Chapter Text
It was quiet in the kingdom, in the dead of night.
Almost no soul was awake, it was the kind of day where the gods had seemed to sap the energy out of everyone, good and evil alike. The rain giving the world a fuzzy feel inbetween the fog. Those who were awake dreaming of their beds they could go back to once the night watch was over.
Which made is all the more concerning to be woken up to screams he had only heard when people were being ripped apart painful and slow. The voice sounding like he own.
In his stupor from actually sleeping, it took him a moment to realize that wasn’t him, or a memory of the war, it wasn’t an echo of his own pain that he couldn’t show anyone lest they lose fate.
Sapnap had ran in, crossbow loaded and sword out, only to seem confused for a moment- until the screaming started again.
Night.
Quickly summoning his shield and axe he ran into the halls. His eye was keeping an eye out for dangers. Sapnap was already ahead, having ran straight to the noise this time, and not needing to summon anything.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out where he was headed, only one other person in the castle sounded like him, and he was down the long corridor.
Running inside, he was relieved to see Night in one piece, but confused at the sight before him. Night was awake but…
He wasn’t really seeing either Sapnap or him, and his breathing was still trying to get under control. Night, my gem, what happened to you…?
The hound was missing too.
Fuck, that wasn’t good.
Giving Night a moment to collect himself, he made his presence known and verbalized what he was doing as he made his way around the room to inspect things. Night’s jewelry hadn’t been touched, nor had the wards activated, no staff were running or even near, the windows were still secure…
The scent of magic, while thick, was undeniably Night’s, with the smell of something else he couldn’t put his finger on.
No one under his bed or in his chests or closet, no one on the ceiling, or in the walls.
No one looming outside Nights window or in the garden.
There was nothing. Which meant it was a vision that caused such distress.
Mcchill however was missing, he couldn’t sense him near, but his pocket felt warm from his crystal.
Michaelmcchill whispered to Dream: OMW back, Grabbing the healers.
Fuck.
Sitting down next to Night, he couldn’t help but make a face when he sat on something wet, trying to move a bit, he grimaced at the fact everything was soaked, from the sheets to the mattress, even the pig plush that Night would often use as a pillow wasn’t spared.
That was a new one. Night’s never been scared enough for that to happen, and certainly not this much. He’d think Night dreamed of going to the bathroom if it wasn’t so clear that wasn’t what happened.
Sapnap had a similar look on his face, holding back the ‘Ew!’ he wanted to let out. He’s thankful his brother was being gentle with his sibling, Night needed that gentleness.
This was also easily fixable. Nothing that some good cleaning couldn’t fix, he had a feeling Night wouldn’t want to be alone after this. He could bunk with Sapnap or himself.
Sapnap’s voice was gentle, like when he would talk to the children around the city and in their travels. “Night, Buddy, can I touch you? I just wanna pick you up. Your beds gross and we gotta get you cleaned up.”
He couldn’t help but relax a bit as they gave a stiff nod and a quiet whine. Sapnap scooping them up and cringing at the wet feeling of piss covered clothing however made him worry more again, moreso when Night clung to him, shaking and trying to not sob.
Mcchill would have a long few nights it seems, he wanted someone’s head on a pike for this, after a long and through talk, and an even longer and more through session in his labs.
Gently rubbing his back, he couldn’t help the soft tone his voice took. “Shhh, it’s okay Night, you’re safe now. Let’s get you cleaned up and then we can handle this all together okay?”
Night’s only reply was a tense nod, their shoulders shaking from the cold air. “Take them to the bathhouse, they need a wash while the bedding gets changed. I’ll try and find Furor, you got this?”
“No problem, I got this. Ready for a cool and manly midnight bro time in the springs?”
“…cool and manly midnight bro time?” Night asked, sniffling a bit.
“Yeah! We can have bro time and eat snacks and talk about crushes and shit.” Sapnap said, offering Night a smile.
