Work Text:
1. Enemies
It was cold in Logstedshire. Freezing winds kept coming from the snowy lands just over the hills and blowing through the holes in Tommy’s tent with abandonment, howling horribly in the process. The boy didn’t care enough to get up and fix any of the tears; he continued rubbing his hands together and breathing on them, trembling slightly. The weather should get better in the morning, but did it really matter that much?
Tommy knew he looked a mess – dirty and ripped clothes that didn’t help with the cold, just one shoe with a hole on its toes and Wilbur’s old coat that he only ever wore at nights when everything got just a touch too heavy and the dawn seemed too far away. Constant nightmares of the Nether, of Dream, of wars he lost, and of wars he won at costs that now seemed extremely high scared the teen off of even attempting to fall asleep, so his eyes kept getting duller and more glassy, the bags under them darker. He didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about his appearance, even less than he had before the exile. Drista had mentioned it in passing while visiting, and after she’d left Tommy sat at the shore and looked at himself in the water’s reflection for hours, spaced out for most of it from exhaustion. He changed, didn’t he? Was there anything of him left?
Tommy heard footsteps outside and turned his head at the sound.
”Dream?”
He sometimes checked on the teen in the evenings before leaving, making sure Tommy’s okay. Dream really was a good friend, so the boy felt kind of bad when he thought about leaving him. It wasn’t Dream’s fault, of course, but there just wasn’t anything else for Tommy to do.
Nobody answered, so he called out again and his question was met with silence once again.
”Who’s there? Ghostbur? Is that you?”
Even though he was a ghost, he couldn’t fly or walk through walls like your typical ghosts. His footsteps were usually very quiet, but still audible if you listened hard enough. Tommy hoped it was Ghostbur just so he could give the man a piece of his mind. He disappeared when Tommy was the most vulnerable, leaving him completely alone… except for Dream, but that was a given. Dream was always there for him. He probably was also at fault for nobody showing up at the teen’s beach party. Ghostbur probably forgot he was even supposed to give out the invitations and locked himself in with his precious books. Tommy sniffed and shivered, burrowing into Wilbur’s coat more. Wilbur wouldn’t have forgotten about the party. If only he was still alive…
”For fuck’s sake, who’s there? I’m busy, so go away! I don’t want to see anyone,” Tommy yelled and added after a second, “unless you’re Dream. But you’re probably not, so it doesn’t matter.”
There was a sound of something soft but heavy falling on the ground. Tommy heard a sigh and then footsteps again, now walking away from the tent and getting quieter with every passing second until the teen couldn’t hear them anymore.
He got up from the bed, intending to check it out. If it was another one of those pity gifts Tommy would be so mad… The boy swallowed heavily. Would he, really? Maybe if someone cared for him still it wouldn’t be too late to try again, to make everything right?
Tommy looked out of the tent curiously and saw a long red cloak with a white woolen collar lying in the grass right in front of it. The teen lifted it up cautiously: the piece of clothing seemed familiar, but Tommy’s sleep-deprived brain couldn’t quite pinpoint where he’d seen it before. Tommy ran his hand over the fabric and marveled at its softness and quality. He hasn’t touched anything that nice in a while. The teen looked around to make sure no one was there to see him and tried the cloak on. It was as soft and warm as it seemed and Tommy sighed involuntarily, hiding his ice-cold hands in its pockets and feeling them start to warm up. Then sensitivity started to return to his hands something with an odd texture caught his attention. He took out of the pocket something that turned out to be a small piece of paper.
’The winds are getting colder. This should fit you.
T. B.’
Tommy threw the cloak off so fast it looked like it burned him. How could he not see this sooner? The colours, the look of it all just screamed “Technoblade”. He was sleep-deprived, not stupid.
”What’s that you have here, Tommy?”
Tommy smiled weakly and turned around.
”Dream, my friend! It’s nothing, just Technoblade leaving me some shit I don’t need.”
”Techno? Your anarchist brother?”
