Chapter Text
Tommy and Tubbo ran. He didn’t know how long they were running, but when they finally stopped, it was like the world was spinning.
Tommy’s legs were burning. He had been dragging Tubbo along behind him because he was taller and moved quicker, but he knew that they were both exhausted to their core.
They sat in a wet alleyway, not caring enough to mind getting their already ruined clothes even more dirty.
Tubbo put his hand on his chest and squeezed, taking a deep breath in. Tommy could already tell he was struggling to breathe without having to ask.
A moment of silence passed, both of them trying hard to catch their breath after running for Prime knows how long.
“Tommy… do you.. do you think we’ll be okay?” A pause. “I mean… we don’t have anywhere, anymore… and we’re only 16, Tommy! How are we supposed to do anything?!”
“I.. I don’t know Tubs. I’ll figure something out for us, okay? We can do this together, it’ll be alright.”
“But you don’t know that! We don’t know anything! We can’t do anything, Tommy! We’re barely alive teenagers, and our only source of getting by was burnt down. How the fuck do we come back from that?!”
Tubbo was exhausted, and Tommy couldn’t fault the boy for yelling at him. But Tommy was so fucking tired, physically and mentally. All he wanted was to fall over and go to sleep, but he had to stay strong. To be strong for his best friend.
“It’ll be okay Tubbo. We can get jobs, even pickpocket people if nothing! Whatever we need to survive, we can do it! Even if we’re eating fucking scraps to get by, Tubbo. We will survive.”
Tubbo looked at Tommy with something in his eye that Tommy couldn’t place before he was brought into a hug. Tubbo was sobbing into his shoulder, and Tommy couldn’t stop the tears he pushed back from falling either.
“Uh. Excuse me…” a voice calls out from in front of the two huddled up to each other, making the humans jump.
Tommy immediately sat up in front of Tubbo to put his body in between the two before showing his teeth at the man. He didn’t really have anything else, and even then, his teeth weren’t reliable.
“Uhm… sorry for scaring you?…” the stranger said. This guy is more socially awkward than Tommy’s dead mother. And she’s dead, so she’s not really good at conversations.
“What? You didn’t scare me. How much did you hear?” Tommy really couldn’t risk some fucker knowing they were homeless, and orphans at that.
“I was here the entire time…?”
They stare at each other.
“Did you… did you not see me? I was here the entire time…”
“What? Liar! No one was even so much as breathing near us, I would’ve noticed!” Tubbo shouted out from behind Tommy
“Well, you two did kinda just run into the alleyway and start doing… whatever you did… so…”
“Do you usually just not talk at all when people are experiencing something clearly not meant for other’s eyes?”
“Uh… yeah?”
…
Tommy burst out laughing and he knew Tubbo had to suppress a giggle too, but the kid just looked like he’d been dead serious!
“…Did I say anything funny?”
“Are you serious?” Tommy managed to get out of his series of laughter, wheezing and all.
“Of course I am. It happens more often than you might think it does!”
“I don’t even doubt that” Tubbo chuckles from his spot which had moved to beside Tommy.
“Uhm, I know we just met and I wouldn’t fault you guys for not agreeing, but… I did overhear your conversation and I had a similar experience with my memory which led me to being homeless for a while before I met these people and… well what im trying to say is that there’s a place you could stay at for the time being, if you want?”
The stranger breathed before continuing, “It’s just, because it’s happened to me and I don’t want either of you to get hurt— I can let you stay over at my place? You two seem so nice, and I just… I don’t want anything to happen.”
As much as Tommy thinks the guy is funny, they don’t even know their name. He threw a quick glance at Tubbo to study the other’s face, finding surprised that he seems to be thinking the same thing as him.
“Listen, Boss Man, as much as that sounds so nice, we’re not really looking forward to being kidnapped.” Tubbo said, reading Tommy’s mind like he had for him.
“Oh, that’s fine… thank’s for not, like, killing me for asking?”
“Uh… yeah… so we’re gonna go…” Tommy finally spoke. It was already dark, they shouldn’t stay out here forever, especially not when they could be kidnapped. Like they could’ve been just now.
The stranger just nodded before watching the duo get up and leave the alleyway. “Just remember the offer is always up, and if you need me, I’ll be around here or the park more often than not.” The two eyed the unfamiliar, nodding. They only dared to speak when out of eyeshot.
“Tubbo. That person was fucking weird. Who offers up their house to two homeless orphaned teenagers just because they went through something similar?”
“Tommy!” Tubbo half-heartedly yelled, “They were being nice. It’s the kindest thing anyone’s tried to do for us since even before the orphanage, at least.”
“I guess people don’t like orphans all too much. Maybe we should start burning down people’s houses who have two perfectly well parents.”
There was silence before they both burst out laughing, falling into a familiar sync of calmness. They cracked jokes all they wanted about their trauma the whole time. Tommy and Tubbo had always gotten somehow closer than they had before when they trauma-bonded, or whatever it was.
After the finally not awkward quietness had settled over the duo, Tommy settled in it a bit before speaking up. “We have to go find somewhere that we can stay. Or, we have to pull the pity card, and I hate that one… but if we need to do it, we can” Tommy mumbled to Tubbo and himself.
“We could stay in a store overnight like those one YouTube videos!”
“Tubbo, those aren’t real. No way that would work!”
“They’re literally real. I don’t know what you’re on about but you’re wrong. We can stay in the Walmart or something since it’s open 24/7!”
“Firstly, im never wrong. Secondly, ew! It’ll be all musty and shit from the people touching it with their germs. Maybe we should’ve taken that person’s offer.” Tommy grimaced
“And get absolutely kidnapped? No thanks. I think we can handle being out on the street, not like it’s the first time.” Tubbo whispered. “Also, you literally wipe your germs all over me everyday. I doubt you’re in the right to talk about germs being gross, Tommy.”
