Work Text:
Twin pairs of feet stomped over dried leaves and mulch. Sunrays beat down between the gaps of tree branches high above the forest floor. There, the two boys ran as fast as they could, trying to beat the other one in a race that didn’t really matter to them. Laughter bubbled from the children’s chests, getting swallowed by the greenery.
The finish line was a fallen down, rotting trunk with moss and mushrooms covering every inch. A bird watched as one kid took the lead, swerving around bushes and low branches. He wore a red shirt and too-big cargo pants held up by a makeshift belt made of string. Trailing behind the first boy was a slightly shorter kid with long, brown hair tangling in the breeze. This one wore a dirty green shirt and blue denim overalls.
By the time they reached their destination, both boys had mud covering everything from their knees down. At some point, the brunette had taken a tumble and now had leaves sticking onto his hair and clothing.
Puffing up his chest, the taller of the two boasted about his incredible speed and athleticism, as he reached the trunk just barely before the other.
Satisfied with their impromptu race, the pair took to leisurely walking further into the woods, hoping to find something that would strike their interest. Eventually, they stumbled upon a tall tree standing in the middle of a clearing. Gnarly roots shot out from the base of the trunk, threading through the soil. The blonde ran ahead to check out the new sight.
“Look at that!” Tommy called out from the other side of the tree. “It’s a weird-lookin’ rock.”
Tubbo made his way around the lush oak, trying to find the young blonde. When he got to the other side of the trunk, there was a very apparent lack of Tommy. After a second, Tubbo felt something bounce off the top of his head. Looking up, he saw his friend dangling from a low-hanging branch by his legs. In Tommy’s arms, he was armed with even more acorns ready to fire.
“Is there actually a cool rock,” Tubbo squinted at his friend, “or did you just want to hit me?”
“Yes, there is a rock,” Tommy said as he dropped all his pinecones onto the forest floor. He ungracefully fell from the tree, grunting as he made impact with the rough ground.
Tommy quickly gathered himself and stood next to his friend. He pointed away in front of them and there in the distance was the lumpy outline of a boulder. Standing there, he looked like a mini-explorer who just discovered new lands. Gnats and moths swarmed around the kids, reflecting light off their wings.
One glance at each other told the boys all they needed to know before they took off again with newfound energy. Tubbo managed to get a headstart on Tommy as maneuvered around the undergrowth.
They both arrived at the giant rock and took in the beauty of the surrounding woods. The rock itself had a flat top, dusted with lichen and other small plants. A group of butterflies previously resting on the rock took off once they were disturbed by the presence of two humans. The grass around the boulder was interspliced with lilac-colored flowers and white dandelions.
Large trees towered over the rock. Large leaves floated down from tall branches, each with a slight orange tint to them. Saplings grew around the bases of each tree, adding bright hues to a forest comprised of deep greens.
Tommy began to pick up leaves from the ground and shove them in his many pockets. Tubbo then followed him by picking up purple flowers and holding them delicately in his hands.
“My name is The- This- Thusis-” Tommy stuttered, stopping in his tracks as he tried to remember the hero of the story his older brother had told him.
“Theseus?” Tubbo supplied.
“Yes!” he jumped up and resumed collecting leaves, “And yours is Bee.”
“That’s kinda lame,” Tubbo complained.
“Shush, Bee Boy,” Tommy held up his hand, adding emphasis to his command, “we need more ingredients.”
Tubbo obliged and went on to gather leaves with Tommy. Once they were satisfied with their assortment of leaves, they placed them on top of a smooth rock they found beside a tree. Tommy grabbed yet another small rock and crouched in front of his crude mortar and pestle.
Tubbo searched for loose pieces of bark on the sides of trees while his friend made a chlorophyll paste from crushed leaves.
“What’s on the menu today?” Tubbo asked, facing away from Tommy.
“It’s not food,” Tommy said indignantly as he made a face, “it’s medicine!”
“Oh! Who’s our client?” Tubbo turned back to look at Tommy, now interested in where their story was going.
“Hm,” Tommy tapped his chin, “Someone very rich and cool.”
The sound of buzzing mosquitoes surrounded them as they ran through every name they could possibly think of that fit the criteria in their eyes.
