Chapter Text
Ethan was half in headspace when he began working on the video. But of fucking course it had to be a freaking horror game about toilets. He had been kinda jumpy already, cuz the girls were setting them up to film something (he had yet to be told what), and Tyler was gonna make him nap after. At this point it was pretty futile to fight with Tyler about it, but he was nervous about explaining it. But all of that aside, the game was super scary. What if there was a monster in their potty? What if it was just waiting to eat him, or drag him away to torture him?
“Ethan?” Mark called, making the boy yelp, followed quickly by hiding under his desk. Mark frowned, examining the situation before quickly turning off the program, kneeling down by Ethan. “Hey kiddo. It’s just me, see? It’s okay,” He cooed.
“No mons’er?” Ethan asked around his thumb.
“Nope,” Mark promised, opening his arms. Ethan quickly darted into them, hiding his face in his Papa’s shirt.
* * * *
Ethan sighed as they started the process of set up for these dumb ballista kits. They looked like a lot of fun, but he knew they weren’t gonna get to enjoy them since this was for a video. He looked to Amy, who gave him a reassuring smile.
“S’okay E,” she promised.
“Alright, places,” Mark instructed, and Ethan quickly joined Tyler behind the camera. Amy gave Mark a countdown, and they quickly started. They rolled through a few takes of the opening bit (which naturally ended with Ethan almost humping Mark), and then they started trying to actually build. It kind of culminated into an epic fail, in which Mark and Kathryn had to run to the store to get glue. Ethan wiggled a little, getting a questioning look from Amy.
“You okay Ethan?” She asked.
The boy shrugged. He needed to go potty. But… what if there was a monster in there? She was probably just waiting for Ethan to let his guard down and try to use the toilet and then BAM! She’d use her tentacles and tear him limb from limb! No way was he risking that!
Right as Amy was about to question it though, Mark and Kathryn returned with only one pack of crazy glue, Mark swearing under his breath. Apparently Ethan was going to use icing and it was decided that it was probably best they try this again tomorrow. Which lead to their next video; Cards Against Humanity. Ethan, at this point, had also downed another bottle of water and was very squirmy.
“You okay there Eth?” Tyler asked as Mark settled in between them.
“Duh, why wouldn’t I be?” The blue haired babe smarted off. Tyler gave him a warning look, but let the subject drop. Ethan lowered his head, and Kathryn started the camera. As Mark dealt, Ethan could feel himself beginning to get more desperate. It was times like these that he really wished he could wear pull-ups to the office.
“Ethan!” Tyler called. “You lost in space over there?”
“Uh maybe,” He giggled, squirming more as he picked two cards to put down, then pulling two for rando.
* * * *
He really should have seen it coming. He read the cards, and fell against the table laughing as the dam finally burst. He writhed, trying everything to stop it but it was no use, and Ethan was once again wetting himself, in front of Amy and Kathryn and Daddy and Papa and when was it ever gonna stop? His laughter quickly turned into tears, and Amy quickly turned off the camera. Tyler hurried over while Papa went to get towels.
“Hey, shh, look at me little man,” Tyler cooed and Ethan looked up, his face red and splotchy from tears and he hiccuped ever so slightly. Tyler quickly pulled him into a hug, ignoring the wetness that was getting all over him. Ethan hid his face in his daddy’s shirt, wanting it all to be over.
Meanwhile, as Tyler whisked the baby away to clean him up (They didn’t have a lot here, but they had enough to at least give Ethan a quick bath), Mark was faced, once again with the unfortunate task of trying to explain this to Amy and Kathryn. But… Kathryn seemed to know exactly what to do to clean up, and Amy was fidgeting in a way Mark had come to know very well. The “in between space” fidget. His eyes widened. How had he missed it?
“M-Mark?” Amy whispered. “I think we needa tell you something.” Kathryn smiled, coming over and taking Amy’s hand. Amy took a deep breath. She tried, really hard to get the words out. But when Mark failed to give her a smile, a nod, literally any reassurance, Amy couldn’t take it and burst into tears. He hated her! She knew he would.
“Hey, shh, don’t cry,” Mark said, quickly wrapping her in a hug as he came back to reality. “Shh. hey, I’m really glad you told me. I know that was really hard, wasn’t it?”
“Uh huh,” Amy hiccupped, wiping her face with her hands. “I-I didn’ wanna freak you out but… but-”
“Shh, it’s okay. Today has been kind of a lot,” Mark sympathized. “Look, I don’t think Ethan’s gonna be up for much after this. Why don’t we just finish cleaning up and call it quits for the day, hmm?” Amy took a shaky breath and nodded, watching Tyler emerge with Ethan, a pull-up on his hips and Tyler’s jacket over his slim body. Kathryn took Amy’s hand, leading her to the car. Mark and Tyler followed suit shortly thereafter.
* * * *
Mark lay in bed that night thinking. Ethan hadn’t made him go so deep. Ethan had just been… well, it had just been a matter of how to bring it up, and then the choice was taken out of his hands. Amy? Amy was different, and Mark wasn’t sure he had the right words for it.
If he was honest, he really did care about her, but not in the way a lot of people thought. He didn’t want to have hot, passionate sex with her. He wanted to cuddle her, kiss her even. He wanted to hold her, take care of her. And… and he wasn’t sure if that was amorously or otherwise.
“You up?” Tyler asked, knocking on the door. Mark nodded, scooting over to make room for his friend. “So… today was a day.”
“Every day is a day Tyler,” Mark pointed out.
“You know what I mean,” Tyler scoffed. “What’s got you so shaken?”
“...Amy,” He admitted.
“Not this again,” Tyler groaned, earning himself a pillow to the face.
“I’m serious man. When you were dealing with Ethan… She kinda told me things.”
“Like…?” Tyler urged.
“Like maybe she was a little,” Mark said. “And… and maybe I wanna take care of her. Or… I dunno.”
“Dude, you’re being dumb,” Tyler said. “Just tell her how you feel. She’s probably just as freaked out as you are. Besides, Ethan kept pestering me about Amy coming over for a sleepover.”
“Fine,” Mark huffed.
“Now,” Tyler said, handing Mark his phone from the nightstand. Mark sighed, quickly punching out a message before hitting send. Tyler smiled. “Good.” The phone dinged, and Mark opened the message:
*Amy is asleep. But I’ll make sure she reads it. Auntie K.*
*...Is she okay?* Mark answered.
*Just fine. We ended up having a little night. How’s E?*
*Much the same. Wants a sleepover with his cousin(?)*
*Dare I make the suggestion we just do it?*
*...why the hell not? We really don’t have much to do tomorrow anyways. We can make pizza here and have board game night*
*See you around six then?*
*Sounds great,* Mark answered, hesitating before pressing send. What if… no. He hit the button, throwing his phone on the nightstand and burying himself in the covers. He really hoped this wasn’t just a massive mistake. He’d tell Tyler and Ethan in the morning. Right now… he needed some sleep. Sometimes that’s all that could be done.