Archive of Our Own ^beta

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“IT'S GOTTA BE PERFECT…”

What… What's happening?

“IT'S NEVER ENOUGH…”

Why is it…

“THE VIDEO HAS TO BE PERFECT!” 

I thought it was over… I thought it was done already…

“I HAVE TO MAKE THE PERFECT VIDEO!” 

No… stop…

“YOU WILL NEVER BE PERFECT…”

…

“You're not PERFECT ENOUGH-” 

“STOP!” The television woke up from his sleep, turning his head from side to side to see the familiarity of the room. He was definitely inside his studio… lying on an old stained couch with no remorse for getting himself all dirty.

The adware’s screen glitched to panic and stopped as soon as he recognized where he’d been.

Screen changes to furrowed eyes, he couldn’t help but have a headache.

“I…I was wrong about everything… I even almost put everyone's lives in danger…”

He muttered to himself, what was he thinking? Couldn’t he have been the one to just- be a normal person?

How could he let himself happen to this?

He expected himself to be better than this.

He shouldn’t have been the one to trespass the crew’s space, yet he still ends up with huge injuries.

What was he doing here exactly? 

Right, to move on…

Puzzles took a grip from his elbow, thinking about the crew giving him something that he’d never been able to have in a long time.

He felt guilty about everything.

He never did deserve what they gave him…

He never exactly knew what these feelings were…

When it came to being called a monster, it ached him very deeply.

He wished that one day someone would know and understand. But in his days it was petty to consider that thought about laying all of his problems to someone. He was never the type of person to talk it out, after all.

He never dares to be left a burden.

Not even what had happened during his early days…

He will never let it happen.

Again.

Mr. Puzzles looked at the time “7:34 AM” was shown on the screen. Surprisingly earlier than what he’d expected.

Maybe if he’d do his early routines then he’d distract himself from all of it?

And of course that didn’t work-

The TV man is tapping his fingers non-stop on his desk with a pen resting on the side of his hand. He couldn't even get any inspiration, not even any ideas to get a move-on from his show.

He couldn’t help himself but wandered down to his thoughts of apologizing a whole lot of stuff and everything to the crew for all that he’d done.

Or maybe it was too much for them, perhaps they don't consider him as a friend yet because of all of the shit he’s caused. Maybe he’s giving a bit too much, perhaps if he DIDN’T even show up in the first place- NONE of these things would have ever happened.

Maybe he was bursting into their bubble, consuming up all the space… 

If he took another step forward, he’d be seen as a coward even to do that. If he took a step back then all is right back again. No problem nor trouble to be dealt with…

His back pressed onto the chair laying his head with a heavy sigh. 

Was this all too much?

He took a peek over the window before him, spreading the blinds. Just a single drop of a snowflake in front of him is already enough to cause a reaction from the man.

“Oh, it's… it's snowing?” The man sent out a nervous chuckle to himself, feeling his gut at an uneasy feeling. “No…” he muttered to himself.

He looked over at the calendar, reminding himself that it was the start of December…

…Christmas…

…

What did he wish to be grateful for?

…

Christmas…

What exactly IS Christmas? 

What kind of special day IS Christmas?

Why IS Christmas so important?

He didn’t care, all he wanted was just to avoid this month’s event.

“Christmas…” he saw three small children playing outside, shouting and laughing. The familiar feeling lit a spark from his antenna as if he reminded himself of his past…

Mr. Puzzles felt a tear roll down his cheek as he tried shrugging off the feeling.

He must not waste his tears over something so FOOLISH.

He knows himself; he’s living for the better, and no sound could interrupt him.

Even though, no matter how hard he tried. No matter how much he ignored it.

That same empty feeling kept him stuck in there feeling unease.

A flashback starts to play, revealing a silhouette form of a kid who is Mr. Puzzles. “Dad?” he looked through the window seeing snow outside for the first time, “Hmm? Yes, what is it, son?” The father felt bothered by the sudden call from him. He had been reading his newspaper while smoking cigars in the house.

“Why are there small white circles outside?” He pointed directly from the window as the father arranged his glasses to see from a clear view, he hummed in response before saying a word. “Well son, it happens when a special holiday arrives. But your father does NOT like to celebrate any of these nonsense acts of foolishness…” He cleared his throat after coughing out smoke from the remaining cigars he inhaled.

