TW// cussing, broken bones, bruised insides, panicking, crying, drowning mention, hospital-like environment, talk of different fears (tight spaces, restrains, drowning/suffocating, tornadoes, going crazy, fear of darkness, forgetting everything, the ocean, abandonment, and loosing loved ones)
I think that's all?
Wilbur's POV
I was took up to the Med Bay floor. Charlie and Quackity looked at me with sympathy. They stared at me like I was fragile, delicate, fine china that would break if you looked at it too hard. I hated their looks on me.
The elevator pinged, and when the doors opened, I was nearly blinded by the white. Does everything related to a hospital have to be such a piercing white? I mean, my lab is, or, was, white, but still!
We stepped through, and the two led me to a curtain. They pulled it back, and I saw Fundy sitting there, swinging his leg. I need to get him another prosthetic. He was clean. His hair was brushed out, the dirt was wiped from his face, and his clothes were fresh.
He gave me a toothy grin.
"Hey, bud, how are you?" I asked, walking over to the small bed he sat up on. "I'm ok. Tired, hungry, thirsty...scared...but I'm ok." He shrugged. I turned to Quackity. "Can he have some water?" I asked.
Quackity jumped, skidding away for just a moment before returning with a plastic bottle of water, handing it to me, and I gave it to Fundy.
Fundy opened it, nearly chugging the whole thing.
"Woah, slow down, bud, don't drown yourself!" I chuckled, ignoring the pain that sent to my ribs. He flipped me off. "Hey! Woah, woah, woah, bucko! Don't do that!" I gasped. "You do it." He stated blankly. "You..." I sighed, "Yes, I do, but I'm an adult. You can do that once you're...uh...fifteen." I said. He nodded. "Fair."
"We should go get you checked out, Wilbur." Puffy's voice said from around the corner as she stood in the doorway. I nodded, looking at Fundy. "I'll be right back." I said. "Give me some time." He nodded, and I walked away.
I went into what seemed to be a lounge room in the place for the doctors here. I saw...literally everyone. I won't name them all. Y'know, Phil and them. All but Techno. Oh, I hoped he was alright.
"Hey, mate!" Phil smiled. He looked tired. I waved slightly.
"Hello." I robotic voice said from behind me, scaring me. I let out a high pitched squeal, whipping around, seeing some...robot thing. It looked like a fucking marshmallow. The others broke out into laughs. "H-Hi..?" I laughed under my breath.
"Hello, I am Shroud, Hero Headquarters' personal robotic AI healthcare companion. I see, you do not seem to be in my codes. Are you an intruder? Shall I alert the heroes?" The...Shroud...asked? "We're right here, Shroud. He's not an intruder, he's just never been to the Med floor, so you've never seen him." Phil said.
"And- Phil, this is..." I trailed off. "This is Shroud. Tommy named him. He's an AI doctor, probably better than the living doctors here." Phil chuckled.
"I need your information," Shroud said, "I will scan you now." "No- don't scan me!" I waved my hands in front of me, not exactly knowing what 'scanning' was.
"Scan complete."
"Fuckin' hell."
(I am totally not making Shroud based off of Baymax from Big Hero 6...totally...)
"Your name is...William Soot Gold, age twenty. Is this correct?" Shroud asked. "It- Yes? How- How did you-?" "Fantastic, William." He cut me off. "Just...call me Wilbur?"
I felt crazy, taking to an AI like it was human.
"Note taken. Wilbur, you appear to have some first-degree burns on your arms, back, and hands. Would you like me to treat them?" Shroud asked, seemingly pulling some burn stuff from nowhere. "Uh- No, no, I'm alright." I nervously laughed.
"Wilbur, you appear to be experiencing high level of stress. Shall I notify somebody to assist in calming you? Would you prefer me to comfort you? Some say I am decent at giving hugs." He said. "Wha- Shush! I-I'm- No- I'm perfectly fine, I'm- I'm not stressed! I don't- I don't know what you mean. Phil, I-I think your robot is broken!" I yelled.
Phil just looked at me with a look of concern.
"Wilbur, your stress level appears to be rising. Shall I show you some breathing techniques?"
"No! I'm ok! I- God, shut up!" I pressed my palms into my eyes. "Pushing on your eye can cause blind spots and headaches in some cases." "I know!"
God, is this thing ever gonna shut up?
I turned to walk away, bumping into Quackity. I felt something with my ribs move in a way I wish it hadn't, because it fucking hurt.
I clutched my side, stifling a cry.
"Scanning for internal injuries..."
I glared at Shroud, even though he probably didn't know I did.
