Work Text:
"Please, parrot, give that to me, before you hurt yourself."
"It's all yours."
The spyglass landed on the pressure plate with a thump. How foolish of the director to overlook this fatal flaw, but then again, he never expected parrot to go for the spyglass. He wasn't supposed to, at least that's not what the director thought he would do.
But parrot did, and he did not ever plan for that possiblity—hell, he didn't even consider it.
The sound of footsteps snapped him back to reality, and his gaze followed the avian that walked past him and up the spiral staircase. Their eyes met for a split second, and wifies saw a whirlwind of emotions stirring in parrot's eyes—Rage. Betrayal. Regret. Remorse, and more.
The Director stared back blankly, and it was only moments later did he realize that his friend was gone. The silence of the chamber made his thoughts spiral again, and Wifies recalled everything that had led him to where he was. Had he never met parrot, he wouldn't have lost everything that mattered. He wouldn't have found it either.
But if only parrot would understand that he couldn't save everyone. If only parrot would be a bit more selfish and a little less selfless. If only parrot would see that this was all because Wifies couldn't bear the thought of ever losing him.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
But Wifies couldn't change parrot, neither could the Director. No one could, because if they did, he wouldn't be parrot—Stubborn, Reckless, and too selfless for his own good.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Maybe that was how it was always meant to be.
Parrot wasn't supposed to change.
Wifies wasn't supposed to become the director.
The Director wasn't supposed to do that he did.
The Director had no regret for his actions...and neither did wifies...right? It was all to protect Parrot. To protect the only person who would ever matter to him. To protect the person that couldn't keep himself safe-
But parrot surivived and outsmarted the director.
So maybe that was sufficient proof that wifies didn't need to do all that he did.
And that was enough to him.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Four minutes and thirty six seconds, he thought. Parrot should be out safely by now.
A soft, trembling breath came from wifies, and he stepped off the pressure plate. He took a step towards the spyglass, then another, and another until he broke into a sprint without realizing. The fizzing of the TNT is drowned out by the static in his mind when he finally reaches it—the last thing that mattered to him in this cruel world.
As wifies held the cold spyglass in his arms, the tears he had been holding back streamed down his face. He was wrong, but it was too late now to regret, no?
'But if I had another chance...I'd do things differently.'
That foolish thought lingered in wifies's mind as the TNT's detonates, and the burning heat from the explosion envelops him whole.
---
Wifies awakes with a start.