dream smp oneshots and unfinished fics

netherite mining

shhh i know ranboo didn't actually care about l'manburg blowing up, so the end of this doesn't really...make sense but SHHH please let me have this. anyways.

tw/cw: mentions of suicide.

---

Living with the anarchy pair -- Phil and Techno -- is a lot calmer than one would assume. In fact, Ranboo is sure that he's the calmest he's ever been in that remote, snowy biome.

The little house Phil built for Ranboo is bigger than the one he had in L'Manburg, which is a relief. His home was a zoo, and he could barely move around without bumping his head on some random ledge. But the area that was given is large, large enough to fit all his (remaining) pets and for him to stand up straight without hurting himself. And it connects to the dog kennel, too. To some, the whining and growling and barking from the other room would be bothersome, but Ranboo is naturally good at filtering out those background noises (except when he's not). And he's basically been given twenty-plus therapy dogs -- he is not ashamed to say that he'll sit in the middle of the room sometimes and cry while three or so dogs sit on his lap or something like that.

When he came, he was afraid that he'd have to start from scratch -- not that that's too much of a problem, he was always one to mine even if he didn't need the resources, per se, but it'd still be annoying. Thankfully, Techno is easily the most loaded person on the server -- even more than Ranboo, who definitely held that title in L'Manburg. He'd have no problem with food or ores or anything, and since he kept all of his tools in his ender chest, he was basically set.

Not to say that he'd just leech off of Techno's hard work the entire time -- he'd feel bad, even though his very few needs and wants would barely put a dent into Techno's supply. Which is why he finds himself in a deep sector of the Nether, inventory full of beds, ready and set to netherite mine.

He also finds himself in a call with Techno and Phil, who are just chit-chatting about different subjects, hopping back and forth, making small talk. Ranboo stays silent for the majority of it, only piping up and adding his own pieces when it seemed fit. He mines his way to the appropriate Y level as Techo changes to a slightly touchy topic.

"Y'know, I was sneakin' around 'L'Manburg' earlier --"

"Of course you were."

"Shut up. So I was in the area, and I saw Tommy and Tubbo, just laughin' it up about something dumb like their country wasn't blown up a few weeks ago, like Tommy wasn't just preachin' about how they weren't friends anymore a bit before that..."

Phil laughs, and Ranboo lays down a bed in front of him, his brows furrowing slightly. He doesn't know where this is going. "Well, I guess they're friends again, now that Tubbo isn't a president anymore," says the older man simply. "As to be expected, it was really putting a strain on their relationship."

Techno snorts. "Uh-huh. I doubt that was true, either."

Ranboo tilts his head to the side, placing down the block in front of the bed and leaning on it slightly. "What do you mean?"

"He and Tubbo, their relationship probably wasn't even as bad as he made it out to be, was it?" The question was clearly rhetorical, and a heavy silence hangs in the air as Ranboo leans over the block, his hand hovering over the bed, ready to tap it for the explosion. "I mean, he wasn't being honest with the Dream thing, so I wouldn't put it past him to --"

Ranboo's hand drops in shock and hits the bed, causing it to explode and send Ranboo flying backward, landing hard on the ground. He runs his side as shouts emerge from the call, particularly Phil's concerned ones.

"Ranboo, what the hell was that, are you okay?" He asks, and Ranboo nods before forgetting that they aren't there with him.

"Yeah, I'm netherite mining, I'm fine," he says, rushed. "Techno --"