Chapter Text
"Quackity," Karl mumbles as he leans his head on Quackity's shoulder.
"What?"
Quackity's face feels so warm and his head is still a little dizzy from the vodka that hasn't worn off quite yet.
Karl turns his head to whisper in Quackity's ear, 'I wanna kiss you again."
And Quackity thinks back to earlier in the night, after his stupid big fight with Wilbur, finding Karl and Sapnap, dancing with them for the rest of prom, and then ending the evening kissing both of them.
Something Quackity's wanted for years.
And now he's in the back of Sapnap's car cuddling with Karl, wishing Sapnap was sitting here too, but someone had to drive them.
Fortunately, Sapnap’s house is empty for the night and Quackity has no idea what the rest of this evening holds in the best possible way.
"Just a small one. We don't want Sap to crash trying to stare at us making out."
"Fine," Karl giggles and presses his lips against Quackity's.
He gets another taste of Karl's cherry lip gloss and Quackity's touching heaven.
"You two are so cute," Sapnap says from the driver's seat.
The rest of the ride, Quackity doesn't let go of Karl's hand while Karl's practically in Quackity's lap.
They get to Sapnap's driveway way too fast and not fast enough.
Karl refuses to let go of Quackity's hand, so he has to crawl out of the car and it's so worth the slight discomfort.
And once Sapnap gets to Quackity, he instantly takes his other free hand.
"Can I get another kiss too?" Sapnap asks, already puckering his lips.
Quackity answers with a quick peck that leaves both of them pink in the face.
The three of them waste no time making their way upstairs to Sapnap's room and they pile on to the too small bed, smiling the whole way.
Quackity is laying on Sapnap's warm chest while Karl is laying down too, pressed up beside them.
"I can't believe you thought it'd be a good idea to go with Wilbur to prom," Sapnap says.
It doesn't come off as judgemental, but only because Quackity knows him so well.
"Yeah, it was a pretty bad idea. It was definitely stupid, but I didn't want to go alone," Quackity admits.
"I'm just annoyed we didn't get to you first." Sapnap takes Quackity's palm and kisses it.
"What do you mean by that?" Quackity furrows his eyebrows.
"Me and Karl were going to ask you to prom."
And Quackity doesn't know what to say.
Would he have agreed to be their date?
He's not sure.
"Well we won anyway so Wilbur can suck it," Karl sticks out his tongue.
Quackity laughs and he can feel Sapnap's chest rumble as he does too.
"Can we keep it to kissing tonight?" Karl asks.
"Oh thank god, yes," Quackity says. He's barely come to terms with understanding his crushes want to kiss him. Anything more than that felt like a far off distant planet.
"Me first though," Sapnap cups Quackity's face, but doesn't pull him in, waiting for Quackity to make a move.
He leans into Sapnap’s face and their lips touch for a firm and warm kiss. Quackity sighs trying to keep his mind in the moment instead of in a loop of disbelief, and thinking this is only a dream.
The fingers that find themselves gently woven between Quackity’s locks and another hand holding his right hand held so dearly, is proving to be too real to deny.
Quackity is relishing this kiss and his mind is spinning in the stars before he notices his own tongue swipe across Sapnap’s lips.
It shocks himself so much that he jolts back from the kiss.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to do that,” Quackity murmurs, feeling so stupid. The last thing he wants is to make Sapnap feel uncomfortable from a stupid thoughtless move.
“It’s fine Quackity. I don’t mind heating this kiss up more, if you want,” Sapnap’s daring smile fills in the rest of Quackity's anxieties. “As long as you promise to kiss Karl with tongue too.”
Quackity lets out a weak chuckle.
“Yeah, I wanna taste you. When you’re done with Sapnap of course,” Karl says before giving him a kiss on the cheek.
He feels dumb that it makes his body feel even more on fire, but he goes back to Sapnap whose lips are slightly parted and when their warm tongues meet for the open mouth kiss, it feels exactly where Quackity's supposed to be.
A groan moves through Quackity's throat that he can’t hold back and just as he’s starting to feel embarrassed about getting so worked up about a little make out, Sapnap makes a strained noise back that sends a shiver down Quackity's spine.
Was kissing someone always supposed to feel this good? Quackity thinks and they explore their hot wet mouths with amorous intention. Like they had all the time in the world to figure out what made the other tick.
Maybe they only had this night and just about anything either Sapnap or Karl did made Quackity fall in love with them more, it doesn’t mean he’s not going to savor every drop, not letting a single one go to waste.
Quackity feels Karl’s hand reach over his waist, resting it there and begins to kiss his hand, arm, eventually reaching his neck with lips causing his skin to tingle and buzz.
And with Sapnap still taking Quackity apart and putting him back together over and over with his kiss, Quackity’s amazed he’s not crying.
But once he feels Karl sucking the skin of his nape, he can tell Karl’s patience is running thin.
