Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

08.14.2021, Tuesday.

The sweet smell of syrup lingered throughout the kitchen, springing from a plate full of souffle pancakes and fruit placed on the table. A tall figure stood before the fancy breakfast, opening the lid of a syrup bottle while peacefully humming. His blonde hair shone like the sun on the fresh, summer morning of August.

Tommy couldn't help but smile at his awesome cooking skills.

He thought he could at least reward himself a handsome amount for getting an A on his report card. After all, the best of men reward themselves all the time. He carefully poured his favorite maple syrup onto the soft, fluffy pancakes before taking his seat.

He placed the syrupy pancake onto his mouth, savoring the sweet sugary flavor of the syrup and the fluffy texture of the egg white. The corners of his twitched up in contentment. Today was going to be a poggers day.

On the other end of the table however, laid a plate with flat pancakes, dedicated to his ever-loving totally not neglectful father. Tommy couldn't care less to pour maple syrup on his pancakes. He could do it himself for all he cared.

For a moment, he wondered if he should call him to come out and eat. He was still probably working upstairs, even if there wasn't any "work" to do. It was probably to see Tommy less, but he's fine with it. He is... he thinks.

He called for him anyway.

"Phil, breakfast's ready!" The routinely slow creak of the door followed after.

Down the stairs came a blonde-haired man, wearing a dark green robe under a white t-shirt. His eyes looked exhausted. As always. Tommy looked away from him, rolling his eyes while he took his backpack hanging from the chair and slung it over his shoulder.

"Morning." Phil greeted him with a tired smile, but the young blonde didn't greet back.

"I gotta go, see you later." Tommy quickly finished up his plate without batting him an eye and headed towards the front door.

"Oh. Have—" Phil's voice was roughly cut off by a door slam.

"Have fun..."

;--

Tommy ran like hell to school. He was originally supposed to take the bike today, but one of the wheels broke halfway through when he accidentally crashed onto a pole. Okay, maybe today's not that much of a great day.

His steps abruptly stopped by the gate, panting heavily. Shit, that was a far run. The summer heat did not help either. He wiped off his accumulated sweat and quickly walked inside, desperate for some fresh air.

That was until he entered the hallways, full of children that smelled like sweat. Tommy had to push himself amongst the crowded teens that smelled like they just ran a marathon like he did. He listened in to their conversations. Most were complaining about the unbearable heat, some were talking about going to a beach or getting ice cream, and some were discussing weird shit.

"Ranboo, I want you to test the new flamethrower I just made this month." Ah, yep. That one's Tubbo.

"What? Why did you make a flamethrower?" Another, way taller teenager questioned him, seemingly concerned.

"Why not?! Last time you guys said nukes were a no, so I thought why not make a flamethrower!"

"Tubbo, It's impossible for you to make a nuke." Ranboo answered with a blank face.

"But I'm not a normal person! That doesn't apply to me." Tubbo retaliated, frustrated that he couldn't understand his humble hobby of making life-threatening weapons.

"Ey, Tubso!" Tommy shouted his lungs out through the cramped hallways, drawing their attention instantly.

"Oh, and Ranboob, of course."

"When are you going to stop calling me that?"

"Forever, boob-boy." Tommy grinned, arms behind his neck as he walked closer to the duo, now meshed into a trio. "So what's this about flamethrowers?"

Tubbo flashed an excited grin in return, while Ranboo on the other hand grew increasingly anxious. He was aware of the consequences to become. Tubbo was about to make a 10,000-word speech about his machinery that no one except him could understand.

"Well, you see—" But before Tubbo could speak another word, The bell rang loud enough to drown out his voice.

Riinngg——

"Whew. Saved by the bell." Ranboo sighed in relief, earning a glare from Tubbo.

Tommy chuckled at them fighting each other with glares before stepping in.

"Now, now, boys. Time to go." He quipped, stopping Tubbo from glaring at Ranboo furthermore. Ranboo turned to smile at him, thankful for his best friend's help.

Tommy scoffed and pulled a middle finger on him, to which the latter gasped at sarcastically. The three of them headed to class together, bantering and quarreling with each other on their merry way.

;--

"Tommy Craft?" Mr. Awesam looked towards the back row of the classroom.

Just then, a small, blonde head popped out from one of the seats.

"Present!" Tommy raised his hand as high as he could. He could barely see Mr. Awesam's slight surprise from a distance.

"...Early for once." His teacher commented, pushing his loose glasses upwards.

It was distastefully ironic to him. Running to school made him more early than riding a bike, despite having to shower in sweat and ruin his hair.

He listlessly placed his chin on his palm and looked outside the window beside him. The window view was the sole reason why he picked to sit in the back row, even though Ranboo blocked his vision from seeing the chalkboard. Well, he wasn't that attentive to math lessons anyway.

Outside the window was a normal nearby park, where him, Tubbo, and Ranboo would often hang out at. It was where their amazing exclusive group called the BenchTrio™ was birthed into the world. (Tommy likes to call it 'TommyInnit and his goons' though.)

While fishing for something interesting to put his attention towards, Tommy noticed a particular family of three taking a nice stroll. The blonde-haired kid sat on his father's back, while the mother walked with them with a camera in her hand, probably full of photos they took while they were walking.

"...."

Tommy disinterestedly narrowed his eyes and turned his head to Ranboo's back. How nice would it be if his family took a stroll at the park and took pictures too? Too bad his brothers were abroad, and his father was constantly busy with work.

But Tommy's okay with it. He is. He's got his pals, Ranboo and Tubbo. He has his amazing mother figure, Puffy. He even has his brother figure, Dream. And his friends, George and Sapnap. He has the gaming club, with Purpled, Eryn, Freddie, Charlie... He has everyone he needs.

Tommy stared back at the park, but the family of three were no longer there.

He looked back again and softly smiled, something that rarely came from him.

It's fine, he already has a family. His family.

Chapter Text

08.15.2021, Wednesday.

A plate with freshly-cooked bacon and eggs quietly sat on the table as click-clacking sounds echoed throughout the two-story house. Phil was a busy father, often spending his time typing away on his computer.

He wished he could spend time more with his son, but his work always found a way to distract him. As a result, Tommy become more distant from him as time went by, and yet he ignored everything without thought. Phil regretted everything for the last five years, but all he could do now was silently cry for Tommy's forgiveness while rotting away on his desk.

He couldn't do anything. He was as useless as a rock.

He deserved this.

Click. Clack. Click. Clack.

He hadn't even noticed the gurgle in his stomach. Nor the smell of breakfast downstairs.

;--

"What's happened to Tubs?"

"They said he got sick. Like really sick." Ranboo explained, tightly clutching his backpack straps.

"What do you mean, really sick?" Tommy raised his brow, hiding his concern.

"They said he can't go to school for a month."

Tommy slammed his locker door.

"What?"

Tommy doubted his hearing for a second.

"Yep." Ranboo nodded, popping the "p".

"But..." Tommy's face turned to worry. Ranboo frowned along with him, sharing the same sentiment.

He suddenly started thinking about Tubbo's smile and rants about nukes and flamethrowers. It was rare for the trio to be incomplete. They would always be together wherever they went as if they were completely inseparable from each other, except the times when they have to go home or get sick, of course.

They could never stray from each other, not even as Tommy continuously calls out the other two for being clingy while always sticking to them himself.

"Do you think we should visit him?" Ranboo shot the question first, and Tommy immediately nodded as if he'd planned to say the same thing from the start.

"Sure." He shrugged his shoulders calmly, but his blue eyes slightly shook in nervousness. Just what has him down that he has to skip school for a month?

Tommy turned his back from the classroom door, ready to head to Tubbo's house when suddenly, a hand grabbed him from behind. He turned to his friend who stopped him with a puzzled expression. "What?" He furrowed his brows.

"W-We can't skip class..."

"...."

"Oh." Tommy forgot about that.

;--

Tommy stretched his arms like a cat, yawning at the boring lecture. He couldn't wait to visit Tubbo and rant to him about Ranboo.

"Tommy, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't disrupt the discussion." Mrs. Sally pointed out, disappointed by his lack of awareness.

"Whoops. Sorry." Tommy apologized impassively as he looked out the window, his mind occupied by the thoughts of Tubbo being alright or not. Why was he so sick that he couldn't go to school for a month? Tommy tilted his head in frustration before succumbing to take another nap.

Mrs. Sally sighed and continued her lesson.

"Who can read the fourth passage?" Mrs. Sally asked the classroom, but no one raised their hand.

"Anyone?" Silence followed after.

"...I guess not." Mrs. Sally sighed wearily.

She should get a raise.

;--

Riinngg—

After an hour later, the bell finally rang. Tommy quickly headed to Ranboo's classroom, and the two of them headed off to Tubbo's house.

They had only gone to Tubbo's house at least two times before, but they already knew where to turn, and where to go straight. Tubbo's house was far away from the both of them, but that didn't mean anything. Ranboo and Tommy would jump off a cliff for their best friend if they needed to. Tommy, in particular just doesn't want to show it.

"Hello?" Ranboo yelled at the door as he stepped on their lawn.

Tubbo's house has always felt strange in Tommy's opinion, but his two friends don't really feel anything strange with it, which is even stranger.

The dark green vines on the walls, the couple bees that fly around, the variety of strange flowers in their front porch just scattered around with absolutely no organization, and that weird sensation that Tommy can't quite put his finger on. Every little part of it was weird. Tommy ignored it for now, as his friend was more important than some false paranoia.

"...." No other voice was heard.

Having no other choice, Ranboo knocked on the door instead. A few seconds later, and no answer still came. Ranboo tried to open the door, letting go of the doorknob in disappointed when they discovered it to be also locked.

"You think we should just kick down the door?" Tommy whispered over to Ranboo, who shook his head like there was no tomorrow.

"What if we break their door, Tommy? Who's gonna pay for it?" He reasoned.

"I will." Tommy replied confidently, pointing his thumb at his chest.

"...." Ranboo couldn't make up a rebuke. In the end, Tommy smiled victoriously as he aggressively kicked Tubbo's front door down.

THUD! The large door fell to the floor.

Well, that was a thousand times easier than I thought it'd be.

"Now, come on, boob-boy." Tommy gestured for Ranboo to follow him, and the latter obediently did so.

They quietly tip-toed upstairs to Tubbo's bedroom (as if they hadn't kicked down his door just a second ago), and found the chestnut-haired teenager blissfully sleeping with a smile. He didn't look sick at all, which confused the other two.

"I reckon he got the covids." Tommy slightly tilted his head, trying to face Tubbo's sleeping face. "Yuck, he's drooling!" He stepped back from the small puddle of drool on the floor.

"Don't you find it weirder that he didn't wake up after we just kicked his door down?" Ranboo mused, ignoring the puddle of drool.

"Maybe he's a heavy-sleeper ey, Ranboob? Ever think of that?" Tommy rolled his eyes. Ranboo stared at him with confusion written all over his face.

"But I don't think heavy sleepers—" His voice was cut off by screams.

"AAHHH!!!" Ranboo's eyes swiftly turned towards where Tommy was staring at. "What are you screaming at... oh." His eyes bulged out while his jaw almost dropped to the floor. His soul might as well leave from his mouth at this point.

"What. The. Fuck." They both murmured at the same time, blinking dumbfoundedly at the hundreds of bees, butterflies, and birds standing menacingly at the windowsill.

They looked at each other, their faces filled with horror.

"Hmm...? What are you guys doing here?" A sleepy voice snapped them back to reality.

A drowsy Tubbo rubbed his eyes, yet to witness the horror on the windowsill.

"T-Tubbo..." Tommy stammered as he pointed towards the window.

"What..." Tubbo groaned, still half-asleep.

He reluctantly turned his head towards the windowsill. Then he screamed.

Chapter Text

08.15.2021, Wednesday.

"So, how'd you get in?" Tubbo interrogated the two suspects sitting on the carpet floor, his arms crossed.

"T-Tommy had the idea to kick the door down." Ranboo timidly answered, shifting his gaze to the wall. He feared he would get nightmares just by looking at the window.

"You what?!" Tubbo screamed in horror. Just as he did so, the winged creatures on the windowsill suddenly went hostile and continuously banged themselves onto the window, trying to break in.

BANG- BANG- BANG-

"AAAHH!! Tubbo, they've gone hostile!" Tommy squeaked as he quickly hid behind Ranboo. Ranboo shivered, twice as scared as the blonde was.

"Oh... Uh... That... might be because of me." Tubbo pointed towards the hostile creatures still banging on his window, unfazed.

The two frightened teens stared at him with bewilderment and deep confusion in their eyes.

"What?" Ranboo was just confused.

"Tubs, I think the covids got to you..." Meanwhile, Tommy was in denial.

"I don't have Covid. And I'm not crazy." Tubbo established, gesturing a big "X" with his arms. "They're acting like that because of my magic." He added.

"...What?" They replied together.

Tubbo sighed in response. "Magic exists."

They both blinked in sync.

"WHAT?!"

Tommy was the first to shout, holding on to Ranboo's hoodie like a lifeline.

"Shush. Let me explain." Tubbo put his finger on his lips. He seemed strangely calm, even tired, but that was probably just because he just woke up.

Tubbo slowly closed his eyes and did a breathing exercise of sorts. The two of them watched him quietly hum a nice, slow lullaby. Under the peaceful melody, the small winged animals slowly fell asleep one by one, diminishing the sounds of banging bit by bit.

𝅘𝅥𝅮 ... 𝅘𝅥𝅮 ... 𝅘𝅥𝅮 ... 𝅘𝅥𝅮 ... .

The humming stopped, and silence remained.

"Did you like the song?" Tubbo smiled like his usual self.

"...Y-Yeah?" Tommy replied in an unsure tone, not sure if he should focus on the song rather than the "magic", or so what Tubbo calls it.

"Wait, did they stop because you...?" Ranboo couldn't finish his question, unsure of the answer.

"Because I sang a song? No. Because I calmed down?" Tubbo finished it for him. "Yep." He popped the "p" with a poker face. Truthfully though, he slightly found his friends' reactions kind of funny.

"But... How?" Ranboo narrowed his eyes. Nothing he saw could have been explained by logic or science.

"Magic." Tubbo briefly answered. Tommy let go of Ranboo's hoodie, aware that he was now safe from the hostile avians banging on the window.

"Holy fucking shit." He muttered under his breath, entranced by the strange scene of sleeping bees, butterflies, and birds all cuddling on the windowsill. Tubbo only shrugged, smiling faintly.

;--

"Wilbur, I don't think—" Techno was cut off by a low door creak.

"Shhh! Be quiet." Wilbur shushed him, brows furrowed.

