Tainted Perception | Wilbur Soot Angst (ORIGINAL)

Underreacting

TW: Swearing, lack of care about bodily harm, hospitals

A/N: I don't know if this chapter name is an actual word- I got mixed results using spell checkers and Google. Also this chapter is really cheesy, sorry about that.

 Wilbur knew that he probably should be more concerned about the fact that he had almost died, but he just couldn't seem to find it within himself to care. It wasn't like this was his first brush with death. He had been shot, stabbed, cut, burned, even killed. Now he just felt numb. Sure, it still hurt, but it didn't gain the same reaction it used to.

Phil was obviously worried about this lack of care about the incident, the apparent disregard for his life. But, contrary to the man's belief, Wilbur didn't want to die, he had proven that to himself moments before his death. He was just numbed to the idea of being wounded to a life threatening point.

For fuck's sake both Tommy and Tubbo, who were significantly younger than him, had suffered more than he had. They didn't deserve the traumas of war at such an age. Teenagers were supposed to run, and play, and mess around. Not get ordered around by their older brother in a rebellion for independence. Not get publicly executed for being a traitor. Not get exiled from their own country after fighting for it for so long.

Sighing into his hands, he glanced up at Phil, who was still asleep. They had been in the hospital for a couple days now, the doctors insisting on making sure the surgeries were successful. They had said that he had gotten lucky, no organs had been hit, and they only really had to stitch some things up.
It was ironic, in the war he had been shot multiple times, but no one really cared. It was just another day. He had to treat any wounds with the limited supplies they had. Thinking back on it, they were lucky nothing got infected. Another miracle, he supposed.

"Good morning," he greeted, not looking up. Phil nodded, pulling out his phone, presumably to check the time. He winced. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." The man said it fast, too fast. Wilbur didn't comment. This was how most of their interactions went. Awkward words exchanged as quickly as possible, neither wanting to hold onto a conversation. "Are you hungry?" Phil asked finally, his phone slipping back into his pocket.

Not really. "Yes." The man didn't need to be any more worried than he already was.

"I'll go see what they have." Wilbur nodded, settling back down into silence.

-

Fuckin' answer, Phil! Tommy thought to himself, mentally screaming for the man to respond to his numerous messages. There was no way he didn't know by now, but it was still very worrying. Shaking his head, he ran over to his PC and opened Discord. No use hiding the secret from his friends now. He had already texted Tubbo and Ranboo, telling them his idea, they had agreed.

So here they were, all of them in a group chat, about to announce to everyone what they had been keeping from them for the past couple weeks. No one seemed to know how to start.

"Well- um, hi?" Tubbo greeted anxiously, his fingers tapping against the desk.

"What's- what's going on?" Sapnap asked. All they had told them was 'join call.'

"Well..." Ranboo trailed off. "It's- it's about Wilbur." The entire group seemed to perk up. "Um, Wilbur he- he is-" the boy swallowed, trying to gather his thoughts. "Well, I'm assuming- I'm assuming you've all seen the video?" Everyone gave their affirmations. "Well- well it's- it's real, I mean. And- and I know that because- because I've-" Tommy decided to cut him off.

"I've talked to him." He could practically feel all of the eyes on him. "I've seen him as well. He's- he's not alright, man. Ever- ever since that video got- got posted Phil hasn't been answering any of my- any of my calls. Um, Will's with Phil, that's- that's why I bring him up." There was a pause, no one knew what to say.

"Do- do you know what happened to him? Besides the coma, I mean," Dream asked cautiously.

"I know- I know that he was in a- in a fake world? I'm honestly- I'm honestly not too sure. I think- I think they said that he experienced an entire like- like reality, and- and it's hard for him to figure out what's real?"

"Fuck," Dream muttered.

"What's wrong?"

"I- I think I did something. I called- I called Phil the other day, and- and Wilbur picked up. I'm- I'm not quite sure what happened, but- I- he didn't- he didn't react very well, I guess."

"You're gonna have to elaborate, Big Man," Tubbo pressured gently.

"He- well he was panicking, and then- and then Phil realized, I think? I'm not sure."

"It's alright," Tommy assured, glancing hopelessly around the room. What were they going to do? 

Like I said, cheesy. Have a wonderful day/night! 

PS: I'm sure a good amount of you are aware, but I have published the second epilogue for Unpredictable