With gentle palms, Quackity presses himself away from Sapnap, not letting him catch up to capture his lips again, even though it pains Quackity.
“Sorry, I think Karl’s asking for me,” Quackity tells him.
And Sapnap sighs with his bright rosy face, but wordlessly agrees by moving as best he can for Quackity and Karl.
“Quackity, I wanna get on top of you,” Karl gives him a super straightforward request that leaves Quackity scrambling to lay on his back, now in the same position Sapnap just was.
Karl tenderly climbs onto Quackity’s lap and now Quackity’s trying to think of every reason under the moon to say and keep Karl on him like this.
“Were the hickies too far?” Karl checks in as he adjusts himself on top of Quackity.
“No, not at all,” Quackity holds on to Karl’s hips, thinking it’ll help him get more comfortable and also so he can touch Karl. Okay maybe it’s mainly so he can touch Karl.
Right before Karl bends over to kiss Quackity, his giggles are so angelic Quackity forgets about the uncoordinated kiss that comes to him.
At first it's messy and a little awkward, but Quackity and Karl fall in a rhythm soon enough that starts to drag Quackity's mind from his body back into the clouds.
Karl makes cute little sounds of approval with each movement against Quackity's mouth. But Quackity wants, no needs, to hear more from Karl. Quackity's not sure what he should do. He's not Sapnap who's had all the time in the world to figure out what Karl likes.
"This is so hot," Sapnap says softly next to them. "And you're being such a good boy Karl."
A whine passes through Karl's lips and pours into Quackity's mouth.
The sound is beyond perfect and Quackity wants to hear it forever. Sapnap gets him close to that as he keeps whispering into Karl's ear, even though Quackity can't make out every word being preoccupied with Karl's tongue.
Not only that, Sapnap keeps running his fingers through Quackity's hair, and it feels so good.
Quackity is fully drowning in both these men.
"Hey Karl, let's give Quackity a little break," Sapnap hums.
And while Quackity doesn't want to wrench himself from Karl, his mouth is a little achy, so he lets Karl go and sits back up.
Karl's previously perfect curls are carelessly tossed on his head and are a pure picture of desperation and desire between the three of them.
"I'm just gonna move over here," Karl glides with shaky limbs to Quackity's side but his arm still lays across Quackity's chest and one of his legs stays intertwined with Quackity’s. It's a small win that keeps Quackity's mind stirring.
"Karl," Sapnap says in a low voice and cradles Karl’s face to bring their lips together.
The muffled sounds of need mixed with the wet heat of tongues seeking to indulge each other fill the room. And Quackity’s eyes, while heavy, stay open to soak in the titillating scene of Karl and Sapnap making out right above him. His mind is spinning and his heart is beating out of his chest.
Karl and Sapnap don’t neglect to hold Quackity’s hand too, keeping his floating mind somewhat grounded.
Even though Quackity could watch the way they move forever, Karl and Sapnap kiss comes apart only for them to immediately start devouring Quackity, placing their lips on any exposed skin they can come in contact with.
It tickles and leaves Quackity bubbling in a fit of giggles that start coming from Sapnap and Karl too.
The night is perfect and each kiss leaves Quackity wanting more and neither Karl or Sapnap leave him feeling empty, taking it upon themselves to feed Quackity’s desires. And only the weight of sleep makes their moment end, but the warmth of their bodies pressed together on the cramped bed keeps Quackity satisfied from the lack of mouths on him and his mouth on them.
When morning comes, with sunlight streaming through the curtains, Quackity still wrapped up with Karl and Sapnap and he wants to stay in bed so badly. He wants to keep listening to Karl’s peaceful deep breathing and Sapnap’s ugly snores.
He wants this forever.
But Quackity’s not that blessed to have that option.
He carefully peels out of bed, not waking either of them up before sneaking out of Sapnap’s house.
It’s a warm June morning and Quackity only has to walk a few minutes to a fully packed car, ready to leave Kinoko. Sitting in the car, Quackity shrugs off his wrinkled dress shirt and puts on a plain black tee and sends a quick ‘sorry for leaving’ text.
Quackity had already told Karl and Sapnap he was planning on leaving today, but he's sure they were expecting at least a verbal goodbye. But Quackity’s weak and knows seeing their teary faces that they’d attempt to cover with happiness, Quackity’s sure Sapnap would let a few tears go and Quackity wouldn’t be able to leave.
But Quackity needs to do this. He doesn’t want to feel stuck in this small stuffy town anymore. He’s going to make it big and maybe if he finds Karl and Sapnap again, things could be different.
Lastly, Quackity plugs in the university address and drives away, leaving everything behind.
"And I went straight to Manberg," Quackity tells Charlie over the phone.
Well, not in so many details but just enough for him to get the idea. Quackity's never told the whole story of how he fell out with Sapnap and Karl.
"And didn't speak to them until now?" Charlie asks.