"They clearly heard the door open." Techno sighed resignedly, but decided to go with his twin brother's antics anyway. I mean, what could go wrong? It was just a surprise. Surely nothing will go wrong.

Techno swallowed his saliva, feeling like something was about to go wrong.

They slowly walked into the kitchen side by side, looking for any sign of their dad and younger brother. Yet, all they discovered were bacon and eggs placed on the dining table.

Wilbur scratched his head in confusion, but Techno merely ignored it.

"Techno, did you tell them we were coming?" Wilbur turned towards Techno with a snarl, but the latter just shrugged.

"I didn't." He huffed as he picked up the plate. "It's just one plate. Not enough for the both of us." He added. Wilbur raised a brow.

"Strange..." Wilbur mused, looking around the house they called home. Anxiousness crept up on the twins as they noticed even more strange things. The house looked strangely different from their old one. The sofa looked more run-down, most of the paint on the walls looked like they were scraped off, and more plants seemed to have been added into the house. Still, as run-down as it was, everything looked meticulously cleaned. If not, Wilbur would've thought his family had already moved from the house long ago.

Just then, strange noises protruded from above.

Click. Clack. Click. Clack.

It sounded like someone was typing on their computer upstairs. Wilbur quietly tugged Techno's jacket.

"Let's surprise them." He whispered mischievously.

;--

"So... Magic exists and your affinity is that you can call winged animals whenever you want and interact with them?" Ranboo reviewed Tubbo's explanation. Tubbo nodded solemnly.

"What's an affinity?" Tommy questioned the brunette.

"Affinity is like the magic you're good at. For example, your affinity could be that you can bend any metal in the world." Tubbo calmly explained, fiddling with his bee plushie.

"It's also kind of like the first ever magic you can do." He added.

"...Wait, you can do more magical stuff?!" Tommy's eyes twinkled like Betelgeuse on a clear night.

"Of course." Tubbo replied with a prideful grin.

"Then, the reason why you couldn't go to school for a month... Is because of this?" Ranboo probed, taking mental notes.

"But why couldn't you just hide it?" Tommy joined in.

"Uhh..." Tubbo struggled to explain. "There's this thing... When you first develop your magic, you can't exactly control it... Until you learn to." He shifted his head towards the windowsill where the winged creatures lay, sleeping blissfully.

"As you can see, my magic gets triggered by emotions." He tapped the window multiple times, but the sleeping bees, butterflies, and birds didn't wake up or run away.

"They'll become hostile again if I get mad... Or something." He shrugged as he turned towards his flabbergasted friends.

"...So you have to control your emotions?"

"No. You just have to control your magic, not your emotions."

"Emotion is like a catalyst for magic. It's impossible to stop it, so you have to be able to control your magic." Tubbo finished in a serious tone.

"...." Ranboo blinked, thinking about what to ask him next.

"Nerd." Tommy scoffed.

The other two burst out of laughter.

;~

Click. Clack. Click. Clack.

Sounds of continuous typing drowned out Wilbur and Techno's footsteps, allowing them to climb upstairs without making a single sound.

"Alright, Techno. You will open the door, and I'll shout "Suprise!", got it?" Techno thoughtlessly nodded as they quietly walked towards a green door.

"In the count of 3, 2..." Wilbur counted slowly. As soon as he got to one, Techno forcefully kicked the door open.

"SURPRISE!!!" Wilbur shouted at the top of his lungs, which ticked off the man focused on his work.

"What the fuck, mate?!"

His father yelled back at him in a harsh tone. Both Techno and Wilbur winced, staring at their father in an air of awkwardness and expectation.

Before Phil could throw any more curses at them, his mouth suddenly paused.

The click-clacking noises ceased as well.

"W..."

Phil sat there silently as he looked at his sons, dead in the eye. He recognized their faces. Of course he would.

"...W-Wilbur? Techno?" He could barely even say their names, his heart beating ten times faster than it did when they kicked down the door.

"Dad...?" Wilbur smiled nervously. His dad— No, the man in front of him looked exhausted. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his hands were shaking uncontrollably. Inside, Wilbur felt confused and slightly scared. Next to him, Techno felt exactly the same as his brother.

Phil stared back at them with his dull, grey eyes — no longer blue, like the way it was years ago.

A surprise it was supposed to be, but now it was more of a chilling horror scene. Both of the twins tentatively took a step closer to their father, slightly scared but still yearning for their father's warm hugs and smiles.

Yet, their question lies unanswered.

Just what the hell happened to their dad?

Chapter Text

08.15.2021, Wednesday.

"Rematch! I call for a rematch!" Tommy yelled furiously at the TV screen displaying "Too bad" over his character for the second time in a row, Tubbo keeling over with laughter on the side.

"Tubbo's cheating with his magic! It's not fair!" Tommy blaringly accused, pointing to the "suspect", his magical friend Tubbo.

"I can't even control my magic yet, Tommy."

While the two were exchanging banter, a low, tentative voice sprung from between them.

"Uh... Shouldn't we go home now? It's already 5 pm." Ranboo hesitantly stated, showing Tommy his cellphone's lock screen.

5:34 PM.

"Oh." Tommy sighed. He's been having such a poggers day, and yet the clock just had to ruin it for him.

"Yeah... But I bet we could stay for another—" Tommy tried to reason with Ranboo, but Ranboo cut him off immediately.

"Tommy. Tubbo's dad's going to come home soon." Ranboo sighed at the blonde teenager.

"It's fine, you guys can visit again tomorrow." Tubbo agreed with him.

Tommy fought to keep his face from scowling. What they didn't understand was that he didn't need or want to come back to that empty, boring house.

He bit the corner of his lip. So many things happened today. He visited Tubbo, he kicked down his door, he found out that magic exists... And he even played Mario Party with his friends.

He just— He just didn't want to ruin it all with such a dull ending. Or perhaps, he just didn't want to go home.

"Fine..." He grumbled in a low voice as he slowly stood up from the couch, disinclined to leave his best friend. Tommy sighed as he gently placed down the borrowed controller on the coffee table.

"Oh, and don't worry about the door, dad will fix it for ya." Tubbo smiled reassuringly, still holding his controller flimsily in his hands.

"...Thanks. And bye, Tubs." Tommy waved farewell as he and Ranboo headed towards the now nonexistent door.

His feet stopped by the foot of the entrance, almost looking too reluctant to go.

"Tommy? You forgot something?" Ranboo called out to him, but the latter didn't respond.

"...Hey, Tubbo." Tommy slowly turned towards the couch. Tubbo, who heard his name being mentioned turned his head to face him with a smile.

"Hm?"

Sometimes, persistent problems call for last resorts.

"Can we have a sleepover here?"

;--

Phil ignored the worried faces his sons gave him, attempting to extinguish the situation with an awkward smile instead.

"Boys, why you didn't tell me you were coming home?" He asked gently, quickly pulling away his shaky hands from the keyboard.

"Dad..." Before Wilbur could ask if he was okay, a hand dropped on his shoulder, catching him off guard.

"Wilbur wanted to surprise you." Techno loudened his voice enough to block off Wilbur's, which in turn made the other look at him with a puzzled expression. Techno only shrugged back, but Wilbur already seemed to get the message.

"Oh... You really got me there, mate." Phil laughed wearily.

"Y-yeah..." Wilbur awkwardly smiled back. "We'll go now, dad. Sorry for bothering you—"

"Oh, no, no, no!" Phil scurried to close his laptop and shove aside the pile of papers he'd been working on, seemingly as if to fix something. Wilbur and Techno raised their brows as they noticed the sheer desperation in his eyes, with an itching to spend time with his sons.

"Let's go downstairs. I'll make dinner." He smiled cheerfully. Wilbur smiled back, happy that his dad seemed to be brighter than earlier. Techno though, felt his stomach churn slightly.

The three of them walked downstairs to the kitchen, creating small talk and jokes.

"....?" Phil was slightly surprised when he noticed the plate of bacon and eggs sitting all alone on the table. It looked meticulously prepared, almost as if it had not been touched at all.

"Oh..."

...He couldn't tell his sons he forgot to eat breakfast. That would worry them.

"T-Tommy must've forgotten his breakfast." He laughed awkwardly, throwing the breakfast onto the trash can without hesitation.

Naturally, both Wilbur and Techno brightened up at the mention of Tommy. Was he doing alright? How are his studies?

"How's Toms doing?" Wilbur asked enthusiastically, always gleaming when talking about his younger brother.

"Oh... Uhh... Tommy's doing great, mate!" Phil lied, loathing himself for lying so casually about Tommy's condition despite him being the person who ruined it from the start.

"How old is he now again?" Techno questioned thoughtlessly as he and Wilbur both sat down.

"...16." Phil answered, with a bit of melancholy in his voice. It reminded him of how young Tommy was when he started drowning himself in his work. How he wished he could turn back time 5 years in the past, but 5 years was too long of a time to ever go back fully.

"I can't believe it, Tommy's grown up now!" Wilbur barked a laugh. "Is he still a gremlin child?"

"...I guess?" Phil answered in an unsure tone. He hadn't had a conversation with Tommy so long, he forgot what it was like to talk with him. Nowadays, their only conversations were to call Phil for breakfast.

"I guess?" Techno probed in a low voice.

Wilbur secretly nudged his shoulder. "What's gotten into you?" He whispered.

Techno pursed his lips in silence. He didn't even know himself.

;--

"I got you kiddos some milk. Enjoy to your heart's content." Schlatt gently placed the tray with mugs full of hot milk on the coffee table.

"Thanks, dad!" Tubbo smiled as he picked up the green mug.

"Big men don't drink milk." On the other hand, Tommy huffed as he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, his arms crossed.

"Um... Guys, my sister's probably VERY worried about me right now—" Ranboo was suddenly cut off by the sound of Tubbo... Taking a sip of his milk.

Sip...

"Why do you drink so loud?" Tommy scowled, but Tubbo paid him no mind.

"Look, I really need to go—"

Sipp...

"Tubbo, stop sipping so loudly!" Tommy complained at the brunette.

"My sister is probably really worried that I'm not—"

Sip.

"My—"

Sip.

"I—"

Siippp...

"Man, could you please stop that?!" Tommy finally shouted at the brunette.

"Oops." Tubbo blinked, slightly dazed. "Sorry."

Ranboo sighed lightly.

"As I was saying, my sister—"

"Tubz have you seen this new movie called—"

"Please stop cutting me off!" Ranboo's loud voice echoed throughout the walls. The other two winced as they paused like mannequins and stared at him in surprise.

"...What, boob-boy?" Tommy raised a brow.

"My sister must be VERY worried about me, so I should REALLY go now." Ranboo felt relieved to have the full sentence finally out of his mouth.

"Why don't you just text her about it?" Tubbo suggested as he loudly sipped the hot milk.

Sip...

"...." Ranboo paused for a second. Oh, he hasn't thought of that yet.

"Oh," was the only sound he managed to make before sliding down to a hunched sitting position.

Tommy snorted. "Right, Tubzo, could you perhaps teach me in the ways of the hocus pocus?" He turned his head to Tubbo, who looked slightly shocked by the sudden proposal.

"...Sure! Nothing could possibly go wrong with this!" He gladly took on the offer.

Sippp...

"Aw, stop that!" Tommy snarled while Tubbo giggled at his friend's reaction.

Admittedly, Ranboo felt a little lonely at the fact that his problem was quickly moved on from, but went back to drinking milk. Listening to the boisterous two talk about nuclear weapons, he felt his chest calm down like a long-needed rest. I guess it's alright to stay after all.

;--

Three plates of cooked chicken and potatoes were gently placed on the wooden table, emitting a savory, delicious scent. To top it off, bits of coriander and parsley were messily sprinkled on top of the chicken, strengthening the delicious amora even more.

"How is it?" Phil kindly smiled as he took off his old blue apron and placed it on the back of the chair.

"It tastes great as always, Philza Minecraft." Wilbur chuckled, putting another slice of chicken into his mouth.

Phil suddenly paused. That was the nickname Tommy gave him when he was 10.

"...Haha, stop with the jokes, Wil." He laughed awkwardly, remembering the fun memories he had with his youngest son, and how he'd lost it all. While deep in his stupor, he had not noticed a certain pink-haired man staring at him.

"So... Where's Tommy at?" Wilbur ardently asked. It's been so long since he's seen the little gremlin. The freshest memory with him he could remember was when they played in the playground, naming it after their town, "L'Manburg". Wilbur wondered if the playground was still there.

It was demolished years ago after they left.

Phil scratched his nose nervously. "He's... Probably with some friends."

"He didn't tell you about it?" Techno questioned him.

"He hasn't yet, I think." Phil replied, feeling slightly anxious under the interrogation of his son.

"Techno, stop ruining the mood." Wilbur scolded his twin.

"Whatever." Techno rolled his eyes. There was definitely something going on here.

;--

"To be honest, I don't know how I did it, but dad kind of helped me with it." Tubbo peacefully sipped his milk.

"He told me to take deep breaths, and like... Feel the earth."

"Feel the earth?" Tommy tilted his head, expressively confused.

"Yeah! Like, something about hearing the ground's voice? I don't know shit man, just try it for yourself." Tubbo tried his best to explain, but it left Tommy even more confused.

"And how the fuck do I do that?" Tommy was very confused.

"Uhh... Just focus?" Tubbo answered in a hesitant tone.

"Makes total absolute sense." Ranboo sarcastically commented, earning a glare from Tubbo.

"Magic doesn't have common sense!" The magic expert argued before taking another sip of his milk.

"...So, all I have to do is concentrate on trying to hear the earth from Prime knows where? Sounds easy." Tommy rolled his eyes.

"How do you find that easy?!" Ranboo protested.

"It was a sarcastic comment, Ranboob!" Tommy shot back.

"Oh."

"Come on, bossman! You just have to try!" Tubbo nudged him on the shoulder with his elbow repeatedly, each hit feeling like a colossal-like force to Tommy's shoulder.

"....Fine." Tommy agreed to the peer pressure and closed his eyes. It was for magic powers after all.

"Just relax, king. Try breathing in and out." A soft voice gently guided him.

"...." Tommy inhaled. Then exhaled. Inhale. Exhale.

Once again,

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

He focused on "feeling the earth", purging any random thoughts that might get in his way of hearing... the dirt? Tommy found that part to be confusing.

After a whole entire minute of not being able to hear anything, the less eager blonde was more than eager to call it quits, but something inside him screamed not to.

'Big men don't admit defeat, Tommy.'

...Did Techno really have to appear in his thoughts?

"Woah..." Ranboo and Tubbo watched as golden lines began to swirl around Tommy, wrapping him around as if he was a christmas present.

