Archive of Our Own

Tubbo scrunched up his nose, staring at the red envelope in his hand. He flipped it over and stared at the wax seal on the back, an indentation of swirling horns and vines pressed into it. He scoffed, tossing it down on the coffee table.

“What’s that?” Ranboo asked, peeking around the corner, he was brushing his hair and struggling to keep it flat. Every time it seemed to lay fine, Ranboo would turn his head and it would puff back up. His earrings jingled as he stepped closer to the couch that Tubbo was sitting on.

“A letter,” Tubbo spoke, kicking his feet up on the coffee table, “from Badboyhalo.” 

“You got one too?” Ranboo asked, brushing Tubbo’s hair in front of his face, Tubbo squawked indignantly and pushed his hand away, “I saw it in my mailbox before I left to come here.”

“You open it?” Tubbo asked, ruffling his hair back up. 

“It’s an invitation,” Ranboo sat down on the plush chair next to the couch, “to some sort of banquet tomorrow.”

“What?” Tubbo sat forward, moving his hooves off the coffee table, they clicked against the floor, “what is Badboyhalo throwing a banquet for?”

“I don’t know,” Ranboo shrugged, “might be interesting.”

Tubbo grabbed the letter off the coffee table and broke open the seal. The paper inside was dyed a dark red color similar to the color of the envelope. He skimmed over the neat handwriting, squinting at the cursed swirly writing with a hint of struggle. It was a simple, short letter. It gave the details of the banquet, an overview of what is recommended to wear, the time and the place. Plus a very specific instruction of no weapons or armor allowed.

“I wonder how many people got the invitation,” Tubbo rolled his eyes. He crumpled the invitation as he put it down on the couch cushion next to him. 

“I think Tommy got one,” Ranboo shrugged, “I saw the envelope in his mailbox while I was on the way… I wonder who's going…”

Tubbo scoffed and crossed one leg over the other, his ear twitching, “I surely am  not  going. I don’t want anything to do with whatever Badboyhalo is doing. I’m not a fan of this whole egg thing.” 

“Yeah… aha… right…” Ranboo wrung his hands, staring down at the lap. His tail flicked back and forth. Tubbo looked over at him, raising one eyebrow.

“Do you want to go, Boo?” Tubbo asked softly. Ranboo pressed his lips in a thin line and avoided looking at Tubbo.

“It might be fun…” Ranboo said.

Tubbo glanced over at the invitation, then back at Ranboo. He should’ve figured that Ranboo would want to go, it seemed something that the enderman hybrid would be interested in, considering he was always looking for some excuse to dress up. Not that he waited for an excuse to do it anyway.

“If you wanna go, then go,” Tubbo waved his hand, “I’m sure that you’ll have fun. I can drag Tommy over and we can do something.”

“Are you sure?” Tubbo could practically see the gears in his head turning, “I mean like… what you said, the egg thing is super suspicious and he’s probably planning something… and if you don’t want me to go I don’t really care… it could be a trap or something I don’t know. It would probably be inappropriate for me to go anyways, I—”

“Well, you did get an invite,” Tubbo said, interrupting Ranboo’s rambling, “if Badboyhalo wants to make amends, and if you want to go, then I think that you should go.”

Ranboo made a noise in the back of his throat, “mm… I’m not sure…”

“As  you  said, it might be fun,” Tubbo smiled softly and spread his hands, Ranboo looked up at him, staring at a fixed place on his forehead, “stuffy, fancy parties that you like that just aren’t really my thing.”

“Yeah…” Ranboo muttered, “wait are you implying that I’m stuffy.”

“Only when you’re all fancy and stuff bossman,” Tubbo leaned back against the couch cushions.

“I’m offended by that.”

“No you’re not.”

“Yeah. You’re right, I’m not,” Ranboo ducked his head, embarrassment heating up his cheeks. Tubbo chuckled.

“You’re gonna have to dress up fancier than that if you’re gonna go,” Tubbo gestured to what Ranboo was wearing, “you always wear a suit, so you’re gonna have to wear something fancier.”

Ranboo looked down at his suit, alliums embroidered into the cuffs and a simple white undershirt with his tie. He hummed and a small grin crossed his face.

“Yeah?” His tail wagged back and forth, “I have fancier clothes!”

“I know you do,” Tubbo sighed fondly and shook his head, “do you have anything red? I think they mostly want red outfits.”