Tommy felt himself fill with a strong rage he hadn’t experienced in a long time.
”He’s not my fucking brother! He’s a traitor pig who destroyed everything we worked for, I hate him so much. If there was a person I could call an enemy, that would be him.”
”Oh.” Dream hummed, thoughtful. Tommy thought he smiled, but there was no way to know because of the man’s mask. “So you wouldn’t mind giving it up, would you?”
”Not at all.”
Tommy took out his flint and steel and lit a fire. He picked up Techno’s cloak and hesitated for a second. But then he looked at the constantly smiling face of Dream who was waiting patiently and threw the clothing into the flames.
It burned for a long time. Tommy watched till the fire went out. At least it was warm.
2. Business Partners
Tommy couldn’t believe it. He was actually working with Technoblade again, just like during Pogtopia times. It all happened so quickly: the destruction of Logsted and the Nether portal that was his last connection to L’Manburg, the loss of all of his things, the realization that Dream was just… guarding him, like a prisoner… But he was his only friend during the exile, so how could Tommy complain? The teen shook his head to get rid of the fog surrounding his thoughts. It was just too confusing to think about and really not the time as well.
The boy was actually really surprised Techno didn’t kick him out as soon as he saw him. Yes, there were some conditions and rules he now had to follow if he wanted to stay, but with Tommy stealing half of the man’s things and insulting him it was actually pretty damn miraculous.
He and Techno were sitting on the porch of their house and preparing a plan for their future acts of minor terrorism in L’Manburg, which was a very serious topic to discuss. The older man was trying to draw something that reminded Tommy of a map, but only distinctly since Technoblade was pretty bad at drawing and even worse at reading maps, let alone making one.
”What is this?” the boy pointed at something on the paper that looked like someone spilled paint by accident.
”That’s the podium,” Techno answered, not taking his eyes off the “map”.
”Looks like shit, I’ll be honest,” Tommy said to that and took another bite of a golden apple.
”I’m pretty sure you couldn’t do any better,” the man answered in an offended tone, “and stop eating my gapples! They’re for special occasions!”
Techno didn’t make any moves to take the gapple away but the teen still hid it behind his back, just in case.
”This is a special occasion. I’m hungry! And also, it’s our gapples now, not yours, remember? We’re business partners now.”
Techno sighed in annoyance and put away his quill, taking off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose exasperatedly.
”That’s not how a business partnership works, Tommy…”
”It sure does ‘cause I said so, and I’m very smart. I’m a business boy, you know?” Tommy snatched the pen from the railings and took the map from Technoblade’s lap. “Here, now I’ll try.”
He dipped the point of the quill into the ink and started adding all of his favorite spots in L’Manburg onto the map. He tried to fix Techno’s sign for the podium, but gave up on it after almost making a hole in the paper.
”Yep, because that looks just so much better. What is that? Your signature?”
Tommy turned to glare at the smirking man. “That’s the Prime Path, you dickhead.”
”Then why is it so crooked?”
”Ugh, fine. We’ll deal with it without the map, I know L’Manburg like the back of my hand so it’s not like it matters.” Tommy said before ripping the piece of paper to shreds with his hands.
”I worked on it for so long…” Techno complained in an upset tone.
Tommy just shrugged him off. ”Oh, you’ll get over it, you giant baby.”
They were interrupted by the flapping of wings. A green parrot was flying over the land into the direction of their house. It had an envelope tied to one of its legs. When it landed, Techno untied the letter and he and Tommy watched the bird take off and fly away in the unknown direction. Messenger parrots were like that: chose weird routes and flew so high and fast that they were plain impossible to follow, which made them perfect for exchanging mail.
The letter was addressed to Techno, so he opened it, put on his glasses again and started running his eyes over its contents.
”What does it say? I’m your business partner, so you should tell me about it.” Tommy demanded impatiently. What if it was from Dream? The man probably missed him, Tommy didn’t tell him where he went… Tommy swallowed nervously, feeling his head start to hurt. He didn’t have to tell Dream anything, he had been just watching him and the reason the teen had actually left.
