Sweet, Strange Family

Where People Are Found

Wilbur ran through the rain, the puddles of water soaking into his sneakers and socks as he clutched the school bag full of books and papers close to his chest. He ran under as many overhangings from the shops as possible, but inevitably, he was soaked. He craned his neck over the bag, hoping the rain jacket over his shoulders would block out any water and keep his belongings safe and dry, not wanting to have to explain to the librarian why some of her books were ruined. Wilbur looked up towards the sky, the sounds of a child crying from not too far away filled his ears. When the sound of a man yelling followed as he passed by an alleyway, he couldn't help but turn around and peek in to see what the commotion was.

His eyes caught sight of two children, likely no older than three years old. The taller of the two was covering his head with his arms, as the older man, one Wilbur couldn't see in the shadows but could see a bulky outline of something around his head, shouted insults and obscenities at him. The other child, one with large animal ears and horns protruding from his head, was pulling on the adult's shirt, loudly sobbing and begging for him to calm down.

The one on the floor, the one with lanky arms and legs, briefly looked up, to the side, and back down again before looking back to the side, his mismatched eyes glowing in the night sky, nearly mesmerizing Wilbur as they made eye contact.

In a split-second, the boy was up from his corner and sprinting to Wilbur, crouching behind him, one eye peeking out to watch as the older man's head whipped over to stare at the boy with wide eyes, his brows immediately furrowing further in anger, but this time, it was towards Wilbur.

"I don't know you," the man said to him.

Wilbur ignored his statement and shook his head, pushing the child further behind his back. "Hand the other one over or I'm calling the cops."

The adult laughed, his sly grin growing further, but within his distraction, the smallest found an opening to escape, running into Wilbur's chest and clinging to him tightly.

"I see," the man paused to look over the scene before him, "Oh well."

"'Oh well?'" Wilbur said in disgust, looking down at the innocent children under him, both shaking. "You hurt your children like that and your response to them cowering to me is 'oh well?'" His voice rose in anger, the audacity of the man before him clouding his head with anger. He was only fifteen, why did he know more about how to treat a child than this adult?

The older man scoffed, "Only one of them is my kid, and I could easily force you to hand them back over. But, whatever, ha-"

He was cut off by the smallest of the group, the boy having let go of Wilbur to sternly face his father, "Stop it, Daddy!" The little one stomped his foot to the ground and stared up to his father. Wilbur looked to the child's face and saw how his eyes were a deep black with no white or iris to speak of.

A low laugh left the man's mouth, this tone thick with malice and insult, "Think you can use your powers on me, Tubbo? You know you can't manipulate me, baby boy."

The boy, Tubbo, Wilbur presumed, gasped in shock and grabbed back on to Wilbur's leg, his eyes returning to normal. "Go, take 'em. Not like a child can take care of them." With that, the man turned heel and left out the other end of the alley, leaving Wilbur bewildered and utterly soaked, as were the boys clinging to him.

"Okay, hmm." Wilbur paused in thought, "Do you mind if I take you home? I don't know if Dad will keep you but this isn't, uh, unusual for our family."

The taller boy said nothing, but Tubbo did, "Is your daddy nice?" to which Wilbur gave an affirmative hum. This made Tubbo beam up at him, his eyes wet with tears still but a clear, excited smile on his face. With permission, Wilbur gently picked him up offering his hand to the black and white skinned boy beside him, who took it gratefully.

By now, the storm had cleared up to just a small drizzle, allowing for them to take a slower pace and settle into an excited but quiet conversation, Tubbo introducing him and the other boy, Ranboo.

"So are you brothers?" Wilbur asked.

"No! Do we look like brothers, silly?" Tubbo teased with a giggled, his fluffy, gray goat ears wiggling at the side of his head, his small hand covering his mouth as his eyes squeezed shut with joy.

"Well, I have two brothers, and I look nothing like them. You can be brothers and not be from the same mommy or daddy."

Tubbo hummed gently before shaking his head, "No, me and Boo aren't brothers, he's just my friend!" Wilbur let out a little chuckle before nodding, watching as the little tail Tubbo sported, lifted out from under his yellow t-shirt.

Wilbur looked down at the other boy at his side, his unusual but certainly not strange appearance. His body was half black and half white, the distinction between the sides clear but uneven, like a child had tried to draw a straight line with distorting goggles on. Each side had freckles and the tips of his fingers were coated unevenly with the opposite's color. His eyes were a stark red and green with no white and diamond-shaped black pupils. Ranboo was tall, his fingers and teeth were sharp with rounded horns atop his black and white striped hair, adding a contrast from his seemingly demure personality.

"How old are you, kiddo?" Wilbur asked, looking down at Ranboo, whose height made it so his head reached Wilbur's waist. Ranboo tensed and wrapped his long, slender tail with a black and white tuft at the end around his own left leg, his long, pointy ears pointing downwards.

"We think he is five, like me, but he could be six." Tubbo's tone was lighter than before, milder and concerned.

"Oh! Okay. You'll have to tell me more later." He beamed between the two before announcing that they were almost there. The group had turned onto a street of smaller, one story houses that had a little bit of the front yard but a little more in the back. It looked nice, especially for couples wanting to settle down or for small families. Though, Wilbur knew his family wasn't considered small. A single-floor house with two adults, a teenager, and a preteen could hardly be considered spacious, but Wilbur had lived there all his life and truly was used to the way they lived. His older brother was the most recent addition to the house, having moved in four years ago. They all knew how to work around each other and Wilbur could only hope that they were able to house the new children.

Wilbur walked into a driveway, one lined with small lanterns shoved into the ground and a red SUV sitting on the pavement, feeling the gentle sway of Ranboo's tail brush against the back of his calves with subtle excitement. That, or anxiety, but Wilbur couldn't figure out which.

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A/N
Hello and welcome everyone! Hope you enjoyed this first chapter and will consider subscribing or saving to stick around. This book will upload every 5-7 days, though, if interest in longer, less frequent chapters is expressed, I will consider doing that. Criticism (if it is constructive) is always welcome in my stories. Anyway, with that being said, let the adventure begin!

Also, if you choose to refer to me, the author, I am Sawyer or Snail and I use they/them pronouns (I'm genderfluid if anyone's curious)