Our Silent Song | a c!tntduo band au fic

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"You were amazing." Quackity bumbled the words out in a slurred murmur. But the man had heard well enough. It seemed Quackity had become a fan without even realising it.

He'd almost instantly been snapped out of his mental spiralling. Even if his hands still felt numb and his pounding heart caught in his throat.

"Thank you. but are you alright?" he asked. A nod of the head was the only response he got. "I don't want to leave if you're just going to be sat on your own like this." He mumbled aloud, more in thought than as a statement. "Can you get home?"

"I'll call a taxi." Quackity lifted his head back up, "I'm alright. Thank you uh.." he didn't know the name of the person beside him. Maybe if he had actually known who was playing in front of him only a short while before he could've responded with a little more politeness.

"Wilbur." The man said in response.

"Thank you Wilbur." Quackity repeated himself.

He rummaged around in his pocket for a phone before pulling it out. His head was still spinning as he unlocked it, after one incorrect attempt at the password. Wilbur sighed and pulled out his own phone. Before Quackity could get onto the search bar to find the number for a taxi company Wilbur was talking to someone.

"Thank you. How long will it take to get here do you reckon?" it seemed the transaction had neared a close before Quackity even processed what was happening. "Perfect, thank you again." He hung up and slid his phone back into his pocket.

"One will be here in 5 minutes, is that alright?" Wilbur announced and it took Quackity a moment to process. He felt embarrassed that his inebriated state slowed him down to a wide eyed and laboured thinking state of self.

"You didn't have to-" he tried to rebut. The gesture was appreciated nonetheless.

"Let me wait with you, just until the taxi gets here?" Wilbur asked. He didn't have anywhere he needed to be and wanted the peace of mind that this person wasn't going to be found unconscious in the street somewhere.

The van was already being packed; he knew the girls had it covered so he felt alright to hang about with him for a while. Besides his skin was still hot with adrenaline from finishing the show and the chilled air felt nice. There wasn't much wind so instead, even though the air had cooled, it still held onto the warmth of the sun from the day.

"Alright." Quackity didn't have the strength to argue anyway. Instead, he just sat there, back against the wall. Wilbur sat down too, shoulder against his own. Quackity shut his eyes as he leaned his head back against the wall.

The noise from inside the bar still echoed out into the streets and it pounded in his head. But it bothered him less now. It felt more like a noise in the background just filling some of the empty space. If his head didn't hurt so much maybe it would have even felt comforting to not be sat in desolate silence.

He would've been thankful it filled the absence of words between the two of them. He was never fond of uncomfortable silence where you sit and quietly wonder if you should fill the emptiness even when neither person has anything meaningful to say.

"Have you been to one of our shows before?" Wilbur filled that absence of conversation with a query. Maybe he had been feeling the same way and was in a better mindset to think of the next trivial topic.

"Nope." Quackity admitted. "I've never even heard of you before. I don't remember how I ended up in the bar. I just used to spend a lot of time here, so I knew my way to the bar." He slowly spoke, trying to form the sentences coherently and think about what he was trying to say.

The water he continued to sip on mixed with the fresh air were starting to uncloud his mind but he had drunk more than enough to make this difficult.

"I'm glad to hear you liked it at least." Wilbur had a pleased look behind his smile.

He stared off across the street from where they sat. Quackity just nodded his head. The two of them sat in continued silence and waited for the taxi to arrive. The short chatter had padded out the tension in the air slightly but it still weighed down on their shoulders. But no one had anything left to say.

It didn't take long before the exact car matching the description pulled up outside the bar. Wilbur was the one to notice it as Quackity sat there perfectly still, eyes staying shut.

"The taxi is here." He announced, moving to stand up. He put a hand on the wall to support himself as he stood then gave a thumbs up to the taxi to let the driver know they were waiting in the right place.

Then he held a hand down for Quackity to take to help himself stand up once he opened his eyes. The hand felt bigger wrapped around his own. His fingertips were calloused but the palms of his hands soft.

Once he was up, they both walked over to the car. Continuing in the silince which slowly growed in comforbility. Wilbur walked close by; he was waiting just in case he needed to lend a hand to the still drunk and slightly wobbly Quackity.

But the two of them got over there with little issue.

Quackity went to open the door but a hand on his shoulder made him pause. Wilbur held out a £10 note crisply folded in half.

"No, I couldn't take it, I have money!" he tried to refuse.

"Honestly. Please?" Wilbur wouldn't take no for an answer. "And you can buy me a drink when we next see each other." It wasn't much money in the grand scheme of things anyway.

With a reluctant sigh, quackity took the money and climbed into the seat of the taxi. His shoulders slumped as his back hit the plush seat he sat upon.

"Thank you. For everything." He gave Wilbur a warm smile as he adjusted himself on the seat. The man just shook his head as if it was nothing before closing the car door.

With one final wave he turned and walked away.

Quackity leaned forwards to tell the driver his address before the car pulled away and started driving. He pulled the seatbelt down over his shoulder and clicked it into place. Then he leaned back again to relax. Being sat on the floor outside for what seemed like forever had taken a toll on his now aching back.

The movement of the vehicle made him feel slightly sick, so he let his mind wander to distract himself. At first, he wasn't sure what to think of, but each train of thought lead the same way. His mind couldn't seem to pick any other topic to focus on other than the man on the stage. The same man that had then sat outside and waited with him.

It was very clear this man was attractive, and he seemed to be kind too. but any decent person would do what he had done if a person needed the help. That didn't make Quackity special. Why did he want to feel special?

He watched as lights from shops still open in these early hours of the morning passed by. The warm orange glow spilled over onto the pavement below. The streets were mostly empty by now. The cold, sharp air enough of a reason to stay inside.

He thought back to the final proposition. 'Buy me a drink the next time we see each other'. The words repeated themselves in his head accompanied by the smile that matched it.

Surely, he was only joking?

He'd most likely never see that man again in his life. He wasn't planning to go out to more bars in search of more music in the future. He didn't even know the name of his band.

A brief moment of regret washed over him. They weren't likely to cross paths again. Maybe he should've asked for his number. Or any way to stay in contact.

But then he thought against it. He would just look like a creepy fan. He was sure things like that happened all the time. Wilbur had probably had to politely decline hundreds of crazy fans propositions.

Quackity sighed softly to himself. What was wrong with him? He was acting like some teenage fangirl. It was a normal interaction between two adult strangers and nothing more.

Why couldn't he get it out his mind?

He looked down at the bank note in his hand and turned it between his fingers. But still, it was a nice gesture. At least his night could have gone much worse, meeting someone kind was never a bad thing.

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(1519 words)

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