“The only thing that comes in a big disappointment is showing how weak and sensitive others can be.”

He groaned thinking at the back of his mind as he gripped his newspaper with anger and pity, as Kid Puzzles didn’t notice nor even seem to understand how his father felt at such a young age. He still had hope and a light feeling that he could be the one who would cherish his family’s joy for Christmas.

This inspired him to do a lot of immaculate and creative things with such a small brain.

Surprisingly, for his age, he seemed more advanced than any other younger kids, making him seem more different and special than his other classmates. This drove the other kids to jealousy and to go insane because they saw how Puzzles could adapt a lot of this knowledge to his state.

None of the children ever went near nor became friends with him now and then.

Viewing him as some sort of ‘one-eyed’ freak and a ‘nerd’ dragging his self-esteem lower than any of his classmates had ever known.

“Hey, Dad! Dad! I made you a present!” he offered the present to his father as he slowly unwrapped the box, it had a picture frame he specifically decorated. A family picture of him and his parents.

Although any other than being thankful for his son. He tossed the frame to a nearby trash bin, sending it down to the bin.

“Wh- What? Dad, why did you do that? Don’t you like my gift?” The father snapped back at him “There is nothing VALUABLE than what I see is TRASH in my sight. This is NOTHING but garbage!” He lashed out at his only son, glaring deep into his soul. “Papa…? I’m sorry… please don’t be mad, I worked hard for it” 

The father snapped him out as he grabbed his collar lifting him by his tiptoes. “The only thing that counts as what you worked hard for is the MONEY that we need; open your eyes, son, and look at us! Don’t you feel a bit embarrassed about how poor we are because of this? YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF!”

That was it.

His Christmas spirit has been dead for a long time because of his father.

Everything ruined his point of seeing how Christmas was supposed to be cherished and joyful for, not even his father would want to spend time with him during the days he’d been expecting or wanting to experience when having a parent taking care of their kids.

Puzzles himself, just wanted to be loved…

But- the miracle he once had already died, what was the purpose of celebrating for his own good will?

There is no such thing as a wonderful miracle at Christmas.

Sigh, I guess it was a shame how he turned out to be a cruel person on a special holiday.

He still had his thoughts, wondering if he’d ever celebrate or not.

Puzzles were already given a second chance and he shouldn’t break the promise they made, but for some reason. He just finds himself feeling a little bit left out from the group, not knowing what his true intentions would’ve been.

Sure, celebrating Christmas wouldn’t be that bad. The only problem he had was if SMG4 and the others would feel comfortable enough to let him be part of their picture, had he already lost a lot of things from his life. But never this time that he’d waste.

*knock knock knock* “Hello??? TV man, are you home?” Puzzles turned around hearing a familiar voice coming from the man’s mouth. He knew exactly who that man was, Mario.

Mr. Puzzles could get used to hearing Mario talk about things, especially with the names, 

When he first brought “TV-Man” as his nickname, he couldn’t quite help but chuckle inside his chest with a form of warmth.

He had never been called nicknames like those, so it was oddly new. Eventually, he kept it to himself and got used to it.

Mr. Puzzles opened the door seeing Mario wrapped with all winter clothes all around his body, shivering a bit from the coldness of the weather. 

“Yes, Mario?” Mr. Puzzles hinted at a groan at the last part, he was a little annoyed by how the fat Italian greeted him in front of his doorstep this early morning, even though Mr. Puzzles preferably wanted to keep himself in an open space filled with nothing but silence.

Mr. Puzzles could never resist that cheerful sensation from the red plumber and being taken in by the surroundings. Mario was the only person here right now. He wouldn’t give him a damn even if he’d be the last person here on earth.

Somehow, Mario still finds a way to convince the TV head to let him stay. (This would always work.) He gives him an act of kindness from the man who used to torture everyone from SMG4’s crew. He even managed to stay alive right after Mario helped and picked him up by the forest, not knowing what the man’s true intentions were. He knew Mr. Puzzles himself was a pain in the ass and dealt with no good but evilness, but Mario never always listened to whatever the members told him to avoid. He was too kind to let him stay.

