Chapter Text
Tommy had never stepped foot outside the Bunker before.
Okay, well, maybe that was a bit of a lie, but he couldn't let Dream know that.
Correction: Tommy had never been allowed to step foot outside the Bunker before. That didn't mean he hadn't.
Tommy had been outside the underground home before, but only when his older brother, Dream, wasn't home. Tommy had swum in real, above-ground water before, and eaten above-ground berries. But he'd never spent more than about an hour outside, and never when Dream was home. Dream wasn't trying to be controlling, Tommy knew that- but sometimes, all of Dream's rules just became suffocating. Tommy didn't want to swim in the dirty, warm, underground watering hole. He didn't want to eat dusty berries that Dream had picked and preserved weeks ago. But he did- because Tommy knew it was for his safety.
Tommy startled at the sound of wind whistling outside the windows in the ceiling, yanking him out of his thoughts and back to reality. He looked up to the one directly above him and bathed in the warm sunlight and cool breeze that carried through the little holes punched in the clear plastic sheets that covered the open windows. Tommy stood from where he was sitting on the ground in his bedroom, surrounded by crude drawings of trees and grass and little animals. He sighed, remembering what day it was. It was April 4, five days before his birthday. Tommy knew he wouldn't be able to see the huge stars that came out every year on the night of his birthday. If he wasn't even allowed outside, then how could he expect to be allowed to go to the capital of the Antarctic Empire? It was fine, Tommy had given up on that dream years ago... mostly.
"Tommy! Dinner's ready!" Tommy jumped as he heard Dream's voice from down the hall, outside his bedroom door.
"Coming, Dream!" Tommy yelled back, slipping on his red sweatshirt over his single large black wing, allowing it to slip through one of the cuts on the back of the hoodie. He pulled his long hair out of the back of the hoodie, tucking it into a loose ponytail. Despite it being spring, living underground was cold, even with his thickly feathered wing. He’d lost the other in an accident when he was too young to remember, and all that remained of it was large burn scars crawling up his back. Tommy left his room and made his way down the hall, past Dream's bedroom door and the bathroom door, before emerging in the kitchen and dining area. There, he found Dream, sporting his bright green sweatshirt and jeans, scooping some bacon onto a plate.
"Really? Bacon for dinner?" Tommy asked incredulously. Dream turned around to face Tommy, a grin on his freckled face.
"Bacon is good for any meal. And besides, I also made some hard-boiled eggs," Dream replied, motioning to the table where there was already a plate of hard-boiled eggs sitting. Their shells were already peeled off of them, and they smelled very good combined with the bacon smell.
Tommy smiled back. "Fine, fine, I guess this isn't too bad."
Tommy sat in his seat while Dream carried the plate of bacon over and sat in the other, placing the plate in the middle of the small table next to the eggs. Tommy snatched a piece of bacon off the plate as soon as it was placed, earning a look of amusement from Dream as the blond shoved it into his mouth. "You can slow down, you know," Dream laughed, picking up his piece of bacon. "No one's gonna take the food away from you."
Tommy glared at Dream, a hard-boiled egg shoved halfway into his mouth. “ummfh hfftkmmfl ee unefff,” Tommy tried to reply around the egg.
Dream laughed. "Chew and swallow before talking!" he scolded lightheartedly. Tommy groaned and nodded, biting off the half of the egg already in his mouth, dropping the other half onto the plate. He chewed the egg quickly before swallowing.
"I said, I have to eat fast otherwise there'll be none left!" Tommy exclaimed with faux-anger. "You always eat all the bacon!" Dream laughed at the remark, and after a second, so did Tommy. The rest of dinner went quickly, lots of jokes and laughs were exchanged as the two brothers ate.
As the sun went down, Tommy cleaned up the remains of dinner while Dream polished his armor and weapons. As Tommy wiped off the surface of the table with a wet towel, he decided to ask Dream for something big.
"Hey, Dream?" Tommy started.
"Yeah?" Dream looked up from his shiny ax, nearly done with it.
"You know how it's my birthday in a few days?" Tommy made sure not to look in Dream's direction as he set the plates in the sink and started running the warm water. He could almost feel Dream's eyes boring into him as if knowing exactly what Tommy was going to say next. When Dream said nothing, Tommy continued. "I thought of what I'd like to do for my present."
Tommy couldn't see it, but Dream narrowed his eyes at the mention of 'wanting to do something. "Yeah?" Dream said again, to show he was still listening.
There was a slight silence as Tommy thought about how to phrase his request.
"I want to go to the capital to see the big stars."