaced before shaking his head. "Anyway, as off-putting as that is, Frank will serve as commissioner." Everyone nodded in agreement. "Okay?" He clapped in his hands. "Then, let's set up. It's time for the Grandest of Games."
