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Tubbo knew who he was at a young age. He knew he wanted a quiet, easy life. A nice and peaceful life. His family had more than enough money to have him live his comfortable dream life. So when one day, when his father, Schlatt, had sat him down in the office inside their home when he was only thirteen and was told his family was caught up in some…. Unsavory practices…. Tubbo was adamant that he was NOT getting involved. Of course, his father had understood but still pushed training onto him, so he was sure Tubbo could “survive”. Whatever the hell that meant to his dad. He just thought this whole thing was a stretch.
Over the years, he got used to his dad calling on him for various things. Jobs. Naturally, Tubbo turned them down before the man could even finish the third word of his requests. But at twenty-two, Tubbo had what he wanted. A nice apartment and a good job. Nice and peaceful. Tubbo had scored a job at “The Bowsprit”, a bar in the city that was quite popular, but only truly on the weekends. After easily acquiring the position of bartender, he found himself quite happy with just mixing drinks and having entertaining conversations with the patrons.
It was a Tuesday night, and as usual for such a day and the rest of the weekday shifts, it was slow. Painfully slow. There were about 8 or so people in the bar, just hanging around and drinking. “The Bowsprit” had a nice pirate aesthetic Tubbo had learned to appreciate. The walls and shelves were decorated with maps, ships in bottles, guns, swords, and a myriad of other things. The lighting was dim, emitting from some lanterns, and caused a warm, cozy glow in the place. Tubbo decided to busy with himself by cleaning some glasses. It was getting late and surely these last few people would be it.
Tubbo watched as a person left. A few moments later, 2 menacing looking men entered, giving him one of the nastiest side eyes he’s ever seen (and that’s saying A LOT because Quackity was probably one of the scariest people on planet earth with his type of side eye) and they go over to sit with another man at one of the tables right in his line of sight. A good 12 feet or so away. The men exchanged quiet greetings, averting their gaze from Tubbo, who wrinkled his nose at them as they sat down. Tubbo sniffled as he picked up another glass to clean. The soft music that was usually on during the slow hours sounded all the more louder as the 3 men whispered to each other over the table. Tubbo’s gaze shifted to the other patrons. He was about to reach for yet another glass to clean when the most beautiful person he had ever seen in his life entered the bar.
The gorgeous stranger had long straight hair that reached just a little below their hips; it was half white and half black, which matched their dual colored eyes as well. A brilliant green and a deep brown. Their skin was dark, interrupted by certain patches of skin that were slightly lighter on their face and hands. They were adorned in silver jewelry on their ears, hands, and neck. The white blouse they were wearing was cinched at the waist with drooping sleeves and a purple bow tie that matched in droopiness. The person's black suit pants had not a single wrinkle in sight. Tubbo noted how tall they were, along with the fact that they were wearing black heels.
The person walked over to the bar, leaning against it as they pushed up their thin purple glasses with a sharp, manicured nail that was a nice lilac color. Tubbo moved a little closer to them. “What can I get you?” He asks, leaning against the counter of the bar as well, giving the stranger a smile. They let out a small, high-pitched laugh that barely lasted a second. They looked extremely nervous for some reason. “Um. Y-you are Tubbo, correct?” They ask, their voice deep. Tubbo’s face heated up a bit. He gives a confused glance at the stranger, wondering how this person knows his name. Tubbo ignores how he hears the bar door open and close a few more times, keeping his glance steady on this person. “Uh, yeah? Have I met you before?” Tubbo asks reluctantly, standing up straight.
“I don’t, uh, believe so. I’m Ranboo.” They say, looking over their shoulder for a quick moment. Tubbo sees their shoulders ease a bit. “Your dad sent me… Kind of - It's complicated.” Ranboo says quickly, they sound a bit more confident this time with their words. Tubbo blinks. “The fuck? You're with Manburg?” Tubbo asks. Tubbo has been at his house a few times for his dad's business meetings and seen a lot of people, but he’s sure he would have remembered someone as stunning as Ranboo. “No. I’m with the Syndicate. Your dad has pissed off someone very powerful, and they gave us some threats about going for uh- things and people. Anyways, because the Syndicate and Manburg are allied, I was chosen to come protect you because we are the closest in age, and I am quite skilled if I do say so myself. I’m here to make sure you don’t get hurt until this whole thing blows over and the group calms down.” Tubbo stares at Ranboo with a slightly offended look gracing his face.
“Excuse me, but I am perfectly able to protect and take care of myself. My dad always blows this shit out of proportion.” Tubbo spits. “I have been able to take care of people who weren’t fond of me before, and I’ll continue to do so.” Tubbo would’ve thought Ranboo to fall over from such harshness of his tone, but surprisingly, the guy was clearly doing better than when they approached him. “...Can I have a drink?” They ask, slowly. Face unreadable. Tubbo places a glass full of water in front of him. Ranboo looks at the glass, then back up at Tubbo. “No thanks, I’m allergic.” Tubbo wants to cry. Of course, the hot person who comes into the bar works for some fuckass mafia and is here because of his dad and for some reason is allergic to water. How the hell is someone allergic to water?!
