Tainted Perception | Wilbur Soot Angst (ORIGINAL)

Something

TW: Swearing

A/N: Kind of rushed at times, this was meant to be updated several hours ago, then I got dragged out to socialize, and now I'm being told to go to bed.

Dream wasn't sure what made Sapnap decide that today was movie night, but it had happened. Smiling despite himself, the man shook his head as the sound of popcorn rang through the kitchen, the smell of butter wafting throughout the entire house.

"Is it ready yet?" Sapnap called, turning slightly as he balanced two mugs of hot chocolate and a bowl of candy in his hands. The blond raised his eyebrows, glancing at the thirty seconds still displayed on the microwave.

"Nope."

"Well, tell it to hurry up, I wanna start the movie!"

"Hurry up!" Dream shouted half-heartedly, banging unenthusiastically on the counter. Sapnap turned fully this time, an unimpressed look on his face.

"C'mon, you can do better than that!"

"HURRY UP!" the blond yelled fully this time, a smile coming onto his face as the shout echoed throughout the house. Beep! Beep! Beep! Both of the men burst into laughter.

"WOOOOO!" Sapnap cheered, doing a little dance as the microwave continued to alert them of its finishedness.

"LET'S GOOOO!" Dream shouted, a grin enveloping his face as they celebrated the little things. It wasn't much, but it was something. And sometimes, that was enough.

-

Wilbur opened his eyes slowly, dread pooling in his stomach as he recognized the scenery around him. He couldn't do this. Not again. He was on the battlefield, fireworks crackling through the air, as he took it all in from the top of a hill. He knew what came next.

"Hello," a brunet greeted, him from a past life, a long trench coat whipping around him as he walked towards the supposed enemy, the person he fought for so long.

"Hello."

"How are you, Dream?" Wilbur asked, the corners of his mouth tilting upward as the war waged on around them. The man ignored the question, cutting directly to the chase.

"Schlatt's an idiot."

"What?" Wilbur asked incredulously, "Yeah, how long did it take you to figure that one out?" Dream shook his head in annoyance, before gesturing to the crowd that had gathered around them.

"Can you- can you tell your guys to stop pointing their guns at me?"

"They're not- they're not really my men anymore. We're sorta a militia, at this point," the brunet remarked, but nodded to Tommy and the others to put their weapons down. The real Wilbur scowled, clenching his fists at the thought of his little brothers, even if they weren't real, being pawns in a hopeless game.

"So... Schlatt is an idiot."

"Yeah, I mean, Schlatt, yeah, Schlatt's an idiot," the man agreed. "We've- we've been down this route before."

"But, he's more of an idiot than you would think," Dream continued. Wilbur raised his eyebrows.

"Oh?"

"I- I thought that fighting with him would be good, and I gave him, like, full netherite." Dream paused, letting his gaze roam across the war struck land. "Where is he?" Wilbur blinked, glancing at the people surrounding them. "Loo- look around. Like- like, where's JSchlatt?"

"Oh. Uh, um." The man turned in a circle, muttering numbers under his breath as he did a mental head count of everyone there. "I- I don't see Schlatt."

Then, the brunet turned, smirking as his gaze found Wilbur, his head tilted smugly as he leaned against the now frozen figure of Tommy. "Wasn't that so fucking dumb?!" the man exclaimed, flicking the blond's face, before walking towards the real version of himself, like a predator zeroing in on its prey. "Lamest turn around in history! The 'All Powerful Ruler of L'Manburg' doesn't even show up to his own fucking war." He paused, taking in the unnaturally still view. "They had fun writing that in their history books." He turned back towards Wilbur. "Just like they immortalized your betrayal."

"Shut up," the brunet growled, glaring at his past self as he strutted cockily around the frozen scene.

"What? Are you mad that I'm calling it what it is? Stop lying to yourself, Wilbur! You won back everything! Then, you went and threw it all away! And, for what? To prove a point?! That's bullshit, and we both know it."

"I fucking know!" Wilbur finally exploded. "I fucking know." He sighed, collapsing onto the rock beside him. "But, at least I did something noteworthy in my life." His past self shook his head. Whether it was in disappointment or something else he didn't know. But, before he could ask, the scene faded to black, leaving Wilbur alone once more.

-

The blond sighed as he got up, pushing himself away from the desk as he tilted his head at the unfinished code in front of him. It had to be perfect, or all of his work would be pointless. Growling in frustration, he sat back down, moving his mouse harshly across the screen. Maybe it would be better to have a clean slate. The man froze at the thought, his pointer hovering over the "delete" button. All of his work. Gone. It's just one click.

He had made the decision to let his subject go temporarily. It had made the most sense in the moment. But now he was paying the price. Would it really be more work to just restart? He tilted his head considering. He didn't like letting go, let alone giving up. He had worked hard on that world, the world the subject had been so quick to disregard, at least on the surface. But, when was it time to cut his losses? When was it time to erase his old work and create something new?

He quickly shook the thought off. He could make this work. He had to make this work. He had promised Wilbur something special, and he wasn't one to go back on his word.

Yay, long chapter lmao. 970 words! Have a wonderful day/night!