You Are My Sunshine Chapter 2
Part 2 of my QSMP borrower AU. Also posted on AO3. Previous Part.
TWs: Fear of death, a scary owl. 3.3k words. Suffering nightmares, especially when you're sick and camping out in the damp, isn't ideal.
As Tubbo slowly fell asleep and the sounds of rustling leaves faded into the background, he dreamt he was walking down a tunnel.
It was dark and he didn't have a torch, but he strode with confidence, so he must've known where he was going. The tunnel was familiar, as was the warm light up ahead. As Tubbo walked out into the open, he looked around with a confused expression. It was morning, the sun was shining and the scent of coffee filled the kitchen, however… it was empty.
“Pierre?” he called. No answer.
Briefly, Tubbo glanced out the screen door of the patio, catching the shape of what looked like a one-eyed bird sitting on the backyard fence. A pit formed in his stomach suddenly and his smile disappeared. He walked up to the door and put his hand against the mesh as he met the owl’s gaze. A jolt of fear shot through his heart and he jumped back as the bird suddenly dove from its perch and crashed onto the deck right in front of the door. It let out an ear-piercing screech, flapping its wings wildly as it slammed its face against the screen, pecking and screeching at the mesh as it tried desperately to reach Tubbo. Its singular glowing orb glared at the borrower with venomous rage.
As the owl dug its beak further into the wire screen, the mesh began to tear and Tubbo’s eyes widened in fear. He couldn’t fight off an owl himself-- and there was nowhere to hide unless he ran to one of the lower kitchen cabinets. Surely the owl would get to him first-- and what about Sunny?! What if she was outside?! Or what if she was wandering around the house and happened to walk into the kitchen just as the owl got in?!
Tubbo jumped and let out a startled shriek as the glass door slammed shut with a heavy thud. The owl jumped back too, letting out one final screech before hopping off and taking to the air again.
“Oh– hello there Tubbo,” a deep voice in a French accent greeted. “I didn't see you there.”
He looked up, and let out a sigh of relief realising it was just Pierre. The human was the owner of the house, and shared Tubbo's love for tinkering, being an engineer himself. Something else the younger borrower had discovered was that Pierre spoke another language– something he had never heard of until moving there.
“Thank Prime… uh, hello,” he scooted back a little before standing up. “What are you up to this morning?”
“Right now, making coffee,” the human said, casting a glance over to the coffee machine on the counter, which had finished brewing by the sounds of it.
“Would you and Sunny like some?” Pierre inquired, and Tubbo remembered why he was wandering around in the first place.
“Sunny– have you seen her? I can't seem to find her anywhere.”
The human raised a brow, before shaking his head disapprovingly.
“You don't know where she is? That isn't very responsible of you as her father.”
The comment caught him off guard. Tubbo felt offended, he went quiet and gave the human an odd look. He started making his way across the kitchen, towards the living room.
“Okay..? Thanks for all the help,” he mumbled sarcastically.
It always pissed him off when Pierre tried to tell him how to parent. He was plenty up to the task thank you very much. Besides, what would a human know about borrower parenting? It was normal for kids to explore! It wasn't as if Pierre's house was dangerous, or home to any dangerous pets. Besides, she was a smart girl, she wouldn’t just knowingly wander into danger– unless there was something shiny involved.
Tubbo paused. Something shiny– that must be it. He started walking towards the entertainment unit, where he knew Pierre had a bunch of the shiny metal bagels in cases.
“Sunny!” he called. “Are you trying to get into the deebeedeebies again?!”
“Pa!” a small voice called from the coffee table instead of the entertainment unit as he originally suspected.
Confusion flooded his mind. What reason could Sunny have for being up there alone? The TV wasn't on and Pomme hadn't been over or she would still be there. Oh, unless she was after candy from the dish that always stayed on the tabletop. It was an old person thing, Tubbo had noticed. Old humans liked to keep dishes full of candy in random places in their houses. Not that he was complaining. However, he would actually be a bad parent if he just let Sunny eat candy whenever she wanted– as hard as saying no was for him.
“Were you trying to get into the candy?” he yelled, untying his hook and line from his belt.
He pulled the rope back, took a few steps backwards, and threw the rope up. It landed with a loud tink, hooking onto one of the candle holders.