"Not exactly," Quackity says. "But we just kind of stopped talking after a while."
At the time, Sapnap and Karl were a little upset that Quackity had left with only a text, but still accepted his apology.
But after a while of Quackity ignoring missed calls and letting messages go unanswered, it stopped altogether.
In a way, he was grateful that he had one less thing on his plate to worry about. Quackity truly didn’t believe there was any universe that his feelings would be reciprocated and he ended up projecting his love overflowing into the flashy empty life in Manburg.
It wasn’t all terrible and Quackity had the chance to invent himself into whoever he wanted to, too bad Schlatt stunted that growth.
Ugh, even Charlie only knew the bare minimum about Schlatt. That he was a terrible person and that Quackity was happy he was dead.
“Well I still think you should talk to them and apologize,” Charlie says, giving him understandable advice. Just like how he told Quackity to at least try therapy.
But Quackity hasn’t listened to sound advice before and he’s not going to start now, so he just says “I’ll think about it,” and that he’s going to head to bed.
Praying for a dreamless night, Quackity pulls the covers over his head and screws his eyes shut to the world.
He knows how much of a mess he is and how often he creates a trail of destruction in his wake, this somehow isn’t the worst it’s ever been. Quackity’s lost Sapnap again, but did he really even have him in the first place? And Karl hasn’t physically attacked Quackity yet, so there’s a little win he can count.
And maybe that’s the reason Quackity still can drift off to sleep.
The next day, instead of the confrontation that Quackity was expecting from Tubbo, the morning was standard. Not that he would have minded enduring that slightly embarrassing situation, but now at the burger shop, Quackity's focused on getting business finished here as soon as possible so he can get back to Manburg.
He's spent too much time on boys and relationships that were never going to work in the first place. Quackity isn't made for relationships and while he's always known that, it still feels like such a wake up call.
Unlike himself, Karl and Sapnap are made for each other and Quackity has no doubt that they've made up already and he won't be surprised if he never sees them again.
"Hey Tubbo, can we talk for a second?" Quackity peaks his head around the corner.
"Yeah, sure," he says with a nod. "What's up Big Q? Is this about you going out on another date last night?"
It catches Quackity off guard and leaves him forgetting his words.
"No, not that," Quackity struggles to regain his concentration as he watches Tubbo snicker.
"It's about the shop's finances, but nothing bad," Quackity explains.
"Okay," Tubbo shrugs, but before they can make it into the office room, the glass door opens.
It's Karl and he floats in like an apparition.
Quackity can feel his body go numb.
"Hey," is all Karl says. The tone is plain without any anger or laced with an eagerness to fight.
It doesn’t make Quackity feel any better, but he doesn’t feel worse.
“Hi Karl, haven’t seen you here in a while,” Tubbo says, blissfully unaware and god, Quackity wishes that could be him.
“I guess it has. Um, Quackity can I speak to you?” Karl cuts right to the chase.
And Quackity plays it cool, saying “What about?”
He doesn’t want to leave the restaurant if he can avoid it.
“Actually, do you mind if we take a walk?” Karl of course says.
It’s not like Quackity can say no because it’s the least he can do, considering he did kiss his boyfriend. Even if it was just on the cheek.
“Let me get my coat,” Quackity answers feeling pretty confident he’s not about to get jumped.
“I promise it won’t be too long Tubbo,” Karl smiles.
“No, no. You guys take all the time you need,” Tubbo waves his hands. A part of Quackity wants to scream out that it’s not what it looks like, but it's not like that would help.
Now the two of them are struggling to walk on the dirty slush filled sidewalk and Quackity hates everything.
"So-"
"Quackity-"
They speak at the same time.
"Go ahead," Quackity rushes out before Karl says something similar.
"Right, so you know when we saw each other at the grocery store?" Karl says, bringing up the bitter memory. "Obviously I didn't remember who you were, but sometimes when I look at people I knew, I get these weird intense emotions I don't know what to do with and I think that's what happened."
Great, so even if Karl had his memories he still would have hated him.
"Noted," is all Quackity has to say.
"And on top of that, normally when I look at old pictures, I get these stupid terrible headaches. But not with the ones with you in them," Karl says in a soft voice.
It almost sounds like he's happy about it.
"What? Did you want to burn them?"
"Huh? No, I meant it in a good way. It's hard to point it out when I still can't remember much, but they're positive."
Despite saying that, Karl frowns.
"I think that's why I wasn't that angry last night," he finally brings it up.
"I am sorry Karl. It wasn't a real kiss, I want to make sure you knew, but it still wasn't right of us."
Quackity doesn't feel bad about a lot of things that he's done to Karl, but the borderline cheating was a bit too far.
Karl shakes his head.
"I'm over it. Sap and I talked about it way too much yesterday. To be honest I'm burned out by the topic."
But Quackity desperately wants to know what they said to each other. He wants to know if he's still in good standing with Sapnap.