“Ah… right,” Ranboo rubbed at the back of his neck, “I do… but… it doesn’t look very good on me.”

“I’m sure it does, Boo,” Tubbo said, “Tomorrow before the banquet I’ll have Tommy over and we’ll help you dress up.” 

“I don’t like the sound of that…” Ranboo chuckled nervously.

“All the better then.”

The next day Ranboo paced nervously in the living room while Tubbo watched him from the couch.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Ranboo asked, it was late afternoon, a few hours until the banquet.

“Yep, positive, 100% a totally good idea,” Tubbo said, reading over the invitation one more time, “Tommy should be here any minute.”

Ranboo tugged on his ear, his tail lashing back and forth, “I’m not so sure about this.”

“Well, think about it this way: If you want to go, then you can go, but if you get there and you’re like ‘oh maybe I don’t really wanna be here’ then you can just leave,” Tubbo said, “what is someone gonna do if you leave, or if you chicken out on the way there. It won’t matter, either way, then you can come home.”

Ranboo stopped pacing, he looked over at Tubbo. He furrowed his eyebrows as he thought over that proposal.

“I guess you’re right…”

“Big gatherings aren’t really my thing either, so no one will judge you if you walk out,” Tubbo reassured him, spreading his hands. Ranboo nodded.

“I’m gonna message Tommy, see if he’s on his way,” Tubbo moved to stand up to grab his communicator from where it was resting on the kitchen counter when there was a loud knock on the door and a shout.

“Nevermind then,” Tubbo chuckled and walked over, pulling the door open dramatically.

“Every time I come here it gets colder,” Tommy complained, wrapping his arms around himself as he stepped through the door. Tubbo laughed and shut the door.

“That’s what it’s like living in the tundra,” Tubbo said, “you really should get a coat.”

Tommy scoffed, wrinkling his nose at that suggestion. He turned to Ranboo who was still standing in the middle of the living room, slouched over.

“Shouldn’t you be getting ready?” Tommy asked, putting his hands on his hips.

“Right… uh…” Ranboo scratched at the back of his neck.

“We’re putting him in a corset,” Tubbo whispered to Tommy, leaning against Tommy’s side with a small laugh.

“We?” 

“I thought you’d find this process amusing.”

“Should I be scared?” Ranboo asked, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, his tail wrapped around his ankle.

“No!” Tubbo said at the same time as Tommy muttered, “probably.”

Tubbo glared at Tommy who shrugged and grinned mischievously. Ranboo, who had apparently forgotten about the black corset that he had in his closet that Tubbo had dug out excitedly, glanced at it nervously as it laid on the bed. He doesn’t remember who made it for him. 

“I don’t even remember the last time I wore that,” Ranboo groaned.

“Yeah, but you don’t remember what you wore yesterday,” Tubbo waved his hand dismissively, “it fits right?”

“Yeah… should… and I do so remember,” Ranboo leaned down towards Tubbo, furrowing his eyebrows, “the jacket with the flowers on the cuffs.”

“Hmm,” Tubbo scratched at his chin, “okay maybe  I  don’t remember but still.”

Tommy was poking through Ranboo’s closest, his eyebrows furrowed. They had already laid out the intended outfit so Ranboo was a bit confused about what he was doing, hopefully, he wasn’t going to steal anything.

Wearing a thin white undershirt with a ruffled collar, Ranboo let Tubbo lace up the corset. He fidgeted with his hands, his back straight for once. Tommy was watching him with an unreadable expression, his mouth slightly quirked up into a smile. He was already wearing neatly pressed black slacks with the closest thing to dress shoes he had. Shoes are a complicated thing when you’ve got paws.

Tubbo’s hands moved carefully, doing up the laces slowly, making sure that everything sat correctly. His face was scrunched up in focus. He tugged on the strings, tightening them.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” Ranboo asked wheezing as Tubbo pulled a little too tight for however many times it’s been, “I think you’re doing this on purpose.”

“I do know what I’m doing and no not at all,” Tubbo loosened it a little bit, “is that good?”

Ranboo shifted, “yeah uh… I think so.” 

“You can breathe? You can move?” Tubbo asked, stepping around so that Ranboo was facing him.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, you look good in it,” Tubbo complimented, putting his hands on his hips. Ranboo looked away, a blush dotting across the white side of his face. His ears twitched, temporarily devoid of any of the dangly earrings he always wore.