“No! Pa I'm stuck!” Sunny cried, and Tubbo frowned.
Maybe she'd accidentally got her foot stuck in the candle wax somehow?
“Alright just a minute!” he started pulling himself up.
Despite the shorter height, the coffee table was still a bit of a climb, with no tablecloth to grab onto and push off against. He grunted as he continued to haul himself up, letting out a yelp when his foot slipped. Tubbo grasped the rope tight with both hands and took a deep breath. While the table didn't go above Pierre's knees, it was still a considerable drop. It would hurt to fall– he knew that much after breaking his leg climbing it in the past. He hauled himself over the edge of the tabletop, panting as he slowly stood up.
However, Sunny was nowhere to be seen, the entire tabletop was empty.
“Poppet? Where did you go..?” he called, not receiving a response this time.
Tubbo went to take a step, but let out a yelp when his foot refused to lift, staying stuck to something that wasn’t on the tabletop surface a second ago. He looked down and paled, letting out a terrified gasp. His shoes were stuck to a bright yellow coloured pad, covered in a sticky glue.
Mousetrap.
“Where did this– Sunny?! Suns, where are you?!” he yelled, looking around frantically and nearly losing his balance doing so.
He felt a violent shiver down his spine as a pair of heavy footsteps thudded out of the kitchen and over to the coffee table; vibrations climbing up the table legs and into the wooden surface he stood atop. The footsteps stopped behind him, and the borrower could feel Pierre looming.
“Pierre?” he asked, unable to turn around and look.
The human’s shadow felt darker now; colder. Tubbo could feel an aura of doom emanating from behind him. It was anxiety inducing, and all he could do was stare at the tall candle sticks right in front of him.
“It looks like you’re a bit stuck,” Pierre chuckled, finally speaking up.
“Yeah… why do you keep sneaking up on me?! Could you um, I don’t know, maybe help me instead of laughing at me?!” he demanded, crossing his arms.
He wanted to hide how they were starting to shake a little.
“You mean you can’t get out by yourself?” Pierre spun the glue trap around so that the borrower was facing him. Tubbo let out a startled yell, nearly losing his balance once more. He grit his teeth and levelled the human with a dark glare. Pierre wasn’t taking this seriously and it was starting to piss him off.
“No. Clearly fucking not. This is serious though– Sunny’s stuck somewhere!” he yelled.
“If you can’t even escape a small glue trap, how can you be trusted to take care of Sunny?” Pierre raised an eyebrow, sitting down in front of the table.
Even after sitting down though, he was still considerably taller than the young borrower. Tubbo was still completely engulfed by his shadow. Now the human’s face looked dark and somewhat hazy . His eyes gleamed noticeably, and an aura of danger radiated off of him in waves. Something was terribly wrong. The brunet felt that same feeling from before; of a pit forming in his stomach. It had been awhile since he had felt even intimidated by Pierre, and even longer since he’d felt this level of fear.
He felt like a completely different person.
“I– Pierre what– why’re– why’re you looking at me like that?” he practically whispered, the sound nearly dying in his throat.
Tubbo took a shaky breath, trying his best to swallow down his building anxiety.
“Did– did you do something t-to Sunny?”
“I would never. I care for her as if she is my own daughter,” Pierre stated calmly, shaking his head. “But. I have decided something.”
Tubbo’s gaze darted to the side as one of the human’s hands came into his field of vision. His eyes widened in panic and he let out a startled gasp. As fast as he could, the borrower started trying to undo his boot laces, but it was no use. The giant hand was already upon him, easily wrapping all the way around his torso.
“LET GO– PIERRE LET ME GO!” he shrieked at the top of his lungs.
He squirmed and writhed as he was ripped from the trap and carried into the air, held up in front of the human’s face. The grip was tight, almost crushing and he struggled to catch his breath.
“Since you never seem to learn and you can’t be responsible, I will relieve you of your responsibilities as Sunny’s father,” the human began walking back into the kitchen.
“W-what?! Pierre!” his voice cracked, and tears formed in his eyes. “J-just stop! W-wait a minute!”
The human ignored him as he grabbed a mason jar from the cabinet and placed it down on the countertop with an audible clink. Tubbo’s eyes darted between the jar and the human’s gaze rapidly. He was shaking and sweating now, his heart hammering against his ribcage.
