Fan was not like other contestants, and they did not mean that in a good way. He was awkward and paranoid – a coffee-stained page in an otherwise clean book. They were different, and despite everyone telling him that was good, it was the worst thing that ever happened to him.

Who could blame them if he loved to watch people? The inhabitants of the hotel had been growing closer ever since Trophy and Cheesy had become acquainted; something that Fan found awfully strange. They vowed to investigate it – after he finished their newest project with Test Tube of course.

"Golly, I just can't stop chipping the paint here, can I?"

Being friends with Test Tube again was the greatest thing since sliced bread for the avid blogger. He admired the scientist's genius greatly, but knowing that even she could make mistakes made the rift between their contrasting personalities a little smaller. The egg had brought them together and tore them apart, but here they were; together, once again.

Fan was glad that they were able to start another project with Test Tube, even if he didn't play the largest role.

"Could you pass me the Tango pink, sweetie?"

They blushed at her words, nodding as he brought over the paint bucket. Did he mention that the two were dating? No? Well now you know.

Test Tube strategically painted over where the metal was now visible, patching it up to seem as if it were never there.

"Brilliant! I'll get to coding now. Do you think you could deliver some breakfast to Paintbrush for me?"

The scientist gestured to a plate of well-coated waffles (not glowing this time, phew). Fan nodded, happy to finally feel at least somewhat useful to her. They balanced the plate in one hand, typing on his phone with the other as they left the lab in search of Paintbrush.

—

It had been almost a week since Trophy and Cheesy's confession, and things had been going quite well since then. Cheesy became an active subject in Trophy's photography – his favourite subject even – and Cheesy had started writing cheesy love notes to his partner. Both boys were loving every slice of time that they'd spend with one another. Whether it was 'hi's' or 'hello's' in the hallways, meeting at breakfast and continuing their day from there, or photography dates – each moment was a polaroid in the scrapbook that was Trophy's mind.

() ()

"Aaaand, done!"

"Yorkshire Blue! That took a lot more effort than I egg-spected. How do I look?"

Trophy grinned as the picture began to develop. There stood Cheesy, his boyfriend, dressed in Salt and Pepper's new outfit idea.

"So, how does it, like, look?"

Trophy shot her an appraising thumbs up, while Cheesy ran over to tell Salt how much he loved the outfit.

'She's surprisingly bearable when she isn't gawking over OJ 24/7', Trophy mentally noted.

"Heya Trophs?"

The photographer stood up from where he kneeled, blushing as he hummed in response.

"I, uh, had this even cheddar outfit I wanted to show you. Do you wanna come to my room so I can, uh, give you a crumb of it?"

"Sure thing, Cheese-ball."

The comedian blushed heavily, ecstatically skipping over and intertwining his hands with his boyfriend's.

'Gouda, how did I get so lucky?' they both thought.

—

"... and personally, I think that scene confirms that they were actually lovers and not best friends."

"How so?"

Fan had successfully completed his assigned task of delivering Paintbrush's breakfast to them. This was only a task in the first place because the artist would wake up early in the morning, but only come down after lunch to eat. Put simply; it was not healthy. So, Test Tube had decided to make a sustaining breakfast for them every day in order to make sure they'd maintain a stable diet. Fan thought it was a good cause, so they often helped in the deliveries.

Only issue was that today, Paintbrush just happened to be listening to a song from Possibly In Michigan – specifically Animal Cannibal – and the blogger couldn't help but share his theories.

"Well, after they cooked Arthur, there is a scene where both Sharon and Janice are sitting at a table. In this scene, they're both shown to be smoking. At the time, depicting two women smoking together was meant to hint at the fact that they were gay. I assume this is because smoking was considered very masculine at the time and lesbians were portrayed as masculine women. Therefore, Sharon and Janice were totally dating."

Paintbrush was less confused about the theory but more confused by the lack of Fan's characteristic stuttering. It was clear he knew what they were talking about.

"That's, uh, pretty cool, but didn't you say you had to help Test Tube with something?"

"Oh geez, you're right! I-I'm really sorry Paintbrush, I b-better get going. I'll-"

He shut himself out of the room before he could finish, the patter of his frantic footsteps reverberating through the hallway. Paintbrush scoffed fondly, cutting up a waffle and taking a bite.

