Questionable Choices [Yan!DSMP x Reader]

Chapter 47: I Choose Sally

T/W: Suicidal Behaviour (Again)

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The warmth of the coffee cup feels comforting in Philza's colder hands as he's looking at Ranboo, who's watching the television. The particles that usually surround him seem a bit more aggressive than usual, although they might just be filled with more energy than usual. It paints a smile on his face to know that there's at least someone who feels relaxed here.

Philza is not. Philza is not at all relaxed.

He got some concerning calls from both his sons. Wilbur on the calls sounded... psychotic. Delusional and manic. Technoblade, meanwhile, told him about some deal he had managed to make or something that he'd been wanting to do for years now that he could finally be able to do. Neither were right in the head at the time of the phone call, and Phil is wondering if he maybe should go after them. But what can he do?

Niki also went with them and apparently, so did some others, under whom Quackity and Fundy.

"Phil? Are you okay?" Ranboo asks, getting Philza out of his cursed thoughts and anxious mind. The old man simply lets out a sigh.

"I am, I am. Don't worry about me, mate."

"Something's bothering you, though. What is it?"

Ranboo's knowing eyes are focused on him, the two different colours shining just as bright as their twin. Unlike inside of the walls of the Syndicate's home, Ranboo always has had to pretend. To pretend to be something else, just in order to assure his own safety. Just to make sure that he wouldn't be taken away and experimented on. Of course, Philza also has to hide his wings from the public, but he chose to have them, while Ranboo did not decide to be what he is.

"I'm just thinking about Wilbur and Techno. I'm glad that they're talking again, of course, but surely, it can't be me that thinks their behaviour was quite alarming?"

Ranboo keeps staring at him for a moment, a slight hint of confusion in his eyes. "Do you... not know?"

"Do I not know what?" Philza asks right away, realizing that the young friend knows a lot more than he does.

"Do you not know why they're working together?" When Philza shakes his head, Ranboo continues. "It's Y/N, Phil. Y/N is the reason why they're getting along so well."

"What do you mean?" Of course, Phil knows how much Techno cares about you. He knows about all the times that Technoblade regretted ever leaving you like he did. And yet, he does not understand what Ranboo is getting at.

"I can't explain what it is about them. They're like crypto: everybody knows it's a scam, but they still fall for it." That's the moment Philza knows. The moment he understands. The moment he gets what Ranboo means. "I don't know what it is. Maybe they're cursed, maybe they have something in their aura. Maybe it's thanks to a failed experiment. Maybe it's how they're born. Maybe they're an anomaly like me, maybe they're just human like you. In any case, quite some people seem to love them in an unhealthy way." Philza puts his cup on the table and comes closer to Ranboo.

"How do you know all of this? I know you've met them, but still."

"Apparently, some crazy shit went down at DeMeter yesterday. Tubbo told me about it. Y/N cut off their arm just to escape them."

"Escape? Surely, it can't be that bad."

"Nobody would cut off their arm just to escape someone if it isn't that bad, Phil." Phil falls silent. He doesn't want to believe that his sons could bring someone to do that. But the desire to ignore the story is not any stronger than his fear to lose another person he loves.