It was typical for Tommy and the others to run out of certain potions they needed for whenever they went out. Sometimes they would have spares hidden away somewhere for emergency use, or whatever other reason Tommy came up with when he convinced them to buy extra bottles. Of course, they knew they didn't need that many Invis potions, but come on, you can't tell me they aren't cool as fuck!
Regardless of how much they stocked up on last time they went to the Potion Maker, with how often Heroes would patrol the 17th District now it's difficult to keep how many potions they use to a minimum. If anything, they had to somehow make all the Invisibility, Swiftness, and Healing potions last much much longer than they originally should have. Which is one of the reasons they had to cut patrol short tonight, and why they decided to go straight to the Potion Maker's shop instead of going back to the apartment.
Chronos' Potion Shop, one of few potion shops in the Black market, that is surprisingly (compared to a lot of other places) cheap for the quality of the potions. Not to mention the owner of the shop, Chronos, was a very kind fellow. Friendly to just about everyone who stopped by, regardless of their ability to pay.
Getting to the shop was easy, getting to the Black Market itself was the difficult part. Thankfully being able to teleport had its advantage admittedly, and they used it whenever they needed to. Once they got to the market they headed straight to the Potion shop, stopping by Alyssa's place briefly to say hi before going on their way. It was a rather peaceful day, the sky was slightly overcast with a break in the clouds every now and then, allowing the sun to peek through and shine down to warm up anyone who was getting a bit chilly. Other patrons of the Black Market walked around idly, hands either in their pockets, or scanning shelves or tables with items they were looking for.
Admittedly, the place is pretty sketchy, there was always the possibility of someone about to mug someone else. But with a good majority of the people buying or selling items being vigilantes, there was very little to no crime in the Market.
Soon enough, the gang found themselves at the entrance to the Potion shop. Alexa practically ran in as soon as she got the door open, running over to Chronos who had just finished restocking the shelves.
"Chronos!!" Alexa chirped in excitement as she practically knocked him over while giving him a hug. Chronos was startled by how loudly the door was opened, and even more startled when Alexa almost knocked him over. But, with a sigh and a small smile, he chuckled and hugged her back.
"Hey Alexa." He said, chuckling as he petted her head. He waved to the others as they all came in. "Hello guys." He received muttered hello's and a "hey boss man" in response.
"So, what brings you four to the shop today?" He asks with a warm smile after Alexa let's go and goes to stand by the others. "You need the usual?"
"Yep," Tommy nods, looking a bit nervous. "Hey, uh- Big man?"
Chronos looks at him, his smile falling slightly as he tilts his head, giving the teen a questioning look. "What's the matter Tommy?"
"Um.. it's been a little rough with all the Heroes patrolling the district, and we'll.. we were wondering if we could double the order?" Alexa speaks up, her ears fell back some, Tommy just rubbed the back of his neck some as he nodded.
"Yeah... we had to keep the last of what we had going for a bit longer than we should have, almost got caught tonight because of it."
"That's not good," Chronos points out, shaking his head with a small sigh, he looks back at them with a soft smile. "And you didn't need a reason to order more, you know I'm happy to help you four in any way I can. But you will have to pay a bit extra."
"We know, but we've been doing good with our new jobs and should be able to cover it!" Alexa speaks up, smiling some as her tail swayed behind her.
"That's great to hear! Glad to know you guys are doing well." He says, placing a hand on Tommy's shoulder.
~~~~
They talk for a bit before he starts getting everything he needs for the potions together.
"Since you guys need the bigger bottles, it's going to take a little longer for the potions to brew. But I should be able to get them to you this weekend." He explains, all of them nodding at the information. At some point he has to keep Tubbo from accidentally knocking over Harming potions while he and Tommy were play fighting. One bottle actually fell off the shelf, thankfully Ranboo teleported over in time to catch it before it hit the ground.
They all just had a lot of fun talking for a bit before they decided to get home and rest, thankfully the Heroes we're no longer patrolling at this hour, so the streets were clear enough to walk most of the way home.
•~~•
Dark, damp and cold...
That's all that could be felt in this-.. place?
Was this anywhere they knew?
Somewheres they've been before?
Somewhere they'll be one day?
Who knows at this point, they just want to be anywhere but where they are right now.
There was a shuffle, then a bang,and a deafeningly loud scream and he moved to curl in himself in fear.
'Wait.. I know that scream..!' He thought, frantically moving his arms around to find all the bodies that were supposed to be in this pile they used for warmth.
Moving his arm out and to the right he felt velvety smooth feathers, 'There's Tommy..'
Moving his arm a little lower and to the left some, he felt a horn- two horns, one being broken, 'There's Mark..'
Moving his arm up a bit and in-between the two of them, he got nothing but empty air.
'Where is Alexa?!'
There was another scream, and then silence...
And that's where he heard it, that cackle.
That godsforaken cackle.
And then came the laugh.
The scream-like laugh that he could only tie to one person in his life, his father.
And the thought of his father brought about two feelings.
Anger, and an overwhelming sense of fear.
Soon enough, he felt himself falling.
A fall like no other, a fall without a crash to the ground or something to stop him.
He struggled against the wind that was rushing past his ears, struggled against the feeling of being drawn close to the void of darkness that encompassed him.
He started to cry at some point in his struggle against falling, the struggle against the arms of the void wrapping around his shoulders and shaking him a bit.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Arms?
Since when has the void had arms?
"...bo"
Bo?
What does 'bo' mean?
"T...bo..!"
Since when has this inky abyss ever tried to talk?
"Tubbo! Wake up!!"
•~~•
Tubbo opens his eyes with a start, shooting up into a sitting position where he grips at his chest as he starts hyperventilating.
"Tubbo! Tubbo, hey," There's a gentle hand being laid on his shoulder, and he flinches back from it harshly, snapping his head back to look at who had you he'd him.
"Hey, hey- calm down. It's just me." He held his hands up, making sure not to make direct eye contact as Tubbo's breathing evened out.
"R-Ranboo?"
"Yeah, that's me," He says, once again laying a hand gently down on Tubbo's shoulder. "I'm here, you're alright."
Tears- well, more tears well up in Tubbo's eyes as he jumps into Mark's arms, burying his face into his shoulder as he cried, the aftermath of his nightmare having left him shambles. All the while, Mark just does his best to help him calm down, just holding onto the other as he wept into his shoulder without a single care that his shirt was getting a wet spot.
And that's how they spend the last of the night hours until the sun comes up, laying down and holding onto each other. One holding on to provide comfort, the other holding on out of fear of what tricks his traitorous mind would play next.
⊬⍜⎍ ⋔⟟☌⊑⏁ ⊑⏃⎐⟒ ⏁⍜ ⎎⏃☊⟒ ⊬⍜⎍⍀ ⎎⟒⏃⍀ ⌇⍜⍜⋏⟒⍀ ⏁⊑⏃⋏ ⊬⍜⎍ ⌰⟟☍⟒, ⏁⎍⏚⏚⍜~
:}
A/n: Tubbo and Ranboo do share a bed, however that will be changed if, by some grand fucking reason, if they see this and are uncomfortable with it. But the reason behind that is, it's a three bed, one bath apartment, and Tubbo refused on ever level possible to let either him, or Ranboo sleep on the couch. He was a persistent little shit when they were figuring out sleeping arrangements lol
Chronos is not my character, he belongs to my cousin, I just made an Au version of him!
And to those of you who know what the Enderian says, shhhhh, let the other figure it out, I didn't make it glitched for a reason :)