Tubbo grabs a new glass, pouring juice in it, which the taller just looks at warily and takes it, but doesn’t drink it. He tried not to let his eyes wander too much on Ranboo, no matter how pretty. He is not getting caught up in this. He decides to glance around the room. Tubbo notices how Ranboo is still leaning against the counter, staring at the juice and gripping the glass tightly. Tubbo felt the urge to say a stupid quip like ‘hey sexy, it’s not going anywhere’ but before the brunette could open his mouth, a bullet barely misses him and smashes into a bottle behind him. Tubbo looks at Ranboo, who looks absolutely indifferent even though a BULLET was just fired, and Tubbo moves his gaze to the now six men at the table from before.
One was holding up a smoking gun. Tubbo had a fleeting thought of wondering if the rifle fixed on the wall next to him worked or if it truly was just for show.
“You can take care of them, hm?” Ranboo says. “That’s what you said, right?” Tubbo purses his lips. He didn’t even know they could be sassy. He watches Ranboo pull out a gun. “You got an extra?” He asks, and Ranboo shakes their head. Fun. Tubbo was about to become target practice. He thanks his dad in his head. It could be worse. Honestly. Truly.
Tubbo ducks as another round of shooting happens; he hears a grunt and a body falling that he hopes is not Ranboo. New plan. Tubbo sneaks to the employees' only room, grabs his brass knuckles, and knocks the shit out of these guys. He is snapped out of his thoughts as Ranboo jumps over the counter and lands just an inch away from stabbing his hand with one of their heels. They take a few more shots over the counter as he hears the men talking to make a game plan, clearly not expecting Ranboo to be there. They grab Tubbo by the wrist and tug. “Come on, we've got to go.” Tubbo is up in milliseconds as he holds onto Ranboo and drags them to the employees' only room behind the counter as more bullets whizz by.
The door shuts, locks, and Tubbo runs to his locker, grabbing his bag and pulling out brass knuckles that were a gift from his dear old dad, and puts them on. He looks up, and Ranboo is already standing at the exit door, hand on the handle as the cool breeze comes in. The employees' only door starts getting slammed on from the other side, and Tubbo wastes no time running out the door with Ranboo right behind him.
Ranboo is somehow an impossibly fast runner in heels, and Tubbo tries to focus on just running to a safe place as he hears yelling from behind them. The five men were running after them, and holy shit, all Tubbo wanted was NOTHING to do with this stuff. But here he was! Yay!! Running from five angry men with guns and an attractive, lanky Syndicate member. Great way to die. Ranboo is already shooting like crazy, their shot hitting one guy straight in the head. Tubbo looks over his shoulder to see the man crumple on the concrete, blood pooling onto the street. “Nice shot.” Tubbo huffs.
“Now is certainly not the time for pleasantries such as compliments. Focus.” Okay, what the hell happened to the nervous wreck in the bar less than 10 minutes ago? Ranboo turns a corner swiftly, Tubbo falling behind as one of the men tackles him hard to the ground. His back his the street as Tubbo is, for a small moment, winded before punching the gun straight out of the man's hand. He curls his fist to punch Tubbo back, but Tubbo beats him to it, punching the man in the jaw with a sickening crack. Tubbo can hear more gunshots and Ranboo’s heels clicking as the man falls over and off of him, letting him stand up.
Tubbo can barely catch a break as he realizes only two men are left, and he readies himself to square up, but Ranboo grabs him once again by the wrist and runs down the street, ducking into an alleyway. Unlike most alleyways in this part of town, this one was a dead end, and Tubbo could hear Ranboo mumble something under their breath in frustration. The two men quickly cut them off from running out. “Are you fucking kidding me?” Tubbo says. Ranboo does not respond, already lifting their gun as one of the men is off like a shot, running weirdly and randomly toward Ranboo as they miss a few shots.
The other man shoots at Tubbo, who once again barely dodges and runs up at the man, grabbing him and punching the man in the gut with another loud crunch and a few more punches to the face as a gunshot sounds, echoing. The men hit the ground, and the only noise is cars rushing by and Tubbo and Ranboo’s huffs. Tubbo looks over at the other, who is seemingly putting away their gun and fixing their long, silky hair. “You're welcome.” They say. “What?” Tubbo sputters out. “For saving you.”
“I took out two of those guys! I saved myself!” Tubbo says, pointing at the man on the ground in front of him. Ranboo walks up beside him and hums. “I took out the other four, though. So, you're welcome. Glad to help.” Ranboo’s hand ghosts over Tubbo’s bicep as they smile. Tubbo blushes. “Well. I sure hope you don’t think you're getting paid with my fucking cash or whatever.” Before Tubbo can fully turn towards them, Ranboo kisses his cheek. Tubbo turns a deeper red. “I don’t expect payment.” Their smile widens as they walk to the mouth of the alleyway. “Tah-tah Tubbo. I hope I see you again someday.”
Tubbo opens his mouth to respond, but Ranboo has already left the alleyway, their heels clicking as they walk down the street, and the sound sure enough disappears into nothingness. Well, he is going to have the craziest story to tell Tommy tomorrow.