Chapter Text
Quackity doesn't know how he ended up in this situation. Well, he does, but he feels like an idiot for having this happen.
And why is it because he has no friends????
Basically, Quackity's teacher had explained that the class was going to do a new project. Which sucks, because he knows that often it means people will have to go into pairs or small groups. Only, he didn't expect for it to be teacher-picked this time.
So, of course he ended up with the weird kid. No, like this dude is so weird, but not weird in the way Karl is. For one, he always has his hair in space buns and with a bandana, but his outfits are always casual or sloppy. His sense of style is so strange- not only that, but he’s a demon hybrid, which Quackity thinks is interesting bc there aren’t many of them here in Kinoko.
And then there's the fact that Sapnap hates Quackity!
To be honest, Quackity doubted it at first, but he came to realize it over time. Sapnap has never really talked to him apart from once or twice in a class discussion, but he's so fucking weird around Quackity. He stares at him in class, and sometimes when Quackity notices, Sapnap furrows his brows and looks away, his face turning red in anger. Sapnap's tail also sways faster, and Quackity doesn’t know what it means but he can't imagine that it's anything good.
And there was that one time Quackity dropped his pencil on the way out of class and Sapnap picked it up for him. Then, when Quackity went to thank him for it, Sapnap seemed surprised, then dropped the pencil again and ran away.
Needless to say, Sapnap clearly doesn't like him, but Quackity just doesn't know what he did to make the guy so angry.
So then . . .
"Sapnap and Quackity,” the teacher announces.
Quackity feels his heart shoot out of his ass. He has to team up with Sapnap!? The guy who doesn’t like him!?!?!?!
Quackity pretends he doesn't see Sapnap look over to him, and he tries to act like he's normal and it's not a big deal. If he doesn't make it a big deal, it'll be fine. Right?
They're told to go sit with each other and Quackity hates every moment of it. It’s just so awkward. He and Sapnap are sitting in two desks beside each other, and they haven't said anything other than "uhm hi" and "hey” to one another.
The teacher then sets a rubric on the desk in front of Quackity and they both quickly jump and look at it. They then grab for it at the same time, and they both pull their hands away, causing the paper to go flying across the room.
Sapnap, “. . .”
Quackity, “. . .”
Quackity thinks that, yeah, this is going to be even worse than he thought . . . .
~~~
So, somehow Quackity and Sapnap end up being able to talk about the project and planning an idea for it (totally not because the teacher sensed their awkwardness from a million miles away and came over to make sure they're working!!!)
Surprisingly or not, they end up choosing an interesting topic. Since this is literature class, and in regards to the book they're reading, they need to pick an important theme from it, discuss it, and then compare it to another media with the same theme in it. They decide on "appearance vs reality" and then end up starting a conversation based on the sticky notes they've marked on the pages of their books.
Quackity's heart is racing, and he swears it's because Sapnap keeps giving him this weird look. He wonders what he's done to make him dislike him so much, but oh well. At least this project is bearable.
And then class is almost over, and Sapnap seems to pause, avoiding eye contact with him and fidgeting with the book in his hands. "Uhm- so, you know how we're like, not getting another day to work on this in class? And like, I mean, I think uhm, if you gave me your number we can discuss it when we're out of school— or like, if you don't want to that's fine or whatever."
Quackity blinks. Sapnap asking for his number? Well, it’s not like he wants to. Just for the project. He hates him. This doesn’t change anything. He can't even speak properly, he must really not want to have to do this.
But even though Quackity is used to this, he finds himself feeling saddened. Why does it upset him now though? Just because they've had one good discussion on a literature topic doesn't mean they're friends or anything.
"No— no, it’s fine. Here, I'll just uhm . . . I'll give you my number,” Quackity responds, cursing at himself internally for stuttering like an idiot.
Sapnap pulls his phone out hurriedly, and Quackity wonders just how badly he wants to get this over with. He gives him his number to type in, and then the bell rings. Sapnap hurries out of class before Quackity can even process what just happened. Quackity can't help but think about that weird interaction for the rest of the day.
