Motivation

"Not gonna lie, this shirt is fucking sick." Mendo exclaimed, holding up Muma's Atlantic Division jersey as he plopped down onto a beanbag chair. The clash of teal and gold was oddly satisfying to the eye, and the scale design on the right arm looking amazing. He turned the shirt around, reading the name "Muma" printed on the back in all white.

Muma was across the room on his computer, streaming some Overwatch competitive games. He'd been trying to keep his rank under control for the past month, but even after hours and hours of gameplay, the numbers never seemed to change. Now he was playing on Hanamura, already on round 6 and losing.

"Still... it would be ten times better if it had my name on it." Mendo mumbled, lowering his arms and rubbing his thumb over the fabric. He looked up at his teammate, waiting for some sort of retort, but he was not paying him any mind. An idea formed in his mind, letting out a snicker before stepping out of the room.

The word 'Defeat' flashed onto Muma's computer screen, causing the boy to cup his face into his hands and let out a loud groan. His head slid slowly down onto the computer desk, not making any more sounds or movements. The sounds of irritated teammates could be heard faintly from his headphones before abruptly cutting back to the menu screen. After a few seconds, Mendo walked back into the room, the sounds of the door opening and closing catching Muma's attention. He lifted his head from his desk and attempted to turn around, but was caught by Mendo running his fingers through his tangled hair playfully.

"Hey, I did not give you permission to wear that." Muma said in an unserious tone, staring up at his teammate who was looking down at him.

Mendo smirked. "I'm the adult, therefor I don't need to ask for your permission for anything. Besides..." he said, looking up at the camera that displayed them on stream. "I look way better in this than you do. Right chat?"

A few seconds later, a bunch of different chat messages started to run down the side of the screen. There were a bunch of yays and nays, along with people spamming things like hearts and "couple goals". The two of them were used to it at this point.

"Unfortunately, that's the end of the stream. I'll be back tomorrow, I promise. Love you guys, and thanks for the support. Goodnight!" Muma said, followed by him clicking the red 'Stop Broadcasting' button on StreamLabs. After the stream stopped, he let out another heavy sigh, leaning back in his chair. "Can't believe I lost 100 SR after playing for six hours. What's the point of even trying to win anymore if i'm always getting boosted one tricks and mercy mains?"

"Ah, it's not the end of the world." Mendo said lightheartedly, removing his hand from Muma's hair. There was a pause before Muma stood up and made his way to his bed, plopping down onto it backwards and extending his arms out.

"I think I wanna quit..."

Mendo had let out a chuckle. "Psh, you're just saying tha—"

"I'm serious, Lucas!"

Silence had fallen onto the room, Mendo freezing after Muma's sudden outburst. In the past, Muma had always joked about quitting Overwatch—everyone did at some point. But this time, his voice had a serious, angered tone; It was an emotion that Muma rarely expressed.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell, but... I just can't play that game anymore and genuinely have fun." Muma explained, staring up at the ceiling emotionlessly. "All this time, my motivation has been playing for the team and my fans. It's why I love being a part of the Overwatch League—a part of the Houston Outlaws. Now, whenever I play, I just feel...nothing. I can't even make myself care about winning or losing anymore."

Mendo finally decided to move, making his way to the bed and sitting next to Muma, causing him to prop himself upwards. He rested his head on Mendo's shoulder, closing his eyes and steadying his breath.

A few seconds later, their fingers had become entangled with each other. Muma was probably the only guy that Mendo would let hold his hand, and even though they hadn't held hands for a while, it still felt completely normal. Over time, he came to the realization that Muma entered a state of calm whenever they were together, and relied on him as his main source of happiness. When people weren't looking, they would share their moments together. Then, everything went downhill after he moved away.

"We should start getting ready for the watchparty..." Muma sighed, picking his head up. Mendo noticed the small tear stains on his teammate's face, using his hand to brush the hair out of Muma's face and get a better look. Though there were a lack of weeps, a few tears had managed to escape the younger boy's eyes.

"I'll call the managers and tell them we can't make it, okay?" Mendo said softly. Muma had managed to break a smile, a small pink blush forming on his face as he nodded. Mendo smiled back, his hand moving from Muma's hair down to his face, wiping away one of the tears that had stained his right cheek.

After calling their managers and delivering the news, Mendo looked over and noticed that Muma had already fallen asleep. He crawled next to him and laid down, now face to face with his teammate. His eyes were drawn to Muma's lips, and his heart beating fast. The chance to give Muma a kiss on the lips was tempting, but he knew that it wasn't right to do something so daring. Instead, he placed a quick kiss on his nose, but when he pulled away, he noticed Muma's opened eyes staring at him.

Muma couldn't help but giggle at Mendo's embarrassed expression, pulling his friend closer and holding his hand. "Geez, I might have to start letting you wear that jersey more often..."