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Ranboo eyelids opened slowly, a dull pain in the back of his head waking him up. His eyes tried to focus, but there was nothing to focus on. Wherever he was, it was pitch black. He felt the cold wall behind his back, felt his legs sprawled out in front of him carelessly. He used one hand and pushed himself up against the wall more, and put his other hand against the back of his head, trying to rub the pain away.
His hand met his head, but he felt something else brush his face. There was another pale hand linked to his own. His eyes widened in fear.
So naturally, he yelled.
He suddenly felt himself get pulled, falling over on his side with a thud.
“What the fuck was tha- AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”
Ranboo knew that voice, no one yelled that loud.
“...Tommy?”
“Ranboo? What the hell is going on man! I was at the hotel one second and now I’m fucking here with YOU.” Tommy spat out the last word.
Ranboo pushed himself back up into a seated position. “I don’t know, I was at my house and now I’m here too. God my head hurts.”
“You aren't special man, mine hurts too.”
Ranboo just groaned in response.
“Tsk tsk.” Another voice spoke up.
A bright light turned on, illuminating the dark room quickly. Ranboo and Tommy both raised their other arms to block the light. When their eyes finally adjusted, a small figure stood in front of them.
“Tubbo?” Tommy asked.
“Glad to see you both have woken up, now I can talk to you both.” Tubbo simply answered.
Ranboo tried to move his arm and felt it get pulled back. He turned to face Tommy and Tommy turned to face him. They both eyed each other for a second and looked down at their hands.
Their wrists were bound together with a pair of silver handcuffs, linking them to each other.
They both pulled away from each other instinctively and simply got pulled back. They locked eyes again, the realization setting in. They both turned to face Tubbo again.
“Haha you know what? Great prank Tubbo. I would clap but it appears I can’t. You can unlock the cuffs now Tubbo.” Tommy gave a wide smile.
“Nope!” Tubbo said cheerfully. Tommy’s grin quickly turned into a frown.
“WHAT THE FU-”
Ranboo clapped a hand over Tommy’s mouth, shutting him up.
“What is this about Tubbo? Where are we?” Ranboo questioned.
“My lair.”
“Okay.. umm how did we get here?”
“I knocked you both out with a bat.” Tubbo continued to smile casually, it unnerved Ranboo, sending a shiver up his spine.
Okay.. Why ex- OW!”
Ranboo felt a sharp pain in his hand, moving it away from Tommy’s mouth and rubbing it quickly. He turned sharply toward Tommy.
“Did you just bite me?!”
“You wouldn’t remove your hand from my mouth, I did what I had to do.” Tommy shot back.
“The biting was unnec-”
“ENOUGH!” Tubbo shouted.
Tommy and Ranboo quickly turned toward Tubbo, falling silent.
“This” he gestured to them both “Is why you are here.” Tubbo said.
Tommy and Ranboo both raised an eyebrow in return.
“You are hereee because I am tired of watching you both bicker with each other.” Tubbo sighed. “It’s getting annoying to be honest.”
“Okay okay let me get this straight. You knocked us out, dragged us to your lair, and linked us together because we were arguing?” Ranboo said.
“Exactly Big Man, and you will not be released until you talk out your problems.”
“This is stupid.” Tommy added.
“Maybe.. but that’s just how it is.” Tubbo answered back, shrugging. “Anyways, you two have fun.”
“You’re leaving us?!” Ranboo questioned.
“Well yeah, besides I’m hungry, I’m gonna go grab some food. I’ll see you guys in lets say an hour.
“AN HOUR?!” Tommy yelled. “TUBBO YOU SERIOUSLY CAN’T DO THIS TO US, THIS IS KIDNAPPING, YOU CA-”
His pleas fell on deaf ears, Tubbo was already gone, leaving them alone.
“...”
“...”
Neither of them would look at the other. Tommy just hummed to himself while Ranboo fidgeted with his hair, moving strands out of his face. Finally, one of them broke the silence.
“Do you have anything on your person?” Ranboo asked.
“Nope, he has stripped us of our belongings it seems.” Tommy said back quietly.
Ranboo only responded with a sigh.
“...”
“Can’t you teleport or some shit? You are half-enderman half whateverthefuck.” Tommy probed
“Don’t you think I would have done that already if I could?” Ranboo said back, a hint of sarcasm leaking into the sentence.
“You do not need to speak to me like a child.”
“You are a child Tommy. You are quite literally a child.”
“So are you bitch. So don’t talk to me like that.”
Ranboo ran a hand across his face, mumbling under his breath. He felt his arm getting tugged, he looked back over.
“What are you doing now?” Ranboo questioned.
Tommy was trying to slide his hand out of the cuff. “What do you think? I am trying to get out of here. I’m like a little raccoon boy.
“Could you atleast be gentler about it, you are hurting my wrist.”
Tommy just yanked back harder in response, Ranboo balled his fist but said nothing, releasing his hand.
“Yeaaaaahhh bitch whatcha gonna do about it huh?” said Tommy proudly, a wicked grin on his face.