"Scan compete. Please do not give me harmful looks." He said. I nearly laughed, it was so crazy. "Philza, since Wilbur is a stubborn donkey, he appears to have two cracked ribs on the left side, bruising to his stomach, and some smoke in his lungs." Shroud turned, facing the lounge area.
"Donke-!?" I said a little loud, offended. The strain sent me doubling over on myself, arms wrapped around my ribcage.
"Fuck, Wilbur." Phil gasped, standing up. "How did you crack your ribs?!" He asked, placing a hand on my back and I was leaned over. I flinched, not realizing he had walked over.
"He threw me. His- His fucking telekinesis- ow, fuck!" I sucked in my breath.
I'm not a clumsy person, and I rarely get hurt, so I don't have much of a pain tolerance. Maybe every other person on the planet would be pretty fine right now, but I'm certainly not.
"High pain levels can cause stress, sometimes resulting in extra, unneeded pain. Would you like me to bring you a compression brace to fasten around your ribs? Compression braces help hold the ribs in their appropriate places, letting them heal. Compression braces are also good for easing anxiety. Tell me, have you ever seen those weighted anxiety plushies? Compression braces can work the same for some humans." Shround said.
"Phil, does he ever shut up?" I groaned. "Yes! I would be delighted to have a Compression brace, Shroud. And yes, I have seen the anxiety plushies. I owned one before my house got fucking exploded!" I breathed out.
Shroud was silent for a moment.
"Would you like me to bring you one, Wilbur?" He asked. His robotic voice seemed to have emotion behind it. Sympathy, care.
I looked up at him, thinking.
"I...yeah..." I stared down at my shoes like they were the most interesting thing in the world. His head nodded down and up once in a jittery motion.
"Go sit down, Wilbur. I will be back in a moment."
He then turned, leaving.
I watched where he disappeared around the corner for a moment, exhaling.
"You...go sit the fuck down. How the hell..? Two cracked ribs?!" Phil blinked at me. "And a bruised stomach." I grinned. He rolled his eyes. "Sit."
I was gently shoved to the sofa, forced to sit down. Sitting disagreed with the rising anxiety in my chest. I don't like to sit when I'm on edge, afraid of being attacked or having my son kidnapped at any moment. My foot tapped, a nervous habit I have aside from chewing my nails.
"Wilbur." I heard. I flinched, looking behind me on the sofa to see Shroud there. "That's was fast." I laughed. He nodded. "Here you go. If you desire anything else, say my name."
He then left again.
I held what I assumed was the brace in one hand, and a weighted dinosaur in the other arm.
"Uhm..." I looked at the brace, "How the hell do I put this on?" I asked. "Here," Phil took the brace from me, "Turn."
So, I turned, my back facing him. He put it around me, pulling it.
"Tell me if it gets too tight." He said, pulling it tighter and tighter until I hissed at the pain. He stopped, loosening it just a tad, and then fastening it. "Thanks." I cleared my throat. "Mhm."
A slouched back on the sofa, resting the weighted Dino on my chest. It wasn't quite as heavy as my old one, but I guess that was because I had two cracked ribs, so Shroud grabbed one that wasn't as heavy as the others. Which, I'll admit, is smart. I hadn't thought about that.
I felt my eyes getting heavy. I slouched to the side, my head resting on Phil's shoulder. But...it wasn't Phil. It didn't smell like Phil, not like I go around sniffing the number one hero, Philza aka Crow. Their hands rested in their lap, and it wasn't Phil's hands.
It looked like Quackity.
My tired body didn't give itself any time to move before it passed out.
The next day
I opened my eyes slowly, taking a moment to take in my surroundings. Not much had changed from when I was sleeping. Everyone was still in their spots, just looking like they had slept there.
Also, I was lying down on my side, holding the weighted Dino how a small child holds their favorite plushie while they sleep.
But I felt trapped, like something was holding me down.
An arm. An arm was around me, holding me in my place. I could feel their breath on the back of my neck as they slept.
I made a small noise, shifting to try and get up. My noise made the others turn their heads towards me. The arm tightened around me like it was intentionally trapping me. I don't like being held down, I've never even liked much physically contact from anyone besides Techno or Fundy and just a couple others.
I felt my breaths go short yet faster. I reached; my tired, just awoken body struggling to move the arm even an inch. It held on even tighter now. I balled my hands into fists, holding my breath.
"Philza, Wilbur seems to be experiencing high levels of stress, and appears to be in the early stage of a panic attack. Would you like me to assist him for you?" Shroud's voice asked.
Great, just what I need right now. An AI ratting out my every feeling.