“Mario wanted to ask how you’re doing?” The nervous man stood on the doorstep, biting his lip, as the other man stared at him in disbelief waiting for him to speak. “Is that all that you’ve been meaning to ask me? I think there's something else.” 

Mario took a deep breath and stood up straight, his determined look pierced through him. “Are you free later TV-man? And before you ask it’s-a nothing like that!” his back slouched nervously from whatever the words he said coming from his mouth.

God did he wish this was over already. Mr. Puzzles opened the door a little bit more, pressing his hand down to his hip as he rested his body on the edge of the door listening to Mario speak. “And may I know why you’re asking?”

Mario is strange, from what Puzzles thought to himself. 

“Fine, Mario is really bad at hiding secrets, isn’t he? He wanted to invite you to a special Christmas event! Everyone will go there, oh and not only that- we’re all gonna have lots-a fun!” 

He stared at Mario with a profound look of disappointment.

Ah, yes. Of Course, he’d ask about that as expected.

“And Mario would enjoy playing snowball with his friends!” Puzzles had a quick recap from his darkest moments where he was tossed aside by kids older than him. Throwing snowballs at him making the boy fall face flat on the floor.

He never really had any help from anyone.

The man blinked quickly, focusing back on Mario’s topic of the event. He did wish he could spend his time with the crew, and then he would start overthinking what the crew would have in mind whenever he was there.

He pointed out the obvious scenario, being the main target of getting thrown a lot of snowballs and cornered up by everyone.

Certainly, he didn’t want THAT to happen…

Or…

Maybe that's not what they’d see of him as.

What if this time they’re open enough to let him in? 

“Or maybe Meggy and I would do a whole race in 3 laps using a sled. It sounds good-a isn't it, TV-man?” Mario looked up at Mr. Puzzles to see if he was still listening to him, Puzzles, chuckled at the thought of it.

“Well Mario, I think you and your friends would have a much better time spending it with each other. I think I’d be a bother to them. You did catch up with the whole torturing thing right? Fairly obvious enough they wouldn’t want me in there…” 

He looked down with a faint smile judging from his face he wasn’t in the right thought of it all.

Mario frowned, he did want to include Puzzles and spend time with him although he wasn’t wrong about his friends. They couldn’t trust him that easily especially from what he did to them. It made sense as to why he never grew attached to any of them even with Meggy. 

“But that’s alright dear! I think it is a good thing that I don’t attend, I’ve had a show to work on! You don’t have to worry about me. I'm perfectly fine with just the way Christmas is going. I don’t even care about Christmas, with all the trash presents and things about Santa and all the singing. I doubt I will feel anything special from this occasion…” He pulled his collar, quickening his words. 

Mario tilted his head as his mind clicked after processing what Mr. Puzzles had told him. 

“Wait… you-a don't celebrate Christmas?”

Puzzles went silent as soon as Mario discovered a bit of his truth, he wondered what the reasons were.

His eyes peered from the sides of Puzzles, seeing a bit from inside his house there weren’t any stockings, no tree, no presents, no decorations, no sign of Christmas lights.

The house was eerily silent, the living room was filled with nothing living. He then glanced back at him, feeling bad for the man who lived alone for his entire life.

“Merda.” he cursed with his Italian language if only he had enough time to be there helping Puzzles. 

But he was surrounded by his friends` needs, he’d barely have enough time to spend on his cause of the upcoming event he helped a lot with preparing decorations and the plans they’d all been discussing.

Mr. Puzzles ignored the thought of his reasoning, why would Mario have to know about it? He’s not letting himself get consumed by his soft mushy things. 

He shook his head and pushed Mario aside. 

“Look, I think it’s fun and appreciating how you’d want to invite me over to celebrate it with your friends but Christmas isn’t exactly a thing to me. It’d be nice if you all just enjoy while I have fun on my own, sounds good?” 

Mario opened his mouth, Puzzles immediately interrupted him.

“BRILLIANT! Now run along with whomever you’re spending time with later-” “Wait!” The man came in at the last second as he pushed the door, preventing him from shutting it completely, leaving a gap and noticing Me. Puzzles looked at him with a surprised look.

