Ranboo angst for the soul

book four: flower crowns

a/n: so. hurt comfort

tw: injury, potentially triggering experiences. basically an argument happens and ranboo doesn't want to hear it.

"You're going insane." Techno spat, his mind shouting at him. He growled and stared his father dead in the eyes.

"Oh, I'm going insane? You've got the exact same problem as me, and you're the one that went and hurt Tommy! You need to control yourself, Techno!" Philza boomed, making Ranboo pull up his legs. He was in his room, trying to block out the loud argument happening in the living room.

"He needs to learn to not bother me!" Techno howled, making Ranboo flinch.

"You need to learn how to control your actions!"

"You're the one who almost killed your own son!"

"You almost killed your brother!"

Ranboo shivered, and reached for his headphones. They were tight on his head, because they were old. They muffled the noise a bit, but he decided to try and play some music. Trying to calm down, he got some calming music playing and his tangle fidget, and tried to breathe.

The door to his room opened, and Ranboo jumped, yet it was only Tubbo. Tubbo walked up and looked at him, mouthing something to the shivering Ranboo.

He dropped his box of stuff and hugged Ranboo tightly, rubbing his back and sort of soothing the kid. He mouthed for Ranboo to "turn down your music, they've stopped yelling now."

The headphones ended up dying and so he took them off and discarded them.

"I'm sorry about them. They get heated like that sometimes. Are you alright? Do you need anything?"Tubbo asked, grabbing and moving the box of stuff onto the bed.

"I-I'll be fine. What's this?" he asked, blinking at the box.

"Since it's winter, I made paper flowers so we can make flower crowns!" Tubbo said, grabbing some yellow flowers out of the box. "Tommy liked to do this, but he's in the hospital right now." Tubbo said. "I usually sit with him and make them, it's kind of how we deal with everyone yelling."

"Is he okay?" he asked, knowing he got hurt from the fight but not that bad. He grabbed a purple flower and started to weave it with a blue one.

"I think he only broke like- 2 ribs, Papa said? 2 or 3." Tubbo said, like it was nothing much. "He only knocked him so it could've been a lot worse I think."

Ranboo flinched at a door slamming shut suddenly.

"Oh, he's back. Just breathe with me. It'll be alright."

"You broke 4 of his ribs, Technoblade! Four!" Philza yelled,  seeming to set down a bag of sorts.

"He knows that I don't like it when he pulls my hair!" Techno yelled back. Tubbo flinched, yet still made the crown.

"You did this because he pulled your goddamn hair?" Phil yelled. Ranboo's hands shook and he dropped the flower crown he was trying to make. Tubbo took notice of this, and scooched to sit next to him, handing the crown back to him.

"He'd been warned, Phil!"

Ranboo laid his head on Tubbo's shoulder, shaking slightly. Tubbo took notice of this, and started to talk about this process.

"You can't just act on your thoughts like that! That's how people get killed!"

"You kinda gotta wrap it diagonally, so it doesn't rip." he said. Ranboo looked at that crown and sighed. Really, if he did this as a coping mechanism, it was sad that he was this experienced.

So he picked up the crown and tried again. At some point, he no longer heard their words, only their footsteps and- that was a smack.

Tubbo didn't seem to notice it, though. So Ranboo pushed it out of his mind and actually started to get the hang of making these.

Then, the door opened. Ranboo's head jerked up, and there was Philza. Tubbo looked up at his dad, ho pulled up a chair and sat down. Ranboo refused to look at him, so he looked down at his hands playing with his tangle fidget.

"Are you two alright?" Phil asked, his calm and quiet voice a shock to one that had just heard it yelling. Ranboo liked this voice. He looked up a bit, perking his ears.

"We're fine, Dad." Tubbo said.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry you have to hear all these fights." he said. Ranboo looked up at his face, which looked remorseful and almost soft, save for the stubble on his chin that probably was like a wire brush and the raised red mark on his cheek.

"It's okay." Tubbo said. Ranboo nodded, playing with his fidget.

"I got you two presents." he said, pulling a potted plant and a Rubix Cube out of the bag. "Got Wilbur a strap for his guitar and Techno a squishy. And I got Tommy a thing of ice cream."

"Ooh, I really like this flower. Thanks Dad!" he said, setting it on his bedside table and beaming. Ranboo was working on the Rubix Cube. He looked up and slightly smiled at the man.

"Thanks Dad." he mumbled.

"You're welcome. I'll get out of your room now."

"Okay." Ranboo mumbled.

"He does that when they fight. Just as a sorry."

"Oh." he said, deciding to set down the rubix cube and finish the crown.

"Oh, that's probably long enough Ranboo. Here, you just gotta tie it off like this-" he said, taking the two ends and stapling them together. Then, he took a ribbon and wrapped it round, then tied it in a bow.

"Thanks." Ranboo said. Tubbo placed the crown on Ranboo's head, moving his hair out of his eyes.

"There. Fits you perfectly."

And although it was connected to something bad, he did like it.

/////

a/n: alright that wasnt as angsty. so, i had techno and phil have an argument because you cant exactly have an argument with a samsung refrigerator. Tommy's not dead by the way, he just got thrown across the room. Also, if anyone is in that situation, and needs a distraction, or just want to vent, or just say hi, my dms are always open at @ blamckin_mhs on instagram :)

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