"O-Oh, hey, hey, Wilbur, it's alright. You're fine, it's just Quackity." Phil said in a calm voice. I looked at him, then at the arm, and back to Phil. I shook my head, my hands shaking. "That's- That's even worse." I squeaked out.
It wasn't actually worse then me thinking I was being held down by someone who intended to harm me, but still.
"Philza, Wilbur appears to be having slight problems with his breathing. Should I get him an inhaler or an oxygen mask?" Shroud asked. "No, Shroud, thank you." Phil replied, getting up from where he sat and walking over to me, crouching in front of me.
"I don't think he's gonna let go any time soon, Wil, he's pretty dead asleep. Just calm down, you're fine." Phil said, glancing up at Shroud.
Yeah, I know he's not gonna hurt me...maybe...but that doesn't change the fact that I hate being held down!
"Shroud, scan him." Phil said.
Why? Can't he tell that I'm scared without having it be medically proven by an AI?
"Scan complete. Wilbur is, put simply for a human, scared." Shroud said. Did this fucker read my mind? "Wilbur is having slight trouble breathing from his lungs being held tightly by Quackity, and also because he is panicking. Wilbur appears to have claustrophobia and does not like being held down or pinned down due to it making him feel trapped."
"Y-Yeah, just- just fuckin' tell 'em my- my every fear why don't you?" I took a shaky breath. "As you wish. Wilbur is afraid of tight spaces, restrains, drowning/suffocating, tornadoes, going crazy, forgetting everything, the ocean, the darkness, abandonment, and loosing his loved ones." Shroud spits out faster than Wilbur can stop him.
"I didn't mean literally, you fucking-" I tried to sit up fast, the quick motion hurting my ribs, making me cry out in pain, and the feeling of Quackity's arm pushing down on me making me that much more wanting to get the hell out of here.
"Quackity! Hey, Big Q, wake up!" Phil shook Quackity harshly, and his grip loosened on me a bit. "Hmm?" Quackity replied, just now awake. "Get the fuck up, man, get offa Wil!" Phil shook him more, even though he was already awake.
Quackity shot up, his arm now fully off of me. I gasped in relief, swinging my legs over the couch, sitting up to catch my breath and calm myself.
"What's wrong? Is he alright?" Quackity asked, and I could feel his eyes on me.
"Wilbur was in the early stages of a panic attack. Wilbur does not like to be held down, which you were doing in your sleep." Shroud replied.
"Oh, I- Oh my god, Wilbur, I'm so sorry, I- I didn't even know we were near each other, I was just- I don't know, I'm so sorry!" Quackity gasped, taking hold of my hands in his.
Our eyes met, and I could see that he was actually sorry, and that he didn't really know he was holding me.
I also saw something else in his eyes, an emotion I'm not very familiar with. It was a look I saw in my parents' eyes when they would look at each other.
His eyes are...really pretty as well.
I swear, my heart skipped a few beats and my stomach got that butterfly feeling as I felt my face heat up.
"Wilbur, your appear to be having abnormal heart beats and seem to be slightly flushed. Are you feeling feaverish? Should I bring you-"
"Shut up, Shroud!" I tore my hands away from Quackity, covering my face with them. I heard giggling from the others in the room, including Quackity himself.
What's that bastard giggling for? Nothing about this is funny!
"Oh, I see. It appears that you are in love, Wilbur." Shroud deadpanned. "Shroud!" I jumped, facing his way. The screen that was his face showed two hearts for his eyes and his pixel mouth was doing kissy lips.
"Oh, you've got jokes, huh? You'll really know a joke when I fuck up your goddamn code!" I glared at him. "I know many jokes, Wilbur." His face went back to its normal look. "For example: knock knock..."
I didn't reply.
"Wilbur appears to not understand a knock knock joke. Wilbur, I say knock knock, and you-" I cut him off. "I know how to do a fucking knock knock joke! I'm not- I'm not doing that!"
"How rude. Well then, Quackity, knock knock..." Shroud turned to Quackity. "Uh, who's there?" He replied. "Wilbur." Shroud said, and Wilbur could already tell where this was going. "Wilbur...who?"
"Who do you think? Your secret crush, duh. Ha ha ha ha."
The joke wasn't funny. It was Shroud's stupid fucking robotic laugh afterwards that killed them all. Everyone besides Quackity and I laughed. We sat there red as tomatoes.
"Ooo. They are blushing." Shroud's marshmallowy arm pointed at us. "Ooo. I will delete your code." I replied back.
Another while went back and forth like this and I was actually ready to pour heaps of water onto Shroud. Show him a real joke. Let him see what happens when water makes contact with wires and shit. Yeah, that would be a real fucking funny joke.