What a weirdo.
Anyway, he gets to his last class and—
"Ayy, big Q Meister."
He smiles.
"Oiiii, oye, Karlos!"
He takes a seat beside him, feeling excitement in his chest. This is his best friend Karl. His only friend, really—
And his crush.
"Dude, your vibe is like totally off today, what happened?" Karl takes a sip from his Monster before setting it down on the corner or the desk. Quackity wonders if he's been sipping on it throughout the school day or if it's newly opened. Then he wonders why that thought even matters.
"My vibe? What, have you been talking to the fucking hippies again?"
Karl laughs and leans so that his head is resting on his arm. "Nahhh, I'm just kind of feelin’ all quirky n' shit. But you're kinda off as well. Did Wilbur or George call you emo again?"
Quackity rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, "No, just . . . eh, I've got partnered for a project with someone interesting. It was really awkward."
Karl purses his lips, "Well, do you have a crush?????"
Quackity slams his hand on the desk, "Ehh!?? No way! Wh—"
Just then, the teacher comes in and starts class, unintentionally interrupting Quackity and ending their conversation.
After class, Karl gets distracted by some other guy Quackity doesn't really know coming to talk to him, so he just leaves without getting to say goodbye to him.
~~~
Quackity doesn't know what's going on. He really doesn't because . . .
How did he end up here, notes app open on his phone, typing a whole ass confession to Karl?????
Fucking. Shit.
"Hey so this is probably really weird to just get, but I have wanted to tell you for a while and I don't know why I suddenly got the courage but I just need to say it. I've sort of had a crush on you for a while. It probably seems sudden that I'm saying this, but to be honest I feel like if I don't just say this now I might not ever. I don't want things to be weird after this, but I also can't just never tell you how I feel."
Quackity then opens his latest message and quickly pastes it, hitting send before he can regret it. He feels his heart race and he slams his face into his pillow, kicking his feet on the bed. He then turns onto his side, reading the last message Karl sent him before he sent this. What if it's an awkward switch?
The message reads: "hey this is sapnap from class"
Oh. Shit. He did not just send that to Sapnap of all people!!!
Quackity quickly sits up, his heart thumping wildly in his chest.
Oh no.
No, no , nononononono—
How could he do this?!
Quackity grabs his pillow, screams into it, and lets everything out until there's nothing left in his lungs, which causes him to cough a bit.
He groans, turning onto his back. He's officially the dumbest motherfucker to ever live. But to be fair, he literally never texts anyone but Karl. Karl is always his latest text option, and it almost never changes. He just clicked the top one and sent it.
How was he supposed to know that Sapnap would have already texted him?!?!?!?
A vibration startles him from his frenzy of thoughts, and Quackity quickly turns on his phone, fearing the worst.
Sapnap texted him back.
Someone kill him now.
Hesitantly, Quackity clicks on the notification and reads the new messages.
Sapnap: oh
Sapnap: that's
Quackity understands how Sapnap doesn't know what to say back, and he can't blame him. If Sapnap suddenly sent him something like that he'd honestly shit himself. So, because he has no idea what to do, Quackity goes to the home screen and tries to calm his breathing. He's not going to panic over some stupid shit like this.
But then a new notification pops up. It’s from Karl, asking if he's busy. Quackity takes a moment to breathe and waits a second before clicking and sending, "can we please hang out at the mall arcade in an hour?"
Quackity only gets a moment of peace before he realizes he’s in Sapnap’s messages again what the fuck what the fuck!?!?!?!?!!??
He sees Sapnap sent another message, which makes him realize that Sapnap must have sent it right after Karl texted him so he clicked on that notification instead and replied to it.
Sapnap: oh
Sapnap: that's
Sapnap: wow, I didn't think you thought of me that way
and then his reply is just "can we please hang out at the mall arcade in an hour?"
Quackity considers throwing his phone out the window so that he can't make things worse. He doesn't get to throw his phone out the window though, as Sapnap texts back almost immediately.
Sapnap: k
Quackity feels his soul leave his body.
He’s having a crisis and this man just says “k”???????
