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“Hey love bug.” Ranboo’s incredibly soft voice whispered into Tubbo’s headset as Tubbo hummed, reading chat to make sure he had properly muted Ranboo.
“Hello Ranboo!” Tubbo smiled, “Chat can’t hear you!”
“Yes, honey, I know. You told me that.” Ranboo clearly had a fond smile on his face. “Sorry for calling in the middle of the stream, I just know that I’ve been busy lately with Christmas and then I had to go offline for a while a few days after and I’m unsure how the rest of my day will go.” Ranboo sounded nervous, as if Tubbo would ever be mad at him for interrupting. Tubbo would end the stream if Ranboo asked, he wouldn’t do that, but still.
“Well it’s always nice to talk to you, pal.” Tubbo smiled, “are you watching my stream?”
“Of course I’m watching your stream.” Ranboo paused for a moment and Tubbo saw his discord icon struggling to load for a moment before Ranboo’s face appeared. Ranboo grabbed his face mask and put it on.
“Why'd you do that?” Tubbo’s brows furrowed.
“I can play off pet names if I accidentally get heard, I can’t take back my face.” Ranboo was clearly still smiling fondly and Tubbo took it as a good enough sign. “How was Christmas?”
“You already asked me that- but it was good! I wish I wasn’t scared to ride on planes alone though.” Tubbo said with a slight frown. “Wait, where the hell are you? You aren’t in your room.”
Ranboo chuckled, “I’m not in my room.”
“Isn’t it 2am for you?” Tubbo asked, “why’s it not dark? And why is chat saying you’re in the UK?”
Ranboo chuckled and the door to the studio opened, “I’m streaming!” Tubbo warned whichever family member entered.
“I know that you’re streaming.” Ranboo said.
“What no- I was talking to whoever opened the door to the studio. Probably Lani since my mum knows I’m streaming. Oh shit chat heard you.”
Ranboo chuckled again, “of course they heard me, but you should really check who walked in, it could be important.”
“You won’t hang up?”
“Of course not.”
Tubbo took his headset off and turned around only to find.. Ranboo. Oh sick when did he get here?
Tubbo went to turn back around to talk to Ranboo and tell him that it wasn’t Lani but in fact Ranboo.
Ranboo only laughed and Tubbo’s jaw dropped. He fumbled to mute and ran over to the taller, jumping up and wrapping his legs around Ranboo’s waist in a koala hug. Tubbo nuzzled his face into Ranboo’s neck and Ranboo held him with ease, laughing.
Ranboo turned them so his back was to the camera. Tubbo grabbed Ranboo’s mask and tugged one of the strings off an ear, letting the mask hang from the ear it was still attached to.
“The camera.” Ranboo said softly, “they’ll see you kiss me.” Ranboo watched as Tubbo’s eyes were locked on his lips and Tubbo frowned.
Ranboo chuckled slightly and pressed a gentle kiss to Tubbo’s cheek, “I missed you too, honey.”
Tubbo smiled as he tucked his head back into Ranboo’s neck. “Can we end my stream and cuddle?”
Ranboo nodded and let Tubbo put his mask back on, “it’s hilarious to me that Mr I’m-too-good-for-physical-touch wants to cuddle.” Ranboo spoke, walking over to the setup, not bothered by Tubbo still in his hold. Stream could suck it up.
Ranboo plopped himself in Tubbo’s chair, allowing the brunette to keep his koala hug on him, he heard a faint ‘shut the fuck up’ and laughed again.
Ranboo unmuted, “hey guys, since this was clearly not planned and Tubbo didn’t sleep at all last night, we’re gonna end the stream here and tomorrow or the day after we can do a Beeduo stream. Hope you all have good nights. And to make it official:” Ranboo clapped his hands, “welp!” Then ended the stream.
He closed down everything and picked Tubbo up, carrying him to the couch and sitting with him, turning something on TV and pulling a blanket over them.
He took his mask off and tossed it onto the table, his other hand rubbing shapes on Tubbo’s back as he whispered about how much he had missed Ranboo.
