Mewberty is an experience that mewman magic users under the age of 16 go through, usually coming a few months after the first spell.
The person who is affected by Mewberty will shed colorful hearts, turn into a faye-fairy-butterfly mix form, gain sticky web-like substances in the palm of their hand, which can be used like a spider web, and become obsessed with people they are even mildly romantically attracted to. But with people they are already heavily attracted to, feelings will enhance dramatically, making it dangerous to see people going through this stage of life.
Mewberty usually only lasts a few hours, and from it, comes Mewberty wings.
Well, when Marco Diaz was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, holding the turquoise heart that had just fallen off of his forehead, the first statement was proven wrong.
Marco was not a mewman. But he had used one spell in the past few months. The All Seeing Eye, Eclipsa's spell, which was one of Star's favorites.
"Star!" Marco called from the bathroom. He knew Star, Tom, and Janna were downstairs watching a movie. He had been there too before going to the bathroom, where the turquoise heart in his hand had fallen off his forehead as he washed his hands.
"What?" Star responded from downstairs.
"Get up here!"
There was a sound of footsteps running up the stairs before Star entered the open door, Janna and Tom behind her, to see Marco looking down at his hand.
"What do you need?"
Marco held up the heart in his hand. "Um, this fell off my head."
Star's eyes widened, and she took the heart into her hands. "Oh. Oh no," she said, feeling the tissue-paper-like heart in her hand. "It's a Mewberty heart."
"Wait, Marco used magic? He's a mewman?" Tom asks through the doorway.
"Yes and no, I think I've said multiple times I am a human," Marco replies. "Okay, so, Mewberty, as in, crazy purple Star kidnapping multiple boys at school Mewberty?"
"Yeah," Star says. "I didn't know humans could get it, but them and mewmans are very similar so I guess it's possible. But that also means me and Janna gotta scram, you wouldn't mind staying, right Tom?"
"Um, yeah I can do that, I guess."
"Alright! You know Marco, you're gonna go girl-crazy and stuff. Bye!"
Marco waved as more hearts started falling from his face.
"Call us when it's over!" Star says before slamming the door.
"So, Tom, care to fill me in a bit? All I know is from when Star got it at school."
"Basically it prepares you for intense magic, even if you only use magic once," Tom says. "The Mewberty wings are like, butterfly transformation thing that Star does."
"Yeah but like, do I need to do anything?" Marco asks, trying to catch all the hearts falling from his face so he doesn't have to clean up as much later.
"I guess I just have to keep you away from girls and make sure you don't leave the house, your parents won't be home anytime soon, right?"
"No, they're having a couple days vacation."
"Okay," Tom says.
"For safe measures, I'm gonna go lock myself in my room so it'll take a bit more work to get out," Marco says, hearts starting to fall uncontrollably as he runs down the hallway to his room. He locks the door and looks around his room.
I wonder if being bi will affect it. And maybe having a crush on Tom? Star's bi and it didn't seem to affect her. And Star acted a bit more crazy with Oskar. Oh hell, that'll be a way to come out, locking Tom in a corner or something.
Marco thought that last part as a joke. Hopefully he wouldn't end up doing something like that. Tom didn't know. Marco's parents knew, but that was it.
He knew his friends weren't homophobic, Star had told them she was bi and Jackie was pan. But Marco was a perfectionist, and could never figure out how to tell them in the best way.
To pass a bit of time, waiting on his inevitable crazy butterfly form that Star had, he went through some pictures he'd saved on his phone.
Star had been a lot more freaked out about Mewberty than Marco was. But she had been in school, and Marco was in the safety of his house.
Suddenly he landed on a picture of him and Tom. Fuck.
Tom had his arm around Marco's shoulder, they were smiling, holding ice cream. Star was the one to take that picture, he remembered, because she wanted a picture of her Earth bestie and Underworld bestie. She'd then sent it to them both.
Then Marco couldn't see through all the turquoise rain.
His hands started feeling soft, and he dropped his phone.
Of course. On Tom's picture.
Tom was the only other person in the house. He could hear him humming on the other side of the door. He was probably doing that weird stretch thing Star hated so much too.
He felt something in his stomach. Looking down, he realized his hoodie and jeans turned turquoise, matching his now turquoise skin and hair. Just like how Star's clothes had changed.
And he felt his sides stretch, as if he were growing something out of it.
And then he fell out of control.
On the other side of the door, Tom finished his stretching. He was about to go back on his mirror when he heard pounding on the door.
Looks like it's started.
No big deal. It wasn't Tom's business until Marco managed to get out of his room.
