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The expression on Tommy’s face, as he exits the prison, is one that sends a spike of worry through Sam’s chest. He wishes that he could wrap an arm around the teen and ask him what had happened, but he has to keep up the role of stern Warden. They go through the motions, Tommy chattering mindlessly the whole time, as if the world would collapse, if he allowed silence to reign for even a moment.
If Sam isn’t as monotone and intimidating, as he usually is, when he’s on duty, then it’s nobody else’s business. Once Tommy is gone, Sam resolves to assuage his curiosity and go to Dream’s cell for a talk. “I’ve been blessed with another visitor today, have I?” Dream says, jade green eyes glimmering, with some dark emotion.
”Cut the bullshit, Dream,” Sam snaps, “I needed to ask you something.”
Dream dramatically leans on his desk, saying sarcastically, “Oh, however will I recover from these crushing words, oh great Warden Sam? Ask this helpless prisoner whatever questions you wish.”
Sam grits his teeth, pushing his words out from between them, “I want to know what you did to Tommy.”
Dream looks up from his dramatics, the dark circles under his eyes prominent. “Ah,” he says, dull eyes glittering, “Yes, he and I had our fun together. What, exactly, did you want to know?”
“I want to know why he’s so afraid of you, Dream. I want to know why he flinches now, when he never used to. I want to know what you did to him after you exiled him,” Sam says forcefully.
”I?” Dream asks, in a tone of surprise, “Tubbo was the one who exiled him, I believe, if my memory hasn’t gone as bad as Ranboo’s, in the time I’ve been here.”
”Everyone on this server knows that it was you, Dream,” Sam points out and Dream rolls his eyes.
”Regardless of where you want to place the blame, I had a lot of fun with Tommy, in his exile,” the man’s lips tilt upwards, in the beginning of a mocking smile. The implications make Sam sick to his stomach.
”Want to know an interesting fact, Sam?” Dream asks, “It only took a week of being punished properly, before Tommy started flinching away from people.” Sam feels both horror and fury welling up inside of him and removes his hand from the hilt of his sword, before he can do anything rash. “And it didn’t take much longer, before he was desperate for any scrap of praise. And, like the kind friend I am, I gave it to him, provided that he obeyed me,” Dream finishes, his eyes sparkling with silent laughter.
”You’re a monster, Dream,” Sam informs him, voice steady, despite the anger threatening to overwhelm him.
Dream shrugs lightly, “So I’ve been told. By a lot of people, actually. Y’know Sapnap came in here a few days ago and tried to shout at me? He couldn’t quite manage it, though. Not sure if it was fear, or attachment that stopped him. Either way, I still have the upper hand, don’t I?” He laughs; something cold and cruel and nothing at all like the laugh Sam remembers from years past. “He’s pathetic. You all are.”
”How could you have done that to anyone, let alone a child?” Sam asks, trying desperately to find any scraps of his former friend, in the dark eyes, lit up, with insanity.
”I don’t give a fuck about his age,” Dream says irritably, “He’s been an annoying bug on my shoe for far too long. I needed to teach him a lesson, so I did.”
Sam shakes his head despairingly, “I- I don’t even recognize you anymore, Dream.”
”Do you not?” Dream’s voice is slightly bitter now, “Well, you’re not the only one. I looked at myself, in the mirror you gave me the other day. You know what I did with it?” Sam shakes his head. “I threw it in the lava,” Dream says quietly, “Do you know what that look, in my eyes is? Because, I don’t. I don’t particularly care much anymore, if I’m being honest.”
Sam just stares blankly at him. The younger man’s mood swings are jarring, to say the least. “You can’t hurt Tommy anymore, you know that, right?” Sam says.
Dream shrugs, lips twitching, with poorly concealed amusement, “Well, I can’t personally hurt him anymore, but I fucked him up real bad, Sam. I know that much. You push the right buttons, Sammy, and you have a frightened, little pet, on your hands. I can never decide whether he’s funny, or pathetic, like that. He’s so obedient and eager to please, which is just hilarious, but he’s scared of everything,” Dream rolls his eyes. “I wish I could get the one, without the other, but it can’t be helped, I suppose.”
