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Draco could be a bit of an idiot sometimes.
This is something his siblings can concede with little guilt or hesitation, which included Tubbo as the newest member. Yes, it'd been two or so years since Tubbo was assimilated into KREW, two or so years of tossing back and forth between staying and helping KrewTown flourish, or going back to serve his country and fulfill his duty as President.
If you, dear KF, had been following so far, it would come to no surprise that Tubbo had chosen the former.
But all that besides the point— Draco is, without a doubt, monumentally, an idiot.
They were only supposed to go to the Hub for the update of their server, and to restock on any supplies they couldn't get inside of KrewCraft.
They, obviously, ended up doing more than that, checking out the latest Bedrock accessories and the upcoming April Fool's event, which KREW had decided to add to KrewCraft for the enjoyment of them and KF. A season special, Funneh had put it. Tubbo wished they had that back in DreamSMP.
It spiralled into them meeting with old friends—some of who Tubbo freaked out about because apparently, they got into touch with some of Tubbo's idols—and Tubbo wandering off on the instruction of Lunar. She just waved him off to some more stalls and booths, kindly telling him that he didn't need to stick around for the gossip they dealed in, and while Tubbo protested, he was eventually ejected out into the wild. He took no offense, but honestly, they should warn him next time if they were going to “introduce” him to some of the pillars of the community.
So here Tubbo was, admiring more Bedrock accessories and wondering whether or not he should get a Bedrock account just for the swag, when a commotion erupted in the middle of the pathway. He turned around to see what was happening and, lo and behold, a familiar raven-head was squabbling with a guy in a blue poncho. Why does this not surprise anyone?
Tubbo makes his way over, starting to hear bits and pieces of the cause. “—and it's not yours in the first place!” — “well, then, it's not yours either! Bitch!”
Tubbo stops in his tracks. Something about the stranger's inflection—
“Tubs!” Draco spotted him, and dragged him out of the crowd that begun to form around them. “Help me set this guy straight! I had my eye on this item—”
“Oi!” The stranger barked, bringing up their fists. “I had my eye on my item first!”
“I thought we both agreed it wasn't anyone's?!”
Tubbo was about to interject when the stranger made a grab for Draco’s hand. “You're holding it!”
Draco raised his fist a little higher. “Oh just try me!”
“Enough!” Tubbo barks, getting in between the two. He whispers glaringly towards Draco, “you prick, what happened?!”
The stranger picked up in Tubbo’s words, and shouted in stead of Draco, “get your idiot under control!”
“My sisters aren't here at the moment!” Draco shouted back, a feral grin alighting his face.
“You're the idiot, asshole!” Tubbo fired at Draco, annoyance and amusement coloring his tone. Then, as the stranger and Draco get back into their shouting match, Tubbo can't help but feel pieces click into place. There's something off about this stranger.
“Tomathy!” Another guy came barreling out of the crowd, in a matching red poncho. Their arms were crossed as they approached. “Honestly, can't leave you alone for six minutes? And here I thought I could trust you this time around!”
Tomathy. That nickname—
Red poncho guy finally separated the three of them, not without both Draco and blue poncho guy blowing raspberries at one another. Then, before anyone knew it, Tubbo was twisting his body in front of Draco, pushing red poncho guy away from them. The crowd around them gasped as the two strangers backed away from him.
Tubbo breathed, nice and slow. His mind started to catch up with the rest of his body. Blond hair, freckles, eyes that screamed something wrong—
“Tubbo?” Draco whispered gently, at the same time blue poncho guy shouted, “Oi, wrongin! Do you know who you're pointing your sword at?!”
Tubbo grit his teeth, failing to suppress a growl. He felt heavy eyes travel downwards, and Tubbo finally registered the heavy weight in his hands. Oh, whatever. He won't question why blue poncho guy stares at him with something close to familiarity, why he suddenly has a weapon despite knowing he unloaded earlier that day, in order to have some semblance of peace with his family. He won't question that, because right now, he just can't shake off the danger he feels confronted with this person.
