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Punz trudged their body through the grassy field, hiking their feet against the ground and wiping the sweat on their forehead as they walked up the hill. Beside their waist was a red-and-white checkered picnic blanket. Cresting a smile as they finally reached the top, they then twitched their face to the bottom, waving softly at someone—or something— approaching.
White clouds decorated the blue as a green robot followed behind, his shadow trailing upon a hill with a clear sky. As his appearance became clearer, Punz's smile grew wider. Their eyes soften at it. Admittedly, they never considered to be in love with a fucking robot, yet here they were.
Though, they couldn't say Sam Nook wasn't cute. His little antics always cheered them up a bit, or perhaps his robotic voice cleared away every piece of worry in their minds. Once Sam Nook was in the picture, he would stay in that damn picture for several days until something else bothered them.
"Nook, c'mon!" They prodded, tone bouncing off their feet as they sat cross-legged on the checkered fabric. Sam Nook had just finished setting up the picnic food when they shouted that. Punz let his gaze fall on him as they worked, squinting their eyes as their lips fidget beamingly. God, Nook was so cute.
PUNZ, DO NOT WORRY. I AM ALMOST FINISHED WITH THE SET. Nook said, his robotic voice beeping through Punz's ears.
"Aha, I'm not worried. I'm just excited," exclaimed Punz. It was true that they were excited even if his date partner was a talking mechanic Sam built for Tommy. But nonetheless, they were delighted. Having Sam Nook on a picnic date filled them with warmth regardless of anyone's words.
Speaking of, where was Tommy? Perhaps Dream too since Punz hadn't seen them before Sam Nook invited them on a date.
Dread filled inside his stomach as though forcing him to puke it out. Tommy heeled as he screamed. Face scrounging for any hint of safety, particularly from someone. The glee from the man behind said otherwise as he laughed. And Tommy knew he was fucking enjoying this.
"Tommyyy!!!" He mocked, barely hiding the giddy plating his tongue to their attempt of requiring him to come. "Come 'ere, Tommy!" Tommy couldn't even see what was ahead with his blurry vision.
Oh, that fucker was definitely enjoying this.
"Leave me alone!" But Tommy knew it was useless to say such a thing. His mind was swinging in every direction, longing for something to hold on to. The branches on the trees always snickered behind him as they scarred his arms. The red always reminded him of worse times.
No, no, fuck!
He pulled his hair, eyes going damp as his stomach dropped, crying out without looking in his direction when a large oak tree was about to—
Tommy's forehead hit the wood, and he fell backward.
His shaking body met the rough, hard ground as Tommy grunted, eyeing at the leaves before gently touching the spot on his head where he was hit. He winced, both at his forehead and the hysterical fit of bubbled laughter that irritated his ears.
"Fuck- that was hilarious, oh my- Tommy!" The man proceeded to cackle louder. Tommy groaned, lifting himself up and swiping the dirt off his pants. His pupils shrunk when a sword swung directly at him. Shrieking, he then continued to run.
The boy scorned, "Fuck you, man!"
Dream paid no attention and chose to countlessly utter Tommy's name, audible enthusiasm inside.
"Do you like tea, Sam Nook?" They muttered, pouring brown-coloured water into a white, small cup. Punz glanced at him, seemingly trying to think of an answer.
MY BODY IS PROGRAMMED TO PROTECT THE THING THAT MATTERED TO SAM. He jabbered, WHICH IS TOMMYINNIT. THEREFORE, I DO NOT QUALIFY FOR ANY NEEDS FOR CONSUMABLES.
The answer made a frown to Punz. "You haven't even tried it out yet." They leaned at a tree, resting his head against the wood as they breathed out a heavy sigh, eyes softly narrowing at the robot. "I think that the thing about a hot tea is that it's not about the taste. It's about keeping you company."
DON'T YOU HAVE ME, PUNZ? Nook tilted his head. UNLESS I AM NO COMPANY TO YOU, THEN THAT'S OKAY.
"Wha- no, no! I didn't say you weren't my company!" They panicked, shaking their hands. "Honestly," Punz smiled, "you're a hotter company than some shit tea."
The robot made a strange beeping noise before arranging away, holding its face. "Wait- are you blushing?" They didn't even know if robots could blush. But Sam Nook was exceptional, presumably.
NO, FALSE. Nook said, like a liar.
"Aww, Sam! You're blushing!"
PUNZ, I AM NOT BLUSHING.
Punz giggled, "Then tell me why your LED lights are doing… that?"
The tiny LEDs on Sam Nook's face were flashing on and off, the gas mask Sam had designed on the robot was covered by Nook's hands. The man in white kept chuckling, softness blending in their tone.
Oh, fuck whatever they were thinking about the awkward stem of the idea of going on a date with a robot. This was beautiful. How they wished it would never end.
