xangel-vibesx - Tumblr blog

xangel-vibesx · 4 days ago

Text

You’re Terrible At This

He wasn’t trying to hurt your feelings…He was only trying to help.

This is what this tweet looks like when I locked in.

Pairing: Beta Wally X Y/N

Y/n sat at Poppy’s dining room table, waiting eagerly for their slice of cake. Poppy had been working tirelessly for weeks trying to perfect the recipe and she finally did it after much trial and error. Now all she needed was her friends to tell her how it tasted for any final adjustments. Julie, Frank, Barnaby, Eddie and Sally all got their slices and dug into them as soon as their plates were placed in front of them. After Y/N got theirs, there was only one slice left. Poppy would just give it to Wally later as he was with Howdy at the moment. “It’s a shame Howdy doesn’t eat sweets,” Poppy said. “I would’ve loved his feedback on the cake, but I suppose I’ll make a more plant based cake next time. How is it? Is it too sweet? Too much icing?” Instead of answers, Poppy was given a chorus of pleased hums and satisfied smiles. “I’m so glad you all like it!” Just as the large bird turned to her fridge to get everyone a glass of milk, she noticed Y/N hadn’t touched their slice. “Y/N dear?” Poppy asked. “Is everything alright? Is the cake not to your liking?” Y/N’s eyes began to dart from Poppy to the cake, to the rest of their friends. All their eyes were on them and it was beginning to make them feel itchy. “Y-yeah! I’m good!” Y/N stammered. They began to fidget with the hem of their shirt as they kept their eyes low.

Eyes landing in their fork, they hastily grabbed it off the table and stabbed it into the cake, breaking off a bigger piece than they meant to. Regardless, Y/N shoved in their mouth, making a forced hum of satisfaction. “It’s really good, Poppy. I love it!” Y/N hoped Poppy would just take the forced answer and then focus on something else. That seemed to be the case as the large bird turned back to her fridge, but not before shooting them a worried glance. Y/N’s heart began to race as their body heated up. They were starting to feel sweaty and beginning to itch all over. Y/N got up from their chair as calmly as they could and began to make their way towards Poppy's front door. “Y/N?” Julie called. “Where are you going?” “I-I’m just gonna step out for a bit! I’ll be back later!” Before anyone could say anything else, Y/N speed walks out the house and towards the forest.

Wally made his way down the yellow path, hands in his pockets and on his way to Poppy’s house. He was hoping there was still some cake left for him. He would’ve gone earlier, but he had to meet up with Howdy before anything else. Now with that out of the way he can finally try the sweet treat Poppy has been working so hard on. A smile played on his face when he heard rapid breathing coming inside the forest. “Huh?” He stared into the forest, waiting for someone to either run out or try to spook him. It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary, as Julie has made it her mission to scare him ever since she found he doesn’t scare easily. He was almost going to walk away when he heard that same rapid breathing only this time it sounded more like hyperventilating. He debated with himself on whether or not he should ignore it for cake or try to find out what it was, before he heard a familiar voice. “Calm down! Why are you panicking? There's nothing wrong! Why do you always do this?!” Tilting his head with curiosity, Wally decided that cake could wait a little longer. That sounded like Y/N and they weren’t doing too well.

