Piece by piece to love | Sleepy bois inc

New reality

Ranboo woke up slowly, stretching on the couch. He had such a bizarre dream last night… there was Tommy… and he was talking to ghosts… and Mr Phil was there… and Tommy's cousins… and they all were dead…
– Rise and shine, sleepyhead- suddenly something hit him in the face, ripping Ranboo out of his dream realm. Instead they weren't dreams. Wilbur was standing right before him, pillow in his hands, a huge grin plastered onto his face, showing off his tusks. Oh god, this was all real. The ghosts were reall, oh shit, oh fuck.
– Move it, the breakfast is getting cold- Tommy was way rougher, simply throwing him off the couch accompanied by Wilbur's laughter. It was so surreal and yet they treated it so normally that Ranboo had no idea what to think.
– Breakfast?- he managed to mumble, his eyes still glued to the ghost's figure, not believing what he was seeing.
– Yeah, family breakfast!- Wilbur chimed, clapping his hands together while laughing.- Congratulations! You've been unofficially adopted!- adopted? What was he talking about? Adopted by who?
– Not yet- once again Techno's voice didn't fail to freeze blood in Ranboo's veins. He had no idea when the other ghost entered the room or was he just in there all that time, sitting next to him while he was sleeping? Gosh, that sounded creepy...
– Come on, Techno, I know you like him too- Wilbur smiled widely, leaning on something that just wasn't there, something big. He was leaning on his brother. But he was soon thrown off, probably shoved by an invisible hand right in the face as he jerked away not to be smacked.
– He's dumb and don't know how to properly write. There's nothing to like- oh, so he was the one that drowned his journal in red.
– I'm not dumb!- the teenager huffed a little, pouting, shortly forgetting about his fear. He was very self-sufficient, thank you very much, he was doing great at university.
– Your library research tells otherwise- Techno opposed boredly.
– Wait… you were the one that kept making those books fall down?-
– Yes, because you kept being an idiot- Ranboo decided that there's no use continuing this discussion as Techno laid his arguments clearly. Besides, why would he try to argue with a ghost?! He could probably kill him if he wanted to… And Ranboo wasn’t planning on dying anytime soon.
Breakfast was actually nice, Tubbo and Phil already sitting behind the table, chatting lightly, but they stopped as soon as the other boys walked into the kitchen. Once again, just like the yesterday's evening it felt so family-like, despite being slightly unsettling with those weird silhouettes and one invisible. Tommy and Tubbo though seemed to have no problem with that, both chatting with the ghosts happily, more freely than Ranboo had actually seen them do. Suddenly those broken teens that he accidentally had met in the school covering their pains with personas that they set up were gone, all that disguises stripped away. Tommy was once again smiling widely, not always too cocky as Techno and Wilbur teased him and nudged him, laughing slightly. Tubbo was not this kid in the back that just wanted for everyone to get along, he was free, shouting and laughing openly, eyes sparkling with life.
– I don’t get it. Why are you all here?- Ranboo asked suddenly as the breakfast seemed to slowly end.
– Believe us, mate, we have no idea. We have memory gaps and so… we don’t know why we can’t move to the afterlife- Phil smiled weakly.
– But… can’t you leave the house? Travel?
– Nope. Stuck here- Techno responded dryly, jabbing a fork into the tomato, playing with it as he was not able to eat it. It was a funny thing, that they could drink, but not eat. There was something more with the digestion or were liquids just easier to maintain for incorporeal bodies?
– Why?
– We dunno- Tubbo shrugged, putting away the leftover of his sandwich.- We actually know very little. For now- he quickly added, as if he was sure that they are going soon discover the greatest mystery of the mankind.
– Well, we discovered that each of us have their own special object that we are bound to- Wilbur stated, looking at Ranboo calmly.- For example I’m connected to my guitar that I got from mum when I was six and have ever since-
– It’s still a mystery to us as well, but this theory seemed to work. Like that time when we replaced the strings-
– Or we got in touch with them at all- Tommy added, the other teenager nodding in agreement.
– Techno nearly killed you for that- Ranboo looked at Tubbo with horror as the teenager smirked at his friend. Techno did what now?!
– Do you have to remind me about this? Nothing happened!- Tommy huffed, crossing his arms.
– It was funny- Techno stated on the other hand, probably shrugging.
– You barely remember that!- Tommy immediately snapped back, earning only a dry chuckle in response.
– Wait, so… Phil has his hat, Wilbur his guitar… What does Techno have?
– My sword- dear god, help. What kind of a demonic being would be tied to a SWORD of all things?! This is not good, this is not good… He could understand a hat, it was an important gift from a beloved person, he could understand guitar, after all Wilbur played marvelously, but a SWORD?! No matter how good at fencing he was, this was not an excuse for the most tresured thing to be fucking sword!
– I'm gonna go get it!- Tommy immediately jumped onto his legs, springin out of the room.
– No, wait!