"He's doing it!" Tubbo excitedly whispered to Ranboo, trying to be careful not to disrupt Tommy's concentration.

"This really doesn't make sense." Ranboo whispered back. Tubbo smiled proudly at the blonde.

The golden swirls grew longer and longer until its light extended towards his glowing hair and a bright flashing light suddenly swallowed the room in a nanosecond. Tubbo and Ranboo quickly covered their eyes, praying nothing had gone wrong.

Absolutely nothing went wrong.

Tommy slowly opened his eyes, blinking a couple few times.

A small gasp escaped from his lips.

"...I've fucking done it! Guys, I fucking did it!" He enthusiastically announced, eyes beaming with joy. His friends stared back at him as their jaws dropped to the floor.

"Tommy... You fucking did it!" Tubbo gleefully tackled him to the ground.

"Woah— Tubs— Wait—" Tommy flailed with his arms in the air, blinking in shock when his landing was surprisingly not as painful as a head concussion. Confused, he shifted his gaze to the side, slowly registering the soft patch of lively alliums acting as a cushion for his fall.

"...AAAAHHH!!!" Tommy screamed for dear life.

;--

Schlatt was busy watering the flowers when all of a sudden, a muffled ear-splitting scream echoed from inside the house.

...It's fine, Tubbo's got it under control. He calmly reassured himself.

Chapter Text

08.15.2021, Wednesday.

"Calm down, Tommy!" Tubbo patted his back, his voice full of concern.

"In and out, Okay? In and out..." The blonde obediently followed the brunette's orders, slowly inhaling as his shoulders slightly rose up, then relaxing them as soon as he exhaled.

Inhale. Exhale.

The earth's voice felt so weird to hear, and the whispering alliums just spooked him even more. Tommy could quite literally hear everything. From the water dripping down the leaves, to flowers whispering secrets to each other, and even the grass swaying... He felt like he was having a sensory overload. His head ached annoyingly, and his breaths were getting warmer and warmer each time he breathed out. Tommy gulped as he felt his throat overheat.

Welcome, fledgling.

Tommy shrieked at the sudden voice, hurting his throat even more. Was that the ground that just spoke?

Yes. It's nice to meet you, child.

"Tommy? Can you hear me?"

The two voices overlapping with each other didn't help much either. Tommy felt like exploding to pieces right then and there.

"shu'up..." He tried to speak up, but only jumbled letters came out of his mouth. His breaths were getting faster and faster, and his friends quickly realized that something was wrong with him.

"T-Tommy? What happened to him?" Tommy hadn't even noticed that Ranboo was crouching beside him. He could barely see the dual-haired boy staring at him with concern thanks to his blurry vision.

"I think he might be having a sensory overload... Tommy, focus on my face, my face only." Tubbo instructed as he cupped Tommy's face and forced him to look at his face. Tommy obliged and put all his focus on Tubbo's face, if it meant getting rid of this weird, aching nausea.

"Take deep breaths, Tommy. In and out." Tubbo gently held his shoulders.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale—

The sounds of the earth vanished in thin air, and most of the side effects vanished with it as well, only leaving his hot temperature and a few warm breaths left.

"Tubso... I..." Tommy tried to speak up, but a raspy voice came out instead.

"Tommy, don't speak, you'll hurt your thro-"

"I'm fuckin magical now."

He gasped in a small voice, clutching at Tubbo's arms tightly out of excitement.

"Yes...? Yes! Yes you are, king!" Tubbo's worriedness turned to cheerfulness in a second as he cackled like a supervillain. "You fucking did it, bossman! On your first try!"

The trio laughed together, (awkwardly.) Holy shit, Tommy thought in utter jubilation. He fucking did it. He fuckin — wait.

He looked back at the lively alliums, present in the corner of his eyes. No — Wait— My—

"...You've gotta be kidding me." Tommy huffed out. Tubbo and Ranboo looked at him, confused.

"What's wrong?" Tubbo worriedly asked the blonde teen, shifting his gaze towards where Tommy was staring at. "Oh..."

Tommy took a deep breath.

"...M-My fucking affinity is fucking... FLOWERS?!" He cried out at the top of his lungs, looking extremely disappointed at the fact that a big man like him only got to summon fuckin FLOWERS?!

His jaw dropped to the floor, and his clutch on Tubbo's arm slowly fell down.

Ranboo snorted a little, earning a quick glare from Tommy.

"......"

He was so pissed off. And a tad bit embarrassed as well.

;~

Ring——

Meanwhile, a lone cellphone sitting on the carpet floor began to ring, the caller's name displayed as "Wilbur".

;~

"Have you texted Tommy, dad? He's not responding to my messages." Wilbur paced back and forth around the living room, tremendously worried about his brother's absence. What if his brother went missing? Or even worse, what if he was dead?

"I've tried before, but he didn't reply to mine either." Phil tapped the table repeatedly, feeling uneasy as well.

"...What?" Wilbur's eyes widened at his father's remark. Oh shit.

Calm down, Wilbur. Calm down. Your brother is fine! He's safe! The majority of his mind said, not helping him calm down at all.

"Wil, calm down." Techno patted his shoulder from behind, snapping him back to reality. "He's probably fine."

"But what if he's not?!" Wilbur loudly expressed his concern.

"Wilbur. You haven't even tried calling him yet." Techno sighed as he flipped the page of his favorite mythology book, oblivious that the book he's holding is actually upside-down.

"Then I'll call him now!" Wilbur grouched and immediately called Tommy's number.

Ring——

"...He's not picking up." Everyone tensed up.

"Let me try calling him instead." Phil suggested instead, calling his number on the house telephone. Techno suppressed a giggle at the sight of his father calling a number on, of all of the things in the world, the fucking house telephone.

Ring——

"What?"

A familiar static voice finally picked up.

"Tommy, w-where have you been? I've been worried sick about you." Phil whispered anxiously, to which the other confusedly replied,

"Why are you acting so fatherly all of a sudden?"

Phil paused. The twin brothers stared at him, anticipating for any sign of Tommy alive and safe.

"Y-your brothers are home. They miss you a lot." Phil's unusually very gentle voice sent shivers down Tommy's spine. But on the other hand, Wilbur and Techno were more than delighted to know that their brother was, in fact, not dead.

"...Are you fucking joking?" Tommy scoffed.

"Tommy, I'm not—"

"Quick! Put Tommy on speaker!"

;~

"Quick! Put Tommy on speaker!" A familiar, cheery voice emerged from the other end of the phone. Tommy's heart skipped a beat.

Was that... Wilbur?

Tommy clenched his fist tightly, his fingertips digging into his palm.

"Uh, sure, mate." He could hear Phil laugh awkwardly, which pissed him off even more. Was Phil now willing to become a "good" father again now that his fucking brothers were back?

What about me? Did he even care about me at all?

"Tommy...?" Ranboo was slightly worried of his friend who seemed like he was about to have a mental breakdown. "I-Is the sensory overload back...?"

"Tommy! It's been so long—" Tommy quickly hang up.

"...You okay, bossman?" Tubbo scooched closer to Tommy, sensing the blonde's rigidness.

Tommy moved away from the brunette as he tried to blink away the tears, failing to keep one from rolling down his cheek.

"Tommy?" Tubbo reached out a hand to the younger blonde when suddenly, a yellow chrysanthemum stemmed from out of nowhere and pushed his hand away from reaching Tommy's shoulder.

"What...?" Both Ranboo and Tubbo were both speechless as more and more chrysanthemums grew from the couch, forming a defensive wall around Tommy.

"Tommy...!" Ranboo reached out to his friend, but another chrysanthemum wrapped around his wrist, tightening its grip on it. "Ack..!" Ranboo held back his hand, but the chrysanthemum's cartoonishly long stem kept strangling his wrist even tighter.

"Ranboo!" Tubbo immediately rushed over to him, forcefully ripping off the stem of the flower to free the boy's wrist. A dark red line circled throughout his wrist. "What the..."

They both turned their heads to their friend, whose tears were being gently wiped away by the smooth chrysanthemum petals.

"Tommy! What if he gets hurt—" Ranboo quickly jumped up, trying to reach for Tommy again, but he's immediately stopped by the shorter brunette.

"Don't worry, Ranboo. The flowers aren't going to hurt him." Tubbo tried to calm him down, gripping the other's shoulder as to not let him get near the flowers.

"Wha-? But- H- How would you know that?" Ranboo scowled and furrowed his brows, both anxious and concerned about his friend that was literally surrounded by killer chrysanthemums, might he add.

"Just... Trust me on this. Magic doesn't hurt its owner." Tubbo sighed lightly.

"....Fine then." Ranboo mumbles in a tone full of clear disagreement, sitting back down on the couch with his arms crossed. So, was he just supposed to watch his friend cry, or...?

;~

"Quick! Put him on speaker!"

"Tommy, w-where have you been? I've been worried sick about you."

"Y-your brothers are home. They miss you a lot."

Tommy sobbed silently, his tears falling down on the petals, and his hands covering his face. He was a big man. He shouldn't cry.

Big men don't cry.

He replayed it in his mind like a mantra, but emotions were never his forte. Tommy himself knew this. He knew that he couldn't stop the sorrowful tears falling down his face right now. He was just desperate, that's all.

Did Phil even like me?

Was it just an act?

Am I the problem?

All kinds of negative thoughts easily invaded Tommy's tired, exhausted mind.

Will his old Phil finally come back? A small part of him still hoped for his father's embrace.

No, his old Phil will never come back.

Tommy sobbed endlessly. And his friends watched it all. Painfully.

Drip. Drip.

His tears fell down continuously.

And if you looked closely enough, you could see the little purple hyacinth petals growing on his tears as they fell down his rosy cheeks.

Tommy curved up and lowered his shoulders, looking the most vulnerable he'd ever looked.

The chrysanthemums started to scatter even more.

It's all because of me, innit?

A slight, shaky chuckle came out of his mouth.

Why? Why did a part of him still long for Phil's love and affection, even when the man had proved multiple times that Tommy was just a child Wilbur found in a forest. That Tommy was never his responsibility. That Tommy was — never his son in the first place.

Chapter Text

08.15.2021, Wednesday.

As time went by, the tears that fell became less, and the flowers that were scattered on the couch stopped spreading.

"Toms?" Tubbo reached out his hand to him, thinking it was now time to comfort his friend.

"Don't fucking call me that, please." Tommy scowled at him, his eyes red and puffy. It reminded him of the many nicknames his bitch of a father used to give him.

"Right. Sorry..." Tubbo awkwardly apologized. The blonde nodded awkwardly, wiping away his tears.

"Soo... Um... Wanna talk about it, or...?" Ranboo hesitantly cut in the two of them.

"...Yeah, sorry. Need to get it out of my chest." Tommy gently picked one of the yellow chrysanthemums stemming from the maroon couch. His lips slowly formed a strained smile.

"It's pretty."

;

The blue borages were barraged with hose water, showering them for when the bees come and take their nectar. A long shadow loomed over them, with magical ram horns peeking out on both sides of its head, holding a hose that seemed to have green and yellow particles floating around it.

Schlatt hummed a little rhythm as he walked to the freesias. His eyes widened slightly as he noticed a strange wilted freesia, ignored by the other talking flowers.

"Poor little guy." Schlatt frowned at the pitiful flower, picking it up from the pile of lively freesias gossiping to each other.

"I'll give you a proper funeral." He smiled as he dug a tiny hole on the ground, and buried the little wilted freesia.

He gently placed his hand on the dirt where the flower was buried. Suddenly, green particles started to come out of nowhere, swirling around the buried freesia as if to console it. The tiny green sparkles flew to the sky, guiding the poor flower's soul to the heavens above.

One by one, the sleeping bees, butterflies, and birds all awoke as well to bid farewell to their old friend freesia.

"Have a good rest." Schlatt waved goodbye, and so did the earth. His magical ram horns slowly floated away with the green particles.

;

"He hung up??" Wilbur furrowed his brows, both panicked and worried.

"Yep..." Phil confirmed in disappointment.

"W-what did he say? Is he alright?" Wilbur pressed for answers, desperate for even a bit of confirmation that the child was okay. He's not a child anymore, Wilbur. A voice inside of him said, but he paid no mind to it.

"Yeah, mate. Don't worry about it." Phil reassured the young man, but felt worry overwhelm him just like the rest of them.

"Maybe his phone died...?" Phil muttered uncertainly, but it successfully made Wilbur calm down even just a little bit. Techno watched from the sidelines, his gut whispering not to involve himself in the situation yet.

Techno lazily fixed his upside-down book. He decided to investigate more for now.

"...I'm really sorry Wil, almost gave you a heart attack." Phil chuckled awkwardly.

"It's not funny, dad." Wilbur's cheeks reddened in embarrassment. Better to be safe than sorry, at least. He scoffed internally.

"I'm sure Tommy will come home any second now. I told him you boys were home. So don't worry, mate." Phil patted his son's shoulder comfortingly.

Wilbur puffed his cheeks. "He better be."

"Of course." Phil replied with false confidence.

"Don't worry, Tommy. The world's not gonna end if you don't attend the party."

"But— I promised Tubbo I'd be there for his birthday! A-and we have a game night next friday—"

"Tommy. I know your grades have been failing."

"...What?"

"This is for the better. Dream will start tutoring you tomorrow, and that's final."

"But—"

"Dad?" A worried voice brought him back to reality.

"Uh, yeah? Sorry, just zoned out." Phil awkwardly apologized to his son. Wilbur looked at him with a hint of worry in his eyes. He'd always been the paranoid one among the four of them.

"I asked you about how you were doing." Wilbur restated his question.

"Oh, I'm doing fine." He smiled easily.

"No, I mean what are you doing nowadays?" Wilbur raised his left brow curiously.

"...Doing work?" He responded hesitantly.

"And...?"

"And eating?"

"...And?"

"And sleeping...?"

"Dad, come on. I want the interesting stuff, not basic needs." Wilbur barked a laugh, but Phil looked back at him with a confused expression.

"Uh... I've been... developing a hobby, lately." Phil lied through his teeth, unable to find anything else interesting about his current life.

"A hobby?" Wilbur perked up at the mention of something interesting.

"Yeah... Uhh... I've lately been trying... T-taking care of plants." Phil didn't know why that came out of his mouth, but it was the only idea he had in his mind at the moment.

"Plants? Interesting." Wilbur replied with a flat face, gazing at a flower vase that held young, bright dandelions. It made him snort that his father would have something as cute as dandelions.

Tommy was the one who put those dandelions there. Phil argued that it was unnecessary, but Tommy pushed stubbornly.

"What's wrong with the flowers?" Phil retaliated.