Then he would just have to stop him from getting anywhere else.
He did not care if Marco would just fly past him and search for someone else.
He did not care that Marco wouldn't pay attention when he came out of that room.
Oh, who was he kidding? Of course he cared that Mewberty Marco would pay him no mind. Tom wanted Marco to like him. He really wanted Marco to like him.
"Hey Marco, calm down in there, you're not going anywhere," Tom said through the door, but the pounding only got louder.
And then the door, just floating there, was forced open by a turquoise version of Marco.
He had four arms, the hoodie was gone, a plain t-shirt under. His skin had faint hearts dotted every here and there, and eyes a very light version of his skin. And oh god, the wings. Big, diamond shaped, turquoise with his new eye color in the center of the wings.
And something about him looked so pretty in that moment. Tom was stunned.
Marco grabbed him by the horns and face, floating a little closer to him.
Then reality set back on Tom. Marco didn't fly past him, to his surprise. In fact, Marco was very, very focused on him.
And that made Tom blush like crazy, because, well, it was Mewberty, and during Mewberty, all you focus on are people you're interested in, even if it's just a bit.
Tom knew Marco didn't mean it, Marco didn't like him. But it meant Tom had a chance for him to like him, because if Marco was focused on a boy, that meant he liked boys. That was new.
And suddenly Marco was closing in on him, fluttering down to the ground, hands now moved to Tom's face and neck.
And Tom did the only logical thing one would do when your best friend going through Mewberty tries to kiss you- push him off.
But Marco was persistent. Shoving Tom into a corner, he used his web hands to trap him there.
"Marco! Let me out!" Tom shouted, knowing it would do nothing, and tried pushing through the sticky stuff.
Marco smiled, looking down on him.
Then he flew away.
Tom clenched his fists and tried not to blow up. Ugh, that stupid butterfly thing! He was way too smart, making Tom all flustered so he wouldn't think just so he could shove him in a corner and try and get out.
Tom was outsmarted by someone going through Mewberty. Wow, that's a new low.
He decided to burn the sticky stuff and ran downstairs to make sure he hadn't left yet. And thankfully, Marco was still tugging on a locked sliding door.
Ha, stupid.
Tom pulled him off the door. Marco turned to the boy and was fascinated by him again, feeling all over his face and horns.
"Get off me!" Tom said, lightly pushing him.
But Marco didn't listen, and flew lightly off the ground so he was at Tom's height.
"No, no you don't!" Tom shouted, giving Marco a harder shove, and with quick thinking, grabbed two plastic grocery bags off the table and tied them around Marco's hands. "Can't trap me in a corner anymore, loser. We're getting you back to your room."
Tom dragged the resisting Marco up the stairs and shoved him in his room, pressing the lock before closing it and leaning on it, keeping Marco in.
There's pounds on the door again, Tom rolling his eyes at the useless effort.
"You're not getting out this time, Diaz."
Tom didn't know how long it had been after that. All he heard was rustling and pounding on the other side of the door. It must've been an hour before the door was busted open again.
Tom didn't have the time to register what was happening before he was pinned to the ground by Marco.
"Marco!" Tom shouted, and tried to push him off. It didn't work, and so Tom kicked and pushed, trying to get Marco off without hurting him.
This went on for about a minute before a lot more hearts poured out of Marco's face.
Tom shielded his face as the hearts fell on him, and then Marco dropped onto Tom's chest unconscious.
It was a few seconds of Tom spitting out Marco's hearts when Marco let out a groan.
"Ughh, what happened?" Marco asked, rubbing his eyes and looking down at Tom.
Oh shit, Marco thought, as he realized where he was.
His eyes widened as he scooted back. He remembered a few glimpses of what had happened.
"Oh god, Tom I am so sor-"
"It's fine, Marco," Tom said. "Could've done with a heads up about you liking guys, though."
"Dude I- how are you so cool with this?"
"It's just Mewberty, no big deal."
"But I li..." Marco started, but didn't finish. He vividly remembered all the attention Star paid to Oskar, and he just did the same to Tom. But maybe Tom didn't know that part. Has he ever been around someone in Mewberty? Probably not.
"You what?"
"Never mind," Marco said.
"No, what were you gonna say?"
"It's not important," Marco said.
"Were you gonna say you liked me?" Tom asked, hopefully.
"Wha- um," Marco said, looking away. "Yeah, I-, I was."
"Really?" Tom asked.
Marco buried his face in his knees. "Yes," he whispered.
Tom crawled over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey."
