Chapter Text
[ Wemmbu ]
It all started when Wemmbu had been paired up with Flame during a project for their shared history class. Why Flame was in a history class as an engineering/math double major was beyond him, but who was he to judge? Oh, who was he kidding— Wemmbu would always judge Flame. Flame’s a cocky, self-righteous idiot. And Wemmbu was a certified hater, of course, it was his favorite activity. Especially with Flame— cause Flame was just so easy to ragebait (honestly, Wemmbu wasn’t any better, but eh).
Flame was always going on and on about the rules, and he was so overconfident it made Wemmbu sick. Flame always had to be there, talking about how cheating was for idiots and how if you couldn’t just study then “shut the fuck up”. But, the worst part, however, is that Flame could back it up. He was tall, 6’5 at least, and was ridiculously buff— the amount of times he’d overheard Flame bragging about it with Jaden (they were both idiots who were starting on the basketball team, that Wemmbu unfortunately had to cheer for because at some point Wemmbu had fallen in love with cheerleading and his stupid rival wasn’t going to be enough for him to quit). Flame’s other best friend, Lomedy, reminded Wemmbu a lot of Egg, so Wemmbu was always nice to him when he came across the other in the wild. Lomedy was probably Flame’s better half and so Wemmbu was always sure to be nicer to Lomedy— cause unlike Flame he knew how to shut the fuck up.
Flame had dark locs that were barely brushing his shoulders, and clearly well taken care of. Wemmbu also took very good care of his own hair, so he could respect the fact Flame seemed to take such good care of his— although, his reasonings were more so about necessity than anything. Wemmbu had been subjected to Flame’s rants about hair care more times than he could count— okay, sure, they’re sorta friends now that Wemmbu’s listing all this out. But like fuck Wemmbu would say it aloud. And it’s not like Wemmbu hated him. He was smart, almost everyone was at Unstable. It was a pretty prestigious school, actually, and despite the fact that Wemmbu kept surrounding himself with a bunch of emotionally constipated idiots— except for Rejoice and Egg, but those two had befriended him and hadn’t left him alone since.
Again, this started because Wemmbu was an unlucky son of a bitch. The two of them had been assigned to write a paper and conduct a presentation surrounding an important part of the SMPs’ history. Flame had immediately jumped at the chance to write about the ancient warriors— about how they had fought and won against thousands of players, how they had destroyed everything in their path. Yeah, so very Flame coded. Wemmbu wasn’t sure Flame understood the idea of history versus legends, but Wemmbu had also found a couple credible sources in the library and made sure to grab them because this STEM major wasn’t going to be his downfall. He’d make sure they successfully got this done. Even if Wemmbu had to drag his ass through the finish line.
Which somehow ended up with Flame asking Wemmbu to come over to his apartment that he shared with his older brother to work on the project. Wemmbu had asked why and Flame had just shrugged and said something about comfort. So that’s how Wemmbu ended up following Flame to his car, grumbling with all the annoyance of a wet cat. Flame’s brother was a graduate student named Mane. Flame explained that he was 25 but that they still shared a place since Mane was doing his graduate degree at Unstable. Mane was working closely with Dr. Clown, who was a political science and economics professor, and so Wemmbu had to respect it as Wemmbu had taken a lot of Dr. Clown’s political theory classes for his criminal justice major, and well, Wemmbu was doing pretty well in his class actually. Dr. Clown was known for terribly hard grading— with the sole exception of Wemmbu’s dad, Technoblade, but that’s not the main storyline. Dr. Clown notoriously didn’t give out A’s— Wemmbu had gotten an A- on a paper one time and went back to his dorm and cried tears of joy. And the small, barely perceptible smile of pride on Dr. Clown’s lips was enough to motivate Wemmbu for months. Dr. Clown’s other prized student in political science was a kid named Parrot— Wemmbu didn’t know much about him besides him and his boyfriend were weirdos; super smart, and always scheming something. Weirdos for sure, but smart, so again Wemmbu kinda respected them, kinda wished they would just keep to themselves.
He digresses.
