Killjoy // WILBUR SOOT ANGST

pedwar

Wilbur inhaled the familiar grey stench that burned his lungs in the way he had grown to love, the odour that fore-told his future in a less than promising way felt like the only consistent thing in his life.

He watched the toxic grey clouds fall from his open mouth and felt tension slowly melting from his shoulders, but the moon hanging high in the sky told him that it was probably him being tired.

The promise of catharsis was still very much there, though.

His hopes were interrupted by the sounds of floorboards creaking followed by light spilling into the garden, his eyes widened as he slowly turned to the door feeling his heart pounding angrily against his chest.

He could do nothing but stare for a moment, the cold breeze doing nothing to stop the beads of sweat forming along his hairline.

"Shit. Are you gonna tell Phil?"

Techno sighed, closing the door behind him and moving to sit on the grass besides the boy.

They both soaked in the silence, but Wilbur wondered if Techno could hear the way his heart was racing over beats.

"You're a teenager, we were teenagers once too you know. I know we can't stop you." He paused, and glanced up at the night sky, "as much as we'd like to."

"I do have a question though."

Wilbur groaned, and threw his head back.

"Are you happy here?"

The question hung high in the air, spilling a silence over and seemingly pausing the world. There were suddenly no cars driving by in the distance, the crickets had paused and even the wind had seemed to stop fighting with the grass and trees.

It ran around in circles inside of Wilburs brain, bouncing of the corners and taunting him.

"...It's not about whether I'm happy or not. it's just about whether I get through the days or not.. whether I make enough money to finally get my own place one day.." His voice trailed off into something hopeful, "...somewhere far away from everyone."

He locked eyes with Technoblade and scowled. "Far away from strangers." He spat, spilling venom through the grey clouds that floated out of his mouth. Techno scrunched his nose up at the toxic stench and listened to the sounds of the night, if he strained his ears then he could hear animals roaming their territory as the world continued on.

"It gets easier, Wilbur."

Wilbur huffed a laugh at that, tapping the ash against the concrete.

"I mean it. It does get easier, but you have to put the effort in... and that's the hard part. I understand what you're talkin' about, kid, life is full of puzzle pieces that feel like they'll never fit together-"

"But they do." Wilbur cut in, keeping his eyes fixed on the grass when he could feel the olders eyes burning a hole into his skin.

"You and Phil." He began, "You're brothers, an- and you live together. Even Tommy is your nephew. But you all..." He swallowed the stone in his throat, "you all fit together... You're related."

Suddenly, everything fell into place. Techno wondered how they had been so blind to miss this before. "You're related to us too, just because we only recently met - it doesn't change anythin'."

Wilbur rolled his eyes. "No. But it's not the same. You just feel like strangers to me, I never even knew my mum had siblings before she-" he cut himself off and chewed on his fingernails.

"That doesn't mean anythin', you mean a lot to us. Plus, you can hate who you're related to just as much as you love them."

"Well, you and Phil don't hate each-other. But you hated my mum."