Ranboo kissed Tubbo on the head before putting a finger under his chin and forcing them to hold eye contact for a moment. Tubbo breathed out a larger breath than usual, probably in annoyance that Ranboo was taking too long to kiss him.
And with that, Ranboo pressed their lips together, his hand moving to hold the back of Tubbo’s neck, fingers grabbing brown hair slightly.
Tubbo’s hands stayed around Ranboo’s neck as he lazily kissed back, completely melted into a state of relaxment being in his boyfriend's arms again.
“We have plans tonight.” Ranboo whispered, afraid to break the atmosphere after almost an hour of silently cuddling with a few mumbled whispers of sweet words to each other.
“You’ve got me all warm and loopy for what?” Tubbo groaned, “I don’t wanna.”
“You’ll like these plans, honey.” Ranboo promised, “and nothing too bad. God knows I would rather not do people today.”
“So then why go out? We can stay in.” Tubbo pouted, “I don’t care if I’ll like it. I like you more.”
Ranboo cooed, “Aw baby, I love you too.” Ranboo moved them so he was holding Tubbo’s face in his hands, peppering gentle kisses all over his face. “My precious lovebug.”
“Ew, affection.” Tubbo furrowed his brows and weakly pushed at Ranboo’s chest with no real force in an ‘Attempt’ to get Ranboo to stop the kisses.
Ranboo chuckled, “Go get dressed up all cute, not like you’d have to try hard for that.”
Tubbo glared and clambered away from Ranboo and to the loft to change. Ranboo’s bags were still in the walkway so he grabbed clothes from there and changed in the bathroom.
Tubbo and Ranboo met up in the living room, Tubbo was in a black turtleneck with a few necklaces and black track pants while Ranboo was in a sweater and dark jeans, rings hugging his slender fingers and his usual heart locket, Tubbo was also wearing the familiar piece of jewelry. “You look adorable.” Ranboo smiled and kissed Tubbo’s head ever so gently.
“Will you tell me what we’re doing?” Tubbo asked, grabbing them both Ranboo’s merch masks and taking Ranboo’s hand for them to leave the house. Tubbo slipped the mask onto both of their faces while Ranboo swung their arms as they walked.
“We’re going for a walk through a vineyard where they give us wine samples, expensive cheese and endless crackers.” Ranboo said and rubbed his thumb on Tubbo’s knuckles as they walked, Tubbo seemed excited for the plan.
The evening had been going great, both had pink dusted cheeks from the cold, the wine and from all the sweet kisses they shared, adding to the intoxication of the night.
“Oh look, Lovebug, ‘Cute Platonic Ranboo and Tubbo moments’ is trending right now!” Ranboo beamed with amusement as Tubbo laughed, looking at Ranboo’s screen in disbelief.
“Can we please joke about this on stream?” Tubbo asked, still chuckling.
“Of course, Love.” Ranboo smiled fondly.
*
“So today, we’re exploring each other’s notes app!” Tubbo exclaimed, “I came up with this idea 5 minutes ago and Tommy said it would be really funny!”
Ranboo blinked at Tubbo, even lowering his glasses to exaggerate his dumbfounded expression. “We’re doing what now?!”
Tubbo chuckled and held his phone out towards Ranboo who quickly swapped their phones and opened Tubbo’s with swift accuracy, Tubbo doing the same. “You aren’t going to get banned for anything in here right?” Ranboo asked and Tubbo laughed. Ranboo admired Tubbo’s gentle smile as he laughed, studying how pretty he looked while laughing.
“You’re so-” Ranboo caught himself and pink started to flood his face and ears, Tubbo surely noticed.
“I’m what?” Tubbo asked, softly.
Ranboo smiled fondly even if his face was covered by the mask and glasses. “You’re.. you’re just- this idea is strange, man.” Great deflection, 100%, top performance, totally not suspicious because you totally remembered chat doesn’t know about you and Tubbo dating.
Tubbo laughed again, slowing Ranboo’s heart for a moment as love swirled his brain, leaving him woozy.