“Like Shroud!” Tubbo finally shouted.
“Exactly like Shroud. Thank you, Mr. Bee.”
Tommy leaned back over his pile of leaves, determined to make the paste as smooth as possible (spoiler alert: it was not very smooth).
“I think we should be witches,” Tubbo called out suddenly.
“Okay! We can live in the woods and make medicine and get rich and have lots of dogs.”
Tubbo returned to his friend’s side with a slightly-curved piece of bark in his hands. He handed it to a confused Tommy until he pointed at the leaf mixture to his left. Tommy then scrambled to scoop the green goop onto the bark. He then sprinkled on the purple flowers as a garnish.
“All done!” The two boys gazed at their masterful creation. They truly cured every disease with this ingenious medicine.
Tubbo started twirling around in circles until he spotted the very rock that drew them to the area they were standing in now,
“Let’s climb it!” Tubbo turned to his friend, waiting for reciprocated enthusiasm.
And as all good friends do, Tommy shared his excitement.
With a decent amount of difficulty, the pair managed to make it to the top of the rock. Despite how large the rock had seemed, it wasn’t spacious enough for two seven-year-olds. They both crouched awkwardly, trying hard not to knock the other off.
“So, Theseus,” Tubbo started, “what are your great plans?”
“I think we need to expand our business,” he considered, “and we can make this spot our HQ!”
“Sounds good!”
The two of them sat there for a while, in silence. Tubbo opened the button on the breast pocket of his overalls and took out a sandwich bag full of a trail mix of Honey Nut Cheerios and Goldfish. He held them out to Tommy as a silent invitation and Tommy graciously took a handful. They listened to the soft whispering of trees being swayed by the wind.
“I think we need help with our medicine, Theseus.”
“Why?” Tommy replied with a mouth full of dry cereal and crackers.
“We only know one recipe!” Tubbo exclaimed. “We need someone to work for us.”
Tommy considered this proposal for a few seconds. “I can annoy Wilbur into helping us next time?”
Tubbo nodded, satisfied with their unwilling employee to help them build a medicinal empire. He was happy with their plans to live in the woods for the rest of their lives. They didn’t really need anyone else, anyway. They had each other and that was enough.
They sat on the rock for longer, expanding on their plans for their great business. And sometimes when they temporarily ran out of ideas, they would update each other on the latest news in their lives. Tommy went to the dentist a few days ago and the doctor told him he would need braces eventually. Tubbo’s dad bought a fancy new car. Tommy’s brother started taking fencing lessons and the other brother just performed a piano recital. Tubbo scored a perfect score on his latest math test.
Satisfied with their talk, Tommy hopped off the rock, followed by Tubbo. They shook out their limbs of static and dirt after sitting in one spot for so long.
Looking down, Tubbo picked up a dandelion at his feet and handed it to Tommy.
“Make a wish,” he said.
“I wish that we’ll always be best friends forever!” Tommy exhaled on the flower. They both watched as the petals were taken up by the wind and carried his wish to the heavens.
“Hey, Tubbo.”
“I thought you called me Bee-”
“Tubbo. Tubs. Tubster.”
“What?”
A long pause.
“Do you remember how to get home?”
Tubbo started laughing at his friend until Tommy joined in as well. They headed back in the direction they came from, eventually finding familiar terrain that lead them back to their families. They parted and walked back to their separate homes, their separate lives.
Tommy stood in the long morning line of the café. He was home for the holidays for the first time in what felt like years and decided to visit a coffee shop that had opened up while he was gone. Though placed inside a strip mall, the inside was quaint and homely. The walls were painted emerald green with one accent wall beige. Framed paintings covered the walls, ranging from landscapes of local wildlife to abstract art. The right side of the building held many small tables with a few seats around each. The left side had more comfortable seating—couches and armchairs with plush pillows and short coffee tables. Customers sitting all around filled the café with soft chatter. Towards the back of the café were the ordering counter and all the baristas.
He slowly made his way closer to the counter, waiting to order his drink. Tommy had figured that he went late enough to avoid most of the morning rush, yet somehow there were still many patrons in the shop.