Red poncho guy relaxes— relaxes? —and carefully, with about as much gentleness as one would with a wild animal, turns the point of Tubbo's sword away from him. “Whoa there, fella. Don't quite get why you're pointing your sword at me and not my brother here—” and at this, blue poncho guy scowled at his brother— “but I think you and I don't want this to escalate from a squabble over a trinket to a full-on bar fight, hm?”
“Don't know who you are,” Tubbo forced out in return. Upon hearing red poncho guy’s words, Tubbo felt the slight inclination to lower his weapon, but his body was frozen like his life depended on it.
The crowd that surrounded them started to disperse with how long the altercation was taking. It was enough for the rest of KREW to spot them, and they soon rushed over. “What's going on here?” Rainbow demanded. Draco tugged at Tubbo’s arm, but it never fell from its position.
Red poncho guy ignored the newcomers, keeping their eyes on Tubbo. “Same. How about we get to know each other then?”
It was like Tubbo was transfixed, or probably stuck in time. Slowly, Tubbo's arm seemed to back down, and red poncho guy stepped forward. The spell was broken when blue poncho guy complained, “Grain, we are not about to do what I think we're about to do.”
Whatever illusion Tubbo had on the guy shattered, and Tubbo's sword completely fell out of his grip. “Grian?”
Red poncho guy— Grian —sighed through his nose, and turned on his companion, scolding him. Draco dove for Tubbo’s sword, stashing it safely in his own inventory. He eyes Tubbo carefully. “Hey, Tubbo, what's up?”
The sisters were upon him at once, but Tubbo couldn't really focus on their barrage of questions when the Grian Dreamslayer was right in front of him.
Like a light switch, Tubbo registered what Grian actually looked like. Nothing like the apparition of— of Dream that fell over him— Grian’s hair was more of a mousy color, all fluffed up and sticking at angles that suggested windswept. And— oh man, he really does have a waffle head.
“Tubbo!” Fingers snapped in front of his vision, and Tubbo refocused on his family. Guilt washed over him over seeing their concern. “What happened?”
“It was Draco's fault,” Tubbo said immediately. Draco squawked, but backed down when Tubbo gave him a look.
“Okay, yeah, I initiated it,” Draco amended quickly, but he was just as fast to narrow his eyes at him. “But what happened to you, dude? Was he…?”
“No!” Tubbo exclaimed, looking rapidly from their faces. “That's—! Literally Grian Dreamslayer! Um— I guess I thought he looked like someone I knew, from there.”
His family breathed a collective sigh of relief. “Why did you bring a sword?” Was all Gold huffed exasperatedly. Tubbo chuckled quietly, doing his best to look bashful.
“Force of habit.”
“A habit,” Rainbow flicked Tubbo’s forehead, and he emitted a quiet ‘ow’, “you should really have gotten rid of.”
“Cut him some slack,” Funneh patted his back good-naturedly. “Everybody gets high-strung after single-handedly saving two towns from going to war.”
They all played it off, with more minor scolding from Rainbow — “Draco, you idiot, you would've gotten into that fight!” — and they got ready to leave the area when Grian tapped on Rainbow’s shoulder.
“My little brother,” Grian introduces, pushing him forward. Blue poncho guy scoffs and looks away. In doing so, Tubbo catches a little nick on their ear, like an arrow had grazed it. Inflection and a scar on their ear, huh…
“Would like to apologize,” Grian continues, hand clasping his brother's shoulder. “Wouldn't you, Tomathy?”
“I'll apologize for that dumb black hair dick for being a douchebag towards me.” Blue poncho guy exclaimed as Grian smacked him upside the head. “Ow! Okay, I'm sorry for stealing your shit.”
All heads turned to Draco, who sighed through his nose and replied, “Yeah, alright. Sorry for egging you on, or whatever.”
