Shadow Realm/The Constant, dawn of the 145th day of the current world, 15 minutes or so before a certain goat mama returned home.
Wilson POV
"Damnation." I hear the word before I stop myself from almost parroting him.
"Darn it." Thankfully, I don't lower myself by copying him. However, I can feel how both our voices are filled with the same sense of dread.
How can two grown-up men ruin things so badly? There is nothing that can make the world back to how it was. There is nothing left to do! It's hopeless! This is how "The Amazing Maxwell" and the "Gentleman Scientist" are going to find their demise… Maybe, just maybe, we can fix this before—
"Maxwell, Wilson? WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED HERE?!" The usually well collected Miss Wickerbottom loses the last strain of patience there is in her. Days worth of hard work were completely obliterated to the ground. It looked as if a swarm of moslings had hatched in the center of the base.
As the "adult" men that we are, we did the only thing that's plausible in such circumstances.
"It was his fault." The taller man says.
"It was him!" I say, louder. How dare he pin all the blame on me?!
"I can't believe the both of you are just pointing fingers at teach other like two infants in their diapers…" She massages the wrinkle between her eyebrows, trying to ebb away the headache she must be having. "I was away for a couple of "hours" tops!". I feel ashamed of my actions but I won't allow him to get away with this kind of thing any further!
She assesses the damage done and all the resources we will need to rebuild the machines and tents destroyed. "Both of you will repair everything." Is her final word as she steps into her own tent, the only one undamaged, thankfully.
Miss Wickerbottom is so done.
"Well, you heard her, pal." When she's out of earshot, he claps his hands in that condescending way that infuriates me. "You better get started before the others come and start asking questions." He says while pointing his chin upwards. If he thinks I'll do the camp repairings like he always makes me do them, he's very wrong! I won't fall for his antics this time!
"Why are you always like this!?" I turn and yell at him. "She said we were both to fix everything we broke! That means you and me!" The gall he has sometimes, I swear!
"Oh but you love to build these things, do you not? I'm just taking advantage of our best skills. You get to be of use here while I go and do my things elsewhere. It makes total sense to me." Maxwell always uses this weird logic where he makes everyone believe he's doing something important for everyone's sake but in reality, he's just wasting his time trying to recover the "lost" information on the Codex Umbra.
Not this time.
I get to his personal space and stare down up to him with all the courage I can muster (not that I'm afraid of him now but oftentimes I get reminded how far apart our magic powers are). The surprise is visible in his eyes. Isn't that a lovely pleasant look on his face? The Great Maxwell is at a loss of what to expect. Ignorant of what his future will bring.
Perfect.
I give him a wolfish smile and say, "Oh, isn't it a lovely day today for some science?" I get closer to his face and I can feel him tense. "Far away from the camp?" I would never do this to anyone else, I swear, but Maxwell deserves this treatment after "washing his hands" from responsibility for oh so long.
I equip my trustful walking cane and run off into the horizon.
"Higgsbury!" The only thing his shout accomplishes is to make Miss Wickerbottom exit her tent and stop him from chasing me down and nailing me to a piney so crows can pick on my eyes until I beg him to stop following me. She points at the wreckage of our irresponsible behavior and demands something that I no longer can hear.
The situation is so funny! I can't keep myself from laughing like a maniac! Finally! Finally, I was able to give Maxwell a taste of his own medicine! It will take him days to repair everything, even with his shadow clones' help.
That will show him who's boss around here!
"Pfft hahahaha!" The laughter doesn't stop until I'm a good two biomes away from the camp. The feeling of leaving him there to do the menial work is exhilarating. He must be cussing me out loud! (And no consequences on top!)
I can't be any happier about it!
After the pain of a good laugh has washed away, I check my map to see how far I've run. Not far enough, No if I can trust my memory on the landmarks I passed through. Alright! What should I do with my little impromptu vacations?
Science, of course!
