Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ranboo doesn’t like weekends. You’d think that as a junior in high school, he would look forward to them, but it was quite the opposite. Because weekends are only two days, and even though all of his teachers say that he should use those two days to rest, he always has homework. Whether it was homework that they accidentally put off or forgot about, or assignments that teachers wanted to be handed in on Monday morning, there was always something.

It was only Saturday morning, but they already felt like they weren’t doing enough with their time. Ranboo hated that feeling. The feeling that you should do something when you’re not doing anything. They especially hated it when it came less than an hour after they woke up. 

He took a shower and got dressed, like that was the problem. The feeling didn’t go away. He went for a walk, because walking is something productive and he has really been meaning to go on a walk for a while, so that should help, right? That’s what his google searches usually said, anyway.

On their walk, they passed the convenience store that their brother works at. They hadn’t seen him since Friday morning. Maybe they should say hi. Or maybe his brother wasn’t working there right at that moment, maybe he was just asleep and Ranboo had missed him at the apartment. 

Ranboo walked into the convenience store anyway, because he wanted to stock up on snacks and because he forgot to grab water on their way out of the apartment. Their brother was working then, it turned out. Familiar orange-ish brown eyes lit up when they spotted him.

“Oh hey, Ranboo!” He greeted cheerfully. “My shift ends in like an hour, so if you haven’t had breakfast yet, maybe I could grab something on my way home?”

Ranboo considered the offer for a moment. Sapnap was right. He hadn’t had breakfast yet and was getting kind of hungry. But he also knew that they were a little tight on money at the moment, and there was probably bread or cereal at home. Those options didn’t sound the most appetizing, which he felt guilty about considering he was the one that had picked out Cinnamon Crunch Toast at the store saying he would eat it. It sounded good, but after a couple of days, it got boring.

“Um, yeah, sure,” they found themself saying.

The brief conversation seemed to end there, so Ranboo made their way to the aisle with the Cheez-it’s and rye chips. Rye chips were a favorite snack of theirs, but it was a little too salty to eat first thing in the morning. Cheese crackers sounded good in theory, but the last time they had bought a pack there was a weird flavor to the cracker that they didn’t like. Maybe he should get Pringles? 

Before he could decide, the store bell chimed, signaling that someone new had walked in. He thought little of it. Kinoko Convenience Store wasn’t the most popular, but it was fairly close to the apartment buildings, so they got a bit of foot traffic.

It sounded like there were two new people who had entered, based on their conversation.

“Look,” one voice said, “all I’m saying is that maybe you shouldn’t let rabid raccoons into your house.”

“But Tubbo ,” the other groaned, dragging out the “o.” “You weren’t there, you didn’t see their little faces. They were practically begging me. ‘Oh Tommy, your family’s trash has been so scarce ever since your father stopped leaving the bin outside. We need food. We are cold and hungry and also so cute.’”

Laughter echoed through the aisles, and something in Ranboo’s chest ached. Not in the same way as it had earlier that morning, but maybe a close cousin. 

The taller one—Tommy maybe?—made their way over to the drinks and grabbed a handful of individual Coke bottles.

Wouldn’t it just be easier to grab a box?

“You’d think so, wouldn’t you?” Ranboo jumped.

“Did—Did I say that out loud?”

“Yeah, but don’t worry about it. Tommy likes to be difficult.” Oh, so Ranboo was right about the Coca-cola kid being Tommy. Which would mean that he was talking to—

“I’m Tubbo, by the way. Uh, he/they pronouns.” Tubbo fiddled with their hoodie strings. Not awkwardly, but more out of a need to do something with his hands. Ranboo understood that.

“Oh—Oh, I’m Ranboo. He—boo!—he/they pronouns. Not—not ‘boo’ though, that was, yeah...” They trailed off at the end of their sentence. They could feel their tics building up from the stress of the unexpected social interaction and tried hard to suppress them.

Tubbo tilted his head and looked up at him. He seemed to contemplate something, but whatever was happening was cut off by Tommy, who had ultimately decided it was easier to just get a box of coke cans instead.

“Oi, Tubbo! Quit making googly eyes at the handsome stranger. We have places to be!”

Tubbo rolled their eyes and followed Tommy to the counter, but not before giving Ranboo a quick “bye!” And just like that, it left them to once again bask in their confusion. 

Usually, people would just ignore him when he was in the store, even when it was hard to do so. Most of the patrons knew him or his brother, though, so they were familiar with his more disruptive tics. Like the time he had kicked the wrong two-liter and the entire shelf came tumbling down. That was fun to clean up.