"Hey look, there's our high school," Karl points across the street.
And sure enough, there's the large brick building. It's definitely in the top five places he’d rather die than set foot in ever again.
"Do you remember anything from school?" Quackity asks, just to make a little conversation.
"Not at all," Karl laughs at himself. "But Sapnap showed me our prom pictures recently."
Not prom again. Quackity gets warm from the memories he has to relive again. How many times is he going to have to think about them making out?
"Did Sapnap ever tell you about what happened at prom?" Quackity swallows hard.
"Not really. Why? Did something bad happen?" Karl tilts his head to the side.
"It's nothing like that, but maybe you should bring it up to him," Quackity refuses to elaborate.
"Okay," Karl giggles.
They continue to walk around the outskirts of the school and the surrounding neighborhood.
Karl asks Quackity about Manburg and the lawyer work he's been doing and Quackity has Karl talk about his job at the library.
And before Quackity knows it, all the tension is gone from his shoulders and he's smiling freely.
This was all Quackity wanted from the beginning. He just wanted to connect with his old friends again.
The two of them end up circling back around to the burger shop and Quackity's heart is feeling as light as ever.
"How long are you going to be in Kinoko?" Karl asks.
"I'm not exactly sure yet."
Quackity did want to get out as soon as possible, but it's hard to admit that he's starting to have second thoughts. Saying it aloud will make it that more real.
"Will you be around at least for the art club gallery?" and Karl's pouting almost drags an immediate yes out of Quackity.
"I'll have to call my work and check," Quackity says instead.
"Okay, well me and Sap are going to, so if you do end up going feel free to say hi. I promise I won't punch or yell at you."
Quackity chuckles nervously, but agrees.
Then Karl heads back to the library with a wave goodbye. And now Quackity's back to face Tubbo who's got a fat manila folder under his arm.
"What's that?"
"Found some more documents. I don't know if you need them, but I thought it'd be better for you to have them," Tubbo shrugs. "How was your walk with Karl?"
Maybe Quackity should be annoyed with more work, but it takes the large folder as a small blessing. He's more than happy to use it as an excuse to avoid confrontation.
"It was fine," Quackity says walking back to the office and ignoring Tubbo's stupid smirk.
Later that week, Quackity gets a text message from Sapnap asking if he wants to finally go out to dinner with him and Karl.
He almost drops his phone as he fumbles typing a ‘sure!’ but pauses before sending. Yeah, him and Karl don’t seem like mortal enemies now, but it doesn’t mean it makes sense to jump into a date-coded dinner with him.
Quackity knows the consequences of being too hopeful and doesn’t want to fall into the same trap again.
But he thinks of Karl with his cute giggles and his soft pink cheeks, bitten by the cold during their walk. And Sapnap's open arms in wordless forgiveness for Quackity stupid cowardliness and the feeling of his lips on Quackity, leaving him overwhelmed with happiness.
Quackity sends his message before he finishes the thought.
They plan their dinner in their group chat and Quackity keeps hope in his heart, but prepares to be let down.
Quackity arrives at the fanciest steak place in town, wearing the best button up money could buy from the shitty department store that looked like it could go out of business any day now.
It's itchy, stiff, and fits weird on his shoulders. Luckily, Quackity looks good in anything.
Karl and Sapnap arrive soon after him and they're dressed in their best youth pastor fits. Karl has a bright green cardigan that begs for spring to be right around the corner.
And Sapnap has a gray henley shirt on and Quackity only forgives its existence because he rolls the sleeves up, showing off his forearms.
So the thing is, dinner goes well, like really well. Sure Quackity knows him and Sapnap have been getting along just fine, but Quackity had no idea that Karl would warm up to him so quickly.
"Sapnap finally told me the whole story about prom," Karl says, smiling before taking a sip of wine.
"Oh god," is all Quackity has to respond with.
"It's not like I remember everything, but it's good to know I had good taste even back then," and Karl actually winks at him.
Quackity feels the blood rush to his face and it really does feel like high school all over again.
"Glad you feel that way."
He looks down as Karl and Sapnap chuckle at him.
"Is it too soon to ask if you want to come back to our place?" Sapnap asks as they're done eating.
Their conversations through the night continue to be good with a side of flirting. It was a little uncomfortable at first, but it started to feel like old times in a good way, which surprises Quackity silent at times.
It seems like Karl not only forgives Quackity, but Sapnap and him want to turn the heat of this date up.
But, "Maybe not tonight," Quackity says. It pains him, but for the sake of his own anxiety, Quackity needs to take this slow.
"Oh okay," Sapnap does a terrible job of hiding his disappointment and it does hurt Quackity's heart a little, but he knows Sapnap won't pressure or ask Quackity again.
Karl does a better job of keeping a neutral face, but Quackity imagines he'd be all smiles if Quackity agreed.
