The stage was all set for the performance. This left Squandered some time to adjust his costume in the green room. He nervously looked between the mint green bowtie and a beige colored tie. Every few seconds, he’d switch which one he held to his neck while looking in the mirror.

“Uh, but then the mint green works well with the ensemble…” Squandered stammered out.

Someone knocked on the door. Squandered jumped.

“C-come in!” he yelled.

The door opened and Chomby came in. Squandered could see his reflection in the mirror. Even from this distance, he could tell Chomby was being worn by Choomb. The soundbyte’s mouth had prominent creases in it. This meant Sarge wasn’t here right now.

Though Chomby’s expression looked hateful, Squandered grew to recognize this as his excitement. “You ready to go on stage, Mlem?” The robotic soundbyte came over and gently wrapped his arms around Squandered. He gave Squandered a kiss… it unfortunately felt cold, which made Squandered shiver.

“O-oh,” Chomby said. He seemed to notice what happened and immediately released the hug. “Sorry, I… keep forgetting.”

“I-it’s fine,” Squandered shook his head and spun on a foot to stare at Chomby. “Now, could you help me? Which should I wear? This mint bowtie… or the beige tie?”

“Why are you asking me?” Chomby asked. “You’re the tailor here. Didn’t you put together that outfit yourself?”

“I… I just want to make a good impression,” Squandered said with a gulp. He looked down at the ties and quickly decided to throw the beige one onto the couch.

“I’m sure you will,” Chomby said. He folded his arms and went over to the wall to lean on it. “The audience I usually get at my concerts are genuine and kind people. They’ll love to see you up there.”

“I… know… but what if,” Squandered whispered, “what if I mess up? Or they hate me… or something goes wrong? Or… or-”

“Then you just gotta go with the flow. Do you think I’ve gone out the floodgates with perfection? It was a bumpy ride all the way up to…” Chomby trailed off and looked away for a moment. He turned back to Squandered and shrugged, “y’know?”

“No, I don’t,” Squandered said. He looked back down at his tie and began weighing his options some more. Would beige make him more approachable?

Squandered felt his heart begin to race. He couldn’t decide.

Chomby placed his cold, albeit, reassuring hand on Squandered’s shoulders. “You sure you’re up for this? I know you said you’d be okay with singing a duet with me on stage, but… it’s okay if we cut it,” Chomby spoke softly.

“I told you I would do it, though, Squish,” Squandered said. “You looked so happy when I said yes!”

Chomby didn’t say anything. He lowered his hand from Squandered’s shoulder and stared. Squandered couldn’t figure out what Chomby was feeling right now.

“I just, uh, I’m just scared. I’m, well,” Squandered began to twiddle his thumbs through the lace of the bowtie, “uh… I- I can do this. Yeah. I can go on stage and do this-” Squandered felt himself begin to tear up.

Chomby remained silent for a moment longer before looking over his shoulder. “Was it because you wanted to make me happy?”

“What?” Squandered looked up in shock.

“You said I looked happy when you said yes.” Chomby’s ears drooped. “You weren’t doing this because you wanted to try singing with me.”

“I- I do!” Squandered blurted out. “I wanted to show you I could do it, too! I wouldn’t have said yes if I-”

“Squandered,” Chomby interrupted. His voice was softer than usual.

“Y-yes?” Squandered asked.

Chomby walked over to the couch and sat down. He patted the seat next to him then picked up the beige tie to stare at it. Squandered quietly walked over and sat down. He curled his tail over his lap and lowered his ears.

“Mind telling me what’s going on?” Chomby asked.

“Nothing’s going on, Squish,” Squandered said. He tried to avoid eye contact with Chomby.

“I don’t have an all-knowing, wise, and mature werewolf in my head right now, Mlem,” Chomby said. “He always has a weird way of getting me to talk about my issues, even when I didn’t realize I had any.”

Squandered could see Chomby hunch over and clasp his hands together.

“I’m not good at comforting people like he is,” Chomby said. He turned his head to Squandered, “but I know something’s wrong… and I feel it’s my fault.”