His words are so sickeningly casual and Sam doesn’t think he’s ever hated anyone more than he hates Dream at that moment. “You’re talking about a person, Dream!” Sam says, “Not a- not a- a fucking video game character, or something. Tommy’s not a game, to be played with, or thrown away at will.”
”I’m practically a god, Sam,” Dream laughs, the sound raw and grating, “You’re all just a game to me.”
”But you’re not a god,” the Warden replies smugly, “And it’s more obvious than ever, now that you’re all boxed up.” Dream groans, with frustration and Sam smiles, with dark satisfaction. “Well, I guess I’ll leave you to your thoughts,” the older man gives him a wide, fake smile, “See you soon.”
Dream opens his mouth to call after him, but Sam’s already gone.
—————
The next day, Tommy comes to visit Sam again. The look of childish joy on his face, when Sam, once again, uses his voice changer to sound like Tom Nook, makes Sam’s heart ache. He has Tommy collect some materials for him and the look of pride and happiness on the teen’s face, whenever Sam Nook praises him for it, is both sad and sweet.
Once they’ve finished working on the hotel for the day, Sam offers to spend some casual time, with Tommy and the boy accepts eagerly. They arrive at Sam’s house and the creeper hybrid is both surprised and amused, when the first thing Tommy does, is root through the older man’s chests, pulling out anything shiny, like a greedy, little magpie.
When Tommy puts on some of Sam’s best armor, however, the man is a little less amused. “Tommy, put that back,” he rolls his eyes, trying not to show any clear signs of irritation.
”Hm,” Tommy says, mock seriously, “No, I don’t think I will!” The little holy terror cackles, when Sam groans, running a hand down his face.
”Do I look powerful, Sammy?“ Tommy asks, putting his hands on his hips and adopting the pose of a superhero.
”Alright, Dress-Up time is over,” Sam says, not ungently, “Give me that armor, Tommy.”
Something in Tommy’s demeanor shifts drastically at the words and Sam wishes instantly that he could take them back. Wishes that he could turn back time and stuff them back down his throat, where they should have resided. Instead, they linger in the air, a promise of something behind them, that only Tommy can hear.
He looks like he’s about to hurt himself, as he flings the helmet off, with trembling hands. He rips the chestplate off of himself, hardly stopping to unbuckle it. The leggings and boots come flying off next and Sam holds his hands up, in a gesture of peace that makes Tommy flinch. “Tommy,” Sam says slowly, “Hey, can you hear me, kiddo?”
Tommy’s eyes are thousands of miles away and he’s stammering apologies faster than he can get his tongue around the words. Sam takes a few slow steps forward and Tommy shuffles backwards, shoulders hunched and head ducked, as if he’s expecting to be hit. It strikes Sam suddenly that that’s exactly what the teen is expecting.
What was it Dream had said about pushing the right metaphorical buttons? Sam silently curses himself for scaring the boy so badly and begins to try a different tactic. Instead of advancing on the boy, he sits down on the floor, legs crossed beneath him. Tommy stares down at him through his bangs, looking startled. “Can you hear me?” Sam asks again, being sure to keep his hands in view.
Tommy nods once, but Sam doesn’t allow himself to take a sigh of relief yet. “Do you know who I am?” Is his next question.
This takes Tommy a good few seconds to think about, before he responds slowly, voice rough and quiet, “Y-you’re green.”
”Yes,” Sam says, smiling gently, “I am partly green. Do you know anything else about me?”
”I don’t- I don’t think you’re Dream,” Tommy doesn’t sound very sure of himself.
”I’m not,” Sam says firmly, “I’m Sam. You remember Sam Nook?”
“Sam?” Tommy says lowly, as if the name is foreign on his tongue.
”Yep, that’s me,” Sam says, doing his best to sound cheerful.
”And are you-“ Tommy cuts himself off and Sam waits patiently for him to gather his thoughts, “Are you mad at me?” The teen flinches, voice small and childish.
”Not at all, Toms, and I’m sorry I made you think that I was,” Sam says sincerely.
