Pawprints: The Election

14- taxes

I had just finished when the bell rang over the door; I turned to see who it was, but all the excitement had left me when I saw. There stood Quackity, and outside the door was George, decorated with his netherite armor and his sword at his hip. Quackity was less decorated than him but still had a sword slung at his hip.

"NIKKI," he shouted, making me flinch and drop the wooden plank that was in my hand, alerting him to my presence. "Oh! Hey (Y/N), I see Tubbo fixed you up." he had a sick smile on his face. My ears had instinctively pinned back flat against my head as my tail tucked between my legs. I was scared of what he would do.

"What do you want, Quackity," Nikki interrupted the one-way conversation as she dusted the flour off her hands on her apron.

"Nikki, you know why I'm here," he walked up to the counter, leaning on it, "Time to pay up."

"Quackity, like I said last time, I have nothing left," she pleaded with him.

"Oh, come on, you've gotta have something."

"Quackity, why don't you just leave okay, she can't give you anything," I interrupted. Quackity turned to look at me; his eyes were full of evil intent.

"I'd watch my mouth if I were you," he walked over to me, "you're not even on thin ice anymore. You're in our boat, okay." I flinched as he took my shoulder in his hand and leaned over to whisper in my ear, "we're going to have some fun at the festival tomorrow." He let go of me, almost pushing me backward before he turned back to Nikki.

"Well, if you can't pay in money, then you can pay with food," he said, "feed the Whitehouse staff!"

Nikki sighed as she turned, taking a small bag and started to fill it with the muffins and bread she had just finished baking. She came out of the back after a few minutes and handed Quackity the bag; he smirked as he opened it, looking at the contents, "thanks," he said as he left. He walked out, making the small bell ring again, breaking the silence that had formed. George quickly followed behind him.

Nikki sighed, leaning against the counter, "you should probably be heading out; I'm sure Tubbo is wondering where you are."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Ya, see ya tomorrow."

I stepped out of the building and headed to the central city where Tubbo would be. Nikki was clearly stressed and upset. She was being taxed to the point of bankruptcy, and She could barely afford the essentials for herself.

My thoughts were interrupted when I saw Tubbo frantically running around the city with armfuls of streamers and various party supplies.

"Oh, Hi (Y/N)!" Tubbo shouted, almost dropping the items in his hands.

"Do you need some help there?" I said through small laughs.

"That'd be amazing," He said with a smile, "could you grab those flags over there?"

I grabbed the pile of flags and followed him to the stage. He set down his stack of items before grabbing a hammer and nails, signaling me to follow him onto the stage.

"We're going to hang them here."

We unfurled one flag and hung it off the stage, and then did the same with the other on the opposite side. I continued to help through the rest of the day to finish the preparations for the festival.

"Let's head back to the van. I'll make us some stew," I said. We made our way back into the van. I went into the back, where we had a small closet. During the war, it served as Wilbur's bedroom. I took two bowls and a pot from the shelf, and some other ingredients. I went out to the small fire pit right outside the van and lit a fire to cook the stew. I put the ingredients in the pot setting it on fire to cook.

A few minutes had passed before Tubbo came outside, no longer dressed in his suit and instead dressed in a simple shirt and trousers. He sat across from me, looking somber. I took a bowl and filled it with the stew handing it to him, and he did the same for me.

"You know the last time we sat around the fire was the night before the war," he paused, "all of us were here, and now it's just the two of us left."

Silence overtook the two of us, the only noise being made was the cracking of the fire.

"I think I'm going to do it," Tubbo said confidently.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going to give Wilbur the code to blow it up tomorrow," he looked up at me, "just get out of there before my speech, okay?"

"What about you?"

"I'll get out, trust me, just make sure you're somewhere safe."

"Okay."

Word count- 828

SEE BIG LORE! It's here I've been promising it for two weeks but it's here, like right around the corner