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Everyone knows the end. The white sand desert laying out as far as the eye can see, grains of dust floating into the endless pitch-black sky. The sounds of a howl of a storm breaking and catastrophic winds play constantly, but not a single thing shifts out of place, everything stands still. How the other side of it is guarded by towering dark giants with ghostly purple eyes. Their glossy black hides shimmering in the unearthly glow of the void. Everyone knows to stay away from them, to avoid the abyss of their eyes and the unsettling longing to stare at them. Because once you gaze upon them for too long, the purple haze will swallow you whole, eat you alive. Everybody knows that the beast of nightmares haunts the quietness of the night when you lay in your bed. How the creature had clawed its way through a void into the world of sea, sky and land, and now the stray ones linger out in the shadows, waiting for you to slip, to look, to fall.
Tubbo knows this all quite like everyone else. He was warned by his parents with fables and stories from a young age. He was warned by his best friend with rumors. He was even warned by his enemies, who wished for him to be dead, fearing that the glowing eyed beast would get to him first. But Tubbo was just as stubborn as he was stupid. They all warned him, but no matter how many times he had been told, he willingly ended up living with one.
And to this day he still has no regrets.
The tales of dark creatures are merely old tales that you would read to children to scare them from doing something foolish. For ender beasts who had wandered the earth had soon evolved into human-like beings, men and women. They looked like anyone with blunt horns and pointed ears, and overtime, society had learned to accept them, their past quickly shadowed.
Yet Tubbo didn’t know many enderman except Ranboo, the one he lived with. He knows that his husband was far from the soulless monsters that lived in the corner of your fears. He wouldn’t harm anything consciously. He was clingy more than anything, constantly not too far from Michael or Tubbo himself. The only destruction and bad habits were knocking things over with his clumsiness, stealing alliums and collecting grass and dirt and leaving it scattered in the kitchen for him to clean up.
Everybody knows that enderman are harmless, the ones that lived among us.
But then again Tubbo knows things many people don’t. No one knows why Tubbo has to leave the mansion every fortnight unexpectedly. Nobody knows why Tubbo blocked out visitors coming at night or kept himself isolated in the cold snow. No one knows why Tubbo showed up in tears, out of breath and covered in snow at Philza’s house so often. Nobody knows why there were locks in certain doors and why there was a forever empty vault in the basement. Nobody knows why he had to send Michael away from the mansion. Nobody knows what happens to Ranboo every fortnight. Nobody knows.
Except Tubbo.
He knows the panic of fleeing the mansion in the cold dark, a lantern in one hand, Michael wrapped in a blanket in the other. Tubbo knows of the frostbite burns over his limbs which feel like permanent brands of memories. He knows of the small hut just in the woods next to the mansion where Michael and he would sleep under the floorboards, breathing so shallowly they could almost be mistaken as dead. He knows of the purple glowing eyes, staring into his own as they chase him down the halls.
Sounds of paintings falling and the slow shaking that rattled the hallways live in his mind, playing over and over in his head like a tape recorder. It haunted him. The feeling of his body vibrating to the low growls of death trying to catch him as he cried. Tubbo knows of the cupboard he cleared so he could crawl into and hug Michael as the sound of feet passed right outside.
Tubbo knows that every fortnight, an ancient instinct possessed his husband, making him turn into the creature of sharp claws and teeth, compelled to hunt, forced to kill. The brunette had a draw under his desk with a calendar and book, marking days he had to hide, trying to find a pattern. His worst nightmare was to wake up to find the beast looming over him. He had to be prepared.
But the brunette was one would call, an unlucky soul.
Tubbo lay on his side on the bed, curled into a blanket trying to force himself to sleep. Ever since the discovery of his platonic husband’s enderman habits he felt trapped whenever he had to fall asleep next to him. There were no more hand touching or arms slung sleepily over each other, just a barricade of blankets between the two on their double bed. Sometimes Tubbo couldn’t face the bedroom where he uses to spend early mornings tucked against the enderman hybrid talking sleepy nothings, so he slept on the couch, a butter knife tucked into his pocket of his pajama shirt, with a lantern lit to ward away the creeping shadows.
