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Ranboo had a reasonably normal life, besides the fact that he’d lose whole days at a time. Sometimes it was more than a day, but that idea scares him too much. It’s not horribly uncommon, he decided one day. His friends and therapist seem to disagree, but it's fine.
The only other thing that made his life just a tiny bit chaotic, would be his best friend Tommy.
Better known to the public as Red Hawk.
Tommy made Ranboo’s life much more interesting, in every way. Ranboo didn’t mind, however. He didn’t, not when the person who brought chaos into his life had saved his life, on more than one occasion. The chaos was welcomed if anything, the worrying over his friend’s safety Ranboo could without thought.
Whenever Tommy wasn’t around, whenever he went on one of his paroles, Ranboo sat waiting by the door, just waiting. After two months of this, he stopped trying to watch television to distract himself, it only made it worse. He stopped trying to do chores while he waited, there was no point because as soon as Tommy walked through the doors (because he would always come back from his patrols) the mess would return, along with the chaos. Nothing that Ranboo did could distract him from the worrying thoughts. Nothing.
There were times that Ranboo wished he could forget, but of course, that would be too easy. Nothing in Ranboo’s life was easy it seemed.
It was only easy when both Tubbo and Tommy were around, and it seemed they weren’t around too often anymore. Tubbo was off at Sam’s workshop with his stupid internship and Tommy was off fighting villains or kissing up to some rich person Ranboo couldn’t remember the name of, faintly he remembers that he had curly hair and glasses. It was okay though! It was, Tubbo brought home cool gadgets for them to mess with, and sometimes Tommy brought home food for them to share, or an extra wad of cash.
Ranboo quietly paced the kitchen, twisting a ring on his finger slowly in an attempt to calm his nerves. It’s a week attempt, but it’s something. It serves as a reminder, that maybe he isn’t alone even though he’s the only one home currently. Soon both his friends will be home, and it will be fine because it always is.
Ranboo was confident in that fact until he heard a weak rap at the door.
Cautiously the enderman looked to the door, fear prickling softly under his skin. The yellow sticky note next to the door screamed at him in a sloppy text that could only have been Tommy’s because all the words were spelled correctly.
Never open the door for anyone, we all have keys
Only open if you hear three knocks and the code
Code: “boober man”
Ranboo waited for the rest of the knocks and the code, the fear buzzing more prominently. He was frozen in his spot, scared to make any noise and alter to whoever was out there that there was actually a person inside. If he stayed quiet, then they would just leave. So Ranboo waited.
“Ranboo, please,” the voice sounded so weak and familiar. “Ranboo it’s Tommy open the damn door, boober man.”
“Tommy has a key I’m not stupid,” Ranboo called back, ignoring the way his body started to shake, wanting to rush out and help his friend.
“Open the, ah!” The voice shouted from behind the door. Ranboo couldn’t stand there any longer. He had to help whoever was out there. Quickly he rushed to the door, turning the knob quickly. His breath hitched at the sight before him.
Tommy was nearly slumped over on himself, leaning heavily on the wall next to the door. His clothes were slightly torn, but he wasn’t in his vigilante suit. How long had Tommy waited to get home? What the hell happened to him? Blood soaked what used to be the white part of his signature shirt, white body, and red sleeves, however now it was nearly all red. There seemed to be a bruise already forming around his eye (or maybe really dark bags? He hoped it was), blood falling at a steady rate from his nose. The blonde seemed to be shaking, whether from blood loss, fear, or cold, Ranboo didn’t know. Or, he wished he didn’t know.
Time seemed to be moving like molasses, making it hard to move quickly to help his friend. Ranboo couldn’t move fast enough to catch Tommy from hitting the floor, but he was quick to drag him into the apartment, slamming the door once they were both fully inside. Time was finally moving fast again, though it was moving almost too fast, already his memory started to seem foggy, details he should know already beginning to fade from his mind.
“Please,” the words sounded so soft coming from the blonde now in front of him. He seemed so small and broken trembling in front of Ranboo. The blood that made was scattered across his skin, along with the rest of the blood, proved that he wasn’t as invincible as they thought. Memories from that night flashed in his vision, seeing the person who was normally so strong, so brave, stumbling up the steps without the wings on his back that Ranboo had grown so used to. He couldn’t let this be a repeat of that horrible night. He wouldn’t let this be a repeat of that night.
“I’m right here. Just tell me what you need, Tommy.” It broke Ranboo’s heart that Tommy even had to beg like this, this wasn’t Tommy.
“I need you not to leave, Ranboo.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. Let me, let me go get something,” Ranboo mumbled, panic evident in his voice. What were you supposed to do when your closest friend showed up at your door with blood on his hands? Ranboo didn’t even know if it was Tommy’s or not. Distantly his mind supplied that this was a fairly normal occurrence, that with Tommy’s line of work this happened a few times a week. But it was just distant enough that it didn't register in Ranboo’s head.