Ranboo didn’t think he’d ever seen Tubbo, or Tommy, at the store before. So, clearly, it would make sense that they didn’t know the routine. He wasn’t all that sure it was a bad thing.

—

Other than writing a brief description of his interaction with the nice stranger in his journal, Ranboo thought little more about Tubbo after their initial encounter. He had forgotten the finer details of it, anyway. He couldn’t remember who the other person with Tubbo was, or what time it was, but those things didn’t really matter. Or at least, he hoped they didn’t.

Ranboo thought that they likely wouldn’t see him again, so they weren’t super worried about it. 

When they walked into class on Monday morning, everything was mostly normal. They were the second person there, so they could take their usual seat in the back left corner of the classroom. It was easier to get work done sitting back there. Occasionally they’d have to squint or lean forward to see the whiteboard better (why did math teachers have to have such small, messy handwriting?), but sitting in the back meant that no one would have to ask them to lean to the side or bend over so that they could see.

Sitting in the corner also meant that no one would notice or bother him. Usually. Apparently, today was the exception.

With about two minutes until the warning bell, a rather short kid with a mop of brown hair covering their eyes came barreling into the class. They stood still for a moment, scanning the room before they spotted Ranboo (he thinks? He really didn’t know how they could see) and made a B-Line for the seat next to him.

Okay, that was fine, everything was fine. Ranboo’s routine had been thrown off a bit, but it was completely fine.

“Hey,” the kid said. “Ranboo, right?”

Ranboo nodded.

“I didn’t know you went here! I mean, it makes sense, but I guess I’ve just never noticed you? Not in a bad way! Just like you kind of blended in with everyone else? Is that a bad thing to say?”

Ranboo shrugged. He was probably the last person who would know what was good to say in any situation. 

The kid tugged at their hoodie strings, twisting them around their fingers. “Did you… um, last night—“

Oh, right. They were going to ask about homework, weren’t they? Sometimes Ranboo forgot people didn’t talk to them outside of school work. He didn’t know why he expected this to go any differently.

“—did you walk down Manberg? I just, I thought I saw you, but it was kind of dark out. I thought I saw your hair, though. Pretty recognizable.”

Oh, never mind. “Uh, may—maybe? I walk—walk past there pretty often, I think? I live pretty—pretty close, so probably. I think.” God, his tics were annoying. Maybe they hadn’t noticed, though? They weren’t reacting, so that was a possibility.

“Oh, yeah! You must live in the apartments by Kinoko, right? I, uh, I know someone whose boyfriend lives there, I think. Works at the convenience store? The one where we met!”

They had met before? Ranboo immediately started racking his brain for any remnant of a memory of meeting anyone at Kinoko, but—Tubbo! This must be Tubbo! But he had had his hair pulled back, hadn’t he? They thought they remembered him having colorful clips in his hair, but maybe that was wrong.

“Um, are you talking about Quackity? Bo—both of his boyfriends work there. Sapnap and Karl?”

“Yeah! Do you know them?”

“Yeah, I mean, kind of? Sapnap’s my brother, so…”

“Oh, really! Do you… see Quackity often?”

“Uh, no, not really.”

“Oh.” Tubbo seemed… disappointed? Ranboo didn’t get much of a chance to dwell on that, though, before the teen’s brighter demeanor returned. 

“Wait, hold on,” they said, smiling widely. “Are your eyes different colors?”

Ranboo nodded, but before either of them could say anything more on the subject, their teacher entered and the bell rang, signaling the beginning of class.

And if Ranboo was a little more distracted than usual during that class, or missed some parts of the lecture, no one else needed to know.

The two didn’t see each other again until lunch, and it would’ve been longer than that if Tubbo hadn’t spotted Ranboo and practically dragged them back over to where he had been sitting.

Except it wasn’t only Tubbo sitting there.

“Ranboo, this is Tommy!” the shorter teen introduced as they sat down. “He’s—he was the one that was with me at Kinoko. Tommy, this is Ranboo, please don’t scare them.”

“Ran-boob? That’s a weird fucking name, man.” Tommy said as he downed a coke can.

“Actually, it’s—”

“How old are you, Ran-boob?” The blonde interrupted.

“Uh, I’m—I’m seventeen?”

Immediately upon hearing this, Tommy furrowed his brows with such intensity that Ranboo worried they might get stuck like that. Tubbo, however, seemed amused.

