Sometimes, Glitches Are Good

Your Tommy

Grian soars above the path of dripping blood. The snow would have covered all of it, but luckily he and Phil didn't need to be able to see it to follow the aura.
It drops off at a pond under a layer of snow. He and Phil swoop down, worried, but there's no one.
"It's like he disappeared..."
"I think I know what happened." So they fly back, Grian explaining how there's a rare glitch that can happen under very specific circumstances.
"It happens when two players in separate worlds fall through glitched blocks, such as floating sand or snow, at the same time whilst also disturbing those glitched blocks. If, when they land, they die, or rather, will die, there's a chance they will be sent to each other's world. I believe that is what has happened to Tommy and I."
"So, you're saying he's... Gone?"
"No, no, I think I'll be able to fix this. I mean, it will take a while and maybe some redstone and sleepless nights but... I'll get Tommy back, I promise."

His hair was a mess and the sketches sprawled across his desk were borderline insane. He takes a deep breath. He needed some air.
Outside, an incredibly tall man was screaming, running from Sapnap with a fox in his arms.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" the man cries, dodging an arrow.
Grian laughs softly, tiredly rubbing his eyes before stepping between the two, the man clutching the fox stopping to stare at him.
"That's enough, Sapnap." Grian chuckles, Sapnap grumbling but turning and walking away anyways.
"Er- Thank you. I'm- We haven't met before, I think, I'm Ranboo."
"Grian!" He reaches out, gently petting the fox's head. "What's their name?"
"Squeaks! I was just getting him to Tubbo, to cheer him up, he's been really sad ever since Tommy went missing." He nods.
"I'll come with you. I've been cooped up in Phil's house too long anyways." They walk along the paths, Grian visibly wincing as he sees Tommy's house. "Gosh, does anyone other than Phil and Wilbur know how to build?" He grumbles, instinctively placing a few dirt blocks to at least patch the big creeper hole in the side.
"Ouch. Fair, but ouch. You should go see Eret's castle if you want a good build, it's really cool."
He waves goodbye to him as he knocks on the door, continuing his walk. He eventually does stumble across the castle, and Ranboo was right; it was very good. He can't help but snicker at how rainbow it is. He was tempted to build something nearby, just to show everyone how it's done.
"Hey, Grian. You like my castle?" He turns to see the man who'd restrained him from hitting Dream again three days before, Eret.
"Yeah, it's one of the few good builds on the server. Scar would have an absolute FIT over how many creeper holes there are."
"Phil tried to fix them when he got here but he gave up." Eret chuckles. He notices how tired he looked, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You look tired, are you okay?"
"Mhm, I've just been sitting around without anything to really do but try and fix this."
Eret nods understandingly and turns, grabbing a chest full of something and offering it to him.
"There's a good amount of land nearby if you wanna build something. Maybe a change of scenery and some good old fashioned hard work will get your mind flowing."
Grian grins and nods, taking the chest with a small thank you before running off.
The next day he steps back with a sigh of both exhaustion and satisfaction. Infront of him was a replica of his Season 6 Apiary, put on stilts with a crane suspending it, as if it had only just set it down. He steps inside, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. It was like he was back home again, if only for a second, before the lack of ocean waves reminded him where he was. He heaves a sigh, returning to the real world.
"Woah... This is awesome!" He turns to see Tubbo standing in the entrance. He can't help but smile.
"Thank you, Tubbo. What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I just came to check on you! You haven't been sleeping, have you?" Grian looks away guiltily.
"Too busy sketching out ways to bring him back. I need to get home too, Mumbo- he's worried about me, I know he is."
"Grian, you've got to sleep. That paper will still be here tomorrow." Tubbo gently takes the build plans from his hands, setting them safely to the side. And then Grian sobs, unable to stop himself, and Tubbo mutters "oh, dear" and hugs him gently, comforting him.
"I'm sorry- you-" he laughs through the sobs, "you sounded just like him for a second there. He was always worrying over me."
The younger gently pulls him over to the bench, making him sit down.
"Who?" They ask softly.
"Mumbo. He's-He's my best friend, back on Hermitcraft. We're both- we're both really bad at taking care of- of ourselves, and he was always at my base telling-telling me to sleep and-and not work too hard."
Tubbo nods understandingly.
"I lost...Tommy was my best friend. Is, my best friend. I think. I...I did exile him... I was a fool, I thought Dream would be more willing to cooperate and let it go if I did what he asked, I thought everything would blow over. But now Tommy's gone and-and you're here and it's all my fault."
"It's Dream's fault. You're a kid, you shouldn't have to deal with this. Any of this. I mean, Scar runs the cow-mercial district, but it's exhausting and he barely has to do anything! He's 27, and you're 17 and running a whole nation with-with war threats and fighting against a tyrant! I don't know how you do it!" Now both of them were crying, and kind of laughing, but it felt better than crying alone, and so they just sat there, leaned against each other, comforted simply because they knew they weren't alone, and someone understood.
"I'm-I'm sorry, I really am. I'm supposed to be comforting you, not the other way around," Tubbo sniffles. Grian shakes his head.
"No, no, don't be sorry. You have comforted me. I'm... I'm going to get Tommy back, I promise you."
"I want to help. I'm not brilliant at world mechanics but- well, two minds are better than one right?"
And so they did. They worked together, spending many sleepless nights sketching out plans and throwing ideas back and forth. Tubbo gets a jukebox, and plays discs, just to fill the empty space. They laugh as Grian starts bobbing his head to the tune, parrots all around them doing the same.
"What's that compass you have?"
"Ghostbur gave it to me, after Tommy got exiled. It points to him, all the time, even in the nether. I don't know how he did it," Tubbo chuckles. They show him the photo on the inside, the silver letters sprawled across the glass saying 'Your Tommy.'
"He's grown so much... He was 3, the last time I saw him. Tottering around and babbling angrily. He um, that last time I saw them, he fell over and-and started crying and Phil couldn't calm him down- and then Techno picked him up and he stopped, just like that. And he carried him over to me and held him up and I held him- and I made a funny face and he smiled and laughed- and that moment has been keeping me going. Through everything, even now. His laugh- it's like... It's like I can't give up, ever, at least until I can make him laugh again, you know?"
Tubbo hugs him, Grian wrapping his wings around the both of them. They were a sweet kid. He really wanted to be able to protect them. By that point he'd all but officially adopted them as his kid.
And after so many years alone, Tubbo finally had the father figure they never knew they needed.

As far as I know, Tubbo-or their character at least- actually goes by they/them. I may have been misinformed but for now I will be using they/them for their character :)