Work Text:
Rarely do the marble teams gather round together for an event, but when they do, they do make sure that they come dressed up accordingly.
Not many venues manage to accustom a grand total of 32 teams in one big enclosure - 160 people in one single venue, surrounded by staff, by waiters, with music of all kinds and an atmosphere quite like no other, this isn't the job for the weak. Usually the host team arranges such a meeting not long before the Marble League would set in place officially, and given how the Gliding Glaciers were slightly hesitant about it due to how much work and effort there was to be put in hosting Marble League, Minty Maniacs offered to organize the preparty with the Glaciers as the hosts for the event as a thanks for allowing them to become part of the main show as testers. After all, Herbotamia is quite a lovely city when you go to visit in the right time and weather conditions. The minty scent is refreshing, and the city looks, quite literally, almost made of emerald with a few touches of greenery represented by the local herbs.
The Minties did not play in regards of finding an appropriate venue either, each and every single member assigned a role to focus upon, with Minty Swirl and Minty Fresh finding perhaps the perfect venue for an event of such magnitude - the Minty Mirage, a luxurious restaurant whom Swirl was very well accustomed with given she knew the owners quite well, had just enough space for 160 people, assuring the food, drinks and additional party accessories at a reasonable price. The only thing they couldn't cover was the live music, with them only having some stereos that were available for use, but thankfully the Shining Swarm stepped in and offered to come down with their own instruments to play if there is the need to. The Minty Mirage was a beautiful location close to Herbotamia, with a large ballroom, a place for rest, the top of the restaurant was also a lounge where you could see the view of the city, and a marvelous garden that looked taken straight off a fairytale story. All of that at a very reasonable price, given the amount of people and that Swirl knew the owners gave them a massive discount. The teams only needed to dress up in their best attire and show up, nothing more, nothing less.
The teams dressed up quite according to their color scheme of their jerseys and uniforms usually. Most of them were pretty distinct from one another, with several exceptions who tried to distinguish themselves by their theme (especially if we talk about the blue teams), but otherwise it rarely happened for a confusion to emerge.
Some teams came in time or even earlier so, mostly because that's how they got used to. Some took their sweet old time to make their entrance after the show was about to start.
And one of the teams that came early usually was the Bees.
The Bumblebees usually wore a black and yellow color combo, but given they recently changed their rosters and merged with the Hornets, now the original Bumblebees kept the yellow as the predominant color, while Stinger and Hive opted for black tuxedos with yellow finishing touches. They all looked sharp, with the mentioned Stinger and Hive in black and yellow, Bumble and Swax also wearing yellow suits with black details, while Honey wore a long yellow dress and a black shawl, given it was cold and she didn't wanna risk having a cold herself. They were greeted by the Minties, all in their mint green color combination, with glasses of champagne and a warm welcome to the venue. Minty Mint was the one that showed them to their designated spots, to a round table with their team logo in the middle and a small menu awaiting.
"Take a seat! You came very early, so not everything had been arranged, but be free to explore the area as you wish! Besides you, only the Swarms came by, we just tried to get the champagne rolling." said Minty Mint, with a polite smile.
"Thanks, Mint. We can help you if you wish, what else do you need to do?" asked Swax, brushing his coat with his hand a bit.
"Well, we need to hang some balloons over the corridor and the stairs, attach the fog machine to the dancefloor and check the sound and lights again to see if everything works proper. Also it shouldn't be so cold once everyone comes in."
"We can help you with the balloons, that's no issue." said Bumble, standing up, "Also Stinger, you knew how to attach a fog machine, last I remembered?"
"I can try but it's been a while since I've last done it." responded Stinger.
"Fabulous!" cheered Minty Mint, now calling Minty Fresh from outside to assist Stinger. "For the balloons, come with me. Stinger, wait for Minty Fresh and you can get started. He should know where the cables are..."
With that, the 4 remaining Bumblebees followed Mint, with him going in a room with a plethora of balloon arrangements ready to just install. They all looked surprised and amazed at how detailed and intricate these balloons looked, a mixture between mint and white, all in different shapes and sizes. They each grabbed one of the balloon structures and following Mint's instructions, placed them accordingly with some elastic and sticky tape.
In the meanwhile, other teams kept joining the premise - Gliding Glaciers and the Hazers came on time, the Midnight Wisps came right when the clock started to tick on the hour, the Snowballs, Wolfpack and Solar Flares joined not long after, and from there everyone slowly started to gather up. Misty came to check Stinger and Minty Fresh fixing the fog machine, to which she came to aid given Hazers love the fog. By then, the Bumblebees managed to finish with the balloon arrangements and came to greet the rest of the teams.
And as everyone may have expected, the latest to come was, in fact, the Balls of Chaos. Not by much though, surprisingly enough. The 5 members came by in their most chaotic attires ever imaginable in the Marble Universe, but many even claimed that they could rock a messy outfit. Also, given they are the Balls of Chaos, they didn't have to meet the alphabetical order of the tables. Thankfully, the Blackjacks seemed like a bunch of sweethearts and didn't mind swapping with them.
"Stinger! Bumble! Great to see you both here!" greeted Tumult, with the rest of the Chaos members following closely. "It's been a while, isn't it?"
"Truly." said Stinger, taking Tumult into a hug, "Where the hell were you and Clutter in the past season of Marbula One? I swear the place didn't feel the same without you two."