Right. The letter. The boy tugged on Techno’s sleeve in an attempt to get his attention.
”Again, not how a business partnership works. But I guess it is about you, so I’ll tell you.”
Tommy’s eyes widened. “About me? Who would write to you to ask about me? You think…” he lowered his voice to a whisper, “you think someone knows?”
”I don’t think so, Tommy. It’s from Tubbo, actually. He’s saying, ‘Technoblade, I know we’re not on good terms right now, what with me trying to execute you and you murdering Quackity, but can you tell me if you’ve seen Tommy lately by any chance? He’s your little brother, so I thought you’d know where he is. Smiley face’”, the man read out loud in a bewildered voice. “The audacity of this man. That’s what being a government official does to you, Tommy.”
”Why does Tubbo want to know that? He hasn’t visited me once, why is he asking that now?” Tommy’s voice trembled with an emotion he couldn’t really name, but he didn’t like the way it made his throat clench and his heart rate speed up.
”It doesn’t matter that much,” Techno replied, taking a fresh piece of paper out of his pocket and starting to write on it. “I heard he was talking to Dream, so he can’t know that you’re here. I’ll write that I haven’t seen you since the Revolution day.”
Tommy looked over his shoulder to see what the man was writing but saw only the last sentence, ‘Also, he’s not my brother. Worst wishes, Technoblade.’
3. Roommates
Tommy didn’t want to admit it, but living with Techno was quite nice, actually. Far better than living in Logsted, that’s for sure. The house was always warm, there was food and he could actually have things for himself! He still hid them in various chests out of habit, but when he wore armour without permission Techno complained about it but never tried to make the boy give it back or somehow destroy it. That was a good change, as far as Tommy could tell. In the end, Techno even began insisting on the teen wearing armour, checking from time to time for any dents in it.
It had been a great day, in Tommy’s opinion. He finally saw L’Manburg again and walked its paths without Dream supervising, and it really was an experience. Techno and he looked around for their future acts of minor terrorism and built their base. It was great to build something in L’Manburg again, even though it was illegal and morally wrong. But when did the word “illegal” stopped Tommy from having fun?
”Tommy! Have you seen the gapples I put aside to charm?”
Tommy looked over at the pile of golden apples that he threw on his bed to put into his every pocket later and yelled, “I haven’t, Technoblade! I haven’t seen a gapple in my life actually!”
The teen cringed and clenched his fists in embarrassment. Those last words were clearly unnecessary.
”Tommy, I gave you like a stack of them! Don’t tell me you’ve already eaten all of them.”
The boy heard Techno coming down to his room and sighed heavily. He was a growing boy, he needed all the vitamins he could get. Also, they tasted really good. He regretted nothing.
The man got down the ladder and shook a boot he was holding in his head in front of Tommy’s face, “You’re in one shoe right now! How do you keep losing just one shoe?” Techno sounded both genuinely curious to hear the answer and like he never wanted to know at the same time. “I found this one in Carl’s stable, seriously, how did that happen?”
Tommy threw his hands behind his head and said smugly, “Well, I’m just naturally talented, you wouldn’t understand.”
”Talented at losing shoes? I’m glad I don’t have that talent, cause if I did we’d be broke by now. Anyway, have some actual food, you can’t just live off gapples alone.”
Techno put some bread and steak on a plate on the end of Tommy’s bed.
”Oh, thank you.” Tommy sounded surprised at the offering. He thought there’d be more yelling about the burrowed apples. “Here, since you brought me food like a great roommate, you can have those.”
The teen took 16 gapples from his pile and passed them to Techno. He looked at the fruits in his hands, taken aback.
”That’s… a lot less than I had, but it’ll have to do.”
There was a sound of someone knocking on the door upstairs. Both of the house’s inhabitants raised their heads in unison.
