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A gloomy atmosphere lingered in Business Bay. The teenagers just got out of the New Year's day war, their whole base, their home got destroyed in the process. The chest room was on fire, corpses of dead cows stretched across the bay, the stench disturbing the beautiful smell of blood-covered flowers.
Deo just finished fixing their wheat farm with Bitzel. His hands were shaking, and his breath was shallow. His hands were dirty and bruised as he kneeled in the wet soil, staining his suit.
"Thanks for helping." The younger brunette sighed in satisfaction. Deo gave a smile, the corners of his mouth quivering slightly. There was something he just knew was coming his way.
"Deo!"
The mentioned suppressed a flinch.
There it was.
"Can we have a word? Come to your house."
Before Deo could even respond, Tommy was already up and gone by the meetup place. For a second, Deo looked back at Bitzel, eyes shielded behind sunglasses pleading. Wishing Bitzel would say something, need him for something to help. But of course, he didn't. None of them knew about what was going on behind closed doors. This was a thing between him and Tommy, and nobody else.
"Okay, see you later, Deo!" With a smile so unknowing, Bitzel stood up from the farm. He let the older brunette say his quiet, monotone goodbye before leaving.
Deo watched as pleadings bubbled up in his throat, but he didn't let them out. Instead, he just stood up as well and walked to his dark oak house with his tail between his legs.
He entered the one-room building after putting away his armour. Inside, he saw Tommy without armour as well, tapping his foot. A wave of nausea overcame Deo at that moment as his heartbeat quickened.
When the teen noticed his older friend, he motioned to his bunk bed.
"Sit down,"
Before Deo did though, his hands gripped onto his pants, the texture of dirt and wet soil feeling gross in his hands.
"I'm- I just fixed the farm, I'm gonna make it dirty-"
"Don't care, just sit down."
And Deo did. In his head, he counted to ten. Sometimes it helped him with his breathing, but he didn't have a method that would work 100% every time.
"What were you thinking?" Tommy's voice was low, but it caught Deo off guard anyway. His eyes darted up, but his head stayed low.
"We just went to visit Pete cus he invited us- I said to stay on guard, sure, but you didn't have to steal his stuff when he died!"
The fact that Deo was told to steal it by Tommy went unsaid.
"God, you're lucky I managed to fish you out of that ocean, or else you would've been left at Wisp's mercy."
That hurt... Not that it wasn't the truth, but the image of Tommy leaving him to die in the ocean was one that was so scary. Well, he was left to fight alone multiple times before this, but the difference was that before, he had a chance of winning. This time it was impossible.
"Now Business Bay is in ruins, just because you were being hot-headed."
"You told me to not give anything back," Deo raised his head to look at Tommy, a hint of vigilance in his voice. "And you told me to kill Sylvee too, when she was giving me stuff--"
"It wasn't an order! I just pointed out she was vulnerable, and you took it one step forward and murdered her. She was being so nice to you, she literally wanted to give you gear!"
Sylvee doesn't have a chest plate, you could kill her.
Deo did feel horrible about that, the guilt was still squeezing his chest. The guilt from this whole thing was. He didn't know why he had done it, Tommy just put the thought in his head, and his hands got to work; Killing that poor girl who was offering to make him a full set of armour.
"So don't try to shift the blame onto me, Deo. You're the one who seeks any opportunity to kill people at any given moment.”
The brunette's head lowered in submission once again after that. He bit his lip as this familiar, sick feeling pounded in his chest. Tommy talked to him about manners and obedience when he first joined this faction as he knew the older's thirst for action and blood. All this time has passed since then, and Deo let Tommy down again.
All he wanted was just to follow Tommy's lead and make him satisfied and happy... He was the leader after all. Was doing what he was told a bad thing all along?
"I never know what you're thinking when you do the things that you do. Do you think about us at all? How it'll affect all of us in the long run? Have you seen what they have done to Business Bay??"
Deo noticed Tommy standing right in front of him, he saw his shoes. Then, a sharp backhand to his head made itself known. He took it with a quiet, surprised noise and internally pleaded this was the most physical Tommy was going to get with him tonight.
