VERSAILLES // Ranboo X Reader

8

You woke up when you felt something cutting into your wrist. And not the one with the cuff on it. 

Peeling your eyes open, you looked down at your hands to see that the chain had wound around both during the night, and had looped over one of your shoulders as well. The tension had dragged you and your bedroll closer to the middle of the tent too. You winced as the chain pulled tighter, your eyes snapping over to see Ranboo also entangled in it.

"Morning." He tried, smiling thinly. The chain had wrapped around one of his ankles, forcing him to sit with his hands tucked close to his feet. 

 You couldn't help but smile at how ridiculous he looked. "Morning." You returned. "This is quite the situation we've gotten ourselves into."

"Sorry." Ranboo muttered. "I move a lot in my sleep."

You looked down at your own hands. "I don't think it's entirely your fault." You pulled slightly at the chain - as best you could with limited hand movement - but stopped when it pulled tighter around Ranboo's ankle, pinching the skin. 

"We might need an extra set of hands." Ranboo said, scooting closer so that the chain slackened somewhat. 

"We might." You agreed, leaning towards the entrance flap of the tent. "Brigand!" You called, hoping that at least one of them were awake. "Arlow!"

You let your call hang in the air, and soon enough you could hear someone moving around nearby. A few moments later, Arlow's head poked through the flap of the tent - their hair ruffled from sleep but somehow still falling perfectly over their face. Amber eyes locked onto the mess of tangled limbs and chain, and Arlow cracked a grin.

"What have we gotten ourselves into here?" They asked, coming into the tent fully. 

"Apparently, sleeping chained to someone else isn't the best idea." Ranboo snarked. 

Arlow chuckled, kneeling down down next to you. "Who would have guessed?" They snickered, eyes following the chain to assess just how to get you unwound. Their hands hovered over the chain for a moment before they spoke again. "Ranboo, come a little closer."

Ranboo did as he was told, letting the chain slacken a little more. Arlow picked up what slack they could then, and pressed a hand to the center of your back, guiding you to lean forward so that they could lift that bit of chain over your shoulder and back under your arm, freeing your shoulder. You rolled it around a bit, trying to sooth the pinch from the chain. 

"Ranboo, stretch out your foot as much as you can." Arlow instructed. Ranboo did as they said and stretched his leg out, his hand having to follow until the chain tightened and he couldn't anymore. Arlow took your hands and guided them under Ranboo's foot to unwind the chain from around his ankle. 

"What's going on in here?"

You looked up to see Brigand at the mouth of the tent, peering down at the goings on curiously. Arlow leaned over you, resting their chest on your back to smile up at Brigand. "Good morning." They chirped. "Y/N and Ranboo got all tangled up in the night."

Brigand's eyebrows pinched together in the center of his forehead. "I see." He said. "I guess I'll go start packing up the horses while you sort out... this."

"Aye, aye." Arlow jokingly saluted, attention going back to the chain that was still tangled around your other wrist.  You let them unwind the chain, and when your wrist was free, they ran their hand over the irritated skin a few times, soothing. 

Arlow's eyes flicked up to yours. "Better?"

"Much." You said with a smile. 

Arlow grinned, getting up and lifting the tent flap to leave again. "Good. I'm going to go help Brig pack up our tent - I suggest you guys do the same."

"Right." You nodded as Arlow ducked out of the tent, and the flap closed behind them again. You slid back over to your bedroll, shaking out the blankets and beginning to fold them back up. It wasn't until you were almost finished that you noticed Ranboo quietly doing the same, that sort of uncomfortable aura around him. "What's wrong?"

Ranboo's eyes darted to yours for a second. "I'm sorry about the chain."

You shook your head. "That's not something you have to apologize for - it wasn't your fault."

The chain clinked together between you, and Ranboo's eyes drifted down to it. "It kind of is." He said. 

You rolled your eyes, packing your bedroll back up. "Either way, it's not that big of a deal." You said, getting up from the ground. "I'm sure it'll happen again at some point, and it's not like it'll be any different then. I'm not even mad about it, so please don't beat yourself up."

Ranboo blinked slowly, looking down at the bedroll he was packing. "Really?"

"Really." You said with a smile, reaching over to ruffle a hand through his hair as a sign that things were genuinely alright. It was when Ranboo tensed under your touch that you realized you might have taken things a little too far. 

You drew your hand back, looking down at him. "Sorry, I-"

"No, that was okay." He said. "I just wasn't expecting it." 

You looked down at his wide eyes for a moment before he stood up, bedroll packed away. Neither of you said anything as you hovered near the mouth of the tent. Whatever the moment was, it was broken when you could hear Brigand dismantling the other tent outside and you cleared your throat.

"We should probably get the tarp off the top." You said. "And put the packs back on the horses."

"Yeah." Ranboo agreed, reaching down to grab the flap of the tent and hold it open so that you could duck through. When you did, the sun hit your face and you closed your eyes for a second, just breathing in the scent of the early morning, and listening to Arlow laugh as Brigand almost crushed them with one of the poles from the tents. 

Another day of traveling ahead.