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Tubbo would say his day yesterday was pretty great. He got his first vaccine shot, Ranboo helped him fill out the sheet of health questions and he hasn’t had any weird symptoms if the pain on his arm doesn’t count.
He was on Phil’s stream and played saxophone, even if it was a bit different and hard to breathe correctly after every note. But that was just because it was a wood instrument and Tubbo has never played one.
The next morning was when Tubbo noticed that something was wrong.
Tubbo woke up not being able to breathe quite correctly. It felt like every breath he took wasn’t doing anything. Like the air that came into his lungs just turned into nothing the second it got inside. Tubbo just shrugged it off as the side effects of playing saxophone for 2 hours straight without the correct breathing method.
He heard Ranboo in the kitchen. Tubbo probably overslept again (though he’s surprised he even slept since his arm hurts like a bitch when he puts even the smallest pressure on it). Tubbo went to sit up before getting struck by a migraine. Great.
Tubbo dat up as slowly as he could and kept his head down in his hand until the world stopped spinning. It was spinning? Wait what the hell is happening? He just calmly shook his head to hopefully clear his thoughts even a bit.
After a minute of just silently sitting still like some sort of statue, he tried to open his eyes. He opened them to see the morning sun peeking through the curtains. The light was just a bit too much for his eyes, so he closed them back. Maybe he should just try to sleep a bit more. That might help. Yea, that’ll work.
Tubbo slowly rested his head back on his pillow while trying to slow down his breathing again. When did it become worse? All of his thoughts felt fuzzy and loud. The world felt like too much to handle. God why can’t he just have a normal morning?
Tubbo carefully leaned on his vaccinated arm and somehow shuffled it under his so it wouldn’t hurt as much and went into a light sleep.
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Tubbo has no idea how long he slept but it didn’t seem like long.
The same morning sun was still peeking through the blinds and Ranboo was still in the kitchen. Tubbo’s breathing has also not changed at all. He was still breathing like he was just strangled. Maybe he was having a panic attack? Who knows. Probably not.
Tubbo decided that if he’s having some sort of migraine he should probably at least go and get a glass of water and some migraine reliever pills. He doesn’t want to alarm Ranboo though which means he’d have to get them himself. Which means getting out of bed and walking to the kitchen. Not a big deal.
Tubbo got out of bed and, when did the floor get so cold? He must have just forgotten to turn off the air con. Yea that’s probably it.
But the floor was way too cold for Tubbo’s bare feet. It felt like he was standing in the middle of an ice-skating rink barefoot. It was horrible.
Tubbo grabbed some fuzzy socks from his drawer. The only thing Tubbo could think of was cold. So cold. Why is it so cold? It’s too cold. C o l d .
He also put on a the closest hoodie possible (It’s too big on him. Is it Ranboo’s? Who cares. His now.) and headed towards the kitchen.
Tubbo got to the kitchen to see Ranboo putting the cereal bowl back into the cupboard. Ranboo looked at Tubbo before smiling. “You’re finally awake, did you sleep well?”
Tubbo just shrugged. “I do have a migraine.” As soon as he said that, Tubbo’s balance got tipped. He softly crashed on the wall next to him, his hand catching his from falling.
Ranboo quickly got next to Tubbo. “Oh god are you okay? Do you need anything?” Tubbo just smiled. “Don’t worry big man! I’ll just take a migraine reliever and I’ll be fine!”
Ranboo didn’t seem to be too convinced. “Well you should also eat. You look pretty weak.” Tubbo pushed himself back up before smiling at Ranboo again. “Sure big man”.
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Tubbo got himself a yoghurt with some granola and honey. One of his favorite breakfast. He made his favorite tea, (earl grey) and put sugar in it. When he was ready he got all of his food to their countertop table. Ranboo left to brush his teeth already, which meant he was alone in the kitchen.
Tubbo decided he should probably eat something first before taking any medication. Just so Ranboo would stop ushering him to eat. Tubbo was feeling alright anyways. The headache wasn’t being a bitch so he could bare it for a bit more. It was fine.
He took one bite out of his yoghurt.
This is not fine.
He immediately let go of the spoon. His tongue felt like it was burning from the taste. Nothing felt right. The taste, normally it’ll just be a little bitter because of the granola, so he’d put some honey in it to sweeten the taste. Now it felt like that bitterness was a thousand times worse. Like someone has just taken all of the bitterness from the world, and put it on his tongue.
The honey just made it worse. The sweetness was almost too much to bare. It was like someone decided to pour three bags of pure sugar into his mouth. It was too much. Too much. Too much.
Tubbo felt like he was going to vomit. It was all way too much for him. Way too much taste. His entire body was screaming at him to leave. To run. To go anywhere else than stay here.