Quackity ends up having a five minute pillow screaming session before realizing that he never texted Karl back. So he, and after checking that he's in the right place this time, says "sorry I got a lot of homework dude and I'll be too tired after.”
Karl replies quickly and says that it's chill, and he needs to start on his essay anyway. Which, since he knows how his friend is, that’s definitely a lie.
Quackity realizes that neither he nor Karl will probably do any homework tonight. He then sits up and puts his head in his hands, groaning. He just confessed his nonexistent crush to the guy who hates him, then asked him to meet him at the arcade in an hour! He was hoping that with Karl he could play some stupid games and blow off some stress from this week, but no, he had to be a dumbass.
And why did Sapnap agree to go out with him huh????
The realization suddenly hits him, because he didn't just ask to meet up with Sapnap . . .
He asked him out on a date and he said “k” !!! — not the most enthusiastic response, but he still agreed to it!!!!!
Why did he agree to it?!?!?!
Quackity quickly gets up, realizing he's gotta get ready if he's going to go to the arcade to meet him. Not that he needs to change his outfit, but he's got to at least make sure his phone is charged in case he needs to call Karl for backup if things go super bad. Quackity can’t help but wonder if Sapnap just plans on murdering him in one of the dark alleys around the sides of the mall, then discarding his body in the huge trash bins.
. . . he’s doomed, isn't he?
~~~
Quackity is at the arcade before he knows it. It's pretty decent for a mall arcade. There are good games that aren’t just scams and they sell tasty food here as well. He ends up standing by the entrance, questioning his life choices, and stalling for a bit while he gains the courage to walk in.
And then . . .
"Hey.”
Quackity turns around and Sapnap is standing right there. Only, he's not dressed in the baggy clothes he normally wears to school— he actually looks, well, nice. Sapnap is now wearing a red shirt and black jeans with his better pair of black and white checkered sneakers. He's also got on a red and black letterman jacket. Really, it seems as though he actually put effort into looking decent for once in his life.
Not that Quackity ever tries to look good at school, but, damn. He feels almost too enamored by Sapnap’s apparently secret fashion sense to reply, but when he notices that Sapnap seems a bit antsy standing there in silence, Quackity realizes he needs to say something.
"Oh, um, hi.”
Sapnap, ". . ."
Quackity, ". . ."
"So, do you wanna . . ." Sapnap gestures to the inside.
"Oh uhm, yeah—”
Quackity ends up heading in behind Sapnap, and can’t help but feel like things are different now. Sapnap is supposed to hate him, so why did he come here looking so damn good!? And acting kind of chill? Quackity is pretty sure he didn't smell weed on him, but honestly Sapnap has never acted so casual around him before. And that’s saying something, especially if he thinks back to the pencil incident.
. . .
Quackity isn't sure what's going on. He doesn't know how the fuck it happens.
At first, their date is really awkward. They don't really know what to say, and Quackity has no idea how to bring up the entire paragraph he sent to him confessing his crush— on Karl, not on him, but—
Sapnap doesn't bring it up at all. Quackity mentally thanks him for that, because he doesn't know what he'd say if he was confronted with it. Though they actually end up having a good time.
Normally Karl is competitive with Quackity when it comes to most of the games here, but Karl is always better at him and so Quackity just ends up being pissed off in the end. But apparently, Sapnap is almost equally as good and bad at almost all the games as Quackity is, and exactly as competitive— like seriously. Somehow, they match each other’s skill and energy really well.
To be honest, Quackity has never heard Sapnap say anything so loud before, and certainly not to him. The only game Sapnap really kicks Quackity's ass at is the shooter games, but when he loses, he just can't seem to really be upset.
It feels like a surreal thing. Of course, they do have some awkward moments, but for the most part he just genuinely has fun with him. Then when they turn in their tickets for a couple weird prizes, they play one last thing before they plan on getting food.
Sapnap says that he knows the secret to the claw machine and tells Quackity to close his eyes, and then he actually wins a panda plush from the crane machine.
“For you,” he says as he hands it over and places it in Quackity’s hands.
