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“They need to cut this.”
Ken flinched, mostly in surprise, looking over at Wato, who was looking genuinely distressed.
“Like- from the footage? Or is it going too long?”
“No. It just needs to end. He’s not ok.”
Wato’s breathing was audible. That, more than anything, made Ken pay attention. She looked away from their screen, spared a glance to Spoke, who seemed to be trying to play poker with Mapicc only, and focused on his fellow cat hybrid.
“Who?”
“Wifies. Ken- look at him.”
Ken looked. Their main cameras were on Parrot, obviously, but Wifies was on screen too, or on one of the side ones.
It was obvious, as soon as her eyes found him, through the lens.
Wifies was sitting far too still. Parrot was pillaring up a wall again, and Wifies might be watching him, actually. It was hard to tell, across cameras. He was sitting on the top of the tower, where he probably shouldn’t even be, cross-legged and staring.
Ken could see where his breath was catching.
“Oh, shit, yeah. You’re so right. Can we call him?”
“I don’t know. Parrot didn’t want to be disturbed.”
“Duh, he’s filming. But they can retake.”
“Ken, maybe we shouldn’t-“
Ken was already on his comm, to Wato’s obvious distress. But whatever she was feeling, Wifies looked worse, and Ken had promised himself she’d keep an eye on him for this episode.
You whisper to Wifies: Wato thinks you aren’t having fun.
You whisper to Wifies: Can you look at the camera?
Ken could see Wifies flinch, as his comm buzzed. It made her heart twist, a little, feeling his and Wato’s eyes fixed on the screen. No one else was really watching. Everyone had gotten bored, after Derapchu stopping giving them live behind-the-scenes.
Wifies’s ears were pressed back, as he carried on looking at nothing, fingers twitching over the outline of his comm under his shirt. He hadn’t wanted it to be obvious. He’d wanted it to really look like they had no contact outside, or, even better, that he was trying to hide his.
But that was just for the story. It didn’t really matter.
Wifies didn’t move again. His tail was almost invisible, curled so tightly around his waist it disappeared under his clothes. It was almost strange, to see him on set in casuals.
“Fuck.”
Wato sounded panicked, and Ken was just about holding on. Wifies didn’t do that. He’d never ignored them before. Not entirely. Not when he wasn’t actively on the main screen.
“Trying again.”
You whisper to Wifies: Please look at us we’re really worried.
Again, nothing. A haze in his eyes, maybe. He must be looking at Parrot.
It could be method acting. Ken tried to rationalise, because he wasn’t here as an actor, he didn’t really know how they thought. She’d seen people crash as soon as the cameras stopped rolling. Zam normally had a laughing fit, immediately, then refused to exert any more effort the rest of the day. Flame transitioned out of his role like he was dismounting a moving bus.
Outgoing voice call with: Wifies
“Come on…” Ken was tapping, now, leg bouncing as she stared through the screen. “We can try Parrot. In a second. Is he breathing?”
“Don’t think so.”
Ken felt her comm buzz, as the call timed out. He wasn’t surprised, really. Wifies looked fully spaced out, his eye movements visible as he followed Parrot up the wall.
“Wifies…” Ken breathed out, voice twinging in worry. “Ok. Calling Parrot?”
“He’s busy, Ken…”
Wato was biting his thumb, shifting nervously as she stared through the camera’s lens at Wifies. Ken looked over in sympathy, and held out his own hand.
“He won’t mind. I’ll call him.”
“…Yeah. Cool. Thanks.”
Wato took her hand, and squeezed for just a moment, before pulling it back. It was enough, for them.
You whisper to ParrotX2: Wifies doesn’t look ok
You whisper to ParrotX2: Can we come get him?
Nothing from Parrot either. A flicker of recognition, a momentary frown, because no one was supposed to be paging him. No one was meant to be allowed to disturb any of them. That was kind of the reason they’d gotten a special viewing room for this episode, to give Spoke a reason not to interrupt.