“Can I get a spiced apple caramel brown sugar macchiato with whipped cream, please?” Tommy said, finally in front of a barista. The employee stared at him for a second before punching his drink into the machine.
“Will that be all?” The woman had curly hair that was partially dyed white. Tommy nodded as he took out his wallet.
“Did you just move here?” the employee— Puffy was written on her name tag—asked.
“Huh?” Tommy answered before his brain could catch up. “Oh, no. I’m just visiting from college.” He shuffled awkwardly at how out of place he felt in his own hometown.
“Well then welcome back!” Puffy said before telling him the price of his drink.
Tommy paid and then stepped off to the side, allowing the next person to place their order. He stood near the pick-up counter and waited for his coffee. Quickly getting bored, he took out his phone and checked his socials.
After a few minutes, a different barista called out his name. But that didn’t matter because a few short seconds later. he heard a voice that made his heart falter.
“Theseus?”
Tommy looked up and sure enough, standing a few feet away from him was his old childhood friend.
“Holy shit,” Tommy breathed to himself.
Forgetting all about his drink, Tommy stepped into action and approached Tubbo. And like nothing had changed, they crashed into each other, hugging each other as tight as they did when they were little.
“It’s so good to see you, man!” Tommy said as he pulled back from the hug.
“Yeah! It’s been forever,” Tubbo said with a smile.
They stood there for a few awkward seconds before Tommy jumped back into action. He quickly grabbed his drink from the counter before ushering Tubbo towards one of the open couches.
“How’ve you been, Tubs?” Tommy asked as he tried to remember the last time the two of them spoke, much less saw each other.
They had been inseparable for so much of their lives and menaces to their teachers. But once they hit high school, they realized that they had new interests and new goals that meant they couldn’t spend every second together—though they’d be damned if they didn’t at least try. Tubbo had his heart set on an early college that he would go to at the start of his junior year and Tommy was content carrying out a regular high school experience.
“I’ve been good. I’ve been good,” he replied, still seeming a bit dazed that he was talking to his old friend. “How about you?”
“I’ve been amazing,” Tommy grinned at Tubbo.
“How are your brothers doing?”
“They’re great! Technoblade started working with the university a few towns over as a history professor. And Wilbur just finished composing this huge score for a commission.” Tommy was so proud of his older brothers for all they were accomplishing.
“How has engineering been treating ya?” Tommy tilted his head.
“It’s awesome! Those two years of early college really helped me get ahead in the program. I even managed to get into an accelerated master's degree! This year, I started interning at the nuclear power plant near where I live. Oh! And I’ve been looking into some graduate schools-” Tubbo cut himself off, “Sorry, I’m rambling.”
“It’s no problem,” Tommy says genuinely. “That all sounds cool as fuck!”
“What about you? How’s film school?”
Tommy grinned slightly; he knew that Tubbo knew what he was getting himself into when he asked that question. For the next half hour, the two of them took turns rambling about their fields of choice. They soaked up all the information shared and gave back as much energy as each other, even though most of the time they had no idea what the other was saying.
Eventually, they ran out of things to say about their lives. They sat there for a moment, taking sips from their respective drinks and just enjoying each other’s presence.
As hard as they tried, the two of them slowly lost contact over the years. They both ended up moving away from their hometown and somehow managed to move to almost opposite sides of the country. Messages and calls were few and far between. As kids, they could never imagine not speaking to each other, but school and work just became so time-consuming that their friendship was put on the back burner until it was eventually left unchecked. It was nice to know that after all this time, they could still easily talk to each other.
Tubbo was the first to speak up.
“I’m sorry we haven’t spoken much recently.”
“It’s alright,” he meant it. “We’ve both been busy with our own things.”
“That doesn’t excuse everything though,” Tubbo sat up straighter, “I should’ve texted or called or something . Just- I’m sorry.”
“Thanks,” Tommy inhaled, “and I should’ve tried harder, too.”
“Hey, but we happened to run into each other now,” Tubbo smiled, “and that’s all that matters now.”
“Yeah,” Tommy returned the smile, “it is.”
They talked for longer until the morning rush of people began to clear out. Getting up from their seats, the two friends gave each other a parting hug and promised to stay in touch. And they did.