– You're not gonna talk him out of this- Tubbo snickered, placing a hand on Ranboo's shoulder. Tommy returned soon after, his hands wrapped around a long package, in which the taller boy recognised the case that they used for carrying fencing swords. Inside was laying a neatly put back blade, one of the best quality teenager had ever seen. Shortly forgetting about his fear, he traced along the handle, admiring how it was taken care of. Tommy's sword, which he had pleasure of shortly holding, was in a way worse state. But a sudden hem snapped him out of admiration, reminding why the weapon was even brought here. He slowly, hesitantly looked up, scared of what he would see. Whatever this was… didn’t look inviting at all. He was enormous, almost as tall as Wilbur, but shoulders broad as if the two were put next to each other. Sure, he had pink hair, but it didn’t make him any less scary, plain white eyes looking from under thin glasses, big tusks poking from under the lips. One of his ears was constantly flickering, tail kept low, only the ending tuft twitchin a little. Ranboo was sure that he could break him in half with his bare hands without even dropping a sweat.
–  Please, don’t eat me- he squeaked and suddenly the whole room bursted into laughter. Only Techno remained silent, raising his brow and smiling a little.
– Nah, you’re too scrawny anyway- he waved his hand at him, without breaking a chuckle despite Wilbur almost hanging from his arm, dying from laughter.
– Ranboo, you don’t have to be afraid of Techno. He’s our older brother, he wouldn't kill our friend!-
– Come on, big man. I know it’s strange, but we promise, there’s nothing different about them. They’re just a bunch of weirdos. Like us- Tommy grinned widely, Ranboo sending him a disbelieving look. But there was something in his eyes that told him that he really believed in what he was saying. No, he knew what he was saying, he loved those people with all his heart, it was this clear. And Tommy… wouldn’t be so open about bad people after all.
Maybe he was right. Maybe this situation wasn’t so different from what it would normally look like.
Only thing that actually changed were the amount of players playing games with them. Phil sitting in the corner, carving his little figurines or in the kitchen, baking or making dinner. He would sometimes play with them too, but if he got a hang of something and actually focused he wasn’t too fun to play with as he had a tendency of speedrunning the whole gameplay a little too good. Techno had a similar way of doing, Wilbur on the other hand was pure chaos, just like Tubbo. No wonder they got along so well. But Ranboo could get used to that, laughing at the dumb jokes, screams of defeat or maybe sometimes Wilbur or Tommy captured by Techno and strangled to the ground. But they were smiling even then, or at least after that, hitting the pinkette in the arm.
They all created such a warm feeling, wrapping itself around them, circling in the rooms filled with constant laughter and bickering. The way they would just sit down in the evenings and Wilbur would start to play his guitar for the others to join. Ranboo was also welcomed, but he only clapped to the rhythm, not having any other instrument. The way that Techno would chase Tommy around the house with a sword in his hands, their practice becoming more chaotic and dangerous with every day, as they jumped onto furniture, using their surroundings in their never ending battle as Tommy shouted his lines.
Soon Phil finished the pieces he was working on, swapping them out with the previous chess pieces. There was Tommy as a knight, standing proudly with a sword. Wilbur was a bishop, standing alongside Philza with a spear in his hands. Tubbo got the role of a tower, but surprisingly he wasn’t alone. Ranboo was there as well, both with shields, smiling widely.
– Well… I’m only missing one knight for the whole set… but we’ll see what future brings us, right?- he smiled, while the boys looked at the pieces with awe, not even sure how to thank him for including them. But it was… right. Only Ranboo felt out of place, having lived with them only for about three weeks. Should he really be included into this family?
– Well, you were fitting right in, so why not?- Wilbur smiled mischievously as if he was reading his mind. Right. They were all together.

That evening Tommy and Tubbo got on a walk into the woods alone, just for some air. The festival was supposed to be in a few days, everyone was getting really excited. But the boys were rather more preoccupied with all that had been happening at home. It was nice in their opinion, Tubbo smiling all the way.
– It’s nice that they get along so well- he finally said, looking at the moon hovering above them. The air was nice, chill after the hot summer day and finally they could just breathe.
– Yeah, I thought it would take a longer time for Ranboo to get used to it- Tommy grinned in response.
But suddenly everything went dark, as the teenager felt a splitting pain at the back of his head.

It was nine in the morning when the kidnappers demanded a ransom for the prime minister’s son and his friend.

_______
FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER UP UNTILL THE END
WARNING
WILL CONTAIN DESCRIPTION OF HURT, TORTURE, SLIGHT DEHUMANISATION AND TEMPORARY CHARACTER DEATH

And yes, yes, I know, I'm sorry. I got a little burned out of this fic to be fair and in meantime worked on different things... Sorry.