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Tubbo sighed deeply, picking at the sleeve of his sweaty hoodie with a grimace. God, it had been a rough week for him and the lack of sleep only piled on his shoulders, especially since he wanted to sleep, unlike many other nights. Now, for the fourth night in a row, he had been jolted from sleep to visions of creeping figures in the corners of his shadowy room, crackling and flickering orange lights, and haunting screams of unknown voices. He was sweaty and his heart raced, throat dry.
“Fuck this.” He mumbled to himself, dragging himself from his bed and down the ladder of the loft to the main floor of the room. He was thirsty, needed a shower and wasn’t sure if he could go back to sleep that night.
Tubbo fucking hated it. He hated not being able to sleep through the night, hated waking up paralyzed or screaming, hated the disgusting feeling that lingered in his veins for hours to come. Often times, he was sick afterwards. He knew he should probably go to the doctor, but he honestly didn’t know what they would do- tell the nightmares to stop? Yeah, like that would work out.
Stripping his sweaty outer layers, he dropped them in the hamper with a sigh. Maybe he could send out a stupid late night tweet and send his fans into a frenzy about what it meant and why he was up at such an hour. Yeah, that might cheer him up a bit.
~~~~
“Are you even tired?” Tubbo asked the taller boy.
“Nope!” He replied happily, swinging around in the office chair, arms out. “I don’t even know why, like, you’d think after a flight and three different streams I would be even a little bit tired but I’m not!”
“Ranboo it’s…. 2am. Even if you aren’t tired, I fucking am and I’d appreciate if you’d tone it down and maybe turn the lights off so I can go to sleep!” He grumbled, rubbing his eyes in frustration. His inability to hide his smile still gave him away.
His week of nightmares had only made him angrier, not at Ranboo of course, just at the world in general, and now he just wanted to go to sleep. Don’t get him wrong, he was ecstatic that his friend was finally there, but true excitement could wait until the next day, when he wasn’t worn out from a full day of streaming. He whined one final time, throwing a stuffed toy that had been sitting on the couch across the room at his friend. Ranboo pouted.
“Awww Tubbo!” He stuck his bottom lip out. “Meanie.”
Tubbo looked at him in disbelief. “Are you sure you aren’t tired? Like even a little bit? Cause it seems like I’ve got a six foot six pouty babyyyyyy!” He giggled.
There was more sarcastic back and forth for a few more minutes, Tubbo’s rebuttals getting progressively more slurred and nonsensical, and he kept yawning in between sentences. Ranboo rested his head on his knees and watched this spiral with a fond smile on his face because while this happened at least once a week on call, with his ramblings slowly descended into nonsense, it was far more enduring in person. Like, he was finally an actual person rather than a voice on the other side of the screen.
“Alright.” He finally laughed, cutting Tubbo off. “Bedtime for a gremlin. You look like you’re about to fall asleep on me and it’d be better for you to actually be in bed.”
This time it was Tubbo’s turn to pout, attempting to throw Ranboo’s hands off his shoulders, whining the whole 30 second journey up to the loft and over to his bed. Ranboo only laughed, gentle hands steering his friend in the right direction. If he didn’t know any better, he might have assumed Tubbo was drunk.
“Night Tubbo.” He smiled, making sure he was safely in bed. “Sleep well.”
“G’dnight.” He slurred as a reply, burying his head in his blankets. Ranboo gave him one last fond smile before clambering into his own bed, falling asleep not long after.
~~~~
Tubbo woke with a scream, bolting upright, choking desperately as he clawed at his throat. He scrambled back against the wall, chest heaving. For a few minutes he was unable to tell what was real and what wasn’t. Shadows crawled along the wall, slithering closer, gaining on him- and then they were gone. He broke into pitiful sobs, keening as he pressed his hands to his eyes, just wanting it all to be gone.
“Tubbo?” A quiet voice at his side startled him, earning a startled whine. “Hey, are you alright? You gotta slow your breathing, here-”
Ranboo reached out and pulled Tubbo away from the wall, bringing him into a loose but comforting hug, running a hand up and down his back. Tubbo attempted to pull away at first, mind still half in a dream, but quickly settled in the hold when Ranboo started talking again, murmuring reassuring words the whole time.
“You’re alright Tubbo, you’re okay. You’re in your bedroom, your office is just over there, it’s just you and me. I promise everything is okay, I’m here.” Tubbo crawled further into his arms, burying his head in Ranboo’s shoulder. Ranboo held him tighter. “It’s okay.”
They stayed like that for what felt like hours, Tubbo’s once tight grip loosening as his adrenaline wore off and his racing heart slowed. At one point Ranboo began to sway a little, rocking them both from side to side, his hair tickling Tubbo’s forehead. Time seemed to freeze, the only feeling being the arms of his taller friend around him and the soft motions and they moved, slowly. For the first time, Tubbo didn’t feel overwhelmed after waking from a nightmare. He didn’t feel like he wouldn’t sleep again that night. He felt… calm.
Ranboo didn’t speak. He didn’t want to break the calm atmosphere, nor disturb the close to sleeping boy in his lap. Tubbo looked so peaceful, eyes half closed, and Ranboo had never seen him so quiet before. It was nice. But eventually, he had to ask.
“Are you alright now?” He murmured, playing with Tubbo’s hair. The older nodded, sighing contentedly.
“Yeah.” He breathed. “I’m okay. Thanks ‘boo.”
“Do they happen often?”
“Nightmares?” He confirmed. Ranboo nodded. “Yeah, ‘specially in the last week. Almost every night. I haven’t been able to sleep much, which is… why I’ve been so snappy, I guess.”
“I completely understand why Tubbo, that isn’t normal.” Ranboo sighed. “I think it might be a good idea to go to the doctor. It isn’t okay to be waking up screaming bloody murder at four in the morning, especially not every night.”
“I know… I’ll think about it.” Tubbo replied. “I just want to sleep right now.”
“…want me to stay?”
“Please.”
Ranboo secured his hold on his friend and lay back down on the bed, pulling the blankets up around the two. Calm descended on the pair again as they held each other in the dark, an occasional giggle slipping from one when the other accidently elbowed or kicked them. It was genuinely domestic. Tubbo was happy and Ranboo was warm. It wasn’t long before he was drifting off, shadows no longer haunting his vision, tucked in a secure pair of arms.