Quackity turning down going home with them doesn't bring down the rest of their date.
"Let's just promise to do this again," Karl says.
Quackity agrees, but knows he's headed back to Manburg soon and doesn't know when 'again' can be.
"So about that-"
"Are you ready for the bill?" the waitress comes up to their table, interrupting Quackity.
"I think so," Sapnap looks at the both of them, checking to see if either of them will say something different.
But Quackity takes this as a sign he doesn't need to bring up the obvious fact he'll be gone soon because they already know the glaring fact.
That Kinoko hasn't been his home for a long time.
The three of them do make vague plans to meet up later or at the very least, to talk at the burger shop.
And Karl ropes Quackity into visiting the library for the art show.
"It'll be nice and the art's really cute. Plus Sap will be there too," Karl tries to sell the event.
And Quackity's not sure how much he thinks he'll have fun, but if Karl and Sapnap want him there, he'll be there.
Through the days coming up to the art show, Quackity tries to talk with Karl and Sapnap about the future of their…whatever situation they have going on. But every time they started getting into real talk, they'd get interrupted.
From busy rushes in the burger shop, kids throwing up in the library, and computer parts catching on fire, every interruption felt more like a divine intervention used as a special punishment to keep Quackity in Kinoko indefinitely.
But it does make Quackity think, should he stay?
But he can't just leave his whole life he made in Manburg that he worked so hard for. The life that he fought tooth and nail for.
And Quackity can't abandon Charlie, one of the best things that has ever happened to him.
So Quackity calls Charlie and of course it goes to voicemail with Charlie texting him that he's in the middle of a contract negotiation and will call Quackity back as soon as it's over, and lord knows how long that'll be.
Quackity takes a deep sigh and decides to not even try to talk to Tubbo.
Instead, he chooses to spend time with Michael, playing games and tries using the bits of sign language he's been studying.
"Are you excited for the art show?" Quackity asks him while they draw together.
Quackity can't help notice Michael's wobbly crayon art is looking embarrassingly better than Quackity's attempt at a duck.
Michael nods with a big contagious smile on his face.
"Me too," Quackity says with full honesty.
It's cool and gray the day of the art show, with thin scattered clouds that suggest snow later.
Quackity decides to push all the uncertainty that fills him from the lack of communication and instead chooses to enjoy the lighthearted art.
He looks around the shelves of books for a man with a bandana and a man with bouncing brown curls somewhere nearby.
"Michael, Tubbo!" and when Quackity turns around, he sees Karl's smiling face, "Quackity!"
His heart skips a beat when he sees Karl, and Sapnap is just a step behind him.
"Good to see you guys! Did you just get here?" Karl asks.
"Yeah, excited to see all the art," Quackity lies. He's only here to glance over Michael's art and to see Karl and Sapnap.
"Michael, do you mind if I steal Q away for a little bit?"
And Quackity instinctively opens his mouth to answer Karl's question, but Michael nods soon enough so that Quackity doesn't embarrass himself.
"Thanks, promise it won't be long," Karl gently takes Quackity's arm, but he wishes that it was his hand.
Quackity walks between Karl and Sapnap around all the artwork on the library walls. Karl points out the different paintings and drawings with delight.
It's cute to see him gab over it and praise the kids face to face when he sees them.
Sapnap has a big dopey grin too while they look together.
They run into Tina too who's standing at a table with a new spread of goods for sale.
Quackity does his best to chat casually with her and it's not terrible, but explaining his post high school life story for the nth time isn't his favorite. He's starting to wish he had pamphlets to hand out.
But he does learn about the charity fundraiser that, by the look of the poster board sat behind Tina, is not even close to reaching its goal
Not that Quackity mentions it aloud, but he tells Tina good luck all the same and the three of them continue to look at the art.
It's really nice seeing Karl in his element and the way he lights up the room and makes everyone he meets fall in love with him at least a little. All though for Quackity, his feelings are coming fast and heavy.
Later in the event, Karl has to scamper off so he can prepare his speech to all the families.
"I'll be back in a second," Quackity adds.
"What? Both of you are ditching me?" Sapnap says, lightheartedly.
"I promise it'll be like three minutes max. Find Tubbo and Michael and save a spot for us," Quackity tells him with a small smile.
"Fine, but I'm counting and if you go over time, I'm going to send a search team out," Sapnap squeezes his hand before he lets Quackity go.
It's silly, but it does motivate Quackity to do what he needs to fast, and soon enough, Quackity's back at Sapnap's side again.
Sapnap is practically beaming when Quackity comes up to him. And Quackity wants to kiss him in front of everyone, but he settles with putting his arm around Sapnap.
Quackity can feel Sapnap sigh.
Karl stands in front of the waiting crowd thanking everyone for being here and hoping they're having a good time so far.
"And for our fundraiser supporting local art programs that need it. It looks like our goal is still a work in progress but-"
Then Tina suddenly runs up to Karl and accidentally pushes him out of the way.