“Well!” Grian claps, brightly smiling. “That covers everything. Sorry again for the inconvenience.”
“It's no problem,” Funneh assures him, sending back a grin. “Little siblings, eh?”
Grian shrugs. “Can't get enough of them.”
They laugh, exchange some more pleasantries, and Tubbo can't help but feel a little left out of the “adult conversation”. Draco, who Tubbo would be more likely to talk to in such situations, was off to the side, completely removed from the situation and looking like he didn't want to talk to anyone. Besides, with how openly blue poncho guy was staring at him, Tubbo felt like whatever words would spill out of his mouth would just be wrong.
Everything was wrong in this whole interaction. It all happened so abruptly, Tubbo's sword in his hand, the altercation happening in the first place. Hell, the odds of meeting Grian Dreamslayer because of this?! What was going on?
“We need to get going now.” Grian nods his head in the direction of probably Hermitcraft. It snaps Tubbo out of his head. “This little fella still needs to answer for the commotion back home.”
Disappointment struck Tubbo all of a sudden. Damn, he swore to himself that if he ever met someone on Hermitcraft, he'd beg for a tour or even just a couple moments alone to talk about their server and how great it is. What a shame.
“Alright! Nice meeting you!” Rainbow waved warmly, and the rest of KREW echoed the send-off.
Blue poncho guy just rolls his eyes and turns around— wait a fucking second.
And while it was visible for just a millisecond, Tubbo still strode forward to grab blue poncho guy’s hand and bring it up to where Tubbo could really see it. The other yelped as he was pulled back, a string of expletives falling from his mouth. His eyes widened when he saw it, a scar running the length of his hand, from when he tried to use the bowstring using his entire palm, and cut himself in the process. It was something so dumb, so unbelievably stupid, that it stuck with Tubbo forever.
“You.” Tubbo breathes, because he couldn't quite get his name out. Just for the fear that this really wasn't him, that he just grabbed some guy with the exact same scars as his best friend, and became the weirdest motherfucker known to Grian, which is probably one of Tubbo's worst nightmares. Because why, in the ever-loving fuck, would TommyInnit, known for his shit cobblestone towers and even shittier building skills even when he tries his best, would he be in fucking Hermitcraft. Yet, in his heart, Tubbo knows. God, how didn't he get it sooner?
He— he studies him, Tubbo, for a second longer. Tubbo pushes up his hair for good measure, and he gasps softly at the scars that mar him. And then, finally, his eyes bulge out of his face.
“Holy fucking shit.”
It's well-established, at this point, that Draco could be an idiot even at the best of times. You, KF, and Tubbo, both know this now.
So, in the moment Tommy shouts, “Tubbo!” , spins him around in his arms for good measure even though the fucker knows he couldn't carry Tubbo for shit, nobody should really be surprised when Draco screams “THAT'S TOMMY!”
Cue the shocked gasps from the girls. Cue the confused “What?” from Grian. And, surprisingly, cue the mob of players that swarm them.
“Holy shit, TommyInnit??”
“No way! It's those guys from the roleplay server!”
“DREAM SMP STANS UNITE!!!!”
Grian should be thanked here, really. He acted quickly and brought all eight of them into some secluded area, and off they were running towards the Hermitcraft server.
All the while, Draco was getting berated by his sisters for his big mouth. All the while, Tommy was laughing like crazy, tugging Tubbo along with a grip that sent the message, I'm never letting you go again. And all the while, Tubbo was smiling, feeling like the universe was starting to right itself, among the bickering of his new family and hand-in-hand with his old one.
Actual REAL-LIFE Xisumavoid met them in Hermitcraft spawn. Real Xisumavoid!!! Tubbo felt like he was going to faint.
Then, when he saw Tommy knock on the admin’s visor, he felt actually faint.
Grian was apologizing profusely for the sudden six visitors they had to invite in, Xisuma waving him off and whacking Tommy on the backside of his head similarly to how Grian did it first. Then ruffled his hair. Tubbo thinks he's dreaming.
