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ranboos face cam streams were rather tricky, especially now that he's in the UK with tubbo. not being able to turn his head on camera wasn't the most convenient but hey, anything so the venomous and rat-like people didn’t take screenshots of his eyes. another downside is definitely not being able to look at tubbo as much as he’d like to. it was his first day and stream after arriving in the UK so it was all very exciting, and like always tubbo was just being chaotic behind him so ranboo was resigned to watch him through the stream preview on his pc
at first it was nothing out of character, but ranboo quickly realized tubbo just was trying to get his attention, (ranboo thought this was adorable) not knowing how to handle themselves after months and months of only online calls, the two are still just being two awkward teens. despite that, everything seemed to go perfectly well
the majority of the stream was their normal messing around and hanging out but quickly ended after about 50 minutes, the night winded down and the events of the day dawned on them, ranboo still reiterating “i can’t believe you’re really here” it felt like just a dream
they both get ready for bed, exhausted, tubbo climbs up to his loft and ranboo pulls out his couch bed. both saying “goodnight” and “sleep well” ending the day they will remember forever
until about 20 minutes later, tubbo stirs in his bed not being able to sleep not knowing why, he sits for a bit when he hears ranboo move in his sleep. well here goes nothing
“um hey bossman,” tubbo whispers into the dark “you awake?”
“no” he replies crystal clear, it seems ranboo wasn’t very tired either
“wanna come watch something on my phone?”
ranboo doesn't reply but he gets up instantly bringing his new favorite blanket up to tubbos bed and lays down next to him- not TOO uncomfortably close but not too far so he couldn't see- because of course their relationship was a complicated one
the constant flirting online, jokes that seemed a little too real to be jokes, and the off camera comments as well. it seemed to be a unspoken agreement betweeen the two, having this bond that definitely passes the “friends” line, but it was never like this till the meetup
so they lie in bed comfortably watching shows, making stupid jokes and talking nonsense that makes them both laugh harder than ever, and all tubbo feels is the wordless pull to stay the other
tubbos phone reads -10% POWER REMAINING- and that was the sign it was definitely time for the boys to get some rest, but neither were willing to move
“ya know if you wanted you could stay up here tonight… it’d be a lot of effort to get back over there and you need your rest bossman,” tubbo adds “plus i know how lazy you are”
“mhm yeah totally”
they both laugh into a soft chuckle and settle down to sleep, they didn't bother turning away from each other because they knew
the inevitable of them cuddling while the two were asleep would happen.
sure enough ranboo wakes up with a presence beside him, normally this would be nothing out of the ordinary- he always surrounded himself with pillows for comfort- but this was different
quickly remembering the events of yesterday, his eyes jump open to reveal tubbos soft head of hair lying on his chest, only hearing the steady hum of breathing coming from the smaller
ranboo tries stretching his arm out from under tubbo as it was starting to fall asleep when tubbo sharply inhales and scrunched his eyes up
hes awake
tubbo yawns and opens his eyes, smiling looking up at ranboo “good morning, sleeping beauty” ranboo smirks
“mmm good morning boo” tubbo grunts
they take a bit silently getting accustomed to the morning and they end up looking into each others eyes
“is it cliché to quote ‘ the eyes are the windows to the soul’ right now?” ranboo asked
“that depends big guy, can you see all the people i've murdered?”
they both giggle “what the heck tubbo, its always death with you”
“yeah how else am i supposed to defuse the cheesy moment, man”
“okay, okay that fair but,” ranboo grabs tubbos face “at least for a minute let me just-”
tubbos eyes went wide and ranboo smiled, glad he could make tubbo blush too
“yep definitely a mix of gray and green” ranboo states
“....huh?” tubbo says still frozen
“yeah! your eyes, i was always asked what color they were... now i know”
after that, it definitely set the tone for their relationship after the meetup, still flirty and friends but after that night/morning they wordlessly gravitated toward cuddles every night, whether it be in the actual beds, or falling asleep on the couch with the tv left on it became a habit.
it was a rare occurrence in the mornings that ranboo would cook breakfast and tubbo wasn't allowed to cook (not because he was bad, but boo liked to tease him) but the duo are both in the shared kitchen, tubbo on the counter and ranboo rummaging through the pantry
tubbo is playing his chill playlist and humming along as his legs swing back and forth hitting the cabinets under him. grabbing some eggs, sausage, and english muffins (what are they even called here?? muffins?) and starts putting together breakfast sandwiches
the situation felt oddly domestic and tubbo appears by ranboos side as he cooks, grabbing a snack because he was too impatient for it to be done
tubbo just being next to him felt warm… not in the physical sense but almost in a spiritual sense. was it even possible to care for someone this much? love? tubbo had feelings for his friend long before this moment but never quite realized
but its definitely not scary, jumping out of a plane? horrifying. talking to women? terrifying! loving ranboo was one of the easiest things for him.
