He bites down on the part of him that wants to yell to be put down, it wouldn't help-- he didn't think other-Q would actually do it-- stupid, stupid, fucking stupid--

"Aw, babe, you do care." 

...Yeah, he's not getting out of that one without admitting he sees Wilbur as a threat, is he. Damn.

He lets go. "Get out."

This time he isn't shrinking, isn't cringing back. It doesn't feel like as much of an improvement as he wants it to, and it still feels distinctly like running away. He gets out. 

Quackity sips at his drink and tries not to think about if you're going to act like our ex and ends up thinking about Wilbur fucking Soot instead. On the one hand, he should probably keep an eye on the Eiffel Tower if he doesn't want it blown up; on the other hand, Wilbur wants a reaction out of him, and the only way he can win this is by not giving him one. He could send someone else to keep an eye on it, except that none of his employees are reliable; Slime's sweet but he's too innocent, Fundy's got too much baggage around Wilbur, Purpled hasn't done a single thing since joining, and Foolish--

--might be a good choice, actually. He calls Foolish and asks him to keep an eye on the Eiffel Tower, let him know if Wilbur gets too close.

That done, he goes back to not thinking about the other Quackity and if you're going to act like our ex and the way he flinched and the way it felt good when he flinched, felt powerful, felt like something sick deep inside him, washes down the not thinking about it with the last of the brandy.

Instead, he thinks, Well, that probably ruined any chance at other-Quackity taking me up on the job offer. Damn.

(Wilbur and Tommy are at Paradise; Ranboo and Tubbo are at the cookie outpost; Sapnap and Karl are at Kinoko Kingdom; Sam and Dream are at the prison. He can also explore, find other places, meet new people.)

He considers going to Paradise. He really does. But what he wants, right now, is a hug from his own Wilbur; he really, really doesn't want to have to figure out how to navigate this Wilbur. So that's out. 

How about... back to the buildings by the prime path. It was creepily empty when he went through with Sapnap; is there anyone there now? 

Yep! It’s pretty busy, actually; he recognizes Ponk at a shrine and Philza at the crater (and Tommy, running back and forth between Las Nevadas and a little dirt house) and doesn’t recognize a sheep woman in pirate clothes or a horned and cloaked void being accompanied by a bright cyan…being… or an anthropomorphic Siamese cat. 

Ponk has always been vaguely friendly-- and don't get him wrong, vaguely friendly was a godsend the first time they met-- but she's never really been anything else. He has no idea how to interact with Philza these days, and especially doesn't know how to do it here. But he also has no idea how to interact with anyone else here, and it's not like this Phil is a different kind of stranger than anyone else; he sits near the edge of the crater. 

He’s wearing a loose green robe and a green-and-white bucket hat; he has large black wings, but they look badly damaged. 

“Hey, mate.”

Objectively the wings probably shouldn't be surprising, given whatever was up with the anthropomorphic cat, but here they are. "Hey."

“Come to see the new bridge?”

"Came to see whatever it was you were working on."

...he should really get better about explaining his thing. "--sorry, I got to the server less than a week ago, I don't actually know anyone. I'm Q. Nice to meet you." 

Philza relaxes slightly at that, or maybe just becomes differently tense. “Nice to meet you too, mate. I’m Phil. Do you need anything?”

"Nah. Just watching, you can ignore me." 

Phil shrugs, tosses Quackity some food, and gets back to work. He’s preserving the bits of ruined buildings, cleaning up miscellaneous trash, and diverting some water to make a waterfall. He’s perfectly content to work on this all day. 

It's nice, watching him work. Kind of meditative. He's clearly very good at it. Quackity wants to be that good at something, someday-- you can't compare yourself to Philza Minecraft, that way lies madness, but aspirations are fine probably, right?

He's not thinking about what just happened in Las Nevadas. He's totally thinking about what just happened in Las Nevadas but he'd prefer not to be. He isn't crumbling, that one's genuine; he isn't really sure how he feels, except for small. He watches Phil divert water until he decides he's had enough, and then he stands up and waves goodbye and heads to Paradise. 

Wilbur's at Paradise! He looks to be in a good mood today; he's smiling when he waves to Quackity.

"Hi! How are you." 

"I am doing great. Had an excellent time with Quackity last night."

Oh, is that why he was day drinking.

"Glad to hear it. I got the hang glider working!" 

The smile drops off Wilbur's face; he looks thoughtful. "You should show Phil how to make one."

"I might! I met him earlier today, he seemed" kind of stressed to see me "chill." 

"That'd be Phil."

"Yeah. ...the way I got it working was mostly just relentless trial and error, I don't know whether it would work if you're hardcore. Might tell him about it anyway, though, he technically deserves some of the credit." 

"Oh?"