The Blinding Light of Sunrise - TNT Duo Dream SMP AU Fanfic

Chapter 10

Quackity checked his phone. The announcement was starting soon. He hadn't heard back from Sam. Not that Sam had any real reason to feel he needed to call Quackity after Wilbur left, but he'd requested it. He tried to remind himself that no news was good news, that perhaps Wilbur hadn't actually gone to Pandora's Vault. It was entirely possible he'd kept his promise. Sam hadn't sent him a message saying Wilbur had arrived, either, and he'd requested that, too.

That look in his eyes as he was leaving, though! It was hard to believe he could have gone anywhere else with such a heartbreaking stare. It f-ing killed him to remember it.

Wilbur could just be gone.

There really wasn't anything to hold him here. Sh-tty house, sh-tty burger stand, one... was Ranboo even really a friend? And then there was Quackity, himself. Well... there was one thing to hold Wilbur, if he still wanted to be held.

If Wilbur had any f-ing sense, he'd be gone and he'd stay gone.

He checked his phone again. Tubbo and Sam were supposed to be here. He didn't need them, but it would look more impressive to have all the shareholders together as a united front. He sighed. On the other hand, they'd be just finding out about Wilbur, too. It might be better if their reactions weren't caught on camera. Of course, there was no reason to worry how they'd react if Wilbur didn't show up.

He nervously twisted the ring on his thumb.

The door to the room creaked open, his head snapped expectantly. "Wilbur?" he whispered.

No. A pair of short horns led the way as Tubbo's cloven hooves clopped into the room, he was carrying a mess of cords with him. All the tension evaporated from Quackity's body. F-ck. He should stop expecting Wilbur to come through that door. Wilbur had to be smarter than that. He had to be smarter than coming back.

"Hey Tubbo. Have you heard from Sam?" he asked, trying not to sound too disappointed.

"Well, don't sound so happy to see me. Not even going to ask how I am first?"

"Sorry. It's been a long day. Have you heard from Sam?"

"Not since yesterday morning. Here, I brought some extension cords and connectors, just in case." He started hooking up the camera system. "Hey, do you think he might be sick?"

"Maybe. Or maybe he finally got somewhere with Foolish."

"Nah, I saw Foolish on the way here. Maybe he just got tied up. You know, Pandora's vault and all. Can't be easy to be the warden."

He hadn't asked about Dream's condition that morning, he didn't want to know. If it was bad, if he was somehow still alive, Sam might be too busy dealing with that. There was no f-ing way Dream had f-ing survived that! It was the worst f-ing thing he'd seen in his whole f-ing life. And he'd done it! He'd done that with his own bare hands!

He shoved his fists into his pockets. He could feel them tingling unpleasantly. Change the f-ing subject, Quackity! he shouted to himself.

"Are we ready to go?"

"Yeah," Tubbo said, plugging the last cord in. "Just let me..." he pressed the power button and the camera came to life. "And that's it, ready to air."

Quackity checked his phone and frowned. A message from his bank, he'd have to take it later.

Tubbo's phone buzzed. He looked at it. "Sorry, I'm just going to take care of this real quick." He ducked out of the room.

"Four minutes!" Quackity called after him. He thought he heard a muffled cry. He was about to check when he heard loud footsteps behind him. He spun. "Wilbur," the word came out almost like a sigh.