Chapter Text
“hey mate!” tubbo grinned, stepping closer. “have you got a spare buck?”
the man, understandably, gave him a weird look. honestly, tubbo would do the same if a random kid came up to him and asked for money.
”this prick of a driver-“ tubbo nodded to the bus driver, who snorted quietly. “-won’t let me on the bus. I just wanna go home.”
the man hesitated, then reached into his pocket. “I think- I think I’ve got a dollar bill..”
tubbo watched eagerly as the man pulled out a wallet and took from it a large stack of money.
someone darted by, snatching the money right from his hands, and the man yelped. “my money!”
“ don’t worry, sir!” tubbo yelled, starting to sprint away. “I’ll catch the thief!”
he ran in the direction of where the thief had gone, leaving behind a distraught stranger.
the thief took a sharp turn and ran into an alley, and tubbo followed. the thief slumped against the wall, chest heaving and blond hair sticky with sweat.
tommy pulled his red bandana from around his mouth, grinning widely. “fancy meeting you here.” he said breathlessly to tubbo, who was bouncing on his feet.
”show me whatchyou got, man!” tubbo reached out for the money in tommys hand.
tommy handed over the bills, taking out a case from his pocket and pulling out an item.
”got a lighter?” he asked tubbo, who was counting the bills under his breath.
tubbo rolled his eyes, punching tommys arm. “that’s a pocky stick and we all know it. stop pretending it’s a cigarette.”
”it’s cool, man!” tommy protested, rubbing his arm. “all the ladies dig it.”
tubbo snorted, and tommy placed a hand over his heart, looking betrayed. “my best friend, mocking me. hurting me, abusing-“
”and ill fucking do it again if you don’t shut up.” tubbo smacked the back of his head and tommy screeched.
”my pocky!”
“ooh!” tommy exclaimed, pressing his face to the glass. “look at these shoes!”
tubbo sighed, tugging on his jacket. “tommy, we gotta get back.”
“cant we get these though?” tommy pouted, staring at the red sneakers. “they’re so cool.”
“sorry, tommy. we barely have enough money for dinner.” tubbo pulled him away. tommy sighed, giving the shoes one last longing stare. “alright tubs.”
tubbo squeezed tommys hand lightly. “how do you feel about pizza for dinner?”
“sounds good.” tommy flashed a thumbs up.
“ranboob!” tommy yelled, kicking open the door. “we got food!”
tubbo walked in, setting the pizza box on the table. ranboo lifted his head from the couch, making a face. “I hate that name.”
“I know.” tommy grinned at him.
“did you get pepperoni?” ranboo got up, walking over.
tommy made a face. “half and half. I refuse to put that shit on my pizza.”
“you can just pick it off, tommy.” tubbo rolled his eyes, picking up a slice of pepperoni pizza.
“it’s not the same.” tommy huffed, putting two slices of plain pizza on a disposable plate. “it’s tainted.”
“you’re so dramatic.” ranboo flicked his nose, and tommy swatted at him, letting out an indignant squawk. “fuck off!”
“are we seriously out of apple juice?” tubbo groaned, closing the fridge.
“we’ll get some more when we get more money.” ranboo promised. tubbo sighed sadly. “goodbye, juice.”
ranboo patted his head, then went to the counter. he picked up a bottle of pills, unscrewing the top. then he frowned.
“what? are you out?” tommy went to check. ranboo took pills to help with his memory issues and migraines. usually they made a point of keeping them stocked, but they spent all of their money on dinner and the months rent..
“it’s okay.” ranboo smiled reassuringly. “I’ll be alright for a few days.”
tommy frowned, not convinced. “you sure?”