"Good news everyone! Thanks to an anonymous donor we reached it!"
There's overwhelming applause and he can feel multiple pairs of eyes staring at him.
"Quackity?"
He refuses to look back at Sapnap.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Quackity prematurely responds.
"Man, I was going to pay for it," Tubbo says.
"You shouldn't be paying for sh- stuff until I finish your taxes," Quackity scolds him under the noise of the crowd.
Karl and Tina share a few more words of thanks before letting everyone roam free again.
"Quackity," Karl says as the only warning before jumping on his back, practically causing Quackity to fall over.
“Ah!” Quackity shouts and manages to balance himself and it definitely helps that despite Karl's height, he’s a pretty light guy.
“You were the donor right?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Quackity repeats, but it really is the worst acting he’s ever done.
Karl leans close next to Quackity’s face and he can feel warm breath and soft hair brush against his face that leaves Quackity's mind fuzzy.
“Can we step outside for a second, you too Sap,” Karl says with a honey sweet tone.
Quackity can only nod and they sneak out a back door.
It’s still cold and the sun is already starting to set even though it’s not that late in the day. Normally this would be pissing Quackity off, but instead he’s holding the warm hands of Karl and Sapnap which is enough light to make up for it.
“I wanted to give our anonymous donor a kiss as thanks, but I kinda can’t do that when I don’t know who they are,” Karl teases him.
“Okay, alright. It was me, I donated the money,” Quackity immediately confesses.
Karl giggles as he gently cups Quackity’s face and gives him a kiss that tastes like cherries.
When they part, little snowflakes are sprinkled in Karl's hair. And Quackity can barely believe this is real. That Karl actually likes him enough to actually kiss him.
The days at the grocery store and the bar seem so far away.
"So," Quackity decides to push his luck a little more. "Do I get a kiss from you too Sap?"
"I think that's fair," Sapnap says, pressing their lips together and even with the simple kiss, Quackity has so many butterflies.
The feeling of home swells in his heart and Quackity starts to panic.
Because if this keeps going, how can he leave now?
"Can I go home with you?" Quackity asks. He needs a distraction to get these feelings out of his system. And probably talk about where they should go from here.
"Yeah definitely." Sapnap's rosy cheeks contrast perfectly with the snow.
"I'm gonna check with Tina and then let's get out of here," Karl says after squeezing his hand.
"I should also talk to Tubbo," Quackity points to the door.
"I'll warm up the car then," Sapnap puts his thumb up.
Quackity nods and speeds walks back into the library.
He spots Tubbo and Michael munching on shortbread cookies and tells him "Hey, I'm gonna go ahead with Sap and Karl," keeping light on details.
Tubbo just says "Have fun!"
After, Quackity rushes back to Sapnap's truck where Karl is already there, sitting in the center with enough room for Quackity to squeeze right next to him.
He is certain that the three of them sitting in the front is illegal, but that’s the last thing he thinks about as Karl rests his head on Quackity's shoulder.
“Ready to go?” Sapnap asks, as if he doesn’t already know the answer.
“Let’s go home!” Karl shouts.
And Quackity ignores the sinking feeling in his stomach, letting the butterflies fill him up instead.
But he allows himself to enjoy listening to Karl's humming. Quackity's sure that Sapnap's driving too fast because it's not very long before they pull up to their modest brick house.
Karl scoots out with Quackity, hand still on his arm.
"Welcome to our house!" Sapnap says, opening up the door.
"Thanks." Quackity walks into the sweet smelling house, no doubt thanks to Karl's love of candles.
"So," Karl has a sticky sweet smile on his face. "What do you want to do first?"
"See you tonight for dinner?" Karl says before dropping him off in front of the burger shop.
"Absolutely."
Quackity attempts to act suave, giving Karl a wink and smile, but Karl just giggles at him.
"I'll see you later then," Karl waves.
"Bye," Quackity says, waving back. He watches the car drive away before walking inside.
There's a couple people sitting at the booths but Tubbo's nowhere in sight.
And as much as Quackity wants to muse over last night, he needs to focus up.
With Sapnap and Karl, things were looking so up, it's like they're bouncing around in the clouds. Between a whole lot of kissing, they decided to take things slow, not putting a lot of weight on labels and figuring it out as they go along.
"Hey Tubbo," Quackity calls behind the unoccupied counter.
There's no immediate response, but it only takes a few seconds to find him looking through files in the back office.
Perfect, Quackity thinks. He might as well do this while he's still in a good mood.
"Tubbo?"
"Oh, hi Q," Tubbo fumbles with some papers that he ends up tossing on to the desk.
"Do you have time to talk?" Quackity asks, hand already on the door knob to shut it.
"Sure," Tubbo shrugs.
Quackity takes a seat at the desk and gestures for Tubbo to do the same.
