#I had no idea smg3 could actually understand what eggdog said

[chaoticlad]

THEY’RE SO- AGH‼️‼️

Oh yeah and I really just liked these two screenshots 👍

Eggdog is now one of us ☺️

[depressedwriter25]

Have a fic for @bluestrawberrybunny’s Apprenticeship AU for Father’s Day

Summary: SMG3 has been off all day, so SMG5 decides to check on him and learns more about Terrance’s death and how much it’s affected SMG3

Art made by my lovely spouse @bluestrawberrybunny (sorry for tagging you twice in this post, but whatever ;p)

It was mostly like any other day for SMG5. SMGs don’t have parents outside of their USBs, kind of, so they didn’t actually give it much thought. They weren’t a parent either, so they didn’t really care.

SMG6 on the other hand was spewing out a list of ideas of what he could get for SMG4. He had gotten much more comfortable calling him “Dad” lately, and he wanted to get him something for today.

“So, I was thinking of a custom necklace, kind of like a best friend’s necklace, but like… for father and son. What do you think?” He asked as he looked over at his friend.

SMG5 nodded, barely listening as they looked back at the cafe.

While today was normal for them, something seemed… off about SMG3. Their older-brother figure was acting more aloof than usual. He had even closed down the cafe for the day. It was really weird. He never closed for anything short of life-threatening, so closing down for one singular day felt off. Not to mention how their mentor had basically secluded himself in his evil lair. He’d even sent Eggdog to be with SMG4 and Beeg SMG4 for the day.

“Are you even listening?” SMG6 asked as he leaned in closer. “You’re not, aren’t you?”

SMG5’s indigo and neon purple eye left the cafe to settle on their guardian partner. “Sorry. What were you talking about?”

“Gift ideas for SMG4 for Father’s Day?” SMG6 huffed, leaning back on his hands. “Are you ok? You’ve been staring at the coffee shop this entire conversation.”

“Yeah,” they said before letting out a melancholy sigh. “SMG3 is just acting weird.”

“What about?”

“He’s just been off. I don’t know how else to describe it!” SMG5 looked back at the building. “He’s not even spending today with Eggdog. I know it was upsetting for the little guy. He even asked me for help to make him a little Eggdog pin with a little top hat.”

“Really? Beeg just got SMG4 a new laptop with his logo on it,” Six said. “Which is why I’m trying to outdo him with something special!”

“Would you stop trying to compete with your little brother for 5 minutes?” Five said in an annoyed tone. “What if something is wrong with Three?”

“I’m sure he’s fine. He’s probably just… doing something.”

“I’m going to go check on him,” SMG5 said before standing and dusting off the dirt from their white overalls. “Do whatever it was you last said or something. I’m sure SMG4 will like whatever you get him. It’s the thought that counts.”

They made their way into the cafe, opening the door and hearing the familiar chime of the bell above their head. It was far too quiet in here. Each step of their dark purple boots against the wooden floor echoed throughout the place. As they came to the bookshelf, they heard SMG3 shout at them.

“Go away!”

Five huffed before pulling out a specific book, causing the bookcase to slide away and reveal the elevator to the building’s lower, and residential, floor. They rode it down, hearing SMG3 say something about not wanting to talk to anyone at the moment before the elevator chimed and they stepped out.

As they entered the room, Five saw Three sitting on his bed, notebook thrown to the side as he hugged a small top hat.

“Three?” They asked, taking a cautious step forward.

“I said go away! What part of that was hard to understand?” Three snapped, red eyes looking up at them in anger.

SMG5 studied Three’s face. His eyes were red, as was the rest of his face, and his eyes and nose were puffy. His cheeks were stained with tears, and his beard was wet with them too. There was some snot dripping from his nose that he quickly wiped off on his sleeve. His hat was discarded, sitting on top of his notebook which was lying open beside him on the bed with a pen.