So he got up and started to speed walk to the bathroom. It wasn’t to far. It was just down the kitchen. He was walking, though it didn’t feel like walking. His mind was too fuzzy to cling to any thought, his vision was blurry, just clear enough to know where he was going, and the world felt like it was going a hundred miles per hour. Everything was spinning. Nothing was right. Was he in a dream? No this was all real.
He got to the end of the kitchen. Good. Now he just has to get through this short hallway and he’ll be in the bathroom. He could stay there for a while just to make sure he doesn’t throw up everywhere and he’ll be fin-
His thought process was cut off by a sudden wave of dizziness, which made him completely forget he was walking. Tubbo crashed onto the wall. He was trying to keep himself up, but his legs weren’t having any of it. He was now sitting on the ground, leaning on a wall and breathing way too fast. When did his breathing get bad again?
Everything was blurry. Everything felt like a dream. But he had to keep going. He wasn’t going to let himself throw up on the floor. If he was even going to do that. Tubbo just wanted to sleep.
Tubbo got up way easier than he expected to, before his legs gave up again immediately. Guess he’ll just have to crawl then.
Tubbo started to crawl through the floor, until the coldness of the tile got through his clothes. It was so cold. So cold. So nice.
Tubbo didn’t even notice he was heating up. His entire body felt like it was aflame. It was too hot. Too hot. Too hot.
Tubbo was so close to the bathroom. If he’d just get himself to push just a little bit further he might be able to touch the door with his fingers. But he was too warm. And the floor was so cold. It was so cold. So cold it felt good. His breathing was completely thrown out the window at this point. Too fast to fix alone.
So, Tubbo laid there. Motionless. As much skin as he could touching the floor. The cold. He must’ve looked so helpless. He couldn’t care less. He just wanted to sleep. To just sleepy through this awful feeling. To just wake up from this nightmare.
───────
“Tubbo?”
So muffled.
“Tubbo? You okay?”
Is someone. Calling out to him?
A click.
“TUBBO!”
What’s going on?
Someone’s next to him.
Someone’s helping him get up.
Tubbo can’t feel a thing anymore.
It’s like his entire body is covered in tiny needles, each one poking him.
Someone is asking him questions.
Questions.
He should try to answer them.
“-bo? . . . bo ca . yo u hear . . me?”
”Tub. bo? T ub bo I’ m . he r e”
“. . nboo. Tubbo?”
Tubbo looks up at the voice. He knows it. It’s boo. What was his name again?
The face next to him feels too much to look at, so he looks back down.
“Tubbo? Tubbo can you hear me?”
The voice. It’s clearer.
Tubbo nods. When did he start crying?
He’s propped up to something. Round. A chair? No.
Tubbo tries to open his eyes a bit more. The world is still extremely blurry and bright but he can see they’re in a room. A room full of tiles. Their bathroom. He’s leaning on the toilet seat.
“Tubbo please, what’s wrong?”
He tries to say something. Anything. But he can’t. The words are there, he just doesn’t have the power to voice them out to the world. His breathing somehow gets even faster. Someone could argue he’s not breathing at all.
“whoa whoa! Calm down!” The voice. Ranboo’s voice, calms him down, even if just a little. Tubbo has no idea what’s happening. What is going on with him? He was fine yesterday, so why is this happening?
Tubbo tried to get up. He has to leave. He can’t let his friend see him like this. Tubbo tried to pick himself back up before noticing the prickling sensation all over his body has become worse. It feels like his whole body is made out of static and he can hear it. Tubbo uses all his concentration on moving his fingers to see that they’re in fact, still moving and he isn’t just a big ball of static.
Ranboo picks up on this immediately. “Tubbo are you okay? Please tell me, what is going on?”
Tubbo doesn’t know how to respond, he uses all of his concentration again, this time to say something. “I… I don’t… I…” It’s too much. Everything is too much. He wants to sleep. He wants the world to focus again. To not be this blurry. What is going on???
Ranboo quickly noticed Tubbo panicking. “Okay, Tubbo, listen to me” Tubbo tries his best to look at the face before closing his eyes again and looking down. “I’m going to help you to the couch okay? Let’s get you to lay down” Tubbo silently agrees and tries to get up again. The static stopping him just like last time.
Ranboo puts his hand under Tubbo’s armpits and picks him up from the ground. The second Tubbo got the chance, he clinged to the taller one and hugged him. It was hard to know if he was holding onto anything because of everything feeling like static, until Ranboo gave a hug back, holding him in a way he wouldn’t be able to fall out even if he let go.
The entire world was still blurry and spinning but it was starting to become a bit clearer. He noticed them walking through the kitchen. Seeing his breakfast still standing there, almost untouched made him feel bad. He was supposed to eat that and be fine, and now this was happening instead.
