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Today is the day that Tubbo and Ranboo have to leave the new village they were visiting. They're on the journey to Manberg, the country run by Tubbo's father, and the trip would have only taken a week if Tubbo and Ranboo hadn't spent so long at this particular village. Usually they wouldn't dawdle so much, but the thing isn't really the village itself, but the boy in the forest surrounding it. Or, the statue of the boy. The eleven year old that was turned to stone about three whole centuries ago. The only humane thing he could do anymore was cry, and it broke the boy's hearts that they had to leave him.
So here they stand, watching as the statue in front of them cries silently, wishing there was something they could do. "I mean... we could at least give him new flowers? Would you like that, Tommy?" Tubbo asks, wiping the tears away from the statues cheeks. He doesn't get a reply, obviously, but Ranboo nods as Tubbo reaches for the basket in Tommy's stone hands. The moment the basket is out out of the hands, Tubbo has a chest full of eleven year old. "WHAT THE-" Tubbo shrieks, dropping the basket as he falls onto his back with a thump, looking down at the child in his arms.
It's Tommy. Tommy, who was just a few seconds ago a statue, is now laying on top of him sobbing. "I- wh- wha-t-" He cries, chest heaving as Tubbo sits up, rubbing the boy's back. "Ranboo, could you look at the basket please? Don't touch it though." He gets a timid hum of confirmation, the boy obviously just as confused as he is. Ranboo kicks the basket over, all of the dead flowers spilling out of it. Or, well, all of the dead flowers and the one living flower. The flower has indigo petals, fading to a darkish green at the tips, with the petals slowly turning into a stone-gray to the bud. It looks like a rose.
"Tommy, do you think that's the flower that turned you to stone?" Tubbo asks gently, trying his hardest to console the crying child in his arms. Tommy turns, looking at the flower and furrowing his brows, seemingly more upset than before. "Y-ou mean t-to tell m-me that I w-as st.. stuck l-ike that be-becau-se of a fu-cking flo-flower??" He rasps, voice shaky with rage, grief, and the fact that he hasn't spoken in ages. And yeah, sheesh, that actually kind of sucks, Tubbo thinks. Tommy was turned to a state, and couldn't move, talk, or even breathe of hundreds of years as he watched his friends and family all pass away, because of a stupid little flower.
Ranboo sighs, sitting down next to them and rubbing the child's back. "I'm sorry Tommy. But there's no way you could've known" He says in what he's hoping is a comforting voice, and Tommy just heaves a wet sigh. "Tha-nk y-ou guys any- anyways. Thank you so, s-o m- much." He says, hugging Tubbo tightly. Tubbo and Ranboo wouldn't be surprised if the boy was feeling touch-starved after all these years, so Tubbo hugs him back. "Of course Tommy. It may have been an accident, but I'm still so happy that we could help." He mumbles, combing through the younger's hair with his fingers.
After a couple of hours of consoling the child, he's sat on Ranboo's back holding the rock engraved with the only physical memory of his dad left, ready to go. Ranboo and Tubbo chat while they walk, talking about how they're going to explain Tommy to Tubbo's dad, while Tommy himself snacks a little on a cup of peaches and some water. "I'm still so surprised you're eating so tamely when it's been literal centuries since you've eaten or drank anything." Ranboo mutters, snorting when Tommy bats at his ear. " It honestly just feels like I've skipped food for two or three days instead of centuries." Tommy hums quietly, his voice still not all that used to talking again.
"Maybe you're digestive system just like... stopped, while you were st... turned to stone." Tubbo says, snorting after his pause. Tommy shakes his head, sipping at the last drops of peach juice. "I wouldn't even be hungry if that were true. It was my birthday when I was turned into a statue, and my dad always makes... made big breakfasts for holidays and birthdays." His voice gets quieter at the mention of his dad, hugging the rock closer to him.
He never did get those birthday presents. Tommy's not upset about that, really. He just wishes he had something better to remember his father by, instead of a rock that simply had his name on it and words that acted like it was a grave stone. "Well, once we get to Manberg, I'm sure you'll have a better birthday than that last one. Man, you must have missed out on a bunch of birthdays. April ninth, right?" Tubbo asks from ahead, turning to look over his shoulder at Ranboo and Tommy, who nods his head. "That's a little under a month away!" He notes, smiling at the little boy on his friend's back. Tubbo feels nothing but grief for Tommy, and wants to make the rest of the boy's life as enjoyable as possible.
"Okay." Tommy mutters, but not with a bitter tone. Instead, he's smiling, happy to know that he can go back to being able to celebrate his birthday. Even if he won't have his dad there...
Actually no, he doesn't think he can look at his birthday the same anymore.
"What... wh-at year i-is it, actu-ally?" He asks, timidly. "1699! Almost three centuries after your curse." Tubbo responds, taking Tommy in his arms from a tired Ranboo. "You can take a nap if you want, I can tell you're pretty tired, big man." He coos, patting the boy's back, who nods sleepily. "S' l-ong as you d-don't... you don't dro-p me." He grumbles, before falling asleep, leaving a chuckling Ranboo and Tubbo behind in the waking world.
He dreams of his old family in friends, but doesn't question why there's two new people in his group.
_-_-_-_
Tommy slept for the better part of the trip to Manberg, having not slept properly, or at all really, in the last two or three centuries. The other two boys are honestly kind of glad for a number of reasons. One reason being the fact that both of them would have been very awkward conversating with the boy, having not really planned on gaining a new party member.
