Knife muttered to himself about having to spend another night trying to sleep outside instead of in a nice hotel and a comfortable bed. Despite not seeming to be the type, he did enjoy living in some sort of comfort. But no, the softest thing he had slept on lately was grass.

With all his persistent thoughts about Pickle, Knife had remembered the first time he'd talked to him; it was after Pickle been eliminated in the first season and they were both on Idiotic Island. Knife, ever the brilliant jackass he was, decided to make fun of him for it. After some argument and cutting words from, ironically, Pickle, the conversation ended up friendly to Knife's surprise. It was a weird start to their weird friendship, and one of the few times Knife could think back to the way he'd treated others in the first season and not feel entirely ashamed.

He'd also been thinking about their time spent together between the first and second seasons. Specifically whenever Pickle wasn't able to play video games with him and he'd end up pretty miserable. Knife figured the feeling was from not having anyone he cared to spend time with around rather than missing Pickle in particular.

With his feelings more realized, Knife missed him even more than he did then. Too much for comfort. It was about nine o'clock at night, nothing was technically stopping him from just sneaking into Pickle's room and spending some time with him besides some rule from MePhone and his producer saying he can't leave the show parameters.

Hm.

Knife stood up and started to walk through the nearby trees, not thinking of anything besides how to climb the side of a hotel.

After some hiking, he approached the shrubbery next to Hotel OJ. There were a few windows with lights on, most notably a dim light in what he assumed was Pickle's. Having lived in the hotel for a while, he had a rough idea of where his room would be.

He jogged towards the hotel past the orange trees near the building. Approaching the hotel, he stood under the windows that led to Pickle's.

As quietly as someone climbing the side of a building could, he hopped onto the bit of outer windowsill on the closest window. He began to climb up, grabbing the edges of each window until he hung from the window that was presumably Pickle's. He couldn't say for certain yet, curtains blocking the view inside.

Using the last bit of strength he had, he tapped on the window, hoping he wasn't about to be seen by some random contestant.

Suddenly, every part of him that usually kept him from making impulse decisions filled him with doubt. You don't just climb the side of a building to see someone you're hardly friends with! I should just climb down, Pickle probably doesn't even want me here, or-

Before he could change his mind, the curtains were pushed to the side, and there he was.

"Holy shit!" Pickle yelled, muffled by the glass.

Knife snickered at his reaction. To be fair, he'd do the same if he saw someone outside danging his window. He smiled and waved quickly to not fall off.

"Here, let me help you in," Pickle said, opening the window. He grabbed Knife's arm and helped pull him into the room.

To Knife's surprise, Pickle wrapped him in a warm hug as soon as he was in.

"What are you doing here? Pickle asked, letting Knife go. You know you're not allowed here, right?"

"Well, I, um... just wanted to see how you were doing was all."

Pickle raised an eyebrow. "I'm doing alright, the advice you gave me about... um, the game, really helped me. Thanks, by the way."

Knife smiled awkwardly and gave him a finger-gun. "No problem."

Pickle smirked and put a hand on his side. "But... is that really the only reason you came here?"

Knife's expression shifted as he tried to come up with an answer. "Well..." His instincts to being nonchalant and impersonal battled against his desire to be himself with Pickle.

Looking away, Knife muttered, "I was... kinda lonely, and I guess I wanted to hang out with the coolest guy I know." That was almost it.

"Aw, I'm the coolest guy you know? That's so sweet!" Pickle turned around, and thank god too because Knife definitely felt himself blush at that comment. He took the opportunity to close the window behind him.

He turned to see Pickle holding two controllers, offering one to Knife.

Knife grinned, now noticing the small television in front of Pickle's bed. Pickle went to turn it on, as well as the game console that sat on top of it. Knife sat down at the end of his bed, Pickle sitting next to him shortly after.

They both kept quiet until they got to the game select screen. Without asking, Pickle chose the game that he and Knife played together the most, the same one that he was playing back when Knife had given him advice.

"So, how's... hotel life been treating you?" Knife asked stiffly, figuring it was as good a conversation starter as any.

"It's been alright, I guess. Pretty boring, actually..."

"Hm?"

"Yeah, like, there are things to do around the hotel, but not many are that appealing to me. Nobody here is fun to play video games with either." Despite what he was saying, Pickle smiled as he continued.

"Oh my god, there was this one time I tried to play with Trophy- he seemed pretty cool at first even with what I'd seen on the first few episodes of II," Knife was taken a bit aback by that; he'd forgotten that everyone in the hotel was watching the show.

"...but after I won in a match against him he started yelling about how I cheated, how the game was unfair, and about the controller being broken, then he ripped off the analog stick and left."

Knife chuckled. "You can see why everyone else hates him, right?"

Pickle hummed in agreement. "Must've felt good kicking him into the portal."

"Hah, yeah, he had it coming."

"Yeah! But, yeah, nobody's here who won't break the controller, sneeze on it, or is too busy to play at all."

"Geez, must be glad I'm here, huh?" Knife said, nudging Pickle and grinning.

"Yeah, I am." Pickle replied, earnestly enough to make Knife's heart melt. After realizing he'd just been staring for a moment, Knife quickly changed the topic.

"We should start playing then, right? Since you've got someone to play with now."