“How am I always the youngest?!” Tommy shouted.

“That’s not true, Drista’s younger than you!” Tubbo said.

“Drista doesn’t fucking count! Did you know she was one of those kids who chased ants around with magnifying glasses? That girl is no good!”

“I did that when I was a kid.”

Tubbo’s response seemed to shut Tommy up for a moment, but it didn’t take long for him to bounce back.

“You are special, Tubbo. I can only have one friend that threatens to launch nuclear bombs at my house when I forget to buy them ice cream.”

Ranboo was thoroughly confused, but he was too scared to ask for any context. He wasn’t sure he wanted any.

They zoned out for a bit. It didn’t seem like they needed to be present for the conversation, anyway. It was a little overwhelming at first, but eventually Tommy’s loud voice blended in with the many others in the school cafeteria. God, Ranboo should’ve remembered to bring their headphones today.

It was fine, though. He’d be fine.

The rest of lunch was a blur. Tubbo got Ranboo’s phone number before they left, and something about that made the pit in his stomach that never seemed to go away a bit looser. 

It turned out that Ranboo also had a creative writing class with Tommy. Although Tommy didn’t make any move to sit next to them.

That was totally fine, though. They didn’t mind. 

—

Ranboo hadn’t even gotten the chance to sit down on the bus before his phone went off. He rushed to find a seat towards the front (he never enjoyed sitting in the back; he was too afraid of missing his stop) and pulled out his phone to see what was the matter.

(xxx)xxx-xxxx: heyo it’s tubbo :DD

Oh, that’s right, Ranboo had over five contacts now. 

Tubbo(school + kinoko): this is rnboo right

i woudl be really embarrased if it wasn’t 

yeah, you have the right number don’t worry

Tubbo(school + kinoko): oh good!!

do you want to hang out?

They thought about it for a moment. This whole thing was still fairly new to them. Not that Ranboo had never had friends before, or well, he assumed he had friends at one point when he was younger, but no one ever reached out to him.

i’ll ask my brother

Tubbo(school + kinoko): alr!! let me know when you get an answer :D

Ranboo smiled to themself as they put on their usual bus ride playlist and tucked their phone into their jacket pocket. It was nice to know someone actually wanted their company (and not because they had to invite them).

When he got back to their shared apartment, Ranboo immediately began looking for his brother. He was usually home by now, either doing online classes or playing on his PC, so it shouldn’t have been too hard to find him.

Except it was.

He wasn’t in the main living area, or their small kitchen. The bathroom door was wide open, and he wasn’t in there, either. Ranboo was just about to knock on the door of their brother’s bedroom when the door to theirs came open.

“Oh, hey Ranboo.” Standing in the doorway was not his brother. Instead, it was his brother’s friend, Dream.

It looked like Dream was still in his work uniform, the signature smile logo present on the green shirt standard for all Greater SMP Groceries employees. He casually flipped a pocket knife open and closed in his hands, not even looking as he did so.

When Ranboo was younger, they would tell Dream to be careful, that he might cut himself. Dream would just laugh and tell them he could do it in his sleep without injuring himself if he wanted. Their anxiety surrounding it never went away, though. 

“Well,” Dream snapped his pocket knife shut and stood up straight, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I’m going to head out, gotta get to work. Sap should be back soon. See ya, Ranboo.”

And then he was gone. 

Sapnap was back a few minutes later, just as Dream had said. Ranboo resisted the urge to immediately corner him to ask if it was okay for him to leave. He knew realistically that his brother probably wouldn’t have cared even if he didn’t ask permission, but part of him wanted to share the news that he had made a new friend. Hopefully. 

They waited until Sapnap had enough time to set down his things and relax a bit before they finally worked up the courage. “Um, hey, is–is it okay if I hang out with–with a friend for a bit?”

There was barely a pause before, “Yeah, sure. Just be back before dark.”

Okay, maybe Ranboo had been making a bigger deal out of this whole new friend thing than they really needed to. Sapnap didn’t really seem to care like they thought he would. It was disappointing, almost.

But it was fine! It was totally fine because now they could hang out with Tubbo!

he said it was fine :]

Tubbo(school + kinoko): yayy!!!

meet me @ kinoko ?

yeah, i’ll be there in a few

Ranboo grabbed his phone and set of apartment keys, just in case, before heading out. It didn’t take him long to walk to Kinoko; the trip being mostly muscle memory at this point. When he got there, Tubbo was already waiting for him. Hopefully, they hadn’t been waiting long. Ranboo would’ve felt terrible if he had made them wait.

