Work Text:
Ben was playing his Switch when he felt his phone vibrate. He quickly glanced at it before going back to his game until he fully registered the name. It was from Sam? He double-checked the time, 7:13. Was this one of the rare messages he received from Sam unrelated to work? There was a tiny chance there was some critical deadline that Ben had managed to completely miss. But the one time that happened Sam didn't tell him until 9 am sharp the next day. Every once in a while Ben would text Sam a friendly meme or two on the weekend, but he was lucky if he got a one word response two days later. So this was the big moment, what compelled Sam to text him off hours?
how's Matildegg?
Well that was sort of a let down. Matildegg was, in a way, work related. Sam was probably concerned about the audience's reaction if they had to use a different egg or maybe Adam rules lawyering Team Bam to add on those extra penalty minutes for an out-of-game incident. He sent a quick message back.
safe in my fridge
And in keeping in line with Ben's expectations, Sam sent a thumbs up in response.
To his surprise, around the same time the next day he got a second text from Sam.
how's the egg doing?
Ben's not sure what Sam could possibly think had happened to that egg in the last twenty-four hours so he just sent back.
as eggy as ever
And yep, he got another thumbs up.
Now two days after the first text, Ben checked his phone. It was nearly 8. Surely by now Sam was satisfied with Matildegg's- and the name Sam just popped up on his screen.
tell our third teammate I said hi
she says hi back
proof?
He sighed, smiled to himself, then went over to his fridge to open the carton and take a picture.
is this what you want?
had to check you actually consulted her
you think I would lie?!
Ben was unclear what the thumbs up on that message meant.
So that was the next week or so of Ben's life. Sometimes Sam would text him first and he he'd rush to the fridge and snap a picture. Or more often Ben would beat him to it; grab the egg (arguably a little risky) and pick a spot in his apartment and have a quick little photo shoot. It was nearly miraculous how soon Sam would text him back. He was used to a minimum two hour wait to get a response on work related questions. There was something so satisfying to shoot out a picture to Sam and almost immediately get a "Looking healthy" or "Eggsellent" back. He was getting puns in texts from Sam! That was nearly unheard of.
He even took a pic in front of a copy of that day's New York Times he grabbed on his way home from the grocery store.
she's not a hostage Ben!
it's proof I don't just have a stockpile of pictures
thinking two steps ahead I see
Friday evening Ben went out to a concert with Adam and a few of their friends. It was loud and fun and he got maybe more than a little drunk. By the time he got home he was so exhausted he just fell straight into bed.
Around noon the next day he woke up mildly hungover and wasn't surprised that he'd missed a few texts. He casually scrolled past a few messages from his college friends about a beach trip they were attempting to plan. Then his stomach dropped. He had missed four whole texts from Sam yesterday.
8:10 how's our favorite egg?
9:45 did she have a nice day?
10:10 where are you?
10:12 sorry you must be busy have a nice night
Ben was aware it wasn't normal to feel extremely guilty about not giving someone up to the minute egg updates. But his guilt lead him to an idea he couldn't resist. He always loved creative little projects.
Immediately he went out to get supplies. Soon after twenty-five minutes of mediocre crafting, Ben had a small beach scene made out of construction paper, sand, and some cheap sea shells. He carefully took Matildegg out of her carton and placed her on the sand. He snapped a picture and sent it to Sam with the message.
we've been having such a nice trip to the beach we completely lost track of time
A few minutes later he got back,
looks very fun make sure to keep the seagulls away from her!
you think I don't know how keep her safe!?
i know you take good care of her
And Sam was right about that.
Ben managed to cobble together a zoo, an art museum, and a library over the course of the next few days. Sam was delighted by each one.
you two find some good books?
yep lots of inspiration for the MCU
?
The Matildegg Cinematic Universe
Ben had all sorts of ideas for more hand-crafted escapades, or eggscapades if you will, but the rescheduled Schengen Showdown filming dates had arrived. Over in Europe Ben was a little disappointed it was Jet Lag business as usual. That meant very little contact with Sam since they were on different teams. He wasn't sure what he was expecting.
After they got back Ben assumed that was the end of that. It was only a couple weeks until they planned to film the second part of season 13.5. Surely Sam was believed in his ability to care for Matildegg by now.
Or maybe Sam decided the move was to expand the Matildegg Cinematic Universe because just Ben received,
look who wants to say hi!
It was a picture of an egg with a more masculine face and spiky hair being held in front of what Ben can easily guess is a blank wall of Sam's condo.
who's this?
it's Eggbert! does anyone else want to say hi?
Of course Ben was in his apartment, and even though he has plenty of extra Matildegg pictures saved in case of emergency, he stood up from his couch to go over to the fridge to take a new one.
hi Eggbert
He wrote, then he sent the latest picture.
looking cute today
Well that fully broke Ben's brain for a few minutes, but Sam wasn't going to out bit him.
the cold of the fridge is great for your shell
that's why I love the fresh mountain air
And now Ben was looking at a picture of Eggbert perched on a fence post of a Rocky Mountain overlook.
well you're adventurous aren't you?
