icing those hurt

part 12

Sapnap tries to pick some fries off of Techno's plate but the man smacks at his hand, making him pull back with a pout.

"You let Tubbo do it!" He whines, rubbing his hand.

Techno looks at him, unimpressed. "Tubbo can take things without being obvious. I respect him."

"And not me?"

Techno doesn't even answer. Quackity opens a palm, leaning over like a little shit. "Tech, can I have a fry please?"

"I'm not your mother," He says, but slides his plate over to Quackity easily. Quackity grins and Sapnap's jaw drops. He's about to be upset, loudly and annoyingly, when Wilbur walks up, cheeks flushed like he just came from the ice.

"Wilbur!" Sapnap exclaims. "Tell Techno that I deserve everything that I want always and forever."

"Ah, so you're in one of your annoying moods, huh?" Wilbur says, amused. "Glad I could be here for this- wouldn't want to miss it for the world."

"How was your practice?" Techno asks, and Sapnap suddenly notices that Wilbur isn't alone. Behind him, just a little winter shadow, is Tommy. His cheeks similarly flushed and his hair messy like the wind has been blowing through it. His face is blank, but if Sapnap didn't know better, he'd think that there was a slight ring of nervousness in his blue eyes.

"Practice?" Schlatt asks.

"Yeah, Tommy's been teaching me a bit of figure skating. Well, trying to- sit here Toms, yeah, there you go- no, I was doing great today, wasn't I?" Tommy nods nervously, even Sapnap can see the way he holds himself. Like he's expecting...Sapnap doesn't know. An attack? Wilbur grins like everything is normal. "See? Except, well, I mean, I took a spill."

George raises an eyebrow. "So you suck then."

"No," Wilbur pouts. "I just fell once. One time. Tommy thought it was funny. He laughed."

And something about the way he says it holds significance. It means something, something specific. It clearly means the same to Techno too, who's eyes widen. Sapnap feels left in the dark.

"That's good," Techno says, his voice soft. Directed straight at Tommy, who ducks his gaze and turns pink. "That's great."

"Yeah," Quackity snorts. "Make him fall more. He deserves it for being so annoying."

"I have never been annoying in my whole life," Wilbur argues, and Quackity laughs for real, leaning in, probably ready to detail every single time in Wilbur's life that he's annoyed Quackity, and Sapnap would gladly join in, just to ruffle Wilbur's feathers, but he can't.

He just can't stop watching Tommy.

Something about the kid is... wrong. Something about him makes Sapnap uneasy all of a sudden. He didn't feel it before, back when he first saw the kid walking by, nose high, taller than anything, but now he seems to be the complete opposite of that. Now, he shrinks, curling into himself, trying to hide from some unseen threat. It makes Sapnap antsy- makes him want to drag his eyes across the room, find whatever is creeping Tommy out and kick its ass so he can relax.

Sapnap gets the vague feeling that he can't fight this particular battle for the kid.

It's in his silence- one that he doesn't even try to break. Like being quiet is how he lives. It makes Sapnap think of Wilbur, way back when. It makes Sapnap feel just this side of ill.

"You want something to drink, Tommy?" Sapnap blurts, cutting off Wilbur and Quackity's playful argument and drawing all the attention to himself.

Tommy's eyes widen. All the attention shifts to him, waiting for his answer. His cheeks color. "No," he says rapidly. "No, I'm- thank you. Thank you, I'm alright-"

Wilbur frowns a bit, completely forgetting his argument. "Are you sure? You didn't have anything after we skated. Maybe you should have some water, just so you don't get dehydrated."

Tommy looks flustered, confused, embarrassed, and Sapnap realizes that he's kind of put the kid on the spot with his offer. Sapnap did the same thing back when Wilbur joined the team, unable to stand seeing a teammate of his suffer without doing something about it. He would just ask Wilbur what he needed, and Wilbur never had an answer. Wilbur could never see it, but he was clearly lacking, and Sapnap's hands twitch when the people around him aren't taken care of.

Even if it's just some random figure skater that he barely knows.

"I've got it," Sapnap says, then stands and goes to grab him some water. He doesn't know what Tommy prefers- cold or room temperature- so he just grabs both. And besides, two waters instead of one never killed anyone. When he comes back and places the two bottles down in front of the kid, Tommy still looks stunned.

"Thank you?" He says quietly, his brows furrowed, and Sapnap smiles tightly, just barely resisting the urge to pat Tommy's shoulder as he goes.

When Sapnap sits down, Techno offers an approving look and George lightly kicks Sapnap's ankle under the table, teasing. Sapnap kicks him back and ignores his expression.

It's whatever. It was water. The kid needed it- no big deal.

(Somehow though, he feels like it might have been a big deal. Just a bit. At least to Tommy.)

(word count - 881)