Chapter Text
This was a ridiculous idea, but Wilford was a ridiculous man so it was fitting. The man had had a love for all things party since you’d met him, and that was more than apparent now. Colourful streamers, balloons, confetti; it was the works. And there would have been even more if it wasn’t for you limiting how much decoration was allowed in each room. No one would be able to move from the amount of balloons if you hadn’t. However, you had allowed Wilford to make personal invitations for each ego despite living in the same house. Turns out much to Dark’s dismay.
Wilford surely shouldn’t have been able to make that many invitations in such a short amount of time, but it seems the man truly was an anomaly. Each one had a completely different layout and colour scheme depending on who it was for, making Dark’s invitation stick out like a sore thumb. You’d definitely need to get a new black ink cartridge for the printer after that one.
Dark’s displeasure at the mere thought of a party was apparent the moment Wilford handed him the invitation. It was definitely going in the paper shredder the moment Dark stepped back into his office. Dark looked at the invitation in Wilford’s hand and sighed.
“Wilford, there is a reason I have denied having parties in this house and it’s because things will get out of hand, without me all of you would be a mess and I do not feel like having that point be proven today.”
“Without you?” You questioned, “So you’re not coming?”
Dark seemed to ponder for a moment, test out the idea of going in his mind before making his final decision. He took the invitation from Wilford and analysed it deeply.
You had written the names of each recipient onto the invitations whilst Wilford was busy writing a list of things he “needed” for his party, so Dark was probably struggling to read your handwriting as you had started to get hand cramps by the time you got to his invitation.
“I apologise darling, but I will not be attending, you will surely have everyone else in attendance to keep you entertained.”
And with that he left, back to his office for presumably the rest of the day and possibly night.
“Darling? I suppose he’s trying to soften the blow,” Wilford began walking away to find the next person from his pile of invitations, seemingly unbothered by Dark’s rejection, “Although, no need really, he was never going to go, he’s got a whole tight fisted, I’m too scary to have fun thing going on.”
“You’re exaggerating, I’m sure he’s had plenty of fun before, at some point, probably?”
Wilford scoffed, “Make sure you tell me when you think of something because I will be truly enthralled! He was fun before he got paranoid about being taken seriously and that was long before you came here.”
“Maybe he just needs some encouragement?”
“Encouragement won’t do much if he’s not willing to be pushed. Do you know where Yancy usually is at this time? Or maybe we should ask Google first since he’d have to schedule it into his calendar or hard drives or something, complicated robot things. Ooh wait, let's ask Bing first!”
Wilford went sprinting off to hand out invitations to those he mentioned alongside everyone else in the house, leaving you standing alone in the corridor dreading having to fix anything he breaks from running around later.
So that’s what led you to this moment, sitting in the living room with a glass of water in hand, watching everyone mingle whilst music blasts from speakers in the corner. Luckily, no one had busted out the karaoke machine yet.
“Champagne?”
The sudden voice from behind you made you jump, luckily it was just Illinois.
“Sorry angel, didn’t mean to scare you, the offer does still stand though!”
“No thanks Illinois, if Dark isn’t here then one of us has to be the responsible one.”
“Isn’t that why we have Google, hell even Host would do!”
“Somebody could easily tamper with Google and as much as I like Host, giving him complete power over a situation is not a good idea.”
Illinois laughed and came to sit next to you, taking a sip from the champagne glass you assumed was supposed to be for you.
“I guess you have a point there, why isn’t Dark here anyways? I thought he’d love the chance to ruin other people’s fun.”
“He said things will ‘get out of hand’ and that he doesn’t want to be proven right so we think he’s locked himself in his office for the rest of the night.”
“Shame, maybe you could have had some fun if he joined us.”
“People can have fun without getting drunk Illinois, besides I’d rather sit and watch you guys, don’t really want to disturb the flow.”
Illinois drank the rest of the champagne in one and got back up.
“I’m going to go get a refill, you enjoy yourself, okay beautiful?”
“Your compliments don’t work on me, now get going and have some fun yourself!”
It was a couple minutes of peace before Wilford came to pester you. He was wearing that pink silky shirt you had seen in some old photos of him. It’s a miracle that the shirt wasn’t stained considering all the stories Wilford told you about things that had happened whilst he was wearing it.
“Hey, how you enjoying the party?”
His speech was slightly slurred.
“You want something don’t you?”
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“You’d just assume I was enjoying the party if you didn’t want something from me.”
He groaned and slumped over the back of the couch, muffled, he admitted,
“Okay maybe I want something.”
You sighed,
“Spit it out.”
“So I know Dark already said no to the party but what if he’s changed his mind since then?”
“Wilford I’m not going to pester him, it’ll put him in a bad mood and he’ll make our lives a living nightmare for the next few days.”