A lump formed in his throat and no matter how much he swallowed, he couldn’t push it down. He didn’t spend much time with the enderman anymore, he didn’t talk, he even avoided the mismatched gaze of Ranboo. He hadn’t told the other about the night terrors either. Tubbo knew he would panic and turn into the nervous wreck he only seemed to shake. The brunette felt this heavy smoke around him when the enderman was close, so he usually kept to himself, two rooms away from Ranboo, selfishly keeping Michael with him.
The lump in his throat turned into a barricade as Tubbo felt his neck where he could sense the tense muscle. Tubbo shortened each conversation with Ranboo to the bare minimum. Long gone were the days they shared conversations that lasted hours even over the smallest topics.
He couldn’t breathe. The thing in his throat. It was stopping him.
Tubbo shot up in his bed, clawing at his tense neck, trying to get the air down. His nose blocked, his throat refusing to function properly. If the person who lay next to him where anyone else Tubbo would have woken them. But they weren’t. It was Ranboo, legs curled into his chest, arms wrapped around his knees, shivering. The enderman snuffled and buried his head into his pillow. No one would suspect him to be a cold-blooded monster.
Shaking, Tubbo slipped out of bed, almost crashing to the floor when his feet touched the cold surface. The temperature had seemed to immediately drop, a frosted hand clutching at the brunette’s chest. Tubbo took a breath but it got caught in his frozen mouth. He needed water, he needed something to wash the flavour or bitterness and bile from his tongue.
Tubbo stumbled out of the bedroom then down the hall, descending the stairs to where another long hall lead to the kitchen. The faint glowing lamps being his only guide through the quiet dark. Once at the sink, his hands gripped the cold metal and leaned over, gasping for some sort of oxygen.
Nothing.
Turning, he threw himself at a cupboard door, wrenching it open, he found the shelves piled with cups. His vision shimmered in and out of dizziness as Tubbo reached for a glass desperately, accidentally grabbing a whole stack, sending three glasses to plummet towards the slate flooring. Each cup shattered into tiny shards, like small diamonds that glittered with a ghostly halo in the moon's lighting.
Tubbo felt a wave of nausea and shock overload his senses as he stepped back. Glass pieces are supposed to penetrate skin and dig into the flesh. Glass is supposed to make you bleed; make you feel pain. But the brunette couldn’t register anything before a lightness entered Tubbo’s head. The lack of oxygen seemed overwhelming. He faltered towards the sink and turned the tap until cold water gushed from the pipe, filling the glass until it spilled over the edges.
Droplets splashed over the smooth sides as Tubbo’s fingers trembled with the cup, lifting it to his cracked lips. One sip was all it took to make the brunette feel as if a blizzard had ripped through his insides. It was cold, the water freezing his tongue till it was numb. But for all it was worth, the lump in his throat remained, the water he swallowed only felt as if it was pooling up against it. But as Tubbo let another sip of water pass through his gritted teeth he heard a noise from behind him. A crunch of glass, the scrap of something dragging against the flooring. Spinning, Tubbo found himself face to face with Ranboo and the cold purple eyes he knew too well, pinning the brunette to where he stood.
Then, it suddenly felt like a cascade of chilled water had been dumped over the top of him. Breathing heavily, Tubbo found his voice. A shrill cry escaped his lips as his knuckles whitened around the cup. His heart smashed against his rib cage, beating so hard he was afraid that it might shatter like the glass-wear on the floor.
The beast in Ranboo’s skin took a menacing step forward, his whole body vibrating low sounds similar to the engine of a rocket. And like a rocket, Tubbo didn’t want to be here when it exploded forward. He knew enough about that technology to know the consequences of what happened to living things once a bomb touched the ground. Ranboo was coiled, positioned ready to lunge.