”What if it’s Dream?” Tommy whispered frantically, his eyes wide.
”It’s okay, Tommy. I’ll go up and check it out. If you hear me say “Dream”, be as quiet and possible and try to hide,” Techno whispered back, sounding far calmer and more collected.
Tommy nodded, and the older man went up the ladder and into the main building. The teen heard the door open and someone’s quiet voice.
”Hello, Ranboo! Fancy meeting you here, now please go away, I was getting ready to go to sleep.” Technoblade said loudly so the boy downstairs could hear.
Tommy relaxed a little, relieved. Ranboo was an alright guy and he knew Tommy was here, so it wasn’t like they had to hide that fact from him. Tommy did have to listen a lot harder to hear the visitor’s answer.
“Oh, umm, hi, sorry about the late hour. I was just walking by and decided to check on you and your brother. By the way, I didn’t know you guys were brothers.”
”We’re not,” whispered Tommy out of habit.
”We’re not,” Techno said above him, and for some reason it was… unpleasant to hear? That was a weird thing to be upset about, Tommy thought and decided not to dwell on it too much. “And we’re doing fine, if you wanted to know that much. If you’ve got nothing else, you can go now.”
”Phil asked me to say hi and that he misses you.”
Techno was silent for a moment.
”Goodbye, Ranboo.”
The door closed with a bang.
4. Friends
Ghostbur showed up out of the blue, as he usually did. His weird-colored sheep wasn’t with him this time, which the ghost mentioned the minute he entered the building.
When Ghostbur called out for someone to open the door, Tommy was already at Techno’s house. The teen ran out of food at his new home and was restocking at the man's storage room. The owner of the house was upstairs, repairing Tommy’s armour after his unfortunate fall from the cobblestone tower.
”The weather is so nice! Why are you both holed up inside? C’mon, Friend has found this really nice clearing. I’ll show you!” Ghostbur had just appeared, but his echoey voice was already giving Tommy a headache.
”Why do you think we’re going to go anywhere with you?”
Ghostbur looked at Tommy like he was stupid. Well, it seemed nicer just because it was Ghostbur, but Tommy was used to those kinds of looks and could recognize them in any form.
“Well, because we’re family! Families play games together, and eat dinners together, and go on… Oh, I know! Let’s go on a picnic.”
Now it was Tommy’s turn with the “are you fucking stupid” look.
”We’re not a family, Ghostbur. You’re not Wilbur, you’re literally dead. And Techno is just an arsehole, so he doesn’t count.”
A floorboard creaked behind Tommy, and he froze.
”Well, that’s a nice way to refer to someone who gives you food and shelter. For free, I might add.”
Ghostbur’s face lit up, and he smiled widely.
”Oh, hello, Techno! I haven’t seen you in a while. A shame, really. Do you want to have a picnic with me?”
Techno looked at Ghostbur, then at still unmoving Tommy, and hummed contemplatively.
”It wouldn’t be too bad to go outside. Get some fresh air, you know.”
Tommy finally came to his senses and stared at Techno in shock. He was joking, right? There was no way he was serious.
Techno nodded firmly, a sly smile on his face.
”You know what? I’m in. Tommy, grab some food from the chest, we’re going on a picnic.”
This was just not on. Tommy grabbed Techno by the sleeve and dragged the barely resisting man deeper into the house, away from the patiently waiting Ghostbur.
”Are you fucking serious?” he yelled, but turned down the volume after noticing Ghostbur’s curious look. He may have been incorporeal, but it was still awkward. “Tell me you’re not gonna make me… wander the woods! You may be shitty, but you’re not dumb.”
Techno continued looking at him with a small frown, seemingly completely oblivious to Tommy’s problem with his plans.
”Why not? You have something to do, besides eating all of my gapple supplies?”
Tommy dragged his hand over his face. He couldn’t believe Techno was going to make him say it.