Sniffling, Nights voice was quiet. “I… I would really like that right now actually. That sounds like the perfect thing to help.”
“Great! Dream’ll meet us once he goes and change and once your stuffs in the wash. We can raid the kitchens too!”
Nights laugh as Sapnap charged out of the room gave him some peace of mind, but the night was young, and the sun wouldn’t be up for hours.
He likely wouldn’t relax until the sun rose from the rain clouds. He had work to do, and people to contact.
Dream whispered to GeorgeNotFound: Emergency with Night, everyone’s alive and in one piece, might take a while. We’ll be in the bathhouse if you need us.
GeorgeNotFound whispered to Dream: Got it, going back to bed if you don’t need me. I have to deal with Wilbur tomorrow, ugh.
Dream whispered to Punz: when you’re awake, I have a job for you. Message me when you have the time. There is no rush.
Dream whispered to Michaelmcchill: Inform the healers to come to the bathhouse, get several servants to come and clean Nights bed once we meet you there, and retrieve Eret as well.
Dream whispered to Michaelmcchill: Is the hound hurt?
Michaelmcchill whispered to Dream: The dogs fine- he ran to get Dorly I think though. As a heads up, he’s on his way with a medical kit.
Dream whispered to Michaelmcchill: Inform him he can go back to sleep, or he is welcomed to meet us at the bathhouse- Night enjoys his company enough, and he might feel a bit safer.
The servants took their time to get there, but he couldn’t blame them. It was almost one in the morning, everyone had been asleep after all, it had taken time to wake everyone up and assemble them and the cleaning supplies.
They came in looking awake and professional however, quickly grabbing everything to clean while another group took the mattress away.
That would need to be deep cleaned, or thrown out entirely.
“I trust you all can do this in a timely manner. You have all day if you need it. Night will be with me or Sapnap for the foreseeable future. Take your time and make sure it’s done right. You’re excused from your daily duties to focus on this. Nothing but the mattress is to be thrown out if you can help it, understood?”
“Thank you my lord, understood.”
“Yes understood! Thank you Sovereign.”
”Of course, leave it to us most glorious Sovereign!”
“Will he be okay?” A young voice asked.
Blinking he glanced around, spotting Ranboo poking his head in. Motioning the servants to go back to their tasks, he made his way to the small Enderling. “Ranboo, what are you doing up, it’s late.”
“The noise woke me up, I saw a familiar man carrying Night towards the the bath area and Night looked hurt.” Ranboo said, eyes wide with worry and fear.
“…Why don’t you and me speak over some hot cocoa okay? We can even make some for Night, how about that?”
“O-okay…”
Offering his hand to the child, he lead him to his own little apartment area. Normally he would be against anyone entering, but.. Night had a soft spot for the kid, and the kid was practically glued to him. Setting him in the guest chair, he got to work on the cocoa.
Feeling his crystal grow warm however, he checked it as he got the milk warmed.
Sapnap whispers to Dream: I got Night covered, they won’t open up until you get here though. He wants some time to soak in the warmth though so give us like 30 mins
Dream whispers to Sapnap: Got it- try and get him to eat or drink something, they’re probably dehydrated a bit- and I don’t want him to fall asleep in the pool.
Sapnap whispers to Dream: already covered! Petunia’s already making him a Po' boy- he’s deffo hungry, and she’s deffo got a soft spot for him- we don’t even have any fried shrimp ready but she went “of course baby, we have plenty of that, just rest and relax and I’ll bring you your food.”
Sapnap whispers to Dream: She’s got that same tone Bad gets with his dogs.
Dream whispers to Sapnap: I’m glad someone other then Dorly and us has a soft spot for him. Tell her she’s excused from her duties after this?
Sapnap whispers to Dream: you got it brother!
“Oh my god it’s a kitty. Hello kitty!” Ranboo cooed, having discovered Speckles. He couldn’t help but smile as he heard Speckle and Ranboo talk to eachother, Speckle purring away the whole time.