His puppy eyes looked up at the man, silently begging him not to leave.

“But… Mario wants you to be there too… he can’t celebrate Christmas without TV-man. Please, it already means so much to Mario just to have you around. Please, just once?” 

The man sighed, looking down at Mario with guilt filling his heart, but he tried not to show it.

“Good day, Mario.” 

Mario stood in front of the closed door, the silence hanging heavily in the air.

"You know… it’s good to enjoy things rather than setting them aside, everyone deserves to be happy. Mario doesn’t like seeing frowny faces from them…”

He smiled to himself, knowing that Puzzles was still on the other side of the door, listening to his every word.

"Mario hopes that you can solve the problem you're having," Mario said before backing away from the door.

"It's not always okay to just think about the bad things." 

With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Puzzles alone on the other side.

The cyborg looked outside from the window, wondering if he’d ever give himself a chance to get along with them if they even wanted him there. 

Why couldn’t Mario just ignore his existence? 

It wasn’t up for the man to deal with what he’s going through either, not shrugging off the part he is the main reason for all of it.

Why does it matter to him?

“Mario wants you to be there too…” 

He couldn’t help but rewind that moment when Mario looked at him with those eyes. Mario was desperate enough just for him to come. 

Why would he bother?

Everyone hates him already.

He’ll just have to spend the rest of the days inside of his shell.

It sounded harsh, he hated admitting to himself it was wrong.

He hated being exposed to open places.

He should have been more thankful, then again he hated being there…

Whatever the thing was messing around him, he couldn't care less about what he felt. 

Since when does he care?

And for the record—zero.

Christmas is something to be part of

Christmas is something every kid wants to celebrate

Christmas is something to appreciate 

Christmas is something meant to be cherished for

Christmas is something to be happy for

Christmas is something that was brought by a miracle.

A miracle?

Is it some kind of luck or perhaps a memory to enjoy the times that they’ve all spent? Was it the happiest moment to be brought upon?

He sure had a lot of it coming through his thoughts.

He never watched a movie related to the holiday season; he had that built-up anger inside of him.

God, did he despise Christmas that much?

What did Christmas even do to him at this point?

He had blamed EVERYTHING on the special holiday just because his life turned into a mess right after his hope was crushed.

Not even his Father nor the kids gave pity on his soft and sensitive soul.

He was just a fragile kid, a misunderstood child who just wanted to be happy.

Or at least make someone or anyone feel accompanied and entertained in general.

That joy he used to have, that creativity of being the star child at the center of the stage providing everyone with a bright smile on their faces. 

Was already enough for him to know that he was a miracle to them all along.

Decades have passed on…

What happened to him?

How come someone who used to be a small and innocent helping child with more opportunity for him to hold on to his life, became some broken television man whose dreams were shattered?

That inner child of himself is probably disappointed in him.

What a lovely miracle this is to have, not even once did he choose to go outside and celebrate Christmas during the years he locked himself up.

Why else would he be? He had no one to celebrate Christmas with. 

He’s all alone.

He’s a nobody.

His old self would NEVER want to see him grow up into a mean grumpy man now, would he?

He should at least try to help the others but he’s too much of a coward to do so.

Thus the man remained motionless.

Is this all that he’ll turn out to be?

Is this going to be the end of him?

Is this what he wanted to be?

He was already changing.

But he asked himself a question that not even he could answer on his own.

“Why does change feel so painful?”

All of the mistakes he made in the past?

Trying to forget what he did to them

Trying to become a better person rather than be the monster?

Changing himself to someone he’d be better off?

Was it that hard for him to let go of all of the things he did wrong? The things he didn’t find to be proud of? The suffering he did on purpose to get fame?

Was it that hard to let go?

"You're... decent...

“P…P…Puzz-les…Nice!”

He recalled the past conversation he had with Leggy, back when he saw her in a different light than just using her to gain something.

How could he ever do such a thing?

How could he be this stupid enough to use someone?

“Wait! Please, SMG4 give TV-man a chance…”

Mario’s voice hovered over his mind, speaking of that time when he stopped. SMG4 after the cyborg climbed out of the rocks. This took the two a big turn after hearing Mario to them, it was odd hearing the red Italian stand up to him.