Oh.
Oh.
Quackity takes it, and then without another word, Sapnap looks away, his cheeks going red like what Quackity is used to seeing at school. He's confused though, because Sapnap shouldn't be mad at him right now. He literally won him a toy.
So then, Quackity thinks, the times in the past where Sapnap has done this, getting awkward and red and not looking at him, if it doesn't mean he hates him, then—
Quackity looks at Sapnap, who's still looking down and flushes.
No fucking way.
Did Sapnap have a crush on him this whole time?!?!?!?!?!
Quackity wants to kick himself, because now that he thinks about it, this makes more sense. Lots of things make more sense, including Sapnap willingly coming on the date.
Fuck.
After that interesting revelation, the two end up eating and talking about some similar interests they have. As it turns out, they both have some similarities in the music they listen to, they watch some of the same shows, and they're able to make each other laugh at stupid stuff.
And then Quackity has to deal with the slow realization that, though he'd never even thought of him in such a way before, he kind of likes Sapnap.
And Quackity watches as Sapnap looks over to the plushie that he’s had stuffed into the crook of his arm for a bit now. He visibly flushes once more, putting his face into his hand and averting his gaze, as if he finds the salt and pepper shakers more interesting.
Shit.
Quackity can't help but think it's cute.
But, he also likes Karl.
And yet, this date with Sapnap has been genuinely really nice.
Just what is he supposed to do now?
On the way out, Quackity says goodbye, and Sapnap says he'll walk him to his car. Quackity says he doesn't have one, and that he walked here himself. And then the unthinkable happens: Sapnap offers to drive him home. Quackity doesn't want to budge, but Sapnap insists, so he relents.
So, okay, Sapnap has a really nice car. It's small and black, but Quackity wonders if it's his own car or if he's borrowing it from his parents (or guardians or whoever. He doesn’t like to assume things like that).
Then, before Sapnap can pull out of the mall parking lot, his phone vibrates, so he pulls it out.
"Shit,” he mutters.
Quackity looks over at him, and he doesn't ask, but Sapnap answers what he knows he's thinking.
"My dads need me home right now. Uh, which way do you live?"
Quackity tells him, and Sapnap looks a bit upset. "I live in the opposite direction, and with people getting off work right now there's traffic."
Quackity feels bad that Sapnap has to probably get in trouble with his parents for him.
Unless.
"I could come to your house."
Quackity mentally screams at himself right after the words leave his lips. It was probably very bold of him to say something like that, especially after a fucking date of all things!
Sapnap looks at him as if he proclaimed to be a ghost.
"I mean— like, if your dads need you then it's best to get there fast. Then, if I stay over we can probably get the project done tonight and not have to worry about it in the future."
Sapnap seems to contemplate this for a moment before nodding, "Well, I mean . . .”
He looks at the next message that pops up on his phone, brows furrowing.
"Yeah, ok, let's do this then."
So Quackity goes over to Sapnap's place and it turns out his parents had a private matter to discuss with him. Apparently it was nothing bad, just mostly that his dads worried about him being out way later than usual.
And Sapnap has to introduce Quackity to his dads, because it's the polite thing to do. His dad, Bad, is an interesting guy. Quackity can tell that he's the type of person he would usually try to use as a victim of his jokes and pranks.
But his other dad, Skeppy, Quackity gets along with him really well actually.
And then when they get to Sapnap's room, Quackity can tell that Sapnap seems embarrassed. Which, it makes sense because he's just been called shit like "Pandas" and "champ" in front of Quackity, but—
Honestly, Quackity would be embarrassed too.
Later on in the night, Quackity and Sapnap end up finishing the project, somehow, and by the time they do it's only midnight. Probably because literature isn’t their best subject and they barely hit the minimum requirements for the rubric, not to mention that they didn’t spell check anything . . . oh well!
Bad and Skeppy say goodnight to them and don't make them go to bed as well. Quackity guesses his parents trust them not to do anything weird while they're sleeping.