Xisuma welcomes in KREW and Tubbo by shaking each of their hands. When he gets to Tubbo, he has to ashamedly admit he squeaks in response and shakes hands probably too vigorously for what is considered normal. Xisuma just chuckles at him and—get this—ruffles his hair exactly like he did with Tommy! Holy fucking shit, he can die peacefully now.
“They can hang at mine, X, it's the least I can do,” Grian says, an apologetic smile on his face.
“I don't blame you, seriously.” Xisuma sighs, resting his hand on his helmet. “Paparazzi is a headache to deal with. Plus, they recognized Tommy, and we're trying to lay low for his sake.”
At that, Tommy wilted. “Sorry X.”
Tubbo blinks at him. His friend sounded sorry for once. To an admin.
Xisuma bumps him affectionately. “It's not your fault he's actively looking for you,” Xisuma chides, then looks at the both of them, “the two of you. And I can't keep you contained here forever.”
“You're making him sound like he needs to be detained.” Grian comments dryly. Xisuma gives him a look.
“You and him both.”
At that, Funneh has to stifle a snort, which sets off a chain reaction of the rest of KREW hiding their smiles. It's then that Xisuma takes off his helmet and gives them an apologetic look.
“Ah, right, visitors! Welcome, welcome. I assume you've all heard of Hermitcraft—”
“Well,” Rainbow begins to say, giving pause, “not exactly, but we'll be on our best behavior anyways.”
She sends pointed looks to the younger members of KREW. They each send back grins that promise nothing. Xisuma just grins at them.
“Well, I wouldn't say best behavior is encouraged, exactly.”
“Yeah!” Tommy chimes in. “They'll even let you swear off camera!”
“No we don't.” Grian raps a knuckle against Tommy's head, eliciting a complaint from him. “Besides, I'm sure our visitors would like a tour better, wouldn't you all?”
Tubbo was about to excitedly exclaim his assent when Funneh awkwardly clears her throat. “We wouldn't want to be too much of a bother,” she says, hanging her head, “we're good with just waiting around.”
“You just don't want to feel depressed at the size of these builds,” Draco snorts, crossing his arms. Funneh’s eyes blow wide as she unconvincingly tries to argue over Draco, the younger of them sounding very enthused over getting that tour, and Tubbo's worries evaporate like they were nothing. Grian waves his arms to get their attention back to him, and clears it up. “A tour is better than nothing to do, and seeing as our two boys are joined at the hip at the moment—”
He looks over at them teasingly, and Tubbo flushes when he realizes how embarrassingly close he is to his best friend. “I don't exactly trust Tommy not to encourage the opposite of best behavior.”
Xisuma nods, like he wasn't just exasperated with Grian earlier. “That would be the best plan of action, yes. Then, you can go after the crowds have dispersed back to your server. Don't worry about punctuality, either, our hermits love having visitors over, and I’d join you guys if I finish my work early.”
“Thank you, mister Ex-suma!” Rainbow says cheerfully. “That— that is how you say it—”
“Yeah, that’s how you call our dear Ex-I-Suma Void,” Grian sniggers quietly as Xisuma rolls his eyes. “Don’t sweat it, you’ll all be having as much fun as— as a parrot in a seed shop. C’mon!”
Grian led them along, to his mansion at first, then his neighbors’ bases, and Tubbo genuinely couldn’t believe he was seeing them with his own eyes. KREW, while not on the same level of astonishment as Tubbo, definitely somewhat embodied Grian’s metaphor to an extent. They didn’t look downcast at the level of skill each build had at all, to their credit, instead looking all the more determined on fixing their own server back home.
Tommy, of course, had a comment for every base they stopped at— this one has some awful, non-TommyInnit spaces, oh but this one! This one has my personal favorite gimmicks —and KREW humored him as Grian complained at every one of them, especially when they were attached to one of his builds.