’If- if you are, you can- you can take my stuff, or...” Tommy trails off, the implications of what he hadn’t said hanging heavily in the air, “I won’t fight you, I promise!”
‘Obedient and eager to please,’ Dream had said. Two things that Tommy has never been. Sam wonders, with a vaguely sick feeling, what Dream had done to him to make him act like this. “I’m not going to hurt you, kiddo,” Sam tells him gently, “I promise.”
Tommy tenseness seems to relax somewhat and Sam celebrates internally. “Do you want to sit next to me?” He invites, keeping his voice low and gentle.
Tommy very slowly lowers himself, until he’s sitting in front of Sam. The creeper hybrid slowly reaches forward and takes the boy’s hand. Tommy jumps at the contact, but relaxes again, when Sam squeezes his hand, in a gentle, protective grip. "Are you back with me, kid?"
"I... I think so," Tommy mutters.
"D'you wanna tell me what happened, bud?" Sam asks.
Tommy shrugs slightly, keeping his eyes downcast, "Dr- he used to take my things, armor most often, and- and put them in a hole and blow it up. I thought you were him for a second. Or maybe, I just thought that you were going to do the same as him."
"I can promise you that I'll never do anything like that," Sam says firmly and Tommy's chin quivers.
"Sometimes he made me dig the hole myself," Tommy says, voice pained, "I started to do it without him even having to ask. I was completely dependent on him, Sam. It was terrible." A tear lands on their intertwined hands and Sam's pretty sure that he feels his heart break.
"Can I hug you, Toms?" Sam asks softly and Tommy nods, face screwed up against more tears. Wrapping his arms tightly around Tommy, he pulls the boy closer to him. Tommy buries his face in Sam's shoulder and sniffs loudly.
"You can cry if you need to," Sam says quietly, rocking them both lightly. It starts with a few sniffles and then Tommy's suddenly sobbing into his shoulder.
"H-he shouldn't be a-able to con-control me like this anymore," Tommy says frustratedly, in between choked cries, "I thought I was better. Why am I not b-better?" He sounds completely heartbroken and it makes Sam's chest ache, with sadness for this boy, who had lost his childhood to war and abuse.
Sam continues to rock the boy back and forth, rubbing comforting circles into his back. "Healing takes time," Sam murmurs, "Setbacks don't mean that you haven't been making any progress at all. You didn't deserve what you went through."
"Then wh-why did he do it to me?" Tommy asks, voice small.
"I don't know," Sam says simply, "Some people are just bad. I thought I knew him. Apparently I was wrong."
It's a long time, before Tommy pulls away slightly and Sam can practically see the apology on the tip of his tongue. "There's nothing to be sorry for, bud," Sam says firmly, "We can move to the couch if you want. Me old bones aren't what they used to be," he laughs.
"You are old, aren't you?" Tommy says, with the tone of someone, who had just made a great discovery. "But, uh, you- you don't want me to leave, or anything?"
"Of course not," Sam says, "You've had a rough day. You can stay here as long as you'd like."
"Thank you," Tommy says earnestly and Sam can feel nothing, but fondness for him.
They make their way to the couch, where Tommy promptly tucks himself into the older man's side. Sam wraps an arm around him, smile soft. Tommy yawns and Sam rubs his arm reassuringly, "You can go to sleep, if you're tired."
Tommy looks more than halfway there already, but tiredly pleads, "Don't go. Please, don't go and leave me all alone again."
"I'm not goin' anywhere," Sam says reassuringly, "I'll be right here, when you wake up. I promise."
It seems that this reassurance is all Tommy needs, because he's out within the next thirty seconds. A new protective feeling has lodged its way into Sam's chest and made a home there. Privately, he swears to himself that he will never leave this boy alone again. Too many people have betrayed, or hurt Tommy and Sam refuses to be one of those people.
Sam swears to himself that he won't ever leave Tommy and he begins keeping that promise right then and there, by not leaving that couch until Tommy wakes up. The surprised and delighted expression on the teen's face, when he wakes up makes every minute, of past and future worry, worth it.