"And now I look like an idiot after the thing that Sylvee pulled. Now I'm left with a destroyed faction, no belongings and gear and a warrior that just insists on making my life so much harder-" Tommy sighed tiredly after that.
Deo wanted to say something against that, just whatever that could make the situation turn around, but that sudden confidence he got before went out. He didn't want to anger the blonde any further. This whole war was his fault anyway... It started with him stealing Pete's gear. Then the situation got progressively worse and worse. Like a snowball rolling down a hill.
"Do you not have anything to say for yourself?" Tommy's voice broke through the lonely silence. The tension was through the roof as Deo's eyes began to sting and his breath quickened.
"As always. You go on a rampage, and then I'm left having to clean up your mess. Because that's what good leaders do."
It's not what you do.
"Deo."
The older boy's form started shaking a little, fearing that his thought was vocal by accident.
"I want an apology."
The first tear made its way down Deo's cheek. He felt so bad and ashamed of himself he couldn't even put it into words.
But eventually, with a tiny whimper, the brunette croaked out a word.
"sorry..."
A hand gripped his shoulder. Obviously that wasn't enough.
"I can barely hear you. What did you say?"
"I'm sorry-"
"What? What are you sorry for?"
Another tear rolled down Deo's cheek. And another, and another. In seconds, his face became wet with his tears. This feeling was overwhelming. Now he felt like a child being scolded.
The hand lessened its grip on his shoulder and instead moved to grasp his sunglasses. Knowing he was about to be exposed and vulnerable like this only made his cries intensify. This was the one thing he wasn't comfortable with, and Tommy knew that too well.
"I'm- I'm sorry for causing the war, f-for- for stealing all the gear," He rambled as Tommy's hand still clutched his shades. Eventually though, the younger did take his sunglasses off with one quick motion.
The light was overwhelming to Deo's eyes. The eyes he hated seeing, those warm, reassuring honey-brown orbs.
He blinked, causing more tears to fall.
"Not that," Tommy's eyes were fixated on him. Carefully, he placed Deo's beloved sunglasses on his bedside table.
"What are you really sorry for, Deo"
It was silent for a moment, the brunette's eyes darting across his stone flooring.
"I- I'm sorry for destroying Business Bay, never listening, a-and… I'm sorry for making your life harder… I don't mean to," The last sentence was a mere whisper. He really didn't mean anything that he did. He loved Business Bay, they were his family, and Tommy was his best friend. Something he never had before back on Hypixel. He never ever wished to let harm come their way. He'd give his life for these kids…
He heard the one in front of him softly hum. Maybe Tommy was satisfied, maybe he could finally leave, and let Deo pretend this never happened.
But obviously, his hopes were all in vain.
"Look at me."
A meek whimper made it out of the older boy.
Without even protesting, he raised his head, presenting his tear covered face. His eyes were watery and big, his mouth pulled into a frown and his cheeks red. The image of himself he imagined was nowhere near close to how he looked right now. He always saw himself as a proud warrior, someone people fear. Yet right now, he was sitting in front of his younger best friend like a beaten dog.
The room fell quiet for a few more seconds before Tommy finally spoke again.
"Are you crying?"
He raised a brow. Was he confused? Nevertheless, Deo only cried harder, his stomach was beginning to hurt from all the guilt settling in. He felt light-headed.
"I'm sorry- I'm sorry, I'm sorry," He uttered over and over, letting the tears flow freely, feeling as if he needed to be allowed to wipe them away. More apologies fell from his lips as he started sobbing.
"Deo... Come on, quit that." Tommy's tone turned soft, comforting... Soon Deo felt another weight next to him. His vision was so blurry, that he couldn't tell what was happening. A pair of arms touched his body, and he flinched, but then the arms caught him again.
"Deo." Tommy's voice calmed Deo down a little. No one was hurting him, it was just Tommy. The blonde brought him close into a hug. A hug that should've felt comforting, but instead felt trapping. Only digging him further down this relationship he had with the faction leader. He accepted the hug though. He needed one so, so bad.