Not that he would, though. It's just interesting because his parents seem like the type who'd care or say embarrassing things like to keep the door open, but they don't mention anything like that. Quackity is actually glad for it, and he can guess Sapnap is as well.
They end up talking late into the night, and they end up passing out sprawled out across Sapnap's bed.
Quackity gets home the next day when Sapnap drops him off, and he goes to his room, then lies down on his bed.
He holds the panda plush Sapnap won him, hugging it to his chest before laughing, squealing, and kicking his feet. He feels all stupid and giddy and—
Yeah, he definitely likes Sapnap.
~~~
So this thing just becomes the norm. Quackity and Sapnap end up going on a couple more dates, and Quackity ends up finding out they get along really, really well.
After a while, he just decides to do something he never thought he'd ever do. Quackity feels a bit awkward doing it in person, so he just decides to ask him via text.
"hey, I feel like things between us have been really cool lately. You're like one of my favorite people, and it'd be cool if we could be boyfriends like officially."
After proofreading it about a hundred times over, Quackity then hits send, smiling to himself.
That doesn't last.
. . .
Not again!!!
He finds himself panicking, once again
fuck
fuck
DOUBLE FUCK
he sent the message to Karl!
Quackity then takes a moment to calm down. He's not going to be crazy like last time, it'll be fine.
It's going to be okay. He sits and thinks of how he's going to explain this, and then after going through some excuses he figures out what he's going to say.
Quackity will just be honest this time and admit that he's been seeing Sapnap for a little bit now, was keeping it on the down low, is sorry that he didn’t tell his best friend sooner, and lastly, that he meant to send it to someone else.
It’ll all be fine. Awkward that Karl saw that, but fine/
But then his phone vibrates, and he opens up his messages as quickly as he can.
And—
Oh. Oh no.
Karl: oh dude I didn't know you liked me like that
Karl: I mean
Karl: I've kind of had a crush on you for a while tbh
Karl: ok sure (๑ᵔ⤙ᵔ๑)
Quackity resists the urge to throw his phone across the room.
He’s seriously fucked.
He’s dating two guys at once??????
What's he going to do now?
Quackity just tries to reply as nicely as he can, not knowing what else to do.
Quackity: oh
Quackity: cool
Quackity: sorry I'm just like really nervous
Karl: its cool dude (๑･ω･๑)
Karl: I like u
Karl: not like its weird or nuthin ┐(๑´ー｀๑)┌
Karl: excited to see u soon (∩˃o˂∩)♡
Quackity is going to implode. And explode. At the same time.
Quackity sighs and goes to take a shower. He figures if anything will help him figure out what to do to fix this issue, he'll figure it out in the shower. It'll be fine, probably.
Man, he's screwed.
Once he's out and feeling more refreshed, Quackity changes into some casual pajamas before he checks his phone.
He's got texts from Sapnap.
Sapnap: hey wanna come over?
Sapnap: kinda wanna talk about smth important
Sapnap: or if you're busy we can talk another day
Sapnap: its whatever
Quackity knows that seeing him right now might not be the best idea he has, but maybe it'll help him calm down. Besides, maybe he can tell Sapnap about what happened just now and get advice because he doesn’t know what to do.
So, he decides to go to Sapnap's house. Quackity gets there and he feels nervous, which was supposed to be the opposite of his reason for coming here. Hopefully after they talk a bit, he might be in a better mood, but he still can’t help but feel shitty for what he's done.
And then, Sapnap opens the door and he's just wearing a sweater and shorts, his hair in a half up, half down style instead of the panda ears.
Oh man.
Sapnap greets him and says his parents aren't home.
Great . . .
They go to Sapnap's room, and just when Quackity thinks he'll get some time to just chill out with him, he sees that someone else is in the room.
Karl is sitting on Sapnap's bed.
Well, looks like this is it! Quackity is going to die!!!
Karl looks really happy to see him, and greets him with, "Oh, hey, Q."
Quackity takes a seat on the bed beside him, and then Sapnap crawls onto the bed, going closest to the wall. Now they're all in close proximity, and Quackity's heart beats quickly in his chest.
He's so fucked.
