#Missa doesn't need details he needs hope

[factorialsotherfandoms]

The eggs are asleep, and finally Philza and Missa can catch a moment to themselves. Unfortunately, catching that moment means admitting to the injuries they have been hiding from their children - fussing over scratches while having arrowheads lodged next to your spine is the duty of a parent on Quesadilla Island, but an exhausting one.

Missa's quick fingers manage to pull said arrowhead from Philza's back, the momentary flash of pain causing him to nearly drop the iodine solution. He doesn't, though, just a little stain on the floorboards, and so he continues applying it to the wound in Missa's leg.

He barely notices the scratch of a needle against his back, but Missa cannot help but whine as the gauze is pressed against his wound.

"I hate it here," Missa manages, thankfully in English as Philza is in no position to twist and see his translator. "Why is everything trying to kill us?"

"The island fucking hates us, is why," Philza grouches, reaching over for a bandage. He's managed to get Missa's leg to stop bleeding, but it should still be covered. "Enjoy the island my ass."

Missa giggles a bit, even as he tapes a dressing in place over the arrow wound. He says something in Spanish which is definitely too fast for Philza to parse; he tries to turn and look, only to be gently pressed back into position.

"It's nothing," Missa assures him. "But the skeletons! Why are they so bad?"

"The skeletons aren't even the worst of it," Philza groans back. "If you ever see glowing eyes and nothing else? Run."

There's a long pause, and Philza hopes that Missa understands the severity of his warning - a Nightmare Stalker is exactly that, and Philza knows Missa is not nearly equipped to handle one. If he struggles as he does, he doesn't want to think about how his partner would suffer in his stead.

"It's okay," Missa pats his shoulder a few times, leaning around his wings to do so. "I'm good at running. It's my special talent!"

"You're good at a lot of things," Philza promises.

Missa doesn't reply; this time when Philza turns, he is allowed to. His entire body aching he sits himself up and twists himself around, taking Missa's face him his hands.

"You are so good," he promises. "So, so good. There's nobody else I would want to raise my eggs with."

There's more on the tip of his tongue; Philza quashes it as Missa closes his eyes, rest of his expression hidden by his mask.

Philza can see Missa struggle with his words for a bit - he's always amazed how someone can make themselves understood in two languages - before eventually receiving, "you are the best egg father."

"We have the best egg child," he retorts.

"We do!" Missa's entire body language perks up. "Chayanne is the best egg child, and he is ours. We are so lucky."

"We really are."

Philza isn't sure when it happens, but eventually he realises that he has leant forward, his forehead resting against Missa's mask. He closes his eyes and savours it, feeling as Missa loosely places his arms across his bare back - Philza needs his for support, one either side of Missa's hips and taking his weight, but otherwise he would do much the same.

The two of them stay in silence for a while, savouring each other's presence. The pain is still there, from protecting their children, and yet... In a simple house of oak and glass, for a moment it is all peace.

"Run away with me."

This is not how Philza had ever meant to bring it up, but the words slip out of their own accord.

Missa startles, eyes wide and spine straight as he blinks himself out of the peaceful haze, "qué?!"

"Run away with me," he shifts so he can see all of Missa's face, taking both of his partner's hands in his own. "Take the children, and run away. Find a way off this island, and to another world - one where the skeletons are the /only/ thing to worry about. I'll build you another house and we'll make it a home. Any colour you like, with a fence and walls and real bedrooms and a kitchen for Chayanne and gardens for Tallulah... You can have your own music room and kick Wilbur out for trying to steal your guitar, and we can sit on the roof in the moonlight and you can sing and I'll dance with the children asleep beneath us and no risk of zombie horsemen on our tail."

"But how-" a small whine catches in Missa's throat. "How do we get away? They said we cannot leave."

"There's always a way to leave," Philza says. "We just have to find it."

There's hands in his wings, and Philza startles.

"Your wings are so big... If they healed, you could fly away," Missa says, something wishful in his tone. "Up and up and far, far away, so far they could never catch you."

"And leave you behind?" he asks.

"You'd come back for Chayanne. And I... I could follow you then?"

"Even if something happens to Chayanne, I'd come back for you," Philza promises. "I won't leave you here, not in this hell."

"You wouldn't leave anyone here, if you could help it."

"Probably," Philza admits. "But I wouldn't come back for them, not if I didn't know I could escape again - I'd come back for you."

"I'll wait for you," Missa seems almost to melt in Philza's touch, whimpering as he curls in on him. Philza isn't even sure what he said wrong, just that his egg partner is clinging to him, whimpering.

"We might not always be together," he tries to reassure. "But I will always come back for you - I'll always find you. There's no point in running away if we don't run away together; if some day I /can/ fly away, I'd only do it to come back with help."

The whimpering turns to sobbing, and Philza adjusts his position to hold Missa properly. The hands in his feathers dig deep - one finger catches on some tape holding one of the litany of dressings in place - but Philza just holds Missa and worries.

Why this reaction? Was it something he said?

He stops talking just in case; Missa clearly wants a hug, so he just holds him, understanding only odd words of the broken fragments of Spanish between the sobs.

Eventually the tears slow; Missa pulls away, still sniffling.

"And... Spreen can come?"

"He can live next door, if he wants," Philza promises; it'll be a little hard to negotiate with Fit, but interpersonal drama is just a part of life. "A whole new town for /everyone/ - all of the islanders, and all of our friends. Maybe if we let his ex in Forever will even stop hitting on me."

That earns a laugh, if a bit of a wet one.

