Tommyinnit Oneshots

When I'm gone, don't say that I was all that mattered

Ranboo stopped walking at the crest of the hill they had been venturing across. Tommy crashed right into his back, halting there instead of stumbling back and apologizing like most people would have. Ranboo kept his sigh from coming out as he looked at Technoblade for further instructions. The Syndicate had planned several trips for that day in order to discover if any governments were controlling the area. Ranboo wasn't completely sure what the Syndicate planned to do in the event of there actually being a government. He could guess that violence would be involved, but would they try for a diplomatic approach? Would they at least try to stabilize the power before completely taking away the government? Ranboo wasn't sure he wanted to know the answers to those questions because part of him feared the answer was no, they wouldn't. Whatever the case, Technoblade was the one in charge and giving orders for that operation. Ranboo was basically tagging along because he had to. The most Ranboo would willingly be doing was babysitting Tommy, who he brought along in case something about one of these places caused a reaction.
       
Kinoko Kingdom was the first place they were hitting because the word kingdom implied a monarchical government. From where Ranboo could gaze down upon it, he wasn't entirely sure that it was corrupted. The buildings all had this natural aesthetic to them, and there were several plots of flowers or mushrooms that decorated the streets. Ranboo could see a few Illagers lazing around, enjoying the air that didn't reek of gunpowder and blood like nearly every other place on the Server. Ranboo was sure that this place wasn't going to receive any violence as long as nobody made Techno upset. Ranboo started to rethink that declaration when he saw SapNap, Karl, and George come filtering out of a large library to meet them. While Ranboo hoped that no one would pick a fight, he almost wanted SapNap to say something just to see if Tommy would react to that. Ranboo didn't want a fight. He was pretty much a pacifist who didn't fight unless absolutely necessary. But Tommy's old life had been filled with fighting. A threat had to jog some sort of memory that could lead to an avalanche of emotions and memories. Ranboo winced as he thought about it like that. As much as he wanted Tommy back, he didn't want all the pain- and the reason he went so catatonic- to pour out like water from a broken dam.
      
"Hello, Technoblade! I see you've brought the gang!" SapNap called cheerily, getting close to the group as they descended down the hill to the main gate. Like usual, Ranboo had to drag Tommy down, and he had to hold the boy back from just continuing walking. Ranboo looked back at the conversation that was blooming between Techno and SapNap. Karl had asked Niki about how her underground city was coming along, and Phil was inspecting the flowers as George explained the finer details of them. Ranboo took Tommy's hand, guiding him through the city streets as slowly as he was willing to go. Tommy followed (of course he did), but there wasn't any shift in expression or body language that implied he knew where he was. Ranboo spoke out loud where they were and what they were doing. When they came close to something, Ranboo would press Tommy's hand against the surface while telling Tommy what it was. Puffy had told Ranboo and Tubbo that they should carefully allow Tommy's other senses besides sight to experience the world, like the extra stimulus would do anything for him. Ranboo had been doing that, and it was clear that it wasn't working. Tommy would have left his hand in boiling water if Ranboo didn't pull it out, and he would have left the burns untouched unless Tubbo wrapped them up in a bandage. Tommy wasn't just apathetic, he was almost self-destructive.
     
"Isn't it beautiful?" George said as he came up to them, leaving Phil behind to join SapNap and Techno's conversation. Currently, Ranboo and Tommy were leaning down in a flowerbed. Ranboo was forcing Tommy's fingers to touch the petals, explaining in a soft voice what flower it was and what it meant. George was leaning against the white picket fence, looking at them with a proud smile. Ranboo looked up at him, returning the smile, but Tommy didn't react to the voice in the slightest. Ranboo bit his lip to keep a sigh from coming out. He raised a hand, gesturing for George to come near him. Even with an eyebrow raised, George complied. George leaned down beside Tommy. Ranboo took Tommy's hand, pushing it against George's cheek. The mushroom man blinked in surprise, but didn't move away, even when he wasn't given an explanation. Ranboo tilted Tommy's face that way he was forced to look at George. The man's mouth parted open in a half-gasp as Tommy's emotionless eyes were forced to stare into his own.
       
