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Everything was overwhelming. Too much information spewed at him while handling the fact that Tallulah was missing along with the rest of her siblings. He didn’t want to go and see more people right now, he wanted to find his daughter. Wallowing in the home he had built with his daughter, the lack of lighting making it too easy for him to doze off, physically and mentally exhausted from the events of today.
In his dream, he awakes in a field of flowers, glancing to the side of him to see a girl with brown hair similar to his, most of it carefully tucked into the red beanie she is wearing. The sun around them warm and glowing softly, wind a nice breeze that blows through the flowers and Tallulah’s hair. The girl lifts her flute up to her lips, playing tunes that Wilbur only remembers months ago in memories, a note here and there missing or off. The girl in front of him is so tiny compared to recent photos he’d been shown of her, her hair shorter and the sweater she’s in almost engulfing her, no leg braces or hearing aids that are always present in the photos. This is the Tallulah he had last seen and gotten to know, and he misses her so dearly, regrets that he hasn’t been here to see her grow up. He could stay in this dream forever, if it meant that he would never have to leave his daughter all alone again, if he never had to miss her grow up and experience and learn so many things.
He feels something tug on the leg of his pants, he looks down to see nothing, brushing it off. He wants to spend time with Tallulah, wants to make up for the time that they lost. He feels the tugging again, once again looking down to not see anything. He tries to ignore it, brush it off as something that he’s imagining, but it gets too much, and too annoying of a reminder that what he’s experiencing isn’t real. He can’t stay in this moment forever.
He feels his eyes peeling open, his vision blurry and mind groggy from the impromptu nap. The tugging persists and he forces his eyes open, peering down to see a tiny figure that’s been trying to get his attention. He rubs his eyes to get a clearer look at it, the tiny figure in fact being one of those mini-me things he had seen earlier in the day. This one resembled Badboyhalo, the tiny figure’s hood up, the tiniest pinpricks of light from its eyes shining through. Wilbur sighs, gently picking the thing up. People around him had seemed to like these things, thinking they were cute. If this thing was here, it probably meant Bad was near or had recently passed through. It wouldn’t be too much of a hassle to track him down and give the man his mini-me back. Plus, it might be good to get out of the house. Everything in it hurt too much, it was too cold and empty.
Gently holding onto the mini-Badboyhalo, the musician maneuvers down the ladder and out of the house, deciding to check around spawn first. He spots the hooded man as he walks towards the waystone subway, him crouched down and counting over his mini-mes and looking confused, a small red flag with his face on it placed next to the little figures. He keeps blowing a whistle, the ones around the flag instantly transported to in front of it. The hooded-man counts over the figures again, frowning. Wilbur clears his throat as he approaches Bad, the demon quickly looking up to see him. Bad quickly stands up, a bit wobbly on his feet.
“Wilbur! How are you doing after earlier?” the demon questions, voice enthusiastic.
“Ah, I’m.. Okay” Wilbur blurts out, not sure how to really respond to everything that happened today. He extends his hand out, showing the mini-me he’s holding. “This little fella wandered its way into my home.”
Bad leans over, gently taking the mini-me from him and placing it with the others.
“That’s where that went, thank you! Don’t know why it didn’t respond to this whistle.” Bad stands back up, walking over closer to Wilbur. “Did you get your mini-me’s?”.
“No, I don’t really know what they are,” Wilbur replies, still bewildered by the little figures.
“We got them from the federation infiltration meeting, you can level them up and make them fight” Wilbur looks over to the mini-Bad’s, most of them already in enchanted diamond armor. It’s a bit cute, he will admit to himself, seeing little figures of Bad wandering around.
“They are very cute,” Wilbur comments, contemplating things in his mind. “Since I didn’t get any of my own, can I take one of yours?”
“WHAT?! NO!” Bad instantly replies, his tail sticking up like a scared cat. ‘“Go get your own!”
“But yours are so cute!” He says, looking down at the mini-Bad’s around him. He looks back up to Bad turning his back to him, crossing his arms and puffing out his cheeks. The musician giggles at the display, leaning closer to the demon.
“Well they’re mine, I’ve put a lot of resources into them,” Bad retorts, crouching back down to check the armor on his mini-me’s. Wilbur stares at him taking care of them, a smile spreading across his face as he has an idea. He silently crouches down beside Bad, spotting the mini-Bad that had found his way into his house earlier. It apparently didn’t respond to when Bad had called his mini-me’s back earlier, this would be an easier target. He swiftly picks the little guys up, sprinting when Bad immediately gets up after him, giggling. “GET BACK HERE! GIVE THAT BACK!”
“No can do!” Wilbur lightly shouts back.
“Oh my- just give it back!” Wilbur turns around to face the demon, a smirk spread across his face.
“Maybe I will, if you give me something,” Bad frowns, annoyed at this development.
“I- what do you want for it?” Wilbur’s smirk gets even wider, a mischievous look on his face.
“One kiss for the mini-me!” Wilbur declares, Bad letting out a long pause of silence.
“... You can keep it” He trails off.
“What, c’mon! Just one kiss!” Bad grumbles in response, leaning in close to him.
“Just one,” the demon says firmly, placing a light peck on the other’s lips. Wilbur’s mind short-circuits, warmth rising to his face. Wow! Badboyhalo actually kissed him! The flustered thoughts in his mind cut off by Bad’s voice once again, “Are you going to give it back?” Wilbur snaps back to reality, Bad crossing one arm while holding out another in expectancy.
“Oh- uh, yeah!” Wilbur shouts, softly handing the mini-me back to Bad, who blows the whistle to gather the rest, placing the one in his hand down with the others. “Well, uh- I should get going.” Bad turns around to Wilbur, staring at him intensely.
“You can stay.”
“I can stay,” Wilbur echoes right after him. Bad nods in return to him.
“I’m getting materials to level-up my mini me’s, you can help if you want,” the demon offers.
“Sure, I would love to accompany you,” Wilbur smiles.
“Alright, well, come on, we need to get bear hide for some of these little guys.” Bad motions for Wilbur to follow him, and he does.