After a bit, everything finally died down once Shroud had his final fucking laugh.
Then, after a minute or two in silence, a heard footsteps that were very recognizable. My eyes widened and I jumped up, turning around to see Techno...somehow standing up and walking, clutching the wall for support.
His eyes were full of pain and exhaustion.
"Techno! Why are you up?!" I gasped, walking around the couch to him. "I-I heard you yelling, and I..." He took a deep breath, repressing the pain he was in, "And I got worried? Especially when- when it got quiet." He took a short breath between nearly every word he spoke.
His arms and torso and back and legs...everything was bandaged under his clothes. His face had some smaller burns on them as well, but they seemed to be as minor as the ones on me, not needing any treatment.
"God, you look awful." I said quietly. "I feel it." He laughed, wincing.
"Go- Go back to bed. Where's your room?" I asked. "No, I'm...I'm fine, just- just let me sit. For the love of god, this wall isn't a good support." He said. "Y-Yeah, of-of course."
I put a gentle hand on his back, helping him over to the large sofa, sitting him down. I sat next to him.
He was in so much obvious pain. He showed in his eyes, in his movements, in his voice. His body trembled very slightly, barely noticeable.
"So- So why were you yelling?" He asked. "Shroud was being a bitch." I said. "Shroud..?" He questioned.
"Hello!" Shrouded exclaimed, waving. "Oh! Jeez!" Techno flinched, wincing again. "I am Shroud, Hero Headquarters' personal robotic AI healthcare companion. I see, you do not seem to be in my codes either. Are you an intruder? Shall I alert the heroes?" He asked, saying the same thing he said to me, aside from the 'either,' referring back to me.
"I- no, I'm not- not an intruder." Techno glanced at me. "Again, Shroud, we're right here. He's good." Phil sighed.
"I will scan you now."
"What?"
"Scan complete."
"K..."
"Your name is...Technoblade Alexander God Pitt Brute, age twenty. Is this correct?" Shroud asked. "Yes..? How does it-" "Please, Technoblade, I would prefer if you refer to me as a he. Although I am an AI with no specific gender, that is what I prefer." Shroud said. "O-Oh! I- Sorry, I didn't mean to- you know- s-sorry." Tehcno shakes his head, still slightly confused.
"God, Techno, you have a long name." Sam laughed. "Mhm." Techno replied.
"Ok, but who gives their kid the middle name God?" Skeppy asked. "My parents...or...guardians. Whatever I wanna call those hags. I dunno, they were big on religion stuff. A little too big, actually. Creeped me out, to be honest."
Techno somehow said all of this without his voice breaking or shaking from his pain. He said it like he had been wanting to for years and years. Just wanting to say one thing about his...guardians?
"I didn't know you had trouble with you pare-...guardians." I tilted my head to the side. He shrugged. "Eh. Doesn't bother me. You're the one that needs therapy." He said. I scoffed. "I would slap you if you weren't burned." I shook my head. "No you wouldn't." He grinned. I shot him a glare.
"So what's with you? You get hurt any?" Techno asked. "I see you have a little thing around you." He added. "Psh, no, this is just for precaution."
"Wilbur is a liar. He has two cracked ribs and bruising to his stomach, along with some mild first degree burns to his arms, back, and legs." Shroud spat out. I groaned, rolling my eyes.
"Oh shit, how'd you crack your ribs?"
"Schlatt threw me. Y'know, telekinesis. So I shot both his hands so he couldn't use it." I said, slouching back. I got many wide-eyed stairs from saying that. I looked around at them. "What?" I asked.
"You shot his hands?" Phil asked. I nodded. "While they were moving, yes." I said. "What's so surprising about that?" I asked.
"That's...really good aim, Wil. I didn't know you could even use a gun." Quackity said. "I can do a lot more than you think I can." I looked at him with zero emotion, still feeling like I should hate him. "You learn a lot when you're on your own."
He nodded, biting the inside of his cheek as he looked down at his shoes.
It was then quiet for some time.
"Wilbur, you seem to be experiencing-" Shroud began. "I know what I'm experiencing, Shroud. No, I don't need your help. No, I don't need you to alert anyone. Thank you." I held my hand up, silencing him. He let out a sigh, that really just sounded like airy radio static.
I knew what I was experiencing. It was a mix of confusion and anger and frustration, and dare I say some unneeded 'affection' to that stupid fucking duck guy, Quackity. He hurt me, and I don't understand why I feel so...close to him, for a lack of better words.
It was weirdly quiet. Barely anyone had even spoke since I woke up earlier.
Then, some beeps admitted from Shroud's speaker, and he left without saying anything.
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