Chapter Text
“Tommy, will you please go with Ranboo down to the mines. I know they say he can handle it themselves. But they haven’t been sleeping great as of late and I want to make sure he’s safe,” Tubbo said after pulling Tommy aside, “I’ll be fine with Michael on my own, promise.”
Tommy groaned and frowned, but agreed, “Whatever, Tubbo. I’ll go with him,” Tommy grumbled, getting a smile from Tubbo.
“Thank you!” Tubbo chuckled, before running off to go do his thing.
And that’s how the two got trapped down in a deep cave, after an accident with tnt (how was Tommy supposed to know it would cause the ground below them to break and send them falling to where they can’t get up.) They’ve been wandering around aimlessly for hours now.
Ranboo huffed, during the fall, his glasses had gotten damaged(of course) and it was hard enough to see with them on in a darkened cave, regardless of whether or not they had torches. After about two hours of wandering around, Ranboo stopped.
“What the hell are you doing? We need to find a way out, Ranboo,” Tommy said, looking back at Ranboo, who was setting his torch down on the ground.
“I can barely see three inches in front of me, Tommy. I’m taking my glasses off. They’re broken anyway,” Ranboo said, causing Tommy to pause.
“You sure you wanna do that?” Tommy asked, and Ranboo nodded.
“I’ll be able to see better in the dark, perks of having enderman’s eyes,” Ranboo said, slipping his glasses off and blinking. In the darkness of the cave, his eyes glowed a bit, the heterochromia eyes darting around the cave. Tommy almost dropped his own torch.
“They’re two different colors?” Tommy whispered, and Ranboo nodded as they looked around, almost forgetting that Tommy had never seen their eyes before.
“Yeah, one of the reasons I was called a freak when I was younger,” Ranboo said, avoiding looking in Tommy's direction.
“Well they’re fucking stupid, you’re eyes are mesmorizing,” Tommy said, and Ranbo smiled a bit, his eyes crinkling up at the sides to show he was.
“Thanks? Both you and Tubbo have been the only ones to ever compliment my eyes,” Ranboo said.
“You’ve shown Tubbo?” Tommy asked, and Ranboo nodded.
“Yeah, I showed him my whole face two weeks ago one morning. Figured I should’ve got it done and over with,” Ranboo said. “I think there’s a way out up there, or at least close to one,” Ranboo said, pointing to where a dim light shone through the cave.
Tommy glanced over and nodded. They both started on their way up to that dim light. Which was a way out, luckily. But it was in the middle of the night now, harsh winds blowing snow around as a snow storm picked up, they had no clue where they were. And trying to find their way home in the middle of the night with a snowstorm was not a good idea.
“Let’s stay in here until morning, keep warm and dry. We’ll find our way back home in the morning,” Ranboo said, being logical when they knew Tommy wanted to just risk it and look for home now.
“Don’t be a pussy, Ranboo,” Tommy said, and Ranboo shook his head.
“Tommy, you do realize snow is water, right? If we get buried, I’m a goner, even if we do get dug out. Do you really wanna risk leaving Tubbo without us? Either one of us?” Ranboo asked. “I’m not risking my life like that when we could just stay until morning.”
Tommy huiffed, but he nodded, “Alright. Just because I don’t want to be responsible for your death. And I want Michael to have both of his parents, c’mon, a bit further back so the wind isn’t blowing the snow in,” Tommy said, pulling Ranboo back into the cave.
They got a bonfire going, somehow, having turned a corner in the cave to protect it from the wind. Ranboo leaned against a wall, while he was cold, extremely since the fire didn’t do much since it was so small, enderman had a higher tolerance to the cooler weather, so they knew they’d be fine for the night, in just some slight discomfort. Tommy, however, was not.
“Tommy. Tommy c’mere,” Ranboo said, seeing a shivering Tommy just across from him.
“What-what-what do you want, Ran-Ranboo?” Tommy grumbled, not moving.