Ranboo responded by pulling the cuff hard, dragging Tommy onto his side. “That. That’s what I’ll do.”
“WHAT THE HELL.” Tommy tried to pull himself back up but failed, unable to use both his hands for balance.
Ranboo resisted the urge to laugh, but he realized that was wrong of him to drag Tommy like that (no matter how much he deserved it).
“....Do you need help Tommy?” Ranboo said, a pang of guilt in his voice.”
“I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP MAN.” Tommy hissed, finally pushing himself up and slumping back against the wall.
“I’m sorry, I was just trying to h-”
“I don’t need your pity.”
Ranboo decided not to answer back.
“Honestly, I don’t know why I am here to begin with.”
“TaLk OuT yOuR pRoBlEmS,” Tommy mocked Tubbo’s voice. “Yeah sure okay let's get sappy and talk about our feelings Ranboob.”
“I still don’t understand it, I don’t have a problem with you, so why are we here?” Ranboo pulled his hair back in frustration.
“Exactly, I don’t dislike you-.” Tommy noted.
“...”
“-But if I had to list some things very very wrong about you-”
“Oh boy.”
“-You’re ugly, like your mother must have hit you in the face multiple times. With a pan. Also your whole half n half bullshit is dumb, like pick a side jesus christ. Also also your voice is annoying and dead, you sound like Technoblade, and he is a pig. Also did I mention that you’re ugly, cause holy shit-”
“D-Did I do something to you?” Ranboo exasperated, turning toward Tommy.
Tommy didn’t make eye contact. “-You’re weird, with your tall ass legs and-”
“Tommy seriously wh-”
“-you are such a fucking creep, you just stand there and stare, honestly get a fucking li-”
“TOMMY.”
Tommy shrunk. He hadn’t heard Ranboo yell before and quite frankly, it was scary. He turned to face Ranboo. Ranboo held his head in his hands, trying to control his breathing, he was panicking. After a moment his breathing slowed down some.
“Tommy, w-what did I do to you?” He managed to stammer out.
Tommy’s voice was slow and cold. “You took Tubbo from me.”
“I-”
“You took Tubbo from me. I was trapped in that jail for a month. A MONTH. WITH DREAM.”
Ranboo made another noise but Tommy didn’t stop talking, the words spilling out of his mouth. “I WAS TRAPPED WITH THE MAN WHO HURT ME. I THOUGHT HE WAS MY FRIEND. YOU LEFT ME, EVERYONE LEFT ME TO DIE.”
“T-Tommy-”
“I WAS TRAPPED WITH HIM. HE FUCKING KILLED ME RANBOO. I FUCKING DIED. AND THEN HE BROUGHT ME BACK FOR HIS SICK KICKS. I WAS THERE FOR A MONTH.
“Tommy-”
AND WHAT DO I COME BACK TO? MY BEST FRIEND. WITH YOU OF ALL PEOPLE. YOU CAME OUT OF FUCKING NOWHERE. AND NOW YOU ARE MARRIED AND HAVE A FUCKING KID?? ARE YOU SHITTING ME? Y-YOU ARE A BASTARD.”
“Tommy.”
“WHAT!”
“Tommy.. You’re crying.”
“NO IM NO-” He put a hand to his cheek and jumped at the touch of his fingers. His fingers were slick with warm tears. He hadn’t realized it, but he was shaking. He grabbed onto his arms and pulled himself into a ball, tucking his head in.
They both fell silent, the only sound being the gentle sniffles coming from Tommy. Ranboo reached out his hand, hoping to reconcile something, but his hand just dropped back to his side, unable to carry through with consoling him. He just looked up to the ceiling and took a deep breath, gathering words on his tongue.
“...I-I’m sorry Tommy.. I never meant to come between you two…”
Tommy let out a slight huff.
“...If you want.. I’ll leave him alone…”
Tommy perked up a little, staring at Ranboo. A thin smile was pressed across Ranboo’s face as he continued to look up at the ceiling. This is what Tommy wanted right? For Ranboo to leave the picture and he could have Tubbo to himself. This is exactly what he wanted.
So why did this feel wrong?
“Ranboo.. Do you like Tubbo?”
Ranboo seemed shocked by the question. He glanced down at his hands, a golden band glistened on his finger and he smiled. “Tubbo.. He was my first true friend. He showed me around L’manberg with the biggest smile on his face. He never left me, even when I betrayed L’manberg… he forgave me so quickly. He wanted to help me with my memory problems… n-no one had ever even bothered to help me like that. He actually wants to listen to my jokes and hang out with me. He makes me feel..”
Ranboo choked up, tears threatening to spill over, but he wasn’t going to let that happen.
“..H-He makes me feel wanted. H-He means everything to me.”
Tommy understood. He understood completely. Tubbo had always been there for him, even when he screwed up. He stayed by his side through every war, every adventure, every bit of sorrow. Even when they fought, he knew he would find Tubbo at the bench, waiting for Tommy to play one of the damned disc.
“He really means that much to you, huh?”
Ranboo nodded gently, wiping his face. “Yeah.. he does.”
