A lot of things were on the table tonight, and it was your night, you definitely knew it.

Patrons gather the table. Liquor and spirits fill the air of the casino and the gambling tables.

The Las Nevadas casino is a great place. Every gambler dreams of being in a place like this. The gambling tables, filled with the finest of the best. There was no other better place to spend a Saturday night but in Las Nevadas.

Your hands cradled a delicate crystal glass of bourbon as you waited for a certain dealer.

A man dressed in white long sleeves and suspenders walked into the crowded room. Quackity. The main event. The notorious dealer. The man behind this glorious city of sin.

He turned his head to smile at you. You could tell how he had spent a lot of time perfecting his pearly white grin.

“Welcome to Las Nevadas, my old friend.” His voice oozed with false warmth. A smile. You could see his face reflected in your glass. His teeth were a dazzling white. His face looked just as good as the prize you would come home with tonight.

“You and I both know we were more than friends.” You took a sip of the whiskey. Its burn sent warmth down your throat. “But that isn’t the reason I’m here, isn’t it?”

He chuckled. You knew you were in for a long night.

“What are you thinking, Mr. Quackity?” You knew the answer.

“I’m thinking you must be a very good gambler.” He leaned over the table, you smell the musky cologne he wore. “Why else would you be here? Did you get bored in kinoko kingdom?”

A small smile finds its way to your lips. You don’t ignore the slight malice in his tone. “What can I say? I like red poker chips better than red mushrooms though Sapnap and Karl would beg to differ…” Your voice trailed.

Quackity’s welcoming demeanor melts like the ice in your drink. It seems you pushed a button. You finished your glass, then placed it on the table. “Delighted to see you didn’t get rid of that sharp tongue you have Y/N.”

“Same to you, that scar on your face looking handsomely nasty as ever.”

You and Quackity had your rough patches. Friends. Lovers. Colleagues. Rivals. No one knew how to categorize both of you. You can’t even put a name to it. You both enjoy getting under each other’s skin. You both like to throw around insults and put others down.

“Just needed to get away from all that nature. Always thought of myself as a city kind of person, I'm not after that nature and flowers life.”

“So you stumble in my casino,” he chuckles, his laugh sounded like he hadn’t a care in the world. “What are you willing to bet tonight?”

You leaned back in your chair. “I’m willing to bet anything, my friend.” Your fingers playing on the edges of your now empty wine glass. “On a simple game of poker.”

Quackity’s eyes sparkled in the light. “A gamble I can’t refuse.” He chuckled again. “I assume we play like the old days. How many emeralds are you willing to bet?”

You hum, sizing him up. “I’m bored and I got nothing to lose. Let’s raise the bet in higher stakes. I’m betting my life.—my service specifically—so if I lose I become one of your goons, how about that, Alex?”

Quackity hated the way his real name rolled off your pretty little mouth. How foreign yet familiar it felt. It reminded him of long late nights of cards in the president's office, jokers and queens against each other. A memory that was still fresh in his mind. You still sported that sadistic smile when you knew you'd win. He was ready to wipe it off.

“Who said I wanted to recruit you in Las Nevadas?” He grabbed a set of cards from the table and started to shuffle them. “And if in an unfortunate circumstance I lose, what do you gain Y/N?”

“That.” You said simply, as you pointed on two gold bands that were resting right in front where his heart would be.

Quackity involuntary covered the necklace where the rings resided. You don’t fail to notice that action as a slow sadistic smile dance on your lips. You knew what those rings meant, how much it meant to Quackity. They were the proof of his fleeting love and his enduring failures.

But in Quackity’s luck, those rings weren’t something you wanted. He could keep those memorabilia until he reaches his grave.

“Don’t worry Quackity, you can keep those engagement rings. I just want your heart. Literally and figuratively.” You could feel the tension growing between the both of you. You watched the cards in his hand, he was finished shuffling.

And so the game begins.

“Elaborate on that Y/N,” he says as he starts dealing the cards. “Why do you want my heart?”

