Late Night Smoke Breaks (Quackbur)

Chapter 1

Wilbur had been in Las Nevadas all day, looking for Quackity -to no avail. He'd been seeking out Quackity purely to annoy him, but apparently he just hadn't been out at all so Wilbur hadn't been able to go through with his masterful plan.
The sun was setting over the sands of Las Nevadas and Wilbur was considering heading home, but he decided to go up to the Space Needle, Las Nevadas' tallest building, not as a last-ditch attempt to find Quackity but simply for a smoke break.

He'd taken up the addictive hobby in Pogtopia when the stress was really getting to him and had just never bothered quitting. Wilbur always carried a pack and a lighter with him. Just in case.
He entered the Space Needle's interior. It was fancy, with quiet jazz music playing from a speaker in the top right corner, but the receptionist's desk was empty and nobody else was there. Wilbur shrugged it off; he knew Las Nevadas didn't have many residents.
He pressed a button next to the elevator and the cold metal doors opened with a 'ding!'. He pressed the button that said 'top floor' and the doors closed.

When he got there, the top was disappointingly empty. He knew not to get his hopes up- they'd been shot down too many times to be safe- but... still. It still hurt a little to be alone.
He leaned against the railings, surveying Las Nevadas' bright lights against the darkening sky.
The sky was now an inky-blue and would no doubt change to black within the hour.
Wilbur took out a cigarette and his lighter, pressed the cig up to his lips and lit it, taking a puff of it. It felt as if the smoke filled his body- and he liked it.
He'd always said that if it was anyone that would kill him, it'd be himself and his habits, and that was why he didn't care much for lung cancer or a sore throat or whatever the fuck came with smoking; he genuinely did not care.

He looked at the city Quackity had built from the ground up and frowned slightly. Quackity had this whole city to his name and all he had was a fucking burger van. The only things he had to his name were the food he served and the clothes on his back. He felt like such a failure.
The only younger brother he had, he'd failed. His only nation, he'd blown up. He had nothing, truly. No trust.
Lost in thought, Wilbur didn't hear the soft 'ding!' of the elevator until a voice snapped him out of his senses.

"Wilbur?"

Wilbur turned to see Quackity looking at him, a distasteful expression on his face.
"Quackity." It wasn't a question.
"What are you doing here?" Quackity practically spat. "Shouldn't you be serving your mouldy hot dogs in your stupid van?"
"I came for a smoke break," he replied simply. "What are you up here for?" The smoke from Wilbur's cigarette, held between two of his fingers, formed a thin stream up to the sky.
"I wanted a break from the world," Quackity said, crossing his arms. "You're not even supposed to be here."
Wilbur chuckled lowly. "I know." He took another drag of his cig.

"Get off my property, Wilbur," Quackity said annoyedly. Wilbur hummed.
"I'll pass. Cig?" He offered Quackity one of his cigarettes, who took it grudgingly.
"Hang on, let me light that for you," Wilbur said, taking his lighter back out and lighting Quackity's cigarette; he huffed a thank you before putting the cigarette to his lips.
There was a tense silence as both men smoked without saying anything to the other person.
Wilbur broke it.
"How's Las Nevadas doing?"
"It's okay," Quackity said with a nonchalant shrug.
"How's your friend? What was his name, Slime?"
"Dead."
"Oh." There was an awkward silence. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Nobody really cares, apart from me," Quackity muttered.
"Why?"
"I don't know. I don't have many people that care for me, and nobody else really knew Slime, so..." He shrugged and took another puff from his cigarette.
"Don't you have the residents of Las Nevadas? Foolish, Purpled, Fundy? Didn't they care?" Wilbur asked curiously.
"Purpled killed Slime."
"Oh. Shit. Okay. What about your fiancés, Karl and Sapnap? Didn't they comfort you or whatever?"
Quackity gave a harsh laugh.

"No, uh... that engagement is dead. Karl can't remember most things, he called me a murderer, and they went off and started a kingdom without me. I don't want to be associated with those backstabbing sons of bitches any more," Quackity said, a hint of both anger and sadness in his voice.
"I'm sorry they did that to you, Q," Wilbur said, readjusting his red-tinted glasses. "I know how hard you've had it these past few years."
"Nobody fucking appreciates me."
Quackity vented his feelings out by kicking the rail hard.
"I understand," Wilbur replied, "but I think what you've done is worthy of appreciation. Anyone who doesn't like it must be blind." He gave Quackity a small smile.