So as Wemmbu got into the passenger seat of Flame’s car, he crossed his arms after buckling his seat belt and looking out the window. The car was relatively clean, but that didn’t surprise Wemmbu. If he had learned anything from the past year of dealing with Flamefrags it was that on top of being a rule-following asshole, he was also a clean freak. Other people, based on his hoodie-wearing habits, might think he was a messy person— this could not be further from the truth. Everything Wemmbu learned about Flamefrags was against his will, for the record. Because Flamefrags seemed intent on getting under his skin and staying there. He seemed intent on making Wemmbu get to know him, despite Wemmbu’s best efforts not to. Dealing with Flame was always so annoying because, again, he knew exactly how to get under Wemmbu’s skin. Wemmbu wasn’t sure why Flame knew so intricately what pissed Wemmbu off, but it was annoying. Flame knew what ticked Wemmbu off— if he stared too long, grinned too wide, made too many comments that made Wemmbu twitch with annoyance. Wemmbu was easily— ugh, nevermind I’m not giving that idiot any more thoughts than he already has.
“Soooo, you don’t have to act like you hate working with me, Wemm. I know I’m the only person you tolerate in that class,” Wemmbu can hear the shit eating grin as he looks over at Flame, who's looking at Wemmbu over his sunglasses— something about sensitive eyes, Wemmbu thinks he had heard about Flame talking about that one time. It was the only reason the profs let him get away with it. Wemmbu supposed he wasn’t wrong. Better Flame than Zam. If I have to be with my petty ahh ex for one more fucking assignment I’m gonna nuke the school. I swear to god Dr. DeputyAce is ragebaiting me at this point.
“I don’t even know why your ass is in a history class, Mr. STEM,” Wemmbu snapped as he pulled out his phone, reading messages from his family, friends, and vehemently ignoring the way Flame’s eyes lingered a little too long. Wemmbu doesn’t even know why Unstable requires them to take different disciplines— his dads said something about a liberal arts education. Wemmbu thinks it's actually a pretty good idea if he was being honest, but it was at moments like this he despised it. Because if Flame ended up in one more of his “electives” for his classes, he was going to nuke someone.
And that someone would be the admissions office.
The All Seeing 👁️
yo bro heard ur w flame for the project,
try not to kill him yeah? joice & i r
going out for dinner, see u tonight.
dad 💚
hello sweetie, come home for dinner
this weekend. your father misses you
but you know he’s emotionally repressed
pops 🩷
Don’t listen to a word your dad says.
Rejoice 🌻
good luck with flame!!!!
Loppezz 🩷🩵
pls dont kill him i need him
for my sociology project.
thing one 💚1️⃣
dude dads said to be home this wknd.
wtf did u do this time??
Wemmbu rolled his eyes at the messages from all his friends— at the very least his family knew not to talk about his habits. But that’s what family was for, he guesses. And well, Wemmbu wasn’t… violent. Well, there was probably a time he was. But that was before everything happened. Before he and his twin brother Boofser had been adopted. Before, Wemmbu had learned how to manage the darker parts of himself. Before everything had begun to make sense and before Wemmbu had come up for air. But Wemmbu wasn’t violent— sure, he had thoughts but he never acted on them, so therefore they weren’t real. Bro’s a consequentialist.
“Soo, popular Wemmbu strikes again?” Flame’s voice is all teasing, but Wemmbu can hear the edge of curiosity in the way it tilts a little at the end, like he’s considering something he didn’t want to. People thought Flame was nonchalant— Wemmbu knew the truth. Flame was the most chalant man he had ever met. And he always made it his problem, he loved making Wemmbu extra aware of his “chalantness” and Wemmbu had no idea why. Wemmbu refused to look at the other yet— sure the man had one hand on the wheel and was trying to aura farm for the millionth time that day.
“Flame, why are you so intent on talking to me today?” Wemmbu sighed dramatically but still answered— mostly ‘cause he liked arguing with Flame. So, he puts his hand over his forehead to emphasize his dramatic behaviors, before bringing them back to his lap in a way to show he was listening again. Wemmbu didn’t mind talking to Flame when it was just the two of them. He was still ragebaiting Wemmbu, but at the very least he was actually trying to have a conversation instead of just trying to make his friends laugh. Flame was smart, like everyone else here at this godsawful university. So therefore, Wemmbu liked talking to him when it was just the two of them. Wemmbu didn’t get alone time with him often— on purpose. It was easier to ignore Flame’s stares when they weren’t alone, “My friends are being idiots. My dads want Boofser and I to come home this weekend. What about you, Flame? How’s basketball and STEM?”
