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He wasn’t very sneaky, Tallulah noted as Quackity slipped into her garden, nearly tripping on a root. She would go as far as to say that he wasn’t trying to be sneaky, but from the way he was looking around, checking for her papa, or maybe abuelito, it was clear he was trying to be sneaky. She could see him pretty clearly from her room though. He didn’t seem to be doing anything, but…
“Tallulah! Tallulah, where are you?” He called. She huffed. Quackity was nice, but he always tried to take her, and Papa or Abuelito had to stop him. She stepped out onto the balcony of her tower, slamming the door to get his attention. He jumped, but whirled to face her. His face lit up.
“Tallulah, there you are! What’re you doing up there, where’s Wilbur?” He asked, staring up at her.
‘ He said he was going to find Tio Bad for something, I forgot what. He wanted me to stay here. ’ She signed back in answer. Quackity sighed, disappointed. She tilted her head, as he stared forlornly into the distance. She tapped the railing to get his attention again.
‘ You’re staring sadly in the wrong direction. ’ She told him. He burst into laughter at her response. He put his hand against the wall, bracing himself as he tried to force himself to breathe. Tallulah looked over the side of the railing at him, leaning out to catch sight of him. He looked back up, meeting her eyes as she leaned out. He kept laughing.
“Alr-alright Tallulah, since you’re such,” he took a large breath before continuing, “such an expert, which way is Bad’s house?” He asked, eye glinting with a playful mischief. She blinked at him, before pointing in the direction Papa had gone. Quackity turned to look that way, before pulling up the map everyone on the island had. He went silent. Tallulah attempted to peer over the railing to see the map, lifting herself up.
Quackity glanced at her, eyes widening as she teetered forward.
“Woah, woah, careful! Don’t fall!” He exclaimed, backing away from the wall so she didn’t have to lean so far forward. She hopped back down to the floor of the balcony.
‘ You’d catch me though, right? ’ She asked. His eyes softened, and he smiled.
“Of course I’d catch you, Tallulah. Wilbur would kill me if I let you get hurt, and I want him to really love me, y’know.” He answered, and she stiffened. She turned to look at him, and he realized what he said. She grinned as he began backtracking.
“I-i mean not like that! We-well, I wouldn’t mind if he- wait no! He-I, uh…” He continued rambling, trying to pedal back from the remark. Tallulah just watched him stumble and stammer.
‘ Do you like my papa? ’ She asked, shutting him up. He looked bewildered, smoothing down imaginary hairs on top of his beanie.
“W-well, yeah! I like Wilbur, he’s a really cool guy!” He told her. She frowned, shaking her head.
‘ No, do you like-like my papa? ’ She questioned instead. Quackity’s jaw dropped, and he stared at her, eyes wide. He went red instead of answering. She took this as a good sign, and continued to “speak”.
‘ If you make my papa happy, I don’t mind you being my other papa. ’ She said. His eyes widened even further, if that was possible.
And then he ran off.
Tallulah whipped around as she watched him attempt to hop the fence, fall, get back up, and continue running. She stared after him for a few seconds, a little confused, before she went back inside.
She should tell Papa, right? That seemed like something that Papa or Abuelito would want to know. She sighed, wondering when Papa would get home. What could she do to pass the time…
Within a few minutes time, the small area was filled with the sound of musical flute notes.
~~~
Wilbur laughed at Chayenne’s remark, Phil just groaning in fake annoyance. Chayenne ran ahead, turning to them and waiting.
“Oh, we’re coming, we’re coming. You know Phil’s old man bones can’t go that fast.” Wilbur joked. Phil let out an indignant “Oi!” and smacked Wilbur upside the head. Wilbur stumbled forward a few steps, laughing at the response from his father. Chayenne giggled at his father and brother.
“You two are going to be the death of me at some point.”
‘ Dad, won’t old age take you first? ’ Wilbur had to pause as he laughed. Phil rubbed the bridge of his nose, wishing he wasn’t there. When Wilbur’s laughter fit calmed down, he swallowed back the last few laughs.
“Let’s gooo, I want to see mi nina!” He said, smiling. Chayenne jumped up and down at the mention of Tallulah. He ran ahead, leaving Wilbur and Phil behind.
“Ah jeez, the little shit.” Phil remarked as he ran after him, Wilbur in close pursuit. As the three approached, dodging overpowered mobs, they started hearing notes from Tallulah’s flute. She was playing Cat.
Chayenne shot his gun off as the three approached, hopefully alerting Tallulah to their presence. Wilbur pulled the gate door open, breathing in the smell of his little girl’s beautiful garden.
“Tallulah! Mi nina, we’re home!” He called. The notes had ceased when the gunshots went off, so no audible response was immediately given. However, they didn’t have to wait long before Tallulah had burst out onto her balcony, grinning ear to ear. Wilbur lit up as well.
