Work Text:
Tommy opened her eyes with an annoyed groan. “ Nhhhh -eh…”
Her bedroom was dark. Moonlight came in through the small window above her bed and cast a thin square of milky silver onto her bed, which was currently a mess of tangled blankets and scattered pillows, several of which had gone and fallen onto the shadowy moonlit floor.
It was quiet.
The only noises she could hear outside were that of the wind and a few crickets that chirped loudly as the grassy leaves of her home’s carrot patch rustled throughout the night.
There was another sound. This one came from inside her own room.
It sounded like a low growl. Wait. No. Not a growl.
A purr .
She looked down towards her feet to see where it was coming from…
…and saw two big, round, glowing purple eyes staring back.
“Hhhh, hiya Boo…”
Ranboo blinked as soon as she noticed him. Tommy heard him chitter something as he began to move. She watched with one eye barely half open as the ender hybrid crawled out of the shadows and scrambled towards her.
The enderian’s two tails swayed behind him, their black and white fur tufts raised high while his pointed ears were perked on either side of his horned head. He pulled himself up with his large, scaly claws, and then proceeded to flop down in the spot between Tommy and the packed earth wall the bed was pressed against in a sudden motion that caused the wooden boards of the frame to let out a soft creak.
Tommy watched, sleepy but amused, as Ranboo rolled over to face her, now laying on his side. In the patch of moonlight, she could see him smile and make out the distinct outline of two tiny, pearly fangs that poked out from his lips.
“Hullo there,” Tommy said, “ and how’re you doing?”
Ranboo answered with a small chirp that warbled in the back of his throat. “☌⍜⍜⎅! ⟟ ☊⏃⋔⟒ ⎎⍜⍀ ☊⎍⎅⎅⌰⟒⌇.”
“Yeah?” Tommy said slowly. She hardly understood a word of Ender. It was one of those languages that was easier to write in than it was to speak. She’d lost track of how many hours Ranboo had spent trying to help her learn it, going over the pronunciations while she copied the characters and symbols out of musty old books that they borrowed from Karl . “Are you doing okay?” She asked the young ender hybrid. “You feelin’ alright?”
Ranboo nodded and held up one of his claws. Tommy glanced and looked down at it. The scales on his fingers shone a shade of light silver, the pinkish tint of their usual ivory now gray in the light of the summer moon.
Tommy took Ranboo’s hand. She smiled while rubbing her thumb over his fingers. “It’s been a minute since you enderwalked. Did you come all the way her from Snowchester? Did ya get lost or something…?”
Ranboo shook his head.
“⋏⍜⌿⟒!” He chittered. “⋏⍜⏁ ⌰⍜⌇⏁! ⊑⏃⌿⌿⊬! ⎎⍜⎍⋏⎅ ⊬⍜⎍!”
He then bumped his head against where their fingers were locked together, his black claw reaching for her other hand as his tails dragged their way back and forth over the bed covers.
“⍙⏃⋏⏁⟒⎅ ⏁⍜ ☊⊑⟒☊☍ ⍜⋏ ⊬⍜⎍. ⋔⏃☍⟒ ⌇⎍⍀⟒ ⊬⍜⎍'⍀⟒ ⋏⍜⏁ ☊⍜⌰⎅.”
Tommy blinked. “Ranboo, do you need me to call Tubbo?”
Ranboo shook his head.
“Are you sure?”
Ranboo shook his head again. He frowned and looked sadly at her.
“Did you just come over ‘cause you wanna hang out?”
Ranboo smiled. His head bobbed.
Tommy sighed. “Hhh, oh- kaaaay . I guess we can chill…”
She began to pull away to roll out from under the covers. Normally when Ranboo enderwalked his way over to her place, Tommy would get up and fix them both something to eat. She’d often put on one of the old VHS tapes she had stuffed away in the busted up player that was set up along with the old box TV that occupied the corner of her home’s living room, then held Ranboo with any burns or tiny scratches he might’ve gotten while out on his nighttime wander.