“I don’t like it,” Tommy pursed his lips, “you’re too tall,” he complained, flopping down on the bed.

Ranboo laughed, running his hands over the front of the corset. Tommy pouted, crossing his arms over his chest as he was still laying down.

“You’re just sad that you’re not the tallest anymore,” Tubbo waved his hand dismissively, he pulled the jacket off the bed, handing it to Ranboo who slipped his arms in the sleeves.

It was an elegant long red jacket that fell down to his knees. The edge of it was lined with fluffy black fur and it had dark buttons going down the front with lace to latch it. Black embroidered patterns adorned the lapel, twisting around the fabric. The sleeves were two different types of fabric, the same dark red that the rest of the coat was made out of then layering off into a darker fabric that puffed out and hung off his wrists. The hemline on the sleeves was embroidered with gold twisting flowers and swirls.

Ranboo puffed out the collar of his undershirt, tilting his chin up as he adjusted the buttons.

“Look at you,” Tubbo commented, spreading his hands proudly, “all fancy and dressed up.”

“I still have to put my jewelry on,” Ranboo muttered, scratching at the back of his neck.

“Do you have different earrings than the ones you usually wear?” Tommy asked.

“Is there something wrong with the earrings I usually wear?” Ranboo asked, wringing his hands in front of himself.

“Nothing, you could go for more though,” Tommy finally pushed himself off of the bed, stepping over the carpet to the jewelry box that Ranboo had by the side of his bed. 

“I have chain earrings,” Ranboo stepped forward, his tail swishing back and forth causing the back of the long coat to shift.  

“That will work,” Tommy poked through his box of earrings while Ranboo watched closely, his eyes wide. Tommy pulled Ranboo down to his level, unused to the enderman hybrid to be standing at his full height. He attached a gold earring to his left ear, a chain hanging off of it with a simple gold charm on the end. Attached to it was a cuff that went farther up his ear, connected with a gold chain.

Ranboo’s ear twitched and he tilted his head to the side. The earring clinked and he smiled softly.

On the other ear, Tommy attached gold studs to the places that he had pierced except for the main place. A chain with golden teardrop-shaped charms hanging off it went there. Along with a cuff towards the tip of his ear.

“Jesus, how much jewelry do you have?” Tommy exclaimed, shifting through the box.

“A lot… it’s uh… it’s an enderman thing,” Ranboo rubbed at the back of his neck.

“Wait, where’s your wedding band?” Tubbo asked, looking around Tommy at the jewelry box, worry causing his eyebrows to furrow.

“Here,” Ranboo pulled a golden chain out of his shirt. Strung on it was the obsidian wedding band, a string of gold looped through the middle of it. Tubbo hadn’t even noticed he was still wearing that.

“When did you put it on?” Tubbo asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Never took it off,” Ranboo smiled softly. Tubbo shoved his shoulder and rolled his eyes.  

“Where’s my crown?” Ranboo asked, looking around the room, he didn’t see where he had set it down on the nightstand when he was getting dressed.  

“Your crown doesn’t match though,” Tommy complained.

“But I can’t  not  wear it,” Ranboo insisted, “it’s like… my entire thing.”

“I think you put it on the bathroom counter,” Tubbo explained, putting his hand on Ranboo’s shoulder, “I’ll go get it in a second.” 

Ranboo nodded, seeming satisfied by that answer.  

One perk about being one of the richest people on the server, and also having enderman genes meant that Ranboo has big hands with long fingers. Tommy scoffed at the number of rings he put on.

“Isn’t that overkill a bit?” Tommy asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

“I have the money to afford it, why not show it off?” Ranboo asked, tilting his head to the side, wiggling his fingers.  

“ We  have the money,” Tubbo said, holding a finger up. He grinned.

“Mostly me,” Ranboo corrected. 

“What’s this?” Tommy asked, picking up a long golden cuff-like object from the jewelry box. It looked like it would be a bracelet but it was much too thin to fit over Ranboo’s wrist, even though Ranboo had very small wrists.

“Oh!” Ranboo’s eyes lit up, he took the object from Tommy, “close your eyes.”

Tommy, confusedly, did as he was asked. And after a stern look, Tubbo covered his eyes with his hand. Secretly peeking between his fingers. 