Pickle hadn't even realized that they'd just talked for a few minutes instead of starting the game. "Oh, right." He opened the save files menu and went to make a new one, the first being 100% completed.

"Woah, you finished the whole game?!" Knife was genuinely impressed, the game wasn't easy to complete, especially towards the end.

"Yeah, I, uh, had a lot of free time." Pickle said sheepishly.

"Nice, mind beating the entire game again then?"

"You plan on beating the whole thing in one night, sharp guy?" Pickle teased.

"I bet I could, or at least not take as long as a certain reject cucumber I know,"

Pickle snorted at that. Knife's heart swelled.

"...but actually, I could, uh, come back some other time to finish if we don't tonight."

"I'd like that." Pickle smiled. "But we're gonna have to actually start if you really plan on finishing this." Pickle teased again.

Knife grinned as Pickle started the new save file.

They spent the whole night playing through the game and catching up with each other. Knife complained about how awful the show was for him so far, and briefly about how he missed his doll after it was destroyed. Pickle talked about considering joining the Cherries' improv troupe and made fun of Knife for when he said "knife-eriffic" in the triathlon episode.

"That was so dorky, I wasn't expecting that from you!"

Knife covered his face and laughed as well. "I think there was a point I was trying to come up with a catchphrase?"

"Yeah, yeah, I also remember a "No More Mr.Knife-Guy?" That one was great too."

They both just giggled about Knife's nicknames, barely focusing on the game.

By the time it was one in the morning, they had only progressed a small amount, having been more focused on their conversation than playing well.

Pickle yawned, "Man, Knife, I'm gonna have to clock out." Knife was admittedly tired as well, but had already decided he'd rather talk with Pickle than go back to sleep in a patch of grass. Despite that, he did think it would be best to leave if Pickle wanted to sleep.

"Alright." Knife stood up and began to walk towards the window. "Well, goodnight, and, um, I'll see you later."

"Wait," Pickle asked, stopping Knife before he opened the window. "Where do you and the other contestants usually sleep? Like, tents, or a different hotel or something?"

Knife turned. "...No, I just sleep on a patch of grass near a forest, not sure about everyone else though."

Pickle's expression changed to one of concern. "Sounds... comfortable."

"Not really. I've woken up with a mouth full of grass a few times."

Pickle chuckled at that. He was being sarcastic but decided not to correct him.

"Would you... wanna sleep here tonight?"

Knife was quickly and visibly flustered, but tried his best to play it off as a joke. "Wow Pickle, at least take me out to dinner first!"

"No! N-no, I meant, you know, my bed is pretty big, and it'd be nice not to sleep on the ground for once, right? You could just... leave early in the morning and not get caught by MePhone or whatever." Pickle hoped his explanation made the idea sound a bit more compelling, knowing Knife might reject getting a good night's sleep for once with the caveat of being in the same bed as him.

In most circumstances, Knife would decline the offer, the thought of doing something so intimate rocking him to his core. But he was exhausted, and the thought of getting to sleep in an actual bed and spending just a bit more time with Pickle was calling to him much louder than the safer alternative. He figured he might as well make one last impulse decision tonight.

"Hm... yeah, six hours of sleep on a bed sounds better than what can barely be considered sleep outside."

Pickle went to turn off the television, the game console, and then his lamp. The moonlight from his window kept it just bright enough to see where the bed was.

Knife climbed into bed, Pickle joining him from the other side.

"Ah, here's to not waking up with a face full of grass." Knife said, stretching and sliding further under the covers.

"Here, I'll set my alarm so you can get up early." Pickle reached for his phone on his dresser and set an alarm for seven in the morning.

"G'night, Pickle."

"Goodnight Mr. Knife-Guy."

Knife snickered and swiftly drifted to sleep.

They woke up at just before noon.

Pickle woke up first. Upon seeing Knife he was a bit startled, but quickly remembered everything from the night before and sighed with relief. He noticed that his arm was interlaced with Knife's, and pulled it away awkwardly.

He panicked again when he picked up his phone to check the time. "Oh no..."

Knife started to wake up. "Mmf.."

"Knife, did the alarm not go off?"

He looked confused for a moment, then surprised. "No."

Getting Knife out of the hotel would be a lot more difficult now.

Knife got out of bed with a yawn and started stretching. "Man, that was the best I've slept in a long time. Thanks, Pickle."

Pickle smiled, despite his worries. "No problem, man. Well, you're gonna have to leave without getting caught now, so, uh, I could check and see if the hotel is busy right now,"

"Nah, nah." Knife waved his arms. "I've got it." He walked over to Pickle's window and opened it.

"Knife, wait-" Pickle walked towards Knife to stop him, but before he could, Knife turned and hugged him tightly.

Knife let him go, grinned, and climbed out of Pickle's window.

Pickle laughed at the suddenness of the exchange, but still looked out the window with concern. Knife was climbing down the windows pretty easily, already nearing the lowest window.

Once he reached the ground and started to jog away from the hotel, he turned around for a moment to smile and wave to Pickle.

Pickle smiled and waved back, watching him disappear into the forest. He probably wasn't going to be caught considering how quickly he left, and that there wasn't going to be an episode recorded today.

They'd both had a pretty good night.