The Ghosty Bros - Sleepy Bois Inc.

Chapter 9

Wilbur

Wilbur watched from the OBS screen as David collapsed behind him, right on camera. Wilbur tried to give a cheerful smile as he quickly hit the end stream button. Wilbur swiveled his chair around to see David on the floor leaning against the wall. He left his body as quickly as possible. 

He saw David unconscious on the floor, but what surprised him was Tommy standing next to him. "IT WAS TUBBO?" Wilbur shouted. 

Tubbo was always the one who understood, he didn't try anything dangerous, at least as far as Wilbur saw. Just as fast as Tommy and Wilbur made eye contact, Tommy was gone. Of course the child went after his friend.

Wilbur racked his brain of trying to remember how conscious possession worked. Tommy and Tubbo were stuck, and they needed David to stop the body from dying. David was no where to be seen. Tubbo had said that he had to wait for Wilbur to reappear, but it had all seemed so fast from his perspective. 

As the minutes passed and David's breathing got shallow and stopped, and Wilbur realized that he could lose all three of them. It would all be his fault. He wanted to go back and jostle David awake, but he didn't want to touch the unstable system. All three of them could be gone. 

It hadn't taken this long last time. Last time it seemed like a quick blur of a minute. The seconds ticked by what seemed like hours until a very, very faint silhouette of David appeared right next to the wall. Wilbur tried to push David's ghost form. 

"David wake up. David, go. Come on, David, you have to go. David. David." David groaned and Wilbur kept pushing him closer. David finally opened his eyes and met Wilbur's. Wilbur wasn't going to explain. "David, go." Wilbur pushed him with one final effort and he disappeared. Wilbur's heart started to lighten. He gave them a chance.

Tommy was the first to come back, and Wilbur met his concerned eyes. Something wasn't okay. "It wasn't Tubbo's fault, David ran right into him and he wasn't paying attention, he-"

"It doesn't matter what happened, all that matters is that everyone is safe. Is Tubbo okay?" Tommy stared at the floor.

"I don't know." The lightest form of a ghost, almost unrecognizable, barely reformed to see Tommy, and then collapsed. Tubbo's normal ghost glow was gone, and he seemed extremely dead, but he was holding on. 

"Tubbo!" Tommy shouted. David's breathing started to get stronger and his head moved from one side to the other. Still no response from Tubbo. 

Tubbo

All around him bits and pieces were being locked down and the space he was in became more endless by the second. He couldn't see anything, all around him was just black. Tommy appeared, panic in his eyes, right behind Tubbo. "Are you okay?" Tommy asked. Tubbo couldn't find words, but he nodded. 

He felt like collapsing, and everything ached. They were fading in and out of existence, and Tubbo felt his sanity, the very conscious binding him together, slipping. Tommy seemed okay, but he was also flickering in and out of sight. Tommy rushed over and tried to give a comforting smile, but the fear and dismay in his eyes didn't help. 

"It's going to be okay, we just have to wait for David. You're not alone." The sympathy in his voice reminded Tubbo of when Tommy had messed up the first night. He had felt the same slipping universal tension trying to shred everything apart, but Tommy had been alone. Instead of focusing on the ever crushing darkness, Tubbo kept concentrating right in front of him, right on Tommy. It was something he could hold on to, something physically there while the world was crumbling around them.

Tubbo wasn't aware that he drifted unconscious, but he felt Tommy pulling him back, just barely. "David's back, you can get out now. Come on, Tubbo, wake up." Tubbo tried to give a thumbs up, but he couldn't see his hand. It took his brain a second to register. David's back. With the last of his mental capacity, Tubbo pushed out to the doorway that he could feel unlocking. He could hear Tommy apologizing to Wilbur, and he followed the sound of their voices. The sudden bright light was blinding, but he saw Tommy one last time, knew he was safe, and gave in to the exhaustion.

Tommy

Tubbo leaned on the wall and fell over to the floor. His hands were on his head and he was utterly still. With his left hand he held up one finger, as if to give him a second. His hair was all messed up and Tommy almost couldn't see him. With a soft groan he pushed himself up from the ground with his elbow. He propped himself up against the wall, but his eyes were distant and his mouth was slightly hung open. Tommy tried to help but Tubbo shook his head. 

Tubbo finally blinked a couple times and came back into focus. He gave Tommy a weak thumbs up and a small smile. He took a deep breath. Tommy was almost on the verge of tears. He almost lost his friend. Tommy took a seat next to Tubbo. It hurt him to see Tubbo so defeated. "We're okay now."

Tubbo's only response was a short "m". He pushed himself up straighter and went back to staring into the emptiness. 

"Tubbo, lay down. Stop for a second, let yourself rest." Tubbo shook his head and put his hands back over his face. Tommy would give him time. He completely forgot about Wilbur and David until they started to get up out of the corner of his eye. David still seemed a little out of it, but Wilbur helped him up. Wilbur grabbed a majority of the equipment and helped David to the door. 

Tommy sat with Tubbo in silence and watched the soft glow of his form slowly come back. He was definitely still damaged, and as they stood up together Tubbo still faltered in his movement. Tommy really didn't have a way with words, and he wasn't sure what he could say to help. Tubbo wouldn't meet his eyes, his stare was glassy and blank. Silence was easy, and just staying by Tubbo was enough. Wilbur came back alone after about 10 minutes. He sat in his chair and came to check on them. 

"Tubbo, are you okay?" Wilbur could still see the somewhat faded look of his form.

"Yeah." Tubbo nodded with a small smile. 

"David took a long time to reform and get back, which is why it took so long, Tubbo. You're lucky Tommy was there. David didn't hear or see either of you, and he didn't ask any questions, so I didn't have to explain anything. You should go home for the rest of the night, you don't look so good.

"No." Tubbo perked up a little and his eyes focused. He wasn't going home, not for the life of him. He wasn't going to miss out on showing Phil, even though his whole mental state was screaming to take a break. "Can we just go slow? I swear I'm fine."

Wilbur looked skeptical, but he agreed. "You two start heading over to Phil's, I'm going to pack up the office and get back home." Wilbur started rummaging around the office and Tubbo followed Tommy out the door to the street. 

With nothing but the open stars and the sounds of the city, Tommy kept pace with Tubbo. Just two friends, strolling the streets, but it felt like Tommy was alone. Like some part of Tubbo was lost.