Piece by piece to love | Sleepy bois inc

Chapter 1: L'Manburg, sweet L'Manburg

Moving out was fine, Tubbo wasn’t nervous at all. No, why would he? It’s not like they decided to move god knows where to the house where three people died and it wasn’t from age.

But Tommy thought it was a great idea. The house was huge and beautiful, but his cousin had troubles selling it. Last owner after two weeks walked out the door, shouting that he will never return to that cursed household and he kept that promise. The only men that kept coming back were the ones that helped moving in and out. And even them were tired of this. So Tommy found a solution. Tubbo and he were looking for a place to live for a few months now and it was perfect! They had a house, and his cousin didn’t have a problem! It’s an absolute win! Not to mention that it was almost in the middle of the forest, at least with no neighbors that would come to complain that they were too loud during night time! Absolutely perfect!

The old house really was beautiful, like the ones you would find on postcards. Stone brick walls were half covered by vines and flowers, to entrance runned old wood stairs ending with a small porch. Tommy could only imagine the basement that this building could have: it’ll be just like in horrors! Pity that ghosts don’t exist, it would be great! And so much fresh content for the channel! The house was surrounded by a big garden that was surprisingly well kept: it was late spring so many flowers were in bloom and fruits were starting to form on the trees. Under one of them a hammock was hanging, also not too dirty as if it was put there not so long ago. Maybe the cousin prepared that to welcome them warmly. Beneath one of the walls Tommy also spotted an old green bench, repainted multiple times, with paint shredding in different tones of colour. Previous owners apparently didn’t want to just let it go…

- It looks nice- Tubbo smiled, nervousness slightly fading.

- Yeah, but keeping this garden will be a hussle…- Tommy mamured, but guess it won’t be that bad. Maybe they would come out more instead of recording video games all day long.- Wanna check inside?-

- Go ahead, I’ll wait for the service men and collect our stuff- a bronze haired boy smiled, sitting down on the grass looking onto the road that they just left.

- Lame!- he shouted as a goodbye and rushed up the stairs. Even inside the house was giving an old but comfy feeling. Wooden walls and floors, crude dark furniture… of course there was electricity but still was giving that “nature” vibe. In the living room Tommy found a fireplace with some empty picture frames and a remote on the mantle. In the middle of the room was a sofa, a big sofa that could possibly be big enough for Tommy to lay on it and Tubbo would still have a place to sit. The TV wasn’t as big as he would wish, but it was new nonetheless. Strangely in the corner was standing a piano, only dusty thing in here. Next room was a kitchen. It was nicely furnished, light wood with a stove, fridge and an oven. Floor was tiled and walls painted in stripes of off-white and light green. Bathroom on the first level was greenish as well. It even had a bathtub! Last two rooms on this floor were a small library and connected to an even smaller bedroom. It looked… untouched. Window had a nice view of the garden, deep green walls covered with a wardrobe and more bookshelves full of fairy tales and those must-read school books. And of course bed, modest but comfortable. And bove it were anging more picture frames, but only one held a photograph. Photo of a man with two children, probably father with two sons. Tommy just couldn’t understand why previous owners would leave it like this… it looked important. And he felt… like he knew them from somewhere. He just couldn’t remember why...

- Tommy, our stuff is here! Have you chosen a room to put yours in?!- Tubbo shouted from the vestibule.

- Eh, no, haven’t looked at the second floor yet!

- You were sightseeing this one all this time?

- Yeah, sorry. But I know where the entrance to the basement is!

- That’s probably the last place I want to have a bedroom in. Fine, I’ll just gather them in the living room, we’ll decide later what to do with them- Tubbo once again disappeared outside, probably to talk to the service men so Tommy decided to move to the second floor. Unlike the previous one it had a hall that split into different rooms: three bedrooms, another bathroom and… a garderobe? Tommy couldn’t tell as it was rather empty with few cupboards and a desk. Would make a great room for recording tough! Two bedrooms were undecorated too, with light walls and minimal furnishings. The third one was fully decorated, yellow-blue walls covered in albums covers and messy music sheets. Whoever lived here before must have liked music… The same as the room downstairs, it gave a feeling of being untouched as if no one changed anything for the past few years. As if… no one before realized that this room was even there.

- Tubbo, there are two bedrooms up here!- he shouted down the stairs, before continuing onto the bathroom.

- Very convenient- he heard before the door closed behind him. This one was smaller, with only shower and a toilet. And a shelf with the mirror on the wall. Actually… nothing too weird. But to be fair Tommy had no idea what he expected. It’s just a bathroom. But at the end of the hall was another staircase, so small that only one person could be on it; it ended with a closed trapdoor, probably to an attic.

- With one do you want- Tommy almost jumped when Tubbo suddenly asked from behind.

- Fucking shit, DON’T SCARE ME LIKE THAT!- 

- Sorry, I thought you heard me-

- Fine, fine… I’ll take the last one- he’s not going to live next to that music room, no way. For some reason it freaked him out, especially the thought that the previous owner didn’t even touch it! And he’s supposed to sleep next to that? No freaking way!

- Sure. We’re unpacking or do you want to paint them?

- Nah, too lazy to do that-

Unpacking went rather smoothly even though some boxes they had to carry upstairs together. Soon two empty rooms weren’t so empty and even the walls stopped looking so plain: Tubbo stuck to them his bee stickers and flowers to accompany them and Tommy almost covered the walls in posters of video games and fencing. Maybe because now they lived alone and his mom wouldn’t freak out he could try it! If only he had a sword… Eh, he could always train with a stick, there were surely a lot of them in the garden. Or with poker! Fireplace had to have one, right? And who knows, if this house is as old as it looks, maybe there could be real medieval swords somewhere in the basement or attic? Everything about this place sounded so exciting!

- Tommy, we need to go shopping if we don’t want to starve!-

City was nice, Tommy remembered it from when he was little and would visit his uncle for the summer. L’manburg, a small town with an old city centre surrounded by a forest full of lakes - you’d have to be lucky to find it. Many people knew each other, so the first thing that they heard entering a local shop was greeting Tubbo into the town community. Tommy was recognized and had his hair ruffled by some panda-like guy though it looked more like an assault than friendly interaction. It turned out that Nick, as he introduced himself, used to babysit Tommy when his uncle was away. Although teenager would disagree about how that “babysitting” looked like… 

- Pity that your uncle passed away so soon… he was a good man- Nick said when boys were coming out of the store after doing their grocery shopping. Tommy smiled sadly, shaking his head in agreement.

- Yeah, he was. But he actually was prepared to move forward-

- Him at least. Oh, and by the way, where are you staying?-

- That house two kilometers from the town- Tommy unlocked their car, waving his keys towards the end of the city to precise his words.

- You’re serious?- Nick’s eyebrows rose in shock as he rubbed his head.- That haunted house? Man, what a pity…-

- It’s not haunted, don’t worry. There’s no way it could be!- Tommy brushed it off, laughing, but Tubbo smiled nervously. Ghosts don’t exist, right?

Right?