Then Parrot’s fingers danced over his comm, hidden in the form of a nervous tic, and Ken’s comm started ringing.
She picked up, exchanging a raised-eyebrow look with Wato. That was a smart shortcut to have.
“Hi. It’s Ken.”
“And Wato.”
”Is something wrong?” On screen, Parrot continued building up as normal, and you could barely see his lips move. ”Do we need to stop filming?”
“No, it… should be okay. We just want to get Wifies out. He doesn’t look like he’s doing too well, and he’s not picking up his comm.”
Parrot nearly looked. Ken could see, through the camera, the momentary fumbling in his block placing. He did look over his shoulder, after an apparent moment of thought, disguising it as a paranoid glance. But Ken could see his eyes find Wifies.
”God, yeah. He’s not picking up anything?”
“We tried calling.” Wato volunteered this time, leaning over Ken and into his comm. “We think he might be watching you.”
”That’s- yeah, that kinda makes sense. He’s been tired. Do you guys think we need to call it?”
Parrot was a good multitasker, by the looks of it, because he was proceeding exactly on script, to the naked eye. Only Ken and Wato knew how out of the moment he was.
“We should be good, if it’s going well out there.”
Ken didn’t want to disturb Parrot any more than Wato did, but more than that, she was pretty sure they could pull Wifies off set between the two of them.
”Bro, it was. But if Wifies needs this over with, I can go get him now.”
“I mean…” Ken looked over at Wato, who shrugged, and sighed into the speaker. “Whatever you want, Parrot.”
”I’m calling a cut then, and I can TP back to you two?”
“Sounds good.”
”Great. Thanks, guys.”
Parrot cut the call, and Ken and Wato got to watch him yell over to where Jumper and Leo had just begun to circle, signalling them back down. He was handed an elytra, without hesitation, and they flew off, probably to grab Derapchu and take advantage of the break.
“He’s coming back here?” Wato sounded worried, and Ken’s eyes flicked over to him. “Like- I trust Parrot, and all.”
“I get it. They’re coming back. Come on.”
Somehow, no one else had noticed anything. Aside from Minute, who’d wandered in at some point, and nodded to the two of them as Ken lead Wato across their little watching room.
Ken glanced backwards, catching Wato hurrying a few steps, and holding her hand nervously.
“Sorry.”
“You’re good.” Ken smiled, pulling Wato a little closer. “Parrot’s nice.”
Wato nodded in agreement, and they both rounded the corner into the recreation room, with a teleport beacon. Ken almost regretted leaving the screens, and not seeing how Parrot would get Wifies to come with him, but they wouldn’t take long, he was sure.
And she was right. Barely twenty seconds later, Parrot appeared in the centre of the room, on the mock-launchpad Spoke had thrown together while slightly drunk, with Wifies clinging onto him unhappily.
He shifted, though, when he saw them. Ken grinned, watching Wifies’s eyes widen, then narrow, flickering between the two of them.
“I’m fine.”
Wato appeared beside the other two, disentangling Wifies gently from Parrot’s arm to give the poor avian space to breathe. Ken stepped forward too, even if only to exchange a sympathetic look with Parrot.
“How bad?”
It was murmured question, as Wato forced Wifies to sit down on one of the sofas they had in here. Parrot’s eyes lingered on the dog hybrid, even as he replied.
“Pretty bad. Thanks for telling me, bro, seriously. You two ok to do the rest?”
“Unless you want to stay.”
“If… I’m back in a few minutes, is that ok? Could do with sorting a few things out, if we’re off script.”
“Of course.”
Ken smiled reassuringly, which Parrot seemed to need, as he hurried off.
As soon as the avian left, Ken heard Wifies growl, and spun around just in time to see Wato near-pinned to the sofa, once again proving how all the biological capability in the world meant nothing in the face of an unhappy dog hybrid with twice as much muscle mass.
Not that any of them had much going for them, evidenced by Ken carefully pulling Wifies off, with only quite a lot of struggle.
“Hey. He’s coming back.”
