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Tommy shoots awake with a gasping breath, looking around him and immediately recognizing the dark cabin he’s laying in. He recognized the mattress above him to be Tubbo’s, and can hear his friends light snoring.
His heart takes a while to calm down, and Tommy sits there in the silence, mind running over the nightmare that had woken him up.
There were words whispering in his mind that were carried over from the nightmare. His father’s angry, shouting voice and his mother’s hurtful words.
Wanting a distraction from his thoughts, Tommy stands up and slips on his shoes before carefully leaving the cabin, making sure that he didn’t make enough noise to wake any of his roommates up.
Thankfully, there were all hour lights that illuminated the camp enough for Tommy to be able to walk around without eating shit.
It was still eerie to be here at dark when there were no other campers around though.
Tommy begins walking over to the lake, following the now familiar well worn path. The sounds of nature were everywhere; crickets chirping, bushes rustling, and the slight whisper of wind.
The lake looks calm and peaceful, and Tommy is immediately glad that he decided to get out of the cabin.
He strips off his socks and shoes and rolls up his pant legs so that they’re over his knees and sits down on the rickety dock and sticks his feet in the water.
The blond takes a deep sigh and lays down on his back with his feet still in the water, looking up at the stars and willing his parents’ voice to leave his brain.
“What are you doing?” a deep voice suddenly asks. Tommy screeches and pulls his feet out of the water with a splash, turning around with wide eyes.
Techno stands at the start of the dock, giving an unamused look to Tommy’s reaction.
“Holy shit! You scared the living hell out of me. Warn a man next time,” Tommy says, a hand placed over his racing heart as he catches his breath.
Techno laughs. “Maybe if you weren’t sneaking around the camp in the middle of the night like you’re up to no good I wouldn’t have to follow after you.” Which, yeah, that doesn’t look like Tommys up to any good.
“I just wanted to get out of the cabin,” Tommy admits, suddenly nervous. He fidgets with his fingers and turns his eyes back to the water.
He can hear footsteps getting closer, and Techno sits down next to him, his feet pulled up as he still had shoes on.
“Nightmare?” he asks, no judgment held in the man’s voice.
Tommy is silent for a moment, debating lying. Eventually he nods, and Techno hums.
“Used to have those a lot when I was around your age. I usually ended up in my brother’s room most nights when that happened.”
Tommy turns his attention to Techno with a confused look on his face. “You have a brother?” Techno never mentioned having one before. He’s heard all about his dad Phil, but not a brother.
A pained look takes over Techno’s face. “He’s in jail now, so I don’t talk to him. Or about him.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.”
Techno waves off the sympathy. “No need, it was completely deserved.”
Tommy dips his feet back in the water and kicks back and forth slowly, watching the water ripple and warp throughout the lake.
“It wasn’t so much a nightmare as a collection of memories,” Tommy admits, refusing to make eye contact with Techno. “It’s always the same thing, too. It’s my parents getting mad at me.”
The blond rubs his arms self consciously, remembering the bruises that would pepper the skin there when back at home.
Techno is silent for a moment more, and Tommy wonders if he pushed too far telling Techno that. While the two of them have gotten much closer since their conversation at the zipline, maybe he took it too far.
Eventually though, the counselor speaks again. “Those are the worst kinds of nightmares. When you’re tortured by instances that either have already happened, or are completely open to actually happening.”
Tommy snorts, knowing how true that is.
“You did a good thing, getting out and trying to distract yourself.”
“Why were you up, anyways?” Tommy asks. He thought adults went to bed early.
“I was reading in the cabin when I got a message that the door to a cabin opened. We have security in place after a certain hour so that no one gets kidnapped or mauled by bears in the middle of the night.”
Tommy realizes that means Techno had to get out to check up on him. “Sorry,” he says, picking harder at the skin around his nails.
“Don’t worry, kiddo. Just wanted to make sure you didn’t manage to drown in the lake,” Techno jokes.
Tommy turns and gives Techno a glare in defense. “Excuse me, I’m a great swimmer.”
Techno gives a disbelieving hum. “That’s why you lost the cabin swim race, yeah?”
Tommy squawks in defense this time, using his foot to splash a couple droplets of water at Techno. Techno laughs, and Tommy finds that a smile is spreading on his own face as well.
“The race was rigged against me.” It was a common defense that Tommy declared ever since he greatly lost the swim race against the other members of his cabin.
Tubbo has been holding it against him ever since. One of these days Tommy will exact his revenge. Maybe he’ll sabotage the nuke that he’s certain Tubbo is building in his free time.
“I really don’t know how you did. Ranboo didn’t even compete and you practically got a worse time than them.” Tommy shoulders Techno in the side, and the man clutched his arm in mock hurt.
“Thanks for coming out to check on me,” Tommy says, his voice quiet.
Techno kept the nonchelance, thankfully. “No problem. Like I said, it was mostly to make sure you didn’t die.”
The two of them didn’t mention the lie, and Tommy appreciated it. He likes that Techno doesn’t make a big deal out of shit like this.
The two sit in silence for a while longer before Tommy yawns. “I guess I should head back to sleep and get at least a couple hours,” he says, standing up.
Techno nods. “I’ll probably finish my book.”
Tommy raises a brow. “You’re not going to sleep?”
Techno chuckles and pats Tommy’s shoulder condescendingly. “It’s funny that you think I am a man who needs sleep?”
Tommy gives the man a confused look as the two of them walk towards the cabin. “No one is above sleep.”
Techno gives him a look that might just rival that assumption. “I am.”