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Tubbo was more than happy to have Chayanne and Tallulah over for the week while their dad recovered.
Truth be told, they were still a little scared of him. And with the whole “Ender King controlling their dad and doing weird shit like yelling at them and attacking them” situation, Tubbo didn’t blame them.
It was a pleasant day, with Chayanne, Tallulah and Sunny having a picnic with a few of the other young dragons while their parents were away. Sunny helped build a guest bedroom for the two visiting children.
Near the end, they all went off to bed. But someone wasn’t sleeping well.
Tubbo was woken up by the sound of creaking wood. While he initially thought it could be Foolish who FINALLY decided to get up and do stuff with Leo, he flipped around to find the actual culprit.
The goat Hybrid nearly leapt out of bed when he saw a familiar orange and green dragon in a duck floatie standing there.
“HOLY SHIT!” Tubbo exclaimed, shuffling around in bed after almost falling out of it.
While still full of Adrenaline, Tubbo simmered down as to not wake up Sunny or anyone else in the house.
“Wow okay you’re SO quiet.” Tubbo scoot over to the edge of the bed to get a better look.
Chayanne looked very worse off wear. He had bags under his eyes, just an overall miserable look on his face.
“What are you doin’ up at this time, King?” Tubbo asked quietly. “Shouldn’t you be in bed and looking after your sister?”
Chayanne shook his head. Then he signed ‘Can’t sleep. I have too much on my mind.’
“Ahhhh, the good ol’ running head before bed,” Tubbo chuckled to himself. “That’s totally understandable.”
‘Can I sit here with you, Tubbo?’ Chayanne signed.
“Um! Yeah! Go right ahead!” Tubbo happily slid to the side to let his god-son sit next to him.
Chayanne climbed up and sat quietly, twiddling his claws. Tubbo could tell that his god son was nervous about something.
“Wanna tell me what’s going on in that head of yours?” Tubbo asked, scooting closer to the yellow-and-green dragon.
Chayanne shrugged after a minute of no response. ‘Maybe. It’s just about dad. About what happened.’
“Mmhm, the Ender Guy was a real piece of work, yeah?” Chayanne nodded at his godfather’s reply.
‘I don’t know why I’m still so, I don’t know, scared of dad. It was HIM. It was that evil Ender King guy using his body like a puppet. But…’ Chayanne hesitated during his signing.
“Ya know, kid, I’m gonna be 100 percent transparent with you,” Tubbo said, putting his arm around Chayanne’s shoulders. “If I were in this situation, and my dad was, like, being controlled by a crazy king guy from the void, I’d be shitting myself with fear every day.”
A small stifled chuckle came from Chayanne. Well, Tubbo found that to be a small victory. But he wasn’t done.
“It’s your dad. Who cares? You can be scared all you want, buddy! That guy hurt you even when it ‘wasn’t him’. Ya don’t have to see him until you and your sister are ready.”
‘But I can’t just leave dad by himself forever…’ Chayanne added on. ‘He’s been alone for so long. I can’t just ABANDON him.’
“He’s a grown ass old man, Chayanne. He can handle a little bit of alone time without his kids,” Tubbo scoffed. “And besides, I’m sure he’d understand what you’re going through.”
Chayanne shrugged again. ‘I think my dad’s isolation is the problem. So I feel bad for reinforcing it. I guess.’
Tubbo nodded. “Hm. Figures. Your papa Phil loves doing that. Not sure why but-“
Maybe this wasn’t a good time to criticize Phil today. He’s been meaning to for a while, but Tubbo didn’t want to give Chayanne any more guilt than he already has.
“Eh, we can talk about that some other time,” Tubbo shook his head. “You and your sister are totally allowed to stay here. Until your dad gets his shit together. That sound good?”
Chayanne let out a “hmm”, a little affirmation. The young dragon grasped at his godfather’s hand. Clearly the verbal comfort wasn’t enough.
“You, uh, want a hug or something, king?” Tubbo asked.
Chayanne didn’t have to say anything. He slowly slid into Tubbo’s side, allowing the older to wrap his arms around him and pull him in. Tubbo hummed a little as he moved the two in a better position.
“How does this feel?” Tubbo whispered.
Chayanne did not respond right away. When he did, however, was not using signs or sign language.
“….I don’t know.”
The young dragon’s voice was so painfully raspy. The stress and lack of sleep were clearly getting to him.
Tubbo could feel the kid shaking in his arms. By some unknown, primordial even, force, Tubbo squeezed tighter and rest his cheek on top of Chayanne’s forehead.
“Do what ya need to do, kiddo,” the goat Hybrid sighed, closing his eyes. “Cry a little.”
Chayanne sniffled, burying his face into his godfather’s chest. Tubbo figured that Chayanne was not a crier. But he was at least slightly relieved to see Chayanne coping with this trauma in his own way.
Tubbo was not perfect with comfort and he was aware of that. But for now, he needed to be a good support system for the dragons.
He had to try. Trying is all he could do right now. But it is enough for now. For the sake of the hurting young dragon in his arms finally letting his walls down.