Tumult started to laugh, while Clutter arranged Disarray's dress so no one would've had to step on its length. "Preparing for Marble League a tad bit more. Thought Anarchy would want another shot and gave Disarray my spot just so she'd see how things went there too. We've had changes in the whole ordeal, it was tough to get used to the new routine."
"We've heard you changed your coach recently? Is that true?" asked Bumble.
"Yeah, Harmony is gone now. We have a new coach... uh, I still cannot pronounce their name yet, Tumult, send help here, please." Clutter said, looking at the Balls of Chaos captain.
"Yuan Rong. He ain't that bad but he's a lot more aligned with our chaotic nature than Harmony ever was."
"Also, no hug for me?" Clutter asked, having his arms widely open in Bumble's direction. "I missed you too and you only noticed Tumult."
"Nope, not after I had to learn in real life that you didn't show up for Marbula One this past season." said Bumble, with his arms crossed and a serious look, that left Clutter to pout and his face become sadder.
"Aw, man... I did say I was sorry though. Hope Anarchy and Disarray didn't cause trouble there in our absence."
"Dude, it's fine, they behaved... sort-of. I mean, Disarray did, Anarchy not so much." Stinger explained, followed by a sharp "hey!" coming from Anarchy in the background. He brought Clutter into a quick shoulder hug before muttering silently, "Don't mind Bumble's behavior that much, he's been upset about your absence, he'll come around during the party and after he drinks a bit. He's just upset you didn't announce him beforehand. That's all."
"Thanks, Stinger." Clutter whispered, now taking the glass of champagne and seeing everyone just gathered around, with the venue almost at full capacity. "I appreciate that you're trying to reassure me over my mistake."
"I do have to admit though," Stinger replied, almost in the same whisper, "I haven't seen Bumble being so bothered by someone's absence quite like yours did. I don't know what you've done to him in the past Marbula One editions, but the difference felt like day and night. He's been extremely off, he did his races well, but you could tell something bothered Bumble and kept on blocking me every time I tried to ask about it."
Clutter looked confused at that statement. I mean sure, he did received quite an earful online from Bumble about why he wasn't announced about the full roster change in Marbula One, and may have been blocked for a few months on social media by him, but Clutter did try to make it up to him somehow. They were friends in Marbula One, that didn't really change much, but since then they haven't spoken and that left Clutter extremely upset. And now Stinger's telling him that Bumble's been acting out of character? As well as Bumble essentially not wanting to even talk to Stinger about what bothered him? What's up with Bumble out of the blue?
Before he'd comment anything, he heard the Glaciers taking the stand. The tables were all placed from one side and the other of the venue, with the center being left empty for the dancefloor and the stage where the Swarms were about to perform or for moments such as the hosts taking the stands.
"Good evening, everyone!" Alpine took the microphone, now facing the crowd properly. "First and foremost, thank you to the Minty Maniacs for making this beautiful night possible and for being our helpers in a time where... everything just became so hectic. Anyway, as the upcoming hosts for Marble League, we feel honored to stand in front of you as the hosts for this glamorous night too. We hope you enjoy the night, serve yourselves with the menu that the venue has to offer and let's get ready to rock the dancefloor!"
------
The night started off strong, after the first round of appetizers were put on the tables and after more small talk, the Shining Swarm gathered on stage with their instruments to deliver the first out of many renditions of their most popular covers. Everyone was on the dancefloor, the fog machine piping in once in a while, and the party was in full swing. Some were chanting along with the lyrics, some just took shots, and some were watching from the top of the second floor, including Bumble, who was sipping on a glass of wine now that he was enjoying the atmosphere quite a lot. Clutter was exiting the dancefloor, now walking on the stairs to meet up with Snarl. Bumble was somewhat hidden on the other side of the floor, but which had a very good view to that set of stairs Clutter was following on.
On the opposite side, trying to get down to the dancefloor area, was another marble athlete in a long orange dress with yellow gradient and blue details, trying to lift it up slightly so she wouldn't trip on it while stepping down. She was part of the Solar Flares, but she seemed uneasy on those heels for some reason - which left her stumbling if it wasn't for Clutter to catch her swiftly. He checked on her to see if she's alright and all, Bumble eventually caught on that her name was Ember. Crouching as if he was to pick up something, Clutter picked up Ember bridal style and carefully let her down once he reached the Solar Flares table, now with her sitting down and Clutter trying to fix up her shoe.
This moment was sweet, given how Clutter was always the kinder one out of the Balls of Chaos besides his colleague Disarray, and yet Bumble felt like his blood was boiling when he saw them two in such close proximity. His eyes were on them all along, thinking that he wasn't even noticed by anyone given how secluded that spot felt. He had nothing against Ember, hell he barely knew her from Marble League overall given how often Solar Flares were mostly confined in the Showdown, but she was a bit too close for his likings with Clutter and that didn't sit right. Him and the Balls of Chaos athlete merely spoke a few words to one another after the interaction at the start, given he was still infuriated by his inability to not communicate important things and all, but this? Was this some kind of harsh payback?
Bumble sighed, now turning back to his leftover glass of wine and drank it all in one spot before standing up and leaving the venue from the other set of stairs, reaching the garden.
