Cigarettes in the Snow

I need to find him..

—

Tubbo felt his feet sink into the snow with every step, he tried to be quick, but the snow was too thick. He found his way to his porch, the sounds of the wood creaking under his feet echoed through his mind, he needed to find Ranboo, and fast.

He swiftly opened the door to his home and to his surprise found a boy there.

"Tommy?"

"Oh hey, the door was unlocked, so I thought I'd just let myself in."

Tommy looked disheveled, he was dirty, with cuts and bruises all over his face and body. His hair was messy, with a white streak down the middle.

"What the fuck is that?" Disgust filled Tommy's eyes  as he peered at the thing in the short boy's arms.

"Uh, my son."

"THAT'S YOUR SON?!"

"SHHH! You'll wake him up!" Tubbo looked down at his son, whose eyes began to open at the surrounding voices. "Goddammit Tommy."

"Bo!" Micheal yawned.

"Eugh- It speaks..."

Tubbo glared at Tommy as if he was going to murder him in broad daylight. Tommy shut his mouth as to not anger him further.

The shorter boy's eyes lit up as an idea came to his head. He shoved Micheal into the taller boy's arms before he could object.

"Micheal, this is your uncle Tommy! He'll be watching you tonight!" Tubbo said win a smirk on his face.

"W-What the fuck?!" Tommy looked down at the young boy's face, repulsed at his appearance.

"Uncle Tommy!" Micheal's face lit up as he smiled. The small boy nuzzled his head into Tommy's shoulder. The tall boy's eyes lit up, as he tries to hide the visible smile on his face.

"You two can go upstairs, his toys are up there, so just keep him entertained until he falls asleep." Tubbo smiled and made his way back over to the door.

"Wait, you're just leaving me with him?"

"Yeah, sorry, I gotta go."

"What? But it's like 1 AM!"

"Ranboo's gone. I need to go find him."

"Wait what, where'd he go?"

Tubbo turned to the tall boy, "If I knew, I wouldn't be looking for him." He turned his head and made his way out the door. "I'll be back soon."

And just like that, Tubbo was gone.

He had left Tommy with this...nether demon, thing... Tommy frowned and sighed. "Ugh, I guess I have to take care of you now..." His eyebrows furrowed as he made his way up the ladder.

—

Once the door closed, he ran back to the portal. He needed Ranboo to be okay. He'd never been gone this long without telling him. It was cold, he was tired, and though he enjoyed the peace without Ranboo's consistent nagging, he needed to find him.

He noticed his fingers start to shake, the cold felt like spikes in his skin, needles on his feet, and with every step they sank deeper and deeper, filling him with the worst sensation of his life. Cold. Alone.

He stopped for a moment.

His eyelids relaxed, and he reached into the pocket of his coat. Yes! His fingers met the box, and he pulled it out. He didn't even think as he lit the cigarette. He didn't have a reason to. He could try to rationalize it with excuse after excuse, but that wouldn't help. He liked it, it was comforting, that was all that mattered.

—

"I habe a bee, Uncle Tommy!" Micheal held up his favorite bee plush that Tubbo had gifted to him.

"Oh, cute." This 'babysitting' thing wasn't really for Tommy, though the kid was cute, he wanted to hang out with Tubbo, that was the whole reason he came to his house in the first place.

"Can we play befowre bed plwease!!"

Micheal walked over to his toy chest.

"I don't know... I mean Tubbo told me to get you to bed, and it's already pretty late." Tommy peered over at Micheal, "ARE THOSE SWORDS?!" Tommy rose as the small boy pulled out two wooden swords from his toy chest.

"Can we play pirates!"

"Uh YES!" The tall boy snatched one of the swords from Micheal's hand. "Arg! Let's go find us some treasure, ayy!" Tommy said with a terrible pirate accident, he smiled as he heard the small boy giggle.

"Aye aye, Captain!" A smile appeared across both their faces as they began their game.