Work Text:
The air in the back room was thick as the paces were counted out. Two people. Ten paces. All to end the chaos.
Many of the workers watching hoped for the kid to win. But the hard truth was in their faces. The odds were low, with one being older and stronger than the other, there was barely a chance of victory.
One person in the ‘duel’, his name being Dream, sided with the other managers, along with two others, -a meat dept Supervisor, and a Grocery dept traitor. The man in question wore a green mask and sunglasses, and was, unfortunately, the owner of the store. Many feared what he could do.
The other contestant, a child. A boy who almost couldn't be controlled by Dream but was good at his job, joined forces with the new supervisor, and decided that even though he had more experience, he would follow the man.
five
The duel had been caused by a rebuttal that the managers did, if you had not known, there was a prank war going on in the store, and everyone took it seriously, maybe a bit too so. The rebuttal prank had involved taking Tubbo’s favorite cookie recipe and burning it.
six
They of course had extra copies, it would just be a hassle to get another, they had also convinced Eret, a part time Grocery dept worker, part time Bakery to ‘betray’ Grocery dept. Which mostly meant just not working there for a bit, the purpose of him leaving was to make their numbers smaller.
Seven
When Tommy found out what happened to Tubbo, he snapped, recklessly challenging Dream to a duel to end it all. Dream knew this had to end, so he accepted, ignoring Wilburs protests and making a deal with Tommy.
Eight
The deal had been, if Dream won he got one of Tommy’s music discs. The discs contained the recordings of most of the workers at the store, singing Wilburs song, it was rumored to be beautiful as everyone apparently took it seriously, even Tommy. If Tommy won, Grocery dept got to choose which songs played in the store, which was a big deal cause’ all that Dream played was hot shit. The stakes were high.
Nine
The first person who got hit lost. The items they were using for the duel? Burnt, rock hard, baguettes, from when Ranboo tried to bake. It was closing time, so the entire store was in the back watchin the duo take the steps to end it all.
Ten paces…
Wilbur took a breath before shouting-
“FIRE!”
Tommy turned holding the burnt item like a javelin, throwing it at the opposing man with as much force as he could muster.
It missed.
But the one Dream threw didn't.
It seemed as though as though the man had put all of his power behind his shot, as when the soaring stick hit him dead in the chest- Tommy was knocked off of his feet. He landed on the floor with a thud, the air knocked right out of him.
Tommy layed there, winded. He could hear the sounds of cheering from Sapnap and George as they gathered around the victor. He felt a hand on his chest as he looked up to see Tubbo looking at him with worried eyes.
“Tommy! Tom's! You gotta breath man!”
He took a deep breath, in and out, then sat up. Tommy let out a hiss as his injured chest throbbed. He felt a hand aiding him, and he turned to see Wilbur by his side.
“Will I’m-” Tommy began, whilst still trying to get air into his deprived lungs.
Wilbur cut in before Tommy could finish.
“Tom, you don't have to, you did your best. You gave us a chance at winning, and that's what counts.”
He looked into the older man's eyes before coughing and letting out a weeze. Tommy continued to struggle as Wilbur rubbed his back.
“Deep breaths Tom's, deep breaths” Wil whispered, pulling the younger into an embrace. Tommy did as he said, and finally got some fucking air into his lungs.
He was released and Thunder held out a hand to him, and as he grasped it he was pulled up onto shaky legs. Tubbo grabbed his forearm before he could fall.
He put a hand on his chest as he looked up, Dream stood in the middle of the area of the duel, obviously waiting for Tommy. He started walking towards the masked man, feeling the reassuring weight of Wilburs hand slip from his shoulder as he went.
Dream seemed to be almost… analyzing him. Tommy removed his hand from his chest, he didn't want to show he was hurt, he had too much pride. He winced as the pressure keeping the pain at bay left his chest, he tried to keep up his good posture, walking toward Dream as if nothing had happened. He missed the way Dream cocked his head, and how Sapnap and George looked at each other in worry.
“Dream,” Tommy held out his hand. God he hoped this would work. “I have a proposition.” he said the words carefully, so no one else could hear him other than the man in front of him.
“I'm listening,” Dream said, gesturing for him to continue.
Tommy took a deep breath holding back another wince. “I will give you both music discs if you grant Grocery Dept ‘independence’.” he looked the man in the eyes, as well as he could considering he was wearing sunglasses.
Dream almost seemed taken aback “That's very noble of you, those are your discs.” he seemed surprised, he should be, Tommy always had the discs hidden away, only allowing a select few hear them.
“For….” Tommy huffed. Sweat glistened on his brow, but he pushed through. “for the bois.”
Dream seemed to think about it, face solom as he contemplated Tommy's words, before grabbing the outstretched hand. "You’ll get ‘technical’ independence, as I'll still have to moderate the songs playing.”