Meanwhile, Clutter held Ember's hand just so she could take a few steps, making sure she could walk proper.
"Thanks, Clutter, you're a savior I swear." said Ember, relieved. "If it wasn't for Anarchy's superglue and you catching me there, I would've had the fallout of the season, and that's not even relating to the Showdown."
"No problem, if anything you're lucky that the heel broke from the base so it was easy to fix it up." stated Clutter, now letting go of Ember's hand so she could walk alone. She seemed to be walking just fine, besides her slight tinge of embarrassment out there. Flare, the captain of the Solar Flares, thanked him profusely and asked if he could keep the superglue for the moment, to which Clutter allowed. With all that said, he rushed up to the second floor, meeting an alarmed Snarl waiting for him.
"Dude, get over here, it's urgent." Snarl led Clutter somewhere near the curtains, hoping that he'll get a one on one moment with the member. "I assume Ember's fine?"
"Yeah, just a bit startled from the fall, but otherwise she didn't break anything. What's up?"
"I feel like you're in deeper trouble with Bumble as we currently speak and that's saying a lot."
Clutter stared at Snarl yet again confused. Bumble? The one that kept avoiding him and cutting him off since the Bumblebees came here?
"As if he wasn't mad at me already... What now?"
Snarl looked at the direction of the door that headed straight to the garden, before turning his gaze right back at Clutter's confused expression. "Bumble stayed here, at that table where the empty glass is on. I think he thought he was undercover or something, but he saw the situation with you and Ember and had his eyes literally on you this entire time. Never have I saw someone's eyes piercing through someone else in such a manner quite like he did while he saw Ember in your arms, carrying her due to the heel being busted. He left on that door once you went to fix her shoe with superglue."
"Okay, now I feel more confused than ever before... So he's mad at me but also watches my every move?"
"Yellow Eye participated in season 5 and she did not miss a single detail about Bumble's experience there, I just happened to overhear her. She said that Bumble's been acting outside his usual self by quite a lot, I assume Stinger explained that to you just as much. He was always on his phone, checking our dormitory often according to Disarray given theirs was close nearby, even looked at the crowd more intently in hopes of perhaps seeing you or at least Tumult there. Razzy even confirmed that he'd been hovering through the messages with you almost daily, but he instantly became defensive when he got asked as of why. I don't know what's up but something's definitely up with Bumble and it also involves you."
Clutter was at a loss for words. He did check his phone and, sure enough, Bumble unblocked him. He wasn't even aware about it up until now, which added more to the questions that he had in mind about Bumble's out of character behavior. He had to confront Bumble.
"When did he left?" Clutter asked, with Snarl pointing at the door with his stare.
"About 5 minutes ago. If you can rush on that door, I think you could catch him. I'll cover for you if someone asks."
And so he bolted right off the stairs in a rush, making sure he doesn't knock anyone, and went off the door in an instant.
------
Bumble was walking mindlessly across the garden. He had no direction besides going as far away as possible from the venue, especially after everything he'd seen. He'd left his coat at the Bumblebees table, thinking he may not need it given it was not too cold, but since he was outside and the night was setting, it also became noticeably colder. And he hated the cold.
He tried to shake off that feeling of anger from earlier. Again, he didn't blame anyone but himself for reacting this way, Ember wasn't at fault for tripping, Clutter wasn't at fault for being Clutter and helping her out, it was all on himself for acting like this moment was nothing but a way to get to him after months of not answering texts and blocking Clutter on social media. Even he couldn't explain how in the world he ended up... fancying the Balls of Chaos member, for lack of a better word. Why did he enjoy his presence and reassurance, his words of comfort, his overly positive way of looking at life, the way he'd be jumping to help anyone whenever he could, his way of showing that Bumble mattered. For most of the time he'd been brushing it off by saying he had some kind of soft spot for Clutter, just like how other marble athletes have close friendships or a platonic bond similarly to how some team members have.
And things turned into a different direction somehow - while he kind of hates to admit publicly, he couldn't help but feel like something was missing during the season 5 of Marbula One without Clutter being there. Anarchy and Disarray were sweet enough to interact with him from time to time just to maintain the friendship between the Bumblebees and Balls of Chaos by often giving him news about Clutter and Tumult, but it just made things worse for most of the time. Stinger tried to find what's up, even insisted sometimes, but it was no use given Bumble's first reaction when he's pressured is either be defensive or outright to start shouting.
He did realize that the Marbula One teammates picked up on it too, including the two Oceanics rookies who had no idea about what was up in the first place, but which tried to show support in their way. He didn't knew how to hide himself into the abyss by that time, and even so they'd probably still wonder if it's about Clutter. They weren't judgy - quite the contrary, they were unbelievably supportive - but also it felt difficult to reach out and explain it all.
Simply put, they know. They know he's been having a crush on Clutter for quite some time now even if the Bumblebees captain still denies being in love, but this behavior reached another limit that even Bumble himself could not explain it platonically. That was jealousy at its finest and on full display. And all for a man who presumably didn't even know about it. He felt absolutely pathetic for a situation that he merely imagined and wasn't even close to being romantic, just a way to help.