”Because there’s, y’know, Dream? The guy I’m not supposed to get seen by? The one roaming those woods right about now, fucking… looking for me!”
The expression of confusion disappeared from Techno’s face instantly, replaced by one of seriousness. He looked Tommy dead in the eye, and Tommy had to fight himself to not take a step back. The intensity of Techno’s gaze scared and hypnotized him at the same time.
”Tommy,” Techno started, any hint of teasing gone from his voice, “you know I wouldn’t let Dream hurt you, right?”
But did he, really? Tommy thought about it for a moment. Could he really trust Techno to protect him, after everything he’s done to him during L’Manburg revolution? What if Techno decided that it would be more beneficial to him to give Tommy up to Dream instead of confronting him?
But that was a thing: it would be more beneficial either way. And yet, here Tommy was, more than a week later, fed and warm and, well, protected. Techno had treated him well this entire time, even though he could’ve easily written to Dream to pick up his victim. He’d gone out of his way to make sure Dream hadn’t suspected a thing. God, it was so hard to read Techno’s intentions. It always had been, even before…
Tommy huffed out a frustrated sigh.
”Yes, yes, of-of course I know. But still, he’s the strongest guy in the land. What if you try to fight him and… lose?”
Techno’s eyes softened, just enough that Tommy could barely catch the change, and he nodded slowly.
”Ghostbur!” he called out to their guest, “I really don’t want to go all this way right now. Old age, fragile bones, all that.”
Ghostbur nodded hastily. “Yes, like Phil’s! Phil’s really old.”
Techno laughed, the sound of it deep and relaxed. “Yeah, that he is. Anyway,” he continued, “how about we have a picnic on our front lawn?”
Tommy hadn’t had that much fun in a long time. Ghostbur was actually pretty funny, now that Tommy wasn’t looking for any difference between him and Wilbur in his every word and gesture, and Tommy liked feeding Friend from his hand. They talked till the sun went down, and he watched the sky swim in gold and listened to Ghostbur rant about history books to interested-looking Techno. His stomach was full, his cheeks and chest hurt from laughter, and there were no evil green men in sight. He knew that, because he’d never stopped looking for him.
Ghostbur burrowed his hands into Friend’s fur and smiled brightly.
”This is so great! Me, Tommy, Techno, sitting together – just like old times. All three brothers are here…”
Tommy winced and looked away from the ghost.
“We’re not brothers,” he said bitterly, not wanting to hear Techno say it first.
He glanced at the man himself. His hair was messed up by the wind and lying loose over his shoulders. There was a half-eaten slice of pie in his hand, and he was watching the sunset, seemingly unaware of the others’ conversation. But Tommy noticed the way his eyebrows furrowed and his back tensed up. He sighed, resigned.
”But… I guess I could call us friends. Friends is okay, right?”
Techno nodded, the movement barely noticeable, and Tommy could’ve sworn he saw a corner of his lips raise in a small smile.
+1. Brothers
Tommy curled in on himself and wrapped his arms tighter around his pillow. It was just a nightmare. A bad dream that wasn’t real, because Dream wasn’t there and Tommy was safe. He had his own house, and things to protect himself with, and…
He still couldn’t shake off that feeling of hopelessness that came with seeing Logsted again. Dark and consuming, it stuck to his hair and clung to his limbs like black goo, stopping him from moving anywhere. He saw Dream coming closer, and he just stood there, a slow desperate smile spreading across his face as he lifted his arm to take the armour off without any prompting. Because he was a good friend, wasn’t he?
Tommy pushed his face into the pillow and screamed. This was no good. He needed to go and clear his head, or he would go stir crazy, reliving those memories over and over again. Dream was not his friend. He was not. Tommy could wear armour, because it was made to keep him safe, and it was okay for him to use that without looking over his shoulder every time.
He reached out to grab his chestplate just to prove to himself he can, but he jerked his hand back like the metal he’d touched was on fire. He thought about the weight of it on his shoulders, and he couldn’t think of carrying it. Not now. Tomorrow morning – sure, he would be strong and loud and take on the world, because he was a big man. But now he felt like a little boy, who was lonely and just woke up from a nightmare that seemed way too real.