Ranboo pulled his tail in front of him so he could see it. He shimmied the golden cuff over the tip of it, the fluff at the end of his tail flattening as he did so. Ranboo adjusted it so it laid comfortably and giving his tail a quick shake, the fluff poofed back up.

“Ta-da!” Ranboo presented and Tommy opened his eyes, staring at the way Ranboo’s tail flicked back and forth excitedly. His eyes caught on the golden cuff. Tubbo grinned.

“Huh,” Tommy raised an eyebrow, “never would’ve thought.”

“I don’t wear it often, it’s a bit heavy,” Ranboo said, his tail drooped towards the floor and swished back and forth idly like it usually did. 

“I think it looks cute!” Tubbo said, “do you have any other jewelry?”

“I uh… I have rings for my horns but I can’t wear those with my crown…” Ranboo muttered, “not many bracelets though. I don’t wear them often.”  

“Do you think he’s good for jewelry?” Tommy asked, looking over at Tubbo.

“Is he jangly enough?” Tubbo asked, scratching at his nose.

Ranboo took a step, his earrings jangling.

“Optimal jangle,” Tubbo nodded confidently. Ranboo laughed.  

“Is there anything else?” Tommy shut the jewelry box with a loud snap. He stepped away from the nightstand and looked Ranboo up and down, his hands on his hips.  

“The crown!” Tubbo’s eyes widened, he disappeared from the room for a few seconds before returning. Ranboo’s golden crown clutched tightly in his hands. 

Ranboo grinned when he took it, brushing it off with the corner of his sleeve. 

“Wait wait!” Tubbo pulled Ranboo down, standing up as high as he could to meet him. Tubbo pushed Ranboo’s bangs back, slicking it away from his forehead.  

“That’s not gonna stay more than like half an hour,” Ranboo warned, letting Tubbo finally place the crown on his head. Adjusting it around his horns so it was tilted the right way.

“It will be 30 minutes of style!” 

“Do you think it’s too much?” Ranboo asked, looking down at himself.

“Don’t you want it to be too much?” Tommy furrowed his eyebrows, he plopped down on the bed, pulling Ranboo’s previous suit jacket on jokingly. The sleeves of it fell long past his hands and it hung baggy. Tubbo laughed. It was surprisingly comfortable.

“Well, I don’t want to be overdressed…”

“You look great!” Tubbo patted him on the arm, brushing some dust off of his jacket.  

“I’m nervous,” Ranboo admitted, looking down at the ground. He fidgeted with one of his rings.

“I’m sure it will be fun,” Tubbo reassured him.

“And if not then oh well. You wasted however many hours of your life,” Tommy waved his hand dismissively. Ranboo frowned, his ears drooping.

“It’ll be fine! Remember what I said, you can always leave if you want!” 

Ranboo nodded. He still didn’t seem reassured, anxiety bubbling in the pit of his stomach. The largest gathering he’d been to in a while had been the last syndicate meeting. And that was just with three other people. Who knew how many would be at the banquet.

“It’s almost time, isn’t it? You should get going. We’ll be here when you get back,” Tommy stood up, Ranboo’s jacket still hanging off his shoulders. He lightly nudged Ranboo towards the door, shooing Ranboo down the hallway.

“Bye Tubbo,” Ranboo called, a small laugh bubbling from his throat. Tubbo called back a goodbye as Tommy ushered him out of the cabin.

“Bye!” Tommy shut the door behind him, peeking out through the crack in the door as he did so. Ranboo wrung his hands and stepped out in the snow, his tail swishing back and forth, weighed down a bit by the golden cuff. The wind was blowing softly and surprisingly, his hair managed to stay somewhat slicked back.

While he was walking, Ranboo had plenty of time to think about the banquet.

And by thinking about it, that meant running through all the possible ways that it could go wrong. That it could be a trap, that there could be too many people, that it would be overwhelming. Anything that he could think of, going as far as worrying that the food would be bad.

He was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear a pair of footsteps behind him.  

“Ranboo?” A familiar voice called, almost shock lacing his tone. Ranboo turned, his eyes wide to see Phil half jogging to catch up for him.

“Jeez, did you grow like another foot?” Phil asked, laughing awkwardly as he had to look up at Ranboo even more than usual. He was wearing a red suit vest over a black undershirt, slits cut in for his wings which were folded up politely behind his back. He wore black pants and regular dress shoes. His hair had been brushed down instead of how it was usually tangled and sticking up. He wasn’t wearing his hat.