Walking along the dirt path, it didn’t take long for him to find Y/N behind a tree, hunched over and hugging their knees to their chest while their head lay buried in their arms. Their nails were digging into their skin leaving behind little crescent moon shapes. Wally may not have had human skin, but he knew that what Y/N was doing would cause them more harm. His face became one of concern and worry before he shook his head and put on a smile. Surely if Y/N see’s a happy smiling face, it would make them feel better right? After all, It always worked so well with the others. Yeah, Wally just had to show Y/N that there was nothing to be upset about and they would be happy again. Nothing to it. “Hey Little Bird,” Wally said, smoothly. Hearing the new voice made Y/N jump, but still, Wally kept the same easy smile on his lips. “What are you doing out here by yourself? I thought you were at Poppy’s.” Y/N sniffled and wiped away their tears. “I-I…” Y/N couldn’t find the words. It’s like their throat closed up the second Wally showed up. Hearing them struggle, Wally's easy going smile faltered a bit as he took a small step towards Y/N. “What‘s the matter, Birdie? Why are you crying?” Wally asked gently. Sniffling again, Y/N look at the dirt under their feet. “I had a panic attack…” Y/N said, not seeing Wally’s slowly disappear. “I was feeling perfectly fine, nothing was wrong. I wasn’t even upset!” Y/N hissed, wiping their eyes. “And then all of a sudden I felt the need— the urge to leave. I was scared and itchy and hot and…I don’t understand why it happened.”

For a moment, Wally absorbed Y/N’s words. They had a panic attack out of nowhere. He’s never gotten them but they knew that some humans did. Most times they‘re triggered, but other times they creep up slowly and quietly. Making you more and more irrational and scared until it all happens at once. Wally called it an ‘invisible monster’. A monster that no one else but you could see. A monster that only existed in the mind. Poppy had to fight this monster all the time. Had it gotten tired of Poppy ignoring it and moved on to his Little Bird? He got down on the ground with Y/N and took one of their hands, rubbing his thumb on the back of it. “I know you're scared…” He started. “But…you should just forget about it and move on.” Wally said gently. Y/N’s face twisted into one of confusion as they turned their head to look at Wally. “What…?” “Whatever your feeling, it’s all in your head. You’re blowing things out of proportion when nothing even happened. You’re just being delusional and overreacting.” Wally said, dismissively. Well, to Y/N it came off that way. He brought his other hand to Y/N’s cheek, cradling it gently. “Wouldn’t you rather hang out with me rather than sitting here… throwing a tantrum? You’d be doing yourself, the others and me a huge favor by just…putting on a smile for everyone to see.”

The sweet and gentle way he spoke those ugly and manipulative words made Y/N feel sick. They pulled away from Wally and got up off the ground with an angry look in their eyes that only confused Wally. “Throwing a tantrum? Is that how I see my panic attacks?! Do you think I’m a child?!” Y/N shouted. “I’m so sorry that me having a panic attack is such an inconvenience for you Wally!” Y/N’s voice began to shake as their vision went blurry from all the tears. “I'm going home…I can’t— I just can’t.” Before Wally could say anything, Y/N stormed off with even more tears streaming down their face as they hugged their body. Wally sat in the dirt, confused. What just happened. He did this all the time and it always worked. It always made Poppy feel better…didn’t it? So why isn’t it working now?

Wally laid his head on his arms while leaning on the counter top of Howdy’s shop. The cigarette in his mouth let off a thin stream of smoke as the sweet, bitter taste rested on his tongue. The warm scent of spices and herbs wafted around him as Howdy wiped down the counter top. The green caterpillar looked at the yellow puppet moping in front of him and shook his head. “Honestly Wals,” Howdy scolded lightly. “What did you expect? You pretty much gaslit them. I’m surprised they didn’t give ya a short sharp shock.” Taking the cigarette out of his mouth, he let out a groan before shoving his face in his arms. “I was only trying to help…I don’t know what to do now. I’m not…meant to comfort others.” He truly wasn’t. He wasn’t built for it. The others didn’t know this, of course. They didn’t know he was only meant to ensure that everyone stayed in their place and never dug deeper than the surface. He’s good at his job, distorting information, withholding it even. Never letting anyone know who he truly is. They wouldn’t understand. That's what Home told him. But Y/N…His Little Bird. He wanted to let them in. He wanted them to be happy. Not because it’s what Home wants him to do, but because he loves seeing their smile. He was never supposed to get attached to the colorful bunch of puppets he’s been assigned to lead. And he definitely wasn’t supposed to get attached to someone so…different. But here he was. Sulking because he upset the one he cared for the most.