"Oh? Flowers?" Wilbur widened his curious eyes as if he had just caught his father doing something embarrassing.

"Uh. Yeah..." Phil blurted out. Well, as long as his son was satisfied.

"Dad, I'd never thought you'd start to like FLOWERS, all of things." Wilbur poked fun at him playfully. He'd already forgotten his father's harsh tone and his concerningly pale, shaky hands from earlier.

"...Life's pretty weird, mate." Phil chuckled with him as cold sweat trickled down his cheek. It felt uncomfortable to lie to his sons like this. To lie that he and Tommy were doing okay.

;~

"Tommy, can I visit your house tomorrow?" Tubbo asked in a serious, monotone voice, clenching his fists tightly.

"...Tubbo." Tommy looked down on the ground. "Please, don't nuke my home." He snorted sarcastically at the brunette.

"Pfft-" Ranboo covered his mouth, but failed to stop the chorus of laughs that came out of his mouth. Tubbo glared at him, silencing his lips.

"Haha... Enough of the jokes. Can I actually go visit your house tomorrow?" Tubbo smiled strangely. Tommy instantly knew he was plotting something... Not so good.

Tommy gulped nervously. Shit, was he actually thinking of nuking my house?

"Me too. I want to teach them a lesson." Ranboo smiled as well, sending chills down Tommy's spine. He rarely ever saw Ranboo smile like that...

"...Just, don't hurt them. They'll blame me if you do." Tommy crossed his arms. The other two looked surprised at his statement.

"...That stimulates me to harm them even more." Ranboo replied in a menacing, monotone voice, scaring the other two.

"Ranboo, please stop. You're scaring me." Tommy said in a flat voice, moving closer to Tubbo, who nodded with him.

"Sor— Wait— You just called me Ranboo!" Ranboo pointed out and jumped up from the couch out of excitement. They've been friends for 2 years, yet he had never heard Tommy say his actual name before. It was always either "Ranboob" or "boob-boy" that came out of the teen's mouth.

"No, dickhead! I did not!" Tommy immediately protested.

"Yeah, you did." Tubbo vouched for Ranboo.

"Wh—?!" Tommy felt utter betrayal as he stared at his friend, baffled by his nonchalant, obviously wrong statement.

"Stop it! I DID NOT." He denied brashly.

"Yes, you did." Ranboo smirked.

"I DID NOT."

"YES, YOU DID."

"I FUCKING DID NOT, BITCH."

"You fucking did."

"NO!"

"Yes."

"NO NO NO NO NO NO—"

"YES YES YES YES YES YES—"

"—Uhhh... Care to explain what's going on?" A low, bewildered voice interrupted the two boy's rambling.

"Oh... Hey dad!" Tubbo chirped, swinging his legs back and forth. Schlatt smiled back at the cheerful child.

"Schlatt, you wouldn't fucking believe it. Your son and boob-boy are trying to gaslight me!" Tommy cried out to the older man, hugging his waist like a toddler not wanting to separate from his dad.

"Gaslight?" Schlatt asked incredulously.

"You don't even know what that word means, Tommy!" Tubbo retorted.

"No, no. You don't get it. Tommy called me Ranboo, but he keeps denying it." Ranboo explained his side of the story.

Schlatt furrowed his brows, utterly confused. "And what does that have to do with anything?"

"I did not fucking say that! They are trying to gaslight me Schlatt! Be a model people and please scold them!" Tommy argued back. Schlatt wasn't even sure what "model people" meant.

"You did though!" Ranboo shouted back.

"No, I did not!" Tommy yelled in protest.

"Yes, you did!"

"No. I. Did. Not."

"Yes. You. Did."

"—————...!!!"

"——————...!"

Tubbo watched the fight with interest, sipping his milk a few times then and there as their prattling went on.

On the other hand, Schlatt was beyond baffled when he saw the living room's condition.

He pinched his nose.

Schlatt felt a headache was coming up.

...What were these kids doing in here? And why the hell are there flowers all over the fucking living room?

Chapter Text

08.15.2021, Wednesday.


"What?"

"Tommy wanted to learn magic... So I taught him. And, well— He did it!" Tubbo cheerfully explained to his father, knowing full well what it meant to the whole society of magicians.

"First try?" Schlatt's eyes bulged out. "How on earth...?" He looked over to Tommy, who seemed genuinely confused.

"What?" Tommy raised a brow.

Schlatt just stared at him, speechless. An inexperienced 16-year old managed to awaken his magic first try? He had only heard that happen one or two times. Even his teacher said it himself that it was a one-in-a-million chance of happening. If you were to succeed, that meant your magic was very above average. "Very above average" was an understatement itself. 

"What the hell..." The three boys looked at him, puzzled. Well, except for Tubbo, who was extremely excited about it.

"What happens if he does it first try?" Ranboo questioned curiously, fiddling with an allium he picked from the floor.

"It's complicated." Schlatt crossed his arms. "In simpler terms, Tommy's a very special kid."

"What?! Really?" Tommy jumped up, excited.

"Yeah. You're really lucky, kiddo." Schlatt chuckled, baffled that someone who was a one in a million was right under his nose this entire time.

"Lucky..." Tommy sat back down. Was he really lucky if half of his life had been... whatever it had been? He looked down on the ground, to the earth he had just casually spoken with moments earlier.

His mouth opened slightly.

Yeah, he felt pretty lucky right now in this moment. 

A content smile spread across his face.

"—Sorry to burst your bubble, but we'll have to clean up this mess." Schlatt scratched his head, picking a chrysanthemum that stemmed from the couch. 

"Ah. Right." Ranboo groaned. 

;~

"So, what's your affinity, big man?" Tommy asked as he vacuumed the chrysanthemums on the couch, bored from the cleaning.

"My affinity?" Schlatt turned to the teen. 

"Duh?" Tommy looked back at him, tilting his head to the side.

"Oh! Dad's affinity! It's really fucking cool." Tubbo bragged as he gave one of the bees outside the window a fresh allium from the floor. 

The little bumblebee circled around the flower to show its appreciation. Tubbo gently smiled at the little creature. "I'm naming you Michael." 

"Michael? Seriously, Tubs? How basic." Tommy mocked, earning a glare from him. 

"Yeah? Well, at least my affinity isn't summoning fuckin flowers." Tubbo deliberately put emphasis on the last word. Tommy gasped, about to throw his vacuum cleaner away and tackle Tubbo.

"No fights." Schlatt cut in, using magic to lift the rest of the alliums to the trash can.

"Must be great to have all the magic, Schlatt." Tommy snarled at him. "By the way, what's with the horns?"

"Ah, this?" Schlatt pointed to the magical ram horns attached to the sides of his head.

"It's to activate my magic." He added.

"Oh. Do you magicians always have to have horns on your head before doing... magic shit?" Tommy questioned curiously.

"No, it's just how I do magic. It's different for everybody. Niki uses a wand to do magic, Karl recites poems, and Dream just swings his hand or something." Schlatt explained in a simple manner, knowing Tommy doesn't do well with "big words".

"Oh... Wait, Dream's a magic man?!" Tommy shouted out of nowhere.

"And my sister too?!" Ranboo followed after, both boys completely stunned. It's not everyday you get told that your tutor or sister is magical.

"Yep." Tubbo nonchalantly popped the "p" as he gently petted Michael's soft fur with his finger.

"....."

Both of them stayed silent, until Ranboo finally broke the ice.

"Oh... Never knew that. T-Then... What's your affinity, Mr.Schlatt?" Ranboo changed back the topic to before as he dropped the bouquet of alliums on the trash can filled to the brim with a plethora of flowers.

"My affinity is preservation." Schlatt briefly replied. 

"Preservation?" Tommy's eyes twinkled, full of interest as he emptied the vacuum full of stems, roots, and petals. He had already forgotten about Dream being a magic man.

"Yeah. I preserve objects in their current condition." He stated. "For example, If I preserve a hot coffee in its current condition, then it'll still be hot unless I get rid of the magic on it." He added, receiving a "woah" and a clap from Ranboo and Tommy.

"Wait, is that why your garden looks so fresh?" Tommy realized. Schlatt nodded with a smile, proud of the flowerbeds he's been preserving since he was 13.

"Oh, so that's why... I've always wondered about that..." Ranboo commented. He kind of wants to learn magic now.

The three continued their conversation about magic, with Ranboo and Tommy mostly asking the questions, and Schlatt trying to make his answers as simple to understand as possible.

;~

Meanwhile, Tubbo was busy meeting Michael's hundreds of bee, butterfly, and bird friends.

"Nice to meet you, doodoo420!" He waved his hand at a duck floating on their backyard's pond. The duck happily nodded back, glad that someone finally acknowledged its unique and special name. Another duck scoffed beside doodoo420, quacking at the other duck to stop telling them that it was its legal name. Doodoo420 responded with a negative quack, mumbling at the other duck to shut up.

;~

The sleepover part of the sleepover came, with all three boys huddling together in a cramped bed... Sort of.

"Tommy, you're hogging up all of the space!" Tubbo complained loudly, almost falling off the edge of the bed.

"Am not! It's Ranboob's fault!" Tommy threw the blame on the dual-haired boy.

"Tommy, I'm also literally on the edge." Ranboo, shot back, to which Tommy grumbled,

"Just because I'm in the middle doesn't mean it's my fault." Tommy retorted in a passive-aggressive tone, pushing the blanket more closer to his chest.

"Tommy..." 

Tubbo and Ranboo sighed at the same time, tired of the blonde's stubbornness.

"How about we just sleep?" Tubbo suggested.

"Sounds good to me." Ranboo agreed.

"Whatever." The blonde scowled.

30 minutes later, and the three boys slowly fell into sleep one by one.

Tommy, in particular, wore a smile in his sleep.

He dreamt of Phil, Wilbur, Techno, and him taking a nice stroll in the park. And, they took pictures too! He rode on his father's back, while his brothers were arguing with each other beside them. He giggled at them, and so did his dad too.

Oh! And— and— They even went to an ice cream store nearby and bought ice cream! Then, they went to a theme park! Wilbur kept trying to scare him every time they went on one of the scary rides, but still, it was the most fun he'd ever had!

When he woke up, he found himself strangely surrounded by countless baby breaths and lilacs. He had no idea why. 

Chapter Text

08.16.2021, Thursday.

"Tommy, if you want, you could just stay with us." Tubbo suggested in a calmly manner, that is, if you ignore how tightly he's holding the young teen's hoodie.

Tommy sighed at his best friend. "Tubbo, my family isn't going to approve of that." Truthfully, he wanted to meet his brothers too, just to see how they were doing. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Yeah! But that place isn't even good for you, Tommy." Tubbo looked at him dead in the eyes. "Our house has magic, their's don't! If you keep staying there, it'll be hard to practice your magic, and..." Tubbo let the words "I'm worried for you" hang in the air, unspoken of. He knew very well Tommy did not like to be given pity.

"You're being really clingy right now, Tubbo." Tommy joked, lightening up the mood.

"No. You are." Tubbo shot back, brows furrowed.

"You're both clingy." Ranboo snorted, earning both glares from the clingy duo. Ranboo gazed to the side of the wall, trying to avoid their death glares.

"...Tommy." The brunette stared at him with a serious expression, gripping his hoodie tighter.

"I'll come back tomorrow, I promise." Tommy softly cooed. Tubbo pursed his lips.

"I know, but—"

"Tubbo." Schlatt held Tubbo's wrist gently. "Let him go. He'll be back tomorrow." He begrudgingly advised, although he also felt the same as Tubbo toward's Tommy's family.

Schlatt knew flower language decently and had noticed the chrysanthemums and bits of purple petals on the couch. He asked the teen about it, but Tommy kept silent. So, Tubbo instead had to explain to him about everything that happened earlier. In the end, he was, suffice to say, quite angry about the whole thing. He was mad at the fact Tommy's father couldn't get his shit together unlike him. He was mad that Phil, or whatever that shithead's name is gave up on his son just because of some high-paying job that could feed the family for a year. He seriously wished he could hear what was going in that old man's head.

...Still, he knew better than to force a child.

"...Fine." Tubbo hissed as he let go of Tommy's hoodie.

Tommy smiled at the brunette. "G'bye, Tubso!" The blonde teen yelled out as he and Ranboo walked out the flimsily fixed door. (Schlatt had a headache trying to fix the door last night. He knew how to fix a car or two, but definitely not doors.)

"Bye Tommy. Bye Ranboo." Tubbo and Schlatt waved at the two boys, who waved back at them with smiles and grins.

"Bye!" Ranboo bid farewell.

The father and son duo watched as the two fall figures walked farther and farther away from the house until they finally vanished from sight.

;~

"Um... Tommy, you alright?" Ranboo worriedly looked over to his friend. Tommy didn't respond though, eyes placed strictly to the brick pavement. It was as if he was running on auto-pilot mode.

"Tommy?" Ranboo called out again. The zoned-out teen paused, snapping back to reality.

"Oh. Sorry." Tommy awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Say that again?"

"Uh... Nothing. You seemed a bit—"

"I'm fine, Ranboob." Tommy cut him off with an obviously faked smile. Yeah, sure Tommy, you definitely look fine to me. Ranboo frowned deep inside.

"Sure..." Ranboo narrowed his eyes as he shifted his gaze away from the blonde, sensing that the other didn't want to continue the conversation any further.

"Why are you people so clingy?" Tommy grumbled under his breath. Ranboo smiled back, having heard of his complaint.

"Because we care about you, Tommy." He simply replied. Tommy abruptly stopped in his tracks, surprised by the sudden statement. H-He knew that... It was just surprising to hear it directly.

"...Whatever." He tsked as his ears tinted red, grumbling thousands of swears under his breath as he tried to catch up with Ranboo. "Why are you so fast?" He huffed.

"Cause' I drink milk." Ranboo shrugged.

"What? What does that have to do with being fast?" Tommy scowled at the taller teen in confusion.

"I'm tall. So I'm faster."

"That doesn't make sense, Ranboob." If being taller meant being faster, then why was Tubbo faster than him? He's 6'3 for pete's sake!

Ranboo grinned at the precious raccoon boy. "Wanna stop by my sister's bakery tomorrow?" He mentioned out of nowhere, catching Tommy's attention almost immediately.

"Wait, your sister has a bakery?!" Tommy squealed as he quickly turned his head towards him.

"Yep. Wait, don't you go there all the time?" Ranboo popped the question as he looked back at him with a confused expression. Tommy looked even more confused than him.

"...Wait, you're telling me, that Niki fucking owns "L'Pastries"...?" The blonde widened his eyes in realization.

"Mhm." Ranboo hummed.

"What?!"