Turning however, he discovered it wasn’t Speckle purring, but Ranboo. The enderling was so happy about Speckle cuddling up to him he couldn’t help but purr it seemed.
So Endermen can purr, a fun little fact to file away. “I see you and Speckle are getting along. She’s great company, but she’s sometimes picky about who she keeps it with.”
“She’s perfect. I love her, she’s got a cute little bow on and everything and she’s so warm!”
He couldn’t help but chuckle at that, handing Ranboo his hot cocoa, he even added a dusting of chocolate onto the whipped cream!
…and a little something else, to help the kid fall back asleep without nightmares. “Drink your cocoa Ranboo and then we can talk, okay?”
“Okay, can… can we check on Night after our talk?” Ranboo asked, taking a big gulp.
“Maybe in the morning, Night is a bit… fragile at the moment. Too many people might overwhelm him. Do you ever get Nightmares Ranboo?” He asked, trying to buy some time.
Night was likely soaking in the springs and would be eating soon, and wouldn’t come out anytime soon, hopefully Sapnap would try and get some info out of him about his old home, to help take his mind off of things.
“Sometimes, they’re really scary, but then I wake up and I feel happy knowing it was just a dream… but, Night doesn’t always get that does he, because of his magic?”
“Very observant of you Ranboo, that’s true. How did you learn that though?”
“Night told me, since I can’t always fall asleep and he’ll tell me stories and stuff, sometimes we both fall asleep. He didn’t want me to worry if he started to talk in his sleep and it sounds scary.”
Fair enough, he wasn’t a seer like Night but if he had to guess, then Ranboo would be around for a long time. Another thing to file away for later. “That makes sense, you haven’t been telling others, have you?”
“No, not really. The captain knows but she’s the captain and she tries to get Night to talk about what he sees sometimes. She said he’s got a soldier's heart, whatever that means.”
That made the most sense out of everything. Seeing so many traumatic events would no doubtable affect him mentally. He’d have to do better to keep his flame alight then, and destroy anything in his way to keeping what he has safe.
Easy enough, if the rebellion in silent lake was any example, moreso of the extermination the more… violent folks in L’Manburg.
“That‘s good Ranboo, those dreams are something for Night to tell others, not for others to tell others. But what I wanted to talk about is what happens when Night has a special dream. Sometimes when he wakes up, he can feel what happened in the dream when he wakes up.”
“…oh no.” He said, looking like someone stole his hot chocolate.
“Oh no indeed. So sometimes Night might be scared, or need space, but other times they might need comfort and reassurance, does that make sense?”
“Sorta, yeah. Sometimes after a bad dream, when I was still on the ship, I’d find Mr.Kronk or Mr.Vegeta and see if they’d let me bunk with them. Other times I’d wanna be alone, even when the sun comes up.”
“And now, while you’re in the castle?”
“… I always wanna go to Night, because Night feels safe, and makes my insides warm where my pearl is.”
“Do you mind expanding on that a bit more Ranboo, so I can fully understand?”
“Well,” The hybrid started, sipping his cocoa a bit more. “He reminds me of the people in some of my books and in the stories I used to hear before the captain took me in. The nice people who give the protagonist a home and make them feel loved and safe and reads them bedtime stories. The kinda home that doesn’t go away even if the people aren’t all together.”
He couldn’t help but smile at the kids words. “That sounds like family to me.”
“But Night isn’t an Enderman or whatever else I am?”
“Family isn’t always biological Ranboo, sometimes it’s a family of choice. Sapnap is my brother but he’s a Nether native, and I’m from the overworld, and George is… well, we’re pretty sure he’s more mushroom then anything, but he’s still family. We’re a family because we chose to be.”
He had to hold back the coo he wanted to let out when Ranboo looks up at him, doing his best to maintain eye contact with his mask. “… do you think Night would want to be my family?”
“I’m not sure and I won’t guess, that’s something only Night can tell you for certain, but he’d be hard pressed to hate you.”