"You're okay," Tommy's fingers moved up to tangle themselves in the chocolate brown curls, and Deo melted.
"I know you don't mean what you do."
"I- I don't- I didn't mean to..."
"Shh, breathe, Deo."
The brunette took a few shuddering breaths through his nose, his exhales coming out with tiny noises. His hands still lay by his sides, shaking. He couldn't handle this trapping hug anymore, and his arms shot out to wrap themselves around his best friend.
At that moment, Tommy's behaviour seemed to change once again. The hand in Deo's hair slightly pulled on a few strands, and the brunette whined from the twinges of pain.
"We still suffer from your actions though, you realize that, right? The faction is vulnerable now because of you," Deo nodded without even thinking, he didn't need to. Tommy did the thinking for him. He decided who was in the wrong and who was in the right for him.
He was just so sorry. He didn't mean for this to happen. He didn't want this to happen. He played with fire and paid the price.
"I can't let you off easy after this, you're dangerous. I thought the talk I gave you when you joined me was enough, but clearly, I need to keep pushing you to be better."
Only now Deo realized what Tommy was saying. The blonde let go of him and held his shoulders to push him slightly away to create some distance.
"W- What do you mean-?"
"I mean, give me the key to your house. I'm gonna keep you here for some time, and then let you out."
Absolute terror filled Deo's glistening eyes.
"Wait, what?" His voice sounded so weak.
"You heard me. I'm gonna make it worse if you don't give it to me now."
Deo's mind raced from the obvious threat. He fumbled around his torn suit's pockets, before finally finding a key to his house. Hesitantly, he gave it to Tommy.
"Are you... Gonna come back for me?" Deo muttered out, physically holding himself back from jumping into Tommy's arms when the blonde got up from his bed. He gripped onto his bedsheets and watched as Tommy locked the door to his garden, before walking to Deo's chests. He pulled out a few old suit banners that the brunette used to decorate his house with before. Deo didn't understand why he had taken those.
"Of course I will! Don't worry, I won't forget about my best friend, and my best warrior."
"You just need another, this time a more serious lesson."
And as Tommy said that, he left Deo's house, and locked it from the outside, locking Deo in.
This alone wouldn't have been that bad, he could stay here if it made Tommy happy. But then, Tommy started hanging the banners in front of the windows. They blocked all light, leaving Deo in complete darkness.
The boy panicked at the change. He stood up on shaky legs, and ran to the front door. "Tommy!" He called.
"T-Tommy, not the dark, please!" He banged on his door. It didn't seem like Tommy was around anymore though, there was no response. Maybe he was ignoring him. That was more likely.
Deo stayed by his door huddled in the corner. His house felt way too big in this darkness, he didn't like it at all. Unwanted thoughts flooded his head as his imagination got to work. Being stuck in his house like this kind of reminded him about how he feels. How he feels in this faction with Tommy being his leader.
Another sob left his mouth. He deserved this, maybe even worse… He did start a war and get their home destroyed. All because he didn't listen. Maybe Tommy was being nice.
He'll come back. He'll come back soon.
Tommy did come back, but after a few days. Not a few hours or minutes. No, he left Deo all alone in the dark for a few days. When he unlocked the door, he saw the older boy laying on the cold stone floor. Not even the bed. The wall by the main door had blood on it… Maybe it came from Deo's head. He had a tendency to bang his head against walls or objects to get rid of unwanted thoughts. His fingernails were bitten, his body was bruised, although that was probably from the war…
Tommy walked to the sleeping teen and held his hand. It was quite cold… No matter. Carefully, Tommy lifted Deo's passed out figure. As he suspected, the blood did indeed come from his head…
It was only a small wound though, nothing that had to be treated. The blonde laid the other on his bed. He did brush a finger over the head wound, making Deo whimper in his sleep. It must've still hurt.
With a sigh, Tommy stood up again and left the house without a word. Once again, leaving Deo all alone asleep as if nothing ever happened.