Work Text:
- tommy's pov -
Tommy leant his head against the bus window, the vibrations jumbling up his thoughts and making his teeth rattle. He only stayed there for a few seconds before it got too much, but he kept his gaze locked on the outside world while the loud music in his ears did enough to drown out his thoughts. It was early, way too early to think anything.
The sun was already up, but barely above the horizon, and a thin layer of mist hung above the fields, giving the landscape a chilling look.
Tommy sighed and closed his eyes for a brief moment, giving in to the temptations of sleep, before he forced himself awake again. With half an hour his bus ride was too short to take a nap but still long enough that he had to get up at the unholy time of 6:30 to not run late for school. Well, at least it gave him the chance to listen to music and, if there was a need for it, finish one homework or the other.
The bus slowed down to a halt and Tommy could hear the doors hissing as they opened. It's the last stop before they entered the town his school was in and by now the bus was moderately full. Most of the time he managed to keep an entire double seat for himself but it seemed like today he wasn't as lucky.
Tommy could feel the presence of another person beside him, an arm brushing against his as they settled down and the bus locked up speed again. He refused to look over, too tired to socialize, and stared out of the window determinately.
He was left alone for another two songs - although he could feel curious eyes on him - before his seat neighbor tapped his shoulder. Blinking his half-closed eyes open, Tommy turned around, suppressing a yawn.
Next to him was a boy about his age but shorter (it was noticeable even while seated) with brown hair and a contagious smile.
Tommy's brain was too tired to even think of taking his headphones off or initiating a conversation, so he just stared at the stranger. Said boy didn't seem bothered by his stand-offish behavior at all, simply flashing him a grin and holding out his phone. Tommy looked down at the offered item, up at the strange stranger, and down again before he shrugged and took the phone. He didn't know what to expect but certainly something more exciting than a simple "Hi :)" written in a note.
Tommy's eyes flew up to the other boy again, unsure of what to do, but he was only met with a widening grin. He was starting to suspect that the brunette was on some sort of drugs.
Hesitantly he tapped on the screen, fingers hovering over the appearing keyboard. He tilted the phone away from its owner, his habit of not wanting people to see what he did on his phone showing, and typed out "What do you want?" just to immediately delete it. Sure, he was an asshole at times, but that was just outright rude. The stranger had done nothing to oppose him besides sit next to him. So, he opted for a plain "Hello" and gave the phone back.
He could see the other light up as he spotted the answer, eyes shining bright and flashing a genuine seeming smile at him before he started typing rapidly. Tommy watched him thoughtfully. This boy seemed a bit weird but in a way that made him interesting, and he certainly was likeable (and cute, but he chose to ignore that for now). Tommy's headphones were still in place, music still playing and drowning out the chatting around them and the traffic sounds, focusing all of his attention on the other boy. Who was also wearing headphones, as Tommy just now noticed.
He watched the other type a few words and didn't hesitate to accept the phone when it was offered back to him.
"I'm Tubbo, nice to meet you!", said the note, and Tommy looked up at the brunette in confusion.
"That is a weird name.", he answered and gave the phone back.
"Tubbo" seemed to snort in amusement as he read the sentence, although Tommy couldn't hear it over his music, and answered quickly.
"It's not my real name but I prefer it when people call me that!", was the explanation Tommy got and he couldn't say anything against that. He himself quite liked his name but he knew plenty of people who didn't like theirs and preferred a nickname. One of his older brothers, Techno, was one of them.
"Okay. You can call me", he started, then hesitated, thinking of something absurd and funny, before he decided on "Father" and passed the phone over with a poorly suppressed laugh and watched excitedly for a reaction. Which never came.
When he got it back, the screen simply said "Hello, Father!", nothing else.
Tommy scowled, a little disappointed that his joke wasnt appreciated and decided to call it off altogether. It was a little weird, admittedly.
"Nononono stop, this is weird, don't actually call me that. My name's Tommy.", he wrote and "Hello, Tommy!" was the response he got. Well then, at least he knew his new friend wasn't shaken that easily.
"Hello, Tubbo!", he wrote, deliberately using the exact same punctuation as Tubbo twice before. "Why are you doing this? Like this texting thing? You don't even know me."
He had to ask, this whole situation still confused him a bit. To be fair, Tommy could totally see himself doing the exact same thing if he had thought about it, but most people weren't as awesome as he was.
Tubbo grinned while writing his answer and Tommy wasn't sure he liked that, the brunette definitely looked like he was up to something. He accepted the phone back wearily, gaze lingering on Tubbo for a few more seconds before he actually read the message.
"I was bored and you're cute. :)"
Tommy blinked. He read the message again.
"I was bored and you're cute. :)", it still said black little letters.
He looked up at Tubbo. Of all the things he had expected, thus was not one if them. He felt his mouth open to say something (although he didn't know what) before he remembered this was a non-verbal conversation and closed it again. Tubbo simply beamed at him, all big green eyes and broad smile, and Tommy felt his cheeks go hot.
He had no idea how to react or reply and Tubbo seemed to notice since at some point he just snatched the phone back out of Tommy's grip and quickly wrote another line before he placed it back into Tommy's hands.
Forcefully, the blonde pulled himself together enough to be able to read again. "What are you listening to?"