───────
They got to the sofa and Ranboo placed Tubbo carefully on the sofa, making sure Tubbo wouldn’t fall off.
The second Tubbo’s head touched the soft cushions of their sofa, he let his eyes fully close and his body calm down. Everything finally made sense. Even if it just a little bit of that everything. He still didn’t understand why he was feeling like he was about to pass out.
Ranboo was sitting by Tubbo’s feet, looking extremely concerned but relieved. Then out of nowhere, he took Tubbo’s feet and pressed them from the middle.
Tubbo woke up almost instantly to the surprising touch. “What… What are…” was the only things he got out of his mouth before the other cut in. “Just pressing on the body’s natural reset area.” Tubbo saw a faint smile. Tubbo was way too out of it to even ask why Ranboo knows such a thing.
Then suddenly, Tubbo started feeling better again. The static feeling was slowly leaving, he could hear his thoughts normally again and the world was getting much clearer again, the spinning stopping slowly. Tubbo didn’t even notice that his breathing has also gotten more normal now.
Everything started to make more sense now. He went to sleep, and the vaccine symptoms started kicking in today. That must be why he felt like crap just a minute ago. The small gap in his fuzzy memory started clearing up too. He was trying to get to the bathroom, he completely lost it, Ranboo opened the door and saw Tubbo in his state. Tubbo crawled into the bathroom (with the help of Ranboo), murmuring something about throwing up while sobbing, and Ranboo helped him to the toilet seat.
If Tubbo had felt any better, he’d be thanking Ranboo and making some light jokes, but he was so utterly tired. He couldn’t even get himself to feel any emotion. He felt like such a blank slate.
Ranboo noticed that Tubbo was finally getting back to his senses. “Are- are you feeling any better?” Tubbo just blinked. He couldn’t even get himself to think of any words. Ranboo just kept pressing on the middle of his foot.
After a bit of silence, the taller finally decided that Tubbo’s probably awake enough to answer at least a few questions. “Do- do you know what happened? You- I mean you were just eating breakfast right?”
Tubbo just nodded with the same blank expression. Ranboo could sense that Tubbo was trying to say something. Anything. So he kept quiet and waited for Tubbo to finally gather the energy to talk.
“I… I couldn’t… see…” Tubbo cringed at how hard it was to speak any sentences longer than three words. “Thoughts… blurry”
They both sat in comfortable silence for a while, letting the quiet bird songs outside be the only sound.
After a while, Ranboo finally spoke up again. “Hey, you have some tea right?” Tubbo nodded. “Alright.. what if we get you a pain reliever and that tea? and we’ll watch a movie together.” Tubbo nodded again, this time trying his best to show how much he likes the idea, even when he still couldn’t get that blank stare away from his face. The very faint smile helped.
“Alright.. are you able to walk now? It would be better if you come with to the kitchen so we don’t leave the pain relievers somewhere else.” Tubbo hesitantly sat up and, with Ranboo next to him, he got up. His legs still felt a bit weak but he would be able to walk with them.
───────
They got to the kitchen when suddenly Tubbo’s body decided it’s way too cold. He started shaking uncontrollably, almost falling to the ground again. Was he sick? What was going on? It’s got to be the symptoms of the vaccine right? But why is he so cold now?
Ranboo turned around to Tubbo when he found the pain relievers and was quick to be next to the smaller one. Ranboo took one of the pills out of the foil and gave it to Tubbo. “Take it with the tea.” Tubbo nodded and put the pill into his mouth, before drinking almost half of the tea in his cup. It was now perfectly hot, but not burning.
Tubbo looked at his uneaten yoghurt next to him. It made him want to run away and hide. To never touch it ever again. Ranboo quickly snapped him back to reality when he found a few healthy crackers in the cupboard and was leading Tubbo back to the sofa with his teacup in hand.
Tubbo went back and sat at the part of the couch that extends to the side. Ranboo gave him a blanket. Even under it he was still shivering like he was freezing to death.
Ranboo sat next to him and opened the TV. “What do you wanna watch? Any movies that seem interesting?” Tubbo just shrugged. He hasn’t really been looking to much into any movies he’d like to watch.
They ended up looking through Disney+ for about 2 minutes before they decided to rewatch Luca for the third time.
And there they were. Laughing and theorizing about little Easter eggs hidden in the movie. Tubbo finally felt like his normal self again. It felt so good to be able to move without feeling like static or showing emotions other than sobbing uncontrollably while the only thing you could thought that you could hear was why?
And so, they spent their morning watching Luca and making each other feel loved. After the movie, Ranboo asked Tubbo one more time if he was okay and just like that, their day became normal again.