“I do the same thing with Poppy. Why is now so different?” He asked, irritation slipping off his tongue. “Have you ever thought that maybe it wasn’t?” Howdy said, putting his cloth away. “If that was the case why didn’t Poppy speak up? It’s not like she doesn’t know how to talk.” The blue hair puppet said, lifting his head. ‘There he goes again.’ Howdy thought, crossing one set of arms. “That. That is exactly why.” Wally gave him a confused look that made Howdy give him a humorless chuckle. “You don’t exactly make it easy for others to tell you they’re unhappy, Wals.” Wally blinked owlishly. “I mean the second someone tries to express anything other than happiness, you say things that hurt. Things that…make us question if we’re actually upset or just looking to complain. But we don’t say anything because we know you don’t mean it…or at the very least we hope you don’t.” Howdy said, looking down at a random spot on the counter top. Is this really how his friends felt? It’s certainly how Howdy felt. Did the others share the same feelings…? “It’s really…manipulative.” Wally flinched. Manipulative. He knew what that word meant. He’s been doing nothing but that ever since day one but, after he got attached…after he started feeling things for his friends, for his Birdie, he tried to be more…kind. Or at least he thought he was.

Without saying a word, Wally put out his cigarette in a nearby ashtray, got up and slowly made his way to the shop entrance before stopping in the doorway, the tension of the pregnant pause could be sliced with a knife as Wally steadied his breathing. “I’m sorry.” That was all he said before leaving the shop. Wally didn’t dare look back. He knew if he did…he would cry.

His feet carried him blindly. He’s walked these same paths for years to the point where he could just zone out and still end up where he wanted to be, consciously or subconsciously. His eyes stared holes in the ground as if it had somehow offended him or is the cause of his bad mood. The sound of giggles brought him out of his stupor as he raised his eyes to see Julie laying on her belly, kicking her feet back and forth while singing a song. “You can learn a lot of things from the flowers! For, especially in the month of June, there's a wealth of happiness and romance! All in the golden afternoon!” Wally couldn’t help but give a small smile at his oddly horned friend. Julie was strange, but he loved their odd personality. Julie was also honest… Did she feel the same as Howdy? ‘Only one way to find out…’ Wally thought.

Walking up to his rainbow monster friend, He called out to her. “Julie…can I talk to you about something?” Wally said, almost timid. He rubbed the back of his neck as Julie lifted herself off the ground and tucked their legs under her, giving Wally their full attention. “What is it Wally?” Sitting down on the ground, Wally let out a heavy sigh. “Do you think I’m…manipulative?” The rainbow monster’s eyes widened slightly as they felt their heart skip a beat. “U-uhm…” Julie stammered. “Well…I…” Wally’s brows furrowed at the realization that Julie did in fact think he was manipulative, but he needed to hear her say it. “Talk.” He said, maybe a bit meaner than he intended too. Julie swallowed and slightly shrunk into herself. “Sometimes…when I tell you I’m sad…you tell me that is all in my head and…what I'm being upset at is stupid or insignificant.” Wally stared at the ground. “It makes me feel kinda silly sometimes.” Julie said with a nervous chuckle. “B-but it’s okay! I know you don’t mean it, s-so it’s fine!” Julie scrambled. She continued to ramble about how ‘it was all okay and that she knew he didn’t mean it and how he was just trying to help’, but it did very little to bring Wally comfort. “Julie.” He had completely tuned her out when he suddenly called her name, causing Julie to stop talking entirely. She gripped her blonde hair, hand slightly trembling. She dared not say anything as she felt her heart rate increase. “I’m sorry…” He said, staring at the dirt. Julie sat frozen, unsure of what to say or what to do to help her friend feel better. This is normally the part where he tells her that she’s overreacting and she should forget about it. But it’s different now. This time, it's Wally that’s sad. It’s Wally that’s in need of comfort but she knew saying what Wally normally says would just make him feel worse. Did he deserve that?