Ranboo was surely smiling like a love struck idiot and he couldn’t care less, because holy shit Tubbo was all his.
“Just for that, your notes are being read first.” Tubbo hummed and opened the app, “alright chat, he has a shopping list.”
Ranboo leaned back in his chair, his notes app was fine, he kept stream ideas in there at most.
“It’s pretty boring, just streaming ideas. This one here is literally called ‘RanbooSaysStreamIdeas’.” Tubbo watched as Ranboo tensed at the name of the note.
“Is this one not actually stream ideas and the title is a lie?”
Ranboo shook his head, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Tubbo squinted his eyes and clicked into the note, “ooo chat, it’s a secret note!”
Ranboo leaned forward slightly and Tubbo kept talking, “it’s another list.”
Tubbo hummed, “Brown Bunny, Chocolate, Caramel, Pink Flowers, The Sunrise, Mining Streams, Bee Blanket, Wired Earbuds, The faint static of late night discord calls, warm cookies, slow music past midnight, sunsets, fireflies, gentle snowfall, the moon, the stars, honey.” Tubbo said. There were so many more things on the list and it never seemed to stop, but he was confused. What was this a list of?
Ranboo was dark red and had his hood over his head with the strings pulled tightly. Tubbo walked over and loosened the strings, giving away a soft smile to a very embarrassed Ranboo.
Ranboo wanted to kiss him enough times to keep the smile on his face for the rest of time. But he couldn’t. They were being watched and no one knew of their relationship.
Tubbo glanced at chat and he saw Wilbur had been spamming “It’s for you, Bee Boy!” And “Things that remind him of you!” And Tommy seemed to agree with Wilbur. Chat was off the rails.
Tubbo offered a gently hand in Ranboo’s where the camera couldn’t see after sitting down and laughed, “now guys, before we finish this and let Ranboo go through my phone,” Tubbo paused and inched his chair closer to Ranboo so Ranboo could rest their enclosed hands on Tubbo’s leg, “let’s talk about the trending Beeduo video of our best platonic moments this month!”
“Maybe we should play it and make fun of people~” Ranboo offered and Tubbo accepted the offer happily.
They never did get to Tubbo’s notes app.
*
“Twitter is shipping you guys again.” Tommy said, sitting across from them, Wilbur taking the seat next to Tommy at some small cafe. Ranboo had been in the UK for two days already and Tubbo kept noticing the weird looks he was getting from Wilbur. Ranboo seemed unimpressed by the faces he was receiving.
“Yeah, or saying they love our platonic-ness. Fuckin’ weirdos.”
The waitress handed them a few menus and Ranboo and Wilbur broke their gaze to look at her, they could tell she was a fan of at least one of the four at the table with the sparkle in her eyes as she talked to them. Tommy was paying attention to her words while Tubbo was staring at the menu. Wilbur and Ranboo were silently communicating about the waitress before Ranboo spoke up, “Would you like a picture with one of us?”
“Ranboo, you can’t just ask a random person that, not everyone watches us.” Tubbo said and the waitress nodded.
“Can I just take a selfie with all of you? I won’t post it until much later tonight or even tomorrow in case someone recognizes the place.”
“Of course.” Ranboo said and didn’t think much about his glasses as the girl angled her phone to get all four them into a selfie with her, Tubbo ended up covering Ranboo’s eyes partially and if after the selfie, the fan noticed Ranboo kiss Tubbo’s knuckles, she didn’t say anything and took their orders.
“How’d you know she was a fan?” Tommy asked.
“It was pretty obvious.” Wilbur said, and had the same glare while looking at Ranboo that he had before. Tubbo was about to bring it up but their drinks were brought out to them. He only sighed and put it behind him.
Until Wilbur had his phone out and clearly texted Ranboo, now they were both texting back and forth while Tommy and Tubbo held a conversation, both distracted by the other two at the table.
“What are they on about?” Tommy asked and Tubbo shrugged. “I was going to ask you.”