caring, gentle, empathetic, and understanding. his best friend
ranboo finished up making breakfast and he sat across the table from tubbo, now seeming to prefer sitting where the brunettes eyes are visible, they ground him, no matter what, ranboo can look at him and know everything will be okay
the day goes on and ranboo has a late night stream mining like him and tubbo used to do on call but now he's here (plus the facecam), tubbo can mess with him all he wants, shouting whatever, throwing things, etc.
but of course another favorite thing taboo loves to do is fluster him, especially knowing ranboo can hide the blush behind his mask, but he knows what he looks like when embarrassed, cute flushed cheeks, but ranboo would argue that tubbos natural flushed face is much more adorable (deffo flerting)
tubbos practices the office theme song by ear on the piano, getting slightly frustrated as a bit so when he successfully gets it in one go he shouts “I DID IT!! OH MY GOD I DID IT” effectively scaring ranboo in the process, causing tubbo to walk over mumbling an explanation “sorry i was just excited” getting closer and eventually grabbing ranboos head “are you okay” as ranboo starts joke screaming from the contact and holy shit he's getting closer he can count the freckles on his face if he wanted to or without the mask maybe lean in and- “GET YA HANDS OFF ME” ranboo screams and they just have to laugh it off, but both heartbeats got a bit faster after that
all the little moments seem to pass by in a flash, it's already been a whole month since ranboo practically moved in and feelings have escalated quickly, neither had had much relationship experience, much less anything like this
tommy had been over for a few streams and the trio were so thrilled to have this time in person together finally
this trip that tommy drove up for was just for them, maybe a stream or two here and there, but it was just the three teenagers having fun, able to live a semi-normal life for now
while ranboo was just doing a chill minecraft stream one night, tommy and tubbo have been in and out of the room, messing around, talking about whatever and yelling random shit like “cum” (for a very...very long time)
tubbo was getting bored, don't get him wrong he's thrilled tommy was there, he was hoping they could have a special night, he planned for them all to go down to the beach at dark
“RANBOO IS A BITCH” both british boys scream-sing various fake lyrics to “your new boyfriend” by wilbur soot
“come on man, end stream” tommy whines
“really dude?”
“yeah, actually come to the beach with us”
“....welp *clap* that'll be the stream for today..”
random singing from both tubbo and tommy can be heard in the background and ranboo ends streams and says his goodbyes to the chat
“i-i'm probably not gonna stream again tonight because they may just dump me into the ocean! you never know what's gonna happen honestly, because it's just- it's just very scary here honestly” ranboo said half jokingly “sorry i wish i could have streamed longer, i'm sorry i just know they are not gonna leave me alone! buh bye everyone! buh byeee”
“yeahh!!” taboo said very clearly excited, grabbing his bag filled with snacks, sodas, and a towel ranboo insisted they bring incase he actually gets thrown in
it’s not a super long trip to the sand -about 5 minutes- they walk along until ranboo sees the shoreline causing them all to run toward the waves
ranboo speaks up “ya know this is the first time i've been down here since i've got to the UK”
“yeah i'm really glad we were all able to come down here together,” tubbo says “since i was a kid i would come to that playground down the road after school with lani”
ranboo imagines what it would be like if life was different… if he was born in the UK with tubbo and grew up with each other… no distance, together all the time...he scoffs, yeah, imagine
tubbo ends up stashing his bag toward the top of the beach where some chairs are, eh it's probably fine no ones around, he thinks. they already had some snacks on the way and saved the drinks for after their walk back
it's beautiful out, the sun having just set, the air is warm and salty. hearing the subtle sounds of waves lapping at shore and shoes crunching on the sand
random dialogue and laughter passes between the teens, grateful to be able to get away from the stress of their online personalities for a bit, able to be a group of friends, not streamers, if only for a while
the group consists of tommy walking closest to the water, tubbo in the middle, and ranboo on the other side
tommy starts “ya know man, do you ever think about if dogs have accents?”
“dude what?” ranboo stops him
“hey stay outta this catboy” tubbo chuckles and tommy continues, ”no but like think about it!” he rambles “like do dogs barking from here sound different to dogs barking from america?”
“no but like, wouldn't it sound different to humans too? how we can hear different tones like a bark or a .. um like growling?” tubbo asks
they jokingly argue for a bit while walking along, when tubbo goes to push tommy in the water, hoping to grab him last second as a joke, only he didn't get hold of him right and tommy stumbles
luckily for them both, tommy doesn't completely fall in, he only stumbles, but still ends up to his shins in water, gasping dramatically at the cold water
the other boys end up laughing but of course tubbo still feels kinda bad “hey that's what you get for shoving me over in my chair the other day, you dick!”
“yeah but that was an accident and it was on stream so it instantly became funnier!” tommy responds
“okay seriously though tommy you need to get dry, i'll go grab the towel i, funnily enough, brought as a joke” ranboo says, concerned
“nah man, i'll go grab it, plus i need to run back to tobys for a change of shoes and pants” tommy insists “ill be right back i still wanna be out here for a while”
“you sure?”
