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Time was a peculiar thing.
Sometimes, it felt like it purposefully slowed down; like when Quackity got engaged.
Sometimes, it seemed to go quickly; just like when Quackity started Las Nevadas and it was built in the blink of an eye.
But sometimes, it appeared to stop; just like when Quackity received a note for Dream, clarifying that he had his fiancés on the prison and that he needed to negotiate with him.
“Hello, Quackity.” Dream’s crooked smile welcomed the duck hybrid, Sapnap and Karl were right beside the man and that only irritated the Mexican even more despite maintaining a cold look on his face. “I didn’t think you’d come, if I’m being honest… considering how much of a coward you are”
“Let’s get to the point, you fucking psycho.” He sighed, closing his eyes for a brief second, his hands slightly clenching as he refused to look over at his two fiancés, he couldn’t afford to show his emotions with Dream and them being in a closed space. He wouldn’t dare harm Sapnap and Karl with Quackity there, would he?
“You’re no fun, Q.” Dream sighed and his netherite sword shined as he played with it, like a fucking toy, like it wasn't a deadly weapon, “You see, since we’re having sort of a romantic reunion here, why don’t we update your ex-husbands on your shenanigans? Would you be down for that?” The smile the blonde offered Quackity was an obvious ‘you have no choice’ sign, so he just let out a breathy chuckle.
“Whatever, I have nothing to hide.”
“Oh, is that so?” Dream moved closer to the edge, leaving the two boys behind and giving his undivided attention to the dark-haired man, “Okay, how about we start with that gnarly scar you got there, Q? Being all brave, trying to execute Technoblade didn’t really go your way, did it?”
“Execute Technoblade?” Karl’s voice was like honey to his ears, his eyes darted to a wall besides him. He couldn’t look at his fiancé, he knew he would melt the second his eyes recognized their pretty faces, he knew he would immediately run to their warm embrace.
“Let’s move on, shall we? Oh yeah! Congratulations on Las Nevadas, pal”
“Las Nevadas? The fuck is that?” Sapnap’s voice became curious, looking at the winged man whose eyes were still glued to the wall besides him like it was the most interesting painting in a museum. His dark eyes recognized almost instantly his lover's body language, distressed was the only word to describe the way his fists seemed to shake and his shoulders tensed every time Dream spoke.
“Oh, nothing… just the country Quackity founded, and who are the citizens?” Dream was mocking him, he knew, “Come on, Q… it’s your country! You should introduce it properly”
“That’s none of your fucking business, Dream.” His eyes finally darted to the tall man, “It’s my country for a reason, and why are you just avoiding the real reason why we’re here?”
“You… made your own country?” Karl’s voice was laced with hurt and Quackity found himself immediately turning his head to look at him, his own heart breaking at the forced smile Karl offered him, “Wow, I’m uh glad you moved on”
“Awww, how sweet.” Dream laughed wickedly and looked at Sapnap, Quackity braced himself, he knew Dream was a villain, almost a terrorist, but despite everything he was Sapnap's best friend, “Hey, Q, come here, I’d love to have this talk with you by my side.”
Sam looked over at Quackity hesitantly before allowing him, the winged man’s head running wild with thoughts. Would Sapnap beat him up? Maybe his own fiancé would kill him instead of Dream. How romantic, he thought with a grimace painting his features.
As soon as he was within his reach, Dream grabbed his arm quite roughly, making Q bite back a pained whimper, the blonde man had a bruising grip on his arm, “You see, guys… Quackity and I became quite close these few months, with him giving me almost daily visits,” His gaze stayed glued to the floor, his heart beating a thousand miles per minute, “In fact, he came so often that we started playing some games…”
“Just fucking get to the point.” He growled before flinching when Dream’s nails digged even more into his arm, making a few drops of blood paint his white formal shirt. Karl's eyes immediately narrowed at the sight of the tall man hurting his lover.
“You’re hurting him” Karl tried to take a step forwards, but Sanpnap stopped him, catching up as to what was happening.
“Okay, let’s cut to the chase here, I’m bored.” Dream offered a final smile before pushing Quackity towards them without any warning causing the Mexican to stumble a bit before steadying himself, now standing only one step away from Sapnap, “This little bastard here, came everyday just to torture me. All the scars, all the bruises…” he laughed manically at the look on Sapnap’s eyes, “it’s all courtesy of your little fiancé.”