“To warm you up, Tubbo says I’m like a furnace, and you’re freezing over there. I can see you turning purple. Now come here,” Ranboo said.
Tommy didn’t need any more convincing.
Tommy slowly crawled over to Ranboo, who wrapped his arms around Tommy when he finally reached them. Tommy curled into him, and Ranboo held him protectively in his lap. He stripped the suit jacket off and wrapped it around Tommy to help keep warmth in.
“Are-aren’t you col-cold?” Tommy stammered.
“Enderman have a higher cold tolerance. You’re at more of a risk than I am, I can be uncomfortable so long as you don’t die,” Ranboo said, gently, and Tommy hummed.
Soon, Tommy’s shivers went down, having warmed up just a bit due to Ranboo. They sat in silence for a while, having nothing much to talk about.
“I just realized, you did half a face reveal to me,” Tommy whispered, looking up at Ranboo, who chuckled with a nod.
“Mhm,” Ranboo hummed, his heterochromia eyes looking down the cave. “Figured it would help get us out of here. Though, I hope we don’t run into anyone on our way home.”
“If we do, you can use my bandana to cover your eyes, I’ll lead you if I need to,” Tommy sounded genuine, which made Ranboo smile.
“I thank you in advance just in case,” Ranboo said, “Try to get some sleep, Tommy. It’ll go by quicker if you do. We’ll be home soon,” Ranboo promised.
Tommy was in and out of consciousness that night.
|||||||||||
Ranboo stopped wearing his glasses around the house, his mask stayed on, but since Tommy had already seen their eyes, they saw no reason to hide them anymore except for when they left the house. Other than that, the glasses were mainly off. After the cave incident, Tommy found himself shifting to Ranboo whenever he needed warmth, and Ranboo always provided.
But, there was a night where the cold woke him up. It was one of the worst nights of the year, and sometimes the heating failed(Foolish was still working on getting it fixed). Tommy got out of bed, walking to Michael's room to check if the toddler was still in the bed. When he opened the door, he was not expecting to see someone else in the room.
They made eye contact before Tommy realized it was just Ranboo and directed his gaze to Michael, the shivering child in his arms. Ranboo had his mask on, which almost didn’t surprise Tommy.
“Jeez, Tommy. I thought you were an intruder,” Ranboo whispered.
“I could say the same to you,” Tommy whispered back, allowing Ranboo to walk out of the room. “Why’s it so fucking cold?”
“The heating failed again, which sucks because it’s one of the worst nights of the year. I woke up to grab Michael, since he’s a toddler. Do you want to come upstairs to mine and Tubbo’s room? It’ll probably be warmer with all of us together.”
Tommy almost denied the offer, but when he noticed his toes going numb, he accepted it pretty quickly. They made their way upstairs, and into the two’s room, where Tubbo sat shivering. “Oh thank god,” Tubbo whispered. “It’s so cold, why is it so cold.”
“I’m going to check the heating system, see what malfunctioned,” Ranboo said, handing Michael to Tubbo. “You three keep each other warm.”
“Are you cold?” Tommy asked.
“Enderman, remember?” Ranboo said.
“Right, higher cold tolerance,” Tommy grumbled. “But you’re still uncomfortable.”
“Extremely, but I need to go and check what happened. I’ll be back momentarily.”
Tommy, Tubbo, and Michael all curled into each other, the three of them shivering waiting for Ranboo to get back, it was a while before they finally did. Tommy was about to go out looking for them, it took them so long.
“The problem is because of the storm,” Ranboo said, walking back into the room.”Foolish didn’t protect it properly or something. I’ll be able to tell more in the morning.” Ranboo sounded wounded.
“Boo, please don’t tell me you went outside,” Tubbo whispered.
“Only for a moment,” Ranboo said, slipping his suit jacket off.
“Boo! It’s a storm out there, you’re an enderman. You’re gonna get hurt,” Tubbo lectured as Ranboo sat down.
