Chapter Text
When Tubbo was awakened by frantic knocking at the door, he was confused.
Foolish?
Tommy?
Quackity- No, he’s been out for like, months.
He made his way to the door and opened it through his sleepy haze.
It was Ranboo.
But, his husband looked… Different.
Ranboo looked… tired. Very tired. Their black and white hair was now tipped with lavender, did he dye it? They were hunched over, much differently from their usual, reserved, ‘I wish I was tiny and unnoticeable’, hunch, and more like he couldn’t physically hold himself up. Their tail was laying flat on the floor, that same lavender streaked through the white feathered end.
Tubbo hadn’t seen Ranboo in months .
What had happened in that time?
“Boo?” He asked hesitantly, wanting to gauge the reaction of his partner, are they ok?
And that question was almost immediately answered by Ranboo’s lanky body collapsing onto him.
Now he’s here.
Ranboo has fallen onto him, covering him in a large fluffy cape, and of course, Ranboo himself. Ranboo is light, to say the least. Even lighter than usual, which is, most definitely, not good. Luckily, Tubbo has experience carrying Ranboo around, having done it to cheer them up, he easily carries Ranboo to their bed and lays them down.
Now, he doesn’t know exactly what to do.
He could try waking Ranboo up, but Ranboo seems like they need a very long nap. He could leave Ranboo there, on the bed, and go do his own thing while he waits for them to wake up, but that feels rude. So, after a while of contemplating, he decides to go back to sleep.
He climbs into the bed and lays a bit away from Ranboo, he doesn’t want to accidentally wake them up, but after laying there for a while, he feels something wrap around his leg. He looks over and sees the white and now lavender, feathered end of Ranboo’s tail wrapped around his leg. When they slept together more, Ranboo did this when they wanted cuddles, so Tubbo obliges. He moves a bit, and wraps his arms around Ranboo, it’s funny. Ranboo is far, far larger than Tubbo, but much prefers to be the little spoon. Tubbo has always liked that about Ranboo. It takes a while, but eventually, Tubbo drifts into an uneasy slumber.
——
“T- Tubbo?”
He hears, being woken up.
He looks up and sees Ranboo, their hair still tipped with that lavender, so not a dream. They still look so tired, but, when he looks at the clock, it’s 9:30,It’s the next day, and Ranboo is still tired. Ranboo has new tear streaks down their cheeks, Tubbo counts them to know if Ranboo is ok. And well, he very obviously isn’t. Their ears and tail twitch constantly, and they look far more disheveled than Tubbo had ever seen.
Tubbo slowly sits up and leans a bit onto Ranboo, to which they immediately melt into.
“What happened, Boo?” Tubbo asks hesitantly, worried about his husband.
And… Well, that seemed to have not been the best move.
“⏁⎍⏚⏚⍜, ⟟- ⟟ ⎅⟟⟒⎅- ⟟⏁ ⊑⎍⍀⏁ ⌇⍜ ⋔⎍☊⊑, ⍙⊑⊬’⎅ ⟟⏁ ⊑⏃⌿⌿⟒⋏ ⏁⍜ ⋔⟒!? ⍙⊑⏃⏁’⎅ ⟟ ⎅⍜!? ⟟ ⎅⍜⋏’⏁ ⎍⋏⎅⟒⍀⌇⏁⏃⋏⎅! ⟟- ⟟’⋔ ⏃⌰⟟⎐⟒ ⏚⎍⏁ ⋔⟟☊⊑⟒⏃⌰ ⟟⌇ ☌⍜⋏⟒! ⌇⏃⋔ ⏁⍜⍜☍ ⊑⟟⋔- ⍙⟒ ⊑⏃⎐⟒ ⏁⍜ ☌⟒⏁ ⊑⟟⋔-” Ranboo spews, the Endirian falls from their mouth, tears start to spill, and steam starts to rise from their cheeks. Tubbo quickly starts to wipe the tears from his face, but they keep falling. He grabs the corner of their blanket and puts it to their face. This works much better.
“Hey, Ran- Calm down, I need that in English, please. I can’t help like this, c’mon, just… Just calm down, dear-“ Tubbo pleads, trying to get Ranboo into a state where they can explain themselves. His words don’t help much, but they eventually calms down and starts to speak through choked sobs.
“I- Sam- He- He killed me- I’m alive again! But- Micheal! Sam has Micheal-“ He says, but… Tubbo stops listening after being told about Micheal being taken . He leans back a bit, and just… Processes all of this.
Ranboo was killed .
Sam was the murderer.
Sam is Micheal’s kidnapper.
Sam has murdered his husband, then taken his child.
Ranboo has been murdered, and Micheal has been taken.
Both crimes were done by the creeper hybrid he had once thought highly of, for locking up Dream.
Tubbo snaps back to reality when Ranboo wraps their arms around him, but he doesn’t think the hug is for his sake, but for Ranboo. Tubbo hugs Ranboo back, trying to comfort the enderman hybrid.
“Can you- Can you explain a bit more… Clearly?” He asks, he wants a bigger picture, not just what he hyper focused on.
And so Ranboo did.
From their choice to be imprisoned, to Technoblade breaking him (And Conner for some reason) out.
That’s surprising.
Techno, a man who’d once killed him, was attempting to save his husband.
And, despite Tubbo’s hatred of Techno, he has to like the man more based on what Ranboo is telling him.
His opinion of the piglin has changed, to say the least.
Tubbo nods along to Ranboo’s story, taking it all in. He listens for what feels like hours, but he does so intently, this is important. Oh so very important. Tubbo continues to hold Ranboo, taking everything in. It’s a lot, but he understands; Ranboo wanted to be put in prison, Sam said yes. Techno had come to save Dream, from what Ranboo suspects is a favor, he ended up saving Ranboo, Dream, and Conner. Sam tried to use Ranboo as a bargaining tool because Techno cares about him, Sam threatened to hurt Micheal, who he took, and ended up killing Ranboo.
“Sam has Micheal?” Tubbo asks, he really doesn’t want to believe that.
“Yes, h- he has Micheal.” Ranboo says.
“But, Eret took him…” Tubbo tries.
“Well, Sam has him now!” Ranboo almost yells, he’s shaking.
Tubbo is quiet for a moment, but eventually leans back into Ranboo.
“What are we going to do? We- We have to save him, right?” Tubbo whispers quietly into Ranboo who nods weakly.
Tubbo continues to just lay in Ranboo’s arms for a while, just trying to comfort the both of them.
Then, there’s a knock at the door.
Tubbo grabs Ranboo’s hand and walks out of their room and to the door.
He carefully opens it to see…
Technoblade.