Work Text:
Second place was good, Conkers should’ve been happy that he even made it onto the podium, especially since he thought he’d be the first one out.
But despite the other Masks congratulations, their compliments and pride… Conkers couldn’t help but feel disappointed with how the final had gone, the praise he was receiving felt rather hollow.
After he’d somehow managed to beat Toastie, he’d allowed himself to think, to hope, that maybe he’d have a chance to win. A chance to show that you didn’t have to be a singer to go all the way.
He should’ve known he wouldn’t stand a chance against Moth, she was a professional singer. The second she belted out those fancy vocals in the Final Face-Off, Conkers knew it was over for him.
With the second place medal suddenly feeling uncomfortably heavy around his neck, the knight used the distraction of everyone congratulating Moth to sneak away to his dressing room. Flopping down onto the provided couch with a sigh, head in his hands.
“Of course I wouldn’t win…” He muttered to himself, lifting his head to stare at his reflection in the mirror, glaring at that silver medal as it glinted almost mockingly in the light. “I’m no singer… they made that clear enough.”
The amount of times people had been warned about his lack of singing ability was a bit ridiculous, in Conkers’ opinion. They really hadn’t needed to bring it up almost every week, but they did so anyway.
“But so many people were rooting for me…” The sight of the other Masks cheering his name was still fresh in his mind, especially the image of Can of Worms cheering him on. “I let them all down...”
After a moment of silence, Conkers suddenly ripped the medal off his neck and tossed it to the floor… he didn’t deserve to wear it, he shouldn’t have been in the final anyway. There were so many Masks that were much more deserving of his place.
Conkers was eventually pulled out of his messy thoughts by a gentle knock on his door. Not wanting to look like he’d thrown a tantrum after losing, the knight hastily retrieved the silver medal from the floor and put it back on before forcing himself to stand and open the door.
To his surprise, Can of Worms was standing on the other side. All of his worm heads were smiling, except for one, which was focused on keeping hold of a beautiful and carefully arranged bouquet of flowers.
“Hey, can I come in?” The bundle of worms asked, which prompted Conkers to nod and step aside to let the other Mask into the dressing room. Of course the knight was happy to see him, but he was also confused as to why exactly Can of Worms was here, surely he needed to drop that bouquet off to Moth?
“What are you doing here?” Conkers asked with a slight tilt of his head, somehow managing to smile at the other despite his current low mood, which really he hoped wasn’t noticeable. It was bad enough being praised, being comforted by his crush would be even worse right now.
“I came by to give you this,” Before Conkers could even blink, the stunning bouquet Can of Worms had been carrying was being placed gently into his hands. Upon closer inspection, the knight noticed that all the flowers were ones he’d mentioned being his favourite, all tied together by a bow in his favourite colour. “I made it specially for you!”
“For me, r-really? Thank you, it’s beautiful,” Conkers stammered out quietly, gently tracing the petals of the flowers with wide eyes. Disbelief was evident as on his face as he looked back up at Can of Worms, who simply nodded in response to the prior question. “But why give it to me? I didn’t win…“
“That doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to be celebrated as well,” The bundle of worms responded casually, leaning back on the couch as he flashed the other a dazzling smile. Conkers couldn’t stop the dark brown blush from spreading across his face as Can of Worms continued. “Second place is no easy feat!.”
“I know, it’s just…” Conkers trailed off, furrowing his brows as he tried to come up with the right words to say. It took him a few moments to speak again, thankful that the other Mask was letting him take his time. “I can’t help but feel that there were so many other Masks that deserved it more than I did… like you, for example.”
“That’s sweet of you to say, but I was fine with fourth,” Can of Worms said gratefully, moving to rest one of his worm hands gently on top of Conkers’ free hand and give it a gentle squeeze. “It was just nice to reach the semi finals.”
“How do you manage to remain so positive? I struggle with it…” The knight muttered before he could stop himself, only registering the statement when Can of Worms’ faces turned from cheerful to concerned. If he had a hand free, it would’ve been slapped against his mouth, that was supposed to be an exclusively in his head thought!
“Are you ok?” The bundle of worms asked, looking at the knight with such gentleness it almost made Conkers’ brain malfunction, Can of Worms shouldn’t be looking at him of all masks with that kind of care, he wasn’t worthy. Now he was faced with a dilemma, should he lie or tell the truth? Looking back up at the other mask, looking into his eyes… he could feel his resolve crumble.
“I feel like an imposter sometimes, like I don’t deserve this medal…” Conkers eventually revealed, looking at the floor and idly fiddling with the ribbon of the bouquet as he took the time to really unpack everything. “Especially when my lack of singing ability was almost constantly being emphasised.”
Showing his real emotions certainly wasn’t easy, but he couldn’t just stop now. Maybe it would do him some good to vent it out, that’s what everyone always recommended he should do anyway.
“I get it, I’m not a singer,” A tired huff was let out, the emotional walls he built were being torn down brick by brick as he finally let someone in. Let someone see the real him, insecurities and all. “But they didn’t need to keep saying it! Honestly, I lost count of the amount of times I considered quitting.”
“Yeah, that was really rude of them,” Can of Worms agreed with a nod, still keeping his worm hand on top of Conkers’ hand in order to comfort the other. Giving him all the time he needed to vent and let it all out. “Honestly all us worms were very close to biting anyone who insulted your singing.”