Their eyes landed on the hat in his arms. It was a black top hat with a red stripe on it.

“SMG3?” They asked in a soft tone of voice as they continued to make their way towards him, each step happening slightly faster than the last as Three didn’t yell at them.

SMG3 remained silent, looking down at the item in his hands.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” They finished as they sat on the edge of his bed, facing towards their mentor and older-brother figure.

SMG3’s eyes welled with fresh tears that poured down his tear streaked face as he hugged the hat closer. “I…” He didn’t know what words to use to explain everything that was running through his mind at that moment. Hell, throughout the entire day. When the notification came up on his phone about today being Father’s Day, something broke inside of him. Every emotion he had been suppressing for the past few years had broken free of the flood gates. How could he find the words to explain how broken he felt over what he’d done?

“SMG3?” Five asked, moving closer and putting a hand on his knee. The older man continued to cry as he continued to search for any words that could even show some semblance of his emotions. “It’s ok. I’ll wait.”

It felt like hours before he was finally able to form one coherent thought to explain the situation to the other. But eventually that time came and he looked up at his apprentice.

“It’s Father’s Day,” he said slowly. He had never been one to share his feelings openly, so this was something where he needed to take his time. Thankfully, SMG5 understood that and waited for him to finish speaking. “I… it reminded me of Terrance.”

SMG5 nodded, looking down at the notebook. “And so… you’re dealing with that reminder that you lost your son?” They looked back over at him as he sadly looked at the top hat. “I can understand why that would be so upsetting. I would be sad too if my son died.”

Three shook his head. They weren’t understanding this. How could they? He never told them, or even written it in his notebook for them to read. He’s just mentioned how Terrance is dead and that he misses the little Ugandan Knuckles, but he never explained how he died.

“It’s not that,” he said, continuing to stare at the hat in his lap. “I… I failed as his father.”

“How?”

“I was the one who killed him…”

SMG5 retracted their hand as they stared at SMG3, mouth agape as they processed what he’d just said. Their gaze drifted away from him and towards the floor. “What do you mean you killed him?”

“We had no choice,” SMG3 explained, biting back tears as he spoke. “It was the only way to stop the God Box and…” He couldn’t take it as he thought back to the moment. Especially when he recalled Terrance’s final words.

“I love you.”

He broke down crying again. He couldn’t take it. “I’m the worst father in the world,” he sobbed. “How could I even allow anyone to celebrate me today if I was the one who killed my own son? And I never even truly showed him how much I cared…”

SMG5’s expression softened as they moved closer, wrapping the man in a tight embrace. “Hey… like you said… you had no choice,” they whispered in a soothing voice. “I’m sure Terrance understood.”

SMG3 set the hat aside and wrapped his arms tightly around his younger sibling.

“And… you’ve been a great dad to Eggdog,” they continued. “He even asked me to help him make you a gift for today. I’m sure Terrance is talking about how great of a dad you were in meme heaven or something.”

SMG3 couldn’t help his roll his eyes at the failed attempt to comfort him. He was the Lord of the Internet Graveyard. The meme afterlife, pretty much. Terrance, as much as he hated to admit it, was gone. Nothing left. He was converted into meme energy and used to transform Mario and destroy the God Box. Of course, SMG5 couldn’t know that. They had only been around for a few months at this point. He still had to teach them about the Internet Graveyard and the Meme Lifecycle.

But… they had a point. Terrance cared about him, making sure he knew it in his last moments. Even so, he still felt that crushing guilt over having to kill his own kid to save the world.

SMG5 sighed as they realized how much this wasn’t working to comfort the man, so they pulled away from the hug, placing their hands on his shoulders, and looking into his eyes. “Dude, I know it feels like shit right now, but at least get through today for Eggdog’s sake? He’s probably worried sick about you too. But still, hold on to Terrance’s memory. Carry him with you, and remember that he loved you. As long as you remember him and keep that memory alive, a small part of him remains. The ones who we’ve lost continue to survive through us. So, let’s go over to the castle, enjoy spending time with your son, and remember that Terrance would want you to be happy and care for his brother. Ok?”