Maxwell POV
'How could he bail on me like this!?' It's so unlike him to run away from me when I need him here Wickerbottom's command. She is the only one he will hear orders from and obey without hesitation, now, not before, he used to bow to my will and my will alone after all. If I had known he would leave me with all the hard work I would have "moved" as he calls it, somewhere else as soon as he let me go!
Yes, Wilson getting so close to me was unsettling but not in a bad way. That smile reminded me of other times. My mind shouldn't be lingering in such an innocent act as it is but I had to put a hand over my chest and will my racing heart to stop the stupid palpitations.
He didn't mean it that way.
He was just being playful.
"Do I look like a construction worker!? Darn it, Higgsbury!" Two can play this game. I will get my revenge when I'm done rebuilding the "Science Machine" and all the other stuff we broke around the camp. I can't believe I always forget how to build those things.
"Wöah! Löki was set lööse into öur camp! My ally, höw many were the mighty warriörs whö did this tö öur camp, and why wasn't I called tö take up arms?!" I didn't even see Wigfrid coming back. Well, "see" is not the right word here. She has a hard time being quiet most of the time so, it's easy to know when those heavy footsteps of hers are approaching. Her armor doesn't let her be the stealthiest of all the survivors, either. Hmph, thankfully for her I never created a monster sensitive to sound.
"Do not concern yourself with this. Wilson was a little rowdy this morning and this is nothing but his own doing." An easy and believable lie. In Wilson's insanity spells, he tends to be a little destructive with his and everyone else's belongings. Claiming to construct a new scientific marble, his words, but it all ends with everyone else just putting up with his antics for the sake of keeping the peace.
"Ha! That scientist has the söul of a warriör and the gift of Ödin! I wish he shared with me the secrets öf his combat style, töö!" It's not the first time she has mentioned Wilson's particular "fighting style". Too messy and rough for me, although, being on the battlefield with nothing but your limbs as weapons makes learning it an advantage.
"Bokator, I believe it's called. You should ask him again. He might have forgotten by now that you asked."I hear myself saying. A part of me knows it must be strange for all the others how I'll remember every detail the Gentleman Scientist has ever said of his past before The Constant and not know half of what the others have confessed in chilly nights around the firepit. To be honest, I can't care less what they think, I know damn well why that is and everyone else should mind their own business.
That idiot. He must be laughing his ass off at the little stunt he managed to pull on me.
I can imagine his big smile and his laughter. How good he looks when nothing bothers him. No shadows in the corner of his eyes. No whispering voices making him wary.
'Stop.' I remind myself, I have company right now and I can't let my feelings show. Things can get more complicated if any of them would catch on to what's inside this wrecked borrowed SOUL.
'That Lumberjack might already know after getting us all men drunk with his little experiment on fermented pomegranate. He avoided any and all of our questions the next day. The Strongman might have heard something one night I lost control of myself and the Mime gives us amused smiles when Wilson and I are in a screaming match with one another, which is quite often.' My mind kindly lists all the times my lack of overview (or Wilson's, to be fair) led to this "possible information breach" to the men at the base camp
Thankfully, the women have been kept in the dark so far. Except for Wendy, for obvious reasons. You can't really hide anything from her even if you want to.
Weber knows more than anyone else at the camp, but he's a good boy and won't tell on "Mommy's" or "Daddy's" secrets to the others.
"Yöu wish tö jöin förces tö cönquer yöur missiön, friend?" Wigfrid speaks up and startles me for a moment. I completely forgot about her presence. This happens when I amuse myself with my own ramblings.
I must stop thinking about it. If all the survivors have ignored it so far (in the off case they know about Wilson and I), why should I be worried about it then?
"Yes, If you might," I answer and the warrior woman starts using some of her own items to rebuild the lost equipment around the camp.
She and everyone else has more experience on this than me so why bother asking me?!
Hmph!
Someone as dapper as me shouldn't be put to do some commoner's job!
This is MY world, after all!