“I can’t take that from you Ranboo, it wouldn’t be fair.”
“...”
“Look here Boob Boy. I don’t like you, not one bit. But.. Tubbo likes you, and as much as it pains me, I can’t hurt Tubbo. He deserves to be happy after all the shit I’ve put him through.”
Ranboo nodded, a smile creeping on his face.
“Soooo perhaps we can stop being pissy with each other.. For Tubbo of course.” Tommy exclaimed, looking away with a huff.
Ranboo holds a hand out. “For Tubbo?”
Tommy tuned back and looked at his hand. A small smile spread across his face as he took it, shaking it firmly. “For Tubbo.”
Ranboo smirked. “Chickenboy.”
“Crybaby” Tommy snided.
“Awwwwwww did my therapy not work?”
Ranboo and Tommy both turned toward the new voice. Tubbo stood in the doorframe eating an apple with a disappointed look on his face.
“Tubbo if this is your idea of therapy, we need to have a talk later tonight.” Ranboo deadpanned.
Tubbo just shrugged in response.
“Now that you are here, could you please unlock the cuffs?” Tommy asked.
“Oh yeah.. just flip the little latch… it should come off.” Tubbo said between munches of apple.
“There’s no way it’s that-“ Tommy flipped the latch and the cuffs opened, releasing their wrist. Ranboo eyes narrowed in on Tommy.
“Let me get this straight.. you tried to pull the cuffs off.. and you didn’t even try the latch??” Ranboo exasperated, dragging a hand across his face.
“You didn’t even try yourself bitch.” Tommy retorted.
“Fair.”
Tubbo just groans and exits from the room, clearly disappointed that his plan of “therapy” had failed. Tommy and Ranboo glance quickly at each other, an exchange held only through eye-contact. They both heaved themselves off the floor and exited
Their feet were met with snow. A white blanket covered the land as small homes sat in the distance. So Tubbo had dragged them to Snowchester. Ranboo had caught up with Tubbo, seemingly scolding him for locking them up like that. Tubbo seemed relaxed, just nodding along to whatever Ranboo was saying. Tommy hung back, absent-mindedly rubbing his arms. He watched them both walk further away, had they forgotten about him already? Tommy sighed and turned on his heel towards the exit from Snowchester.
“Tommy wait!”
Tommy spun back around. Ranboo was nervously wringing his hands together. Tubbo was leaning against him.
“Would you like to meet Michael?.. if you want to of course.”
It took Tommy a moment to process the question. So they did care.. a small smile grew on his face. He gave a short nod.
Tubbo almost bursted with excitement, running over and grabbing Tommy’s hand, dragging him toward the mansion with Ranboo in tow. Tubbo spoke quickly, telling Tommy about how they had found Michael and his journey home.
He got dragged all the way up to Michael’s room, everyone pausing at the door. Slowly, they pushed the door open.
Michael’s room was quite large for the little piglin. Toys completely littered the floor, along with fluffy pillows and blankets. Drawings hung on the walls (along with some embarrassing family portraits). Michael himself was in a corner of the room, looking out the large window, his ears perking up when the door opened.
Ranboo and Tubbo entered the room first, they both squatted down and talked quietly to their son, Tubbo trying to fix his little overalls and Ranboo cleaned his face up. Tommy hung back, closing the door behind him but staying silent.
Michael finally noticed the new visitor and hid behind his parents, peeking out from the side before shyly retreating back. Tubbo held the piglin’s hand and gestured toward Tommy who was frozen in place.
“It’s okay Michael, that’s Uncle Tommy. We’ve told you about him, and now he’s here to see you.”
Uncle? Tommy could practically feel his heart stop before he collected himself, squatting down to Michael’s level.
“Hello er Michael.” He gave a short wave.
The piglin peeked back out, assessing him. Slowly, his little feet made their way across the floorboards towards Tommy. He paused a few feet infront of Tommy, his beady eyes practically stared into his soul.
Michael buried his head into Tommy’s chest, little snorts escaping from him.
Tommy’s arms raised in surprise, a strange noise escaping his throat. What the hell was he supposed to do. Yet, almost naturally, he lowered his arms around Michael’s small body, pulling him into a soft embrace.
Oh, he was fully prepared to die for this piglin.
But he wouldn’t admit to it if you asked.
“He’s.. ugly, just like his dads.” he scoffed.
Tubbo looked fake offended, Ranboo just laughed.
Tommy looked up at the pair. Ranboo had a hand on Tubbo’s shoulder, Tubbo leaning on his side against him. They were such a weird pair to be honest, but their soft smiles said enough.
“I’m gonna teach him so many fuckin swear words.”
Ranboo broke out into laughter, tears starting to run down his face, sizzling against his skin. Tubbo seemed to notice, pulling from his embrace. He started to scold Ranboo, who just held up his hands, trying to wave him off, saying he was fine. Tubbo just scolded him more.
Tommy watched the pair (Tubbo was trying to wipe Ranboo’s face, effectively spreading the tears across his face, burning him more. Ranboo just continued to laugh.) and he smiled down at the piglin.
“I think.., I could get used to this.”