"Stop trying to get into Nevadas, Wilbur, it's not going to work."
"I'm not trying to," Wilbur said, putting a light hand on Quackity's shoulder, "I just want you to know that I think it's impressive how you've managed to build a whole nation from the ground up. It's a great feature. You should be proud of yourself, Q."
"I don't understand why I should be proud of it," Quackity replied, shoving Wilbur's hand off him, "nobody cares about Las Nevadas anyway."
"You've created a whole nation. That's something to be proud of."

"You did that too, the hell do you mean? L'Manburg was bigger than Las Nevadas," Quackity sneered.
"You know how that ended," Wilbur said grimly. "I know that if Las Nevadas ever ends, it won't be blown up by its founder."
"That's exactly why I can't let you into Nevadas," Quackity said seriously, looking straight into Wilbur's eyes. "You're too unpredictable. I don't want Las Nevadas to have the same fate as Manburg."
"Q, I've changed. Really. I don't have the arsonist tendencies any more, I don't-"
"I don't care, Wilbur. I can't trust you."

A short silence.
"Ah. I see how it is." Wilbur took a defeated drag of his cigarette. "I'll be off, then."
He'd just got to the elevator when he heard Quackity.
"Wait!"
"Hm?"
"Just... just be with me. No, sorry, I phrased that wrong, just be here, okay?" Quackity said, sounding a little desperate.
"I didn't know you were that lonely, Q," Wilbur said with a small smile, crossing back to where he had been smoking.
"Shut up. I just need someone to be around right now, I'm going through some shit, okay?" Quackity said.

"Aren't we all, Q? Tell me about it," Wilbur said, elbowing Quackity gently. "Nothing like the comfort of your own rival, hm?"
"I just- I'm just recovering from the death of Slime, Karl and Sapnap, just... God, just everything right now. I can't fucking cope," Quackity said, his voice wavering.
"Mm. I'm sorry about that, Q. I know you need someone in your life like them," Wilbur said.
"Yeah... I don't know who, though." Quackity put his head in his hands.

"Follow your heart. If you had the opportunity to date anyone on the SMP, who'd you date?" Wilbur asked, a smirk playing at his lips.
"I don't know... Foolish or something? I don't know if I like anyone like that right now, so..."
Wilbur's face fell. "Oh."
"What about you?"
"Oh, um, I... I don't know. I... I'd rather keep it a secret," Wilbur said, suddenly flushed.
"I bet it's someone embarrassing," Quackity said with a bark of laughter. "Glatt or some shit like that."
"Glatt?" Wilbur said, laughing. "You couldn't pay me to date that thing."
"I did date that thing. Schlatt, I mean," Quackity said with a shrug. "Asshole. Glad he's dead. If he hadn't died of a heart attack, I'd have taken him out by myself."
Wilbur laughed. "I'd have helped you."

Quackity gave a low chuckle and didn't say anything. The two men smoked in a comfortable silence, content with each other's company.
"I'm sorry you're lonely, Q," Wilbur said softly. "I know how it feels."
"You have Tommy, though! And Ranboo!"
"Ranboo's dead, and Tommy..." Wilbur paused and took a deep breath. "Tommy doesn't trust me any more. We argue all the time, he prefers hanging around with Phil and Techno... Fuck, I've failed as an older brother."

"I failed as a friend to Slime, we're similar," Quackity said, slumping down on the railing. He looked down at the city below. "You ever thought about jumping off?"
"Oh, of course I have, Q. Who hasn't?"
Wilbur took another puff of his cigarette.
"At least if I jumped, I'd meet Slime," Quackity said depressingly, dropping his cig and smothering its smoke with his boot heel.
"Hey, don't be like that," Wilbur said. "People care for you."
"That's bullshit, since Slime died I've realised nobody gives one fuck about me!"

Quackity started pacing up and down.
"I do everything I can- I make a whole nation for fuck's sake- and still nobody cares for me! No one!" he shouted, apparently not caring if anyone heard him.
"I care for you, Quackity," Wilbur told him seriously, looking straight into his eyes. Quackity seemed surprised that Wilbur had said it so straightforwardly.
"No. You don't. You might have in the past, but... that's... that's gone. What we had in Pogtopia, that's fucking gone."

"Who says it has to be?"