In a mad dash, Tubbo threw the last of his water at the taller as he watched the creature curl over and shriek before erupting into a thousand different shades of purple dust particles. But he couldn’t watch long enough for he had to run. And run he did.
Sprinting out of the kitchen, then taking a turn around a corner towards the direction of Michael’s room, throwing the glass in desperateness. But as he shoved the double doors of his adopted son’s room open, he found that the zombie pigman was nowhere in sight. Then, like a bolt of lighting it struck him, he had taken the zombie piglet to Nikki’s for the weekend. Twisting around, he heard the advancement of the enderman coming down the hall.
Panicking, Tubbo frantically rushed back out of Michaels room and down the hall to where the entrance of the mansion was. There was no time now, for Ranboo had rounded a corner and was in view and soon in arms reach of the brunette. With no coat, no light and an internal winter blazing in his lungs, Tubbo left the lonely warmth of the mansion into the freezing outdoors.
Only two days later, Tubbo had shoveled the snow from the front yard but now as Tubbo descended the steps he could see white as it had fallen back deeper in certain spots than the others, creating a frozen maze. Tripping on the last step, landing face first in the snow, the brunette scrambles back to watch his beloved husband emerge out of the doorway and onto the porch of the mansion. The enderman staggered forward to where the awning finished and screeched into the cold night air.
No one would hear Tubbo’s scream as the damp air fogged his vision.
Ranboo moved out into the snow only to immediately shriek and retreat back into cover. Tubbo stumbled to his feet, moving back slowly as the enderman on the porch clawed at his head where the snowflakes landed. But the snow didn’t stop the beast like Tubbo thought it would, for Ranboo stumbled onwards, suddenly diving forward to suddenly disappear. The brunette counted the breaths of stillness as he watched the enderman disappear into falling snow, purple eyes stained the back of his eyelids.
Suddenly Tubbo registered a crash falling next to him as he turned to find the tall beast reappearing, arms outstretched. In a burst of adrenaline, he ran in uneven steps, slowed by the snow. All the while the enderman glitched out behind him, getting each time closer than the next. Turning in the maze shaped lawn, Tubbo found himself confronted by a dead end. The snow had seemed to be piled in a heap, towering over the brunette.
This isn’t how it’s supposed to end, Tubbo thought, panicking.
With one last breath, Tubbo threw himself into the snow, falling slowly with each movement, sinking further in its icy grasp. As Tubbo struggled to move through the snow he heard the echoes of cries of pain from behind him as Ranboo hit the frozen surface. But he couldn’t think too much about the other for he himself could suffocate in the snow. He could no longer see the sky; he was enclosed by the white abyss. Drowning in coldness as it seeped into every inch of bare skin.
Just as Tubbo’s lungs seemed to implode as he resisted the overwhelming command of his body to breathe, Tubbo clawed his hands out in front of him to find that the snow fell away. He had managed to crawl his way through. Bursting into the crisp night air, the brunette found he had come out of the side of the yard, just in front of the woods.
Without much thought, he raced into the trees. The snow fell less thick under the shelter of the sturdy pines. The only problem was now that darkness was a heavy cloud fogging his ability to see. The dangerous combination of frosted air and darkness was suffocating as Tubbo staggered forward, not risking glancing back.
He didn’t know. He didn’t know where he was going.
Nobody will know. Nobody will know where to look for him.
He knows. He knew that he was going to collapse, be defeated.
Words harsher than the whipping winds lashed at him as he tried to dodge the uncovered roots and thorn bushes as Tubbo advanced deeper into the woods, closer to nowhere. He couldn’t feel his feet or hands anymore. A hiss came from behind him. But this time, it wasn’t his husband.
Tubbo turned in dread to find a creeper lurking in a bush next to him, it’s hollow eyes boring into his own. But it wasn’t just the small green mob coming from within the trees. Two skeletons and a zombie emerged.