Tommy yelled out louder than a car horn, scaring away the blackbirds that sat on a nearby pole. "S'that why I never see any other employee around except for her?"

"Yep." Ranboo popped the "p". Tommy's jaw dropped to the ground, utterly bewildered.

"...How come I never knew that?!"

"Well, you didn't ask."

"...." The younger blonde dead-panned.

;~

Tommy tentatively took a step forward towards the all too familiar door. He felt conflicted about whether to open the door or knock, as more sweat trickled down the teen's head the more he stood in front of the front door.

Man up, TommyInnit. He gritted his teeth.

He told himself he wanted to meet his long-lost brothers earlier, yet why couldn't he just turn the doorknob right now? You're scared. A part of him whispered, but he shooed it away immediately. How preparitous (preposterous). Big men don't get scared. He straightened his posture and held his backpack tightly. You got this.

In the end, he decided to ring the doorbell instead.

Ding— Dong—

The door creaked open right after.

"Hello...?" A tired Phil rubbed his eyes drowsily, wearing a strange shirt that said "Dad Goals". But what caught Tommy's attention instead was the cup of earl-grey tea in his hand.

Tommy blinked incredulously. Phil? Drinking tea? No coffee or energy drinks? Last time he'd ever seen Phil drink tea was when he was 12 years old. He only started drinking coffee a week later after he got that new job.

Sometimes he'd blame the "new job" for taking away his old Phil.

CRASH! Tommy flinched as his thoughts were shortly cut off by a crashing sound.

"T-Tommy...?" His father trembled with a shaky voice, his hands not holding the cup anymore. Porcelain shards poked sharply at his feet.

Tommy wrinkled his brows, confused of why Phil was acting so strange lately. "What?" He rebelliously spat out.

"...." Phil stayed silent, his mouth slightly open.

Tommy scowled at the puzzling man. What the hell was wrong with hi—

Phil jumped on his son, wrapping his arms tightly around his back and neck. Silent sobs of regret swallowed his words up, apologies failing to come out of his mouth. Tommy stood there quietly, stupefied by the fact that his neglectful, ignorant, strict, and cold father suddenly hugged him out of nowhere. His eyes stayed widened, not knowing what to do with his father's tears on his hoodie.

A part of him wished he was faking it. He wished his father would go cold once again as soon as his brothers went back to university. He wished Phil would show his true colors at the last moment.

Tommy tensed his shoulders, blinking away the tears that welled up in his eyes. He didn't know what to do with this conflicting emotion.

A small batch of poppies emerged from the grass near them, but none of them noticed the tiny flowers spreading throughout the green grass.

"———...!"

Just then, another voice could barely be heard from inside the house. A particular, cheery voice he had missed... Not so much. Tommy suddenly felt weird. He should've been happy that his brothers were back. He should've been excited and cheerful.

So why did he feel nothing at all?

"Tommy!" Wilbur cried out to his sunshine, his little gremlin, his dearest younger brother — Tommy. The Tommy he always played a song for, the Tommy he made a country with, the Tommy that would barge in his room every day right after he got back home from school, just to chat. The Tommy that he knew everything about.

So why did he feel like he couldn't read his expression anymore?

;~

08.15.2021, Wednesday.

The whole house went into a panic in the middle of the night as soon as they realized Tommy was definitely not coming home any time soon.

"Maybe we should just wait a little more, Wil—"

"I can't, dad! What if he's out there and he's scared?!" Wilbur vigorously scratched his hair. "I just got back home, and now my younger brother's missing!"

"Calm down, Wilbur." Techno sighed at his anxious brother as he lightly smacked his head with a book.

"Ow." Wilbur snarled at him. Techno smirked back.

TW starts here-

"Techno's right, Wilbur. Panicking isn't going to get us anywhere." Phil stated as he plopped down on the sofa right next to his son. Truthfully, he was scared shitless deep inside. What if Tommy had enough and ran away? What if Tommy was in danger? What if Tommy wanted to commit... No. No, no, no. Phil paled at the thought. He couldn't have- He- I thought this was a chance for us to reconcile!

Phil thinned his lips subconsciously. No- He- He wouldn't. His hands were sweating like a dam cracking bit by bit. He wouldn't. Tommy wouldn't. He always had a strong heart. He wouldn't just—

TW ends here-

"Tommy's fine, Wilbur. The kid knows what he's doing." Techno's exhausted voice cut off his train of thought.

"But Techno—" Wilbur was shortly interrupted by a telephone ring.

Ring— Ring—

"....?" Phil scouted for the source of the sound, and discovered that it was coming from the house telephone. "...Who'd call at such an hour?"

He picked up the call, feeling slightly anxious. The two twins stared intensely at the poor, run-down telephone.

"Hello?" Phil spoke up first, glancing at his sons momentarily before focusing back on the call.

"Hello? Is this Tommy's father?" A rough, static voice came out from the other end of the call.

Phil gulped, his heart beating faster than ever before. "What do you want with my son?" His tone suddenly turned to venom.

"...Oh, Uh, nothing. Just wanted to tell you he's at my house right now having a sleepover with Tubbo." The voice calmly replied.

Phil paused, confused by what he said. He was having a sleepover with... Tubbo? He felt relief flood in his mind.

On the other hand, both Wilbur and Techno slightly relaxed their tense shoulders, glad to know that that their brother was safe, at least.

"I see... I'll drive over there immediately. I appreciate you and your son taking care of Tommy, but he has—" Phil was immediately cut off by the static voice.

"Don't. I- didn't the kid get your permission?" The man asked, slightly confused.

"...No, actually." Phil sighed.

"Oh, weird." The stranger replied in a passive-aggressive tone. Phil raised a brow. What do you mean, "Oh, weird."? For some reason, he felt as if he was being scrutinized right now.

Phil quickly waved away the false thoughts and refocused on the conversation. "Well, could you give me your address then? I have to go get Tommy—" He was once again cut off, but by the call ending sound this time.

"So? Where's Tommy?" Wilbur impatiently questioned his father, who only sighed back,

"He hung up." A very weary Phil mumbled groggily.

"What?!" Wilbur panicked again.

That night, Techno had to knock out Wilbur to sleep, begrudgingly smacking his favorite mythology book on his brother's head. Phil gently smiled at his oldest, appreciative of the help.

;~

08.16.2021, Thursday.

"Oh, you don't know how worried sick we were!" Wilbur joined in the group hug, getting a wince out of Tommy, who was speechlessly confused.

Well, this was weird. Last thing he'd expect was to get hugged by his father or brother, let alone get hugged by two of them. He still thinks that Phil is a bitch though, but he decided he would let this one pass, for now.

He's not touch-starved. He thinks. (He is.)

"Sorry, sorry. M'phone died." Tommy chuckled awkwardly, trying to lighten up the mood like the sunshine he was. Keyword, was.

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't ever do that again, Tommy." Wilbur puffed his cheeks, acting childish.

Tommy laughed at his paranoid brother. "I'll charge my phone to 100% percent every day from now on."

"You better do so, insufferable child." Wilbur ruffled his golden hair as he finally let go of the group hug.

"I'm not a child!" Tommy hissed back.

"Meh meh meh. I'm not a child cause I'm 16-years-old now—"

"OH. MY. GOD, WILBUR! YOU. ARE. SUCH. AN OLD, STUPID MAN!"

Tommy covered his ears, shouting loud enough to drown out Wilbur's stupid, annoying voice. (Truthfully, he found Wilbur's voice to be gentle and relaxing.)

"and I like coral because it's a really nice color—"

"I DID LIKE THE CORAL!"

"and I'm a suck-up to dad—"

"—Hullo." A louder voice joined in before Wilbur could finish his bad (great) impression of TommyInnit.

"...Ow' do, The Blade?" Tommy greeted him with a grin, earning a sigh from the pink-haired man.

"I told you not to call me that..." Techno facepalmed himself. "...And what's going on with dad?" He turned his gaze to Phil who sobbed profusely, staining his tears on Tommy's hoodie.

"Uhh..." Tommy turned his head to the bucket-hat man who refused to let go of him. "Dunno."

There was one thing he did know though.

He knew he liked it. Slightly.

;~

A patch of hydrangeas slowly emerged from the ground, all four colors blooming beautifully.

;~

Meanwhile, the members of the Gaming Club started to worry about the boisterous young blonde as they noticed that he didn't join in the club activities yesterday and even went absent today.

"He's probably just sick." Purpled shrugged, hands inside his pockets.

"...I guess that concludes that then." Freddie sighed. "I'll go text Tommy about our plans for the club fair."

TW starts here-

The rest nodded back, slightly worried about the teen. All of them knew very well that Tommy was a natural magnet of disaster. They could still remember that one time when Tommy texted Freddie that he couldn't attend club activities for the day because he got his ribs broken, punched by a robber.

TW ends here-

Sigh, that child's always in danger in some way.

Chapter Text

08.16.2021, Thursday.

"Sorry for scaring you, mate." Phil awkwardly smiled as he placed a cup of tea on the table, facing towards Tommy's seat.

"It's fine." Tommy picked up the teacup, suspiciously eyeing Phil as he sat down on a dark green chair.

"...What's wrong?" Phil looked at him with a worried expression. "Is the tea not to your taste?"

"No, it's good." Tommy quickly replied, shifting his gaze to the wall to avoid suspicion.

If it wasn't said enough yet, this situation felt very weird. Was he sure this wasn't an alternative universe or something? Because he definitely doesn't remember Phil as a worrier.

Tommy stared at the cup of tea in his hands. Surely, this must be a dream. He denied reality as he took a sip of the hot tea.

"Ack...!" The hot liquid burnt the tip of his tongue.

Yeah, scratch that. This was definitely real.

"Be careful, the tea's hot." Phil benignly smiled at him, freaking him out even more. What the heck?

"Phil, have you got brain damage?" Tommy narrowed his eyes as he shot the question in a serious tone.

Phil looked shocked. "What? No, of course not." He chuckled lightly, as if he hadn't been neglecting his youngest son for a whole 5 years and a half.

Of course, Tommy absolutely hated this sudden change of personality.

"Oh, is that so? Are you going to start pretending like you haven't neglected me for the past 5 years?" Tommy growled at his father.

Phil gulped anxiously. "Tommy... I—" He was immediately cut off by the furious young teen.

"Lemme guess. You want to talk to me alone and that's why you asked Wil and Techno to unpack their bags first?" Tommy guessed in a bland tone, just outright tired from everything.

"Tommy, I know I've done a lot of things to you... But, I- I think that maybe we could... Reconcile?" Phil lowered his head, feeling a little bit guilty.

Tommy widened his eyes, not out of surprise, but out of rage. Reconcile? What? For his brothers? He bit the corner of his lip as he slammed his hand on the table.

Phil winced, confused about why his son was acting like this. Earlier he looked so happy to see him, but why did he look so angry now?

"Phil Watson Craft, if you're thinking of reconciling with me, how about you shove that fake personality up your ass first?" Tommy scoffed in a low whisper, satisfied with the startled, sorrowful expression on Phil's face. That's right, he should be fucking sad.

Tommy suddenly felt a slight tickle near his leg. Confused, he decided to take a look.

...Fuck. Several petunias started to emerge from his chair.

"Fake personality?" Phil wrinkled his brows, confused.

"You're reconciling with me because my brothers are home." Tommy stood up from his seat, glaring daggers at his idiotic father while he stealthily picks every petunia stemming from the chair.

"Wh— No! Of course no—"

Tommy cracked a chuckle, swiftly silencing the old man.

"It's quite funny how you finally try to get your shit together when your favorite sons are home." His lips were smiling, but his eyes were flaming with resentment and anger.

"F-Favorite? I would never!" Phil yelled at him. Tommy didn't even flinch, having predicted this from the start. Plus, he was too busy trying not to let the emerging petunias get out of hand. Shit shit shit— Tommy watched in horror as the flowers started to climb on the back of the chair.

"Let's face it Phil. I'm not even your son." Tommy spat at him as he quickly grabbed the climbing petunias. Phew.

"I..." Phil blankly stared at him, unable to make a rebuke. And Tommy noticed it. He noticed that he couldn't even fight back.

Tommy stifled a laugh. Even the man himself agrees.

More petunias started to sprout from the chair.

"...That's why you never cared, right? I'm just a random child who Wilbur convinced you to adopt, right?" His tone was getting weaker and raspier. All he wanted was his unconditional affection, even just a little bit.

Tommy clenched his fist tightly, crushing the petunias he ripped from the chair.

It hurts when you know it's just pretend.

"Please, it's just the two of us here alone, so stop pretending like you care about me. This is all because of guilt, right? Then it's fine. I forgive you, SO LEAVE ME ALONE!" Tommy shouted the last sentence before storming off to his room, a whole bouquet of flowers in his hand.

"...." Phil looked down on the ground. ...What have I done?

He failed to notice the small petunia on his chair.

;~

Tommy ran up the stairs, brashly wiping his tears as he rushed to his room.

Shit. Why did I do that...?

He sat on the wooden floor, knees close to his chest, and hands resting on top of his knees. Tommy tried his best to silence his sniffles, but he couldn't breathe, so he stopped.

He... He was just so tired. He was so fucking tired.

Tommy dropped the bouquet on the ground, not knowing where else to put it. He missed his friends, Tubbo and Ranboo. He missed Dream. He missed the Gaming Club. He missed Ms. Sally. Hell, he even missed his annoying math teacher, Mr. Awesam!

Tommy mumbled a tiny "fuck you", dedicated to his dickhead of a father.

For the past 5 years, he'd been trying so hard to have a new life for himself. To flip the page. To write a new ending for himself. He'd been trying so hard to forget and move on. So, why? He'd done all the steps correctly, so why?

He did everything right.

It's unfair.

He grabbed the cow plushie from his bed and hugged it tightly. Warm tears rolled down his face as more flowers sprouted from the floor, with a few butterfly weeds joining in.

He didn't want to reconcile with Phil, but at the same time, he longed for his affection. He couldn't understand why. He wanted Phil to leave him alone. He wanted his bad memories to leave him alone.

He already decided to forget about him.

So why did he still want Phil's approval?

...Perhaps, he just wanted that Phil back.

Why can't you just forget him? A part of him screamed, frustrated.

Tommy closed his eyes, tears overflowing from them.

I don't know.

Chi... Child...

A faint voice suddenly echoed in his head. ...Am I going crazy? Tommy worriedly questioned his current mental health.

You're real. I am too.

The voice echoed back, clearer this time. Tommy squeaked at the sudden volume change, having realized the voice in his head was the fucking earth talking to him.

"A-Ayup, earth." Tommy awkwardly greeted the air, and the atmosphere quickly turned awkward.

What is an Ey-yup?