“Four?” Meggy checked up at her friend, as Mario stood up in front of them with a determined look defending the man. “He can still change, you know how it did with SMG3.” “But he isn’t Three. We’re not so sure if he’ll ever change after this”

“Well, he could at least try. It’s not up to us — but it’s up to him” SMG4 looked back at the 7-foot-tall man who felt guilty for not daring to look at them. 

He thought for a moment, there were so many possibilities on what he’d turn out to be if he ever decided to reject or to accept it.

But SMG4 didn’t choose either of it but told them, “It’s his decision. If he ever caused any harm to us then it’s your fault” He pin-pointed his eyes at Mario shooting a glare.

“He won’t do anything bad, right Mr. Puzzles?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it” he crossed his arms not daring to look at the blue man, he deeply understood why.

The anger he left scarred the man deeply, there is no way for him to resolve that issue after gaining fame due to using real-life situations. And not apologizing right after makes him more of a monster, why would he try to apologize?

Change can be difficult, but he has to try and move on. Mario meant so much, everything Mario did he did it for him.

He stuck himself by his side, not leaving until he felt better. Thanks to Mario he hadn’t lost his sanity, that he never gave up on writing new scripts for his shows, that he felt inspired, that he got to show Mario his projects just to make him feel satisfied from his reviews.

All that he did from the past few days, made Puzzles feel less lonely.

He won't let him or anyone down, now that he gave himself a chance. He wouldn’t waste it on such an occasion.

Puzzles felt that he was looking at a blind spot after years of being imprisoned, the cage that he built farther away from the outside. And for a long time, he thought the miracle he had lost, had always been inside of him that he ignored.

Mr. Puzzles wore a sweater underneath his usual clothes, warming up his body due to the cold weather, he then put on a winter coat to double up the heat.

He opened the door to be met by a gentle breeze, the snowflakes falling from the sky.

How he missed being in the snow when he was a kid.

He took a step from the ground to hear the sound of crunch as he did, the familiar feeling made him feel happy. He could get used to this feeling again.

Puzzles sighed in relief, changing was the best thing to happen to him.

The evening came when Mario and his friends went out to have some fun. There were a whole bunch of market stalls where people sold their foods, items, and something to use for the upcoming new year.

Everyone was there, a crowd of people walked past him not even giving notice of his presence. He happens to see Mario eating sugar gourds next to Meggy while chattering with him.

It made him feel a bit nervous when speaking to them, luckily SMG3 went up to him first before he could ever speak to them both. “Came here on purpose?” “No, I was invited” Without pointing out the obvious, the man knows it was Mario who did.

“I see…” SMG3 took a brief moment to look at the fat Italian then to Puzzles, he could feel their connection blooming.

“How?” Puzzles asked, left with Three questioning what he meant. “How what?” “How can you change after all of the things they did to you?” 

The two fell silent as the man responded.

“It’s not what change does, you just have to ease yourself and go with the flow. Otherwise, you won’t resolve your issue, change can’t always be the answer to everything.”

“Then what can?”

SMG3 patted his back before saying anything. 

“Hope”

The man glimpsed at his partner demonstrating to his friend, Luigi, how to skate. And the other staring at Mario who finally finished eating his food.

“Trust your guts, man, you’ll find your way” 

With that said he left in a hurry, leaving Puzzles alone to wander on his own. Mario noticed SMG3 leaving as he waved at the man, not giving a flying f-ck rolled his eyes.

He then glanced to the side to see Puzzles wearing different attire, but he never failed to miss him due to the recognizable square head and the light of the screen projected on his face.

“Oh, TV-man! Mario knew you’d come!” Puzzles waved back at him slowly approaching them due to the number of people walking by, Meggy was a bit uneasy about him being there and felt scared.

“Red, are you sure this is a good idea for inviting him? What if he does something?” she whispered to him.

“Meggy, you’ve spent your days by the TV man's side. He won't do any harm!” He happily said. 

“How can you be so sure?” 

She started having doubts about whether he was a trusted man or not, she knew how Mario could be stupid enough at some point.

“You don’t know him how Mario does…”

She looked down, Mario wasn't lying when he said that he didn’t know him much as he was already misjudging the man too early.