“… would it be weird to ask?”
“Maybe, at the current moment most certainly. They need some time to recover from tonight, my suggestion is that you two get to know each other more.”
“And that won’t be weird?”
“No Ranboo, I promise.”
“Oh, okay! Oh, can I ask something?”
“Shoot kid.”
“How did you know you wanted to be Night’s papa?” Ranboo asked with all the innocence of a child.
That… made him freeze. Papa? As in dad? Father?
He wasn’t Night’s dad.
Sure he made sure he ate, bathed, was well dressed, happy, looking out for him and teaching him how the world worked but-
Oh.
…Maybe the reason the royal family angle was working so well was because everyone thought like Ranboo, not because everyone saw them as a monarch, a Sovereign, and his little brother.
But because everyone saw them as two ex’s working together and raising their kid.
That’s one way to get people to listen, he supposed. It also made Eret’s martial issues jokes make more sense.
“Well- I wouldn’t say I’m his papa per say. I’m his brother-“
“Yeah and Wilbur’s Tommy’s brother, but that doesn’t stop them.” Ranboo says, as his sips more of his cocoa. “Tubbo’s got a bet going with the others to see when they realize it.”
“…You know what- fair enough. We just prefer the term siblings because we both had different parenting experiences. So no one’s the parent, but there’s still a bit of hierarchy to keep things stable. I’m the big brother, and Night is my little brother, sometimes sibling.”
“Oh, okay! That makes sense I guess. Like how Eret is sometimes a mister or a misses or just ‘your majesty’ right?”
“Close, think more of Mx.Spider- the cook who brings you cookies sometimes. Someone might assume they go by mister or miss, but they’re still Mx.Spider all the same though. We’re still Dream and Night, but we just prefer a different title then others might assume.”
“Ohhhh, I kinda get it now. What’s Eret then?”
“The proof of lack of impulse control as a teenager. Wait until you’re an adult with a stable job and house before trying to start a family, okay? Even if you both just survived a near death experience and want victory… cuddles.”
“I can do that! I wanna spoil my future husband with lotsa stuff so I can wait!”
“Oh, a husband you say? Does that mean you already have someone in mind?”
He couldn’t help but laugh as the kids face turned bright red. “Night promised not to tell anyone!”
“He hasn’t told me anything Ranboo, but since you just confirmed it-“
“Nooo! It’s bad enough Night knows!” Ranboo yawned through his words, seems the sleep aid was finally kicking in. The kids dreams should be nothing but sugar and sweetness.
He should look into getting a prescription for Night- be doubts the over the counter stuff would be of much help to him.
Laughing at the kids dramatics, he dropped the subject. “Alright alright, I’ll find out in due time. Why don’t you go back to bed, I’m going to check in on Night, okay?”
“Okay… if someone’s hurt him you’ll beat them up right?” The yawns we’re becoming more frequent now, the kids head settling down on the table. Speckle poking her head out and letting out a quiet ‘mew’
“If it’s appropriate to do so, yes. It sounds like someone’s ready for bed though. Come on kid, the table isn’t the most comfortable.”
Scooping the two up, he smiled a bit as they curled up closer to him, quietly mumbling out ‘Nighty night.’ Before quiet snores took their place.
Making his way down the halls, he can’t help but think about Ranboo’s words.
Was he a parent to Night? He made a comparison to Tommy and Soot, which he had been using as a guide, and Soot did raise Tommy-
“Son of a whore.” He whispered, knowing no soul but Speckle would hear him.
Tucking in Ranboo, and begrudgingly Speckle, who seems to have settled on making biscuits on the kids shirt and content to be under the warm blankets. He couldn’t help but coo a bit. “Sweet dreams you two, I’ll see you both in the morning.”
He had some investigating to do, and a lab to prepare.
He was running low on salt and lemons after all, and no one in the kitchens would mind if he nabbed some returning Nights and Sapnap’s dishes.