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When Troy was a kid, he liked to create make-believe stories about the world around him.
One such story was an alternate explanation for light bulbs. To some extent, he did know how light bulbs worked; they glowed due to electricity. But the reality felt so technical and reminded Troy that the real world was incredibly mundane. He wanted to create a story for it that would add a little bit of magic to his world.
Due to his active imagination, a narrative started to take shape in his head. To a young Troy, light bulbs were not devices to provide light, but rather became homes for fairies. These fairies were magical and brilliant. Instead of internal wiring, their constant glow would light up the bulb. The bulbs became their homes where they would settle down. If the fairy felt that the home provided to them was suitable, the humans would be rewarded with their light. However, when they felt that the homes no longer worked for them, they would fly away, leaving their former home in darkness. The only way for humans to get the fairy back would be to replace the bulb, then they would fly back.
When Troy was in high school, he suppressed his imagination so he could fit in with the in-crowd. After all, popular guys didn’t create childish stories to explain ordinary phenomenon, and especially didn’t create stories that involved fairies. He was growing up, becoming a real man, and real men didn’t like fairies. They were girly and silly and gay, and that’s not how Troy wanted others to see him, so he shoved his imagination down into the deepest part of himself and pretended it didn’t exist. If no one knew that part of him existed, he could fit in, he could be normal.
He didn’t try to access this part of himself until he met Abed. Abed, who knew he was different and embraced it, didn’t shy away from it. Abed saw the parts that Troy had been repressing, and he drew them back out until they reached the light.
Troy has never felt safer with anyone else. He tells Abed about the fantasies he created as a child, and he thinks that they’re wonderful. They come up with more stories and special traditions together. Eventually, they move into an apartment together, creating a home of their own. They have the Dreamatorium, where they can create whole new worlds that exist just for them. The love that they possess for each other only flourishes as the years go by. When Troy thinks about Abed, his heart feels like it glows as bright as a light bulb, even if he still has trouble admitting it.
*
When Troy leaves on the boat, Abed moves into the Dreamatorium. It technically hasn’t been the Dreamatorium for quite a while, but that’s how he still thinks of the room, even after they took it down so Troy could move in.
Abed wonders if Troy’s eventual departure wasn’t obvious for a while. He thinks that the dismantling of the Dreamatorium was a way for Troy to take a step back, so that one day he would be able to leave. Maybe if he tried harder, maybe if he stepped back sooner so Troy could have his space, he wouldn’t have wanted to leave at all. Maybe with Abed’s attempts to make a comfortable sanctuary where Troy could express himself, he instead built a tomb. Maybe his efforts to keep Troy here only pushed him farther away.
Abed, entering his new bedroom, tries to turn on his nightstand’s lamp, in order to illuminate the dark room. He clicks the button, but the bulb is burnt out.