“totally. let’s just eat and watch tv, okay? don’t worry.” ranboo went to sit on the couch with tubbo, who was drinking water with an unhappy expression.
tommy bit his lip, then joined them.
tubbo couldn’t sleep. tommy had really wanted those shoes. he looked so sad when tubbo told him they couldn’t get them..
he groaned softly and got up, determined. he pulled on his coat and mask, then quietly opened the window and leapt out.
he ran to the variety store that the shoes were in, then took out a bobby pin to pick the lock. he frowned when it swung open without needing it. apparently the owners forgot to lock up.
he crept in, glancing around. he perked up when he saw the shoes on the pedestal, practically glowing.
“cmere, you.” he muttered, picking them up carefully.
he turned and let out a yelp when he ran into someone.
“tubbo?!”
“tommy?”
tommy struggled to get up, looking stricken. he was holding a bag with pill bottles inside. “why’re you here?”
“could ask the same for you!” tubbo bent down to pick up the shoes.
“wait- you’re stealing for me?” a smile spread across tommys face. “oh- you do love me!”
“fuck off.” tubbo huffed, then gasped when the lights flickered on.
“RUN!” ranboo yelled, barreling into them out of nowhere. he was holding a gallon of apple juice, and tubbos heart warmed.
“don’t need to tell me twice!” tommy shouted, running out the door as the alarm started to blare, tubbo and ranboo hot on his heels.
they ran all the way home, tommy closing and locking the door behind them, breathing heavily.
it was quiet for a moment, then tommy shoved the bag of pills into ranboos arms. “here’s your shit.”
ranboo blinked, glancing down. a grin slowly spread across her face. “you.. stole it for me?”
“don’t. don’t you dare.”
ranboo set the apple juice on the table along with the bag and tackled tommy in a hug, who let out a shriek. “get off!”
“you loove me!” ranboo sang, beaming as tubbo made a beeline for the juice.
“thanks for the juice, boo.” tubbo saluted to ranboo, who had tommy in an ironclad grip.
“no problem.” ranboo nodded at tubbo while tommy screamed bloody murder.
“-and I came back to the alarm going off and three kids ran out the door!” the shop owner cried, looking hysterical. “they stole a bunch of stuff, including the new shoes we stocked!”
“don’t worry, sir.” philza said comfortingly. “these criminals have been on our radar for quite some time now. did you manage to see their faces?”
“they were wearing masks. one kid had a black and white mask, one had a red bandana around his face, and the other had a green mask. I think one was blond?” the owner frowned, trying to remember.
wilbur walked up to phil, looking dejected. “the cameras didn’t help much.”
techno snorted. “one was wearing a hawaiian shirt. they’re definitely criminals.”
phil patted the mans shoulder. “we’ll catch em. benchtrio won’t be active for much longer.”
the owner smiled gratefully, shaking phils hand. “thank you. and can I just say, I’m a huge fan. the sbi- my daughter has an action figure of the blade in her room.” he nodded to techno, who blinked. “oh- I’m, uh, flattered.”
wilbur made a face. “what about me?”
“well-“ the owner started, but phil cut him off. “we really should be going! lots to do.” he chuckled, ushering wilbur and techno out of the shop.
“cmon.” wilbur whined. “techno gets all the merchandise. there’s barely anything about syren!”
“wil, we saw like- ten different posters of you in target the other day.” phil frowned at him.
“posters.” wilbur whispered, making a face. “I want an action figure.”
“get better, than.” techno snorted, kicking a rock out of the way.
“fuck off.”
phil sighed and looked away from them, his eyes fixing on a wanted poster taped to a pole. it had the text BENCHTRIO: WANTED FOR DEFACING PUBLIC PROPERTY, THEFT, AND BREAKING AND ENTERING. IF SEEN, CONTACT THE ORIGINS AGENCY OR THE LOCAL POLICE. a blurry photo of someone with blond hair and a red bandana over their face, a brown haired boy with a green gas mask, and an unusually tall boy with a black and white face mask was under it, showing them robbing a convenience store.
god, dream was gonna be so pissed that they managed to let them slip through their fingers again. phil could already hear the lecture.