“yeah i'll be alright don't worry”
tommy heads off leaving ranboo and tubbo who ended up walking out to sit on the edge of a pier. sitting in silence for a bit, although not an uncomfortable one. they reminisce about the past few weeks
“hey ranboo?”
“yeah tubbo?”
“do you -” he takes a second to pause “do you ever think we're taking all this flirting stuff too far?”
“wel-well makes you say that?” ranboo asks, confused
“i don't man, i just-” tubbo sighs “i'm just feeling things and what if i’m just getting things confused… i mean obviously there's something going on between us but, what if its all just for the personas? and i don't even know if you're feeling anything remotely close to what i am and i just- i don't know” he rambles nervously
ranboo sits for a second, eyebrows furrowed, thinking “well, i’m not sure if i can answer and i don't know exactly what you're talking about but,” ranboo turns fully toward him, putting his knee up on the pier, taking tubbos hands into his own, and looking into his eyes “i really care about you tubbo, and i know, its hard for me too because obviously i find it difficult to understand my emotions sometimes, but i sometimes think it goes deeper than we care to admit”
tubbo stares for a second, mouth agape then he chuckles and smiles “wow… as many times as i imagined this moment, i really thought admitting i'm in love you would be a lot scarier than it is”
“wai- wait really?” he says, relieved “holy cow that's so much easier than i thought this would be...you know... i love you too tubbo”
tubbo laughs “yeah i think i knew for a while, i just really didn’t wanna complicate things between us, i think it was the right time”
ranboo chuckles “yeah, we really could have used some better communication”
tubbo looks down and their intertwined hands “i've never really felt this way about anyone before, i was so overwhelmed i just kept going with what you were doing and-” tubbo perks up and gasps “OH MY GOD-” ranboo startles “ranboo will you be my tall gamer boyfriend?” tubbo beams
ranboo just silently laughs to himself “yes, of course tubbo” still laughing “im glad you’re still the same as always”
they stare for a moment at each other, just wanting to be close now, tubbo drapes one hand over ranboos shoulder and leans in close
“hey boo” he whispers
they smile “hi bo”
tubbo glances down at ranboos lips, and he does the same, breath getting slower and ranboo starts to close his eyes and then a voice clears its throat
the new couple whip their head around to see a tall blond standing at the head of the pier
“oh hey fellas, am i interrupting something?”
“god dammit tommy you scared the shit out of us!”
“oh my bad, next time i’ll stand here and watch you make out” he adds sarcastically “are you too ready to head back? i'm actually getting quite cold”
ranboo turns toward the smaller “yeah we could probably head back, plus we can always come back,” they smile “we still have a few more months”
“okay ew yeah, i get it lovebirds, lets go” tommy groans and walks away
they stand up from the pier collecting themselves to head out
tubbo turns to ranboo, gets up on his tiptoes and kisses him for a sweet lingering moment before walking away, leaving a stunned ranboo
yeah...definitely a night to remember
not much changed after that, unless you count the endless stolen kisses between laughter and lots of muting on stream
most days they spend not streaming or out on adventures for a new tom simons vlog, is spent on the sofa (and on special occasions in a blanket fort) watching one of tubbos favorite trashy tv shows and having popcorn. and of course michael is right there beside them, their own happy family.
farming in the caves on the 30 day smp after finding his brand new pet axolotl, sprinkles, ranboo and tubbo mindlessly talking, both extremely glad to be able to have normal conversations on stream after making things official
“hey ranboo...what is... what is american like pudding? what is that?”
Ranboo, being caught up in his own game, hopping around in minecraft replies “it’s like a um... hm, i- it’s like ya know when you have liquid chocolate, right? it has a higher viscosity than like liquid chocolate or something”
tubbo had to keep his composure for a second. “do you like pudding?” he asks sincerely
“Yeah!”
“PUDDING DEEZ NUTS IN YOUR MOUF” tubbo says as he starts to double over laughing, ranboo stops moving as he puts a hand over his face as he tries not to be amused at his boyfriend for being oh so proud of his dumb joke. and boy does he laugh for a while, ranboo even ends stream to play along and make tubbo happy
ranboo had wandered into bed a bit early tonight as tubbo sat playing on his computer for a while, the taller curled in his boyfriends favorite blanket, as the scent of him still lingers, a forest after fresh rainfall, soothing him to sleep
starting to yawn and blink slower, tubbo gets ready and makes his way into bed, clinging to ranboos back like a backpack
“hey tubs, you’re squeezing me a little tight”
“mmhm is there a problem, bossman?”
“huh” he chuckles, “no of course not mr. ‘i hate physical touch’"
“dude…. shut up” tubbo said affectionately
they fell asleep like they always do, together, as ranboo was thinking...things are perfect like this, everything that happened, he wouldn't change a thing
being in each others arms just felt natural, gazing into each others eyes...felt natural