Good thing Mario had to drop the topic off. (Thankfully)

“Mario’s gonna buy more food!” He said after Mr. Puzzles stood in front, giving them both some time to talk. 

“Uhh… Hey there Mr. Puzzles” She greeted, the silence almost deafening. “Hello Meggy, I suppose you know why I’m here?” “Of course I do, Mario wouldn’t let you miss out on an important event”

“Speaking of him, he does have a way of words to convince someone. Not that he ever gave up on me just to make a stand, he’s in a different light.” He said with kind-heartedness, he had no idea what he’d ever do without him. He was very lucky to have Mario by his side.

The two looked at Mario, asking the man for two more sugar gourds. “Heh, yeah, that's Mario alright. He’ll never back out when he sees someone upset. We’ve never done anything to cheer ourselves up, but only he does. We owe a lot to him even after.”

“Is this even the Mario we’re talking about?” He jokingly said as Meggy snickered. “You tell me that- not only did he help you, he even kept talking to us about inviting you-” The orange-haired girl realized her mistake.

“I beg your pardon?” He looked at her as if he felt a bit offended by her actions. She took a breath and carefully spoke her words. “Not in a bad way; all that I’m saying is…

He’s a good friend to have.

Whatever Red is doing, he would want to spend more time with you. I thought the things he said to me were just jokes but, it didn’t look like he was” 

The dried inkling shrugged her shoulder, fixing back her posture, “He does admire your shows too much huh?” Mr. Puzzles grimaced in response. “Safe to say he’s quite a big fan of mine” 

“We… never had an actual conversation like this, huh?” Meggy spoke again. “We never did, so we can count this as ‘one’ considered an interaction.” The two nodded in agreement, smiling. 

She noticed Tari calling for her help with a duck making it as her skate supporter, but then reluctantly slipping to the rock-hard ice twice to the ground still getting the use of skating.

“I’ll be there in a sec!” She shouted at her leaving Tari with a thumbs up. “Well, I guess this is it. I’m running off to help Tari, sorry. Hope you and Mario get along.” “It’s alright my dear, I understand.” 

Before she leaves, Meggy smirks at him.

“I think I get why Mario told me you were so important to him-” 

Meggy runs off to help Tari leaving Puzzles with a confused expression. “What was that?” 

He felt oblivious to the whole thing. “Merry Christmas Puzzles." Mario went over to Puzzles chewing on melted sugar. “Mario’s back! How is talking with Meggy?”

“Trying to get the hang of this whole thing…” “It can’t be that hard.”

Mario was never the one to debate whether he should be the one pointing out the obvious. So he didn’t say a word.

“Do you also spend holidays with your family?” He changed the topic.

Mario felt the question tense. Startling the man a little, wondered if he said something wrong to the man. 

“Mario wishes he could.” he frowned with a weak smile. Feeling sympathy for him, 

“I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s-a fine! Tv-man didn’t know. Besides, his father never wanted him so a good thing he’s not here anymore.”

Was Mario being open to him? Did he trust the cyborg that much?

The man who also coincidentally shared the same problem he had,

“I get what you meant by that. My father never cared what I wished for, the ones I truly desired the most were gone…”

Mario kept silent as he gazed his eyes upon the clear night sky with stars twinkling from above.

He too did the same, tilting his head to see the stars shining back at him.

“It’s never always TV-man’s fault. Mario knows that the things we do unintentionally can end up hurting someone, but it doesn’t make us entirely a monster.”

“It’s what makes us feel living…”

Mr. Puzzles added with a surprised expression, that he finally understood.

'Oi!” Saiko called out as she fired a snowball at Melony and she happily joined in with the others smiling as they all gathered to fire more. 

A random snowball shot toward the Italian’s face, immediately wiping it to see who hit him. And it was Meggy. “C'mon you two, join us!” Mario felt his face brighten after his friend included him to be part of their game. “Puzzles?” He kept his eyes on the man reassuring if he was alright. “I guess it doesn’t hurt to try” He crouched down to his knees gathering the snow to form into the shape of a ball and throwing it over to SMG4. 