She’d do that until it was either morning and she could call Tubbo, until Ranboo woke up naturally and could go back to Snowchester, or until Tubbo woke up, noticed a distinct lack of husband, and came running over with Michael in order to retrieve his platonic spouse.
On a few occasions, she had led Ranboo back to the mansion while he was still in enderwalk. On those nights, they’d take their time and spend a while just enjoying the night air. They’d look up at the stars. Maybe pick a few flowers that grew next to the Prime Path so Ranboo had a surprise gift for Tubbo come morning.
Tommy was already mulling over what to fix for them tonight. Hot cocoa or chai latte? Fries or cheese sticks?
Which movie would she go with? Moana? Tangled?
The other day, she’d gotten that one movie about the rabbits as a surprise from Wilbur. Watership Down. Or something. Would that be an okay one for Enderboo?
But just as she reached out and began to roll over, Tommy was forced to stop when, in a quick flash of movement, Ranboo lurched forward and wrapped an arm around her waist. His other arm moved over her chest before he used both to pull her back into bed, close to him.
“Ran?” Tommy said, both confused but mostly with concern.
When she looked at him, Tommy saw that Ranboo was frowning with his brow set in a firm furrow.
“Ranboo…?” She whispered, voice small.
Ranboo’s throat warbled as he hugged her close to his chest. “☊⍜⌰⎅,” he vvooped softly. “⌇⏁⏃⊬ ⟟⋏ ⏚⟒⎅. ⏚⟒⎅ ⟟⌇ ⍙⏃⍀⋔! ⎅⍜⋏'⏁ ⋏⟒⟒⎅ ⏁⍜ ☌⟒⏁ ⎍⌿. ⎅⍜⋏'⏁ ⋏⟒⟒⎅ ⟟⏁.”
He began to grab a few pillows and stacked them up against Tommy’s back and hunched shoulders. He also pulled a few blankets that had somehow gotten pushed up by the head of the bedframe and set them on top of her. He nudged at the pillows until they were in a small stack that formed into a small wall between Tommy and the rest of the bedroom.
“Do you not wanna get up?” Tommy asked while she watched him.
Ranboo nodded, pulled out another pillow, and placed it down in an empty spot next to her. He appeared to be content with his work for a moment, until his eyes flickered like violet flames when they blinked and he noticed something else.
“☊⍜⍙!” Ranboo chirped as he reached out and grabbed it. “⊑⟒⋏⍀⊬! ⎎⍜⍀ ⊬⍜⎍!”
“Oh…”
Ranboo had a plush cow squeezed gently between his claws. It was an old toy, a ratty old thing that was well-loved and therefore well-worn. Its fur used to be white with patches of tannish brown. Now it was all gray and dull, and maybe that was a bit sad. But its little face still wore a happy smile.
To be loved is to be changed, as the saying goes.
“Henry…”
Ranboo took great care as he tucked the plush between the two of them. He even pulled one of the blankets over until it reached the toy cow’s chin.
Seeing that made Tommy chuckle. “Oh, thank you Ranboo. That’s very sweet…”
Ranboo grinned. He squeezed her tightly. Tommy sighed and leaned into the warmth.
They were both quiet.
They laid there for a while.
It was nice.
The thing about Ranboo was that Ranboo was someone who, for all his quirks, was a very warm kind of chill. Tommy could always count on him to be there for her. She kind of fucking hated him at first…because of the whole marriage thing…because it happened when she died…while she was dead…because of Dream…in the prison.
She had been angry because it just hurt .
There was a short while where Tubbo didn’t seem to understand why she was so upset.
He didn’t seem to get that it wasn’t because he got married or because it was to Ranboo .
It was because he did it without her. It was because it happened before he ever decided it was okay for them to talk about exile. The night he finally did, she just cried and screamed and wailed and repeated over and over and over that she was sorry. That she knew she deserved it. That she knew she was bad and that she knew it was her fault, and that she understood if he hated her and was happy that she died, and that she just needed him to be honest about it, to be honest about not wanting to be friends, because him acting like nothing had happened when she was still picking chunks of blood out of her hair was torture .
