Chapter Text
The car door slams shut. An ugly close up of Mark’s face takes up the screen, and the camera shakes as Ethan struggles to buckle the seatbelt and keep composure as Mark performs a variety of strange faces.
Ethan turns the camera on himself as he looks to his friend. “I, uh, I really really feel like we’re gonna regret this. Mark, oh my god, stop looking at me like that, I don’t like it.”
“What do you mean,” Mark says incredulously in reply, from off frame. The clicking of his seatbelt into place is audible. “What do you mean, it’s gonna be great! It’s gonna be all fine, and dandy, and great. You’re gonna love it.”
The camera is zoomed into Ethan’s face further. “Oh, that’s- yeah. That makes me feel great.”
Mark’s grinning face suddenly comes into view again as Ethan turns the camera on him, the film overexposed, bleached, and splattered red in the editing.
“Brick soccer!”
-
Unus Annus, Ethan thinks, is probably one of the best ideas that he and Mark have ever had. Also one of the worst. It’s probably some of the best content both of them have made in levels of hilarity, but then, take into account the actual content and it starts to get a little muddy. He thinks that the fact that their first video got age restricted is pretty self explanatory.
Perhaps the best word to describe the Unus Annus experience is... cursed.
The next best word would be damning. (Ethan scrolls through Tumblr and the images he sees are not going to be great for his innocent reputation after he and Mark delete all the context.)
Mark and Ethan, wearing a gag and furry ears respectively, eating breakfast with paddles.
Mark and Ethan shove hot dogs into their mouths for ten minutes.
Mark and Ethan wax their pubes.
Mark and Ethan eat play-doh, talk about their first times, prepare for their deaths, watch porn by complete accident.
All the while becoming closer friends than Ethan could have ever prepared for. The second day of filming when Ethan “shoved a few too many hot dogs down his gobble hole” as Mark says, he lies in fetus position on the couch for half an hour in pain before Mark notices. Mark almost has to carry Ethan to the bathroom (while in pain himself) where he hovers over the toilet and Mark keeps a comforting hand on his back, in case his body decides to eject the food out his mouth again.
And that was only the second day.
He doesn’t even think so much about how they’ve both seen all of each other, physically. Ethan and Mark see each other completely nude a few times then and Ethan accidentally touches Mark’s dick a few times but it’s really nothing for them. To Ethan, he’s become so desensitized to those things around Mark that he literally doesn’t care - it’s more the emotional connections that happen during filming that gets him deep.
(Well - there was that one time that Mark sank to his knees for Ethan and literally blew him (or his inflatable ball) and the breath was knocked out of him at the image in front of him, like that time Mark stole the air from his lungs through the snot sucker, but Ethan blames it on his fanboy self from a few years ago that never really got over the fact that he and Mark were close friends. And yeah, Ethan can admit that Mark is really fucking attractive - if given the chance, Ethan wouldn’t mind making out with him.)
Despite the cursed content, and multiple near murders of each other and themselves during filming; despite the extra editing work he has to do on top of his own channel’s and the hours of filming... Ethan has never been more happy in his life.
He is eternally indebted to Mark for flying him out to LA, he thinks.
-
Mark wiggles his newly decorated toes and Ethan pretends to gag and shoos him away with a wave of his arm. The camera is off, but Mark refuses to remove the nails just to irritate his friend.
“What monstrosity have I created?” Ethan giggles as Mark taps his fingers together and reaches down to drag the nails through Ethan’s hair. “That- that actually tickles so much, stop!”
Mark does, but only after trailing them all over the other’s face and Ethan makes a face. “These nails are actually kinda fun,” Mark says, surprised.
In the corner, their new horrible nude drawings of each other hang on the wall. The lamp they used for lighting is still on, pink purple still illuminating the cozy surroundings and touching on the leather of the brown sofa. For a moment, there’s a settling of comfortable quiet.
“I,” Ethan says suddenly, then pauses. He wants to say something he is feeling so badly, but then he realizes he has no idea.
Their discussion of how they had gotten to where they were had him spiralling. How Mark had called him up because of one meeting at PAX, and how through so many of these decisions that Ethan found himself here. Washing Mark’s feet in cold water.
“Hm?” Mark hums, distracted as he gathers all the nail supplies. Ethan can’t help but gaze at him admirably as Mark comedically squints at two of the boxes.
I’m really happy.
I’m really happy to be with you every day.
My life is so good because of you. Thanks for being such a good friend.
“I love you.” SHIT. Fuck, why did I say that.
“NO! Wait, I guess. Yes. As, uh, a friend, obviously! But I was just thinking that, my life has changed, so much, and I’ve just been having the happiest time of my life. Because you were kind enough to fly me out to LA just because I did a backflip for you once.”
Oh god, Ethan doesn’t know how to stop himself from talking. All the feelings that had started building up for months and a few years now and touring together and performing and just everything-
“I’m so forever indebted to you and I’ll never be able to repay you for all the good you brought into my life. Thank you for being my friend, and changing my life.” Ethan spills, feeling like barbed wire has found its way into his throat and his eyes start to feel wet.
The room is quiet for a moment. He can’t bear to look at his friend.
“Oh my god, I know I cry at everything,” Ethan says in horror as the tears in his eyes begin to pool. Mark’s face has trekked through an adventure from surprised pikachu, emotional whiplash lag, to Kirby-is-baby soft. Ethan rubs at his eyes. “But I don’t know why I’m crying at this, your ego does not have to get any bigger, jesus. Sorry, I don’t know where that came from.”
Mark looks at him in a way that Ethan has only ever seen him look at Chica. “Aw, come here, you big baby,” he coos, a little jokingly, but he leans down and pulls Ethan in a hug anyways as they both giggle a little.
It’s nice. Ethan can feel Mark’s steady heartbeat right up against his own chest, that’s fine. Mark smells like, really good, too. What in the hell does he shower with that made him smell so good? And he was warm. And also completely naked under his robe, oh god. Ethan decidedly shoves down anything he feels about that.
“Y’know, you might as well have just given a love confession,” Mark says into Ethan’s shoulder after a while. His deep voice seems to penetrate through Ethan’s core.
“Oh my god, I’m never talking to you again,” Ethan shoves him away, laughing and a little red, but Mark is grinning at him in the softest way he has ever seen and he feels warm in his heart.
“I love you too!” Mark coos at him. Then wiggles his toes again.
Ethan hates him. Ethan’s heart hasn’t received the message yet and almost bursts out of his chest with joy. (Not at the toes.) Ethan’s heart hasn’t melted in this way since Mark kissed his hair during the Undertale livestream.
Are normal people this soft about their close friends?