“I’ll get straight to the point, I want your life, you become my lackey—my servant—or whatever you call it. You’d be serving me until your heart stops beating,” you say as you turn over the first hand. Ace of hearts.

“Deal.”

A smile creeps on your lips. “All in.” You said to him. The excitement in your veins makes you giddy.

“Of course, let’s play this like the old days Y/N.”

As the dealer hands the cards down, the silence in the room felt eerie and thick. For the first time since your entrance in Las Nevadas, you were on equal ground. And it felt good. You wanted a challenge from the only man who could stand on the same level as you.

The room was filled with the sound of chips dropping onto the green felt of the table. Rounds of poker pass through like sand. The game was almost finished.

Everything was on the line for both you and Quackity.

The grasp you had on your cards tightened. Your eyes narrowed as you focus on the man at the end of the table. You're ready to take back what's rightfully yours.

Your eyes lock with Quackity's. He smiles at you. You stare back.

“No good, Y/N? After all that talk?” He taunts. “I’ll still pay you minimum wage if I decide to hire you.”

You shake your head, “You’re going to get what you asked for, you'll be my lackey forever.” You let your cards fall on the table.

A royal flush.

He knew he was beaten, he started to count the remaining chips. You could feel his mind ticking like a watch.

You could feel your smile stretching across your face. You just couldn’t help yourself. You laughed. Your gaze focuses on the pitiful man in front of you, his eyes wide. He starts to shake his head no.

“I win.” You said softly. “Your game has finally ended, Alex.”

He tentatively revealed his cards, just a pair of useless cards. He’d lost. You won.

You leaned forward just enough to see him grit his teeth. “And after all those rumors that this casino was rigged to your benefit, funny how I still win.”

He doesn’t respond, his eyes still screaming bloody murder.

You stand up from your seat, you take two steps towards him as you pull him by the chain oo his neck.“You needn't worry,” Leaning down, you kiss his cheek smugly and whisper in his ear, “This won’t be the last time you’ll play with me.”

“Get out of my casino.” He says through gritted teeth. You can tell he wanted to take your head with his bare hands.

“Alright, alright.” You let go of his necklace. Before you turn on your heels and walked out of the casino, leaving him in the middle of a losing game.

Quackity puts a finger on his lips, he still tasted the whiskey from your lips. Fuck.

No one has visited this place, at least for a long time. Yet, even so, a single temple stands there. As if the gods themselves didn’t want this place to fade, this place to be forgotten.

She strode every step of the land, analyzing every crack and moss that tainted the place. Grazing her fingers on the leftover marble walls of the temple, counting each misshape and bend. Slowly memorizing every speck of dust that rested on the temple.

It was a pitiful thing, she thought. How this once grandiose place fell to ruin. With every step, she thinks about how truly lonely and abandoned the land was. No gods. No nymphs. No divine beings. No life.

She has arrived at her destination.

She took a deep breath, taking in her surroundings. It was a grand room, thrones seated in the middle. This was where the gods lived. It used to be filled with beautiful beings, all prideful and powerful, sitting on thrones of the purest stone. But now? All remains a barren chamber of the past.

She walked closer, her bare feet walking on the cold tiles. It was so…empty. Her hand finds itself dusting the dust on one of the thrones — her throne. Her heart was heavy with sentimentality.

This had once been her home.

It was where she dwelled. Where she was welcomed. Where she lived. Where she made her place. It was a grand place, with beautiful artwork, and grand marble. She was always there. But now, the temple was cold and abandoned.

She recalls how she danced in these very halls, drank the ambrosia, and laughed with the fellow deities. She was the goddess of youth and beauty. But now? She was just a shadow of her former self, a forgotten statue.

The lone god hadn’t made a home, for years now. Perhaps, this is what she deserved.

It has been eons since she had abandoned her kin. It has been a long time since she told them she would venture and explore the mortal world, that her life in the Olympus-like shrine didn’t give her happiness.

She could recall the confused faces of her fellow gods. Who in their right mind would trade a life of wine, riches, and worship for living with vermin mortals?

Oh, what a shallow and foolish god was she. And now she sat upon her throne, tears streaming down her eyes. And for once she felt vulnerable. She felt humane.