Wally got up off the dirt and began to make his way down the path again when Julie, although a little scared, called to him with gentleness in her voice. The yellow puppet stopped in his tracks. “I…I forgive you.” Julie said, voice heavy with sincerity. Why wouldn’t she? Wally didn’t say anything. Instead, he continued walking down the yellow path of the neighborhood, hands in his pockets. Julie turned back to her flowers and laid on her belly again, twirling her hair while deep in thought. “That was strange…” Julie said. “I didn’t expect that.” Julie looked at her friend walking down the path. He was far away by now, but Julie could’ve sworn she saw him bring a hand to his eyes.

From neighbor to neighbor, Wally asked if they thought he was manipulative. They each had their own stories, shared their own thoughts and expressed how it made them feel. Even Barnaby felt like he was being treated like a ‘Dumb Dog’ sometimes when going to Wally about things that upset him. With each confession, Wally could feel his heart breaking. He treated his friends…like toys. Like their feelings didn’t matter. He knew this, but hearing them all express their hurt made him hurt. Eventually, Wally went into the first to be alone with his thoughts. Leaning back against a far off tree, farther than any neighbor has gone, he slid down to the ground and just…sat there. He sat there and thought about everything. His treatment of his friends. Home’s Demands. His Little Bird. He wanted to cry, but he knew better. He knew Home would be angry with him should he shed a single tear. Taking deep breaths, he sat there for what felt like hours.

“Wally?” A voice called out to him. “Wals?” A voice shouted. “Come on, Buddy don’t hide from us! We’re your friends!” What…? What were they doing? They couldn’t be here! Not in this part of the forest! They know that. Quickly, the blue haired puppet got up off the ground and followed their voices, eventually finding them way past the point of where Wally had instructed them to go. “What are you doing here? You know you’re not allowed in this part of the forest!” Wally said, looking over his shoulder. “We came looking for you, Dear.” Poppy said, gently. Julie, who was gripping her hair, piped up. “We were worried about you.” “You’ve been off all day and not your normal easy going self, so we all took it upon ourselves to search for you after we went to your house. Home said you hadn’t been there in a while, so…” Frank explained. “You…you all came looking for me?” Wally asked, quietly. “Of course we did.” Eddie confirmed. “Why…? I’ve been so…” Wally stopped himself. He hated that word. “Because you said ‘sorry’.” Sally said. “It may not be able to heal everything all at once…” The star continued. “But it’s a start.” Wally couldn’t handle it. All day. All damn day he’s been holding back everything. What he was feeling, what he was thinking, what he wanted to say. No…not all day. For years. For years he’s repressed his emotions, his thoughts, his feelings towards his friends. He mistreated them, dismissed them, gaslit them and made them feel stupid for feeling things. Yet here they were, comforting him. As if…he hadn’t been hurting them for years. Everything he’s been holding in, every emotion, every feeling just overflowed from within him in the form of tears. It hurt so much, but he was so happy.

“I’m sorry.” Wally cried. “I’m so very sorry.”

After a full hour of crying, everyone decided to go back to Poppy’s house. The large bird dried his tears and gave him a slice of cake, the same slice that was saved for him. Slowly eating Wally couldn’t help but think about Y/N. He needed to apologize but he had no idea how. “I don’t know what to do…Birdie probably doesn’t want to see me right now.” Wally said deflating at the thought of Y/N rejecting his presence. “It doesn’t hurt to try!” Julie said, trying to reassure him. “Even if they don’t want to talk, you can just send them a letter!” “Julie, that might make them not want to talk to him more.” Frank said, causing Wally to groan and sink further into his chair. “You two aren’t helping.” Howdy lightly scolded. “If you want to apologize,” Eddie piped up. “You should get something that shows ‘em that you’re really sorry. ‘Course a ‘sorry’ means nothing without any action to show for it, but…” Eddie put a hand on Wally’s shoulder, showing support. “It’s a good place to start.” He concluded with a smile. Wally looked at his half eaten cake, before panning over to his rainbow monster friend. “Julie…” Wally said. “May I have some flowers?” Upon hearing that, Julie began to flap her hands in excitement.

