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‘Oh,’ Tubbo realized as the other boy his age gestured wildly as he spoke, almost hitting another nearby concert goer in the face. ‘I’ve been adopted by an extrovert.’ Tubbo ended up smiling apologetically at the woman the boy had just about slapped. The two of them had been literally shoved together by the crowds and had sort of instinctually clung together as the concert had raged on. The boy had a bit of height on him and Tubbo a bit of strength and together they’d just barely managed to survive the mosh pit in front of the stage.
They hadn’t exactly been able to talk during the concert considering the loud music (and the fact that the boy was apparently an extreme fan with how he happily screamed along with the lyrics to every single one of the songs no matter how new or obscure). Yet, now that the show was over, the boy was quickly making up for the lack of conversation. He was talking a mile a minute and between the fact that it was still rather loud with all the people chattering around them and how the boy was jumping topics at a frankly alarming rate, Tubbo found himself unable to catch most of what he was saying.
He was blathering something about how dogs were the best animal ever when he interrupted himself midsentence to say, “I’m Tommy, by the way.”
“Oh,” Tubbo said, “uh, Tubbo.”
“Nice to meet you Tubbo,” Tommy said. “Anyway, do you want to meet the band?”
Tubbo blinked at him in surprise. “What?”
“Do you want to come with me to meet up with the band?” Tommy said with a smile. “Wilbur Soot and I go way back. I can get you backstage if you want.”
“I mean, that would be really cool man. Sure.”
***
The security guard who’d stopped them when Tommy had tried to gleefully drag Tubbo backstage eyed the two of them skeptically. “You left your VIP backstage pass at home?” he confirmed.
“My VVIP pass,” Tommy corrected, “and yes. But it’s okay! I know Wilbur Soot.”
The security officer looked Tommy up and down. Tommy was clearly 16, maybe 17 and while he had a confident smile on his face… it was becoming quite clear that was all he really had. “Is that so?” the security guard asked.
“Yeah, and I have proof! I’ll show you,” he dug his phone out of his pocket and started to scroll through his photos. “Ah ha! An exclusive picture of Wilbur Soot.” He brandished his phone proudly so both Tubbo and the security guard could see.
The picture on the screen was, in fact, one of Wilbur Soot, but Tubbo was not sure if it necessarily proved that Tommy knew him. For one, Tommy himself was not in the picture. It also didn’t seem like Soot knew that the picture was being taken. It was taken through a window, around the side of a door, or maybe even through a hole in the wall (You could see a bit of blurry wood on the left side of the picture). Soot wasn’t looking at the camera. In fact, his eyes weren’t even open. He was sitting at a table in what looked like some coffee shop, half slumped over a cup of coffee. He didn’t look like he was ready for a photo. He looked like he’d just woken up, his hair in disarray and his chin on his hand to keep his head propped up.
…
Tubbo was starting to get the feeling Tommy might not actually know Wilbur Soot as well as he’d claimed.
“Sorry, kid,” the security officer said after studying the picture for a moment. “If you really know him, give him a call, but I’m not going to let you in off of that.”
Tommy frowned. “But I wanted it to be a surprise!” he said. “He hasn’t seen me in forever. I’m sure he’ll be really mad that you didn’t let me pass! He loves me. I’m Tommy!”
The security guard just crossed his arms, unmoved.
“Fine,” Tommy groaned when it was clear he wasn’t getting what he wanted. He grabbed Tubbo’s arm and pulled him away. “Sorry about that, Tubbo,” he said once they were out of earshot.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Tubbo assured. “It’s no problem. It doesn’t matter to me if I meet him. The concert itself was cool enough for me.”
“Oh no, you’re going to meet him,” Tommy said. “We’re getting backstage.”
“Are… you going to call someone to let us in?” Tubbo asked, fearing the glint in the other boy’s eyes.
“No, no, Tubbo. That’d be the boring way. We’re going to find a window.”
“We’re going to what?”
***
Why was Tubbo allowing this to happen? He didn’t want this to happen. Yet, for some reason he hadn’t been able to say no and had just let Tommy drag him around. They were now in an alley behind the concert venue. It smelled like garbage and alcohol. There may have been a hint of throw-up as well.
“There is no way either of us is going to fit all the way through that,” Tubbo reasoned, eyeing the window far above their heads.
“No, no, but we can!” Tommy insisted. “You’ll see. We just have to get on top of the dumpster and give each other a leg up!”
“Tommy, I know my body, and I know I’m not squeezing through that window.”
“Fine then,” he said. “Just help me up and I’ll climb through. Then I’ll go around and open the door for you.”
Tubbo sighed. This was a horrible idea. He was putting a stop to this.
***
“What are you kids doing?” a voice shouted. Tommy was currently on Tubbo’s shoulders and Tubbo was struggling to keep him upright. Tubbo probably wouldn’t have too much trouble holding him, but Tommy had no sense of balance at all. He was all gangly limbs and couldn’t find his own center of gravity which threw Tubbo off as well.
They’d managed to carefully steady themselves by leaning most of their human tower against the wall. Tommy had just poked his head through the window when the voice shouted at them. The idiot immediately jumped in surprise, unbalancing them both as he tottered dangerously on Tubbo’s shoulders. They ended up falling to the side and Tommy slipped off of him landing with a bang on top of the dumpster. They both looked over to see a different security guard standing near the dumpster and looking very unamused.
“Run,” said Tommy.
