Gold and dragon feathers

Practice can get perilous

(Minor tw for fighting but it's not long or well written since they stress me out, I don't think there is anything else in the book but if I'm wrong I hate editing chapters once they're out but I'll add any needed :3 )

Tubbo's pushes himself out of bed with a tired bleat despite the protest from the bruises littering his legs and the tiredness seeping from his bones. His bed was warm and the sunlight is just starting to filter in through his windows but he doesn't dare sleep in again. Based on the sounds he hardly heard when he first awoke Tommy already left for work and any minute now Mellohi will show up for practice.

The larger creature had finally given into Tubbo's pleading and allowed the pair to start practicing the course and the other necessary skills for the competition (according to his book). Despite the fact that the goat hybrid knows they've come far for only three days it doesn't feel like nearly enough. Just starting to fully practice over a week before his first competition is not enough.

He stumbles over to his closet and pulls out a green coat, throwing it over his striped pajamas. He exhales from his nose and pauses at how heavy with frustration it sounds. He doesn't know what could be making his tail twitch with such fury right now, sleeping in? Mellohi avoiding practice for weeks? The rush? The world for making him wait? Ranboo's mandatory breaks yesterday? Nothing?

He sighs loudly, the sound heavy with the emotion he's trying to rid himself of , before leaving his room.

He allows himself to stop at the counter and drink his smoothie, pointedly ignoring Ranboo's eyes burrowing into the back of his head. Silence stretches in the room, only broken by the click of Tubbo's hoof tapping impatiently on the wood below him and Michael scratching on the wooden cat tree Tubbo made him a few months ago.

He decides to let the silence linger for a bit longer, especially since he's clearly not taking the "slower" day Tommy told him to have today and any conversation might become a lecture about ignoring his housemates' opinions in order to let himself work more as if Tommy wasn't working all day everyday lately (and as if Ranboo wouldn't do the same as soon as winter hit or his bosses came back).

Hypocrites, the both of 'em.

With a twitch of his nose he sets his glass down with a satisfying clink before brushing past the other occupant of the room to get outside to wait for Mellohi.

The air outside feels thin without the strange feeling following him during breakfast and leaves browned by time litter the dirt in front of the house. He closes his ears and hears the chirping of birds and the dull crunch of his weight shifting from foot to foot. It's nice to let himself relax for a moment while he knows there isn't anything more he can do towards practice until Mellohi comes unless he wants to go back and get dressed but his pajamas are much warmer than any of his clothes clean enough to wear today.

He lets himself bathe in the chilly fall sunlight until his ear twitches with recognition for the sound of Mellohi's wings beating the air.

The dragon lands and for a moment Tubbo has to acknowledge that something is wrong with the other creature. The dragon's chest heaves as if he's out of breath and something in the dragon's posture speaks of physical distress before the dragon shakes and the signs are.

Tubbo hopes it was just a trick of his mind as he climbs onto the beast's back, keeping away thoughts of resting all day after all with a stick and reminding himself that his body aches too. They need to practice and Mellohi could have not shown up if he felt bad enough. He pulls a timer from his jacket and clicks it on as soon as the ground gives way to a cloud of dirt and leaves rapidly shrinking away.

The metal of the timer bites his hand but he can't help but smile down on it because it's shaped like an egg 'in honor of how many eggs he burnt without one'. He smiles, remembering Tommy claiming he didn't steal it from puffy a suspicious amount of times before admitting that niki let him sneak it away when he expressed how much he liked it.