You're My Chase

Chapter Nineteen

Purpled 3rd Person POV:

In the kitchen, Punz was chatting with Quackity while dishes clanked against each other. It was soothing, and Purpled sat on the leather couch in the living room, scrolling through YouTube on his phone while the pair made dinner together. The wonderful scent of pasta rolled through the air, as well as cooked cheese from their mashed potato dish covered with mozzarella cheese, currently baking in the oven.

Well, it would have been completely soothing, though, if a buzzing worry didn't nestle itself into Purpled's gut.

The texts he received from Philza late last night were worrying enough. The man had been wondering where Tommy went, saying that he hadn't come home at all and wasn't responding to any text messages. Purpled wouldn't have thought about it too much, figuring that it was something the rebellious Theseus might just do for fun, when he got another message from an unknown person who later identified himself to be Ranboo, one of his friends, who was also worried about him, but also about Tubbo.

And it doesn't take a mercenary long to know that something is deeply wrong.

Still, though, he didn't exactly know how, nor what he could do about it. So he just sat there, scrolling through his phone, and not paying attention to anything, but deeply aware of the presence of time, stomping on through and leaving an irreversible trail.

As the dishes in the kitchen clanged around, a pause of silence broke the constant chatter before it was broken by a burst of laughter. Purpled glanced up from his phone and smiled lightly, glad that Punz had calmed down and stopped mother-henning him. When he'd heard that Quackity would be joining for dinner, Purpled had gotten concerned for a moment, worried that the shorter man was never going to let him out of his sight, but was pleasantly surprised when he was shooed away and told to go do 'whatever teenage boys did these damn days.'

So he curled up on a couch in his sweats and sweater, a pillow on his lap, scrolling through his phone and watching whatever random garbage that popped up. It was nice and comfortable, for the small amount of time he allowed himself to feel it.

Finally, though, he decided to get up. His bones popped, and he raised his arms above his head, arching his back in a stretch, and dropped them back down, feeling better. "Have you guys seen Tommy in some time?" he asked casually, walking into the kitchen.

He blinked at the mess scattered around in the kitchen; dirty dishes piling on the counter, wraps and smudges littered around, and he gingerly stepped over fallen flour. As soon as Punz noticed him, he grinned and picked up a wrapper, crumpling it up and tossing it into the trash bin, before dropping the attempt to look clean. "Um, no, I haven't."

"Why?" Quackity asked from his spot at the stove, stirring the pasta.

"Just wondering." Purpled opened a cabinet and grabbed a cup, filling it with water from the fridge. This time, his wrist was okay, and he was able to swallow the water without a problem.

Punz narrowed his blue eyes, instantly catching his seemingly careless nonchalance. "What happened to Tommy?"

"Oh, you know, just disappeared," he answered calmly, watching the water swirl in his cup before downing the rest of it. "Him and Tubbo, from what I've heard."

Quackity burst out launching which startled both of them. "Don't tell me you hid them!" he said, grinning. "Because that would be hilarious!"

He shook his head, although his lips curled a bit. "No, but maybe I should try that. Do you think it would work to make them stay away from me?"

"Well, if you trap them, they surely can't escape," he cackled, mixing it around again.

"So, wait, they just disappeared?" Punz asked, bringing the conversation back. "For how long? When? And nobody can get a hold of them?"