“D-don’t– Pierre you promised you– you would never do anything like this–”
“You can wait here while I go find Sunny. I will think of what to do with you later,” the human said coldly, before dropping Tubbo with a hollow thud.
Suddenly his eyes snapped open and Tubbo sat up panting. He was sweating and shaking all over, and his head felt like it was on fire. Actually, his entire body felt like that, because everything was sore. He looked around, and paused when he spotted the sunlight streaming in through the holes in the porch skirt. The ground was soft dirt, covered in grass, moss and old, flaky brown leaves. Their campfire had burned out, but it didn’t really matter now that they had survived the night and most of the rain had started to dry.
He let out a sigh of relief and looked to his side where Sunny was asleep peacefully– hogging the blankets. That was just a nightmare, none of it had happened. Sunny was safe, and Pierre was far away– probably unaware that they were even gone. After all, their escape had been largely uneventful. The human hadn’t exactly tried to stop them– probably because they had left right away, before he could even suspect Tubbo knew his plans.
Tubbo suddenly let out a string of wet coughs that had rattled around in his chest. He winced internally at the feeling. That didn’t sound or feel healthy. His head throbbed and his throat felt painfully dry despite the heavy humidity caused by the rain. Not to mention the aching wounds on his shoulders caused by that fucking owl. His one shoulder in particular felt like it was swelling, and it tingled painfully. Sickness right on top of his injuries was exactly what Tubbo needed right now! Thanks– God– or Gods– or– or Prime or whatever.
He let out a huff before looking back at Sunny.
“Suns?” he whispered hoarsely, gently shaking her awake.
The smaller borrower let out a groan and tried to roll over, clearly not ready to wake up yet after all the walking they had done the day prior. The nickname wasn’t a lie, the princess needed her beauty sleep apparently, but Tubbo didn’t want to leave her alone under the porch. He shook her again and started poking her cheek.
“Sunny you have to get up– just for a little bit,” Tubbo tried again, his voice cracking painfully.
Uhggggggg he needed waterrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
“Noooooo– Paaaaaaaaaa,” Sunny groaned, trying and failing to stop him from poking her.
“Come on, I promise you can go back to sleep in a bit,” he insisted.
Sunny opened her eyes and turned over so that she could glare at him easier. She sat up and pouted, hugging the blankets to her chest. She wasn’t an early bird, that’s for sure. Not that Tubbo blamed her, he was grumpy too.
“I need to go take a look at the beans’ home and start mapping out the tunnels, but I don’t want to leave you out here okay?” he explained.
“Um, I’ll be fine by myself for a little bit Pa…” Sunny retorted, giving him a somewhat disappointed frown.
“No.”
“But Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaa–”
“No means no, young lady. We have no idea what lives out here,” Tubbo stated sternly, crossing his arms.
“But I wanna go back to sleep and you sound like a dying froggggggggg!” she whined, but Tubbo wasn’t having it.
He cleared his throat– and let out a few painful, slimy coughs.
“Help me pack up and then we’ll go find another place to rest, okay?”
Sunny nodded begrudgingly and got up. She started rolling up their blankets and sleeping rolls, while Tubbo deconstructed the fire pit, making it seem as if there had never been a campfire there to begin with. He packed up their dishes and started loading the bags onto his back– and let out a painful whimper when the straps started pulling on his shoulders, right where the owl had scratched him up. The outburst caused his throat to flare up in pain again and he started coughing again.
“Pa..?” Sunny asked hesitantly. “Are you gonna be okay?”
He nodded before coughing up some phlegm and spitting it into the dirt away from their things. Tubbo felt like his throat was on fire, but he wasn’t sure if it was safe– or even early enough in the day to go collect dew drops, and he wanted to conserve the water they did have.
“Erm–” he let out another painful, scratchy cough, “How’s your canteen Sunshine? Is it still full?”
The small brunette paused to take out her canteen. She gave it a shake before nodding with a small smile.
“Yeah there’s lots! Do you need some Pa..?” she offered.
Tubbo shook his head.
“No I have my own, I just wanted to make sure.”
Sunny pulled on a couple light bags before taking Tubbo’s hand herself.