This was it.
Tubbo didn’t have any weapons on him. The only thing that had managed to escape the mansion was his butter knife which he held so tight during the nights. So, brandishing the small silver cutlery, he hoped it was an arrow that would send his way to hell instead of slowly being ripped apart by the undead or the heat of the explosion. He already experienced the power of it before and barely lived to tell the tale.
But as the mobs advanced on him, Tubbo realized it was no use. Dropping the butter knife, he backed away, falling over, letting the cold chill his spine. The hiss of the creeper continued, Tubbo knew he didn’t have much left until the thing blew. So, he closed his eyes and whispered soft words of self-comfort.
He wished he spent more time with Ranboo even though it was his platonic husband who drove him into the forest to where he would meet his fate. He wished he still had one more late night where they could count stars and name constellations. He wished that he would have let the tall hybrid keep the brightest stars for himself rather than begging him to let Tubbo name them. He wished he could be there for Michaels fourth birthday and plant four kisses on his forehead. He wished there was more time for freezing days where Ranboo, Michael and he would have to snuggle in front of the fire to keep warm at night. He wished he’d thank Tommy and gave him a hug. He wished he’d told someone.
But it will be over soon.
Suddenly a sharp paint took over his ribs but as Tubbo’s eyes shot open he felt a ripping sensation split his head. But as soon as it came, it left. All except the painfully tight grip on his sides. Tubbo looked down to find two huge claw-like hands holding him off the ground. Turning, he found the claws belonged to none other than Ranboo himself.
The enderman growled so deeply that Tubbo felt him self shake in the grasp. With a long sweep of a tail, the zombie went flying. The hissing had stop for a spilt second before a loud sound echoed out. The mind tearing feeling happened again as Tubbo realized Ranboo was teleporting them out of the way of the creepers path. A swipe of an arm and a paw threw the skeletons off balance as Tubbo felt shock waves ripple through him.
Tubbo was about to yell when Ranboo was teleporting again. Dark shades of purple and light blinded him as they crossed into the void then back out into the moonlight. Tubbo wanted to throw up. He felt himself being placed down onto the porch of mansion before he gained a sense of mind and backed up staring in utter confusion at the looming enderman.
Shaken a little, Tubbo stagger to his feet and ran back inside, limping at the sudden sharp pains in his feet. Making his way over to the kitchen where he rushed to find the tap still on. Widen eyes, the brunette choked on a scream as Ranboo appeared close again, lunging forward at Tubbo. But as Ranboo came into contact with Tubbo, he only lightly placed his hands on his shoulders and he was teleport away from the sink and next to the table.
Oh.
Realization slowly began to sink in about the previous events that had occurred as he observed the enderman growl towards the running water. Slowly, steadily he walked over to water and watched as Ranboo’s hackles rise as he edged towards the tap. The enderman bared his teeth as the growling grew louder and faster. In a quick movement, Tubbo turned the tap switch off and found his suspicions confirmed. Ranboo stopped growling and lowered his ears, padding over even to where Tubbo stood. Pieces began to fall into place as Tubbo looked nervously towards Ranboo. He wasn’t attacking him, the enderman stood still, tail swinging occasionally as hybrid sniffed Tubbo.
Ranboo must have heard him break the glass when he was grabbing a cup but when he arrived, he thought the water was going to hurt Tubbolike it would to him. He was trying to stop him from running out of the house because of the snow. The enderman thought he was hydrophobic. Ranboo was trying to protect him.
Carefully, Tubbo approached Ranboo as the enderman was now studying the fragments of glass on the floor, watching the refracted moonlight light dance on the cabinets.
“Hey big guy...” Tubbo spoke, voice wobbling as he crouched next to Ranboo, “Don’t like water do you.”