***
There were at least three security guards after them now. They’d ducked back into the main building and had ran around dodging very unenthused adults for the past few minutes. They’d somehow managed to lose them for now (though Tubbo could still hear them searching for them). They were at the end of some dark hall who knew where in the venue (Tommy claimed to know where. Tommy was a liar.). There was a locked door at the end of the hall that Tommy was certain was locked because it led to the coveted backstage, though Tubbo really thought they were in the wrong part of the building for that.
“If you can pick locks,” Tubbo hissed as Tommy fiddled with the paperclip he’d stuck into the lock. “Why didn’t you start with trying to pick locks instead of trying to climb through a window?”
“Windows are more fun!” Tommy said and gave a cheer as the lock clicked. His eyes were shinning with his glee. Tubbo was dealing with a madman. “But picking locks while running from security is even better.” He shoved open the door just for them to come face to face with the first security guard they’d encountered. He looked… not very happy to see them again.
***
“Dad’s in another state,” Tommy said. He seemed unconcerned with the fact that they were currently being held in a security office. Tubbo was just happy they weren’t already in a jail cell, though he imagined it was still on the table, “but my older brother is nearby. You can call him to come pick us up.”
“What’s his name and number?” the man asked.
Tommy smiled at him and Tubbo shuddered at it. He’d known Tommy for only a few hours at this point, but he already could identify that he was up to something when he smiled like that. “His name is William Minecraft and his number is…” He rattled off the phone number and the security officer tapped it into his phone as he did so.
Tubbo could just barely hear the voice on the other side of the line say, “Hello?” once the ringing stopped.
“Hello, is this William Minecraft?” the security guard asked.
There was a pause. “Uh, yeah?” he said, sounding confused.
“I have your brother, Tommy here.”
“Is he okay?” was the immediate question.
“Yes, he’s fine. He was caught trying to sneak backstage at a Wilbur Soot concert.”
There was dead silence on the other end of the line for a moment and then, “Keep him.”
“Oi!” Tommy squawked loudly. “Bitch! Fuck you!” The security guard paid him no mind, and Tommy’s indignant screeching made it so Tubbo couldn’t hear the rest of the phone conversation. The security guard hung up after a few more words.
“Your brother says he’ll be here in 5 minutes,” he informed them once Tommy realized the person he was seeking attention from could no longer hear him and calmed down.
Tubbo though that 5 minutes was rather quick. How close was this brother? Had Tommy’s brother come to the concert too? At this point in their adventure, Tubbo would not put it past Tommy to have escaped his responsible adult to sew chaos.
Yet, the 5-minute estimate ended up being a bit of an overestimate. It couldn’t have been more than two minutes before someone was knocking on the security office door.
The security guard stood up to go answer it and Tubbo caught Tommy smiling wildly. Oh god.
The person who marched into the security office was no other than Wilbur Soot himself. He looked extremely pissed off. He pointed an accusing finger in Tommy’s direction. “What the hell is wrong with you, you fucking gremlin?”
“Will!” Tommy cheered despite the murderous look being leveled at him.
Wilbur took a breath and looked at the security guard. “I am so sorry about him.”
“Wait,” Tubbo said. “You actually do know Wilbur Soot?”
“And I see you dragged someone else along on your nonsense,” Wilbur said. “I apologize for him. I told father we should have just left him with that nice racoon family when he was 6.”
“But, Wilbur,” Tommy whined. “What would you have done growing up without your favorite brother?”
“I don’t know what Techno has to do with this conversation,” Wilbur replied blandly.
Tommy gasped, putting his hand over his heart. “But Wilby,” he started.
“Don’t,” Wilbur warned, “Don’t start that shit.”
“I came all the way here. To surprise you. Because I love you. And you love me.” And Tubbo thought that last thing must be true, because despite the fact that Tommy was an actual demon from hell, he could see Wilbur start to weaken under the puppy dog eyes leveled at him.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Does Dad at least know you’re here?”
“Of course,” Tommy said, affronted. “What do you take me for?”
“An idiot,” Wilbur said, running a hand through his hair and shaking his head. He glanced at the security guard again. “Are they free to go or do I need to sign shit?”
“Uh,” the security guard seemed somehow more thrown than Tubbo was. “Yeah, you can take them.”
“Alright then, come on you two,” Wilbur said, jerking his head at the door. Tommy popped to his feet and flounced over to… his brother, Tubbo guessed.
Tubbo shot the security guard an awkward half smile. “Sorry,” he said, before getting up as well and following the two of them out of the office.
***
“Don’t think hugging me is going to get you out of trouble,” Wilbur said once they were all backstage and in his dressing room. Tommy had stuck his tongue out at a couple of the security guards as they passed them, secure under Wilbur’s arm. “I’m calling dad and he’ll fucking ground you. The hell were you thinking?”
“I wanted to surprise you!” Tommy claimed once more, leaning farther into the embrace. “I couldn’t just call you. It’d have ruined it.”
“Surprise me by showing up in my hotel lobby like a normal fucking person,” Wilbur grumbled, but he’d clearly already melted for Tommy because he was fixing his hair with gentle fingers.
“But that’s boring,” Tommy claimed.
Wilbur rolled his eyes and looked over at Tubbo. “What can I give you, so you don’t tell your parents about your little adventure?”
“Oh,” Tubbo said. “No, it’s fine. We’re good.”
“Give him a signed poster!” Tommy said. “One of the cool new ones, and also I want one too for my room.”
“You deserve no rewards for your behavior today.”
Tommy pulled away from Wilbur a bit, a frown on his face and his eyes wide and glistening.
***
Both Tubbo and Tommy got a poster.