He stopped in his place at one point, now feeling like he reached a dead end. The garden was absolutely beautiful now that the night had set. All he was surrounded now was just herbs, green herbs that surrounded the area like no other, while in front of him laid some kind of meeting spot with a few benches and some flowers he could not distinguish. He adored flowers of any type, even if he had his personal preferences, just like how a bee is attracted to a flower. Bumble crouched to their level, admiring them from up close. The petals were a nice shade of pearly white, they didn't have a strong smell but they harmonized beautifully with the surrounding mint plants and green herbs that were part of the Herbotamia plant scene. He was so entranced by these little flowers that he barely even noticed footsteps approaching him and a coat now being placed right on his shoulders. He turned to see the figure, and unsurprisingly, he recognized it right away.
Clutter.
"Isn't it a bit too late in the night to smell flowers, Bumble?" asked Clutter, now helping Bumble up. "It's getting cold, you went without a jacket in this weather?"
"I'm fine, thanks for asking." replied Bumble, now cleaning his pants from any dirt remnants. "And you? What brings you here?"
"Alright, cut the chase. We need to talk." Clutter suddenly changed from being his usual self to becoming a lot more stern than usual. Bumble was taken slightly aback, but he expected Clutter to actually demand answers given their past months. "What's gotten into you as of recent?"
"Focused on Marbula One, a thing I'm sure you forgot about." Bumble replied on the same neutral tone, now with arms crossed. "If we're here to interrogate, how about we start with you and your sudden inability to give important news to the public."
"I've told you already, like five times thus far, plans have changed, we got a new coach, we stayed behind so we could adjust. I forgot to tell you, I wanted to apologize but you blocked me. You should've started with that first, Bumble."
"That part isn't any of your business, besides I was already mad enough, I didn't want to engage in a fight with you there."
"And now we engage in a verbal fight now, in public, where everyone could hear. Sure that helped."
Bumble grew increasingly more annoyed. Clutter seems to take that to his grave if he could, and in a way, Bumble himself couldn't blame him much. But he didn't have the guts to actually tell him the real reason, did he?
"Bumble, I just wanna know if there's something the matter and how much of it is because of me. Everyone's been telling you didn't act like yourself during Marbula One. For some reason I'm involved in this, no one tells me, and when they ask you, you just play the defense card. Just say what the fuck did I do wrong."
"I just told you. What else you need m-"
"Bumble. It's not just that. I get the forgetting part, I apologized for it. There's something else, because otherwise I wouldn't have received words from several other people telling me that you've been keeping an eye on me for this whole damn event as if I did the worst thing ever." Clutter slightly twisted the story, mostly to see how Bumble would react to his cover being blown. Needless to say, Bumble denied it. Of course.
"I was sitting at a table with a glass of wine and that's what you call to keep an eye on? What are you accusing me of, stalking you or something? Don't you think I have better things to do?"
"Let's just say I did not appreciate that part in the slightest, and given you refused to even talk two words with me after the opening ceremony, that seemed a bit convenient."
"I didn't stalk you, Clutter. They've been overreacting."
"All of them? Find it hard to believe."
"You know what?" Bumble essentially snapped right then and there, now feeling cornered. "I don't know what you're trying to accuse me of, or what the fuck you've done in that pause that left during Marbula One, but it seems like in the past months you really haven't given a fuck about anyone but yourself. Fuck having friends, fuck having any sense of morality as a marble athlete, you really think you could play on your own games? That you could just crawl back only to disappear once more?"
"Bumble, wait, I didn't mean to-"
"Then what the fuck did you mean? That this friendship meant nothing to you? That everything you've said since we've met was all just for the sake of being told?"
Clutter looked at Bumble, his face now a mixture of anger, disbelief and betrayal. His eyes were visibly welling up, but he lost the energy to fight anymore, at least as loud as he did thus far. Clutter did not meant for this to happen, nor did he want for Bumble to literally cry right in front of him. He wanted to say something so bad, but even he wasn't expecting this reaction.
"You know what's the worst part of it all though?" Bumble asked, now coming closer to Clutter, heading him at mere centimeters away from one another. "It's that I believed you. Your every word. Your promise. Everything. That you cared just enough. And all for someone who didn't even bother to write a message to say they couldn't come? For someone who'd accuse of such a thing without even seeing who he faces after like several months of dead silence? Sure, the blocking part is on me, but did you have any idea how often I read and reread all our conversations front to back thinking that maybe, perhaps it was just a whole messed up joke? That I may have missed some sign about how much I screwed up for you to discard our friendship in such a manner? Did you, Clutter? Did you?"
Clutter tried to reach, but Bumble took his hand and put it besides Clutter once more.
"Save the apologies. If you really want the answer to that stalking accusation and how that made me feel, I'll just sum it up with one single move. Perhaps that clicks afterwards."
Clutter fully expected something like a punch in the gut or a slap across the face - marble gods only know how much he deserved all of it after Bumble's long rant and how much Clutter's actions affected him, hell he expected absolutely anything in regards of hits, kicks and curses - but a kiss was not even close to the top of the list. And one on the lips, no less. It did not last for long, but it was tender, something that felt like Bumble wanted to do for a long while. And Clutter would've lied if he said that this one kiss didn't make his heart flip a few times.
"Hope that answered your question." said Bumble, "If this is how we end our friendship, I just wanted to let you know that I was in love with you all along. The stalking part you accused me of was just me being jealous of you holding Ember that way. Now go get Ember, she's probably inside and waiting for you. Just please, don't make this harder for both of us."
