like real people do | dreamnotfound

19

19 - speedrunning love like lesbians in a relationship (minus the u-haul truck)

~

within wilbur's room, niki and the aforementioned boy had their backs pressed against the cold floor, niki's phone was charging on wilbur's desk and wilbur was humming tunes absentmindedly.

"wil?" niki called out, the curly haired boy was laying on the floor, and the girl was also laying on the floor - although, she was opposite wilbur. there was distance between them, and comfortable silence lingered in the air. the boy hummed, looking at the ceiling, it was common for them to hang out together after hanging out with other people - sort of recharging their social batteries. "the blond, clay, tell me more about him."

"hm? why? you're into him?" wilbur teased lightly, smiling gently. niki laughed, chest rising up and down erratically as the small girl tried to stop her laughter from spilling past her lips. "i'll have you know, that guy is as straight as a protractor. he's the awkward gay."

"i can tell, also, you know i'm much too gone for women." niki quipped back, light-hearted, laughter curling at the edge of her lips. "also, no, i was just curious - i've heard about sapnap from you before, he's the guy that made tommy cry from his jokes, right?"

"yeah. he said he can control fire and that if tommy didn't eat his peas then he'd singe walter's fur." wilbur explained, a light smile resting upon his lips. "'t'was like magic, really. tommy ate all his peas, his plate was clean! mom was impressed." he added, "but, clay. i haven't told you about him?"

"no, not really." niki hummed, "you only talked about nick or tech, but i've never heard you mention clay." she continued, "i met him at a chuck e cheese's, when i came over to visit minx."

"clay is actually tech's twin, he moved out to go to college." wilbur started, "he's crazy talented when it comes to coding - like, really talented. however, he gets burnt out quickly." he explained, "he also tends to ghost people when he spirals or some shit, which, we totally understand. clay is in a very fragile place right now. before they came over, actually, he tried this VR-esque pill, minecraft. we're supposed to do it all together but clay said it was all glitchy."

niki stopped, a beat. "VR pill?"

"yeah, wait. george was on one, right? how is he by the way?" wilbur ping-ponged, he knew how absolutely destroyed niki was when george fell into a coma.

"he's doing good," niki smiled, "we're slowly getting his body accustomed to eating solid foods again, and he's drinking lots and lots of water since his throat is a little scratchy from the tube they shoved down." she explained.

"oh, i'm glad he's doing alright." wilbur replied, "niki, if you don't mind me asking - why do you want to know so much about clay?"

"nothing, it's just-"

"nihachu, i've known you for half my life, now - what's wrong, bubs?" wilbur coaxed. niki sighed, folding her legs and placing an arm over her eyes. "is everything alright? you don't have to tell me, i just- what i mean is, if you want to talk about it then you can tell me. if i can, i might be able to help you."

"i talked to my brother, when he woke up." niki started, wilbur turned to look at niki, smiling at the blonde. "and, he met a boy, in game. after years of spending his time alone in that virtual reality game keeping his brain alive - somebody joined."

"...clay joined." wilbur mumbled, "he told us it didn't work, though."

"yeah, which. i don't know. i need to know if clay is the guy my brother met." niki said, "and, i want to get to know him before possibly introducing him to george."

"you have a bit of a time restraint, though." wilbur said, "clay goes back home in a week."

"shit. okay." niki mumbled.

"how did you know, by the way?" wilbur asked, niki tilted her head in slight confusion, urging wilbur to clarify what he meant. "that clay possibly met george."

"he has the ear cuff." niki said plainly, "george and i had an agreement that he'll give someone important one of his ear cuffs. i recognized my work."

"if it makes you feel better, clay is a good guy." wilbur smiled, "terribly lonely, but a good guy nonetheless. he has been feeling down ever since he came here - i guess, if they did meet and were separated, that could be a reason why."

"we'll have to work fast, then." niki said, "will you help me, by the way?" she asked, the boy nodded.

"of course, clay could possibly meet someone - a boy - he can be with. that's pog." wilbur replied, one of their dogs - betty, entered the room, and laid beside niki, making the blonde girl smile. "she likes you too much, it's unfair."

"i have a certain charm that attracts animals." she joked, petting the dog gently. "i just want my brother to be happy."

"and i want clay to be happy, so, our goals are sort of aligned." wilbur said, sitting up and arching his back - his bones and spine cracking because of the stretch. "any ideas on how we'll do this?"

"can we spend a day with tech, sapnap and clay? i want to get to know him more." niki asked, wilbur enthusiastically nodded. "let's do something comfortable, i guess. like, playing on their xbox or some shit."

"yeah! sure. you'll get to see how unnecessarily competitive and childish the twins are." wilbur laughed.

"tom and tubs?" niki asked, and wilbur frantically shook his head.

"no, clay and tech. they're so childish sometimes it's funny." wilbur said, "the childishness tiptoes between the line of being annoying and funny, i don't even know where it goes sometimes. but, you'll get to see clay in his most comfortable state."

"okay then, let's do this." niki said, determined. wilbur nodded, already grabbing his phone to shoot his friends a text message.

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03/31/21