The stream had gone smoothly, and now that his face was out there, everyone had some kind of edits or profile pictures or even wallpapers made. The day had been quick, doing meaningless activities as he slowly began to drift to sleep. 

Now he laid on a spare mattress Tubbo had. Since his sister was at another house for the time his parents were gone, Tubbo had listened to Ranboo insist that Tommy take the spare bed. (They shared a room.) Ranboo was still awake, despite how tired he was, lazily observing his surroundings over and over again. He had to sleep, he wanted to be awake when they were awake, but he couldn't fall asleep. It felt unsafe.

He felt like when he closed his eyes and gave in to the half death, he'd be met with his worst nightmare. It was that kind of feeling you got when you realized you haven't had a nightmare for a few months, and you know you're bound to have one soon. Did anyone else feel like that ever? Just him? Oh. Okay.

He didn't miss home, that wasn't why he felt sick to his stomach. He didn't eat anything bad or out of the ordinary, unless Tubbo had decided to poison him. (In which case, what a bad friend. You can't just go around poisoning people! Unless it's a minecraft roleplay. Actually, yeah, poison Tommy on the SMP again.)

A sense of sadness and panic washed over him. He felt like he could've been doing better, but what in? What was he doing wrong? He didn't know, countlessly skimming through his life and trying to measure the good and bad in every choice he made. Or, well, the life he remembered.

Was he afraid that he wasn't being a good friend? 

Hm.

"Something on your mind, big man?" Tommy whispered when he turned over for the seventeenth time that night. No, he hadn't been counting, that's just what it felt like. The sound made Ranboo flinch, not realizing someone else was awake.

"No, just can't sleep. You?" Ranboo turned his gaze to meet Tommy's. The boy's face was shadowed, so it was hard to tell where his eyes were, so he could be really just staring at his hair. Oh, well.

Tommy made a hum of agreement, sitting up and propping himself up on his elbows. "Yeah. Feel this odd sense of dread, like something's wrong. But what could be wrong?"

"I feel the exact same way." Ranboo spoke in a quiet tone, too. "We haven't done anything wrong that I know of, right? I dunno, I might be turning into lore Ranboo and forgetting things again." He laughed quietly to himself.

Tommy giggled aswell, muffling himself in the blankets. 

"No, I don't think we've done anyth-,"

CRASH!

Ranboo and Tommy jolted up to their feet, glancing at Tubbo. The boy slept like a rock, sure, but that noise was loud. Like being on an airplane in the air next to the wings, loud. But as if you were outside of the plane. 

"What the fuck was that?" Tommy whispered when Ranboo crept forwards. He lightly pressed against the door, opening it slowly and quietly, slowly walking into the small hallway. Tommy walked after him, almost clinging to him. 

"I don't know." Ranboo looked at the living room, where the sound seemed to come from. Nothing was broken, rearranged, or anything like that. So what made the sound?

"This is some weird fuckin' Phasmophobia shit," Tommy hissed, examining everything he could. The sound came from this room, both boys were sure of it.

"But without the Phasmophobia part." Ranboo said, and Tommy quietly agreed. 

Everything was silent for a few moments, when Tommy whipped around without warning. The quick movement startled Ranboo, who took in a sharp inhale of breath. Turning around, Ranboo felt his body stiffen, and no matter how much he tried to will his limbs, he couldn't move. Tommy couldn't, either, freezing warmth creeping through their bodies.

Another tall creature towered over them, thousands upon thousands of razor-sharp teeth grinding against each other, drooling at the thought of blood. Tiny eyes, small fucking eyes- they were terrifying. So small, tiny pupils, bloodshot, too. Its body... Isn't natural. It- It stands so tall- it's so thin, ribs that might as well be in plain sight, and you could see its body move with the organs it had. Its arms were so long, too, and each finger ended with a needle like claw.

It's a nightmare.

A hallucination that his mind made up.

So why can Tommy see it, too?

"Ranboo, wake up, man!"

Ranboo jolted awake, sitting up immediately and flinching away from the hand on his shoulder. His mind blurred reality with dreams, smushing the fact and the fiction together. For a moment, it was the monster standing over him, tiny eyes wide.

And then it was Tubbo standing over him, large, wondering eyes wide. Or, not large, but normal-sized-not-fucking-pea-sized eyes. God, that was so unsettling to Ranboo. 

"You alright?" Tubbo asked. Ranboo saw Tommy wake up just then, eyes snapping open, not nearly as panicked as Ranboo looked. His fear-filled blue eyes darted down to meet Ranboo's, the two sharing the same curiosity. Did they experience the same dream? Did they fall asleep and crash the other's dream?