Tommy left the house with no armour on, wearing his usual clothes instead. He regretted it immediately. The night was cold as fuck, and the snow was hard and almost up to Tommy’s knees. With no sun to warm the air, the temperature was unbearably low. The only thing good about it was the way the cold sobered him up nearly instantly, distracting him from bad thoughts. Other than that, Tommy hated everything about it.
After barely three minutes of freezing his arse off, he considered his head cleared enough to return to the house. No matter how much he didn’t want to stay at the dark not quite finished building, there was nothing else he could do, and he really didn’t want to die of pneumonia. He turned around in the snow, resigning himself to a sleepless night to avoid another nightmare, when he noticed that the windows in Techno’s house were still lit up. He hesitated for a moment, but… he just really didn’t want to be alone right now. If Techno didn’t tell him to fuck off right away, maybe he could convince the man to let him sit on the first floor with the torches. Maybe Techno was just tired enough to not bother with fighting him about it.
Just as he decided to make his way to the house, he heard the creak of an opening door.
”Tommy? What are you doing there?”
Techno’s voice was rough with sleep, and the glasses on his face were skewed. He probably fell asleep working again and forgot to take them off. Tommy shrugged in reply, trying to stop his teeth from chattering.
”Just… taking a stroll, you know. The weather’s p-perfect.”
Techno sighed so loudly Tommy heard it clearly.
”Come on in, I’ve just gotten the fire going.”
Well, he didn’t even have to whine at him. Kind of boring, now that he thought about it.
The warmth of the room hit him right in the face, and every muscle in his body immediately started unwinding. He hadn’t noticed just how tense he’s been until he slumped onto the floor under the window and threw his hand back against the wall. Techno slammed the door shut and climbed to the second floor without another word. Tommy crushed the feeling of disappointment, focusing on the warmth and the comfort and the fact that Techno let him stay at all. That should have been enough. And it was enough. It was.
Something soft and heavy landed on his shoulders, and Tommy definitely didn’t scream like a baby. He raised his head in surprise and saw Techno standing over him, his face betraying no emotion. Tommy took a glance at his shoulder, and saw a white and red woolen cloak.
”How many of those cloaks do you have..?” Tommy asked absently, rubbing the fabric between his fingers.
”Enough,” Techno answered, “What happened to the one I gave you last time?”
Tommy planned on laughing it off, deflecting the question with the joke, but he was too sleepy and comfortable to lie.
”I burned it,” he said with raw honesty in his voice, “just because Dream implied that he wanted me to. Oh, also, I fucking hated you back then.”
Techno sat down next to him, and something in his knee cracked with the motion. Tommy sniggered, a moment too late.
”And you don’t now?” Tommy looked at him incomprehensively. “Hate me, I mean.”
Tommy just grumbled and closed his eyes.
”’Course I do. Just… not as much, I guess. You’re not as shitty as I thought you were.”
”Better than Dream?”
”Anyone’s better than Dream.”
Gradually, Tommy slipped into that weird state that you go into just before falling asleep, where everything’s duller and quieter and just a touch happier. His head tilted to the side and felt something solid but warm under his cheek. He felt like his brain was way too mushy to try and figure out what it was. He just knew that he warm and he was safe, there was no one but him and Technoblade… right, Techno. Techno was there. His brother, next to him, just like before. Had he ever even left?
”You know,” Tommy mumbled, barely opening his mouth, “you’re a… horrible bastard. But… but you’re a pretty fucking okay brother.”
Things change and twist in the sleepy haze, reality borrowing fragments and sounds from dreams. But sometimes, dreams take note of reality as well. And in his dream, Tommy was almost sure he heard Techno say,
”I think you’re not a bad brother, yourself. Goodnight, Tommy. No more bad dreams.”