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Tubbo sits on the beach.
The Sleepy Bois Inc household as of late has been sleepless. Maybe that’s why they’re always sleepy, in the time he’s known Tommy he barely sleeps. And when he does, it’s restlessly.
Things have been chaotic and stressful and sleepless. Tommy’s unending fever, Phil’s micromanaging, Wilbur’s disappearance, and Techno’s… well, he doesn’t know what Techno’s deal is. Tubbo just knows that old gods and blood magic are trouble.
His time by the seashore has been so peaceful. It’s the happiest he’s been in a long time, which is why he worries about the fate that’s waiting for them.
Tubbo sits on the beach and closes his eyes. He looks outward, through the eyes of the bees that are his. He is a bee monster, something human in shape and something monstrous. He’s got wings, antenna, and beady eyes. He is also a hive, a home, and he always has his swarm. They’re harmless, no matter how many times Tommy screams in fear that they’re going to sting him.
They help Tubbo assess the situation. They cross miles and miles over open ocean to find the missing siren.
His bees tell him Will is far away at sea, at a temple.
A monument to the sea, ancient and dangerous. They can’t get any closer to see what he’s doing at such a place, but that is where he has gone.
Back home, just inside the house behind him, his bees linger.
They tell him Tommy's temperature has not lowered. He is in deep sleep, quiet and at rest, for however long that will last. Even asleep he looks tensed and unwell.
Techno sits by Tommy's side and prays. His hands are locked and his eyes are closed, and he whispers words in a language Tubbo and his bees do not recognize. He hopes whatever door the piglin is opening doesn’t have any serious repercussions.
Phil hasn't slept in three days.
How could he, when things have fallen apart as such? His youngest ill, his eldest missing, and nothing he can do to make things better.
Phil’s a good man. A good human, which is rare to find. He’s kind to everyone around him despite what society would say about monsters. Well, Tubbo has met humans vile to other humans, and Tommy’s one of the nicest people he’s ever met, so it is all arbitrary.
And yet Phil has welcomed him, a new monster, into their house without hesitance.
“Tubbo? Psst, Tubbo.” A voice whispers, disrupting him from his observations.
He opens his eyes, looking up, “Ranboo?”
Crouched behind a tree, the enderman nods, “Yeah, it’s me.”
“...don’t suppose you’re just visiting because ya miss me?” Tubbo smiles wryly.
“No… I’m here to remind you uh, that you have a job to do. I’m-I’m sorry.”
Tubbo frowns, “... I don’t know if I can, this time. These people have been nice- they’re not humans, well, most of them. They’re not mean. They like me. This isn’t like the other jobs.”
“There isn’t… much choice in the matter,” Ranboo says.
“I know. I know.”
Ranboo sets a comforting hand on his shoulder, sighing. There are no words he can say that will change anything. He cannot promise that everything will be okay. But they’ve always had each other.
Tubbo nods, Ranboo nods back.
Then with a vwoop, the enderman is gone.
Tubbo exhales, chest heavy, and makes his way back into the house.
“Hey Phil, can we talk for a moment?”