“You stupid naive child,” She cursed herself, her hands gripping the edges of her robe. It was true in a sense, she was naive and she did have a face that would not age. But her heart. It grew old. Resentful.

She laughed bitterly, not in a happy way. She laughed in an old, jaded, and jaded way. She laughed because she felt a longing for her old life. She came all this way back to the temple to ask for forgiveness from her fellow immortals, but it had seemed that they abandoned their home as she did.

She thought they would be waiting for her.

That’s what she wanted to believe.

But now, as she stood on her stone throne, and looked around at the chamber — there were no signs of her fellow immortals. It was just her and the ruins.

“And now you have come to here, to the temple, empty and forsaken. Not the gods nor humans want you,” she chortled at herself.

She stood in front of the thrones, her long fingers gripping the edges of the fabric of her robe. She lifted herself, almost dancing with anger, frustration, and longing.

The goddess of youth and beauty stomped on the floor, the wind ruffling the dust. She took a deep breath and then released it in and exhale. Then, she did her own little dance in front of her thrones. She swayed to and fro, her arms out wide like a waltz.

Then she stopped her dance as small drops of water find themselves through the cracks of the temple.

She stood there, motionless and still for an age, listening to the soft pitter-patter of the rain. “And now I come all the way to do nothing.”

How would the other gods think of her state? Surely they would scold her for wanting to be with mortals, wanting adventure when she could dine at the gods’ table with her brethren. She would still have her old life as the goddess of youth and beauty who danced with the nymphs.

But no matter how much she reminisced, she would not get back what she had lost.

In the distance, she heard a sound that brought her back to the present. It was the sound of someone’s footsteps on the loose stones. She turned her attention towards the doors leading to the thrones. To see who it was.

“Who is there?” She called out in a whisper. She was alone, and in a place where no one visited. “Show yourself.”

She heard something on the other side of the temple ruins. A loud, angry snort. A sudden movement, like something that was startled. The shadow drew nearer. She stood there, waiting, wondering who this person was.

She knew that this person was no mere mortal. Whoever it was, they were far too close. She could see it all too well. Her heart was pounding as if she had just been out in the elements and her body was ready to burst from too much cold.

“Who is there?” She whispered, a tremor of fear and worry in her voice. She stood there for a few more moments.

The shadow was moving towards her, but she wasn’t sure whether the shadow was friend or foe. She stood still, awaiting the shadow to draw closer.

“Who are you? What do you want?” She called out. She was terrified that whoever it was might hear her.

The shadow continued to move towards her. Her eyes were beginning to widen as the shadow became larger and larger and looming.

Suddenly, it came to her. The figure was that of a god.

The shadow stopped, moving from the marble ruins and into the light.

The shadow revealed a man, standing in a shadow of his own. She could see his ears, his nose, his mouth, his crimson eyes, and the pink hair he adorned.

Then the goddess found herself breathless, eyes wide, and mouth agape.

A sense of familiarity filled the space between her and the intruder. She knew his face. She knew his eyes. She knew his mouth. She knew his ears. An old companion, that was what he was.

She couldn’t believe it for a moment, that she might have hallucinated it all.

Her old friend wore a ragged cloak, ash burns on the edges, and small tears along the hem. He wore more common clothes compared to the gods, yet even under the ragged cloth, she could peak that he wore garments from mortal kings and rulers.

“Y/N.” He spoke.

That was her name. A name she abandoned millennia ago when she chose to flee the temple. It had been long since she heard of that godforsaken name, she never would’ve imagined hearing it again.

She cast her face away from him. “Don’t say my name.”

The old friend snorted, amused. And the lone goddess looked back at him in bewilderment. She blinked her eyes and stared at him, finding any reason as to why he was so entertained.

“Gods, I didn't remember you being so angsty,” He teased, putting his hands inside his pockets. “Why have you come here in the first place? No soul has ever visited this place for years.”

“Why have you come here?” She countered back.

“Well, if I could only tell you,” He began, looking around at the ruins, “I didn’t plan to visit but is it a sin for me to check on what happened to our dear home?”

