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Keep cool, keep cool, keep cool, Gilbert frantically reminded himself. He was too awesome to freak out over anything, especially something so silly. Okay, so the thing that was happening to him at that very moment was very close to things that only happened in his wildest dreams. (Well, maybe not wildest. Those typically involved dinosaurs or space travel or food coming to life. Or all three.) Luckily, SuperHeroUSA was taking ages to decide whether or not to talk to him, which gave Gilbert plenty of time to compose himself.
"So you're the famous Gilbert," SuperHeroUSA finally said, casually leaning back against the counter. "I hear you're pretty awesome. I'm Alfred, by the way. Alfred F. Jones!"
"Yeah, I'm Gilbert. But, uh, you already knew that. So you play games?" Gilbert could have kicked himself. He sounded lame even to his own ears. So much for keeping cool.
"Yup. With my bro and a couple of our friends," Alfred replied. "I guess you heard we're looking for someone else to join us. Just for Friday, though. We're trying out this big group thing while we do some drinking. Well, not all of us. Mostly all of us. It'll be great!" He paused, giving Gilbert another look over. "They'd probably be cool with me inviting you, since you're Ludwig's brother and all. But first... I wanna see your gaming skills! You got an Xbox?"
Gilbert nodded, no longer trusting himself to speak. He subtly pinched his arm to check if he was dreaming. He wasn't.
Alfred grinned and grabbed a napkin and the pen Feliciano kept next to the register. After jotting something down, he marched over to where Gilbert was sitting and handed over the napkin. "Here. Shoot me a message and I'll put together a game for us. Actually, me and my buddy Kiku are testing a GTA match tonight, probably around seven. You should join us!"
Gilbert could do it. He could come up with an intelligent reply. Probably. "Sounds awesome."
"Great!" Alfred exclaimed.
"Al, your order's ready!" Feliciano called.
The blond happily collected his food and drinks and headed out after bidding Gilbert and Feliciano goodbye. It was shortly after that when the yelling began.
Feliciano unhappily sighed. "Oh, Lovi..."
"Guess that's my cue to get the hell out," Gilbert muttered, standing up to put his phone and earbuds back into his pocket. After a moment of hesitation, the napkin with Alfred's username joined them. "See you later, Feli."
"Bye, Gil! Have fun playing games with Al and the others!"
Gilbert raised his hand in a goodbye wave as he walked away to meet back up with Francis and Antonio at the entrance. Meeting Alfred was one story the two were never going to hear about.
.
.
Alfred, as it turned out, was the most disorganized person Gilbert had ever met. He couldn't help but wonder how anyone was able to put up with working with him on a near daily basis. Maybe it was because they were around him so much that they were able to manage it. Gilbert wasn't sure if he wanted to find out for himself.
It'd been an hour and a half since he turned on his Xbox One.
Twenty of those minutes had been spent composing the perfect message. (A useless act, since Alfred's response had been 'k cool u got skype?') He spent another good chunk of time running around his house to collect things he needed, as Alfred remembered them. First had been his laptop and webcam, so he could log onto Skype and actually talk instead of slowly punching out messages over Xbox Live. Then there was his journey to the basement to locate the headset he never used. After that, Alfred decided snacks and drinks were a necessity and didn't return for another twenty-five minutes.
Luckily, Gilbert had some company.
"So you're the poor soul Alfred pulled into this mess."
Gilbert looked up from peeling a bit of tape from his headset to see that an unfamiliar man with the bushiest eyebrows he'd ever seen had taken a seat in view of the webcam. Next to that, the distinctly British accent was hardly a surprise.
The man sighed. "I don't imagine he took the time to actually explain what it is we're doing, has he?"
"Something about testing out a game, I think," Gilbert said with a shrug.
"No- well, yes. That is what you're getting ready to do," said the man, sounding frustrated. "What I meant was, has he explained to you exactly what it is we're doing on Friday?"
Gilbert tried to remember exactly how Alfred had put it. "Uh, drunk game night? Or something like that. I know he wanted my bro and his boyfriend, but games aren't really their thing."
The British man tutted softly. "As per usual, he leaves it up to me to properly explain everything. I'm Arthur, by the way."
"Gilbert."
"Pleasure to meet you. Now, you are correct in that we're hosting a sort of drunk game night, though I still say we should have called it Drinking Night or even Bar Night instead."
Very faintly, Gilbert could hear someone shout: "Drunk Night sounds better!"
Arthur ignored them. "Originally, it was just going to be the six of us, but then someone suggested we have guests this week, so our first plan was thrown out the window. Now, the thing you need to know is that we will be recording throughout the night. You won't need to worry about getting the proper equipment for yourself, since we have all of that. However, if being filmed isn't something you're comfortable with, let us know now so we can find someone else."
The gears in Gilbert's brain groaned as he worked out what was happening.
Not only was he going to get to play a game with MapleMatthew (and others), he was also going to appear on the new channel so the whole world could see him playing a game with MapleMatthew.
The whole thing made him feel a little faint.
"Of course, that will only happen if we all approve of you," Arthur continued. "Alfred invited you to help test a map created by myself and Mathias. We will be recording the game footage from our end, just so everyone who isn't here will get a chance to see some of what you can do. I would have preferred if Alfred invited you over here, but he didn't think of that."