He paused after noticing the man looking at him instead of being angry, he shared a hopeful look at the television man. Did that consider forgiveness to him? Did that count as him seeing Puzzles to someone new? He paid no attention to the reasons much as everyone is still. 

Mario was shot at his head twice now, a bit angered by the others. 

He bent down to scoop up a pile of snow from his bare gloves failing to do so after he was shot the third time. “Too slow sore loser,” Bob said in his usual AI-toned voice laughing at him. Puzzles began to laugh after seeing him get a little tempered by the Garo. How funny can this silly Italian be?

As soon as the man started laughing aloud, Mario couldn’t help but stare at him being careless about the stains from his clothes. The plumber couldn't help but stare at the man in front of him. His heart fluttered with every laugh and his looks were mesmerizing. The plumber was captivated by him, and trying to resist falling in love was getting harder with every passing moment.

“Are you okay my star? That must have been quite the hit” He wiped a single tear checking up on the fat Italian. The plumber shook his head, trying to shrug off the feelings he was feeling as Mr. Puzzles' words snapped him out of his thoughts and he chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "S-Si! M-Mario is oki doki!” he muttered, still feeling his heart racing. 

Meggy called out to the two men, noticing that they were just standing on the side not doing anything. "Don't just stand there like twigs, help us out!" she said firmly, gesturing for them to come and help. While Mario helped Meggy make more snowballs, he caught Puzzles throwing some to the other side of the border, hitting their defense. 

He wondered what was going on and why he was feeling this way. He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts and focus on the task at hand. But every time he looked at Puzzles he felt his heart skip a beat and his cheeks heat up. 

As SMG3 on the other camp threw an explosive bomb made out of snow, SMG4 quickly noticed and yelled for everyone to take cover. "Take cover!" he shouted, alerting the rest of the group.

Puzzles heard SMG4's warning and quickly looked over, but he noticed that Mario didn't hear his friend. Before he could say anything, the explosion went off. Puzzles got knocked off his feet and landed on top of him, knocking the man to the ground with his screen bumping to the man’s nose not too harsh feeling a zap.

The fat Italian didn’t dare to move after Puzzles quickly got up and apologized to him. “Sorry! Are you okay Mario dear?” The man couldn’t respond still processing everything that was happening and simply replied “M-Mario is feeling great!” with a shake of thumbs up feeling flustered. With the cyborg still on top of the man, Bob noticed the two and shouted. “YOU TWO STOP HAVING A GAY MOMENT THIS IS CHAOS SNOWBALL AREA ONLY!” After hearing him call them out, their face flushed as they pushed themselves in the opposite direction.

“N-NO ONE IS HAVING A GAY MOMENT! Maybe you’re the one having it with Es-em-gee-one-” Bob shot a cannonball filled with snow cutting him off. Mr. Puzzles eyes to the side to see if Mario is still stable, thankfully he is. The man got up and pulled up a rocket launcher (that was filled with snow as well) pointing it toward him. “Oh, it is on!” He squints his eyes at the Garo.

For the next few minutes, the group continued to pelt each other with snowballs, laughing and having a good time. The battle was forgotten as they all got lost in the fun.

“I think that’s all for today…I’m afraid I have to go soon, but it’s alright I had fun with you all.” The cyborg said getting up as the other of Mario’s friends followed their eyes over to the man with the others shaking their heads to a nod and the others smiling back.

Guess the day didn’t turn out way too bad after all.

Puzzles was just about to leave when Mario called out to him. "TV-man, wait!" he shouted as he chased after him. When he caught up to him, he reached out and gently tapped his winter coat.

Puzzles turned around, startled for a moment before his expression softened when he saw who it was. "Yes, Mario?" he asked, his tone gentle.

“Before TV-man leaves, Mario has a present to give you!” Puzzles was taken aback by Mario's sudden announcement, and he looked down at the present he was holding out to him. The gift wrap was black with a white outline of stars, and a white ribbon tied it neatly together.

"For- me?" he asked bewildered. "it's for you TV-man, Mario enjoyed having you here... he thought giving you a present would make TV-man happy!" The man smiled at him, "Why thank you Mario I-" Puzzles was taken aback by Mario's sudden hug and stood frozen in surprise for a moment. 