'What a weird little dude. Also, these waffles are banger man.'

Baxter scuttled over, eyeing the delicious waffles on his owner's plate. Paintbrush rolled their eyes, getting him a dried up fruit from his treat box.

"You can't eat this Baxter, but I'm sure a treat will be just as good."

The crab snatched the treat, chomping on it as Paintbrush resumed eating their breakfast.

—

Trophy was sure to triple check his bag before he left.

"Snack, check. Key, check. Camera, check... I feel like there's something missing."

"There's nothing missing other than, snrff, your confidence to actually go to his room."

"Oh, sheck it, you."

Tissues smiled. He was beginning to enjoy their playful banter. It was a refreshing contrast to what used to be their constant arguing. Trophy heaved out a long sigh, while Tissues snickered at the drooping posture of the jock.

"As someone once said on TV, go get 'em tiger."

Trophy rolled his eyes good-naturedly, waving goodbye to his roommate before leaving the hotel room.

'Okay Trophy, this is no big deal. It's just like every other time you've been to Cheesy's room, except now you're boyfriends. Boyfriends, jeez. I never thought I'd be able to call us that.'

After ambling down the hall and fidgeting around in the lift, he finally reached the plain door of Cheesy's bedroom. A couple stickers had been smacked on there, something that was a result of Microphone's boredom. Trophy sucked in a deep breath and hesitantly knocked on the wood.

"Just a second!"

Doubt-infected thoughts seeped into the jock's mind with every second that passed. He was aware this was meant to be Cheesy simply showing him a new outfit, but was he prepared for the situation? Of course, his room was only a couple minutes away if he ever needed to grab anything, but that would be rude or inconvenient.

"Alright, you can come in now!"

Trophy exhaled. Guess he'd just have to test the waters. The jock swung open the door to a messy room. The shopping bags Cheesy had been carrying almost a week prior were strewn about on the stained floor. An empty black bag sat on Cheesy's bed, the wrapping paper that had held some form of high-priced clothing draped over almost artistically. Trophy set his bag down next to Cheesy's bed (after closing the door of course), and began to awkwardly fiddle with his fingers as he waited for Cheesy to emerge from the bathroom.

"Okay, I'm gonna come out now. Promise you won't judge if it looks bad!"

"I doubt anything could look bad on you, but if it makes you feel any better, I promise."

The jock heard the comedian giggle from inside before the unmistakable clicking of a lock echoed through the hotel room. Out skipped Cheesy in a puffy orange dress, the frills pooling around his knees and bouncing with every movement he made. He did a little spin to test the movement, quietly gasping as the fabric twirled around with him.

"So, uhm, how does it look?"

Trophy was flabbergasted to say the least. Cheesy looked amazing in the dress. It was like it was sewn for him. However, the dress itself was where he found problems arising. It was a negative association to say the least, but he put that aside for his beautiful boyfriend.

"Thank gouda you gave me a crumb because, goddamn, that outfit is a full course meal", he remarked with a bright smile.

Cheesy blushed, glancing to the ground while he played with the frills of his dress. Trophy gently slipped out his camera, removing the lens cap and propping it up.

"Say cheese!"

The comedian looked up, allowing his signature goofy grin to slip onto his face as he made silly poses for the camera. The jock couldn't help but laugh at the extravagance Cheesy would incorporate into each pose. Perks of being a showman, he supposed.

"Sweet, you looked great in those."

"You think?"

"Mhm, take a look."

They both settled on Cheesy's bed, their legs pressed close together. Both were too afraid to take the contact any further as the photos slowly developed. Cheesy clenched the collar of his blouse piece, subtly shifting a little closer to his boyfriend.

"Hey, Trophs?"

"Hm?" The jock's eyes were locked onto an almost fully developed photo.

"C-Can I lean on your shoulder?"

Trophy's cheeks flared up with an entirely new shade of red. He immediately lifted his left arm up to scratch his neck.

"Uh, yeah. Go ahead."