Quackity moves some hair from his face, looking between the two of them, "Hey, Karl. I uhm— I didn't know you knew Sapnap."
Karl nods, messing with his own pigtails, "Haha, yeah, we have a class together. We've recently been talking more and stuff."
Quackity only really now notices that Karl and Sapnap seem a bit nervous, and he suddenly doesn't feel so alone.
Sapnap just nods, "Yeah, Q. You never mentioned you were poly though. I would have asked Karl out sooner."
Quackity blinks, "What—”
Karl laughs, bringing his knees up to his chest and pulling at the ripped portions of his stupid hipster jeans. "Well, I was kind of texting Sapnap about how I have a crush on you, and then he told me that you two are together, and then he said he kind of liked me actually, but then you texted me asking me to be your boyfriend, so we realized you must be poly so now we asked you over to talk about it."
Karl then stills, considering something, "Or— unless you're like a player."
There's a second of awkward silence.
Quackity quickly jumps at this, hurrying to explain,
"Ah, no, no! Actually, there's some stuff that, well, actually there's more to what all happened."
They give him curious looks, and so he starts to tell them what happened.
"Well, I've . . . had a crush on Karl for a long time. I was going to finally ask him out, and I typed out a long paragraph to send to him, before realizing I'd accidentally sent it to Sapnap. I was going to explain that it was an accident, but I was kind of panicking and before I could say anything else Sapnap responded saying that he was down to go out. I— like, I felt bad saying it wasn't what was supposed to happen, but I ended up having a really nice time on our date, and I ended up really liking Sapnap."
They still stare at him, and he continues.
"So I was planning on asking Sapnap to finally. like, make us official, but then I apparently didn't learn my lesson the first time and accidentally sent it to Karl. Once again, he responded saying yes before I could explain that it was to the wrong person, and then I didn't really know what to do. I really like both of you, but you . . . don't . . . seem to be mad?"
Sapnap shakes his head, "No, not mad. But you're polyamorous, right?"
Quackity blinks, "Polygon-what-now?"
Karl answers for him, "Well, monogamous is like where you only date one person, and polyamorous is where you like dating multiple people at the same time. Ambiamorous is like where you're fine with both of those. I'm poly and Sapnap's ambi, so if you're down to go out with both of us, then . . ."
Quackity suddenly feels incredibly dumb.
"You can date two people at once!?"
Karl suddenly laughs at him, and Sapnap chuckles a bit.
Shit, now he's embarrassed.
Karl takes his hand and nods, his laughter ceasing. "Yeah, you can, as long as everyone else is okay with it."
Sapnap scoots a bit closer to them, "And we thought it would be cool for all three of us to be in a relationship. Well, only if you want."
Quackity feels like he could take on the gods, and his insides are all bubbly and fluttery.
"Yes! I mean, yes— yes yeah! Definitely!"
The three of them laugh together, and it's mutual that they all like each other.
They all like each other
They don't think Quackity is a scumbag loser.
Holy shit.
Karl asks if they wanna just go get some ice cream and chill out, and they all end up agreeing.
They stop by the ice cream parlor, get some cups, and eat them on the way back to Sapnap's house. Though, they end up stopping at the neighborhood playground instead.
There, they all end up sitting on the swings and talking for a while.
Finally, they end up getting on the tire swing, all three of them in a circle.
It's fun and dumb while they spin stupidly around for a bit before they get dizzy and stop.
And then,
Karl mutters, "I really wanna kiss you guys."
Quackity and Sapnap look to him, and then—
they all end up kissing, one at a time.
It's not something crazy and magical and shit like in the movies, but it's nice.
It's really nice.
They do it again. And then Quackity and Sapnap end up falling off, and Karl gasps, asking if they're okay, but they're just laughing and tangled up on the ground.
Karl helps them up, and they end up going back to Sapnap's place, all three of them excited and giddy.
Once they get back, they just end up hanging out in Sapnap's room, playing video games and talking about stupid shit until they all pass out on Sapnap's bed.
And from then on, Quality makes sure to check who he's texting before he hits send.