“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay Pa?” she asked, giving his hand a squeeze.
“I told you, I’ll be fine,” which was sort of a lie, considering his arms were throbbing heavily just standing there. “Now are you ready to go?”
“Let's go!”
—
As they wandered through the oddly well-kept tunnels, Tubbo couldn’t stop thinking about his nightmare. He wouldn’t forget that one. Everything in it had been sudden… much like in reality, Pierre’s betrayal was unexpected, completely out of the blue. And… sure, the human liked to criticise his parenting, but he never meant what he said. At least– Tubbo had thought he didn’t. Maybe that dream was just his mind trying to help him come to terms with the fact that he’d screwed up again.
Even if Pierre hadn’t attacked him like in the nightmare, he had shown his true colours through his words, and that should be enough for his stupid– emotional brain.
He frowned down at the tunnel's concrete floor and kicked a pebble. The last thing he wanted to do was put Sunny in danger, yet he'd already made the mistake of letting her believe humans could be friendly. That was the last time he would let that happen, even if he got caught again, even if the humans pretended to be friendly. Before, he had never been big on following the borrower rules, but that would end today.
“Hey Suns?”
“Mhm?” she hummed, holding the lantern up higher.
“So… I know I didn’t really explain yesterday, but we can’t see any humans anymore,” Tubbo explained carefully.
“Even Pomme..?” Sunny pouted, her lips quivering.
“Even Pomme. It’ll be just like before we met Pierre.”
The small girl was quiet for a few minutes, processing the information. She continued to hold the lantern up as they came to a set of borrower-sized stairs, marked with green sidewalk chalk. Tubbo stared at the chalk in confusion. He wondered (and somewhat hoped) if another borrower family already lived here. Maybe they would have kids Sunny could make friends with…
“Okay Pa… I trust you. But I miss Pomme…” Sunny’s shoulders slumped.
“I know Poppet… it's for the best though,” he glanced down at her with an apologetic face.
“Pa… have you had… other bean friends before?” she asked slowly, and Tubbo nodded silently.
“And did they turn bad like Pierre?”
He frowned and nodded again.
“Oh… I'm sorry Pa,” Sunny gently patted him on the arm.
“It sucks, but that’s just how humans are. You remember the borrower rules right?” Tubbo crouched down and gently put a hand on top of her head.
Then a part of the tunnel wall slid open, casting a rectangle of bright light onto both borrowers unexpectedly. Tubbo jumped and whipped around, staring at– another borrower? In disbelief. He hadn't even noticed what must be someone's front door, hiding in plain sight.
“¿Hola?” the young borrower greeted, sounding uncertain.
She looked around Sunny’s age, maybe a year older. Her dark hair was covered by a vibrant magenta hat and she wore a bright red skirt with an even brighter yellow sweater. The vibrancy of the colours really jumped out at him for some reason. He just found it mildly suspicious for some reason… As a parent though, he needed to know what this kid’s parents used to wash their laundry because his method always seemed to lead to the colours fading quickly. While he didn’t mind duller greens and browns, Sunny definitely preferred bright yellows like this girl was wearing.
“Oh– um, hello,” Tubbo replied awkwardly, “We… had no idea your front door was right here.”
The ravenette waved, giving them both a nervous smile.
“O M G!” Sunny exclaimed suddenly, her face lighting up in excitement, “Your sweater is so bright and fluffy looking!”
Any trace of anxiety on the girl’s features melted away at that, replaced with a warm smile.
“Thank you! I like your glasses,”
“Do you wanna be friends? I’m Sunny and this is my Pa!” Sunny offered the taller girl her hand.
Well… guess they were staying in this house for a while. If there was already a borrower kid living here then it was probably safe enough.
“I’m Tallulah! And yeah, of course I’ll be your friend,” she said, before meeting Tubbo’s gaze. “My abuelito will be back soon, do you want to come in?”
Tubbo felt another wet cough rattle his ribs and he regretfully swallowed it back down. The bags weighing down on his back were heavy, and the light from Tallulah’s family’s home was welcoming. It had been a long time since he’d had a borrower’s hospitality… so used to humans and their… well– big-ness– and two-faced nature apparently.
“We would love to.”