Then she said she was sorry for not dying at that fucking pillar. That she was sorry that she died. That she was sorry she came back.
That was when Tubbo’s face thawed . Then Tubbo began to cry and took her gently into his arms.
“I’m sorry,” he’d said. “I didn’t mean to. I didn’t…I didn’t know. I’m so sorry, Tommy. I’m so fucking sorry…I love you…”
Then about a week or two later, she realized that she was a girl. That was a thing. That happened. Girl happened. To Tommy. Yeah.
It had been a very long two weeks. Lots of talks.
Lots of crying…
But they were alright now.
Ranboo moved after a few more minutes. He looked at her with his eyes slightly narrowed. Tommy tilted her head and looked back, noticing how the corners of his mouth now dipped slightly, his expression now one of concern mixed with sadness.
“What’s wrong?” Tommy asked.
Ranboo’s gaze shifted towards her left cheek. Tommy couldn’t see what he was looking at without a mirror. But she had an idea, and thinking about it made her frown.
She tilted her chin down a little. “Looking at my lil’ scar?” She said lowly.
Ranboo winced.
“Have I ever told you how I got it?”
He shook his head.
“I got it in exile,” Tommy explained. It was a surprise that she said it so easily, even to herself. “Dream was…well. He was being himself .”
For just a split second, Ranboo’s features twisted into some gnarled and furious. His eyes burned such an intense shade of neon purple that Tommy had to squint just to look at him. She quickly paused to bring a hand to one of his cheeks. She smiled, patted his face gently, and waited for him to settle back down against the pillows before she carried on slowly.
“I did something-” She quickly corrected herself, “- Dream got pissed about something I did, because he’s fuckin’ stupid like that. I can't remember what . Maybe I ate too much food or talked too loud or said something he didn’t like. But whatever it was, he got pissed off, started to yell…aaaand then he swung the axe. It hurt. B uuut I gotta cool scar out of it, so hey! That’s nice…”
Ranboo didn’t quite seem to agree. He frowned and brought his head down and began to nuzzle at Tommy’s hair. She sighed. “I know, I know. It’s sad. It sucks…”
“ ⊑⎍⍀⏁ ⊬⍜⎍. ⊑⏃⏁⟒ ⊑⟟⋔.”
Tommy patted his head. It didn’t hurt her to think about it anymore. Dream was in prison. He was gone, and he’d taken most of the pain he’d inflicted with him when he’d been locked up in that cell.
“It’s okay, though.” She told Ranboo. “I’m alright now. He’s locked up. He can’t hurt me anymore. Or you. Or Tubbo…”
“⊑⏃⏁⟒ ⊑⟟⋔,” Ranboo chirped.
Hate him.
That she understood.
“I know,” Tommy smiled, “same.”
After a brief pause, Ranboo settled down. Once he was sure that Tommy was okay, his throat rumbled with a low purr, at which point he sighed and began to lazily knead against the blankets with his monochrome talons.
Whenever he pressed his hands down, Tommy could feel his claws poke against her through the several lays of fluff n’ fabric.
She giggled.
She screwed her eyes shut and yawned loudly.
“Hm…okay. Goin’ to sleep now. You good w’th that, Boo?”
Ranboo answered with a short murp . Tommy took it as a yes and closed her eyes, moving her arms just a bit so that she was sure that she was holding Plushie Henry close while Ranboo did the same to her. When she breathed in deeply, she could smell the years of sunshine, warm earth, flowers and stardust that had built up on the little cow. It was the smell of the server's history. It made her feel at home .
“G’night,” she mumbled.
“⋏⟟☌⊑⏁-⋏⟟☌⊑⏁!” Ranboo chittered.
The leaves rustled in the wind. A milky moon hung above the hill, surrounded by a blue-black void that was adorned by a sea of diamond white stars.