Purpled doesn’t like his job.
That’s not necessarily true, but he doesn’t like some aspects of it. He loves the true part of his job, teaching parkour and rock climbing to other people. But sitting at a desk?
No, he’d rather not.
He sighs, readjusting his name tag. Then he flips up his (purple) hood, covering his eyes and kicking his feet up onto the desk in front of him. It’s five in the morning, so pretty unlikely that anyone actually comes in. Actually, there’s no point in even being open that early, considering the fact that no one has ever been in here that early, and also the fact that anyone with a brain would still be asleep.
Purpled has a brain, he swears. He just—he has bills to pay.
Naturally, the literal second he falls asleep, the door slams open, jolting him awake. Some tall blonde kid his age with wings walks in, marching up to the desk. He slams his hands down next to Purpled’s feet, grinning brightly.
“Teach me the ways of the climbers, purple boi!” He yells, voice grating on Purpleds ears.
“I-dude, you have wings?”
“They are not good. Trash, one might say,” the blonde guy responds, fluttering them slightly.
When Purpled really looks at them, he can see that the bones look like they were broken and did not heal correctly, and the feathers are horribly out of alignment. Despite that, the wings are still beautiful, a deep purple color with bright gold feathers poking through, the opposite of the wings Purpled used to have.
“Alright, what’s your name? I’m Purpled.”
“Tommy! It’s good to meet you, big man.”
And so it began.
——————————-
Tommy is not good at climbing. It’s obvious, to Purpled at least, that he’s better at being on the ground, if he’s even stable there. In less than fifteen minutes, Tommy has tripped no less than three times over his nonexistent shoelaces, ran into a wall twice, and said pog forty seven times. Purpled is scared to teach him to climb, in all honesty.
But it’s five fifteen and he has nothing better to do, so he deals with it.
“Okay, Tommy. Do you know how to put a harness on?”
Tommy looks confused for a minute, staring at Purpled in disbelief. “Nope!” He chirps excitedly.
“Oh, uhh, right,” Purpled says, not even surprised at this point. “So these two loops go around your legs, and then this goes over your shoulders and snaps onto the band around your waist.”
Purpled demonstrates it on his own body, flinching slightly when it hits his back. “Like that, see?”
“Yep!” Tommy says, putting it on correctly, ruffling his wings slightly. Purpled is honestly a bit shocked that he managed to do it correctly, and gives Tommy a small smile.
“Good job,” he says, looking down slightly.
“Thanks!” Tommy exclaims, clearly happy with the praise. It's weird to Purpled, how praise can affect someone so much, how a simple ‘good job’ makes someone smile so brightly. Purpled fights to hide a smile.
It's five thirty in the morning, and he’s smiled more than he has in months.
“Alright, let me get my harness on and then I’ll show you how to go up, and then you try, okay?” Purpled says, tightening his harness again and clipping into the safety line. He heads over to the rock wall, getting ready to demonstrate. “So the colors show you the level. It goes like the rainbow, red is the easiest, then orange, yellow, and so on. Purple and black are the hardest, and the white ones are ones that you can use for any level. Since you’ve never done anything like this, I’d suggest starting easy, you can always up the difficulty later.”
Purple then starts climbing on the yellow path, expertly gripping onto the yellow colored plastic rocks and moving upwards. After getting about halfway up, he looks down at Tommy and grins, then pushes off the wall and repels to the floor, relishing in the feeling of a fall.
Tommy smiles back, his feathers ruffling slightly in obvious excitement. He moves up to the wall, grabbing onto the red rocks and pulling himself onto the wall. He stumbles and slips a few times, but he does well. When he gets to the top, he tips back, looking at Purpled and grinning excitedly. “I made it!”
“You did! Wanna race?” Purpled says, slightly hesitant.
“Yes!” Tommy shouts, trying to repel down but ending up falling. His line slows him down, but he still panics slightly.