"OHH, TOMMYYY!!!"
Dream taunted with his playful tone, setting the teen to more and more into panic mode as if he wasn't already hectic with his mind. A moment passed, and he eventually noticed a clearing of a field. He gasped, relieved. Tommy's legs were weak and couldn't expectantly get magically better. But with the sight of the particular end, he might have to force himself to run faster.
Ignoring the mocking statements that won't leave his mind, Tommy jumped. Landing as he proceeded. The clearing became closer and closer, and the dark, at last, came to an end when he finally reached the end.
Muttering swear words of joyfulness, he reminded himself it wasn't over. He pressed to his knees, almost falling, reminding himself that Dream hadn't left. He couldn't celebrate his victory yet. Though, there must be someone around here, right?
He was so tired.
Fuck it, he could rest when Dream wasn't on his fucking tail.
Tommy ran through the field plagued with grass in the false hope of his eventual rescue.
"I've never thought of it, but the clouds are really blocky."
They stared upon the cloudy sky, both arms crossed behind their head with the robot sitting beside them. Their shoulders were touching each other. Cold metal set firmly against the man.
Sam Nook took Punz's gaze and stared at the sky before replying, I DO CONSIDER THAT NORMAL.
"Well, yeah." Punz giggled, "But have you ever thought of them like… not blocky?"
Nook tilted his head. NO? WHAT KIND OF CLOUDS ARE BETTER THAN BLOCKY?
"Pfft- Okay, fair."
They broke into a burst of light laughter. Sam Nook's laugh might only have an eerie, peculiar, or somewhat vibrating tone. Still, it was mostly the same as beautiful music to their ears. Punz placed a palm on their chin, tapping against their skin as the chuckles calmed down.
Nook's robotic raccoon ears were sprucing with emotions, Punz had noticed. Yet they chose to let the fact consume their head and continue to stare at the sky with blocky clouds. The man closed their eyes, breathing a mere sigh as their nerves relaxed.
Frankly, Punz was going to spend the next minute sharing a comfortable silence with their current favourite person in the world when all of a sudden they heard screaming from a distance.
They perked up, sitting rather strict and changing views to look at the source of what just ruined their perfect moment.
Two figures, one slightly taller than the other. The tall one was holding an axe as they chased the- oh.
"Fuuuck… damn it, not again."
Punz rolled their eyes, face-palming while the robot shook his head as he peered to their side for an answer.
…WAS THAT TOMMYINNIT?
Sam Nook pointed at the screaming figure.
"Yeah, don't worry about them. They do that a lot."
Tommy exhales, being too loud for his own ears, too loud even. Head spinning and nearly turning down with the amount of ache it had. Dream didn't look like he was going to stop soon. Thoughts of giving up started to appear inside his tiring, dizzy head. Fate gave him mercy as he stumbled upon a stone hillside.
He paused, catching his own breath with his hands on his knees. He forced his focus to the very top of the mound. That looked tiring to climb. But did he have a choice?
"Aww, dead-end?"
The voice emerging from his back reminded him that he did have a choice.
Pretending he hadn't heard Dream, Tommy closed his eyes, going stiff as if that would happen to help the situation he was in. He raised his arms in surrender, trying to stabilize his balance while his feet wore him out. He turned around. "Alright, yo-you win, big man."
Dream's wheezing was pestering. He wished he would've been knocked out already so he could never hear that annoying laugh ever again.
"It's a dead end. You have nowhere to go. Unless you're willing to climb that huge rocky mountain over there."
"I-I already said you win, jeez. Are your ears fucking with you today?" Terror still spilled from his mouth, yet he brushed it aside.
The man stayed silent, green controlling eyes fixating on him. His mask was already broken when he first saw him from Logstedshire. Long ago, Tommy was always curious about what was behind the cover. Still, now he preferred seeing the smiley mask rather than his overbearing face.
At least he didn't get to see his crazed, unhinged expression before.
"Alright then, let's go back." Dream offered a hand, proposing a smile. Tommy had a plan. When he was screaming, he previously recalled people on top of the hill. Though Tommy didn't get a clear sign of who the two figures were, he could at least try running to them.
So he bit his lip, hand much likely motionless yet trembling by how much his heart was pounding. Tommy stammered, "Okay, I'll go. I'll go..."
Dream seemed to buy the act when he inserted his hand inside his pocket, the weapon dissolving into the air as he turned back. Trying to retrieve his memory of the former hill, the boy glanced to his right. He sighed, slackening his body with relaxation and walking faster than Dream.
Preparing to run, he then shouted wholeheartedly, "but catch me FIRST BITCH-"
"No."
Tommy was immediately tackled to the ground, body crashing down and face colliding onto the grass. Tasting a bit of dirt on his mouth, he winced at both when Dream forcibly twisted his arms. "Fuck- stop, stop!"