Unlike during the school day, Tubbo’s hair was now pulled back from his face, much like the first time Ranboo had met him. Colorful berets kept his bangs from falling into his eyes, like it seemed he was doing on purpose during class. And then they realized he probably was doing it on purpose.

It was easier to see now, but Ranboo had thought the skin on the right side of Tubbo’s face had looked rough. Now that their hair wasn’t blocking their face anymore, he could see that it was a scar. Different from the ones that he had, more subtle, but still noticeable. Only they couldn’t use a face mask to hide it like Ranboo could.

“Ranboo!” Tubbo waved them over, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. Ranboo smiled at him.

“Hey,” they said in reply.

“So,” the shorter said. “I was thinking we could head over to the bakery—my cousin’s girlfriend-not-girlfriend works there and she likes to give me free shit—and then maybe we could head over to the park? Sit on a bench and contemplate existence for a bit, y’know?”

Ranboo nodded along, though half of what was said escaped him completely.

“And I should probably swing by SMP to pick up Tommy at the end of his shift, but you don’t have to join me for that.” Tubbo went silent for a moment, looking up at Ranboo in quiet contemplation. 

“Anywhere you want to go, boss man? Any cool alleyways, or like—I don’t know—skate parks? Are there skate parks around here?”

Ranboo shrugged. “I don’t know, I don’t—don’t really get out much. But the—the, uh, bakery sounds nice. I know someone who works there, too. As well.”

“Bakery it is, then.” Tubbo grinned back up at him and they set off on their journey. 

—

It turned out that Tubbo’s cousin’s girlfriend-not-girlfriend and Ranboo’s, well, friend were the same person. Niki was very delighted to see that they had met. She even gave them cookies for free . And they weren’t stale cookies that the bakery could probably afford to lose, either. They were freshly baked chocolate with mint and they tasted amazing. 

They had tried to save most of the treats until they got to the park, but by the time they found a bench secluded enough for their liking, only crumbs were left. 

It was fun hanging out with Tubbo, Ranboo decided. It differed from spending time with his brother or any of his brother’s friends, but he was pretty sure he liked it that way. 

“Hey, Ranboo?”

They hummed in response.

“You don’t have to answer this, but is everything okay? You seem tense, is all. Wanted to make sure I’m not… not being too pushy. I know not everyone does friendships the way Tommy and I do.” 

Tubbo picked at his cuticles, a nervous habit if Ranboo had to guess.

“No. I mean, I don’t—don’t really know what it’s like any other way. But that’s not why I’m… tense, I guess.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I just—I‘ve got tics. I didn’t want to, like, overwhelm you, so I’ve been suppressing them.”

“Well, you don’t need to worry about that. Had a friend with ‘em a long time ago, no big deal to me.” Tubbo shrugged.

Ranboo blinked, partially in surprise and partially involuntary. “O—oh, well, thanks, I guess. Yeah.”

“No need, ‘s just basic decency.”

He was probably right, but in Ranboo’s experience, the only people who could brush his tics off as “no big deal” were his brother and his brother’s partners. 

At best, other people would give him weird looks. At worst, well… let’s just say some people were not exactly subtle with their ableism.

Instead of responding to Tubbo’s statement, they just shrugged. 

The two of them sat in silence for a bit. Ranboo found it wasn’t weird like it was with others. In fact, he found it almost comforting. Maybe that was strange, considering he’d only known Tubbo for about a day, but it was true. He had read plenty of stories and seen plenty of movies and TV shows where two people just clicked , but until now, he had assumed it was all fiction. Maybe he had been wrong.

Chapter Text

i don’t think i have ever finished a multi-chap fic, my bad

unfortunately, i will no longer be updating this fic, HOWEVER that does not mean that i will never come back to it in the future

i was really excited for this fic when i started writing it, but around february i started losing interest in the dsmp and i just didn’t have the motivation to write for this anymore

maybe at some point the intense interest i had in the dsmp will return and i’ll continue writing fics about the characters, but for now i’d consider this fic discontinued

i do have other completed one shots if you’d like to check those out, and if you’re a fan of Unprepared Casters you can probably be on the look out for maybe one or two oneshots or short multi-chap fics as the new arc comes out ;)

i really do appreciate the support y’all showed for this story, and i’m sorry i could not deliver

i wish you all the best, and i thank you for being here <3