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There were 184 stars on Tommy’s ceiling. He was willing to bet money that there were supposed to be 185 stars, because why would there only be 184? But when he asked Wilbur about it, Wilbur simply smiled and changed the topic.
Tommy was laying in bed, it was 3am and he was unable to sleep. He had already counted the 184 stars 7 times that night. A part of him wanted to count them all one more time, but he knew the number, so it would be anticlimactic.
The longer he stayed there in the dark, the louder his thoughts became. Going from quiet whispers as he counted the stars for the 3rd time, to loud overlapping voices by the 7th. He couldn’t ignore them, couldn’t push away his thoughts any longer. They were so intense that Tommy couldn’t move. Couldn’t stop the constant onslaught of thoughts and worries, fears and stress and panic and-
And he couldn’t breathe. He was stuck under a thousand pounds of weight and he couldn’t breathe. The air was thick and suffocating, laying heavily over Tommy, crushing him and preventing him from moving.
He was going to die. He was going to die without saying goodbye to Phil, without thanking him for everything. Without hugging Wilbur and listening to him sing one more time, without smiling at Techno while the two of them pestered Wilbur.
Techno.
He had to be awake, right? Heaven only knows how awful Techno’s sleep schedule was. He had to be awake and doing something at 3.
Tommy ripped off his blankets, heaving and panting, hurrying to Techno’s door while trying to see despite the blurry spots that clouded his vision.
He knocked quietly and sharply, before turning the knob and stumbling into Techno’s room without waiting for an answer.
“I- Tommy? Are you o-” Techno began to ask, moving his chair away from his desk. Quickly stopping his question as Tommy collapsed onto his lap.
Tommy felt Techno stiffen and quickly started to try and move away.
“Sorry, sorry. Know you don’t like when- don’t like touch- sorry. Techno, Tech. I can’t- Techie.” Tommy gasped and wailed, trying to muffle his noise as he pushed himself from Techno’s lap and landed hard on the floor.
Techno felt his heart ache as he dropped to his knees on the ground next to Tommy.
“Hey, hey. Tommy it’s alright, you’re gonna be okay bud. I promise.” Techno pulled Tommy onto his lap and quickly pressed a hand to the boy’s chest.
“You’re doing so good kiddo, I’m so proud of you,” Techno murmured into Tommy’s hair, trying desperately to help the sobbing teen on his lap.
“I need you to breathe with me, okay? I want you to breathe deep enough to move my hand.”
Tommy took a shuddering breath, pausing a few times as his breathing hitched and he bit back a sob.
“There you go!” Techno praised, taking a few deep breaths to help Tommy out.
“Thanks. Sorry.” Tommy said roughly between breathing, “I didn’t mean to bother you.”
“You’re never a bother Tommy.” Techno began, pausing for a second to take a deep breath to help the trembling boy in his arms before continuing. “Sure, I might not always know what to do, and I probably don’t give as good of hugs as Wil, but you’re never a bother. I’ll always be here for you.”
Tommy lifted a shaking hand to lightly (and affectionately) shove at Techno’s shoulder.
“Shut up jerk, I’ll cry on you.”
“You’re already crying on me.”
“Shut up!”
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
There were 184 stars on Tommy’s ceiling. Tommy was laying in bed, it was 2:34am and he was unable to sleep. It felt strangely familiar, minus the overwhelming panic of course.
Tommy couldn’t help the grimace that showed on his face and the overwhelming sense of embarrassment as he thought of that night. Techno had assured him that it was fine, but Tommy couldn’t remember falling into Techno’s arms and waking up in his bed without feeling guilty and foolish.
However, as Tommy laid in bed at 2:35am, the reminder that Techno was also awake and willing to keep him company was floating around in his head.
“If you’re ever awake at night and needing some company, I’m right down the hall. You understand?” Techno had said rather gently the day after Tommy had come crashing into the room.