It didn’t matter, because Ranboo would always be there to help his friends even if that meant doing something he never thought he’d be doing. Has he done this before? Ranboo couldn’t recall.
Hurriedly Ranboo made it to his bathroom, ripping open the cabinets to find a first aid kit. Tommy was clearly hurt, that much was clear from the groans of pain he could still hear coming from his friend, but he wasn’t all too sure. Ranboo didn’t know, but he knew his heart was pounding in his chest, his throat closing up, and-
No, he needed to breathe. It was fine, Tommy is going to be fine. It’s all fine. In and out, yeah. It’s fine.
It was fine is what Ranboo reminded himself as he grabbed a towel with shaking hands before rushing back out to where he left his friend.
“It hurts, Ranboo,” Tommy said through tears. “I got a few, mm, good hits off though.”
“I don’t know if that scares or comforts me if I’m being honest, man.”
“I don’t know what happened, I had it, I had him, Ranboo, then he-”
“Tommy-“
“Ranboo, I promise I didn’t mean to, I don't know what happened, please okay I-”
“Tommy!” Ranboo shouted, startling even himself with his volume. “Tommy, it’s okay. I don't need to know. Just please relax so I can get you cleaned up, okay man? I don't need to know what happened, just please let me make this better.”
“Ranboo, I’m sorry,” Tommy mumbled, his voice suddenly sounding so out of breath, barely there.
Ranboo shook his head, his own tears starting to burn at his cheeks. “No, no Tommy, it’s okay! It’s okay, you’re okay.” Ranboo hurriedly searched through the first aid kit. He grabbed a health potion, unsure what else he could use quickly to keep his friend awake. Carelessly Ranboo popped the cork, not bothering to follow where it landed, carefully lifting Tommy's head into his lap, and pouring the potion into his mouth.
Everything that came next was in flashes. Tommy shot up from his spot on the ground coughing wildly, looking more green than pale like he was moments before. The memory goes black until another flash supplies him with a glimpse of a memory, carefully wrapping the wounds the potion didn’t get to as Tommy slept on the couch, some movie playing in the background. Another hole in his memory. Tubbo came home with a worried look, rushing to the couch to check Tommy’s pulse before relaxing slightly. The rest of the night is a blur, hard to decipher. Ranboo felt almost as if he was a ghost, living through another’s body. He hated when he got like this.
The next thing Ranboo remembers is waking up. Well, he doesn’t quite remember it, but he knows he had to because the next thing he knows he’s sitting up in his bed, a thick royal blue blanket wrapped around his shoulders.
The enderman looked to his hands, confused as to why there was dried blood on his hands. He didn’t remember how it got there.
Ranboo screamed.
Someone rushed into his room, it was Tommy. He looked down at his hands again, not noticing the fact that there was blood on Tommy as well, his hands shaking more than he’d like to admit.
“You scream like a girl, Ranboo,” Tommy hissed, pain lacing his words as he checked the room, making sure there weren’t any threats. “I d-do not scream like a girl,” Ranboo rushed, showing his hands to Tommy before noticing the blood on Tommy as well, screaming again.
Tommy winced and covered his ears, shying away from Ranboo. “Ranboo! Big man! Calm down, do you not remember last night?”
“Last night?”
“Shit. Long story short, I went out and got hurt, came back and you helped me out, I guess we didn’t clean up the blood, it’s fine though now. And you do scream like a girl.”
The pieces seemed to click in Ranboo’s mind, some memories from the night before coming back, but it was hard to understand it with all the missing pieces. “I do not scream like a girl.”
“Well, you sure did a high-pitched scream,” Tommy teased before sitting down on the edge of Ranboo’s bed, still clearly in pain.
“I did not scream.”
“Oh yeah? So what did you do?”
“That was merely my trying not to have a heart attack with a little dignity.”
“Whatever. Do you remember where we keep the painkillers or should I ask Tubbo?”
Ranboo nodded slowly before getting out of his bed, keeping the blanket around his shoulders, wanting to stay in blankie mode a bit longer. Quietly he went to the shared bathroom, grabbing the bottle of painkillers they kept in there. Once he handed the bottle over to Tommy, he went back to the bathroom to wash his hands. He hated the feeling of dried blood crusted on his hands, and he hated the look even more.
“Tommy, what happened,” Ranboo asked as he entered his bedroom again, watching as Tommy laid back in his bed. Carefully the enderman draped the blanket on his shoulders across Tommy’s body.
“In my defense, it was funny.”
Ranboo sighed, shaking his head. Maybe it would be better if Tommy didn’t tell him. “Please just be more careful, I don’t think I could handle seeing that you died on the news one day.”
“I’m always careful, king. No villain could kill me, not even that bitch Night Watch.”