“Ah no… uh… just not slouching,” Ranboo chuckled, rubbing at the back of his neck.

“It’s good, you should stand up straight more often,” Phil clapped him on the arm, “I see you got an invite too? To the red banquet?”

“Yeah… I did,” Ranboo wrung his hands, “Is Techno not with you?”

“Nah, he’s a big lump, said he wasn’t gonna come,” Phil waved his hand dismissively, “surprised he didn’t want to. Contrary to popular belief, he does like dressing up. And speaking of that just— Wow .”

Phil looked Ranboo up and down, his eyes wide. Ranboo felt a hint of self-consciousness creep up on him.

“Yeah?” Ranboo swallowed thickly.

“You’re making me feel underdressed,” Phil chuckled, “you look great.”

“I’m not sure that red suits me very well, looks good on you though,” Ranboo ducked his head slightly, not used to standing up straight all the time.

“Nah, it goes well,” Phil squeezed Ranboo’s arm gently, shifting the way his wings were laying against his back.

“Do you wanna go there together?” Ranboo asked, he then felt his face heat up with embarrassment as he realized what he’d said, “I mean like… walking together… not together!”

“Ah no, I get what you mean. I would like to but I’ve gotta pick something up on the way there. You go on ahead though,” Phil waved his hand and nodded, “I’ll see you there.”

“Yeah… see you there,” Ranboo nodded, his tail swishing back and forth from under his coat. He and Phil split ways where the pathway split and Ranboo continued down the way where the banquet would be held. As he got closer he heard voices speaking loudly amongst themselves. He was still early to the banquet, so people must have been waiting outside to go in.

Ranboo seized up, hearing numerous voices that while he had heard before, he didn’t know the person too well. A few paces away, he hesitated, out of sight from anyone that was gathered there but still so close. He didn’t know how well he’d be able to join them if he’d wanted to, conversation was not his strong suit. Especially not with people he was familiar with.

He heard Foolish talking, and Puffy and some other people. He wrung his hands, fighting an internal battle with himself. Maybe the entire banquet would be too many people, too many people that he was unfamiliar with. Though Phil would be there as well, and Foolish.

Though he figured it would be a bit weird if he had only talked to Phil and no one else. He didn’t want to look like a lost puppy only following around one person.

Tubbo’s words rang around in his head. He hadn’t actually been spotted or talked to anyone (besides Phil… but Phil would understand. Right?) so there would be no awkwardness if he just left. I mean Badboyhalo couldn’t expect everyone that he invited to show up, Tommy and Tubbo had already heavily denied it. It wouldn’t be that much a difference if he didn’t show up.

Ranboo looked down at his outfit. Tommy and Tubbo had spent a while getting him all dressed up and Ranboo had to admit that the outfit looked really nice. It would be a waste for him to go home now after he had gone all this way.  

With his heart thrumming rapidly and anxiety twisting in his stomach, Ranboo took a deep breath, puffing up his chest.  

And he walked back the way he came from. His tail tucked between his legs and his ears drooping.  

The walk home was long and a bit shameful. The shift from the warm afternoon air into the chilling tundra caused Ranboo to shiver. His teeth chattering.  

He saw smoke coming from the beach and instead of going inside the house, Ranboo walked around to where he figured that Tommy and Tubbo would be.  

The two of them sat around a campfire, a bag of marshmallows sitting between them. Tommy poked at the fire with a stick and laughed.

Tubbo was the first to look up and see Ranboo lurking.

“Boo?” Tubbo asked, “Is it done already?”

Tommy looked up, following Tubbo’s gaze to where Ranboo was standing awkwardly.

“Ah well… Uhm…” Ranboo rubbed at the back of his neck, slouching as best he could in the corset, a blush spread across his cheeks, only showing up on the white skin though, “I kinda… I got nervous… and chickened out…”

“Oh,” Tubbo didn’t seem upset, which was a good thing, “well you can hang out with us!”

“That sounds like a better idea than going to the banquet anyway…” Ranboo muttered, he stared down at the ground, avoiding looking at either Tommy or Tubbo.

“Why don’t we make our own banquet?” Tubbo suggested, his ears twitched.

“Does that mean I’m gonna have to dress up?” Tommy grumbled, poking at the fire with his stick.

“I didn’t before you said that but now it does,” Tubbo exclaimed, he stood up, kicking his hooves against the sand.