Sometimes, when they're camping out for the nights, one of the boys will wake up to Tommy sitting up from whoever's sleeping bag he was sharing with, the same blank yet wide eyed look on his face as when he was a statue, and unmoving. If Tubbo were the one to wake up to this, he would wake up Ranboo to deal with it. Not because he doesn't want to, if anything he feels bad that he can't help Tommy, but because he was never good at comforting people; never knowing when was the right time to crack jokes or take things seriously. Ranboo admittedly isn't usually one for comforting people either, but he feels better doing it when it's someone younger than him.
He would usually coax Tommy from his frozen state by hugging him, or touching him some other way. Tommy had explained to them that whenever he was touched as a statue he could barely feel it, which explained his touch starved nature even more. Ranboo knows that just talking Tommy down wouldn't work, the boy already too used to people only being able to talk to him as a statue, so touching him, letting the boy actually feel the touch rather than just be aware of it, was Ranboo's last resort. A last resort that works, thankfully.
Whenever Tommy gets back from his dissociated state, he would blink, and look down at his hands, which he'd move around in some way. It was so, so painful for the other two that Tommy always had to check that he could still move, terrified at the thought of just becoming a statue again, this time with no way to break the curse. It's obvious that the boy is traumatized in some way, the fact that he broke down sobbing when they had passed through a flower field even more obvious of that. It's been a rough week, but Tubbo and Ranboo don't regret helping Tommy at the slightest, and they don't regret taking the boy with them on their way to Manberg, and they certainly don't regret growing fond enough of the little boy to think of him as a brother.
Tommy had gotten way healthier once they reach Manberg. He can stand on his own now, and barely has a stutter anymore. The only thing that would show anything is wrong with the boy is the cracked shape scars on his left cheek and right arm and the fact that he has barely any control of his limbs, as clumsy as a drunken giraffe. Ranboo and Tubbo don't mind carrying him when he needs it though, and they both enjoy when he falls asleep in one of their holds. Truly, an adorable sight to see.
Ranboo has Tommy clinging to his back while they make their way through the streets of Manberg, both Tubbo and Ranboo receiving and returning greetings from the people of town. Manberg was never all that big, though it is definitely a huge representation of their era, with trinkets with unimaginable uses being pawned off everywhere, and the smell of oil and gas rich in the air. Tubbo always took comfort in the town, not only because he was born here but also because of just how fitting it is for him, steampunk and all.
Tommy feels the opposite of his friend, burying his face deeper into Ranboo's back at any glance sent his way. When he peaks out though, he does exchange eye contact with one man. A man wearing copious shades of green, with large, black wings visible on his back, as are the jewels hanging off of his hat and ears. He blinks at Tommy, before waving with a kind smile that Tommy has only ever seen from his dad.
Tommy, feeling a strange sense of deja vu, smiles back.
Once they're inside a much less crowded building, Tommy heaves out a small, relieved sigh, finally letting up on his attempts to bury his face in his friend's back. The other two boy's smile comfortingly at him as a man with black hair and duck wings runs up to Tubbo, grinning madly. "Toob-o! My man! How are you two doing?" He says, borderline yelling, which makes Tommy wince at the attention he draws. "I'm doing good Big Q! Ranboo and I even found a new friend on our way here! Say hi, Tommy!" Tubbo grins, as Tommy peaks his head out from above Ranboo's shoulder, waving shyly.
The man's grin widens, in awe at the small boy on his friend's son's friend's (hah) shoulders. "Hey there little dude! I'm Quackity, a friend of Tubbo's dad." Quackity says, his grin evident, especially when Tommy smiles back at him, be it small. "Well, I'll take you guys to Schlatt, he's been wondering what took you so long, Tubbo." He says as he begins to walk to said man's office, the boy's following behind. "We were on track at first, believe me, but we ended up staying at one of the villages for a bit because we were visiting Tommy. When we had to leave we just up and decided to take him with us." Ranboo says, not knowing whether or not Tommy wants people to know of the last hundreds of years of his life. At the approving nod he gets from the boy, he's to assume he was right.
"I can't blame you dude. Better reasoning for getting held up than what I did yesterday." Quackity laughs, not elaborating whatsoever. "You'll most definitely get a scolding from your dad though Tubs." Tubbo groans, before pausing, looking over to Tommy. "Do you mind if I sue you as a distraction to get away from being scolded?" Tubbo asks Tommy with what he hopes is a convincing grin, though it grows more genuine when the little boy laughs. "Sure, Big Man." Fuck yeah.
Tubbo smiles at the boy, scooping him up from Ranboo's back and holding him in his own arms, Tommy laughing at the sudden movement and Ranboo chuckling at his friend's antics. Quackity just has a fond grin at the three, choosing to not talk about the oddly shaped scars on the quiet boy in his friend's arms. Quackity stops, knocking on the mahogany doors in front of him, and opening it once he gets confirmation. "Good luck, Toob-o!" He calls, closing the doors behind them. When Tubbo looks, up he's met with a hand ruffling his already mussed up hair. "Person that seems to be my son." Schlatt greets. "Person that seems to be my father." Tubbo replies, smiling. "Hey kids. What took you so long? Also, who's this?" He asks, waving them over to sit on the couch while Schlatt takes an arm chair beside it. "This is Tommy! We met him in Searth, and after a couple of days we decided to take him with us. We kidnapped him, father dearest. Are you proud?" Tubbo grins, rubbing Tommy's back from where the boy sits beside him.
Schlatt sighs, wiping away a tear that isn't even there. "Already kidnapped you first child at seventeen. I'm so proud." Laughs run through the office, Tommy smiling at the man who he's pretty sure by now is Tubbo's father. He smiles back.
And if a man keeps an eye for the boy in his time living with his new friends and family, a man with large black wings and tons of different pieces of jewelry, then that's only for the man to know about.