Chapter Text
If there’s one thing Tubbo wouldn’t argue about his best friend, it’s how much he had changed. Especially after his death and resurrection. Especially on how he received physical affection.
Tommy had always been physically affectionate. He covered it up with rude comments and insults, putting up a ‘big strong man that doesn't need nobody’ persona, but Tubbo knew his best friend. Tubbo knew how soft he was under the rough exterior.
Tommy liked holding hands. He liked walking around the Prime path, hand in hand with Tubbo. Tommy liked to sling his arm around Tubbo’s shoulder and squeezed him tight. During the revolution, after November 16th, after Doomsday, they had sat together on the bench and leaned onto each other.
Tommy liked being touched. He might not hug much, but he didn’t have to hug Tubbo for him to know how much Tommy liked being touched.
But after the resurrection, with how jumpy Tommy was with even the slightest touch, Tubbo… Tubbo hesitated.
He thought he knew his best friend. But after exile, it was clear that they both had changed. That they no longer knew each other as well as they used to.
And they… never really talked about it. Never talked about how they’ve changed during those months apart. Tommy seemed to be eager to fall back to whatever the old ‘normal’ was, and Tubbo was more than happy to follow along.
He was never good at talking about his problems.
And then they defeated Dream and landed him in prison, and then Tommy and Tubbo started spending time apart, and then there’s Snowchester and the hotel, and then Tubbo got married and had Michael and Tommy died-
He thought if nothing else, he’d know for sure that Tommy liked to sew and hold hands. But Tubbo almost never saw him touch a sewing needle ever again and he saw how Tommy flinched away when Ranboo tapped his shoulder, and now he wasn’t so sure anymore.
It’s as if his death and resurrection had fractured the exterior, and now that Tommy’s true self was leaking through, Tubbo was left wondering just how much he actually knew his best friend.
And now he was sitting at the bench, Wait playing from the jukebox, while Tommy nodded his head to the tune with his eyes closed.
Tubbo fiddled his hands. He tried to relax, but his mind was firing at a thousand miles per second going why did Tommy call me here does he have a new self-destructive plan is he waiting for me to start what do I say-
The disc ended. Tommy took out the disc and put it back in. Wait started playing again.
Okay, now Tubbo was a bit frustrated. They had been here for five minutes and Tommy hadn’t said a word since he put on the disc and said have some tunes, please, calm yourself-
“I started sewing again.”
Tubbo blinked. Tommy’s eyes were unfocused, directed at the sun and not Tubbo, but he was talking .
“Puffy told me it’s good to pick up old hobbies,” Tommy continued, playing with the hems of his sleeves. “So I dug out my old sewing kit. It’s still under my bed. Turned out no one bothered to check there when they ransacked my base.”
Tommy laughed, tinged with slight bitterness.
“That’s… good?” Tubbo had no idea where he was going with this. “Not the ransacking part, I mean, the sewing part.”
“Yeah…” Tommy chuckled. “Yeah, it’s good. It’s... nice to sew something, after so long not doing it. Haven’t done much sewing since- you know.”
Exile, Tubbo’s mind provided. He couldn’t take his sewing kit with him.
“Oh.”
“Yeah…”
They lapsed into awkward silence.
“Anyway!” Tommy shouted, making Tubbo jump. “That’s not the point. What I’m here to say is , I made you this.”
And he pulled something out of his inventory and shoved it into Tubbo’s hands.
“I-” Tubbo started, but Tommy’s expectant gaze made him stop. He sighed, instead unfolding the cloth-thing in his hands.
It’s... a small pouch, made of blue and white fabric. It’s a lot simpler than many of Tommy’s old projects, but it’s still well-made. Tubbo turned the thing around and came face-to-face with a yellow diamond.
It’s the Snowchester flag. Tommy had made him a Snowchester pouch.
