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it hurts. it hurts so bad. not physically, though.
ranboo is a man. maybe.
ranboo is a man! ranboo is a man.
“hey, ranboo? you doing alright, buddy?” tubbo knocked at his bedroom door.
he sat up a bit in bed from where he was previously lying flat, and took in a shaky breath, “yep, i’m fine tubbo,” they didn’t sound like they were telling the truth, and tubbo knows when he’s not telling the truth.
“can i come in, please?” tubbo asked from outside.
“uh, sure.”
tubbo creaked the door open, careful not to make any loud noises. he looked over to ranboo, “yeah, i didn’t think so.” ranboo had obvious dried tear marks on his face, and they had their arms wrapped securely around his stomach. there was an old guitar pick hanging halfway out of their mouth, and they were chewing on it.
“what’s wrong, dear?” tubbo asked softly, and it took all of ranboo’s strength not to cry right then and there. he doesn’t know how he makes his voice sound so caring, so sweet without even noticing, but they love it. tubbo walked over to the side of the bed, and sat down next to ranboo.
“um,” their voice cracked, “i- um-“
“is the dysphoria getting to you again?” tubbo asked sweetly, and ranboo nodded. “oh, i’m sorry, sweetheart,” ranboo noticed he always used more pet names in situations like this, but that’s in no way a complaint. “do you have your binder on?”
“yes,” ranboo said.
tubbo scooted to sit directly in front of ranboo, “okay… how about i take this,” he reached up and took the guitar pick out of their mouth, “it’s going to hurt your teeth later, trust me. you should go put on a sports bra, and we can watch a movie or something to get your mind off of it, okay? i could even go put a blanket over the mirror for you if it makes you feel better. is that alright, honey?”
“that sounds nice,” ranboo said quietly, and he smiled a bit. he stood up to go get a bra out of the drawer, as tubbo got up to get a sheet to cover the mirror in the bathroom.
ranboo was standing outside the bathroom, fidgeting with his sleeves.
tubbo walked out, “go ahead, dear. take as long as you need.”
ranboo smiled, and went to change.
when they came back out, tubbo was sitting on the bed, seemingly texting someone. he looked up at the sound of the door opening, “hi,” he smiled.
“hello,” ranboo smiled back.
“so, tommy is in town with wilbur, and he said that he’s free to come by here. only if you want though,” tubbo suggested.
“yeah, that would be nice,” they said.
tommy arrived not so long after, “hi guys!” he had hugged them both when tubbo opened the door to let him in. he hugged ranboo for a bit longer than usual. tommy knew what he was going through, and, even though tubbo understood very well, tommy knew just a bit more about how he was feeling.
tommy leaned back, but stayed fairly close to him. he smiled, “how are you feeling?”
“i think i’m doing alright,” they smiled as well.
they all walked up to ranboo’s room, and snuggled up into his bed. tubbo and tommy avoided their usual bickering about who would get to sit on what side, and they took their places with no complaints. tommy sat on the right side, ranboo sat in the middle, and tubbo sat on the left side, closest to the wall.
tommy immediately went to cuddle into ranboo’s right arm. he knew ranboo loved being held, especially when he felt dysphoric.
tubbo took the remote, and put on stranger things. he knew it was ranboo’s favourite, and even though it scared him, he dealt with it.
tubbo laid down on his side, closed his eyes, and curled up to ranboo’s other side. he wrapped his left leg around theirs, and put his arm over their chest. tommy tried to subtly slip his hand into tubbo’s, but ranboo definitely noticed.
he’s not sure what he would do without them here.