"This is George, Tommy. Do you remember him? He was your friend, once, but then he was fighting against you during the war for independence. You burned down his house, and that got you exiled from L'Manberg. He is known for sleeping a lot. You fondly called him Gogy," Ranboo grasped at straws for what he knew happened between George and Tommy. It wasn't like Tommy spoke about his past much. Tommy preferred living in the present. Anything that happened before was usually water under the bridge. He rarely held any true grudges, and even the ones he did hold were tainted with positive memories that made Tommy hesitant to act on them. Ranboo looked expectedly at George for more. The mushroom man finally got the message after a minute. He took Tommy's hand that was on his cheek, bringing it down to his lap palm up. George started to make patterns on Tommy's hand that took Ranboo a minute to realize were letters. George was spelling something out on Tommy's palm. Ranboo gave up trying to figure out what the letters spelled out, but George seemed to be growing sad when Tommy didn't give any indication that he understood.
       
"You tried. We'll find something to gauge a reaction," Ranboo muttered as he lifted Tommy to his feet. The blonde let his hand fall limp. George remained by the flowers, lips pursed as he watched Ranboo lead Tommy back to the Syndicate members. SapNap raised a hand at them. Ranboo gave him a high five, but Tommy didn't even look at SapNap. The ravenette looked ready to riot, but Karl grasped his shoulder with a shake of his head. SapNap raised an eyebrow, looking between Karl and Tommy to finally notice that Tommy wasn't reacting to anything. Techno clapped his hands, confirming that their business was over. Ranboo ignored the questioning stares as he led Tommy to the next location with the rest of the Syndicate.
       
Next up was Foolish's summer house. Ranboo had no idea why they were going there since Foolish's place didn't have any sort of government. Techno didn't give any indication why they were going there even when Niki and Ranboo subtly asked. Phil was the one who remained impassive like he was there to help, not question decisions. Tommy wouldn't have cared if he had been informed they were crawling inside an active volcano. Techno had remained silent the entire journey there, something purposeful in his step but absent on his face. Ranboo was tempted to take Tommy back to the mansion (his home, and what would be Tommy's should the blonde ever wake up), but they had somewhere to be after Foolish's mansion that Ranboo needed to take Tommy to but didn't want to without the protection of the Syndicate supporting him.
       
Foolish actually met them at the entrance. He had a friendly smile on his face, but the air around him reeked of a magical aura stronger than a normal totem. Ranboo could feel his life energy getting twisted all around. His soul reached for that blinding divinity. Ranboo would have been upset, but he wondered if Tommy was feeling something. His body and mind might have gone on shut-down, but was his soul still in there? Was his spirit hiding with Tommy's heart behind many walls built from self-preservation? Ranboo looked at Tommy. Ranboo didn't know what he was expecting, but he should have known that Foolish wasn't going to get Tommy back that easily. A little soul shifting and a smell reeking of divinity wasn't enough to pull Tommy out of his darkness.
       
"Huh, this definitely looks bad," Foolish commented as he walked towards Tommy. Foolish shook his hand in front of Tommy's face, his lips pursing when he didn't get a reaction. Foolish took a step back. He had a hand rubbing his chin thoughtfully while his gaze narrowed at Tommy's form. Foolish seemed to be searching for something that the others couldn't see. When he had found it, Foolish placed a finger against Tommy's forehead. Golden light began to shimmer against the skin like a tattoo. It curved in the shape of an ankh, the Egyptian hieroglyph for life. It was Foolish's main symbol that he used in his builds. Ranboo stared at them both with a growing protectiveness in his gut that he only restrained because Niki was holding his arm back. When the tattoo had faded, Foolish took a step back with a sigh. "It doesn't have anything to do with his lifeforce. This isn't a side effect of the revival or some mistake with a Totem of Undying. This catatonic state was brought upon by his own mind. My guess is that he was faced with some event that invoked such an intense emotional response that he couldn't fully process it. He has been through a lot. This is his way of protecting himself from further pain. The only way to bring him back is to find a way to get it to his mind that someone still... cares, I guess."
      