Ranboo slammed his phone down on the table and stared at his to-go cup and bag of food before sighing, “I’m gonna go out to the car and eat.” Ranboo stood up and kissed Tubbo on the head through his mask, taking his food and walking out of the cafe.
“Wil, what did you do?” Tommy asked and Wilbur rolled his eyes. Tubbo glanced at the door before back at Wilbur.
“Nothing, I was talking to him about him leaving so soon.” Tubbo winced at the words, he didn’t need the reminder.
“What?” Tommy asked.
“He’s leaving in two days.” Wilbur said, “And we got into a fight over how unfair he was being to Tubs.”
Tubbo sighed, “I told him it was fine to leave that early, even if I don’t want him to, he wasn’t supposed to be here right now. He has so many things lined up to do in America that I feel bad he even came. Of course I’m happy he’s here and of course I’m going to miss him but we can’t control things like this in our career paths.” Tubbo pulled out enough cash to pay for all of their meals and a hefty tip before leaving the cafe and going to the car. It was Tubbo’s dad’s car but Ranboo had gotten his license to drive in the UK.
“Hey lovebug.” Ranboo offered a smile, then a forehead kiss, “I’m finished eating and I was about to head back insi- mmph ” Ranboo had been pulled into a kiss to which he processed quickly and kissed back, his hand gently finding Tubbo’s jaw, rubbing his thumb over the soft skin.
They pulled away after a moment and Ranboo’s cheeks were a light pink, “Hello to you too.”
Tubbo smiled, “Hello.”
Ranboo chuckled and kissed Tubbo on the nose, “Go home and watch movies?”
“I thought you had a stream?” Tubbo asked while getting buckled and watching Ranboo put the car in gear.
“I’ll push it back till later, I wanna watch a movie with you.”
Tubbo snickered, “You wanna makeout with me while a movie is playing in the background.”
“Yes.” Ranboo smiled and offered his hand to the brunette who grabbed it happily. It was easy to forget he would be leaving so soon.
*
Tubbo glanced at his boyfriend before swiftly looking away, repeating the action a few times till Chat started pointing it out to the dirty blonde who was cleaning his glasses. Ranboo turned to Tubbo who was seated next to him, getting the movie set up for a movie night with Chat. It was Ranboo’s last day and they planned to do a movie night with chat before going for a walk on the beach and having their own movie night alone afterwards. Ranboo would be leaving early in the morning.
Ranboo gave a soft smile, his eyes squinting from the pure smile he offered and Tubbo’s heart melted, his shoulders relaxing as he gave a small smile back. The small interaction brought Tubbo back months ago to their first in-person movie night-
Ranboo offered a caring smile at Tubbo who was sitting on the couch with an arm full of snacks, Tubbo offered an innocent smile back, not picking up how Ranboo never offered such a sacred and caring smile to anyone else, not at first.
The movie had started but Tubbo noticed he seemed more interesting to Ranboo than the movie. His eyes had such a soft look in them and he looked at Tubbo like he had hung the stars. Tubbo couldn’t figure out why he deserved such a look from the dirty blonde, what had Tubbo done?
“You alright Bossman?” Tubbo asked, their eyes connecting for a moment before Tubbo’s heart melted at the softness on his friend’s face and broke the eye contact, knowing Ranboo was still staring.
“You’re my best friend.” Ranboo said, his voice was impossibly soft and as he spoke the room seemed to grow silent. Tubbo looked back at Ranboo’s face, heart melted to liquid. The room was dark and the only light was from the TV that had seemed to fade away into the background. Tubbo could tell Ranboo’s eyes were taking in any feature he could from the dim light as Tubbo moved slightly, their legs brushing, causing a faint pink to dust Tubbo’s cheeks.
The attention he was getting was the right amount of overwhelming.
Tubbo now knew why Ranboo was giving him the face he was, it was nothing other than love. He thought he would run away as he allowed himself to process that, but he didn’t. He offered a warm smile, “You’re my best friend as well, big guy.” Tubbo shifted to keep their bodies pressed together as he looked back at the movie. It was now his turn to give glances Ranboo’s way.