A loud vwooping sound came from the enderman almost scared Tubbo into yelling only to realize he wasn’t growling. Ranboo poked a shard of glass only to flinch back and cried out a loud vwoop before reaching over to Tubbo and teleporting them three meters away from the shattered pieces.
“You got to stop doing that big guy,” Tubbo said breathing heavily as he saw the enderman create a mix of displeased noises, watching his padded finger drip with blood, “Oh no.”
Tubbo watched as the red began to splatter over the tiled floor. Moving over to the cabinets to reach some paper towel he heard a distressed growl from behind him. Turning, he watched Ranboo’s purple eyes widen, flicking from him to glass.
“Don’t worry I’m not going to touch it, I’m fine, we’re all good,” Tubbo gulped nervously, not ready for another unexpected teleportation. Reaching over the counter, watching the enderman out of the corner of his eye, Tubbo grabbed a handful of paper towel then crept back to his platonic husband.
Low rumbling whines came from Ranboo as Tubbo tentatively reach for his hand as if his husband was a wild animal. He didn’t want to touch the wound and Ranboo freaked out, turning against him. It felt to soon to let his guard down next to the source of his nightmares.
“I’m just going to hold some paper towel against it to stop the blood flow... ok?” Tubbo said knowing fulling well that the enderman didn’t understand English. But it comforted him slightly when his low whimpers changed slightly after he spoke, as if he understood. With a shaky hand, he managed to hold the paper against the enderman finger.
It all went well, for Ranboo stopped whining and Tubbo still had his head. When he removed the paper it had not done a thing to ease the bleeding. The cut looked deep and red stained Tubbo’s fingers after he touched the endermans palm. He’d have to put a band-aid on it.
Grabbing the other hand of the enderman’s, Tubbo lead the enderman down the hall an up the stairs, right near their bedroom. Once inside, with Ranboo ducking in the low ceiling area, Tubbo instructed him to sit while he rummaged through the vanity draws until he pulled out a packet of bandages and band-aids. Then he knelt beside the enderman who was entertaining himself with one of Michael’s toy boats.
“Ok, look at me, this is a band-aid, it goes on your finger, here you go,” Tubbo looked straight at Ranboo acting out what he was saying hoping he could somehow translate a message between them. Gently the enderman excepted the small band aid holding it, vwooping and warbling before trying to eat it.
“Stop! No! look give it here,” Tubbo exclaimed before snatching the band-aid off him as he whined and growled in protest. As softly and steady as he could, he held Ranboo’s hand in his lap while angling the band aid so it would sit properly on the wound. When he finally placed it on the enderman approved with a low humming gurble.
Tubbo was about to pack away the other bandages when he noticed the little water burns looking swollen and bleeding on his forehead and legs. So, the brunette got to work, putting up with the funny noises of the enderman and his tail constantly sweeping over his work or pulling back in an excited growl.
“There,” Tubbo sighed, standing back to admire his handy work. A pang of hurt shot through his chest as he remembered only an hour ago, he was running for his life. As if he verbally spoke out Ranboo’s ears pricked as he curiously glanced at Tubbo reaching out towards him, “No! No teleporting, I’m not hurt. Not that kind of hurt.”
The enderman vwooped twice before blinking and swishing his tail.
A sharp fresh stinging pain from his feet reminded of his own incident. Sitting cross legged on the tiles he lifted the pad of his foot so he could see the shiny glass embedded into his exposed skin. Rummaging with one hand, Tubbo pulled out a first aid kit, retrieving a tweezer whilst the enderman made it his task to be once again a huge distraction, causing the brunette to flinch of snort out loud.
With all shards safely removed from his foot, Tubbo wrapped his foot up with the bandages. He looked up to find the enderman playing with the shower curtains.
“Stop being a goof big man, I need to clean this up,” Tubbo sniffed as he watched Ranboo ruffle the material once more before ducking out of the room. Shaking his head, the brunette collected the band-aids and bandages and placed them back into the draw. Tonight, was a long night.
