Bed of Roses

Room For Improvement

Schlatt hears the dial tone play from his phone, a sure sign of Wilbur's anger. Oh well, he can die mad. He's not risking his well-being, and the well-being of his boys for anyone, not even his best friend.
He could go, could get drunk with him, but one look at both of his sons rough housing while their platonic boyfriend (he thinks that's what they were... he'll ask Tubbo later) makes spaghetti in the kitchen, and he decides that nothing, not even his job, could take him away from this moment.

Not even half an hour later and his phone is ringing again. Can't people leave him alone? "Hullo," a smug voice answers him. "I'd rather not, can it wait till tomorrow?" The voice on the other line sighs, but continues anyway. "I... sure, send him over," the opposite person gives a short thanks and hangs up. Surely he would be left alone with his kids now.

Techno shakes his head in disappointment. Watching Wilbur drunkenly stumble into furniture before finally collapsing onto the couch. Wilbur needs to get a grip on his emotions and soon. He can't sit idly by while his brother works himself into oblivion, even if he wants to. Maybe he'll ask Phil about getting him a therapist.

In the back of a casino, a man sits, twirling a poker chip between his fingers like a pen. This is the house of luck, a place of misfortune and misery for anyone who isn't able to pay a debt or two. People who are vastly different from Magnolia.
He's not rich like the heroes, don't get him wrong, but at least he can pay his dues on time. He flips the poker chip the way he had been taught by his predecessor. Warm light begins to cast a faint shadow over him. concealing him from the nocturnal creatures who venture into the casino to indulge on their greed and selfishness. Like leading flies into a web, or a moth to a flame, they always come back for more. No matter how far down the rabbit hole of addiction they are, they continue to dive further.
He watches from afar, merely a casual observer of the life below him. How unfortunate it must be to continuously yearn for wealth and luxury, always on the cusp of grasping it, yet still failing. He has long since learned to be content with what he has, and feels that until others learn that very same lesson, he will continue to sit on a throne made of their misery, and stand upon a pedestal borne from their hopelessness.

"Boys please try and keep it down," Schlatt stresses as the usual clashing of voices begins to rise. He knows they'll calm down eventually, they always do, but he'd prefer they do so sooner rather than later. A brief news flash comes from the TV, showing a few clips of some vigilantes going against the world's oldest hero, Amaranth, and one of the top three ranking heroes. Schlatt watches with great interest, seeing how said vigilantes will fare against the heroes. Vigilantes always have had more capabilities than most hero born and bred kids have.
The first of the two does complex aerial tricks, likely a trained gymnast or parkour professional. Then just as quick as they appeared, the two vigilantes left. No obvious displays of power until the very end, quite uncommon for reckless crime fighters like them. The news turns off, now playing some cartoon or other. The house is dead silent, and his heart goes still. Silence is dangerous, especially when you have three teenagers in a house. He reminds himself to breathe, and goes into a frenzy looking for children who had never been missing in the first place.

"How long do you think it'll be until he notices," Tommy muttered, eyes still glued to the screen before him. Tubbo shrugs his shoulders and blurts out, "Half an hour, I reckon. What about you, Boo?" Ranboo slurps his spaghetti in response. "Really? An entire hour and a half," Tubbo bewilderdingly asks. Ranboo takes another bite of spaghetti. "Well I think you're aiming a bit too high, but okay," Tubbo disapprovingly nods.
"What the fuck are you two on," Tommy sounds some concerning mix of baffled and amused. Tubbo is unbothered and earnestly responds, "What? Can you not understand them," as though this was news to him. Tommy shoots him a very puzzled look, then proceeds to play the news clip of the fight between him and Amaranth on his phone. Tubbo rolls his eyes and huffs, only to scoot closer to Tommy. In doing so, they force Ranboo to get up and move to Tommy's left.

About an hour goes by, and Schlatt is back to square one. Barely a step into his living room, and he can hear the all too familiar voices clambering over one another, and consequently, the static that had been building in his chest. A beleaguered scoff escapes from his mouth as he realizes how stupidly blind he is. The closer to the room he gets, the better he can hear the conversation. Just from what he can hear, his anxiety piques, more so than his interest does.

A pause. "There. You had the opportunity to pin him," Tubbo points at a blur of pixels on the screen. Ranboo's eyes scan the image meticulously, trying to find what Tubbo sees. "How so? I'm not seeing any openings," Tommy's gaze follows Tubbo's finger. Tubbo zooms in further so the others can see.
"Oh, you're right. I caught him off-guard when I bumped into him, so I should've been able to twist his arm and get him on the floor. Why didn't I do that,'' Tommy chastised himself. The shortest of the three shrugs his shoulders.
"Dunno man. Maybe you panicked and acted without thinking," he helpfully supplies. The enderman nods along to Tubbo's words, finishing his last bite of spaghetti. "Scarlet Lily made you shift your focus, so that means the more reasonable options were thrown out the window," they reasoned. The clingy duo nod their heads in agreement.
"What about here? Where I escaped," the blonde inquires. "You just wanted to be a show off," Tubbo teases. Tommy huffs and rolls his eyes. "Showing off aside, surely there was a better way to leave than that," Tommy gestures vaguely to the phone. Ranboo nods, "I think so, but then again you were kinda cornered," they glance towards Tubbo, who's now pulling up a map of the bank.
"Boo's right. Three other escape routes," both Tommy and Ranboo lean in closer for a better look. "Problem is, going down these paths-" "Would have framed me as a villain," Tommy finishes. He mutters curses under his breath, not entirely pleased by the possible outcomes he was faced with. "Yup, you can say that again," Tubbo pops the 'p' as he speaks.
A beat. "You know we could do this tomorrow, right," Ranboo suggests. Tommy and Tubbo share a look before responding. "I'm willing to put it down if you are," Tubbo is quick to agree to Tommy's suggestion. "Alright then, meeting adjourned," Tommy declares, stalking off towards his bedroom. "Night, beloved," Tubbo calls, following suit.

Schlatt could only watch in shock, eyes wide in fear.