Archive of Our Own ^beta

Tubbo was having an okay break! Shockingly! Doc and Ren were being awesome; he got to hang out with Doccy all day, and he could go on walks at any time as long as he was home for dinner. And no one yelled. No one fought. It felt like he could finally breathe for once. Tubbo decided to celebrate by going for a walk with his earbuds in. Sure, it’s a thing he does basically every day, but today was special. It was Christmas Eve. And he had no one to hang out with.

Tommy was stuck at home helping her parents prepare for their huge family to come over for a Christmas party. Ranboo was having the same problem, but his moms were making him babysit their siblings as well. And Purpled… well, Tubbo didn’t know what was going on with that guy. It wasn’t answering his texts, so he kind of gave up. Tubbo walked down the block, passing the movie theatre and a corner store. He stood and looked at the store, contemplating buying himself some licorice.

Tubbo is very much snapped out of his thoughts when a child, no older than 8, rammed into him, sending Tubbo and the kid toppling over. Tubbo hit the sidewalk with a smack, the kid landing heavily on top of him. “Whoops!!” He hears the kid say, quickly getting off Tubbo’s stomach, and Tubbo feels his head spin. “OH MY GOODNESS!” Tubbo heard another voice exclaim, his vision was all blurred as a white blob came into his vision.

“A-are you an angel? Is it my time?” Tubbo grumbles out as the person props Tubbo up on a nearby street lamp and holds his head up. “T-thats very sweet, but no. I’m so so sorry about Sunny…” Tubbo blinked as the pain gradually started fading a bit, his eyes and head still pounding as he looked up at the guy holding him. A bear hybrid, they were as tall as Ranboo, maybe a little shorter, and was wearing a bright blue winter coat. Quite a choice.

The kid, Sunny, was a dragon hybrid who was wearing a poofy yellow dress and a white coat, sunglasses, and a cheap plastic crown. Her skin was tanned, and her hair matched Tubbo’s a bit, brown and blonde. “It’s fine, boss…. I get how little kids can be.” Tubbo chuckled dryly. “Sunny and I were on our way to Glimmer Diner. Let me buy you something as an apology, you could’ve gotten much more seriously hurt!” The guy says. Tubbo finally recognized him. Fred. This guy went to his school and was on the student council!

“I never say no to free food,” Tubbo says, holding onto his head a bit as Fred slowly lets go of him, quickly checking that Tubbo was okay once more. “Uh, I’m Tubbo. I recognize you. You're on the student council with that… that other polar bear hybrid? Right?” Tubbo says, staring at Fred, who nods. “Yeah. I’m Fred. The guy you're referring to is my older brother, Cucurucho.” They say as Sunny pulls at their hand. “Come on!! I’m hungry!!” Sunny says, pulling harder on Fred’s hand, who nods. They seem exhausted.

“Could we continue talking on the way to the diner? Sunny might kill me.”

“Of course.”

Tubbo walks next to Fred, trying not to glance too obviously at the hybrid and the kid with them. “Is Sunny your sibling, too?” Tubbo asks Fred as they cross a block. “No, I’m her babysitter.” Fred sighs. “She might as well be my sibling, though. She’s around a lot.” They say, Tubbo nodding. “Cool. Cool.” Sunny looks up at Tubbo when he says that, giving him a mischievous smile.

The three get to the diner, Fred opening the door for the other two. Tubbo says a small thank you as he follows the little dragon hybrid in. They sit at a booth near the front window because Sunny says she wants to look at all the cars driving by. Fred is strangely quiet as he decides to sit next to Tubbo instead of Sunny. They are also staring at him intensely. “Do… Do I have something on my face, man-?” Tubbo asks, pointing at himself. Fred freezes up, eyes going wide before shaking their head vigorously.

“Oh! No, no, sorry! I didn’t mean to stare! I just- gosh, I’m socially awkward as all heck, I’m so sorry.” Fred says quickly, putting their hands up a bit. Tubbo was about to respond, but a waitress smacked down some menus and went on her merry way. Sunny immediately went to grab one. Fred turns to Tubbo a little more. “She always gets the same thing every time, but she still loves looking over the menu,” Fred says under their breath to Tubbo. “Adorable.” He responds, passing a menu to Fred, who thanks him while grabbing one for himself.

Tubbo decides to get a burger and fries, Fred joins him in the burger option but decides to get onion rings instead of fries, and Sunny gets a grilled cheese sandwich. Once the waitress circles back around with water, takes their orders, and leaves with the menu, Sunny starts telling a story about some kids at her school. Fred seems very interested in the story, leaning over the table a little bit. “I’m glad Leo liked your new dress. I know you were very excited about showing it to them.” Fred smiles.