Bumble stepped right next to Clutter and started to walk the other way, leaving Clutter utterly shocked and with no choice but to see him go for the meanwhile. Clutter reached his fingers to the level of his lips, letting the taste linger for more given that was probably their first and final kiss. Clutter came thinking he'd get answers for why Bumble was behaving this way, and all he got was another affirmation of how much he'd been fucking up in the past few months and their friendship terminated in just a matter of seconds. And that, for some reason, Bumble fell in love with him, did not say a single word about it, and just let him stay there in the middle of a garden just reflecting on everything that just unfolded after a brief kiss that kept replaying over and over again in Clutter's mind. He didn't even knew how to react, he just felt so numb and so ridden with guilt that any other mistakes he dealt with in the past didn't even remotely compare with the absolute disaster these ones were. How did it pass him like that? How didn't he notice that Bumble was in love with him? How didn't even cross his mind, not even once, to think of how he'd feel after a long absence that he forgot to even announce?
He had to chase down Bumble. He couldn't lose his friend that way, or rather his potential lover, if given the recent actions. He couldn't let him down once more.
------
Bumble went the opposite side of the garden, trying to just get as far away as he could from the situation. He ran a bit, but from all the pent up anger and frustration from earlier, that just exhausted him even more. He did in fact overreact quite a lot when he said what he said to Clutter, hell he didn't even let Clutter answer to that kiss, but everything just came all at once and he was unable to keep his mouth shut. He wanted Clutter to endure and suffer the way he did in the past few months.
And yet, he still wore Clutter's coat on his shoulders, forgetting about its existence entirely until at one point it slipped off his right shoulder. He outright slapped himself in his mind, given that it's over and that they technically shouldn't have any ties to one another, to still have that draped all over him was outright laughable. Worst of all was that his coat was slightly reflective, with the stripes essentially glowing in the dark and the white base becoming somewhat lighter. He was about to be easily spotted in a time where he desperately needed to be alone, and he didn't knew how to hide that jacket in this chilly weather. It was a classy coat nonetheless, slightly longer than the others in Balls of Chaos would wear, and just a tiny bit larger than Bumble's frame, probably a size larger than what he usually wore.
He managed to stumble across a gazebo of some kind in his pathway, where he decided to take a stop given no one else was there. It was gorgeous, laid down right at the crossroads of two paths, surrounded with lots of those tiny white flowers he encountered earlier and the view was breathtaking. There were a few benches nestled right around the inside of that gazebo, it looked very intimate given how it didn't stand out from the crowd comparatively with the venue or even the garden itself. He did see some marble athletes roaming across the garden to whom he saluted briefly, but neither of them seem to have known about this spot given how clean and spotless it really was.
He just stayed there for a while reflecting on everything that just happened. As much as he was mad, upset and everything else in between, in the end he didn't feel like he was triumphant. The whole thing felt like just a huge loss, it rendered him feeling hollow. He didn't think he'd know what Clutter had to say after all that, but he could feel his eyes lingering as he left the other way, making Bumble feel like perhaps he wanted to say something, anything, but he didn't have the courage to do so.
As prideful and selfish as he seemed to sound in the argument, he still kind of wondered whether the feeling was mutual. That Clutter felt the same as he did.
But he also felt like he wouldn't get an answer to that question now.
Bumble just stared at the view, his back at the entrance of the gazebo. Fields of flowers being slightly driven by the gust of wind that was starting to make its presence now that midnight was about to set in, the moon and the stars just glowing over the night sky, a handful of voices he could barely hear in the far background and just him sitting in that gazebo alone. It was like what, about half an hour since he left the venue? Perhaps the longest one he's felt in ages.
He wanted to just zone out and forget about everything until he got a whiff of Clutter's scent on the coat. Smelling like that cheap cologne he purchased some time ago in Orlango on their way to the O'raceway, one which essentially became his trademark after a while. Bumble suddenly went from hollow to just feeling hurt - as much as everything spiraled down, Clutter was perhaps one of the very few that wanted to know him as him rather as the marble athlete or as the captain of the Bumblebees. He wasn't among one of the most approachable marble athletes in the area, even he could admit that, but Clutter did not mind that change of pace. Ever since that time they got stuck at the Misty Mountain back in season 2, Clutter made efforts to show up, to cheer him up, to be there, which made him think that's the reason he fell in love with him in the first place. That someone saw him for what he really was, even if that was a challenge to even endure Bumble's snarky remarks. Hell, the Balls of Chaos weren't that big of a regular in the Marble League, they'd only meet briefly during qualifiers, but for Marbula One? They were omnipresent as far as he could remember. Clutter and Tumult were the golden duo for the Chaos team and neither of them were in any way bad racers either. Bumble even resonated with Tumult due to how close they tended to think alike besides Tumult's slight anger issues from time to time, but Clutter was his polar opposite in more ways than one. He missed all of that, no one made him felt that valued before, not even in his own team where they were essentially friends for almost a decade.
While sitting in his thoughts, he barely even noticed someone approaching the gazebo, the steps were quiet and hesitant. It didn't take long for Bumble to be wrapped in a tight embrace from the back, with the individual's arms holding him secured and close. Their head was softly laid on Bumble's shoulder, quiet like never before. Bumble was startled a bit by this action, but the scent made his heart skip a beat once he realized who it was.