SMG3 rolled his eyes again before pushing their hands off of his shoulders. “Yeah yeah. Keep that sappy shit to a minimum, ya hear?” He said before getting off of the bed and putting Terrance’s hat back on the shelf. They had a point. He should try and make it through today. For Eggdog’s sake. While he probably wasn’t the best dad he could have been to Terrance, he could try for Eggdog. And SMG5 was likely right about Terrance probably wanting him to be happy and be there for Eggdog.

“Aww. You’re a sucker for sappy shit, aren’t you?” Five joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“No! Shut up!” Three shouted back before taking his hat and throwing it at them. “It’s stupid!”

“Sure~” They continued.

SMG3 grabbed his hat again and hit them over the head with it, earning a laugh from them in return.

Five was glad he was feeling better enough to return to his normal tsundere self.

“Now come on,” they said as they covered their head to dodge any possible future attacks. “You should be with your kid.”

The day was nearing its end, and SMG5 and SMG6 had been hard at work making something special for SMG3 and SMG4 while Eggdog and Beeg made some sort of “distraction” (they were basically just playing games with their dads). But the gifts were finally ready.

They walked over to the two of them, boxes in hand.

“Present time!” SMG6 said excitedly as he handed SMG4 the box.

“Oh, thanks guys!” SMG4 said with a smile. “You didn’t have to.”

“Oh no,” SMG5 said as they smiled at SMG3. “We had to.”

SMG3 inspected the small purple box he was handed.

Beeg and Eggdog came over with their own boxes as well, one wrapped in blue and the other wrapped in purple.

“Well? Open them!” SMG6 said, bouncing on his toes as he waited to see their reactions.

SMG4 opened Beeg’s present first, smiling and patting the meme’s head as he saw a brand new laptop with his logo embedded on it. “Thank you, Beeg!” He said. He was reluctant to hug the little guy, especially since Beeg much preferred being left alone.

But then Beeg jumped on him in a hug, which the Memey-Boi gladly returned.

SMG3 opened Eggdog’s box next, which contained an Eggdog pin with a small top hat on it. He smiled, clipping it on his overall strap before hugging Eggdog close. “Aww! Thank you so much my little Eggdog!” He cooed as Eggdog barked with excitement.

“Open ours now!” Six exclaimed, continuing his bouncing before Five grabbed his shoulders and forced him to stop.

The two men opened their boxes, surprised to see two necklaces. SMG4’s necklace seemed to be an orange half of a star while SMG3’s was a light blue half of a skull.

“What is this?” SMG3 asked, holding up the object as 4 put his on.

“Necklaces, you goof,” SMG5 laughed before they and SMG6 pulled out the other halves of the necklaces. SMG6’s was the other half of the star but colored in blue while SMG5’s was the other half of the skull colored in purple. “We made them ourselves!”

“You guys!” SMG4 shouted as he stood up and wrapped them both in a tight hug. “Thank you so much!”

“Of course, Dad!” SMG6 said as he happily returned the gesture alongside Five.

SMG3 stared at the necklace in his hands intently.

“I also have one more thing for you,” SMG5 said as they wiggled out of Four’s hug. They pulled another pin from their pocket. This one was an Ugandan Knuckles with a top hat.

“I figured, since you were so upset about Terrance today, I’d give you something in his stead,” they said with a smile. “I know he would have wanted to give you something today.”

SMG3 stood up, wrapping them in a hug as he began to cry again. “Thank you,” he whispered, wiping the tears away. “Seriously.”

“Of course,” they whispered back. “Happy Father’s Day, Three.”

Go read their fic on AO3 or WattPad they’re working really hard on it and no spoilers but the next chapter is going to be a really big one (story wise).