Y/N stood in her position, gaze focused on her companion. He was strolling around the chamber like she was minutes ago.

Technoblade.

That was his name. It was an odd name, it wasn’t fancy or otherworldly. You could recall how the other gods would tell him his name was ridiculous but he would always respond by putting an ax under their chins. The others weren’t too fond of him now that you remembered, perhaps it was hard to make friends being the blood god.

He didn’t look like the same god she knew in her youth, he was more mature in a way. She wasn’t quite sure if she was still the same person she knew back then, but then again if the temple had changed so much, who is to say the people who lived in it didn’t.

They didn’t speak for a few moments. Y/N’s old friend stood still, leaning against a throne — his throne. “The other gods. They left slowly after you did. I did too along with Philza. The other gods knew there was nothing left to do but stay in a loop of wine, riches, and power. So they went separate ways.”

“Separate ways?” She asked, looking over at him. “You and Philza? Where is he now?”

“That old man? He’s fine. A family man now too,” Technoblade paused and thought for a while, “Not the best in that job though.” He laughed a little at his own comment, the temple crumbling a little from the sound.

Y/N tilted her head in confusion. Since her arrival at the temple, she had believed that the gods have died or disappeared but that wasn’t the case. They just left. Like she did.

The wind whistled throughout the chambers. Her friend did not seem to be the least bit concerned as he was just standing there, looking up at the columns of the ancient temple.

As she looked over to her past companion, a frown etched itself on her face. “When would you be going back? To Philza and your new home?”

Technoblade raised a brow. Why was she so gloom? The blood god was not used to her being so… this. Technoblade had chosen to forget most of his time when he lived in the temple but even so, Y/N was always known to be the life of the party. The flower among many.

A voice in his head pitied her. Bring her. A voice spoke and Technoblade shook his head in disapproval. We should take her to the SMP! Yes, yes, she would be wonderful. Another replied. Then not too long more voices flood in a chorus demanding to take the goddess with Techno.

It was soon getting dark, the temple would be soon filled with mobs as the sunset slowly waits for its slumber. Technoblade would need to journey back to the syndicate.

Technoblade sighed as he decided to comply with the voices’ wishes. “Do you want to come back with me?” he asked the goddess.

The blood god found it amusing how the goddess's eyes grew wide. This whole ordeal was amusing. The way the usual blood-thirsty voices begged to invite her and not kill her instead. This was new.

“What’s this all about? Why would I come back with you?”

“The gods aren’t around anymore. What else would you do here?” he asked. “I won’t be forcing you either.”

Y/N was silent for a while. She didn’t know what to say or if she should even agree. She wasn’t sure if her old companion meant to help her or to hurt her.

Technoblade moves from his previous position and starts walking back to the entrance of the temple.

“Wait, bring me with you,” She said finally. Technoblade nodded as he began to walk ahead. She followed him, leaving the temple as she once did except she had someone with her. A friend, if the word could be said.

As they walked through the corridors of the temple. Technoblade thought of how much he’d have to explain to Philza when he’d get back to the SMP but he’d worry about that when it happens. A lot was going to change.

“You’d fit right in.” He said.

That brought a smile to the goddess’s face as she looked at him.

“I hope so.”

You peer through the blinds and see a familiar figure on your lawn, “Sa ngayong oras?” You whispered to yourself as you get up and trudge towards your balcony.

The cold air swirls around you, but you don’t care. As you look down, you see Wilbur sitting on the stone below you with a guitar in his hands, staring up at you.

“What are you doing?” You whispered loud enough for Wilbur to hear. He doesn’t reply but shrugs his shoulders as he continues to strum his guitar.

“Sa unang tingin agad na nahumaling Sa nagniningning mong mga mata Ika'y isang bituin na nagmula sa langit.”

He stares up at you, staring at you the entire time he continues to play. You look at him and feel your cheeks get hotter. You stood there in shock, body stiff, and eyes only focusing on Wilbur. You don’t know what to say.