“The usual. Lomedy’s been hanging around more, I think it’s ‘cause he’s got a crush on Jaden. Who’s oblivious, of course. I just need Jaden to open his eyes, he’s always being all ‘I’m a loner’ and wears that stupid ahh mask. Bro thinks he’s nonchalant, bro is not. Like, I’m nonchalant, bro wants to be me so bad,” Flame’s voice was self confident, but softened but when he talked about Lomedy. Wemmbu knew what that was like, to have a good friend. He also seemed fond of Jaden— and Wemmbu didn’t mind Jaden. He was a double marine biology and physics major. Super obnoxiously smart, but at least had a slim of humility unlike the idiot who Wemmbu was with right now. Wemmbu liked hearing him talk about what he wanted to do post-grad— he had a lot of theories about the aggression of orcas, and wanted to study that. Wemmbu thought it was cool.
As for Lomedy, he was an agriculture major with a business minor. He’s a sophomore as an RA, which is pretty impressive in itself. Wemmbu respected RAs, mostly ‘cause he’d be caught dead before doing it himself. Freshmen were annoying on a good day and self-destructive on a bad day. Wemmbu would know, he was a whole year older than them. Frankly, he wasn’t sure how he survived his freshman year with how much of a dumbass he was, but here they were.
“Why do you always feel the need to self-glaze?” Wemmbu rolled his eyes, crossing his arms again with a yawn. His golden eyes fluttered shut before pinching himself to keep himself awake. Maybe Wemmbu had stayed up later than he should have last night, but he had to get through this day to keep his schedule normal. God knows what happens when Wemmbu deviates from his schedule. Ughh this was annoying, seriously I don’t know if I’ve emphasized how annoying this was. Flamefrags versus being humble; level impossible, but glanced over at Flame again, who thankfully was looking at the road. Because again, sometimes Flame stares at Wemmbu— Wemmbu tries not to notice. Wemmbu doesn’t notice.
“Is it glaze if it’s true? Getting A’s in Branzy’s classes is literally aura,” Flame must have rolled his eyes under his sunglasses, based on the tone of his voice, he was trying to aurafarm; Wemmbu wasn’t sure why the idiot needed to do this every time. Flame says, with a little awe in his voice, “well, I guess you get B’s in Clown’s class so I guess you’re alright too.”
“Yeah if you think Branzy is bad, you wouldn’t survive his husband,” Wemmbu sighed, leaning against the seat further back, with a deep tiredness in his bones, everyone knew they were both insane and having both of them (much like having his dads) in the same semester was suicide, and so, people tried to avoid it— unless you were an over-acheiver like Wifies or Parrot, “Anyways, so I did some research on the shit you wanna do, I went and grabbed some of the papers and books from the library before class. So, that gives us something to start with and we can decide where we go from there.”
“Okay history minor,” Flame muses in that way he does when he wants to piss Wemmbu off, and Wemmbu tries to ignore the actual awe in his voice. Flame then actually says something of value, “Sounds good. What do I need to do? This isn’t my strong suit.”
“No shit, your brain isn’t wired to be a history major, dumbass,” Wemmbu crossed his arms, sighing deeply, eyes anywhere but Flame was he tried to think about what their game plan would be, “Look. We'll talk more when we get to your place. You share with your brother right? You mentioned that I think.”
“Yeah, Mane might be there. He’s doing grad work with Clown. For economics, bro is obnoxiously good at numbers and money and shit,” Flame sighed as they took a turn towards an apartment complex. They were pretty well off, but Flame had always been tight lipped about who his parents were. But I have a suspicion. Just can’t prove it yet.
“M’kayy,” Wemmbu nodded, as they finally pulled up into a parking spot, not really caring that much about Flame’s older brother. If he were anything like Flame, Wemmbu hopes he doesn’t have to interact with the older very much. Wemmbu grabbed his bag off the floor and moved to open the door the moment Flame turned the car off, with the speed of someone who had something to prove, “Let’s go, I got plans with Egg tonight.”
“Oh yeah? So glad you made time for—”
“I made time for the project you absolute ass—”
They argued all the way to the door, and while it wasn’t a very long walk, Wemmbu could see Flame’s annoying ahh smirk and it made Wemmbu want to smack the tall asshole over the head. When Flame finally opened the door, pushing it open, that’s when Wemmbu saw him for the first time.
