Being that Jess had young relatives that visited once in a blue moon, she had kept a few consoles around the place to plug into the TV - and as soon as Duke heard this once breakfast was all done, he was over the moon and both excited and wanting to know why such knowledge was kept away from them. Terry and Duke set up the console with the TV, while Sarah and Jess decided to stick back and observe. The boys got so excited over things like this...
Terry and Duke before long were playing a match of Street Fighter, and Jess' aloofness slowly turned more toward "Why are you just taking so many hits? Fight back!"
Duke groaned and looked slightly to his side, "Terry...keeps being a cheap bastard...and countering and perfect guarding everything! I SWEAR!"
Terry shrugged his shoulders and looked over at Duke as he won the match, "Not gonna apologize for being good at the game, D. Don't hate the player, hate your---" He heard Duke almost scream with frustration and only stopped from throwing the controller due to Jess glaring at him, "---skills at the game."
Duke swore he was not gonna lose to Terry twice in a row, and Sarah just sighed, "Watching Duke go all in and try to fight Terry like this is kinda like watching a bird repeatedly smash into a window. It'll never learn, and no matter what you tell it..."
She watched as Terry smirked and went into his defensive playstyle in the next fight. Even after changing up fighters and playing even more aggressively, Duke failed to surmount Terry's defense. The play continued into best of three, and the second match was over even more quickly and rather frustratingly for Duke than the first. And again, Duke only stopped himself because he remembered Jess would be glaring at him.
Duke finally had enough and said, "I've had it. I'm gonna go to my bed and try to think of another game..." He looked at the screen, displaying Terry's win, and after a moment Terry decided to go talk with him a bit.
Looking at the two boys, Sarah and Jess decided to have their own chat. Jess asked Sarah, "Have you...noticed Duke seems a bit high strung? And...it seems to me he and Terry have always been kind of close. When they were teens, when they were in college...I wouldn't actually mind if something was going on, y'know..."
Sarah gasped, "And we...we made those two..."
"Make out? Yeah. That may have brought the feelings, buried after so long, riiight to the surface." Jess surmised, looking at the game screen. She then said, "Anyway Sarah, I wouldn't mind if Duke had a thing for Terry, I just wish he'd be honest with himself about it. Stop fretting about looking or sounding one way or another..."
Sarah contributed, "Well, honestly, I'm really into Terry and I know he and Duke were always close and---yeah, even if its a thing on the side, as long as it doesn't detract from Terry and I, I'm fine with it."
Jess put a hand on Sarah's shoulder, "And besides, we gotta be there for the guys in order to make sure they don't complete or act much on any terrible ideas. We are their keepers, I guess."
Sarah chuckled, "...And people said the teens on Dawson's Creek sounded mature..."
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In the room with Duke, Terry saw him sitting there, obviously thinking both about the game and his own history with Terry. Duke sighed, "Y'know, it felt like, growing up, you always had a bit of an edge on me. You were buffer than me. People called you Muscles after all. I-I guess after a while of watching you, I realized - I wanted that. I wanted you...like the girls wanted you. And I could never admit it - cuz it'd mean something more to distance myself from how you are. And..."
"Yeah?" Terry said, crossing his arms and sitting next to Duke, "Keep talking..."
"Like, I-I guess the reason I even thought of that terrible idea was cuz I wanted to get rid of it. These weird, conflicting emotions." Duke finished, he didn't even know how to identify himself, let alone how to parse these feelings. Just sitting next to Terry put butterflies in his stomach. He loved Terry like a brother...was that right? He was sure of one thing, he really liked Terry, a lot.
Duke looked up at Terry and said, "...Sorry if I made a quiet day kinda awkward. I mean...you're...probably not even interested---"
Terry spoke up, "I'm not totally opposed, mind you. I'm straight too. But I think the girls won't mind much once we're back to better form. They're pretty open-minded."
"You're...serious with this?" Just thinking about it made Duke flush with embarrassment again. He knew now he had to be more open with what he wanted. Whatever that was. Jess and Terry had both been there for him a long time, believed in him, and he couldn't disappoint them by stealing and making huge mistakes.
Duke breathed and slowly put an arm around Terry's shoulders. "Thanks for the talk, man. I'm...glad you're so open. I should be more so too."
"Thanks for telling me all this. I'm glad you got it off your chest." Terry responded. He put his own arm around Duke's shoulder. There was so much he had not known about Duke before today, and honestly? He was happy to know all this and help Duke get this off his chest.