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For the past few days, Hummer had been acting… off. Ever since they both woke up after drowning in that server, and Wifies had recovered from witnessing Levi. Hummer… has been really clingy, more than usual.
Before, sure, he got a bit close to Wifies, maybe their hands or shoulders brushed every now and then, but it wasn’t like this. Now, Hummer seems to want every excuse possible to be close to Wifies, holding hands, leaning against him, stuff like that. It’s not that Wifies doesn’t like it! He’s just… confused.
He’s not sure what to do, he’s not changed his own behavior yet because of that. Wifies doesn’t know what to do about him and Hummers… dynamic. Sure, Wifies has had close friendships before, but this feels… weird. It feels like someone shifted all of his stuff a couple inches to the left.
Like now, he and Hummer are talking on the boat, and Hummer is leaning against him and holding his hand, rubbing circles with his thumb. Wifies is genuinely trying to concentrate on what Hummer is saying— he really is! It’s just.. hard, for some reason.
“… Wifies? Are you listening?” Fuck, he noticed, play dumb!
“O-oh! Yeah uh, sorry haha, just spaced out a bit is all.” He says, shooting Hummer a smile. The TV head just— looks at him, the faint hum of his internals quieting. The silence is deafening.
“Oh! That’s alright, as I was saying—“ Thank god— Levi? Thank Levi? Ugh, this is all so confusing. He’s so confused. First, hed having weird feelings about his best friend, and god is also maybe real? Can he have a break for once?
He’s just glad it’s so easy to talk with Hummer, he normally has to keep all of his antics in check— make sure he’s making eye contact, not being too loud or too flighty, not messing with his hands too much, stuff like that. But with Hummer? He barely has to worry about any of that. It’s like a breath of fresh air to be with Hummer. Is that gay? That might be gay. Wifies might be gay, but the leviathan is real so he doesn’t really care about that right now.
He and Hummer just— talk, for hours on that boat. It’s amazing, usually he gets so tired talking with people, but it’s almost the opposite with Hummer, it’s awesome.
“Hey, we should be heading to bed soon, Wifies, it’s getting pretty late.” Oh, Hummers right, the suns been setting and it’s almost dark. How hadn’t he noticed?
“Mm, I agree, do you wanna head back to the main house?” He asks, he hopes Hummer says yes, he’s never fared well sleeping on the boat, he hasn’t told Hummer yet. It feels rude.
“Sure, if you want to! I’ll need to handle something really quick, but after that we can head out before it’s too dark!” Thank goodness, maybe Hummer already knows? He’s been able to read Wifies scarily well recently.
“Fine by me, I’ll be waiting by the mini boat” Wifies gives Hummer a thumbs up as the TV head leans away, standing up and walking to the main room downstairs. He immediately misses Hummer.
A couple minutes go by while Wifies watches the sun set, and he gets worried. Where’s Hummer? He didn’t tell Wifies what he was handling, but it’s been a bit… should he check on him?
… it coudnt hurt, right? It’s just Hummer, why is he so nervous?
Standing up, Wifies follows where Hummer went, quietly creeping downstairs.
The sound of water flowing hits his ears, and the sound of metal scraping against metal. Is that Hummer?! Is he ok??
“Hummer? Are.. you coming?” Wifies bites out, nervous. What if he’s like— changing or something? Is he about to walk in on Hummer changing? Why does he find that kinda hot?
He instead sees Hummer standing normally in the middle of the room, hands on his shoulders and the front of his shirt sopping wet. He feels like he just walked in on Hummer changing.
“O-oh! Wifies! Aha! Uhm! Yeah no I’m coming, just uh— changing! I’m changing my shirt, was uhm— handling some stuff, and got my shirt wet, aha, gimme like a minute and we’ll be good to go!” Wifies just— stands for a moment, he feels like he’s at a crossroads.
Well, whatever you do at the crossroads, right?
“Ssssure.. just uh, lemme know when your good to go, yeah?”
