Roundabout

The Problem in Not Quite Solving Problems

Ranboo watched as Technoblade stormed away, confused as to what happened. He knew what he had done, he'd challenged Dream. Oh no he challenged Dream. Ranboo looked behind him to see Tommy and Tubbo, the whole Syndicate, looking at him, mouths agape.

"What were you thinking!?" Tommy yelled as Ranboo tried to slink away. Alas, Ranboo couldn't be free. Ranboo was never free, not from Tommy. "Why would you just do that? We were gonna race next!" Tommy demanded, grabbing the collar of his shirt.

"Tommy calm down there'll be more races-" Tubbo began, but Tommy redirected his anger at Tubbo.

"But we were gonna be his next!" He yelled, but Wilbur put a hand on Tommy's shoulder.

"Tommy calm down. Let's just go home." He said, guiding Tommy away while giving Ranboo a look he couldn't quite understand. Phil walked up to Ranboo.

"I can give you a ride home, Ranboo." He nodded appreciatively. Ranboo followed Phil to his car, which was a dark forest green. There was a car air freshener hanging from the rear-view mirror and a blanket draped across the back seats. There were a few trinkets across the dash and Ranboo wouldn't have guessed it was a racing car if it wasn't for the odd color.

"So what was up with Techno?" Ranboo couldn't help but ask as he got into the passenger's seat. Phil sighed, starting up the car.

"Techno and Dream don't have the... best relationship. Dream's good, but he can be cocky and a right prick. They wanted different things and Dream was pretty pushy, so they got into an argument and dissolved their group. The rest is for Techno to tell you mate, not me."

Ranboo frowned, but nodded, looking out the window as Phil drove up to his house. "This yours?" He checked, earning a nod from the boy. Ranboo picked up his bag and headed up the walkway and into his house, waving goodbye to Phil.

He crept up the stairs and into his room as quietly as he could before flopping down onto his bed, plugging in his earbuds and letting music fill his ears. What had he just done?

***

Sunrise came, warm and buttery, birds chirping as Ranboo sat up and stretched, looking out the large windows above his desk. He picked up his phone from the ground, noticing all the texts.

Tommy
RANVOOOOOO
RNABOOO
RANBOOOOOOBO WAKE UP

He laughed at Tommy's texts, which came at around 3 am.

Tubbo :D
ranboo ur in such troble
techno is piiiiisssed

That one came at 8 am. Wait, how late was it? Ranboo checked the time, and it was closing in on 11 am. How did Tubbo know Techno was angry with him?

Ranboo
wait what?

Tubbo :D
techno is angyyyyy

Ranboo
how do you know that????

Tubbo :D
oh!
phil came by my house w/ him lol
he seemed angry
you should talk to him tho
cant believe you challenged dream
like u got some balls
boss man?
ranboo?

Ranboo was already running out the door, waving a quick goodbye to his parents. He needed to go find Techno and apologize, he didn't have to race against Dream, he was just being stupid. He'd heard that Techno lived near the park, and that he had a dog so that was his best bet.

Sure enough, as Ranboo rounded a corner and headed into the park he saw Technoblade, walking a short puffball that Ranboo guessed was his dog. Techno looked shockingly domestic, his hair pulled into a low ponytail at the base of his neck and just a grey t-shirt and jeans.