“You’re insane, Quackity wouldn’t, he…” the black-haired man’s voice quivered as he let the look in Quackity’s face sink in, “you…” he swallowed, anger rising in him and making his blood boil, “you did, didn’t you?”
Quackity closed his eyes, as he nodded lightly, his hands shaking a little bit as he held back the tears on his eyes.
Maybe Sapnap would kill him, and who was he to stop him? At least he would die to one of the only people he loved.
“You… Quackity!" His voice shook, trying to process the fact that the man his lover came every day to torture one of his best friends, "he might be a villain but he’s my friend! and you know it better than anyone!" Sapnap took slow steps until he was right in front of his fiancé, “how could you?”
“…It’s what I thought was right.”
Sapnap scoffed, his hand running through his own hair in frustration, “how exactly does that make you better than Dream?! You came here just… just to torture him? Are you out of your mind?”
If Quackity squinted enough, he could say it was suicide. If he kept pushing Sapnap’s limits, he knew the man would push him or punch him hard enough to fall in the lava. It would be painful, of course, but he would so much rather die that way than facing what Dream had in stored for him.
“I just…”
“You just… what? What?! Come on, say it, don’t be shy.” Sapnap took a step forwards and Quackity took a step back, just close enough to the edge, he let out a shaky breath, looking at Sapnap with a small mourning smile in his pretty lips.
“It’s what he deserves, you don’t… you don’t know the damage he has done. And you’ll never understand.” he managed to look at his lover dead in the eyes, and that was the last straw.
He could see something break behind his fiancé’s eyes, his hands unconsciously coming up to push him. He closed his eyes as he felt his body stumble backwards at the force Sapnap used to push him.
Well, this is it.
“NO!” But before he could fully fall, two warm hands grabbed his arms and pulled him away from the lava, making him stumble into Sapnap’s embrace, who took a few steps away from the edge.
He was alive, he let out a shaky laugh out, his hands gripping Sapnap’s shirt as hard as he could. “Idiot! You… fucking idiot, get way from the edge when I’m going to push you, for fucks sake.” His fiancé’s voice broke as he fully hugged him now; his forehead resting on his shoulder, one of his hand buried on the dark locks of his hair and the other one placed firmly on his back.
He felt another pair of arms wrap around them and he looked up, Karl’s eyes filled with panic welcomed him, his breath hitched at the sight of his two fiancés so close to him, Karl's lips managed to let a smile slip, almost as if it was to comfort him.
“You’re so pretty” he let out unconsciously, his cheeks warming up.
Karl shook his head, entertained, “You almost died and that's what you say?" He closed his eyes and kissed his lover's forehead, "dork."
“Your dork.” He let out, remembering the times where they used to hoke all the time.
Time really was a curious thing.
“How sweet” Quackity tensed at the voice, immediately getting out of the warm embrace to stand in front of his lovers. “Sadly, I’m not a fan of happy endings.” Quackity’s wings pathetically tried to cover Sapnap and Karl as extra protection when Dream took another step towards them.
“They did nothing wrong. Don’t bring them into this,” he growled, cursing under his breath as he realized the only weapon in the prison was in Dream’s hands.
“Oh, don’t worry Q.” Dream took a few steps towards them, his free hand gripping the shorter man’s shoulder with more force than necessary as he whispered into his ear: “If they leave right now, I will make sure to spare them.”
Quackity held in his breathe, immediately knowing what to do. He wouldn’t let his lovers get harmed, no matter what, "Fine, just… just play along for a little.”
He turned around and smiled as genuinely as he could to his fiancés, grabbing their hands and stepping towards the platform. He looked at both of their faces excruciatingly, trying to memorize every little detail he could; taking in their pretty eyes filled with confusion, their blushing cheeks, soft hair, he almost broke his facade at the thought of losing all this when he had just gained it back.
“What did Dream say?” Sapnap’s delicate grasp on his hand almost made him choke in sobs, but he just smiled wider.
“We have to go now, I owe him a favor though.” he shrugged as their eyes seemed to light up at the words.
Liar.
But at least he was lying for a good reason.
“Alright then?” Karl let out a relieved breathy laugh.
“Let’s go home, mis amores.” He smiled again, making them step into the platform first, he looked over at Sam and nodded, his smile slowly disappearing as his grasp on their hands loosened.