“Pretty please?”
“I’m not doing it, go ask someone else.”
“I’ll give you extra of my next batch of cookies?”
Now that was convincing, and sadly it was convincing enough to agree to pestering Dark. Wilford, in every way but physically, lit up immediately,
“Perfect! Make sure you don’t mention the karaoke machine or he definitely will not come down.”
He fumbled away, probably to check he actually has the supplies for the cookies he promised, leaving you with having to confront Dark for him. He was lucky his baking was good.
You did your best to avoid the creaky floorboards going up the stairs and along the corridor, not wanting to disturb Dark until you got to his office door. This part of the house always creeped you out a little bit and having to creep around it in darkness did not help one bit. It reminded you a lot of the west wing from Beauty and the Beast. Definitely not a place you wanted to be, let alone where you wanted to bother Dark.
After standing in front of the door for a few moments, you knocked.
“Go away Wilford!” For the last time. I’m not coming to your party no matter how much you try to bribe me!”
That little shit, he’d already been up to bother Dark before you.
“Actually it’s just me, don’t worry about it though, I’ll just go back downstairs,”
You heard movement from the other side of the door before it swung open, revealing Dark on the other side. He looked more relaxed than usual, he’d taken off his tie and undone a few of the buttons on his shirt. You definitely weren’t complaining.
“So he sent you instead? I’m guessing he didn’t tell you that he’s already been here to ask me to join in 4 times tonight.”
“You’d be guessing right! I’m so sorry for this, you obviously don’t want to come down and you shouldn’t keep getting pestered about it.”
“Nothing worse than usual, you, however, look more tired than usual, please tell me Wilford hasn’t had you be their babysitter.”
He moved some hair from your face, his thumb stroking your cheek in the process, making your face get warm.
“I volunteered for it, I’m just a bit bored in all honesty.”
“Yes, well, welcome to my life, you should probably go tell Wilford that I’m still not joining you.”
“I guess I should.”
“And do get some rest soon, I don’t want you passing out in the middle of the day tomorrow. I’ll need someone to talk to whilst everyone else mopes around over hangovers.”
With a small smile, he closed the door. Rest? It was getting a bit late… unless. You went back down to where the party was happening, still in full swing, and it was at this point that they were starting to set up the karaoke machine. You went and got two plates of food and retrieved your speaker which you had brought for the music before Bing offered his, then making your way over to Wilford.
“He said no just like the last 4 times you’d asked him.”
“Darky told you did he? How dull, well it’s his loss.”
“Asking him so many times probably didn’t help much, anyways I’m going to bed now so you’re going to need to find a new babysitter, not Host.”
“Oh he’s already busy arguing with Illinois, something about Indiana? No clue really, I’ll get it figured out though. Thank you so much for all your help today, I hope you sleep well!”
“I’ll try, just make sure Yancy doesn’t sing too loud.”
“Can’t promise that!”
You hugged Wilford and bid goodnight to those you bumped into on your way to the staircase. With your speaker under arm and two plates of food in hand, you ascended, but rather than turning towards your room, you went straight back to Dark’s office door, not looking to miss the creaky floorboards this time. Dark had heard you coming down the corridor, meaning his door was already open by the time you were about to figure out how to knock with your hands full.
“I told you I’m not taking part in Wilford’s idiotic party.”
“That’s why I’m bringing my own party here to you!”
_
Wilford had started to get bored of listening to Yancy do the same 5 songs on karaoke on repeat. Plus you’d taken your speaker with you upstairs and Bing’s was starting to give out. Maybe it was as fed up with listening to the same 5 songs on repeat as Wilford was. He should probably go get the other speaker from you.
Creeping up the stairs, not wanting to wake you, Wilford planned to go straight to your room and back down again, but he was distracted by the gentle tones of jazz and conversation. He hadn’t heard a song like this in a long time. Intrigued, he decided to investigate before getting the speaker. Getting closer to the music, Wilford realised that it was actually coming from Dark’s office. Strangely, the door wasn’t completely shut, an oddity considering Dark’s constant insistence on privacy.
Through the gap, Wilford could see Dark leaning against his desk, having taken off his jacket since he had last seen him and undone a few more buttons too. In his hand was one of the plates that you had taken upstairs with you, and there you were sitting in a chair near Dark’s desk, the both of you conversing as some soft jazz played from the speaker placed on the desk. The two of you seemed content, Dark was even somewhat smiling throughout your conversation. Two wine glasses had been placed on the desk also, neither looking like they had been drunk yet. Neither of you would admit it, but this small private party seemed to be more of a date.
Wilford accepted that he wasn’t going to be getting the speaker back, leaving the two of you to your party and heading back downstairs. Although this was definitely something he wouldn’t be forgetting about anytime soon.