“I wanted to make you a bee pouch, but I didn’t have black or green fabric and I thought I made you too much bee stuff anyway.” Tommy rubbed the back of his head. “So I made you Snowchester. I’m a bit rusty, so it’s not that good-”
Fuck it. Tubbo lunged and hugged his best friend tight. Tommy squeaked in surprise, but didn’t try to pull away.
“It’s good.” Fuck , his throat’s getting scratchy. “It’s amazing , Tommy. I love it so fucking much.”
Tommy let out a soft choked sound and wrapped his arms around Tubbo.
“Yeah- Uh- No problem, big man.”
“No, really. Thank you so much, Tommy.”
“It’s- It’s just a pouch, Tubbo.” No, it’s so much more than that, it’s proof that Tommy is healing and Prime, Tubbo was so happy for him- “I wanted to make a- a blanket or- or something, for Michael, but Puffy said I should start small, so I thought-”
Tubbo pulled back, but kept his hands on Tommy’s shoulders. He missed this. He missed holding Tommy.
“I love it.” Tubbo looked Tommy dead in the eye, making sure he knew not to debate him. “ Thank you , Tommy. I’ll treasure it.”
Tubbo closed his eyes and pressed his forehead softly against Tommy’s with a bonk , almost instinctual thanks to his hybrid genes, and he heard Tommy let out a shaky breath and relax.
“I’m- I’m glad you like it,” Tommy muttered softly.
For several seconds, they stayed that way. Then Wait stopped playing, and the moment ended. Tommy glanced at the jukebox, clearly signaling what he wanted to do, and Tubbo let him pull away.
Tommy pulled out Wait , but this time, he stuffed it back in his enderchest. Instead, he pulled out Blocks and put it in the jukebox. The music began playing and Tommy slumped back into the bench.
Tubbo followed suit. They lapsed back into silence, but this time, it was nice and comfortable. Just the two of them, enjoying the moment.
Tubbo could almost imagine that they were back in the past, before l’Manburg existed and the disc war was more of a petty playground fight.
Tommy’s fingers reached out and intertwined with Tubbo’s, and Tubbo’s breath hitched.
The hug had been an impulsive thing. It was started by Tubbo and in hindsight, he had been a bit worried Tommy wouldn’t return it. But now that Tommy was the one seeking contact…
Tubbo reached back and took Tommy’s hand in his. He heard Tommy’s breath caught and for a second he worried that he pushed too far, then Tommy locked their fingers together and squeezed.
Tubbo squeezed back, as tightly as he could.
He missed this. He missed Tommy. He missed holding hands with him. And a part of him calmed by the reassurance that yes, he still knew his best friend. Maybe not completely. Maybe not as well as he used to. But they were not strangers.
And that’s what mattered to Tubbo.
“Y’know,” Tommy said, breaking the silence. “I wanna say… I wanna say thank you. Thank you for being there for me. For being… For being so patient with me. For accommodating me.”
“No worries, big man. It’s the least I could do, you know?”
“Yeah.” Tommy chuckled. “I also wanna say… I know you have Ranboo, and you can always talk to Puffy, but if you ever want to talk about your problems, you can come to me, okay? I’m not- I’m not really good at giving out advice, but I can sit and listen. Then I’ll take you out for minor arson.”
Tommy grinned at his own joke. Tubbo chuckled and squeezed Tommy’s hand.
“Basically, what I wanna say is…” Tommy trailed off, seemingly thinking over his words. “I’m your friend, y’know? And you’ve been such a good friend, you’ve been there for me all the way, and I want to return the favor. I want to be there for you too.
“So… Promise me you would tell me if you have problems, okay?”
And Tubbo was never good at talking about his problems, and he thought Tommy had enough on his plate already, but he appreciated the gesture.
So he just draped himself on Tommy’s side and closed his eyes, melting into the touch.
“Okay,” he whispered, earning a soft hum in response.
Tommy leaned onto him, and for the moment, everything was okay.