Again, the voice: "Not my fault!"
Arthur turned away from the camera. "Stop bloody yelling, Mathias!"
"No, you stop!"
Gilbert tried not to laugh. He got the feeling Arthur wouldn't appreciate it if he did. That and he couldn't be sure he wouldn't throw up the moment he opened his mouth, thanks to the way his stomach was excitedly flip-flopping around.
At least he had all week to get used to the thought of meeting his crush in person. He would be back to his normal, cool and awesome self by Friday. He knew it.
"Oh, well here comes Kiku. At last. He'll be testing the match with you and Alfred," Arthur explained, still looking off screen. "Kiku, come meet Gilbert!"
As Arthur moved away, a familiar face framed by dark hair came into view. It just figured that the person they were talking about was someone he was already familiar with, thanks to his brother and Feliciano.
"Seriously? So how'd you get mixed up in this?" Gilbert asked, eliciting a tiny smile from Kiku. His nerves began to calm down.
"I've been doing this for quite some time, actually," Kiku told him. "This group – the six of us working together, is new to me. I've only done videos with Alfred and Yong Soo. Ah, Yong Soo is another friend of ours. You'll meet him on Friday."
What the actual hell was happening?
How was it that he'd never known Kiku was a Hetatuber? Okay, so Gilbert usually didn't pay that much attention to his brother's friends, but that seemed like the sort of thing that may be mentioned at some point. He totally would have remembered something like that!
"Gilbert, are you alright?" Kiku asked politely.
"I- yeah. I'm awesome, of course!" Gilbert replied, snapping back to his normal self. (Or, at the very least, putting on a good show of it.) "So, are we doing this thing or not?"
Kiku nodded. "Alfred should be back in a moment and then we can begin. Just be prepared. He can be a little... intense."
Gilbert brushed aside the warning with a scoff. "I can't handle it!"
"If you say so..."
.
.
It didn't take long at all for Gilbert to completely overcome his nerves. One minute he was praying for his internet to not fail, and the next he was laughing loudly as he slammed Alfred's car off the road and down the steep side of the mountain. It gave Kiku the opportunity to zip past him and take the lead, but it was completely worth it as Alfred screamed and his car exploded.
Cackling, Gilbert maneuvered his battered car back onto the road and set off to try and chase down Kiku. The red vehicle struggled up the hill, the bumper barely hanging on.
"C'mon, c'mon," he muttered, staring intently at the screen. He only relaxed when he somehow made it to the top and hit the checkpoint. From there on it was all downhill. Gilbert had barely started to get rolling when something bashed him so hard that he went careening to one side, his breaks squealing loudly, and hit a rock at just the right angle to send him flying into the air. He flipped twice and then landed on the roof of his car and blew up.
Gilbert gaped at the screen, numbly registering the sound of Alfred's increasingly obnoxious laughter and Kiku's quiet questioning.
"Dude!" Alfred gasped for air. "Dude, that was so great! I'm so fucking glad I'm recording. Holy shit. That was one of the greatest things I've ever done!"
"Just you wait. I'll get you back," Gilbert vowed as he respawned at the top of the hill.
"Yeah, but only if you can catch me!" Alfred taunted.
Gilbert grinned as he sped down the hill, occasionally cutting through the grass to try and make better time. "Short cut!" he screamed, going off road to drive up a rocky hill. He launched over the top and, by some miracle, landed right in Alfred's way, causing the blond to swerve right into a tree.
Meanwhile, Kiku crossed the finish line.
Alfred and Gilbert were laughing too much to care as they continued to bump each other all the way to the end.
"Dude, you're pretty cool," Alfred said once they were all done. "You gotta come play with us on Friday, I don't care what anyone else says. Get here around five or so and I'll introduce you to everyone, okay?"
Before Gilbert could answer, Kiku spoke up. "Feliciano has the address, but if you'd like, I can show you the way."
"Thanks, but I'll just get it from Feli," Gilbert said. "So, this Friday? At five?"
"Yeah!" Alfred responded, nodding enthusiastically. "And we've got beer here, but if there's anything else you want, then you'll have to bring that yourself. Same goes for snacks." He looked away from the camera, distracted by someone nearby. "Dude, what?
Kiku took over for him. "We'll see you Friday. If you have any questions, you can ask me or Arthur. We'll be happy to help."
"Awesome."
Kiku cut the call just as Alfred was getting up from the couch.
Gilbert slowly began to close out of everything. His high from playing an exciting game was fading, leaving him with the same apprehension he felt before. He needed to talk to someone. But who?
Francis and Antonio were out of the question. And talking to Ludwig was always so awkward. Feliciano was an option, except he would tell Ludwig everything.
Well, there was always Gilbird, his pet canary. He was the best listener Gilbert knew. Plenty of his problems had been solved by sitting in his room, talking to the tiny yellow bird. Plus, Gilbird knew all about his love for Hetatubers! (Especially adorable wavy-haired ones with pretty purple eyes and the tendency to wear flannel.)
Gilbert finished cleaning up and then set off for his room to talk to the one being who always understood.