The Blinding Light of Sunrise - TNT Duo Dream SMP AU Fanfic

Chapter 4

Ranboo stood at the door to their house, looking out at the sun as it just crested the horizon. It was best to get an early start. He had a long way to go and the truck was probably a disaster by now; Wilbur tended to get too distracted by his obsession with annoying Quackity to remember to clean things properly. He'd left a few eggs and cheese out for Tubbo to make breakfast since he probably wouldn't be up for a few more hours. Tubbo had never been much of a morning person.

He again looked up at the sun, high in the bright blue morning sky. He shaded his red and green eyes with his hand and furrowed his brow. Hadn't it just been at the horizon? He heard the sounds of Tubbo and Michael moving about the house. He shrugged. Well, if they were up, he might as well help make breakfast. He missed family breakfasts. He turned around and went through the door, shutting it. Snow from the roof fell upon two sets of identical footprints trailing over the mountain toward Las Nevadas.

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Quackity buttoned up his shirt. Well, probably Wilbur's shirt, but there was no way he was going to admit to that now. His tie hung around his shoulders. He let out a long, slow breath and put his knit cap on. He caught a glimpse of himself in the spotty mirror attached to the paper towel dispenser over the sink. He looked like sh-t.

He could see Wilbur behind him, pulling on his boots, humming to himself. Quackity smiled but just as quickly put that smile away. It was so easy, in these moments, to forget that feeling he was being played and think there might be something real behind it. But this was Wilbur. Wilbur always had a plan, he always had an angle, a person wasn't Wilbur's friend so much as his tool. It was an undeniable trait of Philza's sons: for all their talk, they wouldn't hesitate to use anyone to achieve their ends. Or cut anyone loose.

Quackity examined his own face. "Wilbur, do you have a straight razor?" he asked.

"In the cupboard next to the sink."

Quackity opened up the cupboard and looked through it. "I'm not seeing it. Oh there it is." He reached for it as Wilbur did, their hands touching. He pulled back, he could feel his face turning red.

"Here," Wilbur said, handing him a cup with a straight razor and a small can of shaving cream.

Quackity filled the cup with water, lathered up his face, and began scraping away with the long. rectangular blade. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Wilbur. "You gonna watch me shave, now?" he asked. He dipped the razor in the cup and swished it quickly, trying to ignore how f-ing self-conscious Wilbur's gaze made him feel.

"Does it bother you if I do?" That now familiar little smile played on his lips.

"No," Quackity lied, stretching his chin up to get his neck.

"I never pictured you as the straight razor type."

Quackity swished the blade around in the water. "In this sh-thole of a place, it's good to have a weapon on you at all times."

"You aren't wrong."

Quackity glanced over at the man watching him. It was f-ing surreal! He looked so goddamned sincere. But Wilbur always looked sincere up until the moment he didn't. And, usually, by then it was too late. Quackity wondered what he was thinking, the calculations going through his mind. Or maybe Wilbur really was just watching him shave because he had it that f-ing bad for him.

Or that f-ing bad for Las Nevadas. It was hard to trust that this wasn't just him being the manipulative b-stard he was. But if Wilbur was planning to f-ck him over, at least he could have some f-ing fun with it. It was his city and he held all the f-ing cards, he should f-ing act like it.