You have heard Wilbur sing for you before, he would invite you to his band practices, or even a simple afternoon in his office while he strums out a tune for a possible song. But this was different. It didn’t take a while for a smile to spread on your face.

“Hindi ko mawari ang taglay mong tinatangi Sadya namang nakakabighani 'Di maipaliwanag ang nararamdaman. Namumukadkad ang aking ligaya Sa tuwing ika'y papalapit na Hawakan mo ang aking kamay.”

Wilbur continues to play his guitar. You watched amused as he stutters in some of the words but you see how he was trying. He had learned Tagalog just to sing tonight. Just for you. Some of the words would go over his head but he still strums the song. He truly pulled your strings like the ones in his guitar.

You were so entranced by his harana that you completely forgot you were tired. Wilbur Soot just had that effect on you.

“O paraluman Ika'y akin nang Dadalhin sa 'Di mo inaasahang paraiso Palagi kitang Aawitan ng kundiman 'Di magsasawa 'Di ka pababayaan Isasayaw kita Hanggang sa walang hanggan.”

You stay there leaned on your balcony’s railings. You smile, and your cheeks turn pink. You watch as Wilbur continues his song, his accent mixed in some parts, but you don’t care. As he finishes his song, comfortable silence filled the air.

“So? What do you say?” He asks you, staring up at you.

You shake your head and smile. You never knew someone could sound so adorable and yet so serious in the same way. His eyes were sincere when he was speaking to you like he was saying he really wanted to impress you.

You stand there, silent as you think. “Wait there, will you?” You ask him, staring down at him.

Wilbur frowns as he watches your figure disappear from the balcony, but before he could argue he was soon engulfed in a warm embrace. You both fall on the grass of your yard, as echoes of laughter fill the night.

He stares into your eyes as, your arms wrapped around his neck. “I take that you liked it?” He asked with a grin, his dimples showing.

“Where did you learn to serenade me?” You asked with a chuckle, “This was very unexpected.” You whispered to him, as he pulled closer to him. Your cheeks flush as he looks at you. Your hands find themselves playing with his soft hair.

“Chat told me to sing a harana for you if I wanted to impress you, they told me it would work.”

“It did,” You can’t help but stifle a laugh as you shook your head. All the things he’d do to impress you.

“Then I should tell them,” He brought your hand to his lips, kissing it.

You both sit there for a while, content with each other's embrace.

“Mahal kita, Wilbur.” You whispered to the man, both of your foreheads touching.

It didn’t take an idiot for Wilbur to understand what you meant.

“I love you too, my muse.”

Rough translation: "Just a little while before I finish." "At this time?" "At first glance, I'm already obsessed In your shining eye You are a star from heaven" "I can't imagine what you have in store It's just fascinating I can't explain how it feels My happiness is blooming Whenever you get closer Hold my hand." "Oh, My Muse I will take you to An unexpected paradise I'll always sing a Kundiman for you Won't get exhausted, you'll not be neglected I will dance with you forever"

Your eyes widened and scoffed. “I have you know, Dream, I am not a pussy.”

The man in front of you shook his head with a giggle. “Okay then, truth or dare?” He folds his arms in anticipation with his chin up as if he was saying Go on.

“Putangina, sige nga.” You give in. I mean, what could go wrong?

Dream rolls his eyes at your curse. Dream and his childish antics. He was the one who decided to drink tonight and for some reason you allowed it. So here were the both of you sitting on the living room floor, both buzzed, and now playing truth or dare.

“Dare,” You say after you took one last gulp of your beer.

“Dare?” Dream repeats with a slight grin.

“That’s right.”

“I dare you to kiss me.”

You sat there frozen with your beer can clutched in your hands. Your face is flush and your legs were frozen. Dream took a sip of beer and chuckled. You could hear his teeth clack as he smiled.

“Huh?” You raised your eyebrow. You felt your cheeks warm up. “Dream, that’s a stupid dare.” You tried to turn his question into a joke by saying it with a smile. But his eyes seemed serious.

“I’m asking you to kiss me.” He repeated his dare.