"I want to dance with you," Missa says.

"With no zombie riders," Philza promises. "Maybe tomorrow we could dance a bit at the Favela? But, one day, we'll do it somewhere safe."

"On the roof, under the moon?"

"I'll make a roof specially designed for it."

The tears slow some more, and Missa drops to actually lie on the bed.

"Do you really think we'll escape?" Missa turns to Philza and asks. "We broke the Wall, and the Federation-"

Philza moves to lie beside him - on his front while Missa is on his back - and takes a hand. "We will. I promise."

"But-"

"Someone cleverer than us will work it out," he smiles to Missa. "We've just got to survive while they do."

"And if they don't?"

"Then I'll burn the Federation to the ground."

#qsmp fanfic #qsmp philza #qsmp missa #genuinely can't tell if shippy or not #happy end au #little bit of character injury #they're both a bit tired so its less 'I have a plan' and more 'I have a dream' #still comes after the one with Fit tho #Missa doesn't need details he needs hope #they went out with chayanne and tallulah and archer skeletons happened #hence ows #the early spanish philza doesn't catch is missa going 'yes i do enjoy your ass its one of the best things on the island' #or words to that effect #just silly but too flirty for him to be comfy with it being understood #“run away with me” = I love you #“I won't leave you here” = I love you #I'd come back for you = I love you I love you I love you #“I'll wait for you” = I trust you I love you I want you #Philza's just not very good at saying feelings and Missa says them very fast in Spanish so Philza doesn't understand #(I love you can take many forms and still be love) #something something the irony of philza being the one who says I'll come back and Missa the one saying I'll wait #but genuinely the promise works both ways in this specific context

[becauseplot]

Sorry if this is weird but I saw on the tags of one of ur reblog’s that you’ve been thinking about c!phil in the qsmp and can you expand on that??

I’ve genuinely been thinking about this for WEEKS as well and I’d love to hear ur headcanons!! Only if you want to ofc!!

Oh sure, I'd love to!! (SUPER long post incoming, hope you're ready lmao.)

Honestly they're not so much headcanons as they are ideas for plot?? I like writing, so a lot of my ideas are in the form of stories. The main reason I haven't attempted a fic yet is bc I don't have Enough plot to make anything atm, I've only got random scenes.

ANYWAY. c!Phil in qsmp. I'd probably take c!Phil as he is shortly after c!Techno's passing and chuck him into the qsmp story in the little bit of lore-downtime between the spiderbit wedding and when the election stuff started kicking up (but it's been announced by this point). It’s just so that I don't have to worry about working him into any major story arcs. Missa and q!Wilbur are also there because I said so.

The main thing I have in mind is just c!Phil seeing how different the community is on the island relative to his world---how united the island is, how alive the island is. People have waystones directly connecting each other to their bases and central areas; they drop in on each other all the time. People's comms buzz constantly as full conversations take place over global chat instead of through whisper-messages. There are security doors and reinforced walls but they're not necessarily to keep other islanders out; people share passcodes and access keys for emergencies. Everyone seems to know and trust each other despite the mysterious (and sometimes dangerous) circumstances they find themselves in.

In c!Phil's quiet, post-post-post-Doomsday world, where most were scattered to the wind or went into hiding, this would be a serious shock for him. I think it would take him a bit of time (and quite a bit of reassurance from q!Missa and q!Phil) for him to adjust to the fact he doesn't need to put a hand on his weapon every time someone gets a little too close. He'd probably be a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of people and how inviting they are (introvert/isolationist moment). q!Phil (also introverted and isolative by nature) would clock this Immediately and come up with excuses for c!Phil whenever he clearly needs a break. Suddenly being around so many people, especially after c!Techno's passing...it would be draining.

What else... Oh, the "tttt" system! I have a whole Idea(TM) about this scene so I won't say too much here but c!Phil marveling at how everyone shows up to help. Again, the whiplash.

Also, hearing about the upcoming elections would give him an immediate shot of anxiety. Like, someone mentions the elections and c!Phil's face goes white. Yeah. Elections and community division are what led to him making the worst decision of his life (killing his son---though c!Wilbur's downward spiral started long before the elections). He hates to think that this loving community could be corrupted like L'Manburg's was. Before he's sent back to his homeword, he definitely takes the time to warn them about the potential danger they're running into.

OH! And the Technoblade shrine Tallulah made! Again, I've got a whole Scene about the Technoblade shrine in my head, so I'll keep this brief as to not just write out the whole scene (lmao), but I think he would really appreciate it. In his world, c!Techno had a lot more enemies than friends, so seeing how cherished c!Techno’s memory is in this world (cherished by q!Phil, by Chayanne, by Tallulah, by everyone who has heard the stories about Phil's old friend) would probably be so...relieving for c!Phil, who has felt so alone in his grief. (Of course, he has c!Niki and c!Ranboo to grieve with him back in his world, but again---hardcore isolationist. It would be a long time before he felt the motivation to reach out.)

I have a few other small details floating around (talking to q!Wilbur, the fancy "technology"/mods on the island, using paragliders to pseudo-fly, complaining about the tropical weather, the dubious existence of q!Kristin, anarchist solidarity, interactions with Chayanne and Tallulah, and so on) but I've laid out the meat of it.

God this post got long lmao. Clearly I need to get to writing that fic. Thanks for letting me ramble at ya! If you’ve got any ideas u wanna share, send em my way! No pressure to respond to this at all ofc I know this is a Lot. Thanks for the ask :D

#qsmp #q!philza #qsmp au #asks for curly