SMG4: He's Gotta Be Safe

Chapter 9: SMG3... Are You Ok?

The elephant was taking the snake back to its nest and carefully placed it in its little home. Although the duo didn't have such a good meeting a little bit ago, the snake made it up to the elephant by facing a large predator alongside it. The battle left it extremely injured, so the elephant was now helping it recover. It didn't exactly know how long it would take for the reptile to recover, but it would still try its best to keep it comfortable. Luckily, the care from the elephant allowed the snake to stay alive. Now, it was going to wake up soon. Tari and Meggy were taking note of what was happening between the animals throughout this time period, curious on what had happened that made them end up in such a relationship with each other.

There were some of the crew members scattered all over the showgrounds place, from outside to inside. In the lobby, to more personal rooms. All the way in Four's room was, of course, Four himself. He was leaning over someone who was sleeping in his bed, and it was the same dude that had used up all of his energy to keep him safe, Three. He had been in a coma for the past... who knows how long. He sat on a chair next to the bed, watching him over. "Heh, remember when you recorded all my embarrassing moments and threatened to post them?" Silence. "Okay, maybe that's not the best thing to reminisce on... remember when we fought an eldritch- no not that either... How about when we were building up the castle and we performed stupid acts in order to get money for the castle infrastructure?" ... He quietly got up and left the room to go outside.

It was a peaceful evening, the stars were sparkling so brightly and the sky was clear. The moon was missing from the sky though. He was walking through the path, passing by the garden that the blockcloak duo created. Luigi works with them to some extent to support it, especially since neither of them had really had experience with them in the past. There were many flowers scattered around in the garden. Red anemones, forget-me-nots, marigolds, dahlia, daisies, and lotus'. He had seen a couple members of the crew having those flowers on them in the past. He was looking for a different flower to lend towards the guardian. He already gave him the anemone, so that was checked off his list. What else could he give to Three though?

He didn't even notice that someone was behind him, so when he turned around and saw them, he screamed like a girl. "WHAT THE FU-"

It was just Luigi though. "Hey Four! What are you doing out here at this time?"

Four: "Uhm... I'm just.. Trying to clear my head right now." He stared at the forget-me-nots that were on the left of him.

Luigi: "Oh... I understand that." He put his hand on his shoulder and looked in his direction. A bee had landed right on those flowers around that moment. They were silent as they continued to observe the garden. "...You can talk to me."

Four wrapped his arms around himself. "I'm not sure if I'm ready to yet..."

Luigi: "Hey, it's okay. Take your time." He looked to get a view of Four's face. "Possibly losing someone you care deeply about is really hard for anyone to deal with, especially if it's because that said person had gotten in this state to keep you safe."

Four started to tear up. "Y-yeah... but I'm just- really trying with this." He clenched his fists tightly. "I try my best to be strong throughout all of this, but the outcome of all of this is really uncertain. Like... Is Three going to be okay? Is he going to die? Was it worth it?" He covered his face. "Can I do this?..."

Luigi put his other hand on Four's back. "Four.."

Four: "What is it?.."

Luigi: "No matter what happens... we'll always be there for you." He embraced the guardian, letting him feel his warmth.

Four reciprocated the hug, tears still streaming from his eyes. "Thank you so much."

Luigi: "No problem.." When they separated from the hug, he reached into his pocket to pull out a dark blue flower. "Here, you can give this to him as a little offering."