“Tallulah! There you are, how are you!” He asked. She signed back that she was good, before sprinting back through her tower, quickly exiting through the front door. She threw herself into her father’s arms, who gladly encased her in his arms, smiling wide. He peppered her head with little kisses as she snuggled into his arms, arms wrapping around his neck.
Chayenne jumped at Tallulah, who waved at him excitedly. She wriggled in Wilbur’s embrace, who got the message and put her down. She and Chayenne hugged, Chayenne lifting her up slightly. She smacked his arm. Phil walked over to ruffle her hair.
“Alright Wil, you go out the bamboo in your house, me and Chayenne will hang out with Tallulah.” Phil urged. Tallulah separated from Chayenne, a slightly urgent look on her face. She grabbed her father’s hand, tugging him back.
“Yes Tallulah?” He asked, confused.
‘ Quackity came by earlier looking for you. ’ She signed. The three around her startled, Chayenne bristling as he whipped his Glock™ out, whirling around in circles looking for the smiling man.
“Quackity was looking for me?” Wilbur asked as he knelt down to make eye contact with his daughter. She nodded. She turned in a way so Phil and Chayenne couldn’t see her hands before she continued signing.
‘ I asked him if he liked you and he got red and he ran away. ’ She said. Wilbur’s eyes widened, and he felt himself go warm.
‘ Yeah, like that! ’ She signed innocently. In truth, she knew what she was doing. She was young, but she was smart. It was plain as day that her papa and Quackity really liked each other, but they always paraded around it instead of doing anything about it. Wilur stumbled over his words for a few seconds, prompting the attention of her abuelito and brother/uncle. Phil raised an eyebrow.
“Wil?” He asked, already half knowing what Tallulah had said. Wilbur looked away, covering his face and muttering something, before quickly rushing into the house. He slammed the door behind him, sliding down the wall to his left. His mind was both racing and frozen at the idea that Quackity was romantically interested in him ? And Tallulah was so nonchalant about it! Like this wasn’t a massive twist?
Oh my god am I dying?
He shook his head. Of course he wasn’t dying! It was just his heart feeling like it was about to burst through his chest, and his face, which he still had his hand over, was heating up like the surface of a frying pan! And he was just sweating hard enough to fill a small pond! He was totally fine!
He launched himself off the wall, nearly slamming into the other, turning and scrambling up the ladder to his bed. He flopped onto the soft mattress, sinking face first into his pillow. He groaned into the soft cushion. He stayed in that position for a few minutes, contemplating his life at that moment. Quackity, the man he was desperately in love with mildly interested in, seemed to share the same desperate, formerly one sided infatuation interest in Wilbur. It was probably just Tallulah exaggerating, right? Besides, he wasn’t so in love with the other man that he couldn’t think about anything else.
Beautiful, soft golden wings he wanted to stroke and worship
He was totally normal about this.
Dark, flowing hair, trapped in that beanie, that he wanted to free and run his fingers through
Quackity 100% didn’t consume his every waking thought.
A dip in his waist, just begging to be grabbed and tugged into his own hips
Quackity and Wilbur were absolutely just friends
Luscious pink lips that he couldn’t help but stare at everytime they were near each other
Just friends!
Lips he couldn’t help but fantasize about kissing, pressing his own to them, wringing out breathy gasps and calls of his own name…
…
oh
Oh
~~~
“Wil?” He asked, already half knowing what Tallulah had said. Wilbur looked away, covering his face and muttering something, before quickly rushing into the house. Chayenne turned to look at Tallulah, befuddlement written over his face. Phil just looked tired. Tallulah shrugged. Phil turned his attention to his granddaughter.
“Tallulah, what did you say to your father?” He asked.
‘ I told him that I had asked Quackity if he liked-liked Papa, and that he had gotten really red and ran away. ’ She pointed in the direction he had gone. Chayenne jumped back, eyes wide in shock. Phil sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Tallulah continued to point in the direction that Quackity had run off in, staring to see if he would return. He did not.
“Tallulah, i’m not saying that you’re wrong in your assessment,” Chayenne whipped his head to stare at his father in horror, “but you can’t just ask that.” Phil finished, eyeing Chayenne. Tallulah tilted her head in bewilderment.
‘ Why? You said so yourself, they like each other? ’ She signed, finally pulling her hand down from pointing out into the forest. Phil yet again sighed, kneeling down as Wilbur had down earlier. Tallulah frowned, worried what she had done was wrong.