Squandered felt his eyes continue to well with tears. He was having trouble holding in his fear now. “I- I…” Squandered clenched his fists on top of his tail. “I can’t do this, Mlem. I’m sorry. I know you’re going to be disappointed, but, I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“Why would I be disappointed?” Chomby asked. He scooted himself closer to Squandered.

Squandered squinted his eyes shut. He felt tears roll down his face. “Because you were so happy! I’m the reason you’re going to be upset. It’s my fault we’re even here to begin with. Now, because of me, you’re going to be disappointed, and you’re audience will be too.” Squandered was about to continue, but he felt Chomby place a hand on his head.

“Easy there, Mlem. I’m not disappointed. If anything, I should be apologizing.” Chomby lowered his hand and clasped it with the other again. “Darn, what would Sarge say in a time like this?”

Squandered tilted his head to see Chomby was deep in thought. He decided to let the soundbyte think.

After a minute, Chomby cleared his throat. “Why do you think you have to prove yourself to me?”

“Pardon?” Squandered asked.

“Well, I’ve been thinking on it,” Chomby said. “I… feel like you’ve been trying to impress me. You bake things for me, you made my outfit, even altered it… you’ve showed me the drawings you’ve made. You’ve done a lot of things, and I’m worried that I missed the signs you were giving me.”

“I… don’t follow,” Squandered said. He knew Chomby was onto something, but Squandered wasn’t quite sure how to explain it.

“I guess I’ll ask by rephrasing the question,” Chomby scratched his head. “No, Choomb, don’t call Sarge. Urgh.” Chomby shook his head and looked Squandered straight in the eye. “Why are you trying to prove to me that you deserve to be loved?”

Squandered’s heart wrenched. Was that it? Was that what he’s tried to do this entire time? Everything he’d been doing for Chomby…

“Because you’re you…. You’re a famous DJ and performer, and you’ve saved the world several times! No matter how much I try, I’ll never be as famous as you. I’ll never have as many accolades as you.” Squandered sniffled. “You’re so amazing, and I’m… nothing. Maybe I try and prove myself because…”

Squandered stopped to look over at Chomby. He could still see that Chomby’s expression was unreadable.

“I want to prove to you that I deserve being loved by you,” Squandered whispered. “But how can I? How can I feel like I deserve you when I can’t do anything?”

“You don’t ever have to prove yourself to me, Squandered. You never needed to.” Chomby leaned in close and rested his head on top of Squandered. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me all this time, but I’d prefer you do it because you want to… not because you’re trying to prove you deserve love.”

Squandered felt himself leaning into Chomby. Though Chomby felt cold to the touch, his fur was still soft. It felt comforting. The longer Squandered stayed, the more Chomby’s body warmed up. When Chomby felt warm enough, Squandered sighed and leaned himself in harder. Chomby seemed surprised, as he recoiled a bit, but he immediately leaned back in and placed his arm around Squandered.

“Why don’t we cancel the song? We’ve still got a bit before the show starts anyway.” Chomby said. “I’m not much of a manager, but I think I know what I can change around to fit the schedule still.”

Squandered put himself back into a sitting position and lowered his head. “I’ll do it.”

“No, you don’t have to,” Chomby said.

Squandered clenched his fists.

Chomby seemed to notice. “I just said you don’t have to prove yourself. I’ll love you no matter what.”

Squandered took a deep breath. He imagined himself on stage, in front of an audience of many people… singing. The thought terrified him. But, somehow, hearing Chomby say that Squandered didn’t have to prove himself made the feeling less troubling. He’d been so worried about messing up and leaving Chomby to clean up. But if he didn’t have to do it to prove himself… then maybe it could be fun, right?

Squandered slapped his hands to his lap and hoisted himself into a standing position. He narrowed his eyes and effortlessly tied the bowtie. He turned to Chomby and held out a hand. “Let’s get the show rolling!”

Chomby looked between Squandered’s eyes and his hand. “Are you sure?”

Squandered nodded. “I don’t have to prove anything to you. I’m doing this because I want to.”

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This is a belated Christmas gift to my lovely squish,  SquanderedMilk. No matter where we may find ourselves in life, we do not need to prove we deserve to be loved. The fact we want to be loved should be proof enough.

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Squandered (C)  SquanderedMilk

Chomby/Art/Story (C)  Juntarhenogu Me