Ranboo left his glasses off as his body softened, “You alright?” He was talking in an incredibly soft voice, “You keep staring.”
“Just thinkin’.” Tubbo said like it was enough, like Ranboo would leave it at that. He should have known better, but he had been thinking about a lot of things.
“Like what?” Ranboo asked, his glasses being set on his lap, Chat having a field day with the eye content they were getting, a few people trying to talk about the conversation and how soft the two were.
Tubbo let out a sigh, “You leaving.”
Ranboo’s heart dropped and everyone could just tell. His whole body slumped in defeat as his eyes found the floor, “Right. Well we still have time.” His voice sounded as if he were normal as he offered a smile but the way his hands were squeezing his glasses like they would slip from reality was enough proof he was pushing his way through the sinking feeling in his chest. “We should uhm start the movie before it gets too late.” Ranboo said and grabbed a few things, letting Tubbo follow him to the couch once he made sure everything was set up and both their personal mics worked.
They started the movie and draped a blanket over them, not sitting on opposite ends of the couch, but not too close for chat to get suspicious.
The movie was about 2 hours long and once it ended, Ranboo stepped behind the camera to take a few sips of water before going back and helping Tubbo get things cleaned up. They cleaned in silence and it worried chat that there was an issue between the two.
“If we leave in like 20 minutes the weather should be go-” Ranboo started but was interrupted by a startling confession; “I hate missing you, please don’t go.”
Ranboo dropped the blanket he was folding and walked over to Tubbo, wrapping his arms around the smaller, giving zero care to the stream. “Toby..” Ranboo mumbled, disconnecting their mics.
“Boo, please don’t go.. Please don’t leave. Just stay.. Stay here and love me.”
Ranboo rocked them slightly, rubbing shapes with his fingers on Tubbo’s back. “Baby, I love you. I will always love you, no matter here or in America.”
“You’re going home too quickly.” Tubbo mumbled into Ranboo’s chest, “I can’t keep missing you, it hurts.”
Ranboo kissed Tubbo through his mask, “I’m sorry baby, I’m so sorry..” Ranboo squeezed Tubbo closer, “I’m sorry for hurting you.”
“Not your fault.” Tubbo sighed, “We just got no time together.. It feels like you got here yesterday and I know I’m being selfish and not cool but I just really missed you and now I have to really miss you more.” Tubbo sniffled and that officially broke Ranboo’s heart.
Ranboo stepped back just enough to hold Tubbo’s face in his hands, “Let me end the stream and then overwhelm you with kisses, okay?”
Tubbo nodded and hid behind Ranboo as he walked over and ended the stream. Ranboo put the cover on the camera and shut down the monitors before walking over, taking his mask off and dragging Tubbo down on the couch with him, peppering kisses all over his face.
They fell asleep on the couch that night, cuddling.
*
“Boo, you’ve gotta get up to catch your flight.” Tubbo said, leaving soft kisses on his boyfriend’s face, earning a soft smile.
“Usually I’m the one who wakes you with kisses.” Ranboo said, his voice graveled from sleep.
“Yes, well, you have a plane to catch.”
Ranboo chuckled and pulled Tubbo tightly into his arms, closing his eyes again, “Mmm no.”
“Mmm yes, Boo.” Tubbo said, trying to sit up.
“I canceled last night.” Ranboo said casually and Tubbo frowned, “That’s not funny.”
“Not a joke.” Ranboo said, “Now cuddle me and go back to sleep, I’m tired and you must be from how late we stayed up last night. Not complaining that I got to kiss you though. I love kissing you.”
Tubbo huffed, “Are you really staying?”
“For 3 weeks.” Ranboo said, kissing Tubbo on the head. Tubbo gasped in excitement and allowed himself to relax into the warmth of his boyfriend.
“Thank you.” Tubbo whispered after a few moments in silence.
“I was tired of missing you too, Honey.” Ranboo admitted and kissed Tubbo on the head, both slowly drifting off afterwards.