#risus arc

[royalarchivist]

Fit: ...Listen, Pac–

Pac: I should take the pills. No, it's been so long, I should–

Fit: No, you don't need to take those. I know you think that you're not strong, but you're incredibly strong. I mean, the fact that... Mike is gone, Richarlyson's gone, Walter Bob is gone, but you're still standing here–

Pac: Everyone is gone...

Fit: –You're still standing here. That makes you tough, that makes you strong, Pac, you have no idea.

Tubbo: You're as hard as nails, boy! You're as hard as nails.

Fit: Yeah! You're tougher than a $2 steak!

Pac: Are you sure...?

Fit: Yeah, 100%.

Tubbo: Yeah! I didn't even know steaks could be that cheap, but, yeah!

[shikai-the-storyteller]

Chapter 5: Decay

Martyrs, pills, and desperate measures.

[ Read on Ao3 ]

Something was wrong with Pac.

Scratch that— many things were wrong with Pac, but this was a new and growing concern; one Fit wasn't sure he could help with.

He wasn’t even sure if Pac could help himself.

Quesadilla Island felt even more chaotic and miserable than ever after their kids vanished. Most people were either keeping to themselves or keeping their heads down while trying to push through their suffering with sheer stubbornness and willpower; Fit included. They all had their own problems to deal with, and it was difficult to know when someone else was struggling if they didn’t speak up about it.

Pac wasn’t the kind of person who asked for help, and Fit didn’t have much experience comforting people who were suffering. Maybe it was a lost cause from the beginning.

[ Continue reading on Ao3 ]

[genevawrenn]

One Thing You Leave Behind is How Did You Love

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

✨q!FitMC / q!PacTW

✨12.3k W.C.

✨q!FitMC-centric

✨Post-Federation Happy Pills [Risus Arc]

✨Graphic Depictions

🎵How Did You Love by Shinedown

Finding love in the hints of shaky music and heavy aromas of roses, in the hesitant new beginnings of a starting courtship seeing the worst of each other and still accepting them no matter how battered or broken. They are both on their first dates and their forever partnership, forced together by horrifying circumstances but finding sanctuary in one another's arms and words.

~~~

Fit realises just how much Pac means to him after nearly losing him to the haze of Federation medicine, dedicating himself to treasuring the one who trusted the anarchist to protect him, both healing along the way.

[royalarchivist]

Pac: I'm- I'm worried about it! Oh, I don't want to be locked up again! I don't want to be kidnapped again, you know? I don't want to be in prison! [He starts hyperventilating] I just want to do what they told me to do!

Tubbo: [Overlapping] No one will know you did that! No one will know.

Fit: Yeah, that's not gonna happen! It's not gonna happen, it's ok.

Pac: It might happen! It might happen! It happened with my friend! It happened with my son! Why wouldn't it happen with me? [Sighs]

Tubbo: There's gotta be someone left to hold down the fort!

Fit: That's right, you gotta stay strong!

Pac: I'm the weakest of all, you know? I'm the weakest of all the Favela.

Fit: You're not the weakest Pac, don't say that.

Pac: –I am! I am. I am.

[Full Transcript ↓ ]

—

Tubbo: C'mon, just point me in the general direction, and it'll be fine! And–

Pac: I'm scared, I'm scared to say! I'm scared to say–

Tubbo: No, no! Just say it, just say it! Like–

Pac: I'm- I'm worried about it! Oh, I don't want to be locked up again!

Fit: Pac– it's ok!

Pac: I don't want to be kidnapped again, you know? I don't want to be in prison! [He starts hyperventilating] I just want to do what they told me to do!

Tubbo: [Overlapping] No one will know you did that! No one will know.

Fit: Yeah, that's not gonna happen! It's not gonna happen, it's ok. Wait, Pac– when–

Pac: It might happen! It might happen! It happened with my friend! It happened with my son! Why wouldn't it happen with me? [Sighs]

Tubbo: There's gotta be someone left to hold down the fort!

Fit: That's right, you gotta stay strong!

Pac: I'm the weakest of all, you know? I'm the weakest of all the Favela.

Fit: You're not the weakest Pac, don't say that.

Tubbo: Yeah, so why would they take you?

Pac: –I am! I am. I am.

Fit: No no no no– you're strong Pac, you're strong.

Tubbo: [Overlapping] You're not the weakest Pac, you're not the weakest!

Pac: [Overlapping] I don't want to be that guy, I don't want to be the weakest and like, the saddest of all. I wanna be happy! [Sighs] That's why I took the pills also...

Tubbo: You seemed– when–

Pac: I wasn't happy.

Tubbo: I mean, you were happy when we were chatting before about about the railway? Maybe- maybe there's other- other places to find joy, other than a briefcase full of very... unlabeled pills?

[royalarchivist]

Fit: Pac– this isn't you, you're just– I know you're all happy and stuff, and this medicine is making you feel good, but it's not reality. It's not reality.

Pac: [Shouting] And what is reality, Fit?! What is reality?! The reality that we have is like, just wait until the Eggs show up, or just wait for something to happen! I'm cool with my medicine, you know? I'm cool with Cucurucho helping me! It's making me feel way more better! So that's the reality for me, you know. Reality is the thing that you accept, so I'm accepting this as my reality. [He sighs, then says in a quieter voice] Sorry, Fit. Sorry, I just– sorry. I didn't mean to scream at you, sorry.

Fit: No, listen Pac– you need help. I know you– do you even remember why you took this medicine in the first place?

Pac: [In a quiet voice] 'Cuz I didn't have any other choice, you know. I was hopeless. It was my only choice, to use the medicine. That's all. [In a quieter voice, starting to mumble] That's why I'm gonna- I'm gonna still- gonna use it.

Fit: Look Pac–

Pac: –until I forget what happened, and that's it! That's what I'm going to do.

Fit: I know you're still in there somewhere, Pac. I know you still remember everything. I need you to remember.

Pac: [Mumbled] ...I will remember– I won't– I don't want to, I don't want to. I just want to- to build my home alone, ok Fit? I'm- I'm sorry.