“Yes, Tallulah, it is… painfully obvious that they are both very interested in each other, but refuse to do anything about it. It is highly frustrating for me as well, but this kind of thing isn’t something that you or I can force, or put on the fast track. Love isn’t something that you can push, okay? No matter how much they like each other, or even love each other, we have to let them figure it out on their own.” He spoke softly. Tallulah pouted, understanding, but still upset. Chayenne took her hand, tugging her over to the turtles.
Phil watched them go over, before turning to the door Wilbur had gone through into the house. He took a deep breath, typing in the code as he exhaled. He opened the door and prepared to call his son’s name.
“OH SHIT!” He heard Wilbur yell, followed immediately by a thud. Phil startled, closing his mouth as he heard scrambling. He waited for a minute, listening for any other concerning noises before he tried calling Wilbur again. When he didn’t he opened his mouth to call again, hesitating a second, then called into the tower.
“Wilbur?” He didn’t receive a verbal reply for a moment. When he did hear something, he realized that Wilbur was climbing down the ladder. He was clutching his communicator in his hand, slightly hiding it behind his leg. He and Phil stared at each other.
“You alright mate?” Phil asked, raising an eyebrow again.
“U-uh yep! Great! Wonderful even!” Wilbur replied, eyes flitting around, squeezing the communicator. Phil eyed said communicator.
“Who’re you messaging mate?” He asked. Wilbur tensed, and was silent for a moment too long.
“Roier!” He answered, a tad too loud. Phil winced a bit. Wilbur snuck a glance past Phil, looking towards the door.
“Really? And I would receive a message confirming that if I messaged Roier?” He asked, crossing his arms. He held Wilbur in his Dad Stare™, causing Wilbur to start squirming.
“Yyyeess?” Wilbur answered, cringing. Phil continued to stare at him, unimpressed. He went for his communicator.
“WAIT WAIT WAIT!” WIlbur scrambled over, grabbing Phil’s hand, dragging him away from the door. Phil just sighed as he let himself be taken away.
“Ok, I’m not messaging Roier. I…I was gonna message Big Q…” He muttered, averting his gaze from his father’s. Phil groaned, pressing the palm of his hand to his eyes. He held them there for a bit, before abruptly dropping them and grabbing Wilbur, dragging him towards the door. He pushed it open, shoving Wilbur through the open door. He pointed at the kids by the tree, Chayenne water bucket clutching while Tallulah played Megalovania on her flute.
“Go ask Tallulah if she wants another Dad. Until then,” Phil snatched the device from Wilbur, and pulled the door closed, “I’ll keep a hold of this.” He held the communicator up where Wilbur could see it, before disappearing into the tower. Wilbur stared at the now closed door, mouth agape. He considered just…opening the door, it was his home after all.
Of course, that would set Phil off.
Wilbur turned around, heading over to Tallulah and Chayenne. Chayenne was actually the first to notice him, nudging Tallulah from her flute. She looked up, her face lighting up again. She bounced to his side, hugging his waist. He smiled softly, patting her head.
“Chayenne, go check on the turtles for a few minutes, would you?” He asked. His brother(?) huffed, but tromped over to the turtle pen anyway. Wilbur sat down in front of his daughter, patting the space beside him. She sat down, gazing up at him.
‘ Papi? ’ She asked.
“So, you know how Papi went inside after you said that Quackity turned red after your question?” He asked after a small hesitation. She nodded. He took a breath.
“Well, when people like each other, they sometimes get embarrassed when hearing the other likes them too.” He decided to say. Tallulah tugged his arm.
‘ You like-like Quackity? ’ She asked. Wilbur stuttered, whatever words that had been about to leave getting stuck and butchered. Chayenne glanced over from the turtle pen.
“W-well, that’s uh… Tallulah he… me and him, uhm…” Tallulah blinked at her father, slightly surprised at the reaction. He definitely liked-liked Quackity. She snapped her fingers in front of his face, getting his attention.
‘ Papi, does he make you happy? ’ She inquired. Wilbur stared at her, bewildered.
“Yes, why?” He answered. It was an understatement, if the butterflies in his stomach were anything to go by. She smiled at him, standing up.
‘ I don’t mind having another papa if he makes you happy. ’ She told him simply. She waved goodbye, heading over to Chayenne. Wilbur stared after her, slowly processing what she had said.
If he makes me happy?
Phil heard the knock at the door, and looked towards the window, only to see a mop of brown hair. He huffed out a laugh, walking over to open the door.
“So, what’d she say mate?” Phil asked his son.
“She said that she didn’t mind having another papa if he made me happy.” Wilbur answered as Phil let him in the house. Phil made a ‘hmm’ sound, handing Wilbur his communicator.
“Well, does he make you happy?” Phil’s gaze pinned Wilbur to his place, waiting for his answer.
“Y-yeah, he does. He..really makes me happy.” Wilbur told his father, a soft smile growing on his face. Phil gestured to the small device in WIlbur’s hand.