"Yeah, had a crazy dream." Ranboo let out a shaky sigh. So many thoughts were racing through his head at once, yet all he could grab from them was radio silence. Tubbo seemed to be satisfied with the answer, nodding and standing up.

"What's for breakfast?" Tommy made his consciousness known, his voice calmer and more level than normal. Tubbo seemed to notice, but made no comment, instead going on to talk about foods they had. Ranboo spaced out, mind lost deep in time and thought. Wow, this was so fucking weird.

"Pancakes sound nice. What d'you think, Ranboo?" Tommy practically tore Ranboo out of his head, and the older thanked him silently. The shadows had begun to grow to his eyes, he realized, when he blinked and it was like they were never there.

"Uh? Oh, yeah, sure." Ranboo nodded, and Tubbo smiled. The boy left the room happily, content on making pancakes from scratch. This left Tommy and Ranboo to sit in silence, both boys thinking the same thing. Neither dared to ask first, though. They simply hid themselves from each other (Ranboo went into the bathroom, Tommy stayed in the room, but huddled in a corner) and went to find Tubbo. The boy was in the kitchen, humming a broken song.

When Ranboo got closer, he realized Tubbo was singing quietly, as if he didn't want them to hear or be disturbed. Well, there goes his plan, I guess. It took Ranboo a moment to realize Tubbo was whisper-singing the lyrics to 'Doctor' by Jack Stauber.

"So, what do you prescribe?" Tubbo whispered, poking half-heartedly at his already nearly complete pancakes. 

"Love's the only medicine," Ranboo sung quietly behind him, giggling when the boy whipped around. Tubbo's eyes were wide, and he definitely didn't want anyone to hear him. But why? He sang well.

"Is this a lie?" Tubbo slowly smiled, turning when his pancakes hissed to remind him they were there.

"No!" Ranboo pat Tubbo three times, "Take three of these a day."

"I think I'm cured," Tubbo chuckled.

"Cool," Ranboo made a thumbs-up gesture, smiling. "Are you alright on your own?"

"No, I'm not sure." Tubbo acted, faking a looking-away sadly gesture.

"Okay." Ranboo laughed, walking away as Tubbo finished the pancakes. Delicious smelling steam flowed into the air, and just the scent alone made Ranboo and Tommy realize how hungry they were.

"I think I'm sick again, big man." Tubbo added, both laughing together. Tommy rolled his eyes, but was unable to stop his own smile. Only then did Ranboo notice the boy's eyes reminded him of the top of a mountain on a clear day. Snowy, but blue, in a good way.

"What the f- this some kind of choir cult? I didn't sign up for this," Tommy scoffed. "But if I get to bonk Tubbo three times a day without having to ask, I guess I'm in."

"No!" Tubbo had sorted the pancakes equally, immediately darting away when Tommy began to chase him. It's okay, the pancakes had to cool anyways. "RANBOO, HELP!"

"Nah, I'm good." Ranboo watched in amusement, subconsciously noting how Tubbo was using his smaller build against Tommy's taller one. He had to learn how Tubbo reacted, after all. He would chase the boy at some point, and he needed to be prepared. Ha!

Eventually, everything calmed down, and they finished their breakfast easily. Ranboo had to admit, it was amazing. How did this boy know how to cook and manage a garden? He had to know the secret.

"Anyone up for a trip to the store?" Tubbo asked, "Just so we can get things that both of you like. And, Ranboo needs to have a break from the shitty american food." ("Hey! Not all of it is shitty, shithead!")

"Oooooh, yeah! I need some..." Tommy narrowed his eyes at the floor, trying to remember common british stereotypes that he could confuse Ranboo with. "Fuck, I need Reddit."

"Oh, man. Can't wait to buy some Reddit!" Ranboo joked, chuckling. 

"Oh shut up, you bastard." Tommy retorted, rolling his eyes. 

"Listen, I see what you were trying to do." Ranboo smirked, "I'm not that much of a neophyte, y'know."

"The fuck does that even mean?" Tommy furrowed his brow in confusion, sputtering. "Wh- Uh- Y-You just made that word up, it's not even real!"

"Now you're a neophyte," Ranboo tilted his head innocently, smiling. 

"Wh- Wa- N- HUH!?" Tommy let out a shout of confusion.

"Who's clueless now, huh?" Ranboo laughed, shooting Tommy a smug glare.

"What is a neophyte?" Tubbo had his phone out, searching 'neo fight', getting results from a show. 

"No, no, no, N-E-O-P(Tommy stop laughing you child)-H-Y-T-E." Ranboo spelled out for the boy, who made an 'ohhhh' sound upon reading the definition.

Today was going to be a good day. 

It had to be.