“I’m fine, ‘Bo. I’m more worried about you guys. Maybe we should go down stairs and start a fire? Heat up the house old school with the fireplace,” Ranboo said, and Tubbo sighed.
“That’s probably the best idea,” Tubbo whispered, Tommy was too busy holding Michael and shivering to speak.
“I’ll get it going, you two stay together,” Ranboo said, and Tommy nodded before Ranboo left again.
By the time everyone was downstairs, the windows had been covered in a thick layer of snow, which was melting a bit because of the roaring fire Ranboo was able to get going. Finally, they got some warmth. Tubbo curled up on Ranboo side, clutching Michael now on the couch, a blanket thrown over them both. Tommy was on Ranboo’s other side, he was still awake, staring at the cracking flames of the fire.
“Ranboo,” Tommy whispered, Ranboo hummed in response, their arms wrapped around both of the teens. “You’re a good man, Ranboo. You know I don’t actually hate you.”
“I know, Tommy,” Ranboo whispered, rubbing the blond's arm.
“Ranboo’s too good to hate,” Tubbo grumbled, getting a soft chuckle as Tubbo lifted his head a bit from Ranboo's shoulder. Tommy looked up at Ranboo, who blinked as they looked between photos on the wall.
“Your eyes glow, did you know that?” Tommy asked, causing Ranboo to glance at him. “Like literally, they glow in the dark.”
“It’s just the fire reflecting,” Ranboo ractionalized.
“No, no. They were glowing back in the cave as well, and we barely had a fire back there,” Tommy said.
“He’s right, Ranboo. Your eyes do glow a bit,” Tubbo said, “I’ve noticed it before, I just never mentioned it because I thought it was something you already knew.”
“We’ll enderman’s eyes also glow in the dark, so it might just be that,” Ranboo shrugged, “I do have pretty good night vision as well.”
“Course you do,” Tommy grumbled, and Ranboo chuckled. They sat in silence for a few moments, before Ranboo pulled his arms back from the two, lifting up and removing the mask. Tommy looked away immediately, as if scared, and Ranboo chuckled.
“It’s alright, Tommy. You can look, just don’t...don’t scream, alright?” Ranboo said, setting the mask on the coffee table. Tubbo curled into him, almost protectively, as Tommy glanced up at Ranboo, whose gaze was focused on Michael.
Tommy had never noticed how severe the tear tracks were until now, and he almost winced. (he held back, so he didn’t offend Ranboo or Tubbo). Tommy smiled, though, “You’re not a freak,” He mumbled. Tubbo almost looked as surprised as Ranboo did, not expecting Tommy first words to seeing Ranboos face not being a sarcastic comment. “Although, I’m not seeing much of a mouth,” He teased, getting a chuckle from Ranboo. Who then opened his mouth, making Tommy’s eyebrows raise.
“Wow, that’s cool. Wait, does it hurt? Stretching your skin like that?” Tommy asked.
“No, but I can only go so far, unless I’m in pain. I’ve snapped these strains of skin before,” Ranboo hummed, getting a wince from both of them. “Yeah, fell into a pond.”
“Oh, Ranboo,” Tubbo frowned.
“I’m alright, I was able to use a few potions and heal up. But the skin that is attached around my mouth is meant to keep it closed at a certain point. My mouth actually opens unnaturally wide if they weren't there, Like, scary, wide,” Ranboo hummed.
“It looks fucking awesome, Ranboo,” Tommy said. “You look great, you’re not a freak.”
Ranboo’s eyes crinkled in the corners again, showing he was smiling as Tommy curled back into him. “Thank you for trusting us with your face, Ranboo,” Tubbo whispered.
“Thanks for not running away,” Ranboo responded.
“Never,” The two said in sync.
“You’re stuck with us,” Tommy chuckled.
“Forever,” Tubbo added.
Ranboo could handle that. Especially if they didn’t need to wear their mask at home anymore. Sometimes they did, and nobody would comment on it, but more often that not, Ranboo’s face was proudly shown for the few most important people in their life. And Ranboo couldn’t be happier.