He could have changed, I just wasn't worth it - Wilbur & Fundy angst fic

Chapter 2

'Thank you so much Papa!!' Tallulah signed as she bounced on her tiptoes, her sharp teeth gleaming in her smile as she greedily snatched the new flute Wilbur bought her for her birthday.

"Of course 'Lullah, Quackity helped me find it!" Wilbur beamed back at her, mimicking her wide smile in an attempt to be happy for his daughter. Tallulah shrank a little bit at the mention of her alleged 'not stepfather', looking at her flute with new distain. Wilbur knew that Tallulah wasn't very fond of Quackity, stating that the man was too loud and 'smelt funny' but, she was persistent that Wilbur had feelings for him. Which he did. But he didn't need his daughter meddling with his romantic endeavours.

'oh.' Was all she made out, her excitement fading.

"Speaking of Quackity, are you okay if he comes over? He's very excited for your birthday!" Wilbur hopefully slid into the conversation with an awkward smile. Tallulah deflated and shot an almost-glare at Wilbur.

'Ok, Papa, if it makes you happy' She signed with forced enthusiasm.

Fundy lifted up the garage door, huffing as the dust on the ground billowed around him from impact.

"you were out late last night." Schlatt said bluntly, his eyebrows raised, "or early, I guess" he interrogated.

"fell asleep, In alleyway." Fundy said shorty, pushing past Schlatt to grab a bottle of water, choking down the unfiltered bitter flavoured liquid. Schlatt snorted, stepping over to him and watching as he chugged the water with only a few breaks to gasp for air before continuing to inhale the water.

"You right mate?"

".... Thirsty as fuck didn't drink jack shit last night."

"too busy brooding?"

"fuck off"

Schlatt let out a light chuckle and ruffled Fundy's greasy orange hair, and tugged on the hem of Fundy's plain white sweater, his knuckles touching Fundy's neck, causing Fundy to spill his water, the droplets cascading onto the floor and whip around to slap Jschlatt's hands with a crisp snapping noise as their skin collided.

"Your hands are fucking cold! And what was that suggestive shit, touching my neck, thats gay! And you know I don't like it when people touch my neck." Snarled Fundy defensively, baring his teeth.

"hey man, it's not gay, we have socks on." Schlatt said, his eyes gleaming playfully.

"what-?"

"It states in the urban dictionary that nothing is gay if you have socks on. two men having sex with socks on isn't gay. Two men kissing with socks on isn't gay. Two men doing anything with socks on isn't gay." 

"oh fucking hell"

They both giggled in unison before Schlatt put an arm around Fundy.

"today's gonna be shit"

"yeah, I know."

"'Lullah slow down!" Laughed Wilbur as he chased his daughter down the street with Quackity in pursuit behind them. Tallulah's feet thrummed on the pavement as she darted forward with her fangs curved into a grin while she ran away from the two, giggling. Wilbur had promised her a trip to her favourite park, and she was as excited as a 10 year old could possibly be.

By the time they made it to the park, Quackity and Wilbur were huffing with red cheeks, meanwhile Tallulah was gazing out on the iridescent water that the park overhung, the warm sun rays bouncing off her red beanie as she did a quick dance in excitement. The play equipment was in poor condition, rusted around the edges and smelt of cigarette smoke, but even so, the lush landscape around it gave the park a hopeful, home-like glow. No matter how shitty the condition of the park was, Tallulah loved it.

"Fuck, I remember this place, the nostalgia." Quackity said through heavy breaths.

"Language, 'Lullah's here-"

"we used to come here all the time when we were younger- selling drugs and shit to dumb teens!" Quackity reminisced, cutting off Wilbur and earning a confused and almost betrayed glance form Tallulah and a warning glare from Wilbur.

"Quackity what we did as dumb teens stays with in the past, we aren't those same stupid teens." Snarled Wilbur through bared teeth, the undertones of grief and guilt of his actions towards his past son were clear to Quackity.

"Okay, alright." Quackity mumbled, lowering his head in shame. Tallulah brushed off this interaction, as Quackity had always been strange and ran towards the worn down swings, grabbing the rusted chain that suspended the swing and pulled herself onto it, ignoring the scent of fresh cigarettes that seemed to grow closer to her and linger, unwelcome in the air.

Tallulah gained momentum, pushing herself forward in a repetitive sequence of movements, swinging higher into the blue sky, smiling to herself in her solidarity. Wilbur and Quackity were talking in hushed voices near her, shooting a few worried glances at Tallulah as she swung, pretending not to notice them, even though it was her birthday and this was supposed to be her day, her father and Quackity were too distracted by each other. Thankfully Tallulah was fine as to not engage with Wilbur's infatuation with Quackity, it was a fact of her life she preferred to ignore. She just decided she would enjoy her birthday. 

Fundy padded next to Schlatt, his hair blowing softly in the light wind. They had left the garage to go for a walk in hopes to replace their sorrow with a more welcome apathy. Their shoes clipped the ground in time, creating a sort of harmony as they walked in silence, breathing in their surroundings, neither daring to speak. Bitter thoughts swirled in an aggressive whirlpool trapped by the confines of Fundy's mind, begging to escape, begging for him to scream. Meanwhile Schlatt let his thoughts slow down into a steady trickle of regretful hate for his companions ignorance for Schlatt's own feelings, not wishing to probe deeper into the anger of fear that he'd find it is protecting sadness or jealousy.

Fair to say the walk's nature presented as good but if truly observed it was found bitter and resent filled.

"... Do you want to do anything today?" Schlatt half-heartedly attempted to start a conversation.

"No."

"you're just gonna mope?"

"fuck off"

Schlatt bit back a snappy reply as he observed Fundy's head twist toward the direction of a run-down, almost abandoned playground. Fundy's coat still smelled of cigarettes from earlier, it blended in perfectly with the musky scent of the park. But that wasn't why he found this park significant. He could hear the laugh of a child, an unusual sound from this area. 

He could hear the chuckle of a voice all too familiar

"oh." Schlatt managed to make out, putting a hand on the ginger's shoulder, "thats-" He lacked the words to continue as Fundy peered through the bushes to see if the source of the voice was what he feared.

Fundy wasn't dissapointed, he observed a young girl wearing a red beanie, smiling and swinging, her curly brown hair bouncing alongside her pointed ears. 

He had yet to learn who this child was. 

He did however recognise the curly brown hair of the man he once known as his father, he recognised his voice, but not the softness of his tone as he called to the young girl, not fondness in his voice as he talked to her, not the pride swelling in his chest as he called her his daughter. 

His daughter.

Fundy didn't spend time watching his 'father' and apparent sister after identifying who they were, he instead curled his lips into a snarl, narrowing his eyes in rage.

"He, replaced me." He hissed, his voice blunt with anger. Seemingly forgetting Schlatt was there, he whirled around and stormed off with heavy footsteps, shoving his way through Schlatt like he was simply just another speck of dust floating in the sky. Fundy was refusing to breathe the same air as them any longer.

"Is that all I meant to him?"