Perhaps it was the look on his face or the alcohol in your veins but you felt the lump in your throat get tighter. Your cheeks turned red. Your chest was burning. You didn’t want to kiss him right? He was just your friend, so why were you embarrassed?

“Teka lang-”

Just when you were about to reason with him, Dream’s laugh fills your ears. “I was joking-” He clutched his stomach as he wheezed, “Y/N, you should've seen your face.”

Oh. Ayun, wag ka mag-assume kase.

You cleared your throat. “Ang Landi mo, swerte ka nalang na mahal kita.” You airily chuckled before covering your mouth, immediately realizing what you had said.

Dream blinked, his mouth gaped in shock. “What did you just say?” He studied your features as you shifted uncomfortably in your place.

“Nothing- Nothing at all.”

A small smile forms on Dream’s lips as he nodded, “You did. You just did.”

You feel your blood rush in your ears, your cheeks redden the hundredth time. “You heard nothing.” You mumbled and placed your hand on your face.

“Yes, I did hear something.” Dream’s brows furrowed as he leans on his elbows, “You just said you loved me.”

You widened your eyes as you looked back at him, he was now centimeters away from your face, he was leaning against the coffee table and staring you down. The world went away. All you could see was those pair of green eyes staring at you.

“No, you-” Before anything else leaves your mouth, you feel soft lips press on yours. You froze.

“Mahal din kita.”

Rough translations: "[curse word], fine I'll do it." "Wait a minute-" "Oh. There, that's why you shouldn't assume." "You're too flirty, you're lucky I love you." "I love you too."

You know those scenes you read in fiction? When you suddenly out of nowhere catch yourself staring into somebody's eyes in the middle of the crowd? Where it seemed like the whole world came to a full stop. That at that moment you just knew you met the one.

Cliche but that's the only way you could describe that day.

You met him—or perhaps saw him—in the crowd.

You were just drinking a cup of coffee while walking back home. You look over to your side and saw the prettiest man you’ve ever seen staring at you. It was brief, just a small glance and a smile. Oh dear god, that smile. And you dropped your precious cup of caffeine on the pavement.

You remember cursing to yourself as you picked up the now empty cup. You glanced to where he was but when you looked back, he was gone.

Honestly, you were caught off guard that day, your interaction was awkward but something with that small moment made you feel giddy.

It was a bit over a month now and you barely thought about him. That day was that and it got you wondering if he would remember you, a stranger.

Of course, you knew that you would not have any way of finding him. At least not without looking like a hound. So you decided to keep it to yourself. Except for the fact, you didn’t keep it to yourself.

“Now listen Wilbur, it was just like the books I was reading,” You spun on your cousin’s gaming chair while he was trying to tune his guitar on the floor, “He looked at me and- Oh, god I swear my heart was going to combust.”

“You don’t even know him.” he sighed, "what if he's secretly a weirdo or some shit."

“He looks nice. And imagine, what if we meet again and fall in love! Wouldn’t that be the perfect love story?”, you said and came to a halt on the chair and he looked at you with pure disappointment.

"You got to stop reading books," Wilbur got up and flicked your head, "You'd probably never see him again anyway."

Wilbur was right but damn who gave him the right to be a killjoy? You rolled your eyes at your cousin. “You’re just mad you don’t have a girlfriend.”

He put his hand on his chest and acted like he was told the most vulgar thing he had ever heard. “I’d let you know. A lot of women would love to date me.”

You shook your head. "Really? How do you figure?"

He smiled smugly, "I can be funny and charming and cute and I’m very popular and-" Wilbur didn’t finish his sentence. A sound from his phone ringed. “Ah shit, I got to take this.” Then he left the room.

You leaned on the chair and sighed.

Honestly, why were you so caught up with the stranger you met a month ago? Maybe Wilbur was right, maybe you should stop reading too many books. You shouldn’t spend this much time with a guy you don’t know. A great fantasy he was, but a fantasy nonetheless.

You were too busy of a person and you have other stuff to focus on-

Ring!

It seems that you have something to answer also. You picked up the phone and answered the call. “Hello?”

“Y/N, how’s practice going? Are you ready for your show next week?”

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