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It's when he can see the smoke coming from the park that Skeppy confirms to himself that the worst possibility he imagined might have come true.
Skeppy dashes over, bright blue hoodie practically flying behind him on his back, just to see Sapnap sitting in a charred patch of grass in the corner of the park.
As he hurries over, he can hear soft sniffling.
Oh no.
"Sapnap?" He calls out softly, and the kid looks up with those bright eyes of his.
He's obviously shaken up, though Skeppy's not quite sure why yet. Careful not to overwhelm him more, he moves towards Sapnap and does his best to get close to him without aggravating him further.
Skeppy gets down on his level, looking around at him. "Are you alright? What's wrong?" Sapnap appears to be fine physically, to which Skeppy lets out a sigh of relief.
Sapnap just lets out a whimpering sob in response.
Skeppy swears to himself, and looks around. "C'mon, let's go home?" He asks, in lieu of saying anything else. He's never been the best with words or emotions, but he knows that Bad is. "Your dad's waiting there for us."
Sapnap just nods and gets up, so Skeppy follows suit. He reaches out his hand and the kid latches on, as they both make their way back home.
-
"Skeppy?" Bad exclaims as he opens the door, and then looks down at Sapnap. "Sapnap...!"
Bad goes down and reaches towards his son, who immediately jumps into his arms. "There, there," he mumbles softly.
Skeppy slips into the house and closes the door behind him. "Found him in the park, where he usually plays with those other kids," he whispers lowly so that Bad can hear it. "But he was there upset and alone."
Bad lets out a grunt of acknowledgement, before turning all of his attention back onto his child. "Sapnap, do you want to go to your room, darling?"
Skeppy assumes that Sapnap nodded, because they start moving down the hallway.
-
Sapnap eventually settles down, playing with a few of their toys in his room.
After Bad and Skeppy play with him for a bit, they leave him to his own devices and leave him in his room, the door only slightly hinged open.
"He's alright now," Skeppy sighs in relief. "I'm glad he's alright." When there's no response, he turns towards Bad in confusion.
His husband is just staring at Sapnap playing with his own toys through the crack of the door.
"He's alright," Skeppy says again to reassure him. "Are you okay, love?"
"He's different," Bad mumbles, turning away and walking into their bedroom. "He's different, and there'll be people who hate him for it, without knowing anything else about him."
Skeppy's eyes grow wide.
This again?
He follows Bad wordlessly and closes the door behind them. Skeppy sits on the bed and looks up at Bad with furrowed eyebrows.
"Bad," Skeppy begins, the 'babe' practically on his lips, but Bad just shakes his head.
"Take one look into my eyes," Bad sniffs. "And tell me everything's alright, Skeppy. I don't believe it, but I need to hear it."
Skeppy swallows once, and grabs at Bad's hands, but he just looks down towards the ground instead.
"Everything's going to be alright, Bad."
"How do you know?"
"Because we're here. The three of us, we'll get through it together. Who cares what other people think about our--- about Sapnap?" Skeppy slips up and his heartbeat speeds up rapidly. "As long as we're together, it'll be alright."
"People already judge us," Bad sniffs. "A Nether-born and an Overworldian..."
Skeppy shakes his head furiously, grasping onto Bad. Ignoring the gasp, he continues, "We have to keep our heads up. I'm not giving up, not on you, not on Sapnap, least of all us!"
"it'd be so much easier for you if you did--"
"No, no, none of that," Skeppy spills out frantically. "No, no, I'm staying, whether you like it or not. What we have? It's possible."
"Not according to..."
"I don't care what the world thinks," Skeppy growls, then he lets out a long sigh, placing his head on Bad's shoulder. "I found peace and love with you, so why does it matter? Why should it matter, when you're with me?"
Bad lets out a long, exhausted sigh. "I know. I know, I'm just... scared."
"It's okay to be scared," Skeppy mumbles, pulling Bad onto his lap. As his partner burrows his head into his shoulder, Skeppy just rocks him back and forth. "I'm scared, too, sometimes. But... there's nowhere else I'd rather be. I know we can figure this out."
"Yeah..." Bad lets out another sigh. "... Eventually."
"And through it all? I'll be here."
Bad's hand reaches down to tangle its fingers with Skeppy and squeezes lightly.
so take a look into my eyes
and tell me everything's alright
tell me everything is fine
keep my head turned towards the skies
i don't want this demise,
if i need beauty,
will you be here
as the chaos passes by...