The earth asked in a confused tone. Tommy could imagine it tilting its head innocently like a child asking what "fuck" means. He barely suppressed a snort.

"Its— Uh- A greeting." Tommy professionally explained.

A greeting?

Tommy nodded his head. "S'like saying hello, or, something like that." He added.

I see. Ey-yup, child.

Tommy barked a loud, boisterous laugh, forgetting all of his problems in the present. "Y— cough— Yeah!" Tommy coughed, his throat dry from dying of laughter. "And— cough— My name isn't "Child", n— cough— nor am I one!" He coughed again at the last part.

Then, what is your name?

The voice inquired. Tommy mysteriously grinned at the question.

"Thomas Careful Danger Kraken Innit." He pridefully introduced himself. It wasn't his legal name, technically, but he felt like it was more suitable for a "big man" like him.

Oh. Then, it's nice to meet you again, Thomas Careful Danger Kraken Innit.

"Pfft— Just Tommy, please. " Tommy chuckled at the voice.

It's nice to meet you again, Tommy.

The voice rephrased its sentence, earning a cheerful nod from Tommy.

"Good!" Tommy smiled at his new friend. "What's yours , then? I mean— Is your name actually "earth", or...?" He asked the voice curiously.

They call me earth, but I do not have a name.

"...Oh." Tommy stared at the floor, now turned to a flower biome, thinking of a name for his new best friend. "How about... Isabela? Wait- No. John? Too american..."

Tommy blurted out countless different and unique names until he finally found the one.

He let out a gasp. "Clementine...?" He quickly jumped up from the ground out of excitement. "Yes! Clementine! That's it! That's your name now!"

A name, for me?

"Yep." Tommy popped the "p". "It's a pog name, innit?"

...Yes.

A few yellow lilies stemmed from the floorboards.

;~

Ranboo sat on the floor in the lotus position, eyes closed and shoulders relaxed.

Inhale... Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

Sweat ran down his face as he put all his mental energy into concentrating, not even making a reaction to his dog tickling his cheek.

Hear the ground....

He recalled Tubbo's teachings from yesterday, using it to try and find a way to "feel the earth."

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

After a few minutes of continuously taking deep breaths, the tired teen finally opened his eyes.

"...Darnit."

He sighed disappointingly as he grabbed the purple notebook beside him. "Attempt #24 failed." He quickly wrote on the fourth page before closing his eyes again.

Chapter Text

08.16.2021, Thursday.

A total of 10 boxes were moved in upstairs, six of them from Wilbur. Techno sighed at his twin brother, whose boxes were most likely filled with tons of discs, souvenirs from Europe, his new-bought guitar (The old one broke.), a HUNDRED blue sheep plushies, and many more useless objects.

"Why the hell do you have a hundred sheep plushies?" Techno groaned at the army of sheep sitting menacingly at the end of Wilbur's bed.

Phil had informed the two brothers that they would be sleeping in the same bedroom for the meantime as Techno's bedroom was turned into a storage room after they left. Techno disagreed desperately, meanwhile, Wilbur only smiled during the whole conversation. Prick.

"Don't they look cute?" Contrary to his brother's annoyed expression, Wilbur was smiling cheerfully, or for a more better word, mischeviously.

Techno sighed in response at his chaotic brother. For a moment, the pinkette slightly opened his mouth, only for it to close again.

"What?" Wilbur raised a brow, noticing his twin's distress. (Twin telepathy, I guess.)

"I..." Techno looked at Wilbur in the eyes. They say your eyes are the window to your soul, and Techno would agree. He saw how Wilbur's eyes were shaky. He saw how nervous and anxious they were even before the "Tommy wasn't at home incident".

"You need to stop denying the current reality, Wilbur."

"...." Wilbur suddenly froze, his eyes widened. "What the fuck are you talking about?" He went on the offensive, one of his obvious tells.

"You know what I'm talking about." Techno furrowed his brows. "There's something going on."

Wilbur scowled at him. "Can you be more not cryptic? I really have no idea what you're talking about."

"You do. You're just denying it." Techno observed his brother's behavior, such as crossing his arms and fiddling with the hem of his shirt. Those were his most obvious tells, but Wilbur himself doesn't even know that.

"And what exactly am I denying, Tech-no-blade?" Wilbur questioned, although a part of him said he already knew.

"Phil and Tommy. There's something going on between them." Techno tapped the soft mattress of his bed. "I don't think it's something good."

Wilbur grabbed one of the sheep plushies and hugged i tightly. "...Do you have any proof?" He hung his head low, the fur of the plushie touching his chin as he glared at his twin.

"Wilbur, it's literally obvious." Techno narrowed his eyes. "Don't you remember when Phil yelled at us earlier? When you clearly noticed how shaky his hands were? What about the bacon and eggs? And—"

"Okay, okay! I fucking get it already!" Wilbur covered his ears with both of his hands. "...But how would you know that?" Wilbur scoffed in a tone full of denial.

"We only got here yesterday, Techn—"

"SO LEAVE ME ALONE!"

A sudden loud shout from downstairs that sounded a lot like Tommy immediately cut off Wilbur's argument.

...Tommy?

Wilbur kept silent, his eyes not blinking at all.

"...Told ya." Techno huffed victoriously.

Alright, maybe Techno was right. Maybe something wrong was indeed happening.

;~

"So, Clem. Why the fuck are we here?" Tommy disrespectfully asked as his face hit a stray twig. "Ow."

You said you wanted to control your magic.

"Yeah, but why the hell are we in a forest?!" Tommy's loud voice echoed throughout the huge, dense forest.

The trees swayed with the wind, and the chirps of a hummingbird lingered in Tommy's ears. Tommy was thankful enough that he hadn't spotted any grizzly bears or deadly eagles yet.

Let's have a quick recap first before we continue.

Earlier, he had asked his new best friend, Clementine, to help him control his magic. So, he obediently followed his best friend's instructions and is now lost inside a fucking forest. He might have to take away the "best friend" title from Clementine at this point.

Magic comes from nature. Therefore it is better to practice here.

Clementine explained to the furious teen, who sighed back in defeat.

"...Fair enough." Truthfully, Tommy was still pretty confused about the whole "magic is nature" thing. "So how does magic come from nature, then?" He asked the all-knowing planet earth.

Nature has magic. Humans are from nature.

Oh, what now? Tommy raised a brow. Shit, it just got even more confusing. Thankfully, Clementine noticed the teen's confusion and explained it in a more simple manner.

Humans have magic from the start as they are from nature.

Tommy understood it this time, and asked another question. "But why can't we just do magic naturally?"

...Nature tends to not trust anyone, although I think that wall of theirs is slowly starting to crumble.

Tommy furrowed his brows, even more confused. "Nature?"

Yes. Nature is the one who welcomed you, remember?

"Wait— What?" Tommy stopped in his tracks, in front of a shallow river. "Y- You're joking. They're the "Welcome, fledging" one?"

Correct. You're a very smart human.

"I know I am, all the women love me for it." Tommy smirked, before realizing he had forgotten his original concern. "Wait— I thought you two were the same!" He shouted like the boisterous child he is.

We are not the same. Nature is my child.

"...Your what now?" Tommy sat down on the ground, trailing his hand on the water.

I made Nature.

"Oh. Makes sense." Tommy slightly tilted his head. "Do we stop here? Or keep going?"

Stop.

The blonde teen nodded his head obediently, playing with the water out of boredom. "Theenn... What am I supposed to do now?"

Wait.

"...What? Wait for what—" The young blonde is suddenly cut off by a faint footstep.

"Shit. Someone's here." Tommy immediately stood up, preparing his escape plan just in case he gets caught or even worse, goes to jail. (Tommy had picked up one of Wilbur's traits when he was a child.)

Tommy, do not move.

The voice commanded in a whisper. Tommy wrinkled his brows, confused. "But there's som—"

Another footstep cut off his statement, much louder and closer this time.

Trust me.

Tommy gulped hesitantly at the totally trustable voice. "...Okay." If he dies after this, he's definitely blaming this on Clem.

The young blonde nervously stood still, his heart beating faster and faster as the footsteps get closer and louder. It felt like he was waiting for a jumpscare.

Flinch—

A gentle hand dropped on Tommy's shoulder.

Tommy almost immediately paled, and screamed for dear life.

;~

Click. Clack. Click. Clack.

Phil paused his hands. It didn't feel right anymore. Tapping on the keys felt more forced rather than willful.

Phil sighed in remorse, turning off his computer as he decided to go downstairs and maybe get some fresh air. On the way down, he passed by the vase of lively dandelions he once thought of as unnecessary and felt an immediate pang of guilt inside his heart.

If only he had prioritized his family more than his work. If only he had not pressured Tommy so much. If only he had given him the affection he needed.

Then maybe all of this wouldn't have happened in the first place.

"Let's face it Phil. I'm not even your son."

His son's furious remark echoed in his mind repeatedly as he covered his face with both of his hands, hiding away from the guilt and sorrow he tried to deny so much. He mourned the loss of his son's love, transparent tears streaming down his face.

For the first time in forever, his eyes were a vibrant blue, like a clear river cleansed of dirt.

Chapter Text

08.16.2021, Thursday.

"AHH! What the fuck man, man!" Tommy shrieked, trying not to seem absolutely horrified at the end of the statement.

The young blonde quickly turned his head to the stranger, but contrary to his expectations, the stranger behind him was not a cop, not a bear, not a serial killer, but an innocent-looking lady.

The brown-haired lady chuckled at his reaction, the unique flower crown made of roses and kalmia on her head catching Tommy's attention. The strange lady wore a pink checkered apron above a simple collared shirt, with a name tag on the right, displaying the name, "Hannah".

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

She spoke in a gentle, low yet elegant voice that could entrance even animals and plants, her thin-lipped smile similar to a pure-white dove.

"...It's fine." Tommy mumbled almost inaudibly as he took a step backward from the stranger. If there's one useful thing he learned from school, it's that you can never trust strangers... excluding Clementine, since they're Tommy's best friend.

The lady blinked at him confusedly. "What is a teenager like you doing in the middle of the forest?" She questioned him with a concerned tone.

"Wouldn't you like to know, flower girl?" Tommy snorted at his own joke, but swiftly realized just how bad the atmosphere turned after that. "...To be honest, I should be the one asking that to you."

The flower lady smiled in return. "I'm looking for a specific herb that I really need." Yeah, as if that wasn't sus(picious) at all. "What about you?" She lifted a brow.

"Just, uh..." Tommy fidgeted slightly. "Uh... Taking a stroll?"

The brown-haired lady tilted her head with a blank face, clearly seeing through his amazing (poor) excuse. "You shouldn't be here, you know." She sighed lightly.

Okay... That is awfully suspicious...

Clementine... Do I trust this woman? Tommy anxiously asked the voice inside his head.

I can confirm she is nice.

Tommy wrinkled his brows. Yeah, but is she trustable?

I can confirm she is not dangerous.

The voice replied back, earning a quiet groan from Tommy. Thanks for the help, Clem.

No problem.

She is definitely not trustable.

"Oh... Why not?" Tommy then does the one thing he's good at.Annoying people.

"This is a forest, kid." The flower crown lady refuted. Why the hell does everyone keep calling me a child? Tommy was deeply offended.

"My name is not kid." Tommy snarled at her. "It's Tommy."

"Oh... Alright, Tommy." She stifled a laugh, one that Tommy could easily discern even from afar. "I'm Hannah. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to NOT meet you." Tommy growled back.

"....Kids these days." Hannah sighed in return. "So why are you really here then, Tommy?" She asked as she squatted down on the ground next to the river.

"Uhh..." Tommy struggled to make a proper response.

Tell her about your magic.

Clementine quietly advised the blonde teen, receiving a mental cry from the blonde teen himself.

Are you crazy?! Tommy yelled in his mind. He was definitely not trusting this woman no matter what life threw at him.

No. Just tell her.

And why should I do that?

Clementine paused for a bit.

....Just trust me.

Well, fair point... She is the planet fucking earth after all...

Okay, fine...

Tommy tutted internally. "I— I have magic." He revealed hesitantly.

Hannah looked at him, bewildered. "...W— Why did you just expose yourself like that?" She snorted, baffled at his reckless statement.

"Clem told me to." Tommy replied in a slightly irked voice as he sat down on the ground beside her.

Hannah stared at him, perplexed. "Clem?" She questioned in a puzzled voice.

"Oh- I mean the earth." Tommy fixed his sentence. If Clementine trusted her, then that means he can trust her too... Not really.

Tommy couldn't help but feel slightly suspicious of the lady who said she needed a "specific herb" and told him almost threateningly that he "shouldn't be here". Clementine could trust her in a second, but he definitely could not.

But if she could help with his situation... I guess I could trust her a bit.

Hannah spitted out imaginary water. "Th-The what?!" She almost choked on her spit, but thankfully she did not. "Y-you can talk with the earth?!"

"...Yeah?" Tommy tilted his head like a dumbass.

;~

Tommy gaped at the mystical scenery in front of him. It was a two-story dark oak cottage, the first floor being what it seems to be a shop(?), and the second floor seemingly was a bedroom of some sort. The entire house was covered in flowery vines and countless of flowers, most of them being violets and all colors of roses.

Pots of sunflowers, dandelions, dahlias, fuchsias, and many more crowded the outside of the cottage, leaving a mixed-up and random yet alluring scent lingering in the air.

"Welcome, to my magical flower shop!" Hannah grinned at his reaction.

"You have a flower shop... In the middle of the forest?" Tommy questioned in a confused tone. "Won't you get no profit at all?"

"Oh, these flowers aren't for normal people." Hannah simply smiled at him as she guided the blonde child to her front door.

"They're for hybrids."

Tommy raised a brow at the unexpected word. "...Hybrids?"

Hannah clapped her hands avidly. "Glad you asked!" Tommy stared at her with a weirded-out expression. "Hybrids are half-human and half-mob, or half-animal!"

Yeah, I definitely understand it now. Tommy thought sarcastically.

"You're saying... Humans fucked animals in the ancient days?" Tommy furrowed his brows, the blonde beyond disgusted by his ancestor's life decisions.

"What— Of course not! That'd be absurd." Hannah shook her head vigorously as she opened the door to her magical flower shop.

"Then, what happened — Woah." Tommy widened his eyes at the beautiful design and architecture. It looked so... aesthetic. That's the word.

"Do you like it?" Hannah asked for a review, to which Tommy subconsciously nodded.

"Not bad." Tommy scowled.

"Pfft. Okay." Hannah chuckled at his faked frown. It was quite cute, actually.

A silence filled the shop as Tommy quietly stepped forward on the vinyl floor, breathing in each and every detail of every flower in the cottage.