"It's about your taxes," Quackity begins.
"Man, I thought it was going to be good news. Alright, how bad is it?" Tubbo pouts.
"That's the thing Tubbo, Ranboo's already set you guys up for like years. There's nothing to worry about, at least finance wise," Quackity says. "In fact, Ranboo already filed for last year. I just double checked his work."
Tubbo stays silent for a moment.
"Good then," is all he says.
He plays with the edges of a sheet of paper, eyes plastered on it.
And Quackity recognizes his behavior immediately.
"Hold on, did you know Ranboo did your taxes?" Quackity says in disbelief.
"Not…exactly," Tubbo's voice is unsure and small.
"What do you mean by 'not exactly'?"
Quackity's mind starts running with how much time he's been wasting, thinking Tubbo was just a helpless financial illiterate widower.
"Okay, so the thing is, I knew about last years taxes being done, but I didn't know if there was anything else. Remember those files I gave you the other day," Tubbo refers to the stupidly big manila folder.
"The one full of years old receipts, yeah I remember," Quackity grumbles. "But why didn't you tell me you knew your taxes were done!"
Quackity is trying his best not to yell, but his patience is slipping fast.
"Look, I don't know how everything works. Just some things that Ranboo showed me and I didn’t pay attention. All I remember is that he said he finished something tax related and then he, you know, died so I'm fucking sorry I forgot to tell you,” Tubbo sighs.
And even Quackity can understand where he’s coming from.
“That’s fair, but what about,” Quackity opens one of the drawers to hold up a small piece of paper. “This, for a PS5 you bought last week.”
Tubbo shrugs.
“It was at the Walmart down the street, they’re still hard to find.”
“Tubbo, what does this have to do with the burger shop?” Quackity is feeling more confused than annoyed now.
He mumbles something in response, but Quackity can’t make out a single word.
“Huh?”
“Let me start with this. It’s been really great having you here Quackity and Michael’s been the happiest I’ve seen him since the Ranboo thing.”
It's worrying that Tubbo is referring to his husband's death as the 'Ranboo thing', but that's a conversation for another time. Hopefully with a therapist.
“It has been nice being with you both,” Quackity has a few guesses where this is going, so he decides to let Tubbo talk seemingly off topic.
“And I bet Sapnap and Karl are happy to have you back too,” Tubbo gives him a stiff smile.
He opens his mouth to speak again, but only a sigh comes out. An aborted vowel, but not enough syllables to form a word is next. Then silence.
"I'm sorry, this is so fucking stupid but," Tubbo says in a low irritated voice. "I thought if I kept giving you random shit to look through, it'd keep you in Kinoko until you wanted to stay."
Yep, there it is.
The looming sense of pressure from not only Tubbo, but everything positive tied up in this town feels like it's dragging Quackity in. The worst part is that Quackity doesn't hate it. It'd be a lie if he said he hasn't thought of moving back, but his life in Manburg is too important to him to be fully persuaded.
"I don't live that far away Tubbo. I can literally just drive back up here whenever you need me to," Quackity reminds him.
"Well where was that energy for the past five years," Tubbo bites back.
It jolts Quackity, making him lose his train of thought.
"You never mentioned you wanted me to come back. How was I supposed to know?" Quackity says, feeling a little defensive.
"Did you really need me to tell you to come home during Christmas or really any holiday?" Tubbo sounds close to yelling.
"Yes! I'm not a mind reader Tubbo. You always could've sent me a text."
"I wasn't asking you to read my mind. Correct me if I'm wrong, but family members spend time with each other on holidays," Tubbo snarks.
"Oh my fucking god Tubbo," Quackity lets out a malicious laugh. "Again, one you never told me to visit and two, you had Ranboo, so I thought you were fine!"
Tubbo's face is twisted, but pauses.
"Hold on a goddamn second, is this about Ranboo? Did you hate Ranboo and that's why you didn't want to come home?"
And Quackity really laughs at that, feeling tears gather in his eyes and the fire in anger in his stomach growing higher.
"Of fucking course not, I never hated Ranboo. Yeah I think you two got married way too young but-"
"Not this shit again. I don't give a fuck about that-"
"Let me finish what I was saying. You two were barely legal to get married when you, let's just call it was it was, eloping, so any rational person would be concerned," Quackity interrupts. "If it had been anyone else, I'd be worried, but I like Ranboo for you and it's obvious he loved and would do anything for you. I mean I've seen the work he's put in for the shop and your finances. You and Michael are set for life with the money he's saved up for you. If that's any reflection on what he did for you two on a daily basis, I have no doubt he loved you both so much."
Tubbo's face smooths out as he listens.
"It would have been nice to be at the courthouse, but I get it was only you two, so I got over it," Quackity adds.
"So if I asked you to stay now, would you?" Tubbo whispers.
And that's the million dollar question he doesn't know how to answer.