He trilled, imagining Dream's smirk twirling on his senses. The only sounds accompanying the silence were his frantic gasps and the swishing trees. The man heaved.
"Look," he began, "I'm tired, and you're tired. Yet what did you do instead of listening?" He lowered down to Tommy's head, whispering, "You lied to my face."
Tommy scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You're not wrong."
A beat.
"I'm glad you know it."
The teen tried to shake his head, uselessly waving his hands to somehow break free and slowly moving his head to get a better sight. His attention was quickly switched as he heeded a metal clashing in his hearing.
Curious, despite not being in a friendly mood, he asked, "wh-what was that?"
His question remained unanswered as Dream didn't give him any hint of responding.
The position he was in was starting to hurt a little. Pretty sure this would damage his limbs bending in the wrong way soon by how much his owner was taking his sweet, affordable time.
Tommy screeched as whatever was sharper than a knife jabbing inside his leg, twisting inside the flesh. It was only then Dream stood up, letting Tommy fall to more comfortable stead.
"What the fuck, man?!" Tommy coughed before continuing, "Fuck you! You piece of shi-" He couldn't comprehend his own words when he started spitting out thick coughs. "Wouldn't want you running away, right?"
He was used to it, used to the pain. Probably the reason why he wasn't audibly whining despite the pain exploding through his veins. Or perhaps Dream just poured something on his leg. Either way, he disliked the way he was resisting his physical ache.
Tommy gave out a timid glare to Dream, to which the man replied with a sly grin. "Fuck you, bitch." Tommy wailed weakly, unbothered to put strength to his tone.
"Okay, Tommy."
"I think this is our best date yet," Punz said as they folded the fabric, eyes glimpsing at the robot. Nook laughed by that, less of a laugh and more of a peculiar, lifeless noise. Though, Sam Nook was anything but uneventful.
THIS IS OUR FIRST DATE, PUNZ.
"Okay, but you can't admit that it wasn't the best time of your life," they smirked.
Nook wavered his voice at it, a hint of a laugh. The picnic set was already cleaned. The robot quickly lifted himself, gazing at Punz, who followed his move. BEFORE WE GO, I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU.
Confused, Punz asked, "you can tell me anything."
PUNZ, he grabbed their hands, ears shaking in excitement and locking his sight at them. Leaves from the tree started to fall as the wind lightly pushed the both, fidgeting their feet. Punz stared back.
I L—
His computer eyes snapped shut before the robot could finish, body abruptly stopping its motion.
"Sam?" Punz said, still confused. "Hey, are you-"
They looked over to the battery symbol. It was red.
"Oh, damn IT!" They kicked into the air, Nook stayed still. Screaming into the sky, they groaned. "He was gonna say he loves me. Do you hate me that much, universe?!"
The wind seemed as though it had stopped. As if the dramatized moment was quickly put to an end. Which was reasonably well timed considering Punz almost got what they wanted until the unfortunate timing of Nook's battery running out. They were pissed.
"Hey."
Punz jumped, though quickly relaxing once he realized who it was. "Damn it, Dream," they groaned, rubbing their eyes. "I was having a moment."
Dream laughed, "Yes, I figured."
Punz took a closer look at him and, once again realizing he was carrying the kid in a bridal style, seemingly passed out. He frowned out of curiosity whether Dream did something to him or if it was an accident. Most likely the latter.
Tommy wasn't exactly covered in red as Punz would've expected. There was still blood, though only located on his leg, and the wound appeared to be already treated. Tommy's face was buried on Dream's. Punz ignored the glinting, dark faded eyes Dream had as the man stared at him.
"Is he, uh…?" They pointed their finger, gesturing at the boy. Dream's chuckles turned giddy. "Don't worry, he's fine. We had a little… thing that went down."
They knew he avoided giving them context, so they didn't push it. Instead, they furrowed their eyebrows and asked, crossing their arms, "Did you have fun?"
The expression on Dream's face was, to say, surprising. But this wasn't the first time Dream offered him that. Content with blossoms as he held Tommy tighter.
"I'm glad you asked, Punz," he gazed at Tommy, pursing his lips to a smile. "Yes, I did."
One might say the words that came out of his mouth were concerning. Punz was already used to it. They sighed, grabbing the picnic set to return it to the greater SMP and spotting the previously recalled unmoving robot. "Oh, shit, I forgot."
"What the hell is this?" Dream motioned his head at Sam Nook. "That's Sam Nook," Punz didn't notice the soft smile tugging on their lips when they mentioned the name. "Tommy's robot I accidentally fell in love with."
"Oh."
A silence.
"Anyways, I was thinking of- wait, did you just say you're in love with a fucking robot-"
Punz's ears went red. "That's none of your BUSINESS!"