Clutter managed to chase him down.
Even after everything that just happened, after all the words that have been said, all the guilt unravelling in the most dramatic way possible, with all the options he had laid right in front of him just during this party alone... Clutter still chose to chase after him? Willingly so? Bumble didn't want to raise his hopes high, after all it's still Clutter and he'd always been up and personal even platonically, but deep down he still felt like melting in his arms right away.
They stayed for a while like this, with neither of them saying a single word to one another. Being this quiet didn't suit Clutter, he was always chatting about whatever sprung in his mind at the moment, but after the argument, he probably didn't want to ruin it more than he felt like he did. Bumble didn't turn around to look at who it was, he already knew right away, and Clutter didn't make other swift moves besides that back hug. It felt comforting to feel in the presence of one another, but one needed to have the guts to break the silence unless they wanted to sit like this for the rest of the night.
Bumble managed to escape the back hug, now facing Clutter who looked... miserable, to say the least. He looked like he'd been crying for a bit, his eyes were red and puffy and his eyes looked like he was pleading. Bumble tried to look stoic as that's his usual way of dealing with things, which make Clutter just let his head down low.
"10 minutes and then you can just pretend you never knew me." said Clutter, his voice shaky. Bumble didn't knew what to say to that, but he allowed Clutter to continue. "I should've paid more attention to everything when you said it all during the argument. I thought you were just mad at me for being an awful friend, which I... don't blame you for thinking as such, I know I've been. I didn't knew you felt this way, that you felt like I've let you down or that I've broken our promise that we made back in season 2. Everything was right in front of me and I just... fucked it up big time. I'm so, so sorry, Bumble. I don't even know if you manage to find a way to forgive me after all this, I just wanted to make it up to you and even for that I've failed."
"Clutter..."
"I'm still surprised you even trusted me in the first place, you know?" Clutter continued, now feeling like his tears managed to find a way to escape, "I'm not the reliable marble athlete, I'm just... the dumbass that's Clutter. That you put so much fate in me as a friend, that you had to feel like you've done something wrong when everything was entirely my fault, I... I didn't even knew you remembered our promise, you said it was childish, I insisted on it in the first place. And about the party... I just felt defensive. I know you didn't stalk me, I just felt like I was judged and didn't know why, especially since you've avoided me since we entered this party."
Clutter struggled a lot to maintain his composure while saying all of it, but he couldn't maintain the façade for long.
"You know what's the worst part of it all though?"
"Stealing my line from earlier?" responded Bumble, slightly amused.
"I'm borrowing it for the moment." replied Clutter, now with his eyes facing Bumble. "It's that I've been waiting for that moment for so long, and when it did happen, it happened at the worst time."
"What, the argument? You can't be serious about th-"
"The confession, Bumble. I just... froze in place when you kissed me there. Thought I was making it up for a moment, that my head is playing with me, that you actually punched me instead. And then you tried to say Ember was waiting for me? Bumble, I wasn't ever interested in her, she broke her heel and tripped, I only helped her glue it back. I didn't want to hear about "I love you's" from her or anyone else, I was waiting for you to say it for ages... And I did receive it, but at what cost?"
Bumble's eyes widened now that Clutter finished. What did he mean by "waiting for him to say it for ages"?
"So you mean that...?"
"That I've also fallen for you and that I tried to run after you to salvage that little bit of what remained from whatever we had now that I just found out you returned my feelings? Then yeah, that's what I mean. I just kept it quiet because I thought if I confessed to you, I'd have ruined our friendship and I was afraid of losing you forever. But somehow I did the achievement of losing both of these in one shot, messing it up just like usual."
Bumble still felt mad about all of it, the feeling that Clutter didn't disclose something as important as that Marbula One departure stung. But he looked at Clutter right now, really looked at him, and for that one time he didn't show up, for every single other time he would've moved the moon and the stars just to reach Bumble again if he could. Even at their greatest fallout they've had, Clutter just went to search for him again, in hopes that maybe he could fix things and they didn't have to separate in such a manner. And all of that because he genuinely cared, there was no trace of lies or deception in his eyes, just guilt and a tinge of sadness. The last thing he wanted was to break Clutter's heart like that, the man that made efforts to reach out and truly know Bumble, the one that managed to put him first more than just one time, and to find out that he'd been hiding his feelings for him for ages now only for the sake of their friendship... that's not something Bumble could easily brush off and throw it under the rug. Selfish he was, but he wasn't heartless, especially not for Clutter whom he did love dearly.
He also noticed that Clutter fully took the blame in spite of Bumble being equally as stubborn about it. Clutter would always say it was just force of habit, but Bumble merely realized how much of what he said during the argument may have eaten him alive with guilt, thinking that he was the only one at fault. And that wasn't the ending he'd hope for Clutter, not at all... He wanted Clutter to be happy even if it was without him being there, not to quietly suffer and think that everything crumbled because of his actions.