“Of course! Would uh— would you mind..?”
“OH— my bad! Sorry, heading out now— sorry”
Wifies ducks his head, quickly running upstairs.
What… was that? What is up with Hummer? He’s gotta get to the bottom of this, something is wrong, he can feel it. But how to figure this out… maybe he could wait until Hummer was asleep, and start investigating the house for any weird stuff? He meant to do that before he and Hummer started searching for Levi, but it uh.. fell to the wayside.
He had bigger problems than snooping.
… But he can do some snooping while waiting for Hummer, maybe not much time, but some.
Bursting into action, Wifies starts by meandering around the ship. He'd been given a tour of the ship by Hummer before, of course, but he hadn’t had the chance to actually explore on his own, snooping through the various compartments and boxes strewn around the ship.
It’s… nothing interesting, most boxes just contain various redstone supplies, amethyst shards, some extra materials from building the boat… nothing to clue Wifies in on why Hummers behavior has changed.
Soon, he hears Hummers footsteps heading up the stairs, so he rushes to the point where they were sitting at earlier and pretends he was there the whole time.
“Hey man! You ready to go?” Wifies says like he wasn’t just snooping like his life depended on it.
Hummer stands before him, now completely dry, and with some.. rust? Around where his neck meets his torso? He should… he should ask about that soon, that might be an issue.
“Yup! Ready to go!” Hummer replies, passing Wifies and hopping into the smaller boat, gesturing for Wifies to follow.
As he does, the smaller boat pulls away from the main one, and off the two go to the main house.
—
While they do so, Wifies leans against Hummer's back, chest facing outwards behind the boat, watching the main boat disappear into the distance. He feels Hummer lean back as well. The view is.. wonderful, the twilight shining in Wifies’ view, casting the water in a pale blue sheen. Wifies leans his head on Hummers’ shoulder, feeling at peace.
The moment is ruined when they dock, with Hummer gently letting Wifies know it was time to head to bed, and he follows.
Wifies thinks he’ll always follow Hummer, no matter how weird things get between them.
He can’t be alone again.
The pair go to bed, Wifies changing into pajamas (it’s Hummers old sweater, he gave it to Wifies after he saw Levi) and Hummer changes into less formal clothes, just loosing the vest and undoing the top button of his dress shirt. How he manages to sleep in that so peacefully will never cease to amaze and confuse Wifies.
Wifies thoughts turn to Hummer giving him one of his sweaters. He hadn’t meant to think about it, but it somehow still smells like him. Like seawater and kelp. It makes Wifies blush a bright pink. He had been.. really struggling after meeting Levi, it’s like his whole worldview— his brain had been broken apart.
(“None of this is real! Neither of us are real, Hummer! Please, believe me!” Wifies sobs into Hummers shoulder, shaking like a leaf on the floor of the library and Hummer soothes him through another episode.)
But, Hummer giving him that sweater, it… changed some things, it hadn’t completely fixed him, but it set him on the right track.
He really does appreciate Hummer, he should show it more often.
“Goodnight, Wifies” Hummer calls from behind him, they started sleeping in the same bed after that whole mess, too. It somehow always ended with them getting tangled up in a mess of skin and metal.
God, it was like they were dating, or something.
“Goodnight Hummer, sleep well.” Wifies calls back, sleep already taking him.
Dating… Dating Hummer… it sounded too good to be true.
——
Wifies and Hummer are lying in bed, chatting. He can’t hear what he or Hummer are saying, but it’s ok. Because Hummer is with him and he’s not going anywhere. A giant grin is on Wifies face and Hummers screen is a pop of color in this pale room. It’s day, he thinks. He wonders why neither of them are out of bed. But it doesn’t matter. Because he and Hummer are together, and that’s never gonna change.
——
Wifies finds himself in a field, blue flowers the color of ocean waves scattered around him in clumps as far as he can see. Everything feels far away and fuzzy. Where is he? And where is Hummer?
