Work Text:
“I’m not going to ask again, Tommy. Put your things in the pit.”
“No, Dream! I worked hard for this shit, and I'm not going to do it because of some green bast-” He was cut off by a sharp smack that echoed across the empty beaches, and he looked up at Dream in disbelief. He was still standing impassively over the teen, like he didn't just hit him.
“Armor in the hole, don't make me do something worse.” His voice was cold, and Tommy scrambled to shove his stuff in that god forsaken pit, hands shaking as they unclasped his leather chestplate, practically throwing it at Dream’s feet.
He was crying, Tommy realized numbly as he felt tears track down his face in the cool evening air. It was forgotten though, lost in the deafening boom of the dynamite Dream ignited. The man stood steady with a match in his hand while Tommy flew back, landing hard in the sand. Dream only laughed, shoulders shaking as he looked down at him.
“You see this, Tommy? This is what happens when you don’t listen to me.”
-
Staring into the ocean, Tommy felt nothing. The waves washed over his feet, soaking his clothes, soaking him as the sun dipped below the horizon. He could begin to hear the mobs, clicking and hissing in the forest only a few hundred yards away. It wasn’t safe, he knew, but there was no use defending himself if everything was just gonna go to shit in the morning, yeah?
“Tommy? Tommy, where are you?” Ghostburs voice floated across the surf, and he raised his head slowly to find Wilbur’s otherworldly counterpart staring down at him, with furrowed brows and a tilted head.
“Tommy, why are you out here? It’s so cold , and- you don’t look too well, would you like some blue?” His voice was like an anchor, and Tommy grasped it as he pulled himself out of the depths of his thoughts. He brushed the sand off his pants and began to make the trek back to his tent with Ghostbur by his side, rambling about one thing or another as the night grew cold.
He was suddenly hit by hunger so intense that he grimaced from where he was laying down on his cot. Ghostbur was long gone, and a small part of Tommy wondered when he had begun to space out for such big gaps of time. The hunger wasn’t physical, although his stomach was empty, it was more of a desire. Ghostbur, while being very friendly, could never come close to wilbur.
They were like opposites, Wilbur spun an intricate story with his words while Ghostbur stumbled over them. Ghostbur would dumbly smile at any new person he met, but Wilbur would keep himself guarded, possessively drawing those he loved close. Tommy missed it, and Prime he would give everything to get it back.
He fell asleep crying that night. It wasn’t the first time.
(it wouldn’t be the last.)
-
The beach’s sand wassoft from where he walked on it, a smile on his face as he waited for people to show up to his beach party. Tommy had written out the invitations and sent them out weeks before to almost everybody on the server, and prepared so many things for the party. It was hard work, but it would all be worth it in the end, when he got to reunite with everyone again after so many weeks of being alone.
Dream was waiting with him, and he slowly grew more anxious as morning turned to afternoon. Was there a problem with the invitations? Did they not get them? He voiced this to Dream, and the man shrugged before turning away, facing the beach.
“I don’t know, Tommy. Maybe they just didn’t want to come.” Tommy’s heart dropped at the sentence, fists curling as his face twisted. Of course they didn’t want to come, it was so stupid of him to think that he could ever act normal with them in the first place.
(But.. weren’t they his friends?)
-
Staring out into the endless expanse of the magma, Tommy watched the lava shift beneath him. It would be so easy to just… jump , and he took a step closer to the edge as he contemplated it. The nether’s heat enveloped him, hot and humid. He didn’t know where Dream won't, and franky he could care less. That prick had been hurting him for weeks, and Tommy would’ve killed him 10 times over if it wasn’t for the fact that he was the only person who ever visited him.
Suddenly a hand was at his throat, throwing him back onto the stone path above the lake. Dream was towering above him, and he was shaking. Tommy wished not for the first time that he could see the other’s emotions behind that mask, so he wouldn’t feel so fucking afraid right now.
“It’s not your time to die, Tommy.” His voice was monotone, and he offered a hand to Tommy as he began to get up. He brushed it off, walking away from Dream into the nether.
“It’s never my time to die.”
-
Tommy was shaking like a leaf as he placed rock after rock on his makeshift tower, rising himself up into the sky, far away from Logstedshire. After what felt like hours (but what was in reality minutes) he took a break, sitting with his knees to his chest as the tower swayed precariously. Tommy hadn’t taken precautions or added support, it would've been a blessing if he died by the tower’s collapse rather than his own hand.
Looking into the raining sky, he realized there was no one left. Wilbur wasn’t there to talk him down, Dream wasn’t there to drag him away. He was truly free, and Tommy would’ve smiled if he didn’t feel so alone . Standing up, he sighed, before looking down. It was a dizzying height, and he lost his footing as he shot through the sky, heading straight for the ground.
Tommy angled himself for the lake at the last second, and hoped it would be enough as he lost consciousness.
-
Techno was riding through the tundra with Carl when he heard deafening explosions come from the west, and rerouted his course to check it out. He wasn’t planning on doing much anyways, but sent a quick message to Phil telling him he might be late for dinner. The man was staying at his house for a few nights while they repaired his, damaged by some mobs.
He realized they were nearing the beach Tommy was exiled to, and narrowed his eyes as they slowed down amidst the carnage. There were pits in the sand from explosions, and the remains of a tent. He slid off Carl slowly, grabbing the hilt of his sword as he made his way through the beach.
Techno still didn’t see any sign of Tommy, but what he did see was a large cobblestone tower, reaching past the treetops and the clouds. It was only one stone in width, and he cursed under his breath as he walked closer. If Tommy had built this.. there was only one way down. He hadn’t seen any death messages yet, so maybe TOmmy was still up there?
Techno threw down his gear, ready to climb, but was stopped by a low grown that came from a small pond nearby. He thought it was a mob, but the hint of his brother’s white-blond hair sent him sprinting to the water, dragging his too small body out from the water. Chat was going wild, but they would have to wait.
Techno pulled Tommy close to his chest, wrapping him in his red cloak to try and dry the kid off a little bit. He was shaking, but so was Techno.
“Tommy, stay with me,
please
.”