Despite everything Conkers couldn’t help but giggle at that, but he soon frowned again as he continued to reveal his innermost thoughts and feelings to the bundle of worms, eternally grateful for his patience.
“To fall at the final hurdle… after so many people were rooting for me,” Closing his eyes briefly, Conkers could picture the disappointed faces of his supporters so clearly. Even though there weren’t any, he couldn’t imagine them looking proud of him in the slightest. Quickly he shook his head to clear that mental image away. “It really stung, I-I feel like I let everyone down...”
To his horror, Conkers heard his voice crack during the last sentence, the familiar sensation of tears building up following shortly after. Desperately he tried to will them away, crying in front of his crush would be even more embarrassing than opening up to him!
Unfortunately the knight didn’t have enough willpower to get rid of the tears and soon they were dripping down his face. He felt a strong pair of arms embrace him and leant against Can of Worms’ tin chest as he started to sob, trying to focus on the bundle of worms’ soothing voice as he muttered words of comfort.
God he felt pathetic right now, he’d never been this emotional in front of anybody before, he shouldn't be unloading all his problems onto others. After what felt like hours the tears finally stopped, but despite this, Can of Worms didn’t pull away and kept Conkers in his arms.
It certainly confused the knight, but he wasn’t going to complain and leaned against the other Mask a little more. The two sat for a few minutes in a surprisingly comfortable silence before Conkers broke it and spoke up again.
“I’m sorry…” He mumbled apologetically before leaning over to place the bouquet in a nearby vase, proceeding to wipe at his eyes and try his hardest to get rid of those last few stubborn tears before they fell. “I shouldn’t have dumped all my problems on you like that…”
“You don't have to apologise,” Can of Worms replied softly as he gently rubbed Conkers’ back, which helped the knight relax just a little bit more as he finally cleared his eyes of tears. “I’d rather have you let it all out instead of keeping it bottled up.”
“I do feel better now,” Conkers admitted, surprised by just how well a good cry helped, embarrassing as it was. He made a quick mental note to buy the bundle of worms a thank you gift later on, he certainly deserved one after all this. “I guess I was more stressed out than I originally thought.”
“Happens to the best of us,” The other Mask responded with a warm smile as he pulled away just enough to be able to rest a hand on Conkers’ cheek. The knight leant into the touch without thinking, closing his eyes. “I’m proud of you for being honest, heck, I’m proud of you in general!”
“You are?” This time Conkers sounded more curious as opposed to shocked. Not wanting Can of Worms to remove his hand from his face, the knight glanced up at him without moving his head, smiling shyly. “For what?”
“Never giving up, for starters,” Can of Worms responded with a soft smile of his and Conkers swore he could see a light blush dusting the worms cheeks, but maybe that was just his eyes deciding to play tricks on him. “Despite people constantly insulting your singing ability, you still gave it your all every performance!”
“I guess that’s true!” Conkers nodded slightly in agreement as he remembered how he wanted to make people smile during his performances. He wanted them to have as much fun as he had on that stage… he must have succeeded, considering he made it to the final two.
“You’re also so kind, some people would let a competition change them,” The bundle of worms continued, moving to rest the other worm head gently on top of Conkers' shoulder. “But you didn’t, I remember how you always comforted the Masks that got eliminated.”
“It felt like the right thing to do,” The knight explained as he closed his eyes briefly to reminisce on those moments, he hadn’t thought much of it at the time, so it came as a surprise when a few of the others admitted to him later just how much his comfort had helped. “I wanted to show I care about my friends!”
“You certainly succeeded! It was an honour to share this journey with you,” Can of Worms said, moving his hands down to hold both of Conkers’ hands on his own. Conkers immediately returned the hold, gently resting his hands on top of the two worms that made up the others hands with an awestruck gaze. “You’re so strong… stronger than you realise.”
Conkers was in disbelief, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing… did Can of Worms really think that highly of him? It seemed impossible to believe, but the bundle of worms sounded so genuine, there was no hint of a lie in his voice. His gaze held no malice or mockery, just admiration and warmth.
So everything Can of Worms had just said must’ve been him telling the truth! If the bundle of worms liked him that much, maybe Conkers could start to like himself a bit more. A sudden burst of confidence overtook the knight and he opened his mouth to thank the other Mask for everything…
“Do you want to go on a date with me?” Conkers blurted out instead of a thank you, his eyes going wide with shock and face heating up. Can of Worms was stunned into silence, his eyes just as wide as Conkers’. The knight opened his mouth again, an apology on the tip of his tongue, only to be interrupted but the other Mask spoke first.
“Like… as in a romantic date?” Can of Worms asked after a few seconds of silence, to Conkers’ surprise he didn’t sound disgusted… in fact, he sounded hopeful? Which left Conkers very confused, it was almost like the other wanted it to be a romantic date. Deciding to throw caution to the wind, the knight nodded slowly, which caused the worms to visibly light up and Conkers found himself being pulled into another hug.
“I’d love to go on a date with you! Honestly, I was kind of considering asking you out myself.” The bundle of worms admitted with a chuckle, which only surprised Conkers even further, but he couldn’t stop a smile from forming on his face at that revelation as he returned Can of Worms’ embrace.
“I may not have won…” Conkers thought to himself. ”But I think I got a pretty good consolation prize!”