“You hate dressing up?” Ranboo said, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Well, we can’t let that outfit go to waste, and we can’t let you be the only one dressed up,” Tubbo crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking a little sheepish, “so if that means… dressing up… why not.”

“Ugh.”

Tommy stood up as well, Ranboo noticed that he was still wearing Ranboo’s suit jacket. He had rolled up the sleeves a little bit so he could still use his hands though. Tommy scuffed sand over the fire, putting it out and poking it with the stick.

“Tommy I think I have something that might fit better on you than that jacket,” Ranboo said, scratching at his cheek. Tommy looked up and pursed his lips.

“I’m only wearing it because it’s cold out and I don’t have a jacket, don’t read into it,” Tommy warned, pointing at Ranboo with his eyebrows furrowed. Ranboo held his hands up in front of himself defensively.

“Alright.”

The three of them stepped inside, Ranboo promised that he would make something to eat at their mini banquet while Tubbo went to scrounge something up for Tommy and him to wear that looked somewhat presentable. Michael had woken up in the process of this as well and Tubbo grabbed him from where he was clinging to Ranboo’s leg, saying he would get him dressed up too.

Ranboo feared what that meant for their child.

Ranboo figured that making something from scratch would take way too long in the very last-minute planning that they had. But thankfully, Ranboo found the pot of leftover mushroom stew from last night and put that on the stove to heat up. He also put some vegetables on a pan on the stove for Michael, who didn’t like Mushroom stew.

There were some candles in the cabinet that he set on the table, knowing that that was probably not a good idea. Not around Michael… and Tommy.  

But he thought it looked nice, so might as well. He also put down a brown table cloth, it was a newer one and the closest thing that they had to red. He dimmed the lanterns that were hanging on the walls and waited for the soup to heat up and for Tommy and Tubbo to come down.

A few minutes later, Tubbo came down first, bouncing on his hooves, and presented himself to Ranboo excitedly. He was wearing a light blue suit vest with a white undershirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He had a black bow tie that Ranboo did not know either of them owned. And black pants with of course no shoes. He did a small spin, slicking back his hair. His wedding band on his horn glinted in the light.

Tommy came down next, shuffling awkwardly. He was wearing a vest as well, probably the best thing that would fit him in this house. It was a black vest with white and purple swirls on the lapel that Ranboo figured was from his closet. He had a purple undershirt that was cuffed at the wrists. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, the pants too big for him. It looked like Tubbo had made an attempt at doing his hair but either Tommy had mussed it up out of spite or that was just how his hair poofed up naturally, Ranboo didn’t know.

Michael was the last to come out, Tubbo clapped for him as he trotted by. He was wearing a shirt with a tuxedo pattern printed on it and shorts. He squealed happily and clapped his hands together. Ranboo grinned at the three of them, his tail wagging.

“The menu is mushroom soup,” Ranboo said, “leftover mushroom soup.”

“Cooked vegetables for the guest of honor,” Ranboo continued, gesturing to Michael, who looked up, his one eye big and wide.  

“Sounds delicious,” Tubbo said, pushing his hair back again as it refused to stay slicked back.

“For dessert, I have some cake that I got from Niki yesterday,” Ranboo said, “We will have a feast.”

“This will be a wonderful feast,” Tubbo nodded, pressing his hands to the hips, “I like the candles.”

“It looks kinda shabby,” Tommy picked at the table cloth, he held onto Michael’s hand.

“Well yeah, we don’t have a lot of fancy things like that because we don’t use them.”

“Hm…” Tommy hummed, staring at the table cloth, “oh well.”

“Soup time!” Tubbo said, nudging past Ranboo to get the bowls from the cabinet. He swung it open and stared up at it for a long time.

“Why did you put the bowls on the top shelf?” Tubbo exclaimed, he spread his hands exasperatedly.

“Do you want me to get them?” Ranboo asked even though he already knew what the answer was going to be.

“No,” Tubbo said firmly, he pushed himself up on the counter, his hooves almost slipping on the smooth surface. Ranboo stared at him, his expression contorted with worry as Tubbo balanced dangerously close to the edge of the counter, pulling the bowls off of the top shelf. He stamped his hoof, his stubby tail wagging as he jumped down, nearly dropping the bowls.