Puzzles felt a warmth spread through his chest. "Mario enjoyed having you here" he quietly replied.

Puzzles carefully unwrapped the presents and were met with a handmade scarf that was made by Meggy. When he pulled out the snow globe, his expression turned to curiosity.

He held the snow globe in his hand. He looked closer, admiring the gold and yellow stars that glittered inside.

The silver glitter stand matched the color of his TV screen. On the front of the snow globe was a label that said "MR. PUZZLES" in bold letters.

Mario's words had struck a chord within him, and he realized just how much he had needed this small act of kindness.

Tears welled up in his eyes, and he took a shaky breath, trying to compose himself. It had been a long time since anyone had given him a gift so thoughtful and heartfelt. Mario suddenly felt concerned. He realized that the man might have gotten emotional, and thought that he had upset him.

"TV-man, are you okay? It's the snow globe, is it? I knew it! It was a stupid gift and Mario ruined it again! Mario is sorry! He can just buy another one for you-" he hesitantly placed his hand on the man’s arm in worry.

“N-No it’s perfect… this is the best present I could ever have…” Puzzles felt his tears stream down his face, his gaze fixed on the snow globe and the stars sparkling within.

It was symbolic to him, a reminder that even though he felt lost and alone at times, the 'miracle' within him still shone brightly.

He sniffled and smiled at Mario, feeling grateful for his kindness and understanding.

Mario wrapped his arms around him, and in a surprising show of affection, he hugged him back. The embrace lasted for a while, the two men standing silently in the cold, the snow gently falling around them. 

After a couple or more minutes, Puzzles broke the hug and took a step back, fixing his posture and straightening his clothes. He felt a pang of embarrassment as a blush crept across his face he averted his eyes from Mario, feeling self-conscious. 

“It's getting late already and I have to head back to my studio.” Mr. Puzzles said as he checked the time on his wrist, it was indeed late at night. 

“Mario vuole che tu rimanga…”

The plumber muttered out with the other not understanding his language. He tilted his head, with a confused expression not knowing how to feel.

“You know I only speak English Mario” Mario chuckled, enjoying seeing the confused look on Puzzles' face. He noticed that Mario's words seemed to have a more serious undertone, but he didn't think much of it and didn't let it bother him.

“Guess this is my farewell, then. Goodnight Mario, thank you again for the lovely present. I never expected you to have one for me…” “No problem, TV-man. Mario just wanted to give you something special to remember!” Puzzles was touched by Mario's kind words and thoughtfulness, he hated admitting it but he appreciated the man deeply.

Puzzles ruffled Mario's hair affectionately, smiling. He appreciated Mario's kind words but didn't want to make a big deal out of it. Mario was surprised by Puzzles' gesture, blushing slightly feeling unexpected emotions stirring within him. “Not a problem! Buenas Noches, TV-man… and… Merry Christmas!” 

Mario's hand went to his hair which Puzzles previously had touched. The warmth of the touch stirred a strange feeling in him, like butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He couldn't help but wonder.

What is happening to him?

–

Mr. Puzzles finally got to his home, he hung his winter coat on the coat rack and lit the fireplace to warm up. He took off his sweater for his usual clothes to be exposed in a temperature he’s living in.

He sat on the chair and placed the present Mario had given him on the desk. The man slowly removed the wrapping paper, revealing the scarf that was orange in white stripes. 

Slowly wrapped it around his neck and felt the warmth and coziness of the fabric.

He then took out the snow globe and caught every detail inside of the glass as he gave a gentle shake causing the snow to float and some even shining a spark.

Two gifts from his friends and one meant to him so much more… It was the best gift he was ever given, not even knowing how Mario did it.

The cyborg's mechanical limbs rested on the desk, and his television head leaned against his arm. Settling himself into a comfortable position, admiring the snow globe.

Puzzles noticed a switch on the bottom, how could he have missed it earlier?

He flicked it on, and the star sparks inside lit up in a yellow glow spinning in slow motion while a music box played.

(Puzzles` theme song - TV time)

The man smiled warmly, losing himself from the soothing music of his own theme. As he closed his eyes, the falling snowflakes captured his attention.

He slowly drifted off to sleep.

★END★

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