“Hey, you’re okay. Just fell a little,” Purpled whispers, trying to calm Tommy’s breathing. He’s got the urge to pull Tommy into a hug, but he fights it, unwilling to let someone that close to him. “Do you need a minute?”
“No, I think I…I think I’m okay. Thank you though, Purps,” Tommy says, then flushes because of the nickname. “Sorry, it kind of just slipped out.”
“It’s okay,” Purpled replies, brushing it off and acting like it doesn’t matter. But it does, it manages to mean so much more than it should. It doesn’t matter that the nickname is just a shortened version of his name, a simpler and quicker version of getting his attention. It matters that Tommy remembers his name, cared to use it. It matters because the use of his name means he matters.
“Are you sure?” Tommy asks, hesitantly.
“Yeah, it’s not a big deal, seriously.”
Tommy nods, grinning brightly at Purpled. “Okay! Race time?”
“Race time.”
(Needless to say, Purpled wins most races. But he lets Tommy win a couple. Because he feels bad. Of course. Not the fact that Tommy’s smile is the brightest thing he’s ever seen, and it’s almost like he’s whole again.)
—————————————-
Tommy is back the next day, this time dragging two people behind him. One is a short goat hybrid with curly brown hair covering his horns. The other is an extremely tall person with split dyed hair and a mask covering their face.
“Purpled!” Tommy shouts, running up to the counter and slamming his hands down excitedly. “How are you today?”
“I’m doing good, how are you Tommy?” Purpled replies, grinning slightly as he messes with his hoodie strings.
Tommy’s feathers flutter again, his wings clearly very in tune with his emotions. “I am absolutely wonderful! Pog, as one could say! My bench Bois are meeting the color dude, this is cool!”
“Your…bench boys?”
“Bench bois.”
“…what?”
Tommy just gestures wildly, brushing it off and screaming loudly to get his friends’ attention. “Tubbo, Ranboob, get over here! Meet my favorite boy!”
Purpled looks around, confused about who Tommy is talking about. The short boy, seeing Purpled’s confusion, just points at him. “You’re the favorite boy,” he says.
“Uhhhh”
“Yeah, you’ve been adopted by the great and wonderful Tommy innit,” the tall one says.
“Adopted?”
“No, you’ve been kidnapped! Very pog, if I do say so myself!” Tommy says, chirping excitedly when Purpled relents to his incessant attempt at a high five.
Purpled coughs back a trill in response.
“I’m Ranboo, this is Tubbo.” The tall one says, gesturing vaguely at the shorter boy.
“We’re married and I make bombs!” Tubbo shouts, running and jumping onto Ranboos back.
“Platonically. For tax purposes.” Ranboo says, struggling for a moment to hold Tubbo’s weight.
Tommy gasps dramatically, looking at Purpled with wide eyes. “Purpled, do you like tax fraud?”
Purpled nods cautiously.
“Do you like pranks?”
He nods again.
“Do you like the government?”
Slowly, he shakes his head.
Tommy grins, jumping over the desk and standing literally inches away from Purpled. “I would like to propose a plan,” he whispers, giggling.
“Sure.”
“We get married. For tax purposes. And then you have to deal with me all the time, because I’m a possessive bi-“
“RACCOON! NO SWEARING!”
“Fine,” Tommy mutters, “I’m a possessive raccoon.”
“Uhh, that’s…a good proposal. You kinda forgot the ring, but I’ll let it slide,” Purpled replies, laughing as Tommy gets onto one knee and pulls a ring pop out of his pocket, along with a singular paper flower. Purpled takes the ring, ticking the flower into his shirt pocket beneath his hoodie. “Why do you say raccoon? You’re a bird.”
“Yep! I’m a bird hybrid. Ranboo is just stingy about swearing, and he calls me a raccoon because they found me in a trash can.”
“Why were you in a trash can?”
“…hide and seek.”
“Of course.”
“Look, Purps, hide and seek is an incredibly important and cool game for big men such as myself. You wouldn’t understand.”
“Why? Am I not a big man?”
“You are simply too pog to understand. Shocking, I know, but that’s the way the world works, sadly.”
