Chapter Text
tubbo, after some thinking and searching, finds tommy sitting on the dock, staring at the water. he sits down next to him, swinging his feet.
tommy doesn’t look at him, messing with the hem of his shirt. it’s deserved.
then tubbo opens his mouth. “tommy I-“
“tubbo, I’m-“ tommy says at the same time, then closes his mouth. “sorry. you go first.”
“no, you.” tubbo replies, trying not to sound as nervous as he is. tommy inhales, then speaks, his voice trembling slightly.
“I’m- sorry. for being a prick. about all this. I guess- it just doesn’t affect me as much as it does you, so I didn’t.. take it seriously. so I’m sorry.”
tubbo smiles a little, patting tommys hand. “I’m sorry too, big man. I didn’t mean to yell, I’m just.. stressed.”
tommy turns his head to smile at him. “thanks. so.. we’re good?”
“yeah.”
“pog.”
it’s quiet for a moment, and then tubbo reaches next to him. “I got you something. as like a- apology gift, or something.” he holds out a bag.
tommy frowns a little, reaching inside and pulling out a blue stuffed sheep. tubbo won it at a claw machine in the tiny arcade by puffed flower shop, and he’s pretty sure the sheep’s been in there for a about a decade. the wool is frayed and has lost some of its color, but after a good wash and some patches, tubbos sure it’ll look at least semi-presentable.
tommy blinks, staring at the sheep. tubbo lets out an awkward laugh. “yeah, I know it’s kinda- shitty, but I thought it was cute, and- wilbur said that you liked blue and farm animals, and this is what I got- there was a cow, but I missed it and-“ he rambles, wringing his hands, and tommy stops him, still staring at the sheep.
“I like it.” he says softly, effectively shutting tubbo up. “I really like it. I- thanks, tubs.” he hugs the sheep, the slightest of smiles on his face, and tubbo relaxes.
awesome. he didn’t think he could handle another failure so soon.
they stay in comfortable silence for another few minutes, the waves crashing against the shore, and then tubbo gets up.
“I’m heading back in. you coming?” he asks tommy, who’s still staring at the rolling sea with something fond in his expression.
“no.” tommy murmurs, the ocean breeze blowing back his hair lightly. “I’ll stay out here a little longer.”
tubbo nods, turning and leaving tommy sitting at the dock, watching the moon reflected on the low waves, humming a quiet song only for him and the sea.
•••
tubbo walks into the room. only purpled, dream, and ranboo are here, which means techno and wilbur have escaped to the other room. that’ll make this easier.
he sits next to ranboo on the bed, who jolts and gives him a poorly masked look of terror.
“easy, boss man.” tubbo huffs, watching as purpled sells insects for bells. “I’m not gonna yell at you.”
ranboo nods slowly, still looking a little uneasy. “right. thanks.”
“so why are you still hanging around if I haven’t signed your contract?” tubbo asks, hugging his knees to his chest.
ranboo rubs the back of his head. “uh- I’m not really.. required to go back. unless hr finds out I’m running around without a contract, I don’t need to leave.”
there’s another thing. “why is it called hr? and not dr?”
ranboo gives him a weird look. “hell resources.”
tubbo stares at him. “..right.”
this is just getting weirder by the second.
•••
schlatt is angry.
this isn’t good.
punz watches disdainfully as schlatt smashes yet another glass against the wall. maybe purpled had the right idea, leaving this hellhole.
bad watches next to punz, looking disturbed and a little annoyed.
punz turns their gaze to bad. for a demon, he’s been.. surprisingly nice. he offered punz a flaming sweet the other day, which punz is ninety nine percent sure would’ve killed him.
“-all started because you are fucking useless and your stupid contract-“
quackity, who schlatt is yelling at, is looking defiant, which punz can respect. “you signed the contract. you put your own ass on the line.”
schlatt grabs quackity by the collar of his blue jacket, pulling him way too close for comfort and snarling in his face. “people only started fucking defecting when you took away half of my influence! how the fuck is that fair?!”
“not my problem.” quackity scoffs, pushing schlatt away from him. “you saw the contract. you thought it was fair- or easy, I don’t know what goes on up there- and you signed it knowing what you were giving up. that’s not anyone’s fault but yours.”
punz can admire his tenacity. he’s up against a power drunk, literally drunk, pissed off billionaire. they wouldn’t- didn’t have the guts for that.
“ponk has been ten times more useful, and all he asked for was two of my business locations!” schlatt yells.
“yeah?” quackity shouts back, his wings flared and feathers puffed out in defense. “and you only asked him to track tubbo- a literal kid- down! you asked me to kill him!”
“he can never let it go.” bad mutters, making punz jolt and look away from the shouting match, which is getting increasingly more heated. “quackity, I mean. he can’t just leave stuff be.”
bad sounds exasperated, but unless punz is hallucinating or something, he looks a tiny bit proud.
•••
he thumbs the piece of paper in his pocket, clicking away at the switch with his other hand.
purpled thinks of bad. its kind of fucked up how demons were kinder than humans, he thinks, and his expression hardens.
punz only needed him to make money. he was just there to watch him.
he looks up, watching tubbo and ranboo play uno- well, ranboos playing uno, and he has no idea what the fuck tubbo is playing.
he watches ranboo start yelling about the rules and cheating when tubbo sets down three plus fours, and he listens to tubbo cackle loudly while tommy snores next to purpled on the bed, clutching a blue stuffed sheep, and he thinks he feels a little less empty.