The Gray | Bench trio AU

Chapter 2

Notes-

yup... we've switched to Tommy's POV...

also yup it's cringe but that's all I could do.

"Tommy, what are we-"
"SHHH!" I said, (not gently) slapping my hand to cover Tubbo's mouth. He made some protesting mumbles but eventually shut up. There was a moment of silence. I thought it safe to remove my hand but the moment I did Tubbo started talking again.
"Tommy, what-"
"SHHHHHHH!"

"Tommy, we've been hiding out under this market stall for 2 hours. What are we supposed to be doing," Ranboo said. "And my back really hurts."
"Not my fault you're so freakishly tall," I retorted. Tubbo made more muffled protests.

"Tommy, if there's no reason why we're here then let's just leave already. It's dangerous for us to be here in a human market, we could get found," Ranboo said nervously, peering under the black and white flaps that had hidden us for this long.

"No, Ranboo, just you and the midget. I look normal." Tubbo shot me a glare. Okay, maybe I kinda deserved that one. "Look guys I do have a plan."
"To break our backs and annoy us?"
Not specifically in that order but yes, I said. Or I WOULD'VE if I didn't care about keeping my new friends. Instead, I ignored Ranboo and lay on my tummy to peek under the tablecloth. Directly in front of him, a van arrived, and a couple of men started setting up another stall, unpacking nerf guns. I smiled. Finally.

"Um, Tommy?" Ranboo snapped me back to reality. "What is it?"
"The love of my life," I said grinning from ear to ear.
"Really? I see nerf guns not wome-" Ranboo was cut off as I slipped out from underneath the stall and toward the nerf gun one. I knew how human currency worked, and I also knew that I had none. I had to go carefully about this. Time to go into A C T I N G  M O D E.

"E-Excuse me s-sir I was wondering if I-" I started but stopped short when I saw his face. He was bald, had a nose ring, and one of his teeth was gold. Classic gangster. Classic gangster also wasn't going to work with his plan. Welp, time to improvise.
"Um never mind bye."

I walked away, thinking about the situation. The last two options were to try to steal or just leave it be. They were just toys, after all. Nah, it's bad to give up. I grinned and snuck back toward the stall. Just like we did with the one selling zucchini brownies, I slipped under the stall and waited for the right moment, barely daring to breathe. A couple of kids raced up to the stall giggling and excited at the thought of getting a nerf gun. As the man running the stall attended to them (not very kindly may I add), I quickly uncovered myself and reached for a nerf gun.

"Hey!" a rough voice yelled at me. The word seemed to echo around in my head. All the noise around me became muffled and my vision went blurry as images flashed through my mind. Black flashes, a devilish smile, angry voices, crying, screaming, no control, no control, no-

A harsh shove knocking me into boxes pulled me back to reality. I gasped for breath, winded, and clutched my arm which had taken the brunt of the push.

"Just what do you think you were doing?!" the voice said. I looked around and sure enough, it was the nose ring man.
"I-I-" I struggled to find an excuse. Got lost? No. That can't cover for how I was reaching toward his stuff. He looked down at me menacingly. A small crowd had gathered around the stall. He pulled me up by the collar of my shirt and prepared to shove me again, this time with more force, when out of nowhere his whole body just froze. I dropped to the ground, bruised and feeling sorry for myself. When I looked around, I noticed that the nose ring man wasn't the only frozen guy. Everything was still, even the wind. It was like time had just been paused.

Well, almost everything.

I was roughly pulled upright for the second time today and dragged to the safety of the tree line where I saw Ranboo, eyes closed in a frown and sweat dripping down his face, was waiting. I was released and staggered for a moment before finding my feet. I turned to see Tubbo glaring at me. Suddenly, Ranboo relaxed and time continued. The crowd around nose-ring's stall had erupted in yells of confusion.
"Do you KNOW how much energy it takes Ranboo to do freeze time? Do you realize that had Ranboo run out of energy, not only would he die but we would be spotted and have died too?"
"T-then why did you help me-"
"Because otherwise you would've died or gotten hurt or something! Tommy that was so stupid why did you even try stealing a toy anyway?!"
"I'm sorry," I croaked. There was a silence as Tubbo caught his breath.
"I was scared," he murmured. Another pause. "So that was your quest?"
"No."
"Then what was? Eating flowers?"
"Tubbo," I started, furiously willing myself not to cry, "I wanted friends." His face instantly softened. 
"Then why didn't you ask?"
"Because I thought you'd say no."

Tubbo hugged me. "Tommy, since we met you were always going to be my friend. We're always going to be here for you, don't be afraid to ask for anything."
"A nerf gun?" I mumbled through my tears. Tubbo and a fully recovered Ranboo laughed. I laughed too. Everything felt like it would be ok.

That was when we noticed the grey.

We instantly jumped away from it, except for Tubbo, who couldn't get away in time. He tripped, his arm getting caught in between two rocks. All the grass, the flowers, the dirt, in a little patch were grey, and that patch was spreading. Tubbo's hoof got caught in it and started turning grey, which was spreading up his leg. But then the tips of his hoof started withering away.
"Guys, guys?!" he yelped, panicked. Ranboo tried pulling him out of the way, but his arm just got more stuck, so I worked on freeing it. His entire right hoof was almost gone. He realized he wouldn't make it out in time.

"Tommy, Ranboo, go! Quick!" Tubbo cried. I silently shook my head, and Ranboo just ignored him, sitting right where he was. The grey seeped closer toward us, closer... closer...
"Done!" I cried, freeing Tubbo's arm. Ranboo and I quickly pulled him away. The grey that had almost reached his shoulders faded away and his hoof just kinda reappeared. We sat there, for a second, catching our breath.

"Hey guys," I said, "I think I just found my quest."