“She says we should get matching ones soon! But we wanna get summer dresses because those are way cuter! I want sunflowers on mine! Oh!!!! Tubbo! Did you know sunflowers were named after me?” Sunny exclaims, smiling at Tubbo. “Wow! You must be really special to have a whole flower type named after you.” He says, taking a sip of water as Fred lets out a small chuckle. “I know, right!? I’m a shining star!”

The food gets to their table a few minutes later, Tubbo being very entertained by Sunny’s antics and stories. Fred was eerily quiet, but they glanced at Tubbo quite a lot. “So….” Tubbo says, while Sunny is distracted by eating her food. “What’s going on in your life, Mr stoic?” He says, dipping a fry into his ketchup. “Oh- Me?” Fred points at themself and pauses. “Uh… the uhm, the winter dance is coming up. January something. I’m helping with the planning.” They say, taking a long sip from their drink.

“That’s nice! You got like a certain job or-?”

“Yep. I have to do decorations. I’ve looked over everyone’s ideas, and now I’ve just got to buy everything.” Fred says, smiling at Tubbo. “Are you… going? To- to the dance I mean, not like setting it up.” They quickly stumble out. “Yeahhh. I’m going. I’ve got to find an outfit, but we still have some time, yah know?” Fred nods with Tubbo’s statement. “On a different note, onion rings are so ass man, why did you get them?” He says, pointing at Fred’s plate with a stifled laugh.

Fred throws Tubbo a look. “Onion rings are amazing and awesome, and how dare you?” Fred hisses, grabbing one and waving it in front of Tubbo. “You should try how amazing it is.” They say, Tubbo making a disgusted face. “How about eat fries like a normal person?” Tubbo says in response. “Come onnnn.” Fred laughs, pushing the onion ring more towards him. “FINE!” Tubbo opens his mouth as wide as possible and chomps down on the onion ring. He chews on it, leaving a bite mark in the ring Fred still held between them. “Yeah, that's right shit.”

Fred lets out a laugh, Sunny whipping her head towards the bear hybrid. “Have you finally realized not everyone likes onion rings like you??” Sunny jokes, mouth full of food. “Don’t talk with your mouth open, Suns.” Fred giggles out. “They don’t understand good food, Sunny. I don’t think they ever will, actually.” Tubbo adds, sticking his tongue out at Fred. “Why are you ganging up on me…” Fred groans. “Because it’s funny!” Sunny says loudly. Tubbo’s smile gets a little bit bigger.

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Aimsey rang the doorbell to the Beloved’s house, hopping on their feet a bit. Ranboo eventually opened the door. “Oh! Hey Aimsey! I didn’t know you were coming over.” Ranboo says happily. “Dude, not to like, freak you out but I just saw something.” Aimsey says quickly. “Uhhh… What is it?” Ranboo asks, raising an eyebrow, their tail flicking behind them. “I just saw Tubbo eating at a diner with this guy from our school and they were sitting close and the guy he was with literally fed him an onion ring.” Aimsey rushes out, looking to see Ranboo’s reaction.

“Uh. What.” Their face was blank. “He’s not cheating on me Aims.” Ranboo dismisses. “Don’t come to my house with… with dumb claims like that. It’s probably just one of his friends I havent met yet or something.” They mumble, stepping back a little. Aimsey shrugs. “I didn’t say it. You did. Just wanted to tell you. Bye.” Aimsey turns around and walks quickly away from Ranboo’s house. Their eyes narrow.

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“Thanks for the meal!” Tubbo says, putting his scarf back on tightly as he, Fred, and Sunny step outside the diner. “No problem. It’s the least i could do after Sunny ran head on into you.” Fred chuckles awkwardly. “Welp, I gotta go. Bye Sunny, Bye Fred.” Tubbo smiles readying himself to turn around but Fred grabs onto his arm. Tubbo turns back around. “I can’t leave if you’ve got a death grip on me bossman.” He points out.

Fred blushes and lets go of him. “Sorry! I just- I know- uhhh. I think you are pretty cool and I liked talking to you today and I was just wondering if you’d like to go on a d-”

“Abolutely not,” Tubbo cuts them off.

“I- what-?”

“I’ve got a partner already. But, if its cool with you, i’m down with being friends.”

“Friends?”

“Yeah.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

“Cool. See you later Fred. Bye Sunny.”

This time, Fred lets Tubbo walk away. They sigh after he turns the corner and disappears. “You fumbled.” Sunny says loudly, pulling on their hand. “Yeah. Guess I did.”