"Holy shit— Is that a bonsai wisteria tree?" Tommy's eyes sparkled as he walked closer to the gorgeous, well-kept bonsai tree, cared for and looked after for about 14 years and 7 months straight.

"Mhm. How'd you know? You don't look like a flower-passionist to me." Hannah narrowed her eyes in doubt.

"Uh..." Tommy scratched his cheek. How did he know? It just suddenly popped up in his mind, as if it was general knowledge. Even Tommy could not remember the math equations he did last year, yet he could, for some reason, know and remember what a plant is and how exactly old it was.

"It's my magic." He explained briefly.

Hannah twinkled, intrigued. "What is it? Your affinity, I mean."

Tommy rolled his eyes as he said the following words with a stoic tone.

"Summoning flowers out of nowhere."

"....."

A long, awkward pause suddenly swallowed the entire cottage. The young blonde shifted his gaze to Hannah, confused with her blank response.

Just then, hands clasp his together, gripping them tightly. Tommy struggled to get his hands out of the tight grip, but he could not get them out.

"Hey- What the fuck are you trying to do—" He growled, but was shortly cut off by a high-pitched, energetic voice.

"Please, PLEASE become my apprentice!"

"....What?"

Chapter Text

08.16.2021, Thursday.

Rows of black crows cawed as the late-afternoon azure began to darken into dusk. A soft blanket of clouds tucked in the shining sun, as its cousin moon rises up for another night.

"Tommy...?" Wilbur quietly knocked on his younger brother's door, a guitar poorly hidden behind his back.

He was going to play Tommy one of his latest songs, Perfume. He thought the kid would like it, and unbeknownst to him, it was already on Tommy's thousands of Spotify playlists.

Tommy had always been supportive of his brothers, even though they left him at the peak of his childhood. He loved Wilbur more than anything in the world, so suffice to say he would absolutely love his songs as well. He'd even sometimes play Lovejoy's songs on the keyboard that Wilbur gifted him.

Sometimes he'd wish on a shooting star to meet Lovejoy one day and reunite with his brother.

"Toms?" Wilbur knocked on the door again, the knocking getting louder and louder as each minute went by. "You in there?"

A blank silence answered back, weaving drops of sweat on Wilbur's cheeks. "Tommy?" He yelled out loudly.

No response. Not even a single, audible sound that could indicate he was in the room.

"Tommy... I'm coming in!" Wilbur took a deep breath, wishing that nothing bad happened to his brother.

He heard it from Techno himself. Something wrong was going on. He had heard Tommy's shouts from upstairs earlier, but he was too anxious to knock on Tommy's door and comfort him. Wil, just give him some space. He recalled Techno's advice from before. Okay, well fuck that I guess.

Right now, Tommy needs him.

He turned the doorknob immediately, but the door didn't budge. Of course, of course Tommy would lock his door. Wilbur tried shaking it, but nothing happened.

His heart skipped a beat.

"Shit, shit, shit..." He started to murmur swear words under his breath as his heart thumped faster and faster. (It runs on the family, lol.) "Tommy...?" His shaky voice did nothing as the door kept shaking and shaking, the doorknob almost about to fall off the door itself.

"TOMMY?!"

He shouted at the top of his lungs, shaking the door like crazy. "Tommy! Please, open the door!" He cried out as Techno and Phil came rushing towards him with both concerned faces.

"What happened, mate?" Phil scrunched up his brows as he looked towards where Wilbur was looking with such panic in his eyes. It was Tommy's bedroom door.

"Wilbur, stop shaking the door." Techno grabbed Wilbur's wrist, receiving a glare from the other twin.

"...I knew it! I should've never fucking listened to your fucking advice!" Wilbur struggled to pull away from Techno's grip on his hand, but it was evident that the older of the twins was stronger than the other.

"Wilbur. Panicking won't solve anything." Techno placed his other hand on Wilbur's shoulder. "Breathe."

"You...."

Wilbur stared at him, anger and worry shown in his deep-brown hazel eyes. "...Thanks, that helps a lot, Techno." He scoffed sarcastically as Techno finally let go of his wrist.

"So? What happened?" Techno quirked a brow.

Wilbur bit his lip furiously. How could he ask that so casually? "Tommy's gone and it's all your fucking fault!" He yelled at him, rage in his lungs as he pushed Techno with all of his might, but couldn't because he was weaker. "Fuck you and your fucking abs!"

"You're just jealous." Techno huffed.

"—And what do you mean by Tommy's gone?" Phil quickly cut him off with a serious tone in his voice.

Wilbur turned to him, his stare full of venom. "Well, Dad, I can't fucking open Tommy's door and he's not responding to any of my calls either!" He ranted his heart out, feeling conflicted about his father who might've hurt Tommy in the past while they left for university.

Phil's old heart dropped immediately. "What?" Was the only response he could make out, shock and panic quickly swallowing his words up.

"What do you mean, what?!" Wilbur furrowed his brows, baffled by his dad's reply. "Kick the door down! Now!" He yelled out to his twin, who nodded back and forcibly kicked down the red door.

THUD!

A cloud of fog dust shot up from the broken-down door, tickling their noses, shortly after, they turned into coughs. "Cough— Tommy!" Wilbur ran in first, the other two men following after him.

"Tom..." Wilbur couldn't finish his statement as the fog dispersed.



There was no one in the room.

;~

"I mean- I was thinking of making you an apprentice after that whole "talking with the earth" thing, but I'm definitely going to make you my apprentice. Right. Now! Holy prime, I cannot believe my luck today—"

"Stop rambling, woman." Tommy snarled in exhaustion. He's had to climb through countless of tiny hills, and now he has to deal with an over-energetic flower shop owner? His face turned blank. Bruv.

Hannah looked at him with the face that read, "I am disappointed in your generation". You know, like a boomer. "You should learn how to respect your elders." She puffed reprimandingly.

"So you're admitting you're a boomer?" Tommy snorted, earning a glare from the brown-haired florist.

"You know I didn't mean it like that! I meant you should respect the people who are older than you." Hannah corrected her sentence, but to no avail did it stop the younger's attacks.

"Anyone older than me is a boomer." Tommy smirked, irritating the magical florist even more. "Mad cuz bad."

Hannah sighed at the blonde teenager. "That doesn't make sense in this situation." Tommy just hummed at her as a taunt. "....I'm starting to have second thoughts on having you as my apprentice."

"Shouldn't have thought about it in the first place, Big H." Tommy smiled as he walked to the door. "I don't want to anyway." He added, but as he was about to push open the door, a tight grasp on his hand stopped him from doing so.

"W-Wait! I was joking!" Hannah chuckled nervously, placing her arm on the door as if to barricade it. Tommy couldn't care less at this point, having walked a mile just to end up at a fucking flower shop in the middle of the woods.

"I don't want to, Hannah." Tommy clicked his tongue as he shook away his hand from hers. Him? Being a florist apprentice?

Over my dead body.

Hannah blocked the whole door with her body. "Tommy, you have no idea how special you are." She suddenly stated out of nowhere.

"I'm not going to be your florist apprentice, so fuck off." Tommy decided to pull the middle finger on her, hoping she'd back down. Unfortunately, she did not.

"Tommy, if anyone gets hold of the fact that you can talk to earth and your magic, you're either going to be kidnapped or killed." Hannah menacingly stared at the young blonde, creeping him out.

"What the fuck—" Tommy was immediately interrupted by the older woman.

"Tommy, listen to me. No one has been able to talk to earth for centuries by now. If they find out, they won't hesitate to experiment on you or kill you for the sake of getting rid of future enemies, or what they call, 'tyrants'."

Tommy stared at her, puzzled and afraid. "What...? So? What if I was lying to you?"

"I'm pretty sure being able to exactly identify what a plant is without having no prior knowledge in plants is not part of your magic." Hannah sighed at him without a speck of doubt in her tone.

"It's also pretty weird how you were exactly at the river I go to on the same day, same time." She added as she raised a brow. "I'm guessing the all-knowing earth, Clem told you that?"

Tommy gulped anxiously. "Okay, if so... What then?" He scowled at the brunette. Damnit, he should've never trusted a florist.

He was definitely going to scold Clementine later.

"I'm suggesting, for you to become an apprentice of mine. In exchange, I won't expose your secret, I'll protect you, and I'll teach you everything about magic that you want to know about, your magic included." Her eerie, yet calming smile sent shivers down Tommy's spine.

"Are you seriously blackmailing me right now...?" Tommy huffed annoyingly, as if he wasn't scared just a minute ago. Huh? What are you talking about? Big men don't get scared.

"Yep." Hannah popped the "p", waiting for an answer. "I'm not letting you out until you give me an answer."

Tommy's anxious gaze met with her's.




"Fine." He rolled his eyes nonchalantly.

;~

A red columbine appears under a table, yet none of them seem to notice it except for the young blonde.

Chapter Text

"Tommy...?"

The dust of fog separated ways, revealing Tommy's empty bedroom. The walls were colored dark blue just like 5 years ago, the wooden floor looked the same as before, and even Tommy's bed did not change at all. The bed sheets were the same. The pillows were the same.

Everything was the same.

Wilbur and Techno hadn't noticed it the first time they got back home, but everything looked exactly like how it was 5 years ago.

Except for the few additional plants, the house itself looked old and unrenovated.

It was as if the twin brothers went back in time. It looked and felt sentimental, but the only feelings both twins could feel right now was dread.

The pieces of the puzzle were slowly falling in their correct places.

Why did nothing change?

Wilbur stood in the center of it all, gripping his chest tightly. It was all too surreal. Even the guitar he gifted Tommy was in its same place. Of course, he felt happy that his brother kept it for so long. It was just that... Something was off.

His room looked clean. As if nothing was touched at all.

Admittedly, Wilbur felt creeped out by the strangeness of the situation.

Above it all, his beloved younger brother was gone, with only a single note left on his bedside.

That note had been the only actual change in this entire household.

Wilbur reluctantly forced his hand to reach for it, sweat streaming down his face. He wished it wasn't a sorry note. Please, please don't let it be a sorry note.

The other two men watched as he slowly unfolded the neat, tiny letter, anticipation and worry slowly churning their stomachs. Phil shifted his gaze away from the note, while as Techno seemed to be frozen in time.

"...Gonna go out for a bit, will be back in a sec?" Wilbur read the content of the letter out loud with a slightly puzzled voice.

"...."

"...."

A long silence stretched out.

No sighs of relief were heard, but it was clear that the three father and sons were very relieved to know that their youngest had just gone out for a walk.

Although, it was more like they were speechless because of how anti-climactic the supposed climax was.

"...Quick, call Tommy. Right now." Wilbur commanded his father in a stern tone.

"What? Why?" Phil questioned beffudledly. Was there something else written on the note that Wilbur didn't tell them?

"Well, what if he's in danger? I just wanna know if he's safe or not." Wilbur reasoned in a calm manner, though it was obvious he was panicking just from the trembling of his eyes.

Phil sighed in relief this time. Thank goodness nothing bad had actually happened.

"Alright, mate. I'll go call him now." Phil nodded his head but as he was about to head towards the house telephone downstairs, Techno grabbed his shoulder.

"...Hm?" Phil looked back at his son, confused.

"I have a phone, Dad. I'll call him." Techno huffed, in mock of his old man temperament albeit the man himself was only just 38 years old.

"Oh... Right." Phil chuckled embarrassingly, waiting silently on the side as Techno called Tommy's number on his cellphone.

Ring— Ring—

"...."

"...."

"...."

"...So?" Wilbur twitched his eye.

"He's not answering." Techno briefly replied.

Shit.

;--

The majestic blue sky was covered with green foliage from the trees, blocking the sight of the elegant moon. It's a shame not to be able to see its true beauty. If only the green foliage made way, then maybe the moon could unleash its beautiful authenticity.

But, the moon was clearly shining in the middle of the woods where a florist with a flower crown on her head and a young, blonde teen stood outside of a two-storey cottage.

"Are you sure you don't need me to lead you out of the forest?" The brunette-haired florist inquired the young teen with a gentle smile.

Yeah, he was definitely not falling for that gentle smile ever again.

"No thanks. That's what I've got Clem for." Tommy smirked back as he stepped outside of the flower shop, warming his hands in his pockets.

"Fine then. Suit yourself." Hannah jokingly taunted him with her true, blackmailing smile. "Ah, and don't forget to come here tomorrow after school." She noted before closing the door.

"Will do." Tommy nonchalantly waved at her as he spun his feet, his back now facing the magical flower shop.

Woosh...

The cool wind passed by his cheeks, softly tickling them. Tommy did not move a single foot forward, staring blankly at the countless of trees in front of him. At last, his calm facade died down, and a worried face replaced his laid-back expression instead.

...Look.

It's not that a big man like Tommy is scared. No, he would never! He totally wasn't trembling or anything like that right now. He definitely wasn't scared as fuck right now.

Unfortunately, Tommy was only half of a big man.

In Tommy's defense, it's not every day you get told that your magic is so special you could die. He was happy to learn about magic, and now he's extremely paranoid of the exact same thing he had dreamed about for years.

A patch of hellbore sprouts from the ground, right next to the blonde teen.

Inhale. Exhale.

Tommy closed his eyes tight and clenched his fists. Out of sight, out of mind. Out of sight, out of mind. Out of sight...

Tommy? Are you alright?

The sudden ambiguous voice scared Tommy out of his wits, thinking a serial killer had snuck up behind him for a moment.

AAHH!! What the fuck, Clementine!

Tommy yelled in his mind before pausing to realize he had just swore at fucking Earth.

I mean... What's wrong, Clem? Tommy mentally chuckled, hoping Clementine didn't know what "fuck" meant.

I apologize for scaring you. It just seemed like you were glitched.

The voice genuinely apologized in a sorry tone.

"Um... No, it's fine. Just... Thinking about shi- stuff." Due to feeling copious amounts of guiltiness, Tommy inadvertently replaced his swears with normal people terms. If Tubbo were to learn about this, Tommy was sure he'd go crazy about it.

Oh, alright. You must have been waiting for my instructions. I deeply apologize.

No, no. It's fine! Just a bit sleepy, you know? Tommy coincidentally yawned after.

Oh. Then, please turn left.

The voice politely instructed, the cool wind following its advice.

"Uh... Yeah." Tommy tentatively took a step forward, but immediately paused.

...Shit, it looks so creepy at night. The dark oak trees, the eerie silence, the creepy atmosphere... If this was a horror movie, he'd be dead by now. The impulsive one always dies first.

Clementine, there aren't any serial killers hanging around L'Manburg... Right?

