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~~~
It was a rather quiet night in the Watson household. Techno was in his room, curled up on his bed in a bundle of blankets and reading, while Wilbur and Phil were lightheartedly bantering in the kitchen while making dinner.
The reason the night was quiet was because the three loudest people in the house were absent from the home. Where were they? Committing crimes.
With a small skip, Tommy tossed Ranboo a sly smile. “You know what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna paint you. Gonna paint a nice big Ranboo shrine. Lots of black and white. Oh, and purple enderman particle thingies!”
“Or you could do literally anything else!” Ranboo responded, readjusting his mask along with the backpack he was holding while making sure Tubbo was following the path he and Tommy were taking through the rubble.
“Ranboo, please. We’re currently walking through the remains of a wrecked building with a backpack full of spray paint. We can’t not leave our mark!”
“Tommy, maybe leaving our mark is a bad idea since we’re like..committing a crime.” Tubbo pipped up, climbing up a fairly sturdy looking pile of rubble and climbing down the other side.
Tommy giggled. “Come on Tubs, do you really think the police are gonna know who this black, white, and purple man is? I’m flattered you think my painting skills are that outstanding!”
Tubbo simply shook his head, smiling and choosing not to respond to Tommy. Instead pointing to a mostly intact piece of wall.
“A canvas?” He asked.
Tommy and Ranboo nodded.
“A canvas!” Tommy cried, quickly opening the bag Ranboo was holding and selecting black and white cans.
“I can’t believe I allowed you guys to talk me into this.” Ranboo sighed, watching Tommy with a weary eye.
“Well it was either this or you let me commit my lifelong dream of arson.” Tommy responded.
“Yeah! And we bought the spray paint, we didn’t steal it!” Tubbo added, going to stand by Tommy and paint his own work of art.
“Listen, we can’t get caught, Tubs.” Ranboo said, casting a warning look. “I can’t imagine it would look nice to have trespassing and vandalism reports in our foster files... Tommy’s fine though, that’s Phil’s problem.”
“Hey!” Tommy responded, Tubbo nodding and smiling next to the outraged blond.
“I’ll have you know,” Tommy said, “You’re Phil’s too. There’s no way any of us can pretend he isn’t planning on adopting you two.”
“We really better not get caught then!” Tubbo said lightheartedly. “We don’t want Phil changing his mind.”
“He won’t, Tubbo. Don’t worry.” Tommy responded, giving a gentle smile that held a lot more sincerity than the rest of the conversation.
Tubbo smiled gratefully, turning back to his bee.
It was silent for a moment before Ranboo sighed again, heavier this time.
“All this and I was forced to agree to let you two into my room tonight to watch a movie.”
“Listen, boss man. We didn’t force you to do anything! You had your own free will! We just provided the options.” Tubbo responded, flashing a cheeky smile and returning to the spray painted bee he was creating.
“You had your own free will.” Ranboo repeated in a mocking tone, snatching a gold can of paint and standing next to Tommy to paint a small crown on the painting Ranboo’s head. “You had your own free will and we totally didn’t make you choose between letting us sleep in your room or committing a major crime.”
Tommy and Tubbo erupted into laughter, Ranboo joining along after he finally dropped his annoyed look and broke character.
~~~
“Where were you three?” Phil asked, meeting the boys in the doorway once they returned home. “I knew you were planning on going out today, but you were gone an awful long time. And I don’t know how much I can trust you all when you’re together.”
The tone wasn’t angry or accusing, not at all. Rather, it was lighthearted and a bit mischievous as if he knew they had done something. And judging by the way his eyes were drawn to the paint flecks in Tommy’s hair, he did.
“We committed a crime, Phil!” Tubbo exclaimed, bending to untie his shoes.
Ranboo sighed, holding out his arm for Tubbo to use as support. “It was a minor felony and the only reason it was minor was because I told them both I’d let them watch a movie and sleep in my room as long as they didn’t take up Tommy’s plan to shoplift and then burn the store down.”
Tubbo finished taking off his shoes and Ranboo sat on the floor to take off his own.
“Also the game plan was to, you know, not tell you so you didn’t get mad at us, but apparently Tubbo doesn’t like sticking to game plans.”
Phil somehow managed to sigh even louder than Ranboo had throughout the night, smiling ever so slightly and crossing his arms. His eyes twinkled with amusement.
“What crime did you commit?” He asked, looking from Tubbo’s grinning face to Tommy’s.
“We committed two! Vandalism and trespassing!” Tommy stated.
“Do I need to pay any fines or talk to any police officers?”
“Nope!” Tommy responded, popping the p.
“Well then… How about you guys go clean up and then come back down to have dinner and discuss a punishment.”
He was interrupted by three different sounds of whining, and continued after they had quieted down.
“Tommy, there’s paint in your hair. Go shower! Tubbo, your hair seems to be paint free, but your arms and neck are not. Off you go, bud!”
He waited as the sounds of running feet faded away as the boys ran to their rooms to gather the items they needed. A quiet sound of giggling was heard and it made Phil start to smile as he turned back to the son still waiting by the door.
“I know you didn’t want to do it, I can see it in your face.” Phil said, moving slowly to rub his hand on the boy’s shoulder, giving him time to move away if he had wanted. “I know you didn’t want to, but you did it anyway. So while I’ll probably give you extra chores and ask you to give up some screen time or something, I know it wasn’t your idea.”
Ranboo gave a small smile behind the mask he so often wore. “I tried to tell them we shouldn’t have done anything, but it was either spray paint some abandoned rubble, or burn down a store so I had to pick the lesser crime here.”
Phil laughed, throwing his head back, causing Ranboo to laugh a little, joining in as Phil’s laughter rang through the room.
“Go shower, Ran,” Phil said after calming down. “I’ll have dinner reheated for you three once you guys are done.”
“Okay, Phil.” He responded, his eyes showing his thankful smile as he headed off to his room.
“Oh, and Ranboo?” Phil called after him.
“Yeah?” He asked, turning around.
“I’m not gonna say anything about this, so you don’t have to worry about your foster record. Don’t worry about Tubbo’s either. I know how much you worry about being taken back, or sent away. But you’re stuck with us, kid. We love you two and a couple of spray painted pictures isn’t gonna change that.”
Ranboo quickly ran into Phil’s open arms, resting his head in the crook of Phil’s neck, ignoring the way he had to bend over to fit.
“Thanks, Phil.” He mumbled, blinking fast to keep tears at bay.
“Of course.” Phil responded without missing a beat. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
~~~