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Arachnid was dead.
Those three words were suddenly the least and most pressing issue on his mind.
Arachnid was dead, which meant he wasn't a threat anymore. Arachnid was dead, which meant Wemmbu wasn't forced to do his bidding. Arachnid was dead, which meant he was free.
Click, went the stasis chamber above him, encased in glass. Egg appeared at once, and was just as quickly gone. He shot right down, and Wemmbu's heart went with him.
He couldn't breathe as he stumbled forward, ears ringing, and yet somehow the sound of Yungy's victorious crows came through.
The distance across the small room felt yawning, and he couldn't get to the other side fast enough. His armour was weighing him down, his legs were too slow.
Arachnid had a hole in his chest. Wemmbu was relieved. Wemmbu was horrified. Wemmbu was slamming into the tinted glass wall and smashing it with his bare hands.
Shards tore at his knuckles, blood running down from cuts and dropping onto the stone ground. His vision was tunneling. One block breaking, start the next, punch, punch, punch, shatter!
Wemmbu leaned over-
The gasping noise that he made was broken and strangled. His breathing came in short, sharp bursts, and he slipped off the edge and glided to the bottom, where Egg was sitting in a black concrete box. A puddle of water lay a few feet away from him.
Wemmbu opened his mouth to make a joke, sat something snarky, and found he couldn't. Egg looked paler than he should. He couldn't see them under his curtain of hair, but the purple demon was sure his eyes would be glazed over. He looked sick. This was all his fault.
Wemmbu doubled over and tried to breathe. He knew he was hyperventilating. He didn't know how to stop. He tried to remember what Minute had told him, but he was blanking.
Egg was getting to his feet. He was moving weird, all wobbly and shaky. Wemmbu blinked and the angel was in front of them. His mouth was moving, but the ringing was too loud to make out any words.
Egg's hands were on his shoulders. Something in him cracked.
Wemmbu fell onto him, clutching for purchase on his stupid suit. Egg reciprocated immediately, drawing him in and holding him tight. It was restricting, but it was easier to breathe here.
Egg was alive. His stasis had been pulled, and Arachnid was dead, and he'd been dropped, but he was alive, and the spider hybrid was gone and-
They were free. Wemmbu wasn't even sure he knew what that word meant anymore.
Distantly, he realized he was sobbing quietly. He was relieved. He was so, so relieved, because his best friend was supposed to be dead, but he wasn't, and Arachnid was instead.
Egg was still speaking to him. Wemmbu managed to focus on his voice. It washed over him, soothing his panic and terror and the way his heart was still beating out of his chest.
And they could stay like this. Wemmbu was allowed to be with his Egg for as long as he liked, and it would never be long enough.
Wemmbu wrapped his tail around one of Egg's legs and the angel had produced a pair of wings that settled around him like a fluffy cape. A broken purr started out of him. He felt Egg relax as well. They were okay. Everything-
Splash!
Was not over yet.
Wemmbu ripped away to face Yungy at once, purring cutting off immediately. Egg faltered, his hands latching onto the crook of his elbow.
He was shaking. Actually, he was struggling to stand on his feet in general. Guilt washed over Wemmbu, as well as self loathing. Had he been that absorbed in his own misfortunes that he had neglected his friend's much more important ones?
Wow. He really was awful. Why did Egg even stick around him? He just got put into situations no one wanted to be in. He was pulled around by everyone because of how Wemmbu acted, and then the purple demon couldn't even keep him safe.
"It's over." Yungy declared, putting his hands on his hips. "Arachnid is gone."
Wemmbu's mouth still wasn't working. He was silent for a moment too long.
Yungy and Egg were both staring at him. He couldn't let anyone else see him like this.
Yungy put his hand on his shoulder. "Wemmbu?" He asked, and the purple demon flinched.
"What?" He finally forced out.
Yungy grinned. "Arachnid's dead, dude! I'm gonna be king!"
"Oh. Yeah, right." Wemmbu swallowed.
"Can we get out of here now?" Egg butt in. "I want to see the sun again."
That spurred him into action. Wemmbu moved, Egg still holding onto him, and the three made their way out of the box.
***
Egg was sick. It must've been all the teleporting around from the pearls.
Wemmbu had tucked him into bed and was fussing over him like some sort of mother hen. Egg didn't say anything about it. He just did as he was told, eat this, take that off and put this on, hold your arm out, drink that, now this, are you still hungry, do you need anything-
Eventually, Egg grabbed his friend and pulled him onto the bed as well. "Enough." He grumbled. Wemmbu went limp at once, winding his arms around him.
"There's a bucket there if you need to throw up." Wemmbu whispered.
"I know." Egg said calmly. "But brother, let me take care of you too. You haven't stopped trembling since the void pit."
Wemmbu struggled not to flinch at the memory.
"I'm fine, see? Just a little sick and disoriented, but I'll live." Egg soothed, slowly working his fingers through Wemmbu's ratty, knotted hair. "And I need you to be okay too. So we're just gonna lay here and sleep for a bit."
Wemmbu wanted to protest. But he finally, finally had all the time in the world with his best friend. He would stay here, and he wouldn't get taken away again. And wow, he didn't realize how tired he was. He could hardly remember sleeping in the caves.
But now, Egg's wings were around him, and he was warm and real and not going anywhere.
He began to purr, and his tail draped over Egg's waist, and he nuzzled into his neck.
"Yeah." Egg sighed. "Good luck trying to get me to let go of you later."
Wemmbu hummed happily. He rolled so he was almost on top of the other man, clinging to his friend like he was a teddy bear.
"But I have a feeling it's the same for you. Goodnight Bu. Let's stay home for a while, okay?"