“Yea, yeah that's just you being dense.” Tommy lit up a small smile before shaking the masked man's hand. He slowly took out the two discs out of a hidden pocket in his uniform, before hesitantly giving them to Dream. “For Grocery Dept…” he muttered as the Discs were taken from his outstretched hand.
He looked up as Dream patted his shoulder before turning and walking back to the other Managers. His gaze drifted to the person who was standing awkwardly beside the others on Dream side. Eret. Their eyes met and Tommy turned the other way quickly and began walking back to the others, he was too mad at Eret right now to bother talking to them.
He could feel eyes on his back as he walked away, little did he know that the others were worried about him, as Dream was pretty strong.
He was about a meter away from the 5 people on his side when he said “we got independence boys.”
“WHAT.” was all he heard before he was embraced in a hug by none other than Tubbo. He let out a wheeze as Tubbo hugged him tighter.
“I swear to god Tommy I'm going to kill you man!”
“Bro, I can’t breathe.”
He was let go, but Wilbur quickly took Tubbo's place, gentler this time. He was released as the others came up behind Wil, they were waiting for him to tell them how.
“I uhhhh…” Tommy placed a hand on his chest again as it started aching, “I gave him both of the discs.” The new info seemed to shock the other members.
He jumped when Wilbur shouted, “TommyInnit my right hand man! Those were your discs, you gave them up?” Will slapped him in the back before quickly apologizing when Tommy coughed and groaned.
He looked around everyone who had gathered on their side, they weren't much, but they had the support of the store behind them. He was so glad they fought with him for their independence.
“For the boys.”
There was a group hug before everyone began exiting the store, Tommy going with Tubbo to his car, as he was getting a ride from his friend.
“Hey Tommy! Wait up!” He turned to see none other than Dream calling out to him. The other two managers in Dreams truck, they also seemed to be watching as the taller man jogged up to him.
“Uhhh, yeah? What's up?” Tommy replied. If he was being honest he didn't really want to talk to the man who just bruised his ribs.
“I just…” the man almost seemed to hesitate, “I just wanted to make sure you're okay.” Now it was Tommy's turn to be taken aback.
Tommy took another deep breath and placed his hand on his chest again, a pang of pain suddenly spiking. “Yea just a bit winded, dont worry about it.” Dream stared down at him, very obviously not convinced.
“I'll be fine, Dream… look I have school tomorrow, it's 11pm, i just want to go home and sleep.” he hoped that he could convince the man to leave him alone, even though his voice had become very raspy. He didn't need them tryna force him to go to the hospital or something, it didn't hurt that bad, but they were all mother hens, no matter how often they denied it. Besides it would become Dream's problem because he technically hit a minor. “I'm not going to sue you or anything big man, I'm the one who challenged you.”
“That's not what i'm worried about Tommy, I'm-”
“If it makes you feel better, I'll text you if anythings wrong, okay? I really just want to go home.” Tommy interrupted before the man could talk anymore.
Dream let out a frustrated sigh and seemed to let it go. “If anything happens, call me.” He patted Tommys shoulder and walked back to his truck, why did he always do that? Tommy walked over to Tubbos' car and hopped in.
“What did he want?” Tubbo began, starting the car.
“Ugh he just wanted me to call him if anything happens, I don't know it was weird.” Tommy let out a sigh and slumped into his seat as Tubbo began driving, the ache in his chest had started to dull.
“I mean, at least he cares, right?” Tubbo stated.
“Yeah, the only problem is that now if anything does happen, I'll be calling like, 10 people, because apparently everyone thinks I can't take care of myself anymore.” he let out a chuckle, as did Tubbo. The country music played as they drove to Tommy's house, and when they got there the driveway was empty.
“Your parents aren't home?” Tubbo questioned looking at Tommy with concern.
“Guess not.” he started getting out of the car when Tubbo grabbed his hand.
“Call me first, okay? If anything does go wrong.” Tommy opened his mouth to argue, but Tubbo was quicker. "I know, I know, you can take care of yourself, but I still wanna know, alright? Even if it's only a minor bruise, you're my best friend, and I wanna help." Tubbo gaze seemed to pierce Tommy's soul as he slowly grabbed his backpack.
“Wouldn't have it any other way bro.” Tommy laughed, desperate to break the tension and abandon all the warm feelings Tubbos words gave him. He really was his best friend.
With that the car door closed and Tubbo was on his way home. Tommy made his way into his house, before collapsing on the inside of the door. He sunk down to the floor as a dry cough made its way out his mouth. He pulled up his shirt to reveal where he was hit. The edges were swollen and red, but the thing that caught his eye was the nasty purple and blue bruise forming around the abrasion.
He pulled his shirt back down and stood up wincing, all he wanted to do was sleep instead of dealing with this right now.
