"A little bit." Pause. "But it's good to meet you! Heard so much about you, haven't met you yet in the flesh--Tubbo, have you met--"

"I've met the, uh, other Quackity." Polite nod. "The other you is new."

"Pleased to meet you, Tubbo." Polite smile, nod in return. "Wilbur, I was actually wondering if I could steal you for a moment? I, ah, wanted to pick your brain about something." 

Light head tilt. "Not to be rude or anything but, uh, you said it yourself, you're-- kind of interrupting. I'm, um, I'm actually trying to apologize, right now."

Quite the apology, it looks like. Well, what is even the point of a carefully cultivated reputation as an eccentric if you can't be affably incredibly rude sometimes, that's what Wilbur always says. 

"Be that as it may, I do think you're the only person who can help me with this," he says, cheerful but firm. 

Wilbur raises his eyebrows. "Well alright then. Forgive me, I should probably see what this is about--I'll be back in just a moment."

Wonderful wonderful let's go over there and give Tubbo a chance to be somewhere else that is not here by the time Wilbur gets back. 

"Apologies," he says, "but nobody I've asked has been able to tell me where I might find you— well, Quackity might have been able to, but you know how he gets— in any case."

Are they a decent distance away? Looks like they are. He does have to ask something, now, but fortunately the subject matter presents itself. He turns back to the other Wilbur, wide-eyed and just a little bit dramatic, not so much so that it's clearly artful— "I'm informed that you're the founder of a nation?" 

"Former nation." Gesture back behind them, at the crater. "The crater is all that's left of it, after I was done."

"Of course. But— mm, I'm not sure how much you know about where I'm from?" 

"Much, much larger than here. Population is--in the millions? Not sure if that's all time or current. Techno can't take the military, which is presumably why it's still standing. You and Quackity both won a Hunger Games, he's still--kind of messed up about it. Messed up about other things, too, but it's hard to say with more specifics, he's--kind of private. Uh, it's harder to build things? Not sure what you're looking for here." Easy laugh. Still not sure why this had to be now, or why it had to be private.

...well, he was going to spin up a story about why he was interested in what happened with L'Manberg. But now he's curious. 

"—why do you say, which is presumably why it's still standing?" Did Quackity get that brave when Wilbur wasn't looking, or...? 

"I mean." Glance back at the crater. "Historically Techno hasn't looked too fondly on governments. If Phil exists, which he does, he's on Techno's side. I'm one for revolution myself, I'm not as good at fighting as they are but that's a high bar. Techno's won a 3v200 before, it wouldn't be a sure bet but I bet he'd try. I mean, I would. But a 3v1 million? Yeah, that he might not take."

Governments, plural, and just in general? Interesting. He wonders how things in Thirteen are going. But the important part is that no, Quackity hasn't told this Wilbur much at all. Which is not really a surprise but it's— good to know, regardless. (There's something deeply, deeply bitter about this other Wilbur saying I'm one for revolution myself, openly, to someone he's barely even met. About him being able to just say shit like that. Skating over that; it isn't relevant.)

"Understandable! Understandable. But— well, all of this is a little afield." It isn't but he's already asked an eyebrow-raising number of questions on this theme. "What I mean to ask is, what was L'Manberg like?" 

Now isn't that a fucking question.

He could tell the other Wilbur what he told Q and Ranboo: Tommy, singing to the flowers. It would be true.

(More memories spring to mind: Tubbo, spinning around and around on the ground beneath him, trying to spot Wilbur, perched on a tree. Tommy yelling syllable at Dream. Fundy, with no armor, his poorly-made revolutionary suit standing out in the crowd, pastels amid a sea of jewel tones. A book: suck it, green boy! Getting out his guitar to sing the anthem to Niki, days later but not weeks. Building an alleyway with Tommy, a white house with Quackity. 

The way he ended his first day: That's the prologue, dude! That's episode one.

Eret's voice, and then Schlatt's, ringing out. Watching Tommy die twice in the same day, celebrating after. The sharp pain of an arrow through his stomach, the second time he died for his country. The way an election became a ravine became a button room became a sword through his chest. The way a van became a crater. 

And before all of that, before Wilbur even joined the Dream SMP: a phone call with Tommy, the tinny sounds of Cat playing over the phone, watching the same sunset.)

He doesn't say any of that. "It was about--it was about sticking it to the man, you know? It was--it was a great place, I'm not going to say I didn't like it, but--not always for the right reasons. It was a tool. It was a good tool! A useful one! It--it divided a lot of people, it helped me--consolidate power, you know, against Dream. And then I, I wasn't in power anymore, I didn't like it as much." (He is aware that this doesn't, actually, answer the question that was asked, but it's--words, related enough to be a distraction.)

That's not what he asked but it's a hell of a response. More informative than an actual answer would have been in any case; if you want to know what a place is like you don't ask its president. 

"That's an interesting lens to take on that sort of project," he says, neutrally. 

"Thank you, I think. It was--well, it's in the past now. Only thing to do is move forward, start new projects."

"Indeed." Smile. "I, ah— hear you've got a thing started?"

“I do, yes! Just some— healthy competition.”

If Wilbur were a different person entirely, this would be the point at which he thought, oh, I'm going to have to fucking kill you, aren't I. 

In the world that exists, he keeps smiling, politely. Has it been long enough for Tubbo and Quackity to get the hell out of dodge if they want to... he's pretty sure it has. "Of course," he says, magnanimously. "—Well, thank you for your time, I won't keep you longer. It was nice to finally meet you." 

“My pleasure. You ever want to talk again, you can find me at the Paradise burger van, it’s just across the river from Las Nevadas.” 

He bounces back across the crater; his smile falters but doesn’t fall completely when he sees empty space where Tubbo used to be. (Is Q still there?)

He is! He looks.... well, he looks more relaxed than he did before, at any rate. Low bar but he is meeting it. 

Then he will not be additionally confused and unhappy about Q’s absence!

”Do you happen to know where Tubbo went?”

"No idea, he just said something came up." 

This is even true. Well, the important part is true, he doesn't in fact know where Tubbo is or would have gone, other than 'probably not somewhere Wilbur would be likely to look for him.' 

"I'll have to catch him another time. I think--I think we're going to create something great, with Paradise, and I hope--I hope things work out, you know, between everyone. 'Cause Tubbo's, he's a good kid, y'know? So when I saw him, I thought of, Q, in the arctic, when I told you I should apologize to him, and I just wanted to, y'know, ask for forgiveness. Let him know that I'm not, I'm not the same person anymore, I'm a changed man. And maybe we could, y'know, work things out. Another time. I know--I know right now a lot of the people who knew me before, they're, they're scared of me. But they'll--it'll get better. I mean, you two aren't scared of me. Right? So it'll--I think it'll work out. And, uh, thank you, both of you, for that, for--for giving me a second chance."