Chapter Text
When Sapnap stepped out the train, he immediately felt that the heat hitting his skin was hotter than L’Manberg in Summer. His friends complained about it being too warm in the train, so he could imagine how they must have felt right now.
“Why do you think Wilbur would bring us to a library?” He asked, ignoring how their breaths seemed to have quickened since stepping out.
“Not sure, but he did seem excited about it.” George said.
Dream spoke up. “I don’t think I would call it excited, but he did look… a little too happy about something, and I don’t think it was our meeting.”
“Yeah.”
They walked for a few minutes, passing by several people. There was a park with kids running about. Some adults were talking nearby, and some looked to be ordering food and drinks at some stalls. It was a hot day, so everyone was wearing lighter clothes.
Because of Drywaters being the warmest district, the Dream Team tried to wear thin clothing, but damn it didn’t do much.
“It’s so hot.” Dream kept his voice low, trying not to attract attention to them.
Back in L’Manberg, it only got up to 36 degrees, the highest being 52, but here the highest seems to be over a hundred!
“I shouldn’t have wore black today.” George said. Though it didn’t sound like it, he was getting close to panting.
Sapnap laughs at their suffering, completely unaffected by the heat thanks to his fire related ability. He didn’t even break a sweat!
Dream and George both scowl at him. “Shut up.”
Sapnap covered his mouth with one hand to keep himself from laughing louder. Of course he felt bad, but it was a little funny.
Dream punched him.
—
When the library was close, Dream and George ran to the door, but not before Dream shoved him aside. Sapnap stumbled, before running to catch up, annoyed.
Phil and Technoblade were waiting inside. The former smiled and waved, while Technoblade verbally greeted them.
George and Dream smiled in relief when the cool air washed over them.
“Finallyy…”
Everyone else soon started showing up, just as relieved to feel the cool air as Dream and George were.
They walked to the actual library, where the books were, where and saw Wilbur laying on the ground with someone sitting on top of him with their hands around Wil’s throat. The man was smiling nervously as he stared up at the ginger, before his gaze landed on them.
—
Fundy didn’t know what kind of first impression he would’ve went for, but it definitely wasn’t this. They looked surprised at their… odd position. Fundy froze when he saw them, Wilbur sat up and casually shoved him aside. “Oh, you’re here now?”
“Yes.” Dream looked at Fundy, then at Wilbur and back at Fundy, looking unsure about something.
Everyone shared that look it seemed. It was a normal reaction, seeing your friend about to be choked by a stranger and then acting like they’re good friends a few seconds later.
Phil didn’t seem to share their confusion. “Hi, Wil and Fundy.” He waved, looking amused if anything.
“Fundy?”
“Yeah, hi.” He waved, getting up and offering a hand to Wilbur, who stood up as gracious as possible. Fundy rolled his eyes.
Wilbur took his silence as an opening and put an arm around his shoulder. “This is the lovely person who allowed us have a meeting in this library! Meet my brother-“
“Adopted.” Fundy couldn’t stop himself from cutting in.
“Fundy.” Wilbur ignored him and continued smiling.
George was the first to ask a question. “He’s a fox hybrid?”
“Yep.” Wilbur confirmed.
“Living in the a desert?”
Suddenly they were looking surprised with a little horror, but that last one was mostly from Dream.
He walked up to him, face being only a few inches away from Fundy’s. On instinct Fundy leaned back from the sudden closeness.
“How do you survive?” He asked, staring a little too intensely for Fundy’s liking.
“Uh…”
Wilbur answered for him, thankfully. “He has air conditioners, you know.” He said as if it were obvious.
“Yeah, air conditioners.” Fundy said, suddenly finding the books much more interesting.
“Do you just never go outside?”
“I do, just not on the hottest days.”
“How hot does it get here anyway?”
“Over a hundred.”
Phil said something to reassure them, which was effective. “Don’t worry, we made sure he had at least three air conditioners.”
George relaxed before realizing something else. “Wait, why was he choking you?”
“Oh, I called him a furry and he got mad.” Wilbur waved his hand, brushing it off easily.
Fundy scowled, not that it was seen by anybody. He already left them to their meeting, walking to a more secluded part of the library. It was his favourite reading spot, surrounded by books with a beanbag and some cushions.
Now, Fundy wouldn’t consider himself a book fan, but man he loves reading.
He took a book off the shelf as he walked, recognizing the spine easily. He found the beanbag in the nook with closed curtains and sat down to read.
Right now, there was nothing to worry about. No evidence pointing to him being a vigilante, and no harm being inflicted on anyone. It was just him and the books, exactly the way he liked it.
—
Honestly, Tommy didn’t like this. He is… very much related to the ‘Sleepy Bois’ and may or may not have run away a few years ago. Yeah, he still sees missing posters. The reason he ran away? Well… he felt like a letdown. Like he didn’t belong, and technically, he didn’t. Being a hero was his dream once, but they found an error in his ability at a young age.
