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Tommy was not sick. Despite his tall, gangly, frame, he was really rather tough, and he made sure everyone knew it. He’d lost count of how many times Wilbur had called him through a stuffy nose and sore throat, claiming that he was getting sick enough for the both of them.
( “It’s not my fault your immune system is shit, Big Man” Tommy said after a bout of laughter.
“You fucking stole it from me. You.. gremlin child. You stole my immune system. Why do you never get sick? You’re. You’re hacking.”
Tommy let out another obnoxious laugh. “Drink some water, Wil. You’ll be fine”)
He hadn’t been sick in years, and he certainly wasn’t now. Even if he’d woken up feeling sluggish and dizzy, the burn in his throat when he spoke and the pressure building up in his sinuses was really pretty manageable. More than likely, he picked up a mild cold from college, which wasn’t too out of the ordinary for him. The winter months and all that. Certainly wasn’t enough to keep him from streaming, that was for sure. If anything, chat would get a kick out of making fun of him. Spam “SickInnit” or something equally as absurd.
And so, ever resolute, Tommy grabbed his newly filled water bottle and a box of tissues, and booted up his PC. Today was another Dream SMP stream- nothing too crazy for the plot, but he planned to roleplay a bit nonetheless. Mostly with Dream and whoever came by Logstedshire. Within a few minutes he was already live, doing his usual intro and talking to chat.
“Am I sick? Chat, really, I’ve been live for less than 5 minutes, you all worry too much. I am not sick. Big Men do not get sick.”
The banter continued for a good 5 minutes before Tommy finally logged onto the SMP, determined to at least keep his friends from noticing. He wasn’t sick, even if his chat wanted to play it up like he was. He took a deep breath before joining VC 2, not having to wait long before the familiar chirp of someone joining played in his headset.
“Tommy!”
Tommy cracked a grin at the familiar voice, ignoring the way his head buzzed at the volume. “Ey, Big D! What brings you here?”
“Just checking in on my friend. How have you been?”
The small talk comes easily to Tommy, especially with Dream. The two might not be on the best terms in the plot, but despite the angry roleplaying, it was still always a joy to talk to him. The two talk a bit longer before Sapnap comes to tease Tommy too, the three of them venturing into the Nether for Tommy to work on his pathway. Before long, Sapnap and Dream are poking fun at Tommy, going along with the roleplay but keeping things lighthearted. Tommy lets the voices of his friends fade to the back as he focuses on building his path. Was it always so difficult to bridge? His head was a little foggy, and he found himself having to actively push through the cotton in his brain to not mess up his building. He had way too much shit on him, if he fell in the lava, he’d be-
“Tommy?”
Tommy snapped out of his train of thought at the mention of his name. “Sorry, Sapnap, what were you saying? Zoned out a bit there.”
“Tommy, are you okay? You’re being kind of quiet.”
“I thought you seemed a bit off too,” Dream supplied.
Tommy could hear the concern seeping through their voices, and he felt his chest tighten with anxiety. Was it that obvious? He didn’t want them to worry just because he couldn’t hide a little cold. “Nah, I’m fine, guys.
“Are you sure?” Sapnap asked, voice oozing uncertainty, “We can cut this short, if you need to-”
“Oh! I know what might help! If you just let me go to L’Manburg, I’m sure I’d-”
“Alright, well, I think he’s fine,” Dream cut in with a tone of fondness. “Tommy you know we can’t allow you to…”
And they were back to roleplay. Tommy let out a breath, glad to not be under scrutiny for the time being. If he was honest, this cold was starting to take a toll on him the longer he streamed. The light from his computer was starting to make his head pound, and his throat felt raw from his usual yelling and talking. He squinted at his Twitch Dashboard, trying to focus enough to read the number he was looking for. Just under an hour. Not long enough for a stream on it’s own. He’d go thirty more minutes, then he could go to bed. Just thirty more minutes.
The rest of the stream felt like hours, trying to pay attention to what his friends were saying while being somewhat entertaining for his chat. Speaking of which, they seemed rather concerned at his condition, spamming to end stream and get some rest. He didn’t really pay them much mind. The viewers loved to dramatize everything. He really wasn’t that sick. Just tired.
Eventually Tommy had reached what he deemed an acceptable stopping point, saying as much to Dream and Sapnap before deafening.
“Alright chat, I’m going to call it here,” he started, rambling off his usual spiel and ending stream. He undeafened, really only intending to say goodbye to Dream and Sapnap before passing out.
“I’m offline,” he stated as he closed out of Minecraft.
Dream was the first to speak up. “Hey, Tommy, are you heading to bed? I really think you should get some rest.”
“Yes, mum,” he replied, letting sarcasm seep into his words. “Stop worrying so much. I’m fine.”
“You just really don’t sound great. Did you go to school like that?” Sapnap asked, mirroring Dream’s concerned tone.
“Nah, we were online today,” he answered absently. His in person day had been yesterday, because that’s when Mr. Becker had assigned that reading response. The one that Tommy was certain they weren’t given enough time to do, because it was due at midnight. The next night. Which was… tonight.
“Fucking- I completely forgot about this fucking assignment, I have to go. Night, guys!” He rushed out, nearly tripping over his words.