The comedian smiled, delicately resting his head on the jock's broad shoulder. Trophy was tense at first, but found himself relaxing into the contact as more pictures developed.

—

"S-Sorry for being late! I didn't mean to-"

"Golly Fan, there's no need to panic. What do you mean 'late'?"

Fan prepared to say something but stopped. She was right... He wasn't late to anything.

"Gah! Sorry, Test Tube. I-I must've misremembered."

Test Tube chuckled lightly, resuming her programming.

"It's alright dear. You can take a seat – we'll start the first test run in just a moment."

They nodded, sitting in one of the cushioned chairs. The scientist's lab was surprisingly homey, mostly thanks to the fact that Test Tube found herself staying in there often. She had maximised the level of comfort, even stringing up fairy lights by the makeshift beds in the corner. Fan would stay some nights, so she had made them a safe little corner where they could simply be together. Fan was enamoured by the sentiment, as he was with everything else about his partner.

"Fan."

"Y-Yes?"

"Do you ever wonder how the egg is doing now?"

Fan sucked at his teeth trying to think of an answer. Yes, of course they did. He thought of the alien every night before they'd go to bed. Where are they now? Are they faring well on their own? Did they ever... think of him and Test Tube? They knew he'd never get an answer to any of those questions, but it never hurt to dream.

"All the time", he decided.

Test Tube hummed in acknowledgement as she tightened a screw on her invention. Fan looked to the floor again, twiddling his thumbs nervously.

"So do I."

The scientist set down her screwdriver which startled the blogger. She pushed up her circular glasses, the glint of the lights catching onto them as she did. Fan pushed up his square ones restlessly as she stepped closer.

"They're probably in a much better environment now but, golly, I can't help but wonder if I could've done something, anything better that could've changed how everything turned out."

She set her hand on a counter to prop herself up, rubbing at her eyes from beneath her glasses.

"Gee, I-I didn't even get to say goodbye."

Fan rose from their chair, making his way over to their partner and taking her hands in his.

"Neither of us did, b-but I like to think they got the idea."

Test Tube smiled a little, bringing back her hands from theirs. She cupped his cheeks and pulled them in for a short kiss, one that both of them enjoyed.

"I love you", he said with a grin.

"I love you too", she replied, pulling them in for a loving hug.

—

"There", Trophy remarked as he slipped the final photo into his album.

Cheesy grinned brightly as Trophy slipped the small book into his satchel.

"Do you wanna go downstairs and grab something to eat?"

Trophy shrugged in approval, chuckling as Cheesy sprinted over to the door almost immediately.

"Slow down, Cheese-ball. The food isn't gonna go anywhere."

Cheesy didn't slow down however. Instead, he was barrelling down the halls of Hotel OJ, with Trophy far behind him. The jock could've easily caught up, but he didn't want to compromise the safety of his camera. Trophy didn't want to pack it away either, just in case he wanted to snap more photos of Cheesy.

"Ah, the wonders of Hotel OJ's kitchen."

Cheesy was ransacking the pantry, his dress causing his movements to feign elegance.

"Gah, they have 'Bubbly Pop!' I literally love that drink!"

He tugged out a warm can of the soda. Trophy audibly winced. It didn't fizz when it was opened, but the comedian didn't seem to mind.

"Sorry, coming through!"

OJ skipped by, accidentally bumping into Trophy along the way. The jock almost dropped his camera, but thanks to his semi-decent reflexes, he managed to catch it before it hit the tiled floor.

"Woah, careful there", Cheesy noted as he sipped his flat, lukewarm soda.

Trophy breathed out, inspecting his camera for any possible damage.

"Hey! I didn't d-do anything!

"Yeah right. Get back here you stupid room ruiner!"

Balloon frantically dashed through the hall, darting straight out the front door with Nickel in his wake. The latter bumped into Trophy, sending his camera tumbling for the second time that day.

SMASH!

Although, Trophy wasn't as lucky this time around.

—

A loud crash resounded through the hotel, causing Fan to jump a little in Test Tube's arms.

"Wh-What was that?"

"I don't know", Test Tube admitted, walking over to the lab's door.

