What Lies Beyond the Shores

Chapter 2

Tubbo was excited to show Big Man Goldfish his new friend he had blackmailed... and was going to heal, of course. Tubbo snickered to himself at the nickname he gave Tommy.

Though the Goldfish never agreed to that nickname, it just stuck. It was who he was, whether he liked it or not. 

When Tubbo looked over at the Ranboo, he was starting to look dizzier by the second. Tubbo took a small minute to see in the corner of his eyes, the once black and white, now dirty blonde hair, was starting to stick to his face, the effort of walking while having the head injury was starting to take a turn, and it gave Tubbo a little splinter of worry. Something small, but kind of a pain to get rid of.

"Okay, so remember, don't say anything about being-" Tubbo gestured to the both of them, keeping Ranboo's arm held tight as he waited for a small nod. Ranboo winced at the effort of moving his head, reaching up with his free hand to cradle the wound. They were nearing the Watson house, a small beach house at the coast, with its own dock and boat.

He saw Phil at the dark wooden dock with Techno, hopping onto the small boat, clutching harpoons and nets that Ranboo stiffened at the sight of.

"Come on-" Tubbo muttered.

"Hey Tubbo!" Philza waved at the two boys and stopped when Phil noticed the other boy. "Whose that- are they okay?"

"Yeah! Uh- my friend here hit his head on some rocks, and uh- I need Tommy's help to patch him up- is that okay?" Tubbo's tale wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the full truth either, while Phil's concern deepened, taking the bait.

"Yeah of course Tubbo, make sure you clean up afterwards though." Phil said as Techno joined him on the boat. "We'll be out for a minute- there were sightings of a sea creature by the bay! We want to go looking for them!" Phil didn't bother hiding his excitement, and Ranboo didn't hide his shiver, but Tubbo pulled him along anyways.

"Thanks Phil!" He called as they pulled away and he walked up onto the birch porch, Ranboo gripping onto the railings along the stairs and on the platform that reached up to a roof.

Tubbo knocked violently on the door, urgency increasing, and the splinter became a shard of oak piercing his skin when Ranboo started to sway, his green and crimson brown dual eyes turning a duller, sicker shade.

"Uh- Tommy?" He called, now ringing the doorbell for who knows how many times, when a messy brown curly haired man opened the door, looking quite pissed, round glasses tipped to the side of his nose.

"Good morning to you too Tubbo." He grumbled groggily.

"Uh actually, it's afternoon." Tubbo corrected automatically. "I need to see Tommy. Now."

Wilbur gave him a suspicious look, but was too drowsy and rubbed his eyes, not noticing, or not caring about the taller boy behind Tubbo, and opened the door wider, stepping aside. Tubbo thanked him quickly before rushing up the creaking stairs, and running into Tommy's room, the boy flopped on his stomach on his blue and red bed.

"Tommy! Up. Now." Tubbo ordered, dragging Ranboo into Tommy's bathroom, and flicking on the light to a mint blue bathroom with birch wood flooring and a diorite counter. Tubbo placed Ranboo on the closed toilet as he rummaged through the medicine cabinet to the side of the big mirror. Tubbo saw Tommy slowly walk into the bathroom to see what on Earth Tubbo was doing.
"What do you want-" Tommy stopped in the doorway and the boy Tubbo dragged in, hunched over, knees to his chest, and hair damp from sickly sweat.

"Who is he?" Tommy asked, watching the blood drip from the strange boy's head.

"Ah-hah!" Tubbo had finally found what he was looking for. A roll of bandages and disinfectant. "Tommy- can you get a washcloth?" Tubbo asked absently, aware that he was avoiding Tommy's question. The other boy gave a little hesitation, but ducked under the cabinet and dragged out a washcloth, and handed it to Tubbo. Tubbo flipped the bottle of disinfectant onto the small towel, setting the bandages next to the sink of the small bathroom. Tommy stayed quiet as Tubbo dabbed the disinfectant onto the wound on Ranboo's head, the boy flinching at the touch, but never speaking more than a soft grunt of pain. After a few minutes of silence, Tubbo's eyes caught Tommy's. Brownish-green meeting blue. Tommy was leaning against the counter, his foot tapping against the hardwood floor, a mix of emotions crossing his face. Frustration, worry, curiosity, and, unsurprisingly, annoyance.

"Care to explain?" He asked simply, though the annoyance was clear in his tone. Tubbo continued the mindless dapping when he answered.

"'Found him getting swept by the current, heading straight for the rocks. I was a little late, but he'll be fine." A beat of hesitation. "Probably." He shot a sheepish smile towards Tommy, who rubbed a hand over his face, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Seriously Tubbo? 'Probably?'" Tommy groaned.

"He may be like me, ya know-" Tubbo shot an even more sheepish look at Tommy.

"Are you serious?!" Tommy shouted, then lowering his voice so his older brother, Wilbur, couldn't hear, slowly shutting the door to his bathroom.

"Are you serious?" He hissed. "If Phil knew-" Tubbo cut him off short.

"He doesn't know. He doesn't know about me, he doesn't know about Ranboo, and won't know about Ranboo." Tubbo matched the same volume as Tommy, who looked like he wanted to hit something, supposedly being Tubbo.

"Ranboo- seriously? What kind of name is that?" Tommy rubbed at his eye, scrubbing away any last remnant of sleep.

"That's what I said!"

"Don't make me remind you that your name is Tubbo." Ranboo groaned, just conscious enough to be petty, his eyes barely meeting Tubbo's. Tubbo sighed and sat down the washcloth to grab the bandages.

He carefully wrapped it around the other boy's head, who flinched at the sudden contact to his wound. The three sat in silence as Tubbo finished bandaging Ranboo's head. Tommy's eyes were sharp on Tubbo, and it felt like a knife sticking to his side, along the oak shard that had dulled back to the splitter as Ranboo's wound was cleaned and wrapped up.

"What are we supposed to do with him?" Tommy sighed. Tubbo thought for a moment.

"Well, we can't let him back into the ocean- he's still bleeding and the sharks would be after him."

"Stop talking like I'm an animal that's been deathly wounded." Ranboo lifted his head higher, his gaze in an attempt to be sharp.

"Technically you are." Tommy snorted

"I could also be more likely to kill them than they are to kill me." Ranboo hissed, something gleaming in his ill eyes. Tubbo suddenly felt something similar to dread creeping into his spine.

 Something wasn't right with this guy.