With Techno’s voice in his head, Tommy decided he was tired of laying alone in bed and was going to acquire some company
He knocked softly on the door, this time waiting for Techno to respond before opening the door and peeking inside.
Techno sat on his bed, laptop on a pillow on his lap as he sat with his back to his headboard. He glanced at the door when Tommy opened it, and the boy watched as Techno’s face changed from slightly worried to relieved when he realized Tommy was perfectly fine.
“What in the world are you doing? It’s like 3 in the morning” Techno asked, moving his laptop to the side.
“I’ve come to acquire company” Tommy stated matter of factly, walking across the room and draping himself over the older’s legs. “Also it’s only 2:30.”
“Are you even aware what the word acquire means? I’m not sure that’s the right one for this situation.”
“Techno” Tommy says, holding the last letter and ignoring the question. “The sky’s awake, so I’m awake.”
Techno sighs good-naturedly “so we have to play.”
“So we have to play!”
“You’re lucky I like you, child.”
Tommy gave him a grin and draped an arm over his face.
“Whatever shall we do, Technoblade? It’s 2:30 and the threats of boredom are quickly approaching.
“Oh my gosh child. Get off my legs and I’ll show you what we’ll do.” Tommy quickly scurried off Techno’s legs, not missing the small smile he cracked as Tommy wriggled and squirmed.
Techno gave a sarcastic nod, rolling his eyes. “Elegant.”
“Thank you.”
With a smile, Techno walked to his closet and grabbed a sweater, shoving one over his head and tossing another to Tommy who caught it just barely.
“What’re you doing?” Tommy asked curiously.
Techno hushed him, “follow me.”
Techno quickly unlocked his window, popping out his screen and setting it to the side. He climbed out and hopped onto the garage roof.
“You coming?” He asked, leaning his head back in through the window to look at Tommy.
Tommy’s face lit up with a grin as he nodded quickly. “Right behind you!”
The two of them climbed up to the top of the garage roof, Techno glancing back to check on Tommy every few seconds.
“Please don’t fall. Dad’ll kill me if I let you fall off the roof.” Techno said as he turned back to see Tommy raising his eyebrows at him.
“Don’t worry. Death is a social construct. I’m better.” Tommy responded, prompting Techno to wheeze and shake his head.
“Okay Tommy, okay.” Techno sat down on the peak of the garage roof, laying down on his back and patting the spot beside him.
Tommy quickly followed suit, laying down and staring up at the sky.
“Whoa..” He whispered softly. “That’s a lot more than 184.”
“184?”
“There are 184 stars on my ceiling, Technoblade. And the sky has more than 184.”
“Oh indeed. There are trillions of stars up there. Trillions of balls of hydrogen and helium. Isn’t it amazing?”
“Yeah.” Tommy still whispered, in awe of the sheer amount of light in the sky.
“I think it’s amazing how people looked at those stars, those balls of hydrogen and helium that lit up their skies, and they found stories of the gods.” Techno said in an equal whisper, in love with the stars he knew so much about.
“Techie?” Tommy asked softly, making Techno’s heart melt a little.
“Hm?”
“Will you tell me stories of the gods?”
“Of course Toms. Do you see that brighter star there? The one next to the cluster of dimmer ones? Do you see how there are three stars next to that one? They create a diamond type shape.” Techno pointed out the stars, Tommy wiggling and laying his head on Techno’s chest as he nodded.
“Yeah I see them.”
“Those four stars create the head of Delphinus. A dolphin of the gods. The tail is that star down to the right of the diamond. Delphinus was the messenger for the Greek god Poseidon, sent to find a nymph by the name of Amphitrite. She had left-”
Tommy listened to Techno speak, his low voice calming Tommy and finally allowing sleep to creep closer. He forced his eyes open however, because the stories of the gods were more important than a good night’s rest.
So there they sat, learning of the stories in the skies, all the way until the sun started to rise beyond the mountain side, hiding the stars for another day.