"You have my thanks, Foolish. Your debt has been repaid to me," Techno said, his eyes flickering between Foolish and Tommy. Ranboo felt all his drive fade away. Techno had called in a favor to see if Foolish could heal, or at least properly diagnose, Tommy. Ranboo felt his lips quirk into a smile as a newfound appreciation for Techno came into his mind. Ranboo didn't get a chance to voice his gratitude when they began off on the last place on the agenda. Ranboo took Tommy's arm, pulling him along as they crossed the land into the city that never sleeps, Las Nevadas. Ranboo recognized the city when it showed up on the horizon. The sun was low in the sky, turning the buildings into dark shadows that made a good postcard image. Ranboo inwardly sighed as they entered Las Nevadas. Ranboo's eyes looked for the Snowchester outpost and Wilbur's Paradise. When he found them, a rush of unwanted memories struck him. In the same vein, once he had stopped looking across the lake at Paradise, he turned to Tommy. The boy's gaze lined up with the building, but there didn't seem to be any hint that Tommy remembered the pain that place had put him through. Ranboo was given a flicker of hope when he tried to pull Tommy forwards, but the boy's feet held steady against the ground, keeping his empty gaze locked on Paradise. Ranboo almost cried in relief. It wasn't enough to say that Tommy was starting to react, but it was a start. Ranboo's bad memories were worth it to get this sort of reaction.
       
Quackity and Wilbur were arguing in the town square by the fountain. At the moment, they were screaming over each other with insults that barely made any sense. They devolved into simmering glares as they noticed they had an audience. Quackity gave them a diplomatic smile as he answered the questions Techno had about the governmental structure of Las Nevadas. More than once, Wilbur would chime in with a thinly veiled jab at Quackity or Las Nevadas, and the former would obviously retaliate promptly. Techno had to stop several premature arguments before anything came of them. None of them had the time to listen to the two men try to poison the other with words. Tommy wasn't looking at either of them. He was staring into the fountain's water, looking asleep on his feet. Wilbur made a comment about it, but Ranboo didn't have a chance to explain as Quackity clapped his hands, inviting them all to dinner at the Needle. Wilbur took him up on the offer with a cheeky smirk, and Quackity huffed murderously as he followed Wilbur into the building. Phil and Niki both went in with the intentions of keeping Wilbur from getting himself killed. Techno groaned at the prospect, but he wasn't going to leave Phil alone with two emotionally charged individuals. Ranboo didn't want to be alone, and he had gotten so used to tugging Tommy to every place that Ranboo wandered into. The elevator ride up was tense and awkward for almost everybody involved, but when the doors slid open, Ranboo was reminded why Las Nevadas was so popular. The view was spectacular. It took Ranboo's breath away as he absentmindedly followed Quackity to the table where they would be eating.
       
A waitress came up to take their orders, greeting Quackity as the owner of the Needle's restaurant and observation deck. Since Quackity was paying, Ranboo ordered Gapple juice for himself and Tommy. Not only did it have healing properties that could benefit Tommy, but it was a common known fact that Tommy loved Gapples. The adults talked amongst each other. Quackity and Wilbur harbored the same hostility towards each other as before, and Techno still only meant business, but Phil and Niki were able to engage in the conversation in a meaningful way. Ranboo merely listened to them. He turned towards Tommy to see what he was looking at, but he was met with an empty chair. Ranboo swiveled around with widening eyes. He tried to find where Tommy could have gone. He rushed to his feet, running through the doorless archway into the observation deck.
       
Tommy stared out at the sun sinking below the horizon with the faintest touch of melancholy on his face. His hands were lightly gripping the railing, his muscles loose and relaxed as he pressed his lower body against the glass railing. The pinkish orange tinted sunlight turned his blonde curls into gold, the white steak glinting like freshly fallen snow. His glassy eyes reflected back the baby pink clouds and the darkening sky. Goosebumps rose across his arms as a chilled breeze started to blow. Tommy didn't shiver at the cold, but Ranboo couldn't stop the tremble in his hands as he stared. This was the first time Tommy had moved on his own without orders, and he was at the edge. Ranboo didn't even notice when Wilbur slinked up beside him. Despite how angry he had looked before, there was definitely a sullen sadness that softened his features as he stared at his former little brother figure. "He had been standing there before... Do you remember what he said, Quackity?"
       
The chicken hybrid sighed despondently. He stared down at the table, his hands gripping the cloth around his thighs. His voice was quiet, almost broken in some ways as he spoke up. "He said... this would be such a good point to jump off and just... end it."

Quackity wasn't even finished as Ranboo ran to Tommy's side, holding the boy in his arms like Tommy had said those words in that very moment instead of all that time ago when he was full of emotion and living in Paradise with Wilbur. Tommy didn't do anything.