The complete change in topics made him stare at Tubbo again, this time in bewilderment. Still, grateful for the opportunity to avoid an answer, he replied truthfully: "Ed Sheeran. Don't laugh."
Tubbo took the offered phone, read the line and laughed. Tommy glared at him.
They started talking about music, both of them getting comfortable with the conversation and each other, and Tommy was having a great time. Good enough to completely lose track of time.
When the bus slowed down to a stop he looked up and around for the first time since they started chatting and noticed with alarm how far they'd already come. Ignoring Tubbo's comment about how bad Country music was he hastily typed out his next sentences.
"The next stop is mine. Are you also at the St Mary's Academy? Don't think I've seen you around before."
Tubbo furrowed his brows when he read them and seemed to hesitate, fingertips hovering over the keyboard uncertainly and deleting a few possible replies before settling on one.
"No, I've got a few more stops. I go to Riverview. :)"
Tommy read the message and couldn't help but wonder why Tubbo would be attending a special needs school. He seemed perfectly normal - not that Tommy thought the kids at Riverview were abnormal or weird, just different. He never actually met any of them before, though.
He wasn't really sure how to respond.
He didn't want to have it sound like that was a problem, because it wasn't, or that he thought less of Tubbo because of it, because he didn't, but he also didn't want his message to be overly enthusiastic like he wanted to cover up any prejudices. Sure, there were a few cliches that immediately sprung to his mind when he recognized the school name, but he tried really hard to not let them influence his thinking or behaviour.
In the end, he settled for a simple "Oh, okay, cool."
He contemplated asking why Tubbo was at Riverview but instantly threw away the thought. He didn't want to seem rude or intrusive, and although he was admittedly curious, it wasn't his right to demand an explanation.
He was about to give back the phone to get ready for his bus stop when an idea popped up in his head and he quickly added his phone number to the text document, followed by a "I gotta go. Let me out please?".
Tubbo took his phone with a carefully blank expression, Tommy suspected it was because he was unsure if the reaction he'd get. Not that there was anything to worry about from his side but it still made him warm and light when a bright smile appeared on Tubbo's face as he read the words. He didn't bother with a reply - not that there was time for it -, just scooted off the seat as the bus slowed down at Tommy's stop.
Tommy smiled back as he got out of the seat, waved a little in goodbye, and turned away, surprised by how disappointed he was that he had to go so soon. Still, he shouldered his bag and pointedly did only look back once (Tubbo was looking after him with a cute little smile and Tommy looked away before he could start blushing again) and left the bus to get to his class.
Throughout the whole day Tommy kept stealing glances at his phone but Tubbo seemed to be a good boy and did not use his phone in lessons. He got through the day, somehow, and almost ran out to the bus stop after his last class. It didn't get him anything since he still had to wait a few minutes for the bus but once he was on it Tommy looked around eagerly, looking for the one brunette boy.
He wasn't there.
Tommy pouted, dropped into a seat by himself, and pulled his phone out. He had no idea why Tubbo wasnt here but there were a million possible reasons, starting with being picked up by his parents and ending with having extra lessons on afternoon. It should be been no big deal but he was still disappointed.
He scrolled through the notifications on his phone without much brainpower behind it when he stumbled across one that said "1 new message from Unknown Number!". He opened it, excited, and read "Hello, Tommy!".
A smile appeared on his face without him even noticing it and he started typing out an answer.
They texted the whole bus ride back, just talking about school and Tubbo explaining he took a different bus since his school day had finished earlier today. Tommy almost missed his stop and the pause their conversation long enough for him to get home, eat lunch, and escape to his room, where he settled on the bed comfortably and picked up his now charging phone again.
"Alright, I'm back.", he sent and followed it up with "Wanna call?".
He saw Tubbo come online and read the message immediately, so he was surprised how long it took him to respond. When he did, he only said "That might be difficult…" and it left Tommy confused.
"Why?"
This time, the answer took even longer, and right when Tommy was starting to doubt he'd even get one, a new message appeared.
"Because I'm mute."
He stared at the words in confusion for a moment before he typed quickly: "Huh? But weren't you listening to music this morning?"
"Mute, not deaf. Not all people are both.", came back, quicker this time, and Tommy mentally shrugged. Okay, cool, what did he care if Tubbo could talk or not? It was unusual, sure, but he was an awesome dude anyway. He said as much in his responding message and even followed it up with a smiley emoji (he never sent emojis).
Tubbo's reply was way more enthusiastic, a 'Wooo" with a lot of Os and a lot of happy emojis and no matter how stupid it was, it made Tommy smile all over again.
Still, he was curious and he had never been one to not act on it.
"Is that why you're at Riverview?" He hesitated, then quickly added "If you don't mind me asking."
He waited quite nervously for a response, hoping Tubbo wouldn't take offense, but with how he had gotten to know him today he was positive. Sure enough, Tubbo answered "Yes, that's why. You can ask all you want I dont mind :)" and Tommy exhaled slowly in relief. Everything was fine.
They dropped the topic after that, moving on to video games and, strangely enough in Tommy's opinion but Tubbo seemed to enjoy it, bees. When Tommy put away his phone for good that night, a soft smile caused by Tubbo's "Good night! <3" still lingering on his face, he was sure he had at least made a new friend today. Who knew where he and Tubbo would end up, but he was excited to find out.