“I know.” Wifies still looked like he wanted to tear someone’s throat out, skin thrumming under Ken’s hands on his shoulders. “I know that. Obviously I know that.”
“Mhm.” Ken pressed down, still gently, guiding Wifies back to sitting, in a slightly more manageable position. “We all know he’s coming back. So you’re ok?”
“I’m fine. You guys didn’t need to- ruin Parrot’s filming for nothing.”
“You weren’t picking up your comm.” Wato’s voice was careful, sitting on the other side to Wifies to where Ken was half-kneeling, half perching. “Or moving.”
“…I was fine.”
“Sure.” Ken pressed closer to Wifies, her tail chasing his teasingly. “So fine, you’ll say that again to my face?”
Wifies looked like he wanted to bolt, but he was stuck, and melting fast. He always lost it, after a little while with both of them. Something was going to give, and Ken’s willpower was strong.
That didn’t stop him resisting right now, though. The dog hybrid crossed his arms, hugging his own chest, and tried to hide in the space between them. He frowned, expression visibly flickering, as Ken’s tail finally found his, winding around the fluff and drawing an almost perky reaction out of him.
“Get off me.”
“Nope. Want to tell us why you want Parrot back so badly?”
Ken was pretty sure he knew. Wato would definitely know.
“I’m… meant to be filming with him.” Wifies curled in on himself a little more, irritated but powerless to resist Ken’s simple question. “And…”
“You need a break. None of it’s real, we know that.” Wato took Wifies’s hand gently, intertwining their fingers. “You’ve been working hard on this.”
“Say it’s not real.” Ken had suddenly gotten an idea, bracing herself a little for this to go down badly. “Tell us this whole thing is fake, and Parrot still loves you anyway.”
The vaguely panicked look in Wifies’s eyes made Ken’s stomach twist. He exchanged a sad look with Wato, and rubbed Wifies’s back with the tip of her tail.
“It’s… a story.”
“You told me your stories are real. Try again.”
“It’s my story. I care.”
“Wifies, please. If you really can’t do this, there’s no way Parrot’s letting you back in there.”
“You won’t tell him.” Wifies sniffed, and glared, wiping his eyes with one hand like he thought he could ever be scary to Ken. “I trust you.”
“That doesn’t work.” Wato was going softer than Ken, getting closer and closer to Wifies every time Ken looked away. “And she will. You trust us to keep you safe.”
For a long moment, Ken wondered if Wifies was going to snap the wrong way. There was a desperate anger behind his eyes, a frustration that didn’t quite look himself, but there was betrayal and relief warring in the twitching of his ears.
Then, it loosened, and he looked down.
“I… I know it’s not- not real.” Wifies’s voice cracked, and he looked like he might be about to cry. “It just feels like it is. And- it’s not bad. I- I’d be okay, if it… if it was real.”
There it was. Ken apparently lacked the self-control Wato did, immediately seizing the opportunity to hug Wifies, burying her face in the place where his neck met his shoulder. He stiffened, then relaxed, laughing a little.
“Hey, it- it’s not that bad.” Wifies rubbed Ken’s back, seemingly absentmindedly, but seemed more than happy for him to stay close. “I’m having fun.”
“You want us to tell Parrot? He’ll give you a few days off.”
Wato was taking over. Wifies’s hand had found Ken’s ears, and fair play to him, that was a very effective way to take one of them out of action in forcing him to confront his feelings.
“No.”
“Wifies…” Ken was rapidly losing mental faculties, but that could be fixed by pulling back a little, enough to glare up at Wifies. “This is serious.”
“Ken’s right. You’re stuck in there, and that means you’re stuck in your head.”
“Which is a perfectly fine place to be.” Wifies’s voice was empty, challenging them by dropping any pretence of camaraderie. Seeing what they made of him if he didn’t treat them like people.
“It’s okay that it’s not.” Wato didn’t rise to it, staying curiously calm. “You told us. You asked us not to let you hurt anyone for real.”