When he exited the room, Tubbo found that the enderman wasn’t waiting outside like he would have expected. In fact, he was nowhere in sight.
“Ranboo?” Tubbo called out, but no one answered.
Walking down the hallway, Tubbo heard a muffled whine which made him turn around and head back down towards the bedroom. Peeking around the corner of the doorway he found Ranboo lying on the bed, stretched out, face shoved into one of Michael’s small blankets, tail flicking angrily.
Carefully, the brunette edged forward towards the bed as he watched the enderman inhale deeply, holding the soft material close. As he got closer Ranboo shifted his head to Tubbo and let out a small huff before continuing to smell the blanket, tail flicking. It was as if he was trying to hold their adoptive son to his chest.
“Sorry bud, he’s not here,” Tubbo sighed, sitting on the side of the bed watching as Ranboo tossed the sheets a couple of times before they slid off the bed. A loud humpf was heard before a snorting sigh.
“Wanna go to sleep?” He asked as the enderman vwooped slowly, tail swishing beginng to slow.
He crossed the room and switched the lamp off so the only glow of light came from the hallway. Tubbo sighed walking around their bed before retrieving the discarded blanket before crawling onto the mattress. To this, the enderman seemed to perk up tail smacking against him as Tubbo struggled to tuck the quilt under the mattress at the end of the bed but quickly gave up, shielding his head with his hands from the ongoing tail attacks.
“Cut it out big guy,” Tubbo hissed before falling back against the bed. Ranboo finally giving up to his antics for he had become unmoving beside the brunette. He would have thought the enderman was asleep until he heard long vwoops and whines to his left. Shifting to his side he faced Ranboo to see him unsatisfied with the Michael blanket. The bright purple eyes that still shocked him every time they peered at him widened until they looked like two full moons.
“What do you need now?” The brunette grumbled, not really willing to start a whole guessing game. Ranboo blinked.
“Blanket? Hug? Pat? Lights?” Tubbo scrunched up his nose trying to figure out what possibly the enderman could need. Although his guessing ended shortly for the enderman began to shuffle closer and closer until he was practically onto of the poor brunette.
“Ok, ok, hugs it is I guess,” Tubbo mumbled, rolling over so he could allow the enderman nearer.
Ranboo shifted a heavy head onto Tubbo’s chest so the brunette could pat his head. Tubbo yawned as he slipped a hand into Ranboo’s curls, carding his fingers through the multi-colored locks. Surprisingly it fell through his fingers with smooth movements, like silk. He had to carefully avoid clashing his hand into the set of horns but he managed to play with each strand, occasionally rubbing the endermans head.
A low growling sound made Tubbo stiffen. But then he realized the enderman wasn’t displaying aggressive behaviour but content. He was purring. Taken a back, the brunette let the soft vibrations play out while he listened in a mixture of shock and awe before threading his fingers into the velvety hair.
Time passed quickly for Tubbo had become tired of playing with the endermans hair, he finally gave in and slumped down into the mattress. Unfortunately doing so, he woke Ranboo who vwooped quietly before curling back around the brunette, caging him with his long arms and placing his head above Tubbo’s. It was odd, for the brunette didn’t realize that when Ranboo had become possessed he grew taller, he only came to the conclusion once trapped under the purring enderman.
It was the first time in a long time he felt safe next to his platonic husband in their bed. Using his free hand which wasn’t trapped under the enderman, Tubbo grabbed the blanket and tugged it over the two of them to the best of his ability then nestling close to keep away the crisp air.
The purring was soothing and smoothed over Tubbo’s anxious frayed edges, driving away all the unwanted voices nagging at him, eating up his brain space. It was steady and unchanging, something stable Tubbo could tie himself to. If he forgot something to say or do, he knew it could be resolved tomorrow for deep rumbling had brought a tsunami of tirdness.
And just like that, Tubbo fell asleep.
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