"Chapter; 5, beetroots."

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Act one, shy greetings. 

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(lots o' pov switches in this one, besties)

(it's a weird format, but like important shit happens)

Raegan was playing pattycake with Shroud, a smile plastered on his face. The spider hybrid was happily humming along, playfully hissing in time with the tune. Tommy's eyes were fixed on a sheet of parchment, his brows furrowed. "Ughh. Nobody ever told me reading was supposed to be so fucking boring." Raegan merely hummed, "You'll get it eventually. Want to take a break?" Tommy nodded and sat down next to them. "Hello, Shroud." The spider made an odd chirping noise and lunged towards the teen, nuzzling their head into his arm.

"Hey, Raegan?" The elder hummed. "What's your brother like?" The man sighed, putting his arms down. "He was sweet. Curious as all hell, THAT was fun to raise. The little one was so smart." Tommy put an arm around Shroud, head tilted. "When I first moved here, It was just us. My parents didn't appreciate the fact that I was so different from my younger siblings. And my brother was on the weaker side. So, they left a thirteen-year-old alone in the woods to raise a two-month-old baby." Tommy sighed, "Was sweet? what happened?"

"I heard an explosion after I'd sent him out to check on the crops. Walked outside and found nothing but a big hole, some blood, and his torn boot." Raegan smiled, melancholy clearly present in his eyes. "I miss him every day. I regret all the things I never did with him." Tommy's breath hitched, and Shroud looked up at him with a frown. "He was my baby, you know? , he wasn't technically mine, but he felt like my son. He'd be about your age, maybe younger, if he were still alive."

"Ah, sorry. Went on a ramble!" Raegan wiped his eyes and waved it off. Tommy's eyebrows were furrowed as he studied the man before him. Shroud chirred and snuggled further into his side, and he smiled softly, petting their head. "... What was his name? if-if you don't mind me asking." Raegan sighed, "That's enough questions for today." Tommy nodded and picked up a sleeping Shroud, who softly purred as they were set in a nest.

"I've got to be alone at the moment, goodbye Tommy." The teen nodded and grabbed a book from the side table. Raegan stepped out of the shack and yawned, curse his biology for being nocturnal. Raegan took off into the sky and enjoyed the sun on his wings.

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Wilbur sighed. He hated having a conscience. Ranboo looked at him, concern laced in end's eyes. "Are you alright?" Wilbur waved voi off, "I'm fine, get back to work." Ranboo nodded and went to serve the zero customers they got. The man got up and stubbed out his cigarette, grumbling to himself.

Wilbur made his way inside the mediocre shack Tommy had made for him. Digging through chests to find it. He pulled out the brightly coloured sweater, a smile forced its way onto his face. Disgusting. He pulled the garment over his head. Vile. And he trudged towards the woods. Criminal.

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Nocturne groaned, looking at the woman in front of him. "Not you again. What do you want now?" Nori rolled her eyes, "Quiet, you. I need your weird portal power thing." He raised an eyebrow, "For...?" She huffed and stamped her foot. "Doesn't matter! Just take me to SeaPort Bay." Nocturne groaned. "Why? To visit that little man-whore you call a boyfriend? Please." Nori swiped at him. "Don't call him that! And no! I just need to go back home since my ship got destroyed."

Nocturne stifled a laugh, "Did you fucking burn it down again? That's hilarious!" Nori did not look impressed. "Shut up. Just take me back." He looked her up and down. "Aren't you a fish? Just swim. I'll walk you down to the river if little miss Princess Nori needs a chaperone." The woman growled, "I'm a SHARK, not some stupid little helpless disgusting- a fish. Hell, I could eat those fuckers in one bite! I'll be fine on my own, thanks!" She stormed off. Who was going to tell her that sharks were fish too?

He turned back to his drink, non-alcoholic, of course. The barkeep refused to serve a minor anything other than the safe menu. He sighed and poked at the silly straw that the woman insisted she give him. The barkeep in question was chatting it up with a man in a green cloak. he couldn't help but eavesdrop. "Thanks again for helping me. Sorry if it was a bother!" The man simply shook his head, a slightly unnerving mask covered his face, "You couldn't vex me, mother. Let me know when you need to be transported back to your world." The woman nodded and patted his head. The masked stranger stood up and walked outside.

Her world? Did he also have portal powers? Was he some kind of admin hybrid? Curiosity killed the cat, he supposed. He got up to follow him before a hand grabbed his forearm. "Ms Puffy?" the sheep looked him in the eyes, "As much as I love my son, he's dangerous. I'd advise you didn't follow." Nocturne groaned, "Cryptic! Be more specific on why you care?" The lady let go of his arm and stepped back. "I've come to think of you as another one of my children. Hell would freeze over before if I let anything happen to the kid that's been sleeping on my couch." Nocturne dramatically gasped, "It's my evil overlord fort, thank you very much!"

Puffy laughed, "Of course, my bad." Nocturne huffed and sat back down. "Man, you and Tommy would get along great." He eyed the woman, "Who the hell is Tommy? Sounds ridiculous." Puffy smiled at him, "Ah yes, because 'Shadow of the Night' is so much better." Nocturne turned red and looked away, "IT'S... A work in progress." The sheep pulled him in for a tight side hug. He totally did NOT lean in and definitely didn't enjoy it or anything. He is an evil mastermind of chaos who definitely did not bask in Puffy treating him like a child.

A loud thunk interrupted them, and Nocturne quickly (but surprisingly gently) pushed Puffy away. "Seriously, SeaPort is about a 4-day walk and a 2-day swim. Just portal me." He groaned and nodded. Waving a quick goodbye to Ms Puffy as he left HoneyDew Tavern.

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Ranboo hummed as voi replanted ends crops, having just gotten home from essentially babysitting a grown man. Tubbo trotted up to them, looking exceedingly pissed off. "Fucking- Fuck Quackity, man." Ranboo nodded and set down voids tools. Greeting the other with a smile. "Why don't you tell me about it while I bring these in, hm?" Tubbo smiled and grabbed the third basket of potatoes and beetroot, seeing as Ranboo was holding the other two at the moment. "So this jackass brings his stupid little goon in, you know the slimy one, right?" Ranboo looked down at him, "Which one was that?"

"There's a little guy that joined a bit before I did. He's made COMPLETELY out of nasty ass slime. It's probably violating all sorts of health codes with them just being in the vicinity of the place." As if to further express his disgust, Tubbo scrunched up booms nose and stuck its tongue out. Ranboo chuckled, "Get like, some fabuloso or something... Never mind, that's for flooring." Tubbo laughed, "Dumbass." Ranboo sheepishly grinned.

He kicked open the door, sending the poor thing off its hinges and into the opposing wall. "Tubbo! Again!?" The goat merely shrugged and set the basket on top of their countertop. Little hooves pattered into hearing range as Michael raced over to tackle them. The two felt awful leaving him alone. But it wasn't like there was anyone else (that the beloveds trusted anyways) that they could leave him with. They could try Tommy, but they'd prefer another kid to be there so that he had friends his age. That and the boy was known for being irrisponsible, not sure how they'd fair with children.

"Hi, Michael-Moose!" Ranboo cooed and picked the piglin up, peppering kisses onto his snout. Tubbo joined them and scratched behind Michael's ears, a dopey smile plastered on heavily scarred skin. "Sorry that we left you alone, bossman. I wish things were different." The piglin made a low noise of understanding before falling asleep in Ranboo's arms. "Damn, that kid knocks out like a light." The taller chuckled and held their son closer into voids chest.

It was better like this.

THEY were better like this.

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They all knew it wouldn't last.