Ranboo held his hands out, prepared to steady him if he stumbled. Tubbo stuck his chin up and huffed, clutching the bowls to his chest. His bangs fell back in front of his face. Ranboo just sighed and laughed softly, smoothing them back.

Tommy put cups down on the table and helped Michael up into his chair. Tubbo and Ranboo set down the bowls of soup on the respective spots on the table and Tubbo went back to get Michael’s plate of vegetables.

The cabin lights were dim and the candles set on the table flickered gently giving a warm glow over the area, shadows moving against the walls. Ranboo grinned, his ears flicking and his earrings jangled as they ate. Tubbo spoke loudly, laughing at his own jokes that the other two didn’t understand.

Michael squealed and gave small squeaks of input, poking at his food with his fork. There were vegetables on his face somehow.  

Looking at the three of them at the table around him, Ranboo ducked his head, a smile spreading across his face and his cheeks heated up. He was glad that he had ended up chickening out of going to the banquet. This was so much better than any large banquet could be. Sitting at home eating warmed-up leftover soup surrounded by his family. Seemed like the ideal night.

Ranboo stood up, going towards the jukebox to put on a quiet song. He held up the disc to show Tommy and Tubbo to make sure it was an alright one. Tommy gave a thumbs up, and Tubbo nodded so Ranboo put it in and let it play for a few seconds before sitting back down.

Michael giggled at the notes, squirming in his seat.

“I’m glad I ended up not going to the banquet,” Ranboo muttered, pushing his empty soup bowl forward on the table. Tubbo looked at him.

“How come?”

“This is much more fun,” Ranboo said, his tail wagged back and forth behind him, the gold cuff at the end of it making it feel unbalanced, “plus mushroom stew always tastes better the next day.”

“I will politely disagree and we will not be having those kinds of food opinion discussions at this table,” Tubbo folded his napkin neatly on the table, “food talk always leads to fighting.”

“It’s not my fault he has bad taste,” Tommy scoffed, turning away from Ranboo.

“Tommy just doesn’t know what he’s talking about,” Ranboo responded, shaking his head.

“Nope, you two are done. No food talk,” Tubbo chopped his hand in the air between the two of them, having to lean over half the table just to be able to reach. Tommy scoffed and wrinkled his nose, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Ranboo sighed heavily and leaned back in his chair.

“I swear he’s eaten like rocks or something with his taste in food,” Tommy shook his head.

“I do not!” Ranboo shot back, “they’re too hard for my teeth.”

“I’ve seen you lick quite a lot of rocks before bossman,” Tubbo chimed in, rubbing the back of his neck.

“We don’t need to talk about that.”

“Ah you’re right, why don’t we dance?” Tubbo asked, standing up from the table quickly, his chair scraping against the floor behind him.

“What?” Tommy spluttered, leaning forward from where he was slouched over.

“It’s a banquet, isn’t that what you do?” Tubbo asked, tapping his hooves on the floor.

“I don’t think so, but might as well,” Ranboo stood up, offering his hand to Tubbo who grinned and took it. Tommy sighed and rolled his eyes, looking over his shoulder as Tubbo and Ranboo moved away from the dining table, a bit off to the side.  

“Do you know a waltz?” Ranboo asked.

“Not at all! You lead!” Tubbo laughed, gripping Ranboo’s hand tightly. Ranboo sighed, a fond smile crossing his face. He led Tubbo through the steps while Tommy was half off his chair watching the two of them. Michael was turned around in his seat trying to watch as well, his one eye was wide and he gripped the back of his chair.

“Your parents are cringe, Michael,” Tommy decided, brushing his hands off on his shirt as he turned back to the table. Michael squeaked, tugging on Tommy’s shirt and pointing at Tubbo and Ranboo, stumbling to a waltz that was off-beat to the music. Tubbo stepped on Ranboo’s foot.

“Huh?” Tommy furrowed his eyebrows. Michael tugged on his sleeve again and pointed at the two with more enthusiasm this time.

“You wanna dance too?” Tommy asked, tilting his head to the side confused. Michael nodded quickly, his ear flopping as he did so. Tommy just sighed heavily and accepted his fate. He helped Michael down from the chair and let the child pull him over to where Tubbo and Ranboo were.

“Look who decided to show up?” Tubbo giggled, looking over at Tommy. As he did that he ran into Ranboo’s chest as he stepped forward.