By the time they rounded to the shopping district, Grian was answering questions about builds from KREW, and Tommy was dragging Tubbo along to some of his favorite shops. From last Tubbo saw of his new family, they, and Grian, were waiting on the arrival of more hermits in order to have a proper “seminar” on the Hermitcraft builds, and while Tubbo would’ve stayed behind to listen as well, the tugging in his gut urged him to stick close to the person he’s been missing for years.
They were currently perusing the Beefy 2nes’ collection, with Tommy declaring it was his favorite out of all the shops. Tubbo watched Tommy hum with the tunes playing in the shop while he held records in his own hands, melancholy entwining with content in his chest. Music always was Tommy’s world, and by proxy, it became Tubbo’s. With years apart, it felt more like rediscovering his old heart than coming home.
Tommy taps his shoulder, and Tubbo sets down the discs in his hands. He wasn’t planning on buying them, but they felt good to hold. “Big man, how about you listen to this?” Tommy places an orange-colored disc in a jukebox as he hands Tubbo the headphones. Tubbo makes a noise of agreement and lets Tommy place the headphones on his head, closing his eyes to listen to the music more closely.
It fit right with the feeling in his chest, it was almost suffocating. Tubbo takes a deep breath, letting the soft strums from the instrument stir the emotion, the beat jumpstart his heart, and relaxes again. He opens his eyes to find Tommy staring at him, a grin stretched wide on his face. Tubbo takes off his headphones to give Tommy a proper look of fond exasperation. “What?”
“Knew you’d like it, is all.” Tommy shrugs. Something flits across his face, achingly familiar to the feeling in his chest, and Tubbo knew at once they needed to talk about it.
“I missed you,” were the words that fell out of Tubbo’s mouth. He winces inwardly, because honestly? There were better ways to start the conversation off.
Tommy looks at him with a confused sort of amusement. “Yeah? Damn, you really are clingy.”
Tubbo punches him in the shoulder for that one, Tommy laughing anyway. “Prick. I really meant it!”
“I know,” Tommy drawls, leaning against a shelf. “But uh. Um. Yeah, I— I missed you too.”
Tubbo smiles, easy as breathing. “Hard to say isn’t it?”
Tommy scoffs. “Fuck off, we got there in the end.”
Uncomfortable silence ensues, loud despite the new rock music replacing the mellow jazz of the shop when they first came in. For a second, Tubbo feels his gut seize, that he might let the moment pass him by again, and the emotion in his chest reared in response.
“Tommy, I’m sorry.”
“Tubbo, I was a prick.”
They blink at each other, dissolving into unbelieving giggles at the situation. Tubbo covers his face, hand over the scars, looking away while he says, “God, Tommy are you— are we that corny?”
“Just you, bee boy.” Tommy wipes a tear from his eye, unafraid of the myriad of expressions his face makes. “Ladies first?”
“Of course, of course, I’m all ears.”
“Dick!”
Their cackles come unbidden, an instinct, and each of them have to brace the nearest shelf or table to stay upright. It’s so easy to be like this. God, years apart, and yet, and yet. They don’t lose their edge, like puzzle pieces slotting together nicely after years of being apart.
It’s what makes what happen next easier to deal with, now that Tubbo knows in his heart that this will be okay.
“Tommy, I just want you to know that I’m sorry. I’m sorry it took me— er, that it’s been too long.”
Tommy doesn’t look surprised that Tubbo says this, only responding with the saddest of smiles in his arsenal. It’s strange that Tubbo feels more courage when that is his reply, but his words come out more planned. More meaningful. “I shouldn’t have exiled you. I never should’ve listened to— to that bastard. Goddamnit, if I could go back and change anything, it would’ve been that.”
“I should’ve been there for you.” Tubbo was about to protest until Tommy holds a hand up. “I get it. Really, Tubbo, I do, and— well, obviously, I’d hate you for leaving me alone with him, but I don’t hate you for— for doing it.”
