In Cold Blood (A Tntduo Fic)

• III •

Wilbur laid on the couch with his head hanging over the edge. He scrolled mindlessly through social media sites on his phone, hopping between them every so often. Biting the inside of his cheek, he plugged his earbuds in and tapped on his music app. A song started playing. Wilbur looked at it on his screen for a second before skipping it. The next song started playing. He skipped it. And the next one as well. He finally came across a song that he let play all the way through.

Wilbur looked at his phone when the song was done playing. He glanced at the time, which was 10:32 in the morning. He groaned, switching his phone off before dropping it on his chest. A door creaked open.

"Bored?" Wilbur heard Techno say. He hummed in response.

"Incredibly," he said. He sat up on the couch, pausing the song he wasn't even paying attention to. "Chief insisted I have a day off since I haven't taken one for, how long has it been now? Two months?"

"Two months and a week," Techno corrected, taking a sip of whatever drink he was holding.

"Yeah. That," Wilbur said, flipping his phone around in his fingers. Techno hummed, leaning against the counter, pulling his long hair into a messy bun.

"Why don't you do something with the Syndicate?" He asked.

"Niki insisted I have a day off from that as well," Wilbur said. Techno nodded.

"Ah, can't argue with that. She's a force to be reckoned with," he said. "Why don't you go on a walk then?"

Wilbur shrugged. "I suppose I could check up on the border."

Techno sighed and shook his head. "I'll come with."

Wilbur shrugged, standing up. He paused for a second and let the blood rush out of his head. "Sure."

"Oh right now?" Techno said, taking a last sip of his drink. "Alright then."
...

The dappled golden light of near sunset fell through the multicolored leaves of trees on the wings of butterflies. Autumn was fast approaching, the leaves fading to warm reds, oranges, and yellows. Techno and Wilbur walked through this little stretch of forest, walking where the Las Nevadas border was just in their sight.

"Wilbur?" Techno asked. Wilbur hummed in response.

"What really happened that night you came back covered in blood and bruises?"

Wilbur would have laughed if he wasn't so caught off guard by the question. "I told you, Las Nevadas jumped me."

"You were lying," Techno said. "We both know that."

Wilbur huffed. "I'm not."

"Lier."

Wilbur sighed. "Fine. I got into a fight at the border. They didn't jump me."

"That's still not the whole truth," Techno said. "And you know it."

"They took me to their boss," Wilbur said after a moment of silence. Techno looked at him, disbelief painted on his face clearly,

"You met their new boss," he said. "And you made it out of there alive?"

"Their new leader is weak."

Techno looked at him again, something Wilbur did not know in his expression.

"You're lying. Again."

Wilbur scoffed. "How the fuck do you know?"

"You've got a tell. You've always been horrible at poker," Techno answered simply. "But apparently, this Quackity figure is not weak."