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"Hey Boo, come look at this!" came a shout from down below the wooden floor. Ranboo set down the heavy box of diamond and iron tools he had been carrying. He took a moment to stretch, popping his back. He had been moving heavy items all day. After he felt satisfied, he carefully made his way down the rickety ladder to the basement.
The room was a mess at the moment. He and Tubbo were in the process of moving all of the old stuff out of Tubbo's house and into the mansion, and Tubbo had been going through his storage and deciding what he needed to keep and what could be thrown out. It was a long process, as Tubbo had a ton of junk just stored haphazardly in his chests. Broken tools and pieces of armor scattered the room, alongside various ores and scraps of fabric.
Tubbo was holding up an outfit that Ranboo had never seen before. It was deep blue and white, with a few red accents. It looked official, like something someone who worked for the government would wear. The way Tubbo was holding it made it clear that it was something of value.
"It's my old L'manburg uniform, back from the first war!” Tubbo said excitedly. “I thought it had been destroyed with everything else ages ago, but I must've packed it before everything was destroyed.” He turned it to face himself as he examined it with a grin.
"I didn’t realize you had uniforms. I’ve never seen them," Ranboo said, reaching out to touch it. The blue fabric was stiff from disuse, but still clearly high quality. The white fabric was still soft to the touch. He was sure that it had been comfortable to wear, once upon a time.
"I think you have, actually," Tubbo said absent-mindedly as he stroked one of the sleeves. "Eret has her old one up on display at the museum and Niki’s too, I think. Mine's a bit stained, but I reckon it'll still fit. Would you like to see it on me?" He asked, looking up at Ranboo. Ranboo saw a slight tremor in his hands, but he seemed determined and excited. He was pretty sure that Tubbo was only asking to have an excuse to try it on again.
"Sure," Ranboo said, giving him a smile. He was, admittedly, curious to see it on him. Tubbo relaxed a little, smiling back at him.
"Pogchamp, now go upstairs so I can get changed. I don't want you perving on me while I'm feeling nostalgic,” he said teasingly.
"I wouldn't perv on you, Tubbo," Ranboo said, unable to keep his soft amusement out of his voice. Tubbo waved his hand, gesturing for him to leave.
"I want a moment to myself anyways. Here, take this," Tubbo sat the uniform down and reached into a nearby open chest. He retrieved a small object and pressed it into Ranboo's hands with a sad smile. "Take this if you’ll miss me so bad, and let me change in peace."
Ranboo nodded and returned upstairs just as Tubbo began to unbutton his soft green flannel. He climbed out onto the first floor and finally took a moment to look at what Tubbo had given him.
It was a ragged photo of six people, most of them wearing the same uniform Tubbo had been holding up or some slight variation of it. It was clearly an older photo, as nobody in it looked remotely how they did in the present day. Fundy in particular looked like he couldn't have been any older than fifteen. Niki was smiling and clutching the arm of a man that Ranboo vaguely recognized as Wilbur, who had his other arm slung around a smiling, young looking Tommy. Jack Manifold stood a little bit to the right of everyone gazing off at something out of frame.
And Tubbo.
He barely looked like himself in that photo, with the only things that actually made Ranboo able to recognize him by were his wide blue eyes and wooly ears. His face was unmarked, not even the tiniest blemish on his pale skin. It was a sharp contrast to the heavy scarring that covered most of his body. There was none of the stress or worry that he usually carried. Both of his hands were uninjured, and he still had all ten of his fingers. His horns were so small they were hidden beneath the hat he was wearing. In the current time his horns were huge, with one pair so large it curled down to below his ears, and the other pair curved a good six inches up into the air.
He looked like a child in the photo, Ranboo realized. The sight made him feel distinctly uncomfortable. They all looked like children, really, other than Wilbur and Niki. None of them looked fit to fight in a war. They looked like kids playing dress up. Not a single one of them looked ready for the horrors they were about to witness.
The edge of the photo was singed, and there was a dark smear of what uncomfortably looked like blood right next to Tubbo where someone’s dirty finger had stained the paper.
"I'm ready!" Tubbo called, and Ranboo quickly set the photo down in a box nearby. He didn't realize just how young Tubbo had been when he fought in that war. He supposed he had never thought about it.
"Here, I'll come up to you. I want you to see me in the good lighting,” Tubbo said. Before Ranboo could respond, Tubbo had scrambled up the ladder. He stood up, holding his arms out to show off what he was wearing.
The uniform fit him strangely. It was too tight around his arms where he'd gained muscle, but it hung loosely off his abdomen where he'd lost a lot of weight around his middle. There seemed to have been a huge slash down the front of the white shirt, though it had been shoddily sewn back together with black thread. There were faint bloodstains around where it had been repaired, and Ranboo had a dark feeling that that injury had been a fatal one.
While Tubbo didn't have the hat on, he still looked remarkably like the picture, though he looked much more mature now. Seemingly satisfied with Ranboo’s examination, Tubbo dropped his arms back down to his side
"It doesn't fit quite as well as it used to. Back in the war, we would even sleep in these things so that we'd always be ready if we were under attack," Tubbo said, putting his hands behind his back and standing up straighter. It was interesting how despite the casual situation Tubbo was standing with perfect military posture. It reminded Ranboo of how he stood back when he was president. It must have been trained into him, Ranboo realized, to stand with a soldier’s posture while in uniform.
"It's still comfortable, though. Does it look good on me?" Tubbo asked with a cheeky grin. Ranboo nodded and gave him a tight-lipped smile.
"You look handsome as always," Ranboo assured him.
"I'm sensing a 'but' there," Tubbo said, flicking his ear. Ranboo shrugged.
"I think I prefer seeing you in pajamas or cute date night outfits than soldier's uniforms, personally," Ranboo said honestly. Tubbo looked down at himself for a few moments, contemplating.
"I think... I agree with you, actually," Tubbo said softly, relaxing out of his tight stance that he seemed to have not even realized that he’d fallen into.
"How about we take a break for the day?" Ranboo suggested. "We can go pick up Michael and eat dinner with Tommy like how we planned." Tubbo nodded, seemingly lost in thought. After a few moments, he beckoned for Ranboo to bend down. He did so, and Tubbo gently bumped his forehead against Ranboo's before giving him a little kiss.
"What was that for?" Ranboo asked, unable to keep the smile off of his face now. Tubbo hummed, keeping his eyes closed so that he didn't accidentally make eye contact since they were face to face.
"Just thought you deserved it for being so epic, Boss Man. Now let's go get something to eat. I'm hungry as shit."