Tommy’s lips pressed tightly together, and he holds out a shaking hand to him. Tubbo takes it, faster than a heartbeat, and he’s pressed against Tommy tightly. “We really shouldn’t have been left alone when we were, is all I’m saying.” Tommy murmurs into Tubbo’s hair.
Tubbo holds onto Tommy as he shakes, as Tommy fists into his shirt, he stays entirely too still. Tubbo doesn’t know how to let it out like Tommy does, but he knows that if he leans into Tommy enough to fill the nooks, it’d be enough for Tommy.
“I wish you told me Grian was your brother.” Tommy chokes into his laughter, while Tubbo chuckles lightly. “God man. I wish I never left your side.”
“Honestly?” Tommy pushes away to look Tubbo seriously in the eyes. “I wish I let you grow into someone without me. I always just had to have it all be about me, back then, huh?”
“Yeah, you arse.” Tubbo lightly headbutts Tommy in the shoulder, grinning. “God, what a case of main character syndrome I had to deal with.”
Tommy hums, resting his head on top of Tubbo’s. “That sounds horrible.”
It’s not perfect, barely an apology that covers all of the horrible shit they went through, but it’s only been one day since Tubbo had his best friend back. Hermitcraft wasn’t built in a day, or whatever the fuck they say.
They separate the hug, of course they do, but they’re linked in some way afterwards either way. Nobody in their little “tour group” mentions it more than a teasing remark or a cast glance, and Tubbo finds he doesn’t mind it much after the first few times.
The time for when Tubbo and the KREW need to leave comes around. The Hermits and KREW exchange eager see-you-agains, Xisuma deciding to let them come around whenever they host events just the same as they invite their other non-Hermit friends. Tubbo is allowed to come over anytime, and Tommy is extended the same invitation from KREW. He’s just barely held back from going with them by Grian and Xisuma, with no help from Tubbo and Draco, surprisingly enough. Trust him to be the enabler despite any situation.
“Nice to get to know the kid that got to be my brother’s world.” Grian pats Tubbo’s shoulder. Tubbo’s heard the man has got an affinity for odd goodbyes, but he wasn’t prepared for that at all. He manages not to sob, but can’t restrain himself enough to hug Grian. He just laughs and hugs Tubbo back. “I hope you’ll come back more often. Today was not enough for Toms, or me. Bring Rainbow with you too.”
“She’d love to,” Tubbo says, laughing wetly. “Draco wouldn’t let her come alone. Actually, I don’t think they go anywhere without each other anymore.”
Grian just shrugs. “The more the merrier.”
Tubbo gets to wave goodbye to some of his goddamn heroes. Scar grins at him as he ruffles Tubbo’s hair, Mumbo gives him a polite smile, and Etho even fistbumps him as he goes to leave.
Funneh gives Tubbo a fond smile. “Ready to go, Tubs?”
Tubbo nods, looking back towards the Hermits and Tommy, before locking eyes with Funneh again. “Yeah. Let’s go home.”
Draco gives Tubbo a bump. “We could have Tommy come over tomorrow, you know.”
Tubbo rolls his eyes at him. “Don’t get so jealous, jesus.”
“Sssshuuuutuppp.” Draco rams into Tubbo’s side, just a little more harshly than the bump, and Tubbo cackles as Draco moves away when he’s about to hit him. Lunar tells them both off, so Draco goes on to bother her.
Rainbow and Gold get their portal working soon, and Tubbo is about to take the first steps into the portal, when he hears Tommy yell his name.
Tubbo stops mere inches away from the portal, looking back around with a question on his tongue, when Tommy barrels into him and hugs him, fierce. It takes a moment to realize Tommy was crying, and when he does, Tubbo suddenly can’t stop his own tears. He buries his face into Tommy’s shoulders, rocking back and forth with his missing half.
Tubbo feels extra arms join in, Tommy probably inviting others into it. He doesn’t care enough to look up, though, because he’s with family, and he’s complete.
This is all that matters.