“Oof”
“Oof indeed.” Tommy replies, jumping up into the counter to sit next to Purpled. “So…can we climb again? And then, do you wanna go grab some food? After your shift ends, obviously.”
“Taking me out to dinner before marriage? Scandalous.”
“Oh, I live for scandals,” Tommy says, smirking. Purpled grins in response, standing up and grabbing harnesses for the four of them.
Tommy gets into his relatively easily, only falling on his face twice, which really isn’t horrible. His wings ruffle again, gold-brown feathers catching Purpled’s eye as Tommy chirps slightly at himself. Purpled misses his wings, misses everything that he used to be, but somehow, he misses it less when Tommy is around.
Maybe that’s what not being alone means.
Tubbo, short as he is, has to wear a children’s harness, which he glared angrily at. He gets into it like an expert, though he probably doesn’t need it as he is literally part goat. With the swiftness of how he walks, he likely can climb perfectly.
Rambo is too tall for a harness and elects to just teleport to the top.
Tubbo, after Purpled checks his harness and clips him in, darts up the black colored rocks, scrambling to the top easily. He stands at the ledge, grinning excitedly and jokingly flexing his arms. Ranboo teleports behind him, smiling widely.
Tubbo screams and falls off, though the harness and rope slow him and keep him from hitting the ground. Ranboo, obviously panicked, teleports down and catches him midair, then falls as he doesn’t have a floor beneath him.
Tommy just watches, uninterested.
“Are they always like this?” Purpled asks, questioning his life choices.
“Yep”
“Wonderful,” Purpled deadpans, and Tommy just grins, throwing an arm around Purpled’s neck and pulling him close.
“Do you wanna race, Purps?” Tommy asks, and Purpled does, he really does, but he doesn’t want to leave the embrace of his closest friend, his almost brother. He nods anyway, and Tommy smiles again, allowing Purpled to harness up.
Purpled, with his (purple) harness on, looks at Tommy, then scrambles up the wall with a flailing elegance. He makes good time, beating Tommy by a few minutes.
Tommy just flails on his way up, and falls more than once, chirping in indignation when Purpled laughs at him. Purple giggles, chirping in response instinctively, and then looks at Tommy with wide eyes.
They’re both silent, staring at each other over the distance of the rock wall. Tommy narrows his eyes, confused.
“Uhhhh” Purpled begins, unsure of what to say.
“You’re a bird boy?”
“I-WHAT?”
“Bird boy?”
“Tommy…”
“Purpled…”
“I used to have wings. I don’t anymore. That’s it.”
“Okay,” Tommy says, obviously sensing Purpled’s discomfort with what happened. He grins, then scrambles up the wall without falling (incredibly shocking) and stands next to Purpled.
Tommy sets a hand on Purpled’s shoulder, then, in a gesture that is completely serious and unlike Tommy, says, “I’ve got you.”
And Purpled takes that for everything it is, and he lets himself go, lets himself mourn knowing that Tommy will take care of him, and that he finally has someone.
—————————————-
“Purps! Do you want pizza or a…pizza?” Tommy yells from the kitchen as Purpled sits semi awkwardly on the floor.
“The second one!”
“—speak up!”
“Pizza!”
“Dude, I still cannot hear you!” Tommy screams, making Tubbo yell obscenities at him. Ranboo lightly pats Tubbo’s head in a slightly scolding manner.
“Pizza!”
“Stop being so quiet, prick!”
“Seriously?!” Purpled yells in retaliation, bounding over to the kitchen and standing right next to Tommy. He takes a deep breath, then screams, “Pizza!”
“Sensitive ears are a thing!!” Tommy shouts, glaring playfully at Purpled.
“Obviously not one that you have!” Purpled replies, grinning. He’s slightly nervous that Tommy will take it the wrong way, that he’ll take it as an insult rather than a joke, but he brushes it off. It’ll be fine.
