Chapter Text
Ranboo was on his way home from school.
Most of the day was very slow, unmoving almost, and Ranboo had almost started praying to whatever gods that are up there to move the clock faster.
Eventually his classes went by, albeit severely slowly, and it was lunch hour. Ranboo's usual place in the cafeteria were with his friends Tubbo and Tommy.
A few others he couldn't remember the names of sat nearby aswell, but it was mainly the two Ranboo could manage a conversation with.
Lunch consisted of Tommy "insulting" Ranboo (he never actually means it), Tubbo talking about things that even Tommy would deem as "weird" and "terribly grim," and Ranboo just enjoying the whole thing, while also chiming in here and there.
At some point, Ranboo stopped listening, instead thinking about the homework he had to do when he got home.
He was brought out of his thoughts with a hand waving across his face.
"-boo? Ranboo?? Hellooo," Tubbo spoke, although Ranboo couldn't make out his tone.
"The fuck were you staring at?" Tommy asked.
Ranboo only shrugged, "Nothing. Just zoned out, I guess."
Tubbo stared, but then turned to look at Tommy, who was back to eating a carrot, "Anyways, as I was saying, do you guys have any fears?"
"I am too much of a big man for fears, Tubso, how dare you ask such a thing!"
Tubbo blinked, unimpressed, and then moved his attention to Ranboo, "And you?"
"Uh, I guess? It's slightly embarrassing though."
"Oh, it can't be that bad! What is it?"
Ranboo looked at Tubbo nervously, "I don't know, Tubbo.. it's like, super embarrassing."
Tubbo kept on pushing, "C'mon! Not even a slight hint?"
Tubbo started using his "puppy eyes" as Ranboo liked to call it.
Sighing, Ranboo paused before telling the two of them.
"...Water," he admitted.
"Water? That's weird," Tubbo parroted.
"I know! That's why i didn't want to say anything."
But Tubbo only seemed slightly intrigued, but quickly moved on, "I don't think I have any crazy big fear, to be completely honest."
Ranboo looked surprised, almost, "Really?"
Tubbo nodded.
The conversation moved onto other things after that, the bell following not too long after. Ranboo saying his goodbyes and moving onto the rest of the afternoon.
School moved forward, and soon enough the last class came to a close.
So Ranboo made his way back home on foot.
...And it had started raining.
It started with only a few drops, but it became clear very quickly that a storm had just started.
Ranboo hissed, quickly taking cover in a nearby café. A few other kids joining in aswell.
Ranboo was not one for rainy weather, that much was obvious.
The feeling of water soaking his clothes as he walked home was enough to make his hands shake. Ranboo quickly shoved the feeling away, taking to a booth near the back of the place, where the rain
couldnt be heard as much.
The café was very nice in Ranboo's opinion. It was small yet welcoming, and luckily wasn't as busy. Plus Niki–who was pretty much Ranboo's sister (by everything except blood)–worked there as the manager. She always gave him free things whenever he would stop by in his spare time.
Niki hadn't come up to greet him yet, so Ranboo assumed she was busy doing something, which was understandable. Being the manager of a successful café didn't seem easy.
Rain poured heavily and Ranboo sighed slightly in relief, thankful for knowing to walk in before it got this bad.
The stormy weather continued to relentlessly cover the town, making Ranboo slightly uncomfortable at the thought of having to touch anything remotely covered in small rain drops.
Ranboo hid another shudder. He can do this. Waiting out the rain would be easy.
So he waited, resting his head on his hand with the table and watching people walk in and out to pass time.
-
Sounds of someone talking managed to wake him up. When did I fall asleep? Ranboo swore he didn't remember closing his eyes while waiting for the storm to clear.
Speaking of storms, the rain seemed to have slowed into a light drizzle as Ranboo blinked himself more awake.
The talking stopped, and only then was when Ranboo realized that it had come from a terribly familiar blond.
"Tommy?"
Tommy looked back at Ranboo (not his eyes, thankfully, because eye contact was not Ranboo's thing), and tilted his head as if in thought.
Wordlessly, Tommy handed Ranboo an umbrella. Ranboo stared at it, before taking it from his friends hands. After a moment, Ranboo smiled, "Thank you."
"You looked like you needed one," was all Tommy said, before standing up, "Be careful out there, Ranboob."
Ranboo nodded, letting the blond walk off and out of the building, seemingly understanding of what Tommy said.
After another moment passed of Ranboo staring at the front entrance again, he eventually got up and mentally prepared for the potential rain hitting him. The umbrella was held gently in his hand, Ranboo sure to not lose it so soon.
Niki came up to him a second after he began walking to the front door, finally getting a chance to bother her not-really-brother in taking some baked goods with him on the way home.
"–Niki, really, how many times are you going to hand me food without having me pay? Because you know well enough that i can pay for it."
"Ranboo, no, I'm not about to make you pay for anything. It's on the house. Now go," Niki insisted for the millionth time, making Ranboo sigh, defeated.
Attempting to argue with Niki was a losing war. She never lost them. With all of her stubbornness, Ranboo had decided it was easier to let it go and accept the treats.
Ranboo enjoyed hanging out with her, nonetheless.
"Alright, alright, fine. Bye Niki," Ranboo laughed lightly.
Niki smiled right back, "See you later!"
-
Using the umbrella easily made most of Ranboo's worrying about the water soaking him 10x less terrible.
The umbrella hid Ranboo from the worst of the rain, making his walk home a lot easier.
Huh. Maybe he should invest in some more umbrellas.