Standing up unsteadily, Wifies looks around, kept warm in the sweater Hummer lent him. There’s not much around, the grassy earth is covered in bright blue flowers, the sky is a dusty blue with the stray cloud floating high up.
“Wifies?” It’s Hummer, he can hear Hummer behind him.
He turns, but Hummer isn’t there.
“Wifies can you hear me? I’m here, you don’t have to be afraid anymore.” He tries to call out to Hummer, but his mouth opens and all that comes out is seawater, endlessly flowing out. He’s choking on it.
Cold spreads through him as he desperately tries to stop the flow, falling to his knees with his hands curling into the earth. Water flows endlessly out of his mouth, the taste of seawater staining every sense he has.
Suddenly, the grass turns to sand. He’s underwater now, drowning. Water flowing endlessly in instead of out, he chokes on it, scrabbling at his throat and drawing blood.
“Wifies, it’s ok, I promise, you just have to believe.” Hummer! He’s here! Help him, please!
No matter where Wifies turns, he can’t find Hummer, he’s dying and he can’t find Hummer.
Where did he go? Where is he?! Hummer! Where are you? He can’t talk around the water, his eyelids are drooping and his limbs feel like lead.
“That’s it, Wifies, just believe, it’ll be ok” Hummer, please, help him. He doesn’t want to die yet.
Hummer, please.
——
Wifies wakes up in the middle of the night freezing cold, his nightmare already fading. The blankets were off and Hummer was missing. Restless unease rocks back and forth in his head like water in a cup. Where had Hummer gone…? It’s cold, and he misses Hummer.
…He’s… gonna look for him. A sense in the back of his head demands it.
Standing up, wincing at the feeling of bare feet on freezing cold floors. Why is it so cold? It’s summer. Everything smells like seawater.
He tracks around the house, looking for Hummer. Bathroom is empty, living room is empty, kitchen is empty. It’s all empty.
The sound of water splashing against stone reaches his ears. It’s coming from the basement. Is that where Hummer is…? The sound reminds him of what happened on the boat.
Carefully going downstairs, he wakes up a bit more. This is crazy, what is he doing? He should just go back to sleep and wake up to find Hummer in bed like normal. Nothing is wrong—
…
That’s… that’s Hummer’s head… on the floor. The display is on, but the only color that’s showing is a bright orange with a stripe of black down the center. It resembles an eye.
What the hell. Wifies is going to be sick, he’s going to be sick. What the fuck. What the fuck is happening.
Dropping to his knees next to the TV, Wifies holds the sides with shaking hands. It doesn’t appear damaged, it’s just… off. Off of Hummer’s body. This is so wrong, this is so wrong! Fear coils in Wifies gut like a snake. What if something broke in while they were asleep? What if it took Hummer and— took off his head?! What does he do?
Shaking his head and blinking through tears, Wifies strands up, picking up the head. He has the rest of the basement to search. Using the light of Hummer— of Hummer’s head, (he’s going to throw up he’s going to throw up he’s going to throw up he’s going to throw up he’s going too—) Wifies is able to find his way.
There’s a trail of water, starting from where Wifies found Hummer’s head, into the darkness.
… when at the crossroads, and all that. For Hummer.
Wifies follows the trail, footsteps forcefully quiet, hoping to not alert whatever just killed Hummer.
Oh god.. what is that..?
There’s an eye just out of view, just perfectly out of view, staring right at him. Water flows loudly and harshly from the darkness.
Who..?
“… Wifies?” Hummers voice emanates from the darkness.
“Hummer…? What… what’s going on..?” Wifies voice and body shakes. What the hell. What the hell is going on. How is he alive??? How is Hummer alive???
“Wifies… you were never meant to see this…” What does he mean.?
The— Hummers body stands up without its head, water flowing out of what Wifies thought was his neck, but now looked more like— a pipe, or a latch. Some kind of connecting point. Is this— is this what Hummer needed to handle yesterday on the boat? Just— remove his hand and sit ominously in the darkness?!
