Worst Case Scenario

Smoking Habits (You Wonder Why You Have Asthma)

---The day after---

Wilbur and Tommy stood in their headquarters made out of stone. They were taking a break, or really, Tommy was. The blonde was being pushed around by his brother who was ordering him to build more to their hq. The one thing Tommy didn't want Wilbur to tell him to do was to build walls. He hadn't yet, but he could tell Wilbur was considering it.

Ghostbur's gravestone also went missing before Tommy arrived. Wilbur was there before the blonde, and Tommy accused his brother. All Wilbur did was deny it and gaslight Tommy. He knew what the brunette was doing, but frustration overrode anything else. They got into a fight again after Wilbur had called the ghost 'naive and a child.' Maybe Wilbur was really talking about Tommy. He didn't know anymore.

The blonde boy was sat on a wood stool while Wilbur leaned against the stone, cigarette smoke filling the air between them. Even after dying and being revived, he still hadn't quit taking drugs. It wasn't any of the hard stuff anymore, but cigarettes were no better. Tommy could already feel the second-hand smoke getting in his lungs.

"Tommy. You remember when I asked what a syndicate was?" Wilbur had said out of nowhere. The blonde looked up, red eyes pinning him to his seat.

"Yeah? What about it?" Wilbur's mouth turned up into a smile, the cigarette balancing between his lips.

"I've figured out what I remember that word from." Tommy cocked his head to the side, confused as Wilbur talked on. "The Syndicate. It's the name that a group of anarchists here uses. You wanna know who the members are?"

The boy gulped and didn't answer. Wilbur told him anyways. "Our dad, Philza, Technoblade, Niki, and, here's the real surprising one, Ranboo." Tommy's heart skipped a beat as his friend's name came out of the brunette's mouth. "Ranboo! Like I understand Niki, but the boy who's married to Tubbo? A president of a literal fucking goverment?"

Tommy looked down at his feet. Ranboo had cleaned his shoes clean of mud, only to get them dirty again as he walked back to his house the next morning. Would he have to tell Tubbo? Had Ranboo not told Tubbo? They all kept stuff from each other, and he knew how Ranboo chose people and not sides, but...

"Tommy." Wilbur's voice snapped the blonde's attention up towards him. "Do you really think you can trust them? I mean, they left you. They aren't there for you, they don't understand you and what you went through." The brunette kneeled down to the ground, looking up at Tommy with caring eyes. He was telling the truth. "But I do. I know what death is really like."

Tommy hung on his brother's every word. Wilbur had chosen his words carefully, leaning forward to wrap his arms around Tommy. "I'm always here for you, Tom."

The blonde almost reciprocated the hug before shoving his brother off. The livid words poured out of his mouth. "No you fucking aren't! You didn't even care for L'manberg, so what makes you think you care about me?!"

"Then tell me..." Wilbur stood up calmly. Tommy was back to staring up at his brother. "Who do you have that you can turn to? You killed Ghostbur, Tubbo abandoned you, Philza and Techno both hate you, and who knows when Ranboo will turn on you."

Despite his brows furrowing together, despite how the brunette tossed those words around weightlessly, there was truth in them. Tommy's fists curled up.

"Don't you run, Tom." Wilbur cooed. It was something Tommy did when he was about to take off and run away from his troubles. Anytime the blonde had argued with anyone, he would curl his hands into fists right before darting out.

Tommy's fists uncurled, his arms going slack by his side. He turned away, avoiding looking at his brother. "Schlatt's back, y'know."

Wilbur leaned back against the wall, a cocky smile around his almost burnt out cigarette. "Oh, I know. Had a nice little run in with him." The brunette paused to take the last puff of his cigar and read Tommy's reaction. "He's older than me now. Because I came out of the afterlife earlier than him."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Tommy finally looked at Wilbur as he stomped the cigarette out into the ground.

"You'd find out for yourself." He replied before walking towards the blonde. He put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You always do. You're just nosy like that."

Tommy stopped, watching silently as Wilbur walked away with a stone brick in his hand. "Let's build this wall now, shall we?"

The blonde boy shuddered. There it was. Just another country to piss off another person. His feet dragged him towards Wilbur and started helping him with the wall.