“Then go message him, find somewhere to meet, profess your love or something.” Phil said casually, despite Wilbur’s sudden stuttering and complaints.
“I’m not going to profess m-my love!” Wilbur exclaimed, cheeks turning red.
“Whatever you say Wil. I’m gonna make sure Chayenne hasn’t shot anything or set anything on fire.” Phil waved goodbye, before exiting the house, calling to his son and granddaughter. Wilbur looked down at the device in his hand, eyes locked on the contact named ‘Q’. His fingers hovered over it, hesitating for a second. Why was he so nervous? Tallulah said that Quackity probably liked him too! Probably…
He shook those thoughts out of his head, forcing his fingers to move and hit the name. The screen of contacts disappeared, replaced by a screen saying “Calling Q”. The communicator rang. And rang. And rang.
He was beginning to think that Quackity wasn’t going to pick up, when suddenly…
Click
“Wilbur! Hey..” Quackity sounded nervous, apprehensive even. Wilbur swallowed, throat suddenly dry.
“Hey Quackity! How, how are you?”
“Oh, good, good. H-how are you?”
“Oh, I’m, I’m good! L-look I, uh, wanted to ask you something. Uh, well first, Tallulah mentioned you had come by…” Wilbur trailed off, giving Quackity a chance to pick it up.
“Oh, oh yeah, I-I did. That’s not a problem, is it?”
“No! No, no not at all! It’s perfectly fine, great even! I wanted to uh, talk to you about something, actually. Could you meet me at Tallulah’s tree house? You, you do know where that is, right?” Wilbur wanted to make sure before waiting for hours when Quackity didn’t even know where he was going.
“Yeah, I know where that is. Any time in particular?”
“As soon as you can.” Wilbur rushed out in one breath. He clamped his mouth shut, not wanting to seem that desperate. He swallowed, feeling a bit of sweat fall down his neck.
“Yeah, yeah I’ll be there.” Quackity hung up, pulling the communicator from his ear, staring at it in awe.
“¿Ese era Wilbur? ¿Te pidió que fueras a algún lado? (That was Wilbur? Did he ask you to go somewhere?)” Quackity startled, having forgotten where he was. He looked back up at Roier.
“ Sí, lo hizo. ¿Podemos acortar esto? (Yeah, he did. Can we cut this short?)” Quackity replied, already antsy to get to Wilbur’s home area. Roier smiled knowingly at him, nodding.
“¡Gracias! (Thanks!)” Quackity siad, already jumping up from the couch, sprinting out the door. He skidded to a stop at the waystone, hopping a bit to slow down fully. He pressed his hand to the stone, visualizing where he wanted to go.
He felt the pull in his gut, and then the suffocating silence wrapped around him, a terrifyingly silent few seconds, like always, before he felt his feet touch solid ground again, and the sounds of flute met his ears. He opened his eyes, seeing the inside of Wilbur and Tallulah’s teleport shed. He walked out of the small room, quickly making his way to where the tree house was.
“Hey!” He called out, seeing WIlbur already there. Wilbur turned to him, a smile splitting his face. Quackity stopped in front of him, hands stuffed into his pants pockets. Wilbur fiddled with his fingers.
Neither of them said anything for a few seconds, the silence getting more and more awkward by the second.
“I wanted to say-”
“What’d you want to-” They spoke at the same time, cutting each other off, and staring at the other. Quackity snickered at the situation, and Wilbur quickly followed suit, causing Quackity to laugh harder, and they laughed at the silly cliche for a minute. Quackity gestured for Wilbur to speak.
“So, the reason I asked you to come here was because, uh. I-uh, realized that you felt a certain way about me. Tallulah told me how you came by and what she had asked you.” Wilbur started slowly going red as he spoke, eyes staring resolutely at the ground. Quackity watched, eyes widening as whatever he wanted to say got caught in his throat. He opened his mouth to say something, to deny it, to apologize.
“And I realized that I felt the same.” Quackity snapped his mouth shut, staring at the brunette in front of him. He went the same shade of red. Wilbur looked up to meet Quackity’s eyes.
“I really like you a lot, Quackity. Like, a lot , a lot. And, I’m pretty sure you- hmph!” Quackity grabbed Wilbur by his collar pulling him down and kissing him. Wilbur startled, but quickly closed his eyes, his hand going to hold Quackity’s waist. It was slow and tender, full of the emotions that they couldn’t express. Quackity brought his hand up to cup Wilbur’s cheek, the touch soft and warm.
They separated, taking in deep breaths. Wilbur smiled, the grin taking up his whole face. Quackity mirrored it.
“Can we do that again?” He asked, still red. Quackity laughed, and they drifted into each other once again.