“Quackity? Come on, we need to go” Sapnap frowned as the platform started moving.
“Hey Sam! Quackity is not on the platform yet, hey-!”
“I love you." was all the shorter man could say as he let go of their hands completely and took a step back.
“Quackity! What the hell are you doing?!” Sapnap’s panicked voice made him almost regret his decision.
Almost.
“I'm sorry", he lied and turned around to face the taller man, "Okay, Dream, now what? You gonna kill me?"
“…kill you?” the blonde’s laugh drowned Sapnap and Karl’s worried voices. “Oh no, no, no… not yet, big Q.” he took a painfully slow step towards Quackity before making him roughly turn around, forcing him to watch his fiancés. “You…” he pushed the man down to his knees, with a wicked smile painting his face, “are going to pay for everything you've done to me, Quackity.”
Before the shorter one could reply with a snarky comment, the blonde man grabbed one of his wings roughly. His words were caught in his throat, his stomach dropping as the realization hit him.
His eyes widened in panic and darted towards his lovers, Sapnap and Karl looked as horrified and scared as he felt. Dream raised his sword, his laugh stopping for a few seconds that felt like ages. He closed his eyes, bracing himself. Time stopped.
And then, the prison was filled with an ear-splitting scream.
Karl closed his eyes tightly and hid his face on Sapnap’s neck, he had never heard his lover scream like that, it was heartbreaking, it felt like his heart was getting ripped out of his chest. He sobbed in silence as Sapnap hugged him tightly, the black-haired man’s eyes frantically looking for something, anything, that could help free his fiancé from Dream’s grip. The platform had stopped moving, the jump wasn’t impossible but in his current state, he knew he would end up falling in the lava.
For Quackity, the pain was almost unbearable; his throat hurt like hell because of the scream he let out, all of the tears he had been holding back slid to his cheeks and down his neck. He felt light headed, his vision was blurry, but he was snapped to reality when Sapnap started screaming again.
“Dream, no! Please! Stop, just let him go!” the panic in his voice made him worry despite the pain he felt. He gathered what little energy he had left and looked at his two lovers hugging, one desperately sobbing and the other one frantically looking at him with tears streaming down his face as well. Wow, he had never actually seen Sapnap or Karl cry “You’re going to kill him!”
Dream merely laughed again and grabbed the other wing roughly. Quackity started to shake his head, his mind feeling fuzzy, like it was stuffed with cotton.
Please…
Yet another heart-breaking scream was ripped out of his chest when his second wing was mutilated. Dream kicked him lightly and he felt forwards, feeling the blood spilling from his back, he curled into himself to try and minimize the pain, but soon he let out another scream, this one harder than any of the last ones, as he felt Dream stepping directly on his wounds with his boots.
He pushed further down until Quackity stopped screaming, his sobs fading as his consciousness started to slip.
The last thing he saw before passing out was Dream’s satisfied smile.
On the other hand, Sapnap felt his blood boil again, his hands heating up dangerously at the sight of his fiancé lying unconsciously, Dream’s boot still pressing down on the wounds, “Aww, come on Sap… this is nothing compared to what he did to me.”
“But he did nothing to deserve that!” he screamed, his tears evaporating when his body started to heat up even more, causing Karl to step away quickly to avoid a third-degree burn.
Dream’s smile only grew wider, his sword swinging a little bit, like he was deciding his next move, “How can you defend him? I think you forget that he left you both to build his own country, he even has more citizens and residents that you do, and…” he kneeled down, grabbing Quackity’s right hand roughly, “I don’t see any rings here, so you’re not his fiancés anymore” he said nonchalantly, his sword placed right beside the Mexican’s neck, “Don’t worry, you won’t miss him as much now.”
Sapnap’s eyes darted to Karl, but the brunet was already stepping towards the edge, ready to jump, “get away from him!” Karl’s voice was hoarse, his eyes filled with rage, he grabbed Sapnap’s hand ignoring the burn he felt and he jumped, dragging Sapnap with him to the other side.
That took Dream off guard, his smile twisting into a frown when the two men landed in front of him. He rolled his eyes, his sword shining as he pointed at both of them, “respect his last wish, would you? He wanted to die so you two idiots could live.”
Karl’s hands started shaking with rage, he took out his iron pickaxe from his inventory and ran towards the blonde man without thinking, without noticing the warm hand that tried to stop him.