At this point, they’ve been friends for two weeks. It’s weird, how close they’ve gotten, how a moment apart from his pseudo brother makes his brain spiral in the fear of being abandoned. It’s weird how much caring for someone makes him fear everything, but maybe that’s the beauty of it.
Happiness means vulnerability, and Purpled cannot be vulnerable, cannot be happy.
There’s a bluebird in his soul, desperate to get out, but he is too tough to allow it the freedom.
But Tommy seems to free him, to make him weak and vulnerable and his world brightens because he is finally happy, and that matters.
Tommy gets right in his face, grinning brightly. “I can hear just fine, color boy! You’re the bird here!” He says, his wings bristling.
Purpled raises an unimpressed eyebrow. “You’re the one with wings.”
Tommy stops in his tracks, seeming to remember that he does have wings, and Purpled does not. “Yeah but you…you walk like you have them.”
And Purpled freezes.
“What—no I don’t? What-?”
“You walk like you’re used to a weight on your back,” Tommy says, leading the two of them farther away from Tubbo and Ranboo, who are playing a game on the tv.
“I—no?” He says, scoffing slightly. He’s lying, and he hates lying (to Tommy) but he has to. If Tommy finds out that he was weak, he’ll leave. He has to be strong, he has to fight through it and no one can know.
“You do. You can talk to me, Purps”
“No. No, no I can’t, I can’t tell you, you’ll hate me and you’ll think I’m weak and—“
“Purpled,” Tommy soothes. “It’s okay, I won’t hate you. You’re my brother, I chose you. And that means that I will never lose you, okay?”
Purpled nods, though it’s hesitant and shaky.
“Do you want to tell me? Even though you’re scared?” Tommy asks, his voice gentle and kind and all the things that Purpled wants. Purpled nods again.
“Then tell me,” Tommy whispers, and the dam breaks.
“I was 14, I think. My birthday. So uhh, I guess I could’ve been 13. But I was—I was having a good time, with my family. My parents, they brought me to this pizza place, and they thought it would be okay. I—I was having so much fun, I was one of the best birthdays I had because my entire family was there, you know? And it was like they cared and they loved me and I knew that everything would be okay.
“But then it wasn’t. I was…I shouldn’t have let my guard down, I should’ve known that something bad was coming, but I didn’t. I ignored it and then someone attacked me. We were…the area didn’t like hybrids, and my wings were an anomaly. Purple and gold, weird. They wanted my wings.
“So they took them.”
Tommy doesn’t say anything, but it’s not out of pity, that much Purpled can tell. He simply holds out a hand, letting Purpled mess with the various bracelets around his wrist. It’s his way of letting Purpled keep going.
“We got to the hospital fast enough, I survived. Obviously. My parents, they didn’t know what to do. I think they were in more grief than I was, and I actually lost my wings, you know? My dad kept telling me that I had to be strong, had to push through and keep going. So I was. I stayed strong, I never cried about them or complained. I just…stopped. I was strong, Tommy, I swear.
“I was strong.”
Tommy nods, barely wincing as Purpled grips into his wrist.
“But I wasn’t strong enough for them. Everything I did wasn’t enough, and I had to be strong knowing that I was a disappointment. And now I’m breaking and I’m weak and you’ll hate me and I will never be—“
“Purpled,” Tommy whispers. “I won’t hate you, I could never hate you.”
“But I’m weak!”
“Don’t you think everyone deserves to be weak, at least every once in a while?” Tommy says, smiling wryly. “You’ve been strong long enough, and you are not alone. Let someone else be strong this time, you can be weak.
“You can mourn, Purpled.”
And Purpled is silent, hesitant.
One beat of his heart, then two, then three and four and five and Tommy still doesn’t pull back.
Six beats, seven, eight, and Tommy still has imprints from Purpled’s nails in his wrist, but he still offers it.
Nine, ten, and Purpled breaks.
And Tommy is there for him as he cries, he is there a Purpled finally lets himself shatter, he is there when Purpled needs him to be.
