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The sky was blue.
That was one of the first things that Ranboo noticed. It was a deep, deep azure blue, and they loved it. So, so much. It was something imperfectly perfect, dotted with wisps of white clouds like someone had dragged paint across a canvas or the froth of sea spray on waves. Beautiful and amazing.
Closing their eyes, they took a breath. It felt like the first proper one in a long, long while. It was nice. They could just relax and take a breath and relax there. The breeze started toying with their hair, and they flicked their tail.
Behind them, the door creaked. Pausing, Ranboo turned their head to look as Tubbo appeared. Poking their head out, Tubbo smiled softly. “Hey.” They said.
Smiling right back, Ranboo replied, “Hey. How’s your day been?” Tubbo shrugged, dropped down beside them on the porch bench. It was nice and white, almost perfectly so. In front of their house, the grass fluttered in the wind. Kind of like a horse’s mane. It was nice.
“Nice. Took a nap.” Tipping their head up, Tubbo wrinkled their nose against the afternoon sunlight. “Tommy’s going to come by later, something about riding horses. Want to come along?”
“Nah, I gotta check in on Michael. He and Techno were having their whole uncle-nephew bonding time today.” Rolling their eyes, Ranboo shook his head. “I don’t know how Techno convinced us to do that.”
“If Techno’s hurt him, I’m putting him in an inventory.” Tubbo casually remarked, eyes narrowing slightly. Smiling, Ranboo flicked their tail and wrapped it around Tubbo’s arm. Blue-green eyes flicked to red and green, and Ranboo smiled before looking away. “Don’t patronize me.”
“I’m not patronizing you.” Opening their mouth, Ranboo slowly inhaled. Took a long while to do it, too, until it felt like they were actually breathing and not just sucking in air. It was nice. Something past the air bubbles and past the usual anxiety. Something nicer, sweeter.
And hanging with Tubbo was good, too.
Sunlight basked down on the flowers growing in their front yard. Taking another breath, Ranboo pulled up their legs, sat cross-legged on the bench. Tubbo shifted, leaned into their side a little bit. “Tommy’s also thinking about making cupcakes. Nonbinary bee cupcakes. I was going to help him. Might have Michael help.”
“He’d enjoy that.” Ranboo mused, getting a hum in response. “I wonder what the others are doing. It’s a nice June day, isn’t it?”
“It’s a little warm for my tastes.” Tubbo commented, shrugging. Glancing over at them, Ranboo huffed.
“You just have no idea what a nice day is like.”
“No, I just like cooler days. There’s nothing wrong with liking a cloud or two.” There was a pause. Then, Tubbo added, “But rain is only good when you’re inside and safe.”
“Amen to that.” Ranboo replied. Both of them chuckled, and Ranboo glanced over at them. “Speaking of days, what should we do tonight? It is Game Night.”
“I bought some marshmallows earlier. I was thinking we could stick them on arrows.” Looking up with that look they always got when they were being an imp, Tubbo continued, “But like, not tipped arrows. And then we go and find someone, take Michael with us, and see how many people he can shoot with the marshmallow arrows. It’s good target practice, chaos, and fun for everyone.”
“Extra points if he gets someone in the butt.” Ranboo cracked. Snorting, Tubbo shoved their arm.
“You’re so immature.”
“Oh, I’m the immature one. Me? Me? You’re the one who was closer with Tommy Immature Innit, you know.” Tubbo jabbed them in the side. Snorting, Ranboo got up. “Hey! No rib jabs, we talked about this! It feels like a punch.”
“Uh huh, let’s not forget the amount of times you’ve done that to me.” Crossing their arms, Tubbo looked at Ranboo with a sly grin. They returned it, then paused and glanced around. There was a bit of grass growing on the side of their garden boxes. Picking it up, Ranboo chucked it at them. Tubbo yelled as blades of grass showered down over them, into their hair. Ranboo cackled, and Tubbo looked right back at them. “Get back here! I’m getting you back for that!”
“Nope!” Turning, Ranboo started sprinting away at top speed. Behind them, Tubbo followed with a loud yell. Footsteps crunched in the dirt and gravel making up the path.
“Get back here! I’m throwing grass on you!” Tubbo yowled, and Ranboo glanced back once. With a loud cackle, they teleported ahead. “Oh, that’s cheating!”
“I don’t want you yanking on my tail!”
The two of them bolted around for a moment, dodging to the side and glancing back. Laughing and snorting, they dodged around the trees and glanced back and joked and laughed. Occasionally, Ranboo would teleport around, grinned and cackled as they glanced back at their platonic spouse. Eventually, Ranboo spun on their heel and tackled Tubbo, who screamed.
“Oh, and they go down! It’s a vicious fight! Endermen and…uhh…human…thing, fighting again! It’s a battle for the ages!” Ranboo yelled, rolling to the side. Jokingly, they punched for Tubbo’s face, not quickly. Tubbo caught their hands, moved it to the side and batted back at Ranboo. Grinning, eyes crinkling up at the corners, Tubbo kicked Ranboo in the stomach and flipped them both, then got up.
“A horrible, horrible fight. One is so much better at combat than the other. The other is so much better-looking.” Tubbo joked, ducking to the side. “Bah, bah, fight me.” Rolling to the side, Tubbo swept out Ranboo’s legs from under them. Ranboo rolled back. There was a loud cackle from Ranboo, and they did an actual cartwheel before swinging back to kick at Tubbo’s face. Catching Ranboo’s ankle, Tubbo flipped them.
“Who’s better at combat?” Ranboo asked. Snorting, Tubbo jabbed them in the ribs again. Twisting, Ranboo grabbed their wrist, spun them around. “Oh, hey, there’s a spider in the bathroom.”
“And you neglected to tell me this until now? Why?”
“Sorry for not thinking about it, but I thought I saw a spider on you.” Tubbo squealed and then spun around, checking for a spider on themself. There wasn’t one. “Don’t worry, don’t worry, there’s not an actual spider.” Reaching over, Ranboo picked a thread off of Tubbo’s jacket and showed it. Then, they fixed Tubbo’s jacket collar, smiled at them. “See? No spiders.”
Tubbo ducked their head. Made a sound kind of like they were crying. Immediately, Ranboo’s expression switched from entertained to worried. They dropped their hands from Tubbo’s shoulders to their arms, held onto them for a moment and glanced around.
“Tubbo? Tubbo, are you alright?” Ranboo asked, hurriedly. Ducking down, they tried to look at Tubbo’s face. “Tubbo?”
Tubbo jabbed them in the ribs.
Yelling, Ranboo let go of them, dropped to the ground. “I’ve been shot!” They declared, throwing their arms out across the grass with a pained noise. “I have been shot! Get the medics, I need care. My platonic spouse is a murderer! Beware the child of the Storm King and the Death Queen! Beware!” Wheezing, Tubbo dropped down beside them, looked over. A wicked grin crossed Ranboo’s face.
“What?” Glancing around, Tubbo studied their clothes. “What did you do?” Ranboo reached out with a thin finger. Immediately, Tubbo froze, expecting them to point.
Instead, Ranboo poked the tip of their nose. A grin split their face even more.
“Boop.”