Pain is of the essence

Nightmares are normal

3 POV

He stood in front of a huge pile of deer. They were being picked and eaten, all killed in similar ways. Some had their neck broken, some shot, some so far gone it was impossible to tell. The smell of blood and rotting flesh met his nose, and he gagged. Hundreds, no, thousands of black vultures were mutilating the corpses. 

All at once they stopped and bore their beady eyes into his face. They began to speak, words he couldn't understand filled his ears. Was is Latin or something? He tried covering his ears, but it was as if they were thin as paper. The chanting got louder and louder, and all of the sudden, they got just bellow a whisper. And the the simultaneous beats of hearts shook the ground. 

The carcasses were bleeding again, but more than they should be. Blood poured endlessly from their bodies, and came for him like a wave. It was ankle deep, knee deep, waist deep, and before he knew, he was drowning in blood. His head bobbed under it as he thrashed, trying to swim.

The taste of warm blood filled his mouth and eyes, and he felt disgustingly sticky. He flailed his arms and tried swimming up, but which way was up? He finally made it to the surface, where the vultures chants refilled his ears. But what caused his to stop swimming was the carcasses.

They weren't deer anymore. They were people. Everyone he ever loved, knew, or saw was on that pile. Bleeding and being torn apart. His legs stopped kicking and he sunk. All at once his brain stopped working, but he soon realized he was drowning again. Just as suddenly, he started to scream for help, from anyone. he felt like crying and his limbs burned. The blood poured into his mouth and into his lungs.

He couldn't breath. Everything was turning black. His attempts became more and more desperate. He didn't want to die like this! He wanted to be able to say goodbye! As he tried and failed, the waves of blood continued to push him down. And just before he could feel his life slip away, his fingers met cool air.

Ranboo shot awake, pushing himself into a pushup position before putting his leg down so he didn't fall. He glanced around the room to see his living room, well, more of Techno's living room. He had been face first on the couch and a soft blanket was draped over his back.

He was still panting, his eyes stung and his lunges still felt full, he could taste the blood and his limbs screamed at him to fall back into the couch. But, he sat up and shakily steadied his breathing. He still had the feeling that blood would break through the front door and swallow him.  

"Good morning." The relaxed drawl of Techno came from behind Ranboo, and he turned slightly to see him. "M-morning..." Ranboo said, voice hoarse and throat dry. Techno came over and sat next to Ranboo "You slept walked last night, again." Techno stated, looking into his steaming tea cup. "oh..." Was all Ranboo could manage, staring into Techno's face, the image still fresh in his head of this man being dead and picked away at. 

"'Nother nightmare?" Techno asked softly, looking back at Ranboo. Ranboo almost had nightmares every night, he hadn't had one in a week, guess his streak was broken. Tears came to Ranboo's eyes at the thought, he didn't like nightmare and he didn't like worrying Techno. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to his adoptive father.

"It's OK, your not going to get better over night." Techno spoke, setting his cup on the coffee table. "I- I know that, but I- you- I just want to be better." Ranboo said, a sob raking his body. The taller was brought into a hug by the pinkett, which he accepted gratefully. "You will get better, it might not be immediate, but you need to work out what's in your head first." Ranboo just listened, not providing any response. 

"It could take months, hell, even years, but you will get better, untill then, you have people that can comfort you," pulling away slightly but keeping his hands on Ranboo's shoulder, he continued. "But please do it before I'm on my death bed." he finished jokingly. Ranboo snickered before replying "I'll do it the day before." while rolling his eyes. "*Gasp* So you are planning to kill me, I should have known!" Techno said dramatically. 

Ranboo and him shared a laugh. After a minute of comfortable silence, Techno spoke again. "How about I make you some break fast and you go get ready. Waffles with ham?" Ranboo gave a small nod and headed for his room to shower. Leaving Techno to stare after him. Once Ranboo was out of sight, Techno's smile fell, he was worried about Ranboo. The boy was doing so well, and then, based on Ranboo's body language, that had come falling down over the night.

He didn't miss how Ranboo tensed at the death jokes and cursed at himself for it. Standing up and grabbing his tea, he made it to the kitchen to fulfill his end of the bargain. Once in the kitchen, he got some frozen waffled and popped then into the toaster. While that was working, he got some ham and a pan, soon, the room was filled with the smell of salty cooked meat. He heard the shower running and brushed it off as nothing important. 

The man of the house was greeted by an small energetic white dog that came running in for whatever smelled so good to his doggy nose. Soon after came a tall boy with his mask, sunglasses and his school bag. He was much more put together now and was also much happier. His hair was wet and he had the smell of hot water around him (don't judge me I have a very good nose).

"You took a shower?" Techno asked, although he knew the answer. "Nah I just took a nice swim in the toilet." Ranboo said playfully. Techno rolled his eyes and turned back to the ham, he was happy to see Ranboo was better now. A small bark broke Techno out of his thoughts and he looked to Ranboo, who was holding Floof like a baby. 

Techno let out a dramatic gasp, the second one in 20 minutes, and commented about how Floof would let Ranboo hold him like that and not his own dad. Techno just received a laugh and a bark. After a couple more minutes, Techno plated the last piece of ham and handed the plate to Ranboo. Two waffles and 4 nicely sized pieces of ham. "Eat up, also, your lunch is in the fridge."

Ranboo nodded and went to the table, scarfing down food as fast as he could without chocking. Floof was at his feet begging for food because Techno was washing dishes, and food never came from the sink, smart dog. He passed a half piece of ham and the little dog ate it happily. Soon Ranboo, with a little help from their dog, was done and washing his plate. 

After washing his dish and grabbing his lunch from the fridge, he headed towards the front door. "I'll see you after school!" Ranboo called from the open door. "Yup!" Was the reply that came back, Ranboo said one more goodbye to a Floof who was licking an area I will not mention, before walking out the door. He could hear the bus a few stops away and quickly walked to the corner where he was picked up. 

He couldn't wait to see Tommy and Tubbo so that his mood would be fully lifted. The two always managed to make everything seem better with their playful banter and weird jokes. He knew by the end of the day his nightmare would be in the back of his mind. And speaking of back of his mind, he pulled himself out of there when he heard the buses loud breaks right in front of him. He climbed up the stairs and went right to the back seats, where he found his two good friends insulting one another. 

"Ranboob!!"

Hi mom, Hi ya lil shit

What up, no foreshadowing ending today ig. Anywhoses, time to do the warnings.

TW: Blood, drowning, death, gore, animal death, demonic chanting ig

So like, if ur wondering why I'm suddenly posting so much, I don't have YouTube with my parents (dad, stepmom), so the only thing I can really do is focus on this story, so yay. Also, comment if u fckin want, I crave validation from Wattpad, hrrr.

(Can you tell how much I simp for Ranboo based on how much trauma I'm dumping on him :D)