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— Did you two even watch Lcq? - asked Hax, seeing that Rowl and Mongey were playing fucking cards on the couch, their TV was turned off, headphones untouched, and phones not even in the room.
— No.
— Why would we do that?
Their answers were far to quick to be true, and even though he could like.. partly believe Rowl, he also knew that Mongey wouldn't miss the opportunity.
— Really? - he raised his eyebrow with suspicion. There was no way, right?
— Yeah. Why?
— Well, you missed a lot, then, - he pressed his lips into a thin line, jumping on the couch with an intention of messing up the cards. And he fulfilled his wish, he realised, letting a small victorious smile on his face, as Rowl snorted and dropped his cards, annoyed by his little trick. Well, shouldn't had upset Hax then. Asshole.
— What exactly? - Rowl sounded uninterested enough for Hax to start believing that they actually did not watch it. Technically.. they had no reason to watch, anyone could tell that he was going to win, it's just.. it was kinda sad. They were his best friends!
Hax was going to silently go to sleep as he saw Mongey's attempt to get rid of his smile, which was constantly coming back on his face. He felt as if a rock suddenly jumped out of his heart, giving it's space to happiness and love.
— Oh my god, - Hax sighed with relief. - I actually believed you for a second, holy shit! You, - he pointed at Rowl accusingly, - scared the heck out of me!
Mongey couldn't hold himself together anymore, bursting out laughing. Both Hax and Rowl, who tucked Hax closer to them so both he and Mongey could hug their little champion, joined him fairly soon.
— I really-really believed you weren't watching, - mumbled Hax, relaxing in the arms of his friends.
— You think I'd have the heart to? - softly asked Mongey, hugging him.
— You? Not sure. Rowl? Yes, definitely, - Hax rolled his eyes. Rowl huffed.
— Just so you know, I wasn't even aware that he was watching. I was in a call with Beef, Pulsar and Bat, and then heard him screaming "Hax what the fuck are you doing?!" really loud from his room. He was really worried, - Mongey winked.
— Actually? - Hax's eyes shined with happiness when he looked at Rowl, who turned red a bit. - Rowl caring about people alert?
— Fuck off, - mumbled Rowl, looking away.
— Sooo.. what are we doing now? - asked Mongey, luckily for Rowl. - Like.. Rowl's playing Darvy, you're playing Ranik and I'm playing Tudo. Well, I'm cooked after this anyway.
— No, Mongey. You can beat Doogile, - Hax smiled.
— Nah, bro. I'm just cooked, - Mongey huffed. No one tried to object anymore. Well.. he was kinda cooked, honestly, considering that the bottom bracked had three outta four thanoses - Doogile, Lowkey and Infume. Yeah, it was gg for everyone.
— Wait, who else is playing? Vstrid and Kenan, right? - asked Rowl, finally recovering after showing his feelings on public.
— Yah.
— Oh god, not this fucking cheater! - groaned Rowl, lightly banging his head against the wall. - I was literally praying that he wouldn't have qualled but it didn't fucking work.
— Don't worry, - Hax chuckled. - Doog is destroying his ass. Kenan is not going to win a seed without being banned afterwards.
Hax's words caused laughing on both sides from him, as he was remembering the question he was wanted to ask for two days.
— You had some kind of interaction with him recently, right?
— Well, - Rowl slightly raised his head, - something like that. I died on zero, so I had to run back. His ass asked for a draw but I refused, asking if the locate command wasn't working, - Hax started laughing, - and then advised him to exploit code and add some kind of datapack cause he still sucks, even with cheats.
— So you basically called him a cheater again? - chuckled Mongey as Hax continued to laugh.
— Well, yeah. Once a cheater - always a cheater, y'know? - Rowl shrugged. He had nothing against fully banning Kenan from Ranked, but fine.
— I agree with that statement, - said Hax, still laughing. Rowl smiled.
— Alright, still.. who are we playing after round of 16?
— Assuming I win against Darvy-
— Nobody assumes anything, you simply win, - Hax immediately cut him off with a warm smile. Rowl rolled his eyes, felling the same warmth and fondness spreading throughout his chest.
— After I beat Darvy, - he tried again, and this time Hax seemed satisfied, - I'll play Silverr or Aquacorde. Both are scary, honestly.
— They kinda are.. but you're better! I know that you're better! Remember the mock Lcq! You're a beast! You crushed.
— Yeah, by getting second place on almost every seed. Second place isn't going to win me playoffs- ouch! - he yelped at sudden pain from Hax's kick. - The fuck?
— Did you get second place after the same person three times? - asked Hax, who had already been pretty concerned about Rowl's self-esteem, which had gotten even worse recently, the reason unknown to both him and Mongey.
— Ermmm... I don't know. Don't think so. Maybe after yo-
— Exactly! He might be able to steal a seed from you, but you destroy him. If they, of course, give you skill-based strongholds.
— Don't remind me, - Rowl sighed, covering his head with a pillow. That shit was going to taunt him for some time, he knew that.
— And you're playing either Edcr or Vstrid, right? - continued Mongey.
— Ya. I'm guessing it's gonna be Edcr, but Vstrid is a tough opponent, so it can still be either way.
— If it's Strid, you're 3-0ing him, - mumbled Rowl, taking the pillow away from his face. - Edcr is probably going to at least steal a seed, but no more. You're basically a god of upper bracket, there's no way you're losing to anyone here.
— You're here.
— That's the point, - Rowl rolled his eyes, immediately earning himself another kick. - Actually fuck off.
— You deserved that.
— You fully did.
— I'm gonna stop cooking, we'll see who laughs last, - huffed Rowl. Both Hax's and Mongey's eyes widened from horror and shock.
— You wouldn't do that to us.
— Right?
— You can try me, - chalengelly said Rowl, knowing exactly what was going to happen in the next few seconds.
— No, Rowl, I'm sorry! - yelled Hax, moving around to hug the older boy, who immediately grinned, as his prediction came true. Of course it did. He had his ways of winning arguments.
— That's not fair! - whined Mongey. - You can't always threaten us with starvation!
— I absolutely can, - chuckled Rowl, slightly moving Hax around. - I have the cards and I'm using them.
— You would bring a gun to a fist fight as one of your cards, wouldn't you?
— Duh.
— You're just not ab- wait, - Mongey immediately lowered his voice, looking at Hax. - Is he asleep?
— Are you fucking serious? - Rowl whispered, kinda irritated. - Why do I have to work as a pillow again?! - he yelled in whispers.
— How did he even fall asleep, like-
— Well, he was tired after the matches, plus it's already past his usual bedtime, sooo, - Rowl sighed. - I guess I'm gonna get him to bed. We're lucky he speedran changing his clothes right after coming home, - he chuckled. - And you should also go to bed.
— My sleep schedule is ruined anyway, it's all good, - Mongey waved his hand, chuckling.
— Playoffs are starting next week.. I suggest you do something with it until.
— Fuck, you're right, - Mongey sighed, watching as Rowl was trying to stand up carefully, doing his best to not wake Hax up. - Goodnight then.
— Goodnight.
After Rowl was finally able to get up, he thanked everything that Hax had almost been late to Lcq, resulting in him forgetting to close the door to his room. Well, if it wasn't open, he would just make Mongey deal with it.
Making his way through the darkness of Hax's room, he got to the bed, putting the boy on it and covering him with a blanket.
— Goodnight, Hax, - he mumbled, leaving the room.
And what Rowl didn't see was a mischievous grin on a snowman's face as he wrapped himself more tightly in the blanket.