“Yeah, yeah,” Tommy rolled his eyes, holding Michael’s hands. Though since neither Tommy nor Michael knew how to waltz, Michael just struggled to try and match how Ranboo was stepping which Tommy admitted was a pretty cute attempt.  

Ranboo spun Tubbo and Michael squeaked, his eyes lighting up. He looked up at Tommy pleadingly. Tommy spun him though that didn’t seem to be what he wanted, he pointed at Tommy, bouncing on his hooves.

“I think I might be a bit too tall for you to do that bubs,” Tommy said but Michael was determined. He squeaked again and pulled on Tommy’s hand.

“You’re so lucky you’re cute,” Tommy muttered, crouching down and letting Michael attempt to spin him. His half crouching spin while Michael was holding his hand seemed to satisfy the piglin child.  

“I wanna spin you too bossman,” Tubbo said.

“I don’t think I could physically bend down that far for you to be able to do that in this corset,” Ranboo chuckled but Tubbo was already doing it. Ranboo tripped over his feet as Tubbo pulled him down to try and spin him. With their hands still intertwined as Ranboo fell to the ground he pulled Tubbo with him who landed on top of Ranboo with an oof.

Tommy burst out laughing, standing up straight, his hand still wrapped around Michael’s. Ranboo stared at Tubbo for a few seconds, his hair coming un-slicked and falling in front of his forehead. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Ranboo burst out laughing. Tubbo soon did as well, knocking his head against Ranboo’s chest.

The song faded away into static and Tommy took the disc out, staring at the vinyl surface.

“I think we should get out of these stuffy outfits and go back out to roast marshmallows,” Tommy declared, tugging at the collar of his shirt.

“Yeah, I’ve had my fun getting all dressed up,” Ranboo said, leaning down so he was laying on the floor, Tubbo sitting near his legs. His tail swished back and forth, there was a small grin spreading across his face.

“Yep, I think I’m good for my ‘I dressed up this year’ card,” Tubbo patted Ranboo on the stomach, “let’s get changed and we can go roast marshmallows!”

Michael squealed in agreement, tapping his hooves against the floor, a habit that he must’ve picked up from Tubbo. Or Tubbo picked it up from him, who knows.

Tubbo helped Ranboo to his feet and they all went to get changed into something more comfortable, and warmer for being outside in the frigid tundra night.

Michael toddled around in the snow while Tubbo and Ranboo both kept a close eye on him. Tommy stuck marshmallows into the fire from his stick and watched it burst into flames before blowing it out when he was satisfied by the sheer charcoal that covered it. Ranboo slouched on the log that he was sitting on, his tail drooping with exhaustion.

He stuck a marshmallow on the stick and let it roast for a few seconds. Tommy scoffed at the lightly toasted brown that coated it and Ranboo shot back some sort of insult.  

Ranboo would’ve given anything to take this night and put it in a tiny jar for him to keep forever. No matter how many details of the night he put down in his memory book, years in the future he felt that he would never be able to articulate the feeling of warmth in his chest that he felt at the moment.  

Watching Tubbo throw marshmallows at Tommy and how they bounced off his forehead right into the fire. Tommy was sitting way too close to it. Ranboo laughed, his ears flicking. Michael patted the snow with his hands and giggled.

The stars were bright and smoke licked against the cold winter air. Lighthearted laughter filled the air and Ranboo shivered. He stared up at the sky and watched the few clouds that were there drift by.

That night when Michael was put to bed much longer past his bedtime than he should’ve, Tubbo was in the kitchen making hot chocolate, Tommy was sprawled on the couch fast asleep, his hair damp with water from Tubbo throwing snow at him. Ranboo draped a blanket over his shoulders and tucked it around him. Hissing slightly as his arm brushed against his hair.

Ranboo sat down at the counter where Tubbo then joined him, two cups of hot chocolate in his hand.

“We should do things like this more often,” Tubbo said, leaning against Ranboo’s side, taking a sip of the steaming liquid. Ranboo took a deep breath and nodded.

“Yeah, we should,” Ranboo said, rubbing his fingers along the mug in his hands. Soaking up the warmth from it with thin fingers. The wind outside blew against the window, causing the panes to rattle.

They sat in silence, sipping quietly on the hot chocolate while the night went on. Tommy was snoring softly from the living room and Ranboo made small warbles and hums from the back of his throat. Ranboo let his eyes slip shut, basking in the quiet and comfort.