“Oh! Oh! Of course! Come on, come on!” She squealed, pulling Wally up by his arm. They practically dragged Wally out of Poppy’s house, excitedly chirping about how lovely his apology gift will be. Upon arrival, Julie finally let go of Wally’s arm, much to Wally’s relief and let him walk through her flower garden. ‘I thought they were gonna rip my arm off from the seams.’ He gave a light chuckle and walked along the path that Julie had laid out. Taking in all of the different flowers and colors before finally coming to a stop. He smiled down at the beautiful flora. “These are perfect.”

Y/N sat on their couch watching tv, occasionally rubbing their dry eyes that were completely red from crying. Talking to Wally had just intensified everything they were already feeling three times over on top feeling like they were completely overreacting. Y/N knew there was nothing to be anxious about. They knew they were already over-thinking, but hearing him say it the way he did made it all just…become that much more overwhelming. They were zoning out when a knock at their door snapped them back.

Confused, Y/N got up off the couch and padded over to the door to see who was on the other side, only to immediately slam it shut. An ‘Okay, I deserved that.’ can be heard on the other side of the door. “You deserve a lot more than that, you jerk.” Y/N hissed through the door. “Birdie…I’m sorry.” Wally said with sincerity. “Yeah right, just leave me alone...I don’t want to see you, especially if you’re just going to try and gaslight me again.” Wally could hear the hurt in their voice and he was eager to rectify it. “No… no Birdie. I’m not here to do that. I’m here to apologize…” Wally took Y/N’s silence as a green light to continue. “What I said to you…was really…manipulative.” Wally shuttered at that word. “I shouldn’t have tried to gaslight you like that. I really was trying to help, I just— I’ve been— I’m not used to— Home doesn’t…” Wally let out a sigh of frustration. “I’m sorry…I truly am sorry. I’m sorry I hurt you, I’m sorry I made you cry…and I’m sorry I made you feel like you were…overreacting.” Y/N remained silent. Wally couldn’t tell if it was because they were listening or if they were just waiting for him to go away.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Wally bent down to the ground on one knee to leave the flowers on Y/N’s doorstep when they opened the door, not all the way, but just enough for Wally to see their grumpy expression. “Birdie…?” Wally said, tentatively. Y/N got a good look at Wally’s face. The faded tear streaks on his cheeks made Y/N’s brow furrow in confusion, as their eyes panned down to the flowers in his hands. A small gasp escaped the human’s lips as Wally smiled. “They’re for you.” He said. “How did you know I liked Lilies?” Y/N asked, finally opening the door all the way. “I didn’t.” Wally corrected. “But I know that flower language exists.” He said, almost bashful. “And lilies mean ‘I’m sorry.’”

Looking down at the beautiful white and pink flowers, Y/N smiled and gently took the bouquet from their blue-haired neighbor. Letting out a light chuckle, Y/N gave Wally a smug, playful look. “You know, you're really bad at the whole…‘friendship’ thing.” “I said I was sorry Birdie…” Wally groaned, causing them to giggle. “I know. I forgive you.” “Really?” Wally perked up. “Of course I do, I could tell you meant it.” Wally let out a sigh of relief. “Just…please try to be more considerate of others?” Y/N asked. Wally knew that would mean he would have to explain to Home why he’s gotten more lenient, but he would cross that bridge when he got it. “Of course, Little Bird.” Happy with his answer, Y/N smiled and invited him in for some tea and cookies.

Y/N never did finish their slice of cake, but that was something they would think about later.

Thank you all so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! I might write another Beta Wally story soon! Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment, as it keeps me motivated to write more! I’d love to hear your opinions!

#welcome home #wally darling #beta wally #x reader #reader insert #angst

13 notes · View notes