wipe the blood off your face (it may stain)

Words, How Little They Mean, When You're A Little Too Late

Tommy used to be close to Quackity.

There was a time when Quackity could be the only thing that could ground him – in the confusing world of heroes and villains, he was a constant, the only thing that made some sense in this world.

He did more for Tommy than anyone ever has, and the blonde will never forget that.

But as the years went by, Quackity began changing. It was subtle at first, but his contagious laughter started becoming less frequent. He stopped caring as much about friends and family and chose status over it all.

At first, Tommy had no problem with Quackity's change of mood. Sure, it was a little disappointing that Quackity wasn't acting like himself, but he's probably just stressed with running Las Navadas and following through with becoming a villain.

Then The Blade happened.

Tommy wasn't there when the fight happened, but he had a perfect view of Quackity's injury when the villain raced home before he could bleed out, his face so full of blood you could hardly see him. Tommy fixed Quackity up the best he could until a healer arrived, but the damage was never truly fixed.

A long scar stretched over Quackity's face. It went from the tip of his eyebrow to the bottom of the chin.

Quackity was never the same after that.

His temper became short, and he was only serious. Quackity refused to joke around or do anything that wasn't work related. Tommy knew Quackity still cared, he didn't doubt that. But he wasn't the same guy he was a few years beforehand.

Even if he cared, it didn't excuse his behaviour.

It was Quackity and him against the world – but in the end, the world won.

They both cracked under the pressure. Tommy couldn't handle the stress anymore. He felt like he was going to go insane with how drastic everything changed. That led Tommy to deciding to leave Las Nevadas.

Well, he didn't just up and leave to live on the streets again, Tommy wasn't an idiot. But he did meet some new people.

Ranboo and Tubbo. He met them while trying to escape the stress and busyness of Las Nevadas. He first saw them at a coffee shop Ranboo works at – Tubbo was trying to keep the enderman hybrid company during a long shift and when Tommy began talking to them, they just clicked.

Tommy started spending more and more time around them, much preferring their energy over the newfound seriousness of Quackity.

Eventually, Tommy learned that Tubbo and Ranboo were barely getting by in their apartment and needed someone else to help pay their bills otherwise their going to get evicted.

They never asked Tommy to move in, assuming he had a place to live. But the more Tommy thought about it, the more Tommy wanted to live with them, crappy apartment or not. He asked his friends about it, to which they immediately accepted.

So, he left Las Nevadas. While Quackity did seem disappointed, he didn't stop Tommy, and soon after that, Tommy became a villain with his two friends by his side.

Over the years, the blonde hardly recognized Quackity. Whether or not they met in their villain or civilian identities. Their relationship ended the same way it began, as strangers.

Now here Tommy was, meeting up with "Jinx" rather than Quackity. Perhaps that's always been the painful part of hanging around Las Navadas now, knowing that it's always Jinx around and never Quackity.

As Tommy steps inside the casino, a wave of nostalgia crashes over him. Looking around for one of Quackity's men he spots Slime.

Slime seems to spot him too, since he begins to walk over to him. "Greetings, Crimson from nowhere!" He greeted once he was only a few feet away from the blonde.