The clashing of weapons was what made Sapnap move quickly; he knelt down besides his fiancé and ripped the bottom of his own shirt to use them as improvised bandages for the man’s injuries. He knew they would have to take them off eventually to treat the wounds correctly, but at the moment all he was thinking about was to stop the bleeding as soon as he could to get his lovers away from there, somewhere safe.
Meanwhile, the time traveler couldn’t think straight, he barely noticed the small cuts and stabs that started to cover his arms, his brain seemed to have taken a screenshot of his lover’s pained expression, he could still hear his sobs and heart wrenching screams ringing fresh in his mind; his tears started flowing as his movements became more and more frantic. His vision went blurry with tears and he didn’t see how close the netherite sword was to his neck.
When he noticed all he could do was close his eyes, bracing himself for the pain that was coming. However, he opened his eyes when mentioned pain never came, and he frantically spotted his fiancé’s bloody hand holding Dream’s sword, his free hand taking Karl’s pick.
“Karl, go help Quackity, I got this.”
The brunet nodded quickly and ran to the duck hybrid, almost sobbing at how in pain he looked even in his unconscious state. He hesitated just a moment before pulling the man close to himself, struggling to turn him around so he could properly carry him, and then he froze.
A pretty necklace laid around his neck, carrying two shiny engagement rings.
His breath hitched, he had them, he always had them. He carried the man bridal style and left a quick peck on his messy hair, his arms holding the man tightly to his chest, his eyes flooded with hate as he looked over at Dream before standing up with the weak man in his arms, “Sap! We have to go, now!”
Sapnap was on top of Dream, his hands bloody and knuckles bruised. His weapons had fallen to the lava long ago, and he had taken that opportunity to beat Dream up. He wanted to make the man scream in pain just like he did to his lover, but he groaned as he stood up, quickly running towards his lovers as they stepped into the platform.
None of them remember how they got out of prison or how they ended up on a nearby forest close to their kingdom, but Sapnap was brought back to reality when his lover started to cough, letting a small whimper escape from his pretty lips.
“Quackity!” he quickly approached Karl and ran his hands through his lover’s messy hair, accidentally making the beanie fall off his head, “it’s okay, it’s okay, we’re here.”
Karl’s sight became blurry again as he noticed the health bar on his fiancé’s wrist quickly draining, he felt his knees weaken when Sapnap kissed Quackity’s forehead lovingly, the man’s tears falling on the Mexican’s cheeks.
They all knew there was nothing left to do, none of them had any potions that could help, no golden apples, nothing. Karl’s legs finally gave out and he fell to his knees while he held his lover closer to his chest, letting out heartbreaking sobs.
All Sapnap could do was sit down besides the loves of his life and hold them close to his chest, his tears falling silently down his cheeks as he mourned his half dead lover. He just wanted to go back in time, he wanted to see the Mexican smile and laugh chaotically with them, he wanted to wake up everyday and find his two fiancés in his shared bed, he wanted so many things that now seemed impossible.
They both got startled when the weak man suddenly moved, his hand coming to his necklace and pulling it harshly from his neck, offering the jewelry that had his two engagement rings carefully placed. “I’ll love you forever.” He said in such a quiet and tamed voice that Karl wanted to scream; that was not his lover’s voice.
His voice was filled with energy and a peculiar high tone.
His voice was filled with happiness and always brought chaos and laughs wherever he went to.
His voice was filled with life.
Never, not once, was it filled with sadness.
Never with tiredness.
Never with mourning.
He wanted to say something, anything, he wanted to reassure his lover, tell him pretty white lies, promises that he couldn’t keep, but soon he felt his lover’s hand go limp.
And, once again, time seemed to stop.
Sapnap closed his eyes when he heard Karl’s pained scream, only being able to hold him closer to his chest. His eyes opened lightly to watch the smaller man’s expression; peaceful, almost like he was asleep. But his chest did not rise, his hands did not move, and his eyes did not open.
He didn’t even get the chance to say ‘I love you’ back, he soon realized.
He broke down, letting out audible chokes and pleas for his lover to wake up, to come back, screaming meaningless ‘I love you’s that fell on deaf ears.
He was gone, gone forever.
Time was an upsetting thing.
The sun disappeared on the horizon, letting the night witness two lovers mourning what could’ve been if only they had more time.