“It’s okay, you’re safe now, you can cry, I’ve got you, I got you, you’re safe,” Tommy mutters, letting Purpled lay in his lap, holding his brother carefully.
Tommy is strong.
And Purpled?
Purpled is finally weak.
————————-
They’re at a courthouse. Not for anything distinctly horrible, actually. Tommy is wearing a neon red suit, which most definitely deserves to be a crime, but Purpled will let it slide. Purpled himself is wearing a normal suit with a light purple shirt and tie. Tubbo and Ranboo are wearing matching bee ties.
Quackity, their officiary, has a beanie on, which is definitely not formal, but Purpled can’t find it in him to care. This whole thing is a joke, a stupid little thing between pseudo brothers that doesn’t matter.
But it does matter.
Maybe it’s not real, maybe it’s for tax fraud of all things, but it matters.
It’s a promise to be there, to (platonically) love endlessly. It’s a never ending joke wrapped around a promise that means more than anything else. It’s a promise of a home, of a family, of strength and weakness and vulnerability and freedom. It’s a promise of everything that matters, and everything that doesn’t.
“So! We can begin! Now, I’m sure you guys care about your wedding and whatnot, which is cool, but to be honest I really don’t. This is…eh. Whatever, it pays good. When people tip,” Quackity says, ending with a slight glare when he mentions tips. Tubbo gives him a thumbs up, and he smiles.
“Alright! Stand there,” he says, gesturing for Tommy and Purpled to stand in front of him. “Say your vows, motherfu—“
“NO SWEARING DUCK BOY!” Ranboo yells.
“-o-okay”
“Purpled. My favorite color boy, even if you don’t like the good colors. You’re my brother. You laugh when no one else does, you smile when I can’t, and you are you. You make me smile, make me happy, make me shake with joy because you are just you, and that is exuberantly wonderful. You matter, even when everything tells you that you don’t. You matter because you are my brother, my family, my soul. I love you, and that is not something I take lightly. That is a promise that if you ever stumble, ever cry, ever even feel slightly down, I will move the earth to be at your side. That is a promise that you are not alone.” Tommy says, voice confident and serious and he smiles so brightly it’s hard not to confuse him with the sun. Then he winks sarcastically, and Purpled rolls his eyes.
“Tommy. I had this whole speech planned out, but that’s not…it doesn’t fit. You’re the sunshine in the brightest days, because no day can be dark with you. You slammed your way into my life, and somehow being friends with you became the greatest thing in my life. You taught me everything, taught me how to be human, how to love again. There’s a poem I read once, when I was 14. ‘There’s a bluebird in my heart, and it wants to get out but I’m too tough for him, I say, stay down, do you want to mess me up?’ That was the biggest line, the one that made me want to cry. But Tommy, you make me want to mess up. You make me want to care, to love, and I will be here for you, because of you, because I am free.”
Everyone is silent, watching the two of them speak to the other and smiling. It’s peaceful, and none of them need anything but each other.
“Now! In the presence of tax fraud and ducks, you become brothers in marriage! You may…uhhh…you may throw darts at Tubbo”
“You may what?!?!”
Quackity bolts out of the room, screaming hysterically, as Tubbo chases him, Ranboo teleporting frantically in front of him in an attempt to catch him.
Tubbo is unstoppable.
But that’s okay.
“Tommy?”
“Yeah, Purps?”
“You wanna commemorate this marriage?”
“…how so?”
“I hear restaurants give free stuff to just married couples, wanna test that theory?”
“You know what? I would love to!”
————————
They are purple and gold, they are stumbling boys who are weak and strong and everything in between. They climb rock walls and they laugh and they hide from their friends to swear. They are brothers, and they love with all their heart, and they matter.
If love is a weakness, then they are the weakest, the easily broken and shattered.
If love is strength, then they are warriors, ready to fight for everything and anything they could ever want.
And if love is freedom?
Then they are free.
“There’s a bluebird in my heart that wants to get out but I’m too tough for him, I say, stay in there, I’m not going to let anybody see you”
-Charles Bukowski