"I'm the one to blame here, Clutter." Bumble answered, defeatedly, while reaching for Clutter's hand to hold. "I've overreacted for the most part. I know it wasn't the end of the world for you not missing a season for Marbula One, I've got used with it during Marble League, it's just that... I felt alone without you, as cheesy as it may sound. I didn't want to make you feel like you're the only one to blame for all of this, I just let my jealousy and my anger take a hold of me and I've said some things that I shouldn't have said in the first place. I have nothing against Ember or you trying to help her with the heel, I just felt like you tried to hit back at me for not caring enough when it wasn't even the case. I thought if I just let you go, you'd be happier elsewhere without me to ruin it for you, not that you would've chased me to apologize for everything. If there was one who had to apologize, it was me, not you. I messed it up for both of us."
"Bumble, no, you had a reason at least, I had nothing." Clutter responded to Bumble's hand holding his, now with his thumb gliding over the back of his hand as a way to silently comfort him.
"You had one too, you changed your coach recently, they probably wanted you to focus more on Marble League. Mine was driven by some stupid jealousy I felt."
"You know I wouldn't have hurt you that way. I don't think I would've forgiven myself if I did."
"I know, I trust you. I just didn't knew what else to do, I didn't want to cause a scene."
Clutter smiled softly, with his free hand arranging the collar of the coat that stayed on Bumble's shoulders. "So, I guess we're good now?"
Bumble smiled back, now coming closer for a hug to which Clutter replied to. "I guess so... But what about the confessions and all?"
"Do you actually want to be with me?" asked Clutter, now his head facing Bumble's.
"I mean, yeah, that'd be nice..." replied Bumble, "But can we take this slow?"
"Of course. I can take you on a date in Glidavik once we reach there. Our first real date, this time. Promise I'm not running away from it."
Bumble broke the hug, now facing Clutter who looked relieved now that everything was settled. It's a new start, at least.
"Should we go to the party now? Been here for at least half an hour outside and it's getting cold." asked Bumble, now actually putting his arms in Clutter's coat properly. He never knew why he didn't do this in the first place to begin with.
"Yeah, but can I still ask you for something while we're here?" asked Clutter, still holding Bumble's hand.
"What?"
"Is it... too much if I asked for another kiss? I didn't get to respond to the first one."
Bumble threw him a look as if he was saying "really?" ever so silently, with Clutter looking terribly oblivious at it. The pause made Clutter feel like that wasn't meant to happen and proceeded just to follow him out, but Bumble indulged in the request, now coming closer and pulling Clutter for yet another kiss. This time around, it wasn't just one that was one sided, the kiss lasted for a bit longer, it felt a lot sweeter and Clutter was trying his very best to synchronize with Bumble at that moment. It wasn't a perfect kiss by any means, but that was their first kiss as a couple and that one was special. They had more than enough time to make this even better, but for now, they just left it at that and some soft laughter coming from both sides.
"I love you. I should've said it long time ago, but better late than never, I guess." said Clutter.
"It's fine. I love you too." replied Bumble, now actually shivering. "Can we actually head to the venue now?"
"Oh yeah, but one more thing."
"What no-" Bumble didn't even have time to finish his sentence proper before he felt himself lifted off the ground by Clutter, with one arm holding his torso and the other nestled right below his knees. "Clutter!"
Clutter laughed a bit, now slowly making his way out of the gazebo holding an overly shocked Bumble in his arms like that. "You said you felt jealous about my interaction with Ember, right? Perhaps if I held you like this, that may help out with it?"
"You're not gonna carry me like that to the party, I swear, everyone will look at us." Bumble protested, hiding his face.
"So what? Can't I parade my boyfriend bridal style now? Big deal, at least half of them probably are wasted right now, as if they'd remember anything."
Bumble did not complain for longer, he knew Clutter had a point, given there was an unspoken rule that at least one of them had to stay sober to they'd be driving everyone home. For the Bumblebees, it was Honey. For the Chaos, seems to be Clutter himself, given he didn't taste a tinge of alcohol on his lips.
Worth a second check now. Bumble held his arms around Clutter's neck, but managed to free one in order to push Clutter's head in his direction and kiss him again, to which Clutter happily replied to. Thankfully Clutter is strong enough not to drop him, but he definitely enjoyed this a lot more than he wanted to admit.
"You're driving tonight?"
"Yeah, Tumult wanted to get wasted, Anarchy definitely is getting wasted, and Disarray with Snarl can't drive yet. You wanted to check again to confirm it? Seems you're not driving after that glass of wine."
"Honey is. I do like a glass of wine sometimes. Now can we actually move faster, I'm shivering out here and you're moving really slow."
Clutter kissed Bumble's forehead, now feeling more than content. "Your wish is my command."
------
Unsurprisingly, as it was the case for most of the parties of such magnitude, the party only really started after the midnight struck. Some have went outside for a quick chat given how everything just became so noisy and a few have already turned to be wasted from so much alcohol, but surprisingly, they mostly gathered around the opening entrance of the venue and not just the entrance that led to the garden. Clutter was careful not to hit Bumble accidentally, given he was still holding his lover bridal style and Bumble wasn't in any way short - even going as far as using his hand to shield Bumble's head from any unsuspecting door frames.
Once they went in, they both could tell the venue reeked of alcohol of all kinds. The Speeders and the Pinkies were all wasted in spite of Velocity and Pinky Rosa struggling to keep up the pace, the Rojos were the life of the party, a handful were still very much sober and tried their best not to embarrass themselves by being associated with their team members, and it also felt like some couples have formed at least for a night. And at their table, there was Honey and Disarray having a quick chat, Snarl enjoying a glass of wine himself, Stinger and Hive being nowhere to be seen, and Anarchy was so wasted that she just fell asleep on the chairs. They were met by a handful of surprised looks and the flash of a camera, Honey covering her mouth in shock, Disarray looking excited and Snarl looking quite impressed by the two.