“What— what do you mean?! Hummer, what is going on?!” Wifies demands, hands shaking furiously. He has to keep an iron grip on Hummer's head, he doesn’t want to drop it— him?
“Wifies… please give back my head” Oh, that’s— that’s reasonable. Shaking, Wifies holds out the TV heads— head. Freezing cold hands touch his own as the TV is passed. Why is everything so cold? Wifies feels like he’s about to breathing out visible puffs of air like it’s the middle of winter.
White hot fear is coursing through his veins, clogging his arteries and stuffing his head with cotton. It’s too much. What is going on?! Will someone PLEASE explain why Hummer can take off his head and why h—
The sound of metal scraping against metal reaches Wifies ears as he winces. Hummer is screwing his head back on.
Fear is still coiling in his very bones, he doesn’t know what to do. He’s frozen in place while Hummer puts on his facade of normalcy.
He looks at Wifies when he finishes, screen turning into that of an eye, identical to the one spilling water everywhere from that connection point. The eye looks like what a heart of the sea looks like when it opens in a conduit.
“Hummer, please, can you explain what’s going on?! I’m losing my mind over here.” Wifies hates how much his voice shakes and cracks. Hummer tilts his head. The silence is killing him.
Is he not going to say anything? Wifies feels tears of pure stress gather in his eyes. Oh great, now he’s crying, perfect. Way to calm down a situation. The stress gathers in his limbs and in his teeth.
“I- I just—“ Wifies cuts himself off, looking down. His hands are shaking and it feels like he can’t breathe.
Hummer is grabbing his face and tilting it to look at him. When did he get so close?
“Wifies, look at me, it’s ok, I’m right here. Calm down.” He says. Hummer has this weird tone he always uses when Wifies is freaking out, it always calms him down. It isn’t this time, everything feels wrong.
Hummers hands are gentle on his face, thumbs prodding near his eyes and wiping away tears.
The eye on Hummer's face almost looks... calm. There’s not really a way to tell, but it feels calm. Wifies feels his heartbeat slow down, and his breathing even out as Hummer guides him through the panic attack.
“There you go, Wifies. It’s ok, we’re both ok. Calm yourself down.” This feels so wrong, but it feels good too. This is exhausting.
“I knew you could do it, you’ve always been good at believing in me, haven't you?” He has been? Wifies doesn’t think so, he’s been terrified this whole time and about to cry. Hummer is holding his face in a way where he can’t open his mouth. He doesn’t really want to, so he just nods, hesitantly.”
Hummer hums in approval, pressing the top of his screen to Wifies’ forehead.
Wifies feels himself calm down more, staring at that eye and barely blinking. He’s tired.
“Let’s go to bed, ok? We can talk in the morning.” Wait, he needs to talk now. While he knows what he needs to ask. He tries to lean back, but Hummer doesn’t let him.
“But—“ Wifies bites out, he needs to talk to Hummer tonight.
“Hmm, Wifies… you're doing so good right now, aren’t you? Why not keep it up? Let’s go to bed.” Theres that tone again, the one that calms him down. He hates how it works, and how his first instinct is to agree. His eyelids already feel heavier.
He’s too tired to fight this, he just wants everything to go back to normal. Wifies nods, and Hummer brightens, pressing his screen to Wifies’ face in an imitation of a kiss. wow. they just kissed. Wifies eyes widen and he feels his face heat up, and Hummer exudes a proud aura.
Holding hands, Hummer guides a rapidly fading Wifies upstairs to bed.
They go to sleep in a different position than normal, Wifies ends up curled up against Hummer, hold holding him closely under his chin. It’s too comfortable for Wifies to complain, though. It’s… nice, it’s nice. It feels good to be this close to Hummer. Wifies feels the stress and fear of earlier melt away as he drifts off.
“Mm… love you, Hummer…” he mutters out, falling asleep just as he hears it.
“I love you too, my dear Wifies. Sleep well.” As he’s out like a light.