"I-I don't think I can," Quackity says, finally able to speak honestly. "I'm not saying I won't visit regularly, but living here. I can't stand the idea."
"Why do you hate Kinoko so much?"
Tubbo asks the forward question, but looks a lot more calm now.
"I don't hate Kinoko. It's just full of bad memories," Quackity says, attempting to defend himself from the second hate accusation Tubbo said. "There are good ones too, but I wanted a clean break. It's like everyone has their place and person in this town except for me."
Quackity has always felt like the broken puzzle piece trying to force himself in a completed picture.
In Manburg, Quackity doesn't care about fitting in. It's a place to stand out and make your mark however you want, as long as you're willing to put in the work.
In Kinoko, if you pissed your pants in the first grade, everyone will remember and bring it up like a cute childhood story until the end of time.
No one knows past Quackity when he's walking down the streets of Manberg and he likes it that way.
"Well what about Sap and Karl? They must want you here too."
"Exactly,. Those two have been together for eons and it's always been Sapnap and Karl and the friend who awkwardly slinks around behind them," Quackity tells him. "It's obviously a little different now, but that's how I felt."
Quackity then says, "I was jealous of what they had and what you had and even in Manburg, I thought I had something like that too," Quackity thinks of how in love he thought he was with Schlatt and how embarrassed he was when he realized he was trapped in a dangerous and shitty relationship.
He only escaped with an act from god, killing Schlatt with an alcohol induced heart attack.
To this day, only Charlie knew the full details, everyone else got bits and pieces that he practiced saying so many times, the words felt emotionless.
"Well fuck Schlatt. I probably would have killed him if I met him," Tubbo crosses his arms.
"And you would have promptly been put in jail, so I think it was better that way."
"And then you would have worked your lawyer magic and get me out just as fast," Tubbo smiles.
And Quackity can feel a small smile on his face too.
"I'm only a corporate lawyer, Tubbo, remember?"
"Doesn't matter, you're still the best damn lawyer I know," Tubbo says matter-of-factly.
"I'm the only lawyer you know."
They both manage to chuckle at that and Quackity starts proposing plans for regular trips back to Kinoko.
"I want to meet Charlie too," Tubbo mentions.
"Alright, we can make that happen," and it reminds him to call Charlie and finally let him know he'll be back in the office soon.
"And Quackity?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you do my taxes next year?" Tubbo asks, with a smug look on his face.
"Fine, but you have to promise me to at least try and stay organized so I'm not here doing them for weeks on end," Quackity agrees
Tubbo hums in response.
"Hmm, well we'll have to see how regularly you come back to Kinoko otherwise some of the documents might just get lost," he says, making air quotes.
"That's only going to hurt you man, not me."
"Yeah, which is why I'm not actually going to lose them. They'll just be put into an undisclosed location that I'll 'accidentally' forget about," Tubbo does air quotes again and Quackity doesn't have the energy to argue with his plan.
It's not like Quackity's going to avoid Kinoko anymore.
Quackity pulls in Tubbo for an ungraceful hug, at least on Tubbo's end.
"Come on bro, we gotta hug this out," fake positivity oozes from Quackity's words.
"Ugh," Tubbo groans but he pats Quackity's back.
Quackity decides that he's tortured Tubbo long enough and lets him go.
He can have two homes with people who love him in both and there's nothing to keep that from him now.
"Stop!" Karl yells out.
And Sapnap slams on the car breaks, acceleration pulling them all forward and the painful choke of their seat belt pulls everyone back.
"What!" Quackity frantically looks down the empty road, with no immediate danger in sight.
And a giggle bubbles out of Karl.
"Nah, I'm just fucking with you," Karl grabs on to Quackity's shoulder from the back seat.
"Fucking Christ," Sapnap exhales.
"If Sapnap crashes my car because of you, you're paying for it."
Karl leans over further to give Quackity a loud smacking kiss on the cheek.
He gives one to Sapnap too for good measure.
"Sorry," Karl says, not sounding guilty in the slightest.
But it's not like there's a chance Quackity or Sapnap won't forgive him.
Sapnap starts moving forward again, slowly but quickly ramps up speed and now they're back to blowing past cornfields.
Quackity keeps the window down and hangs his arm out.
He feels his phone buzz in his pocket and he pulls it out and skims over the text.
"Charlie said he's going to be at Tubbo's in about an hour. You guys still good for dinner with us too?"
“Yep!"
"Sure, but we can keep driving for now, right?"
Sapnap glances over at Quackity, taking his eyes off the road for a moment.
"Yeah, of course," Quackity wants to tell him he can just buy Sapnap and Karl any car they want at any time.
Maybe he can suggest it as a birthday gift or something.
"Then hold on boys," and Sapnap starts flooring it and thank god he's a good driver or Quackity would think it's certain death.
But the three of them smile and laugh over the roaring engine, headed to whatever the future holds.
And Quackity can't wait.