"No way!" exclaimed Disarray, now seeing Clutter letting Bumble down before leading him to their designated seats.
"Listen, if you'd be telling me like 5 years ago I'd be seeing my team's captain actually be brought in bridal style by someone else, I'd have laughed at you." Honey said, still shocked by what he just saw. "And Clutter doesn't seem like he'd been hit in retaliation either, what the hell did you do to our captain? I can't even recognize him!"
Clutter laughed at the question, Bumble feeling quite amused too given that she wasn't wrong. "Well... let's just say that we had a long talk and fixed up our issues. Right, Bumble?"
"Right. We're good now." Bumble responded, his arm intertwined with Clutter's, much to Honey and Disarray's surprise aww's coming their way.
"You're lucky people didn't ask much of you two, anyway." Snarl added, "But we got Anarchy and Hive absolutely wasted and Hive throwing up, Stinger just went with him outside."
"Not that I am shocked, I'm surprised Stinger isn't just as drunk. Also where's Swax?"
"Over here!" Swax replied, with a digital camera in his hands, just behind a flower pot. "Listen, I took a great photo for posterity. Surprised you noticed me just now."
"You didn't drink?" asked Bumble, only to be met with a "no" coming from the reserve. "Color me surprised."
"Tumult?" Clutter wondered, not seeing their captain at all. "Where did he go?"
"You called me?" Tumult replied, with Clutter turning back to see him coming through with keys in hand, mostly tipsy, but otherwise fine. "Also why does Bumble wear your coat?"
"Don't act like Clutter didn't always lend Bumble his coat whenever it got cold outside, Tumult." Honey affirmed.
"Alright, you got a point too, but they're... a bit closer to one another than usual. They're even holding hands. That's not a very obvious Bumble thing to do."
Clutter stared at Bumble, as if he was silently asking whether to tell them or not, being met with more laughter from his counterpart. Honey turned her confusion into a slight smile, looking at Disarray who seemed to think similarly.
"Are you guys together now?" they both asked in unison, only to be met with Bumble nodding in approval and the rest absolutely losing it.
"We're taking it kind of slow though." replied Clutter, now being swarmed by a group hug minus 3 members and a wave of congratulations. Tumult shook Bumble's hand, Honey hugged Clutter, and while at it Stinger and Hive came by, Hive looking absolutely horrible. "Wait, what's the gathering all about?"
"Stinger! How's Hive, heard he'd been throwing up." Bumble asked, with Stinger still holding Hive's left arm over his shoulders. Hive merely muttered that he's fine, but he wanted to sit down urgently, which they cleared the zone for the Bumblebees member to sit down.
"I think he drank a bit too much and left just about everything out. Lesson learnt, I hope. He's weak to alcohol, I'm surprised he didn't blackout." Stinger replied, how keeping an eye on Hive. Stinger knew Hive a bit too well, after all they used to be part of the Hornets together.
"The gathering was just finding out that Bumble and Clutter made it official at last. Took them like decades to do so." Honey replied, leaving Stinger astounded.
"Oh wow, congratulations to you both!"
By the time they wanted to respond, the Shining Swarm took the microphone yet again, with Sterling taking center stage. "This song is a slower one, we invite all the couples to join us in! Or if not, at least find a partner and pretend you're together for a few minutes. We invite you to the dancefloor with your chosen ones."
Clutter did not even hesitate one second before asking Bumble for a dance. At first Bumble felt a bit reticent about it, but then he remembered just how many were absolutely wasted right now and may not be remembering it all until the next morning. If he couldn't dance now, when would he? And so, the two went on the dancefloor, leaving the cheering crowd of the Bees and Chaos members rooting for them slightly behind. There were several pairs too, some actual real couples they knew of and some who just chose to pair of for the sake of the song, but once Sterling began to sing and the fog machine started to rumble, the atmosphere became a lot more intimate.
Some of them already figured out from the get go - Razzy was dancing with Mallard and they both smiled and congratulated the two, Cloudy and Snowy who paired up for the song just muttered an "it was about time you two got it settled", and even with the heated rivalry between Team Primary and Balls of Chaos, Prim and Rima looked actually kind of proud of them, with Momo and Mimo, their partners, being absolutely ecstatic to see them together at last. And even so, in the mist of all the dancing pairs that surrounded the two, the focus was on them. With Clutter having his full attention to Bumble and Bumble just feeling the music in its purest form, this was their moment and their moment only. Whoever felt any different could keep their mouth shut for a few minutes. For those short moments, it was just Bumble and Clutter, not members of their team, not valuable marble athletes for their teams, just them and their newfound love that arose from a lot of pent up anger and misunderstandings. With eyes on one another, their faces slowly turning a soft shade of pink, and a smile coming from Clutter that could lit up the room if it was ever possible, the two shared yet another kiss, much to the excitement that was lingering in the background.
"To my better half, thank you for being you. It may have taken ages to admit my feelings, but the journey was worth it as long as you were with me."