Archive of Our Own ^beta

Despite the lack of company, Quackity still sensed a strong tension in the air between him and the empty space in front of him, both eager and terrified of speaking with the person who belonged there. He tapped his foot on the ground in a fidgety manner while he gathered the courage to begin walking to where he knew his fiances probably were.

He hoped both would be there, but he supposed there was a high possibility of them being off somewhere, up to their own business, so he wasn’t opposed to looking for the other if they were split up.

He reached his hand into his pocket to fidget with the two rings he’d forged himself, one a sleek obsidian and the other a smooth and shiny silver. He hoped they’d like them, or find a moment to appreciate the craftsmanship once they were less distracted from the excitement of his proposal.

Even with his heart pounding in his chest to annunciate his nervousness, Quackity found himself smiling. They’d love the rings, they loved him, and that’s why he was there.

The soft padded footsteps of boots on grass brought Quackity back to reality, shooting his head up as his gaze locked onto the figure standing not too far in front of him. The smile on his own face didn’t falter, in fact, it grew, seeing one of the boys he loved so dearly for the first time in the weeks he’d been away working on his own projects. He was excited at the thought, the idea of showing his future husbands the home he’d made for them, it was everything to him.

He started his steps forward to the brunette, who stared at him with fluttering eyelashes and the caramel brown eyes glistening under the afternoon sunlight that cast a golden glow on the boy’s colorful outfit. His signature Kandi bracelets and watches still resided on his arms, he looked the same as the last time Quackity had seen him.

What he didn’t see, though, was the difference in Karl’s own gaze, what he’d been wandering around aimlessly thinking about for the past few hours. The way he looked down at the bracelets on his wrist, the beaded letters on each that read two names - Sapnap and Quackity . 

Both of those two could remember the day they’d made them for Karl after learning of his love for the beaded bracelets, reciting Quackity’s own overjoyed and proud words when they showed the older boy, “so that you can always be reminded of us!” They both had no idea how much Karl would need that reminder eventually, how poorly that had worked when he reread the letters of Quackity’s name over and over again in his head while he tried desperately to remember who it belonged to, who it was, why his name was on his wrist.

Quackity kept his voice bubbly to go along with his mood, something he hoped would stay high-spirited for the rest of the day with the two of them.

“Karl! Boy, am I so glad to see you!” He didn’t refrain from being touchy, entirely oblivious to the confused look on Karl’s face when he got closer. Quackity enveloped him in a hug that felt like it was making up for the weeks he’d been gone. In a way, it made up for a lot more than that, but they were both unaware of what that meant for their relationship just yet.

Karl bit his lip, shifting his weight on his feet to make up for the sudden embrace, something so comforting for Quackity making the other feel trapped and startled, the confusion enough to blind the brunette of his usual love for physical affection. He pulled away the moment the arms around him seemed to loosen.

Quackity still didn’t notice the shift in demeanor. His hands stayed on Karl’s arms while he continued to beam at him. “Sorry that I haven’t been around much lately, but I promise it’s for something big for us!” He chuckled a bit, but Karl couldn’t tell what was funny. “How about you? How’ve you been, bud?”

Karl cleared his throat awkwardly, searching for what to say. His voice came out soft and genuine in what he was trying to convey, “um, I’ve been okay…?” His hand fidgeted with the bracelets on his wrist, a nervous habit, he could only guess? He couldn’t really recall much about his own quirks lately.

The corner of Quackity’s lip twitched with the threat of a shifted emotion, but he adjusted himself quickly. “That’s great! Man, I really did miss hanging out with you guys. I know it hasn’t even been that long, but… it feels like forever when I’m away from you.” He didn’t notice the way Karl seemed increasingly confused by his words as he continued, “speaking of which, do you know where Sapnap is? I actually wanted to talk to you both, if you’re not busy, of course.”

Karl’s mouth hung slightly agape, his head tilting gently at the man standing in front of him, as if he were assessing him, picking out the details of his face, looking for something. To anyone else, it would probably just look like he was zoning out, but unbeknownst to anyone other than Karl, it was him trying to remember.

Somehow, even with all the clues, the question seemingly came out of nowhere. “I’m sorry, do I know you?”

Quackity froze. It was harder this time for him to collect himself, to keep the smile on his face, even as the excitement was starting to fade into something gloomier. He took a long moment to answer as now he was the person who didn’t know what to say. “Heh,,, what do you mean, babe? It’s me, Quackity!” He opened his arms up a bit for him as if to exaggerate something that he thought was so obvious, continuing to smile at Karl even when he started finally noticing the contradicting emotions flashing across the boy’s face.

Karl seemed to brighten at that, as if the name rang a bell in his head, and Quackity felt a momentary spark of relief. The bell it was ringing, though, was a different one than what Quackity was hoping for.

“Oh, Quackity! So you’re who this must belong to!” Karl turned his attention back down to the bracelet with the long name on it, starting to tug it off his wrist. He stepped back forward and pulled Quackity’s hand up, dropping it into his palm.

For the first time for their entire, short conversation, Karl smiled, but less from joy and more from the satisfaction of returning the bracelet to its rightful owner after he’d spent all day trying to figure out who ‘Quackity’ was.

Any resemblance of Quackity’s upbeat was completely gone at the action. He felt the words building up in his throat, confused and startled, emotions that he didn’t expect to be feeling today piling up and threatening to make him burst. He choked out a few syllables but didn’t manage to say anything.

Karl seemed blind to the reaction, “I’m glad I could get that back to you. Don’t know how I got it, but I hope it’s good to see it again.” He flashed another bright smile at him, completely oblivious, while he turned and started walking.

Quackity didn’t move from that spot, not even when Karl was long out of view, or when he felt the wetness on his face and the tears obscuring his vision. They dropped into his palm, wetting the bracelet he’d made Karl in his clutch, the memory of it soiled and clashing with the pain that overshadowed the bond those beaded letters once represented.