“Wait, Tommy-”
He didn’t wait to hear what Dream wanted to say before he disconnected, frantically pulling up his assignment. He had no idea how he would get this done on time, he only had about an hour, and he was hardly able to focus on Minecraft of all things. He’s about a quarter way through skimming the assigned article when he hears a call from discord. He went to decline it, hesitating as he saw the name. Wilbur was calling him.
With a groan, he picked up the call. He really didn’t have time to talk, but if he ignored Wilbur and it was something important, he’d never hear the end of it. Besides, he had maybe been a little disappointed that Wil hadn’t come on stream today. Just a little.
“Hey Wil,” he greeted, cringing at how raspy his voice came out.
“Tommy, Dream told me you’re sick. Why are you still up?” Wilbur sounded anxious, unsurprisingly. He mother henned Tommy almost as much as Phil, although Tommy still thinks he just likes to be a bossy bastard.
Tommy let out a frustrated huff. “Dream’s a dirty snitch. M’not sick, Wilbur,” and oh, he knows his voice is betraying him.
“You sound like you smoke a pack a day, are you kidding? Go to bed, Toms, seriously. You’re just going to get worse if you tire yourself out.”
“Can’t. I forgot about this stupid assignment. Gotta get it done first.”
“You can do it tomorrow, I’m sure your teacher won’t mind. I was watching your stream, Tommy, you looked like shit.” Tommy cringed inwardly at this- was it really so obvious? He really had felt fine earlier, if not a little worn out.
“You just worry too much. I promise I’ll go to bed as soon as I finish this, okay?”
Wilbur let out a frustrated sigh on the other end of the line, not doing much to mask his annoyance. Tommy felt himself stiffen a bit as he hesitantly added on, “Sorry if I upset you.”
Wilbur’s breath hitched for a moment, before rushing out words of comfort. “No, you didn’t upset me Toms, Jesus, I’m just worried, okay? You don’t get sick a lot, and if I’m honest, I’m kind of scared you don’t know how to take care of yourself.”
“Excuse me, bitch, I’m plenty capable,” he retorted, feeling thankful for the familiar banter. “I know I’m fine to finish this assignment, I’m not stupid.”
There's a moment of hesitation before Wilbur spoke next. “I’m adding Techno and Phil to the call,” he stated plainly.
“Wh- Wilbur, that’s so overkill, come on!”
“It’s not overkill because you won’t listen to me!”
Tommy huffed angrily, deciding it’s not worth the effort. If Wilbur thinks he’s in the right, nothing will stop him.
The telltale blip of new members greeted Tommy’s ears.
“What’s this ‘emergency’, mate?” Phil said, sounding a bit too tired for Tommy’s liking.
“It’s nothi-”
“Tommy’s sick and refuses to sleep. He won’t listen to me, either,” Wilbur said, trying to sound angry. Tommy hears the concern anyway.
“Tommy, just swallow your pride for once and go to bed,” came Techno’s monotone voice.
“I’m not just being stubborn! I have an assignment due, it’s more important than a stupid cold!”
“Your health comes first, Tommy,” Phil said gently. “You really should get some rest.”
“Well I could if you guys would stop distracting me!,” Tommy yelled, or at least tried to. His raspy voice wasn’t carrying all that well. “This isn’t fair, you’re all ganging up on me.”
“To be fair, you’re giving us good reason to,” Techno responded. “It’s not like you really listen to us on a good day.”
Tommy groaned in annoyance, planting his face in his arms on the desk. He’s so tired, too tired for all this arguing, and certainly too tired for any stupid assignment. He felt his eyes start to droop, his friend’s voices lulling him to sleep.
Tommy didn’t realize he’d dozed off until he hears Phil’s voice in his ears, gently asking him to wake up. “Ugh, Phil?” He asked, sitting up and cringing at the pain that shoots down his spine. He felt awful- all stiff and cold, not to mention the pounding headache that hadn’t gone away. “M’sorry, I fell asleep.”
“It’s alright, mate, but you should prolly move to your bed. Can’t imagine your desk is the most comfortable place to sleep.”
Tommy hums in acknowledgment, dragging himself over to his bed without bothering to take off his headset. “M’in bed now,” he mutters.
“Want us to stay on call?” He hears someone say. He thinks it’s Wilbur.
“If you want.”
There’s a low rumbling laughter, and then the three start to quietly talk amongst themselves. Tommy vaguely registers the sound of a guitar strumming before he falls into a dreamless sleep.
__
When he wakes the next morning, his phone is loaded with messages from all his friends- plus some frantic DMs from Tubbo and a few others. He shoots off a message in the SMP discord letting them know he’s okay and doubly reassuring Tubbo, before noticing a DM from Dream.
Hey Tommy, Wilbur said they got you to sleep. Just message me when you wake up so I know you’re alive, yeah?
Tommy gives a slight smile despite himself.
Aw, Big D, were you worried? I’m fine. Thanks for telling Wil, asshole.
Dream answers almost immediately with a sly little smiley face, and Tommy rolls his eyes with a grin as he shuts off his phone. Alright, maybe his friends weren’t too bad.