Wifies pulled Ken closer again, a defensive edge as he hugged her back.
“That was a joke. I was stupid.”
“Yeah, and it sounded stupid.” Wato scoffed, and Ken could hear Wifies’s heartbeat, against her own. “But it doesn’t mean we’ll listen to you any less. You happen to fall under anyone.”
“I’m… Wato, I’m not- I don’t think I am the- my character, or anything.”
“We know.”
Ken was appreciating being kept in the loop. He was also appreciating the petting. This was a win-win for him, right now.
“I’m not- about to go crazy.”
“I hope not.”
“You think there’s something else.”
“I do.”
“You think I enjoy it too much.” Wifies sounded carefully aloof as he said it, testing the waters while trying to maintain full confidence he wouldn’t fall in. “And you think I’ve gotten too attached to Parrot. Which is just jealousy.”
“Envy, actually-“
“No, Wato, he’s right.” Ken nuzzled against Wifies’s shoulder, flashing a sleepy smile. “It’s jealousy.”
“…shit.”
Wifies laughed, then, and Ken nearly bit him on elated instinct. He was high on instincts, it was allowable.
“You’re welcome to be jealous. I don’t mind.”
“You’d love it.” Ken nipped at Wifies’s neck, possibly a little too relaxed, now. “Admit it.”
Wifies moved her away from his skin, which was reasonable too, even if Ken huffed. He adjusted in the dog hybrid’s lap, not letting Wifies play with her instincts indiscriminately. Because she hadn’t been asking for that, of course. Or enjoying it.
“Maybe I would. Is this good enough for you two?”
“Close.” Wato breathed a short laugh, and they were all relaxed, now. “Do you feel ok?”
“Always did.”
“What happened in Paragon?” Ken kept his eyes on Wifies, gentle but attentive. “When you wouldn’t talk to us.”
“Not much. Just saw Parrot, and…” Wifies hesitated, then sighed, and dropped his voice to almost inaudible. “I thought it was real.”
“Wifies…” Ken rolled his eyes, leaning back in to nuzzle playfully against his face. “Did you think you really had to keep him safe?”
“It’s… not something I can’t do.”
“That doesn’t mean you have to.” Wato pushed Ken’s face back with one hand, scoffing at his fellow cat hybrid’s over-enthusiastic physical affection. “Ken. Relax.”
“Someone touched my ears.”
Wifies smiled. It was small, but it was real, and there, and Wato felt himself and Ken soften instantaneously.
Wifies noticed. His eyes flicked up, smile frozen on his lips, and he sighed.
“Can we just say you guys win this one? I’ll- take the rest of tonight off.”
“Then?” Wato headed Ken off, giving Wifies the benefit of the doubt. “What about tomorrow?”
“I’d… like to actually get back to filming?” Wifies looked almost pathetic, even if he sounded a little pushy. “Without being disturbed?”
“Only if you pick up your comm.” Apparently deciding Wato wasn’t doing it right, Ken crawled over to Wifies’s lap, rubbing his ears against the dog hybrid’s arm. “Promise us.”
Wato knew that meant relatively little. Ken didn’t, but they did. Sometimes that helped, in its own way, because it meant Wifies was that bit more inclined to tell Ken the truth. It was sweet. He’d just lie to Wato’s face.
“…okay.” Wifies sighed, seemingly lured by the cat hybrid nuzzling across his lap. “I promise. You guys ring my comm, I’ll pick up.”
Purring happily, Ken flopped onto Wifies, and Wato shot him a pitying look. He wasn’t going to be able to move until Ken deigned to get off him.
“That’ll do.” Wato shifted, watching Wifies weakly try to adjust Ken. It was so no avail. For someone who looked so small, she knew where to place her weight to cause maximum annoyance. “I’ll tell Parrot.”
Wifies had no comeback, to that. He just scratched Ken’s ears, expression blank and avoidant.
Wato didn’t bother to push it.
They just settled back, and watched Wifies play with Ken, all of them together and calm, for once.