I Can't Remember

[9] Eret And Tubbo Have An Epic Diss Battle

Oh shit.

Those were the first words in everyone's minds. Everyone except Eret. His words were... slightly different.

"What the fuck?!" He shouted.

Ranboo let out an annoyed sigh at this. There was a thumping sound heard from above.

"You didn't," Tubbo said, voice horrified.
"Oh, he did," Ranboo confirmed.

"What. The. Fuck." Eret spoke again, voice rising now. The noise came once again, just louder.

"Why are you swearing in my household? There's a kid up there!"
"If you really cared about that kid you wouldn't bring his father's aggressor in this house."

Silence.

There was a cry from above. Before Tubbo could move, Ranboo was already running up the stairs to see what was wrong.

As he reached the door of Michael's room, he knocked on it lightly. There was another sound, as if something was knocked over. Then a small voice–

"Who's there?" a child's voice echoed through the halls, sound muffled by the door.
"It's me, boo," Ranboo spoke softly, as if speaking any louder would break Michael.

He was not very wrong.

After a few seconds of silence, Ranboo spoke again.
"Hey buddy, you mind if I come in?"

There was no 'answer' from the child, just a whimper, as if he was in pain. That was answer enough for Ranboo.

Careful to open the door lightly, he rushed in. seeing the little child crying, as if he was hurt, broke Ranboo's already cracking heart. He sat down on the bed and lightly picked Michael up. Michael hugged his father and started crying in his shoulder... and if a few tears fell on his bare neck, he didn't say anything.

"You have no right to say that about anyone!"
"He betrayed you!"
"So did you, do you see me complaining?!"

The crying got even worse. Soon, Ranboo realised what the problem was. As a baby piglin, especially a zombie hybrid, Michael was sensitive to loud noises and fighting. Spending some time with Tommy had definitely helped him overcome some fear of loud noises, but piglins were creatures of war, and Michael was not trained for it. All his instinct screamed was that he was not prepared to defend himself.

His piglin brain did not register that the anxiety was pointless, as he didn't need to know self-defence. At least not yet. He had the best parents in his world, and no one could harm Michael without having a basement full of nukes sent their way. Still, stupid brains, always getting that anxiety up. Damn you, animal instincts.

Ranboo's soothing voice calmed Michael into a light slumber. The slow rocking motion of his father made him feel safe, as did his warm arms. Not for the first time, Ranboo wondered why their connection was so strong.

The fight was still going on, louder than ever, but Ranboo's arms had effectively muffled the noise. Careful not to uncover Michael's ears, Ranboo pulled out his communicator. Seeing the missed notification made him realise why Tubbo took the risk he did. Now, he felt guilty.

He always checked his messages, but he had ignored the message in his anger at Eret. They had full right to be mad at him as well as Tubbo. They also had multiple reasons not to trust Clay, or "Dream" as he was apparently called.

Swallowing the guilt, he sent a message to Tubbo.

Please be quiet, mikey is sleeping now. He got really scared by the loud arguing. Tell me when I can come down. I'll come immediately.
-boo