Tommy frowned at Tubbo’s words but knew there was no use denying it. They were always meant to be street kids, it seems.
Completely ignoring his last sentence, Tommy brought up a new idea “I mean, we could like… stay in an abandoned house for a little until we’re back up on our feet? When we get jobs and shit.” Tommy offered, eyes avoiding Tubbo entirely.
Tommy fidgeted with his hands for what felt like an eternity before Tubbo replied. He was only nervous because he and Tubbo both knew it wouldn’t be a good place to stay for a long while, but it was the best he could think of.
“Okay, sure… that seems like the only option we have for now, anyways.”
Tommy smiled before turning his gaze up to search for any abandoned building that wasn’t either completely falling down or swarmed with other homeless people. Tommy would not like to be attacked today, thank you very much!
They aimlessly wandered around the less rich parts of the city. They wouldn’t have had any luck finding an abandoned house in the higher up parts, and with how slim their chances already were, they weren’t going to risk it.
Tommy was looking around at a house for a tell-tale sign that it was abandoned before he was completely sure it was safe for them to go inside. If not, it’d sure be awkward.
As he was looking around it, as quick and silent as possible (because it would be awfully suspicious to anyone if a weird looking teenager was looking at their house loudly,) he only got a few signs it was abandoned before he got an off feeling in his gut.
The air suddenly went silent around them, not even a chirp of a bird or a rustle of a tree to be heard. That explains the feeling in his gut, at least… but why was it so awfully quiet now?
The air had just been filled with laughter and wind pushing its way through them, but now none of that was here. It was like the world had just stopped, seemingly for no reason.
“Tubbo, come on. I think this house will be okay.” He looks back at the other, who equally looks uneasy, but Tommy doesn’t know if it’s for the same reasons as Tommy. Nonetheless, the boy follows the taller.
Tommy walks up to the front door of the (hopefully) abandoned home, and twists the handle. If it was locked, he could just break a window from the back or something.
Thankfully, his thoughts were cut off as the door opened easily without more force than needed.
Tommy took Tubbo’s hand in his, and brought the other closer to him. They walked into the house together, and it was unsurprisingly dark.
Even if it sucked that they’d have to sit in a completely dark house until they could get fucking candles or some shit, it was better than nothing.
The inside was completely empty from any visible humans, and there was a couch perfectly in Tommy’s line of sight, lighten up by the moon light. He didn’t waste time before running to it and flopping down on it right then and there. It felt like heaven.
Tubbo had actually been normal and shut the door, locked it, and sat down his things before calmly walking to Tommy.
“Should we explore the house more in the morning? I don’t know if either of us will be able to get a job this early… especially not with the way we look, unless someone takes pity on us and ignores the very clear sign we’re teenagers.” A sigh escaped his lips when he finished talking, and tommy wordlessly made room for Tubbo to join him on the couch.
“Yeah, we should. I would do it right now, but the house is like… completely dark, you know. At least the couch is here. Without it I would be so very sad and depressed.”
“Right, Tommy.” Tubbo sleepily agrees, putting his head on Tommy’s chest when they huddle up to each other for warmth. Again, no blankets. Just each other, forever.
“I think we could probably try to steal some easy things tommorow… maybe some food, and money. Whatever we can get, really” Tommy replied to the other half of the sentence Tubbo had just said.
“At least we’re not homeless anymore, kinda. Only one more to go before we’re normal, but it might just be impossible to revive dead people.” Tubbo mumbles
Tommy huffs at Tubbo’s stupid joke, yet it brought a smile on. “I guess so. We might just be weird forever, Tubso.”
“Yeah… but I kinda prefer it, I met you because of it after all.”
The two fell asleep like that, arms around each other for a source of warmth. They left behind the strange quietness of the night that made them both uneasy, quickly forgetting when being safe with a place to sleep.
The two slept peacefully until morning. Tubbo grumbled as he blinked his eyes open, wishing he could sleep more. Tommy, in return, sighed and also opened his eyes as best as he sleepily could.
“Tommy, we have to go out to the market.” Tubbo shook him, still yawning himself.
“I don’t want to get uppp…” Tommy trailed off, his eyes fluttering close once again. Tubbo smacked the other just enough to wake him up.
“That was cruel, Tubso. I was getting my beauty sleep.”
“Right… come on, let’s go. We have to go to the market to rob some pussies!”
“So true. You speak the truth, Truth Boy. Big T. Big Truth.”
“Tommy, if you say truth one more time, im going to strangle you.”
Tommy shut his mouth, but only until they were outside. He was Tommy after all, he still needed attention and to talk anybody who would listen’s ears off.
They had each planned to circle back to the house after they both got whatever they could get their hands on, and if anything happened, to scream.
They split ways, both equally rich in experience in either robbing people or playing the poor little starving orphans.
Tommy separated from Tubbo, planning to either sneak some shit from the stands by distracting them as best as he could, or pickpocket the rich bitches. Hopefully without either of them noticing, of course.
Tommy looks over the crowd of people scrambling about in the streets, until he looks over to one obvious rich looking man. Easy bait, he thinks.
He runs up to the other, crashing into the unknown individual as if he didn’t mean to, before apologizing quickly and walking away with the man’s wallet.
Tommy ran off before the other could notice, grinning all the while. He put the wallet into his own pocket, then gradually moving towards the stands of food.
If he was lucky enough, he’d get both food and money, but he’d be okay with just one. You can’t always push your luck and expect to get everything.
Before he could get any farther than he already had, a hand grabbed his shoulder.
On instinct, he spun around and smacked the hand off of him. He looked up to see who the fuck touched him, and oh.
It was the lanky bitch he’d stolen the wallet from.