With a click, the door slid open and the two ventured into the hallway. There was a commotion in the kitchen/lobby area, so they decided to head over. A crowd surrounded the kitchen counter, conversation bubbling about like bubbles of acid as they all focused on one area.

"Wait, Troph-"

A figure ran through the crowd and straight out the front doors of Hotel OJ. The people dispersed soon after, leaving Fan and Test Tube with Cheesy in the kitchen. A broken camera laid in front of the clearly overwhelmed blondie.

"Golly, what happened here?"

Test Tube crouched beside Cheesy, hesitating before placing a hand on his shoulder. The boy flinched harshly, moving away a little before identifying the figure beside him.

"Oh, haha, uhm..."

He fiddled with the frills of his dress. Test Tube analysed the scene. The lens was completely shattered, the camera severely dented as well.

'It must've hit the counter during its fall.'

"Could you tell me what happened, Cheesy?"

"Someone bumped into Trophy. He... He dropped the camera and it shattered."

Test Tube looked around the living area. There was no sign of the jock.

'He must've run off.'

She refocused on the camera, while Fan crouched on the other side of Cheesy.

"I... golly, I don't think I can repair this."

She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, watching Cheesy's face droop with sorrow. As she picked up its damaged form, Test Tube didn't worry about stray shards of glass thanks to her gloves.

"The internal structure of the camera was probably pretty badly damaged and fixing it would take quite a long time."

Fan frowned at the Meeple logo on its side.

"It's a Meeple product. They don't make their products very well, so i-it would honestly be a miracle if it could be saved at all", he added.

Cheesy seemed distressed at this realisation, looking away from the camera and to the door. Test Tube followed his gaze.

"Hey, why don't you go check on him? I'll do what I can about this."

She gestured loosely to the camera. Cheesy nodded, smiling a little.

"Okay... Okay, I'll go do that!"

With that, the comedian was off, leaving Test Tube and Fan to survey the damage on the camera. The blogger shuffled closer to their girlfriend, blushing a little as he leaned on her shoulder to look closer.

"Y-You could make a new one, with better features?"

Test Tube's blank expression morphed into a smirk as she looked at her partner.

"You read my mind."

—

"Trophy! Trophy? Where are you?"

Cheesy was getting desperate by this point. It had been almost half an hour since Trophy dropped his camera, and the jock was nowhere to be found. Cheesy had checked the gardens, the cliff, even the contestant grounds, but still, Trophy was missing.

'If I were Trophy, where would I go?'

He found himself leaning on one of Hotel OJ's many orange trees.

'If I were Trophy, where would I go?'

The comedian ran his nails over the bark, scratching off any pieces that were willing to fall.

'If I were-'

A sole answer popped into his mind.

'The weeping willow tree...'

Cheesy lifted his dress and began to run. He had only visited the tree twice with his boyfriend, but he had memorised every step there.

"This is my little safe haven. I go here whenever I need a getaway or time to myself."

How could he have been so dumb? He was meant to know Trophy. That was the bare minimum that came with being his boyfriend, right? An icky feeling settled in his chest at such a thought.

"I wanted to share it with you, since we're friends and all."

"Trophy!"

"Ch-Cheesy?"

There the jock was, all curled up and feeble. If you'd told younger Cheesy he would bear witness to such a scene, he would've encouraged you to start a career in comedy. Cheesy lifted the frills of his dress, already dirtied by the mud, and sat beside his boyfriend. The comedian gently settled a hand on one of the jock's, his smile laced with nothing but care and concern.

"I'm glad I found you. Are you okay?"

The dirty blonde shook his head, tucking it into his knees. One hand was holding his legs close and the other was now intertwined with Cheesy's.

"It... It was just some stupid camera. It's not meant to mean so much to me, b-but here I am, crying about it."

Cheesy lifted his boyfriend's hand, delicately placing a kiss on each knuckle before speaking.

"It's okay to be sad about it. You deserve to be upset, Trophs."

The jock peeked out from where his head was hidden, his hazel eyes glazed with conflict and unshed tears.

"B-But, it's so stupid... It's stupid to cry about something like that."

"It's not", Cheesy reassured. "You can be sad about whatever you want. Other people may judge you about it, but know that I never will."