Chapter Text
“I know you miss me, parrot.”
he didn’t turn around right away. not because he hadn’t heard the voice, and definitely not because he didn’t recognize it. because if he did, then the impossible thing standing behind him would become real and parrot wasn’t sure he could handle seeing it.
wifies was dead.
he knew that. he made sure of it, too. and he remembered it so well—- tossing the spyglass and the awful finality of everything. that memory lived within him.
and yet…
there was breathing behind him. familiar cadence, familiar presence pressing into the room like it had every right to be there.
but slowly, against every screaming instinct, parrot turned.
and there he was.
not wrong. not distorted. just… wifies. standing like no time had passed, eyes locked onto him with that same intensity—- the kind that had once meant safety to him.
everything is thrown into turmoil.
fear came first.
then grief.
then something worse—- the aching pull of recognition.
because some part of him, traitorous and raw, had missed him.
wifies took a step—- a small one. but parrot’s body reacted before his mind caught up. he stumbled back on instinct, heel scraping against the floor.
distance.
he needed distance because whatever standing in front of him was not supposed to be there.
except, wifies didn’t stop.
another step, unhurried. certain. like the outcome had already been decided somewhere parrot wasn’t allowed to see.
then arms wrapped around him. they were warm, solid, and unbearably real.
parrot’s breath caught so sharply it hurt. his hands hung useless at his sides, fingers twitching like they’d forgotten their purpose.
hug him back. push him away. do something.
his body chose neither. it locked him in place instead, heartbeat hammering loud enough to drown out everything else.
“you’re shaking,” wifies murmured.
the words were soft—- worried, almost. but the grip tightened, anchoring parrot against him.
“you never used to shake like this before. what happened? who’s stressing you out?”
his concern sounded genuine and that was the worst part. it threaded through parrot’s ribs and squeezed. he could feel wifies breathing, steady and calm, like nothing about this moment was wrong.
like parrot hadn’t watched him die.
like parrot hadn’t made it happen.
“you don’t have to be alone anymore.”
the hug tightened again—- not quite painful, but inescapable. it was safe, if you didn’t mind never leaving.
parrot tried to speak. his throat worked around words that refused to form, but all that came out was a shallow breath that was thin and trembling.
wifies pulled back enough to look at him. his hands came up slowly, his thumbs resting against parrot’s face.
“you died.”
parrot swallowed hard, his voice scraped on the way out.
wifies didn’t flinch.
“did I?” he said lightly, the question itself was a joke parrot hadn’t caught on yet.
something inside parrot jolted awake at that. the freeze cracking at the weight of it. his hands twitched, and this time they moved, though not to shove wifies away.
but just to lightly hold his wrists.
he could push him away, fly to theo and hyperventilate, do anything to get away at this moment.
but he just didn’t.