(Schlatt made a comment that his little cousin was similar.)
It was a danger to him and those around him, though everyone insisted that he still had a chance. And Tommy believed it.
But the failures… the frustration he felt made him make a decision: leave. So he did. That lead to him meeting Schlatt’s little cousin, and some kid they found on the street named Ranboo.
Sometimes he does miss his old home, but he sure as hell isn’t going to throw all this away to go back. Not now, not ever.
—
It was George who found the little nook beside the window. Fundy glanced up for a second before looking back down.
Originally, he was going to stay silent, but ignoring him seemed rude, so he greeted him. “Hey.”
“Hey.” George responded, leaning against the bookshelf. “Nice place you have here.”
Fundy hummed in agreement. He didn’t know how else he was supposed to respond to that. Not saying he had little social skills, he had enough to get along with most people seeing as it came with the job.
“You read ‘Lines of Code’?”
Fundy hummed again. “Yep. It’s one of my favourites.”
“Me too, it’s one of the only books I can actually read without getting bored. Most of my friends call me weird because of it.”
That made Fundy huff. “Of course they do. They just don’t have good taste.”
George laughed. He stuck around after that, sitting on one of the cushions beside the beanbag and just talked. He was easy to get along with, and was easy to agree with. Turns out they had quite a few things in common. Other than their love for Lines of Code, they both had morons they were fondly annoyed with, both made sure not to let their emotions get in the way, and have a hard time expressing sympathy/empathy.
George only listens to his friends suffer, and doesn’t try reassuring because of how terrible he was with emotions. Fundy feels the same way, so they both end up pushing them aside.
Fundy actually kind of felt upset that George had to go. It was Sapnap who decided to try navigating through the maze of bookshelves and found them. Fundy ended up having to lead them back out.
Sapnap smiled sheepishly while George teased him. He probably would’ve tried throwing hands if Fundy weren’t there. It was funny to hear them bicker, it almost reminded Fundy of him and Wilbur.
When they were reunited with the rest, Sapnap rushed to Dream’s side. George followed too, and waved at him when they left. Fundy waved back, smiling.
He sighed once they were out.
Want to know something?
There were two workers besides the owner that worked before Fundy applied to this job. One of them quit a few months ago, and knowing the other one, Fundy will likely be in charge after the owner passes. That means even more work.
Needless to say, he isn’t exactly thrilled about it. Who would do patrols for him? The heroes? Yeah, he didn’t trust them enough for that. The only one he trusted was himself and sometimes he couldn’t even do that.
—
Tommy was running like hell, lest the hero behind him catches up.
So, what had happened was Tommy was just minding his own business, stopping crime here and there like usual. Tubbo was there too, though they separated after the hero noticed them and now Tommy has no idea where he is. All he knows is that the hero is behind him, and that he’s slowly losing him but also losing his stamina.
He turns around the corner, seeing a hooded figure in the distance holding some guy down with their foot.
Tommy runs closer to get a better look, recognizing the cowl. The one green eye confirms it when she looks at him.
Beautie often carried whatever was available as a weapon, and this time she carried a wooden bat with some barb wire presumably left from its previous owner. Some of it appeared to have been torn off.
Tommy grabbed her by the hand and ran down the alley, having to stop to let her get back up after stumbling from the sudden movement. She followed him without question.
Her real name was Tay, or so she said. But don’t compare her to Lil Tay, or she’ll use whatever she’s carrying to smack you. Tommy learned that the hard way…
He stopped briefly to turn around, seeing the hero make it around the corner. He raised his hand, a red light emitting from his palm and finger tips. He missed the way it did the same to his other hand, except it was green. He aimed and shot a beam of what could only be described as magic towards the dumpster, which then nearly hit the man on the floor. The hero stopped to save the man from being crushed, giving the two enough time to escape.
An energy blast is what they called it. It was busted, and Tommy wonders what he could’ve done if it weren’t. Well, he definitely would’ve been able to control it better, instead of having to time things correctly and rely on luck to not hurt anyone.
Beautie uses her telekinesis to pull them further ahead and then up a building where a picnic table was.
Tommy remembers how the table got up there, smiling when thinking of how excited they all were. Beautie was especially proud of herself.
After setting them down (it was a little shaky) Beautie groaned and plopped herself on the table. “Fuck sakes…”
“We eat on that, Beautie.” Tommy reminded.
“I know, shut up… I’m tired and it’s not even 4 yet.” She complained.
By now it didn’t take a genius to figure out that Tommy had taken some of her energy. He did feel bad, but expressing feelings like guilt didn’t suit Tommy. “Well, I’m sorry that I can’t control it.” He said instead.
“I know, I know…” She trailed off, he was actually kind of scared she would pass out.
“Ya know what you need? Some sleep, because I don’t want to crawl through your window again to put you back in bed.” He shuddered remembering what happened last time he did it. Her mom was not pleased, and it didn’t help that it was 3 am.
“Just steal some energy drinks and I’ll be fine.” Beautie reassured.