He walked into his room and dropped all his school stuff on the floor, making his way to the bathroom. He had a shower and changed before getting under the covers of his bed and setting an alarm. Maybe he should just skip school tomorrow, everything hurt and he was definitely going to be sore in the morning.
He closed his eyes as his radio played quiet tunes, before the dark blanket of sleep overtook him.
______________________
Dream was working the next day when Tommy came in for his shift, the kid looked fine but he watched as Tommy shoulders his bag into his locker and winces as it jostles his shoulder. So he was hurt then, he had just covered it up.
He ducks into George's office as Tubbo walks up to his friend, he feels a hand on his shoulder, and he turns to see George trying to peer past him.
They both watch as Tubbo seems to question Tommy about something, pointing to the others chest. Tommy just shrugs, but this time they could hear his reply. “Honestly man it hurt like a bitch this morning, but I mean, here I am. You know my parents. I have to go to school, that means work too.”
“God if I could punt your parents I would man.” Tubbo said as the duo began walking towards the stairway.
“Same... I mean Wilbur already said that he was helping me unload any deliveries that came in today, whether I liked it or not, so there’s that at least.”
“As he should be!” Tubbo replied as the duo started walking toward the stairwell. “You have a giant fucking bruise on your chest man, you shouldn’t even be here!”
“Eh, oh well.” was the last Dream heard before the teens went out of their hearing range.
Dream turned to see George behind him with his arms crossed. “I told you he was lying about being okay Clay.” oh god, George used Dreams real name. He was in deep shit.
“I- I mean, what am I going to do about it? I can’t just send him home.”
“That’s exactly what you’re going to do, Dream.” George replied, sitting at his desk and shuffling some papers.
“But Geooorge! He’s always so intimidating when he asks why!” Dream whined, collapsing into an office chair.
George looked at him and pulled his glasses down, almost like a librarian scolding a loud child. “I know, and? I had to explain his schedule reduction to him last time, you know how hard that was? You still owe me one for that Dream, now go.”
Dream got up groaning, and left the manager's office. Being a manager was hard.
He walked into the unloading area to see Tommy and Wilbur working on a truck. Wilbur seemed to be doing most of the heavy lifting, as Tommy was pulling the pallets out of the way. The two froze when Dream cleared his throat.
“Gentlemen, I need to speak with Tommy,” he waved the boy over, ignoring the fake-glare that he got from Wilbur. Once he and Tommy were a fair distance away he began, “Tommy, you're free to go home early.”
Instead of the angry reaction that Dream was expecting, Tommy seemed almost… scared?
“Did…. am I?... Am I getting fired?!” The boy questioned. Worry was prominent in his eyes, and Dream couldn't help but feel bad.
“No! Of course not,” he was quick to respond. “Look, I know that you're hiding the fact that you're hurt, but I can't in good conscience let you continue, until you're healed.” he looked the boy up and down. Tommy had his usual bad posture, but he could tell that he was subconsciously trying to shield his front from anyone.
“Huuuuuhh? Pfft, I have no idea what you mean big man! There’s nothing wrong here!”
“Tommy.” Dream said, trying to sound stern, like he should be. It seemed to work as the boy’s mouth snapped shut immediately. “Don't make me get Tubbo to drag you out of here.”
“The regulars will question you!” Tommy tried weakly.
“I think I can deal with a couple of old lady’s Tom’s. Now go on, I've already talked it over with Tubbo, he's going with you.” Tommy sighed, seeming to accept his fate. He was too tired to care at this point, and his chest was really hurting... Dream carefully laid a hand on the teens shoulder.
“You have a two day break anyways, just take it easy for a bit. If your parents need an excuse, tell them that it was slow today, so everyone was sent home early.” he winked at the teen.
Dream turned as Tubbo came jogging up, wearing a jacket over his work uniform, along with Tommy’s bag and own jacket. His face was the embodiment of determination. “You're coming with me to my house whether you like it or not Tommy.” Tommy turned around to Dream mouthing ‘save me’ before being dragged off by his best friend.
Dream let out the breath he’d been holding. These teens were going to be the reason all of his hair went grey, even if he was pretty young. He turned as he heard someone approach him. It was Wilbur.
“Hey, thanks man.” he seemed to hesitate. “Tommy… he- he’s always been afraid to admit that he needs help. It's really best to just make him go home sometimes, so uhh, thanks for that.” Wilbur finally looked him in the eyes and cracked a smile.
“Just another day at work I guess.” Dream tossed over his shoulder before making his way back up to his office, with a little more ‘pep in his step’, feeling emboldened after gaining Wilbur’s approval once more.
If Tommy was still having trouble when he got back, Dream wouldn’t hesitate to give him more time off. These teens were going to heal, even if it meant he had to carry them out of the goddam store himself.