He wasn’t as tall as Flame, but was still much taller than Wemmbu, maybe 6’3. His back was huge which made Wemmbu think this might be Flame’s other gym buddy. He had long, blonde locs that reached the middle of his upper back, but were pulled back with a larger hair tie. Wemmbu could see the ends of a pair of sunglasses on— did both brothers seriously wear sunglasses?? The thought came without effort because of course Flame was dramatic enough to get special permission to wear sunglasses, but his hot older brother too? He was in the kitchen, clearly making some kind of food by the delicious smell coming from the inside of the apartment. Wemmbu tried not to drool— for multiple reasons.
The other looked over his shoulder, raising a golden eyebrow in curiosity. He had a golden lip ring over his bottom lips, with golden earrings of all sorts embedded into his ears. Wemmbu could see the other was in a pair of sweatpants and tank top— and that’s when he saw the designs of tattoos decorating his arm. He had a giant orange scratch tattoo on his shoulder, with a lion design on the other (which would normally be obnoxious but for some reason it was super hot on the other). Wemmbu tried not to hyperfixate on the way that Flame’s older brother was hot— like leathally, like “haunts-my-dreams” kinda way.
Wemmbu blinked a little, a blush on their pale cheeks as they looked over whoever this was, Manepear, Wemmbu thought absentmindedly, right, Flame’s older brother. Hot older brother apparently. Nevermind, I am SO glad I got partnered with Flame. He felt the way his cheeks were heating up and looked down to avoid both Flame and Manepear looking at it— he had to be cool, calm, collected. If the older man didn’t see him as put together, then all of Wemmbu’s chances went out the window!
“Yoo, bro we’re home!” Flame’s voice brings Wemmbu out of his daydreaming; annoying as ever, but a little grounding in Wemmbu’s spiral. Flame’s next to him at this point, and clearly referring to him as he looked at his brother with that wild, fang-showing grin he favored, “This is Wemmbu, criminal justice major and history. We’re working together on a project.”
Mane looked at Wemmbu, up and down in a way that almost felt predatory, making Wemmbu’s stomach turn in a way that was unfamiliar, and could feel his flush growing with the way the other was now giving him attention he didn’t know he craved, “Dr. Clown has mentioned you,” Mane looked like he was finishing up the meal, so continues what he was doing. He turned the stove off, and turned to walk over to Wemmbu, reaching out his hand, “Nice to meet you, Wemmbu. I’m Manepear, Mane is fine.”
Wemmbu straightened up, hyperfixating on the fact that Clown had mentioned him to his grad student, “Dr. Clown’s mentioned me?” He squealed internally a little because Clown was a notoriously difficult teacher to impress and Wemmbu knew Clown was probably a little fond since he did so well. But for Clown to talk about him to who was clearly his prized student if Clown was letting Mane work with him as a graduate student… “Uh, yeah I take his political science classes for my major.”
Mane nodded, as if he was learning this for the first time, and Wemmbu was entranced. He didn’t know what it was about this handsome older man, but Wemmbu was obsessed, and he needed to know everything, “Mhm. I figured considering the whole criminal justice thing. Plus, if you were in an econ class, I think I would have seen you— and I wouldn’t have forgotten a face like yours.”
Wemmbu’s face erupts in red, and after it had just settled down too, with heat flashing across his face as he stumbles a little over his words, looking down, trying to keep his cool and utterly failing, “U-uh, yeah, um, I think I’d have recognized you too, haha.”
Flame groaned from where he was standing, watching the entire interaction, crossing his arms like he couldn’t believe he was watching this, “Dude, really?” Flame’s voice is annoying and so familiar Wemmbu whips his head around to glare at his rival (friend?), “Wemmbu, please don’t flirt with my brother. Mane, do not flirt with Wemmbu.”
Wemmbu screeched, the red that was going to be painting his face for the foreseeable future distinct against his pale face as he turned over to snap at Flame’s pretentious ass, “I— I wasn’t flirting! Who do you take me for?!” Wemmbu turns on his heel to screech at Flame, pointing at his chest with all the annoyance at the other, utter embarrassment filling his body because Flame was ruining this for me!
“Oh? You weren’t? Pity,” Mane’s voice makes Wemmbu snap his head over to Mane, who’s smirking and hasn’t taken his eyes off of Wemmbu the entire time. Wemmbu feels their entire body lighting up at the fact Mane seemed to want Wemmbu to flirt with him—
“Okay yeah no,” Flame groaned again, grabbing Wemmbu’s wrist away, all the while, Wemmbu couldn’t take his eyes off of Mane. Mane’s eyes followed Wemmbu, and he waved with two fingers before turning back to go to the kitchen.
Oh.
Oh no.