I love the outdoors but don't worry if you don't, I like to stay in too
And he received a picture of Eggbert in front of a book near a roaring fireplace. Sam took a whole dang dating-profile-worth of pictures of this egg!
careful next to the fire you don't want to end up over easy
or over hard ;)
And that broke Ben's brain for a second time.
Ben had never witnessed Sam flirting with anyone. But it must have happened at some point because, well, Eggbert had a very flirty personality. Ben googled some of the pickup lines Eggbert used on Matildegg and most of then seemed to be Eggbert originals. God Ben wasn't used to being the one struggling to keep up with the bit.
Then sometimes there was a shift, the texts got less egg related. It got to a point where, for a few texts, Ben could pretend it was just him and Sam texting, no pretense. And Ben was quite happy with that. Though he really couldn't tell if the only way Sam could flirt with him is through the medium of egg texting or Sam just got really into the role playing and wasn't considering the implications. Of course Sam couldn't let it get too sincere, usually interrupting when they were getting a little too mushy with something ridiculous like a photo of Eggbert on top of an actual horse. It really was unfair. Sam didn't have to be concerned at all for Eggbert's well being! Ben couldn't keep up with his eggscapades without endangering Matildegg and their chance of winning.
Before he knew the time had come to finish season 13.5. He was unsurprised that Sam didn't seem to be feeling any of the mild anxiety Ben was experiencing seeing him in person after having spent the last week text flirting. But Ben had to focus on filming and whatever happened after happened after.
They finished Hide and Seek with a solid victory which Ben was taking as a good sign. Now should have been time for the two of them to go their separate ways. Adam and Amy were headed back to Brooklyn. Sam was going to his hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Logically based on where he lived he should be getting on a train with Adam and Amy right now. But instead he spent much too long making up an excuse about picking up a rare Magic: The Gathering card from a shop in Manhattan. That was a hobby of his that Adam had zero interest in, so Ben knew he wouldn't decide to tag along after a day of Jet Lag. He didn't even need to show them the fake receipt he made to end up on a subway platform alone with Sam.
Ben mentally prepared himself on the short subway ride to midtown. He knew Sam well enough that he was pretty sure he would be faced with one of two reactions when he brought up the texting. Either Sam would confidently laugh about how funny their flirting egg bit was or he would get all awkward and quiet. But getting all quiet would mean that there was something to say. Something Sam had to think harder about... They reached their stop before Ben could finish that thought. It was now or never.
"So how's Eggbert?" He brought up casually as they reached the top steps of the subway station.
The was no awkward silence, it was an immediate. "I had him for breakfast."
"You cooked him?!" Sam having ingested part of the metaphor for their potential relationship was not on his bingo card.
"I looked it up and sharpie can't leech into the egg through the shell. So it's fine to eat."
"So it's not that I'm not concerned about your health. It's just-"
"And it's over now," He thought he might have heard a slight hitch in Sam's voice but it quickly returned to his normal monotone, "I knew Matildegg would be thrown away after we found Adam and Amy, so no use for Eggbert."
"Sam it doesn't have to be over." Ben hoped they were on the same page about what 'it' was.
Then Sam in an exaggeratedly sarcastic voice said, "Oh so you just want to keep getting texts from me about cuddling by the fire."
Ben smiled and shrugged, "Why not?"
"But without the eggs..."
"It would just be us."
"And you would like that?" Sam said quietly.
"Yeah, a lot." Ben smiled, this might be going his way.
"Ok I can still text you, but it might get worse."
"Worse?"
"Eggbert's a lot smoother than I am."
"Well duh!" Sam gave him a confused look. "He's an egg! I'm sure you'd be smooth too if you had a shell."
Sam started cracking up(no pun intended). "Okay, fine! I'll keep texting you." He was still chuckling to himself when he glanced at the street number and turned to the right. "Well, my hotel's this way-"
Oh no, he was not getting away now. Ben grabbed his wrist. "Please come get dinner with me." Sam's eyes grew wide and Ben decided he just had to put it out there. "As a date."
"But your Magic: The Ga-"
He pulled Sam a little closer. "There is no card."
"Oh in that case, yes we can go on a date." He let go of Sam's wrist. Well that was surprisingly easy. He glanced up at Sam and he looked the happiest Ben had seen in a while. For a few minutes Sam was the only person in New York City in Ben's eyes until he suddenly pointed across the street. "How about that place?"
"Not going to look at reviews or anything?" Ben chuckled and started walking towards the restaurant.
Sam shrugged in response as he caught up to Ben.
"You better pick out the best cocktail on the menu for me, Samuel Denby!"
"Have you heard of a Prairie Oyster?" Sam smirked as he opened the door for Ben.
"Sam, I think I've had enough of eggs for a little while."