He weakly asked for confirmation. It seemed that his panicking habit he got from Wilbur never seemed to fade even as 5 complete years went by.

No? I can affirm you the forest is safe.

The voice answered back puzzledly, lifting a heavy weight from Tommy's shoulders.

Oh, good. Tommy exhaled in relief as he gathered the willpower to get out of the daunting forest without getting freaked out and end up lost forever without any signal and getting eaten by a ca—

Okay, maybe that part was a bit too overreacting.

;--

The cup of tea slightly quivered in Wilbur's hands, causing small ripples of waves to form in the hot liquid.

Wilbur's left brow twitched in contempt, a tad bit disappointed of his father's taste in tea. "Green tea? Really, Dad?" He scoffed jokingly.

Phil's face reddened in slight embarrassment. "It'll help you calm down." He rebuked with a smile. Wilbur winced, realizing he'd been found out minutes ago.

"You got me... But 'calm down'? How on earth can I---" Before he could shut his mouth, Wilbur was suddenly cut off by a doorbell ring.

Ding— Dong—

"...."

"...."

"...."

All of them paused like mannequins.

Ding— Dong— It rang again.

The three men stood quietly as they pondered over why the hell would someone come to visit their house at 7 fucking PM. Miraculously, Wilbur's shaky hands stopped shaking the moment the second doorbell ring echoed, as if it knew what was behind their front door.

"...I'll go get it." Techno was the first one to take logical action and walked towards the front door with a mythology book still in his hand.

Creak——

He slowly turned the doorknob, expecting an advertizer or a girl scout to be in their front yard at 7 PM. "Hullo, this is the Craft Household. How may I---"

Techno paused for a second.

The full moon was shining brightly like the sun, yet what Techno noticed first was not the stunning moon, but a scruffy teenager.

In front of him was not an advertizer nor a girl scout. It was instead a blonde young man, covered in mud and twigs that kept getting stuck on both his clothes and hair — which looked more like a bird's nest rather than hair.

"Ayup, big man." Tommy groggily waved his hand as he grinned like the boisterous child he is, his blonde, dirty curls swaying with the wind.

"....What happened to you?" Techno muttered in disbelief at his younger brother's messy appearance, bewildered. Where did he go to be covered in mud like this?

"How about letting me in first? It's freezing cold out here." Tommy hugged his cold arms with a scowl directed at the inconsiderate Techno.

"You just dodged the qu—" Tommy quickly ran inside past the pinkette before he could call him out for dodging the question, brushing off the remaining dust on his clothes.

"Just got lost." He nonchalantly replied back, hoping Techno wouldn't be suspicious of him anymore. Out of the four of them, Techno was undoubtedly the most intelligent of the family.

"Oh. You sure you didn't go to a forest or something?" Techno asked in a half-jokingly manner, almost triggering a flinch out of Tommy.

"No, why would I? I just accidentally fell on a bush." Tommy answered him as he forced his stiff body to look loosened up.

"...Oh. Good. Wilbur's been panicking for over an hour about you getting kidnapped or something." Techno sighed in relief, masking the feeling of suspicion he had towards his younger brother. You couldn't just simply "fall on a bush" to get that many twigs in your hair.

"...But I left a note, though?" Tommy quirked a brow, his face twisting into confusion.

"Not picking up the phone made it seem worse." Techno rebuked, A bit irritated at the fact that his younger brother didn't just tell them about his little "outing" and left through the window instead.

It was a bit annoying for him to admit, but it wasn't just Wilbur who panicked when Tommy didn't answer their call.

"...Oh." Tommy let the realization settle in, the feeling of familiar guilt swallowing his insides. Shit. He had forgotten to charge his phone earlier...

Groowwl...

A tiny noise that only Tommy could hear suddenly protruded from his stomach.

"...." His face slightly reddened. He glared towards Techno, who stared back in confusion. Thankfully, the older didn't seem to notice it. Phew... Tommy relaxed a bit. He decided he would plead for Wilbur's forgiveness later, as of right now, his stomach was in need of a hot chocolate.

"...Where did you even go?" Techno questioned the blonde teen, earning yet another frown from him. He realized he was probably asking too many questions, but in his defense, it's not every day you see your younger brother covered in mud with twigs in his hair, most of them with tiny leaves still attached to the branches.

The blonde teen sighed dramatically as he headed towards the kitchen. "Techno, I'd rather have hot choccy than have you interrogate me."

"Hot choccy?" Techno interrupted him.

"Short for hot chocolate." Tommy explained as he stepped into the kitchen, where everyone else was.

The tired blonde immediately paused his steps the moment his eyes were met with two wide-eyed stares from both his father and dearest brother, Phil and Wilbur.

"...What happened to you?"

His father spoke up first, his stare filled with concern and bewilderment as he scanned his son from head to toe, who looked like he just came out of a goose chase.

Tommy gulped nervously.

...He was definitely getting grounded today.

Chapter Text

08.16.2021, Thursday.

Phil wondered when everything started going downhill. Maybe it was yesterday, or maybe it was 5 years ago.

"Tommy!" Wilbur's cry startled Phil out of his stupor, the brunette rushing over to his younger brother like a man reuniting with his long-lost missing baby brother — who looked like he was raised by forest animals.

The young blonde stiffened again, this time by his brother's relieved face. It reminded him of when he met him.

"Wil... Hey..." Tommy looked away from his older brother, guilty of breaking his promise. Or perhaps, he just didn't want to remember anything anymore.

Well, promises were made to be broken, anyway. Tommy tried to excuse himself, but a gentle, blonde smile of the past wouldn't let him do so. He bit his lower lip as he pushed the thought away.

"Tommy, why didn't you answer our calls?" Wilbur asked his brother softly, but then noticed how the blonde teen took a step backward the moment he took a step closer to him. Tommy had never done that... Not to him.

"Tommy." Phil stood up, stepping in front of Wilbur. His voice sounded almost... caring...

Tommy scoffed at his caring tone. He would have never expected such a tone of voice from the man who neglected him for 5 years straight.

Not that he would fall for it, of course.

"Tommy, you've been acting strange since—" Tommy quickly walked past his father, not letting him finish his words. By the time Phil turned around, he was already at the stairs.

"Sorry, gotta go. Good night!" Tommy hurriedly shouted at his family of three as he ran up the stairs frantically, twigs and leaves falling out from his pockets, and especially, a conspicuous, fresh tulip flower.

None of them paid attention, as to why would one pay attention to a single flower? Techno would.

The pink-haired man sighed, irritatedly puzzled about his troublesome family situation he and his nosy brother had accidentally gotten themselves into. His head hurt whenever he thought about solving the mystery surrounding his family. It was as useless as scrubbing a clean floor clean.

"...."

"...."

"...."

The three of them stood silently. One was flabbergasted by his younger brother's "sudden" change of personality, while one was staring at the wall as a means to escape from the real world, and the last one didn't know what to do, so he just continued reading his mythology book.

That is, until the latter spoke up.

"...Who's up for hot chocolate?" His nonchalant tone echoing throughout the walls received scrutinizing gazes in return. What? Was there something wrong with hot chocolate?

Wilbur turned his head back to the cup of tea placed on the table, pausing to make a decision. "...Sure." He nodded finally.

Suddenly, he felt his neck go cold. He turned to the culprit, and was met with a stare of betrayal from his father.

"What?" Wilbur coughed out.

Phil dropped his gaze. "...Nothing. Make me one too." He spun his head towards Techno.

Techno raised a brow at the blond head staring at him, adding in a snarky comment of his own. "Dad, you're still 38 years old. Don't act so elderly."

Phil blushed again in embarrassment. He wanted to bite back, but then he realized he couldn't. It was too difficult to find at least one of Techno's weaknesses.

Or even remember them.

...Remember them?

Phil was struck with a sudden pang of realization. A drop of sweat ran down the back of his neck. How could he not remember his son's childhood? His achievements? His losses? His—

The last, and only thing Phil could remember about 5 years ago was work, and even a madman could figure out that didn't make sense at all.

"....."

Phil started to feel like something was off... With him.

;--

Tommy wondered if they were ever a family from the start.

Had he not been found in that weird forest by Wilbur, would he have then lived a decent life in the woods? Or would he have been found by another stranger?

Sometimes he'd ask himself random questions like these.

What food would he eat then? What clothes would he be given? What gifts would he recieve for his birthday?

Hypothetical questions served as a distraction from his current reality. He liked it, and it worked well.

Unfortunately, it did not work well when met with endless sprouting of tulips and all sorts of yellow chrysanthemums from his floor. No matter how much he tried to distract himself from his feelings, it couldn't stop the tulips and chrysanthemums growing on his floor.

"...." Tommy sighed at this hopeless situation. He decided to accept them as they are, but it was more like he was ignoring them rather than letting them be.

He was much like in the position he was in when he yelled at Phil earlier. Knees to his chest, arms rested on his knees, and head bowed down. Tears weren't falling down from his face anymore, but even that couldn't take away the slightly sad feeling he felt.

His day was... Overwhelming, to say the least.

Overwhelming enough to make him want to cry it all out.

If finding out about magic, hearing your brother's voice for the first time in 5 years, seeing your father act as if a whole entire 5 years of neglect never happened, learning you might die because of magic, and having to go through a creepy forest in the middle of the night only to be confronted by your father in just two days wasn't overwhelming, then Tommy didn't know what was.

Tommy was tired. And going crazy, too.

His entire brain was an absolute mess. Thoughts and thoughts of random hypothetical questions flooded his mind, and his world almost felt like it wasn't there. Like he wasn't there. Like Clementine wasn't talking to him. Like it was only him and himself. In a dark room. With nothing else but his thoughts.

What if I got eaten by wolves?

What if I was killed by a serial killer?

What if Hannah will kill me tomorrow?

What if Tubbo and Ranboo never befriended me?

What if I wasn't found by Wilbur, but by another person?

What if I never met them from the start?

Tommy bit his lip. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

He was a big man, yet he couldn't even control his own thoughts. How ridiculous, he thought.

For a full minute, all he did was struggle to calm down his racing thoughts. A small headache had even popped up during the conflict between him and himself, ending it for once. Great, just one more thing to be annoyed about.

Just as the thoughts began to start appearing again, Tommy took a slow, deep breath.

Inhale... Exhale. Inhale... Exhale.

After taking a few more deep breaths and whispering reassurances, his mind finally stopped thinking, and the hypothetical questions finally stopped bombarding him. He could hear Clementine's voice again. He could hear... A knock on the door?

Knock— Knock—

...Oh.

For starters, Tommy was exhausted. He was barely keeping himself sane, especially when a random headache decided to make it even worse. There was only a 1% chance he might be able to shoo away the visitor without snapping.

So, he did what anyone would do. He stayed in his position, not getting up to open the door. What else could he say when Phil or one of his brothers enters the room and sees a bunch of flowers sprouting from the floorboards? 'Oh, I'm actually magical and I can grow flowers out of nowhere.' He would probably be going to a labo-ra-tory or something.

"What do you want?" He called out to whoever was behind the door. He hoped it wasn't Wilbur, or Phil, or Techno.

"Tommy... It's me." Wilbur's muffled voice flowed in Tommy's ear. Well, guess I'm going to that labo-ra-tory after all.

"Oh... Hey, Wil. Sorry for not answering your calls earlier." Tommy wished for his brother to say a simple "I forgive you" and walk away. Unfortunately though, that's not how the world works.

"It's fine. We we're just a bit worried, and..." Wilbur paused for a moment. "I-I know something's going on. And I want you to tell me what... happened."

Wilbur sounded hesitant and nervous as if Tommy would hate him forever the moment he made a wrong move. Tommy would never though. Wilbur was his best brother in the world, even if he left Tommy alone with Phil for 5 years. It wasn't Wilbur's fault that Tommy became like this, so there was no reason to hate him.

"Wilbur, I think you should ask Phil instead." Tommy replied back before covering his mouth immediately, realizing his slip of the tongue. "I mean Dad." his flimsy cover-up was awfully unconvincing.

"Phil?" Wilbur ignored his correction and focused on his previous mistake instead. "Did something happen between you and Dad?"

Tommy stopped functioning. He didn't know why, but it felt like the world was ending the moment Wilbur caught on to his lie.

He expected him to find out from the start, yet here he was feeling anxious about opening up to his father's neglect for years.

His throat felt like it was clogged up, and he couldn't speak. "...kinda." Was the only word he had the will in him to say.

"Tommy..." Wilbur heard his weak voice from behind the door. "Did..." He wanted to say something, but was afraid it would hurt the child even more. He's not just your younger brother anymore, Wilbur. A part of him said, but he deliberately ignored it.

"...Wilbur, can you come back later?" Tommy managed to say before his throat clogged up again.

Wilbur's heart sank at the voice of his brother who sounded like he was about to shatter. He clenched his fists silently. What happened to his brother? What happened to his brother who was energetic, boisterous, a ray of sunshine, cheerful... In the past, dozens of words were used to describe Tommy, but now... None of them fit him anymore.

"Okay." Wilbur secretly swore to himself to bring back his bright and joyful youngest brother.

If he couldn't, then what kind of brother would he be?

Chapter Text

08.17.2021, Friday.

Phil didn't sleep well that night. He couldn't. And for the first time in forever, it wasn't because of work.

The dark sky loomed over him as he sat down on the porch, cold wind brushing against his cheeks. His eyes were faced directly to the ground, completely ignoring the beautiful moon shining brightly in the night sky.

In his hands gripped tightly was a portrait of a young woman with black hair and pitch-black eyes smiling beautifully at him. But contrary to her smile, Phil had a frown on his face instead. Looking at the photo seemed to cause him more despair than glee.

He wondered what Kristin had thought when she watched an entire 5 years of him being a bad father to Tommy. Would she have sworn at him from the heavens? Well, perhaps. She probably would've.

Phil didn't feel like he deserved to hold his wife's photo frame. He didn't feel like he deserved to be given the same smile she used to give him every day he woke up from bed.

He didn't feel like he deserved to be a dad.

Phil put down the photo beside him, his feelings of remorse and guilt getting bigger as his shoulders tensed and his feet trembled at the cold temperature. Even the moon did not defend him, sending him a burst of cold wind from out of nowhere just to make him feel even colder.

He wished he could escape from his problems, but it didn't seem morally right to walk away from the problems he made. He felt tired and guilty and lost. He was tired, guilty and was lost on what to do.

What should he do now?

There should have been an answer, but none popped up in Phil's head. Thus, back to lamenting he goes. Lamenting about what could have been if he hadn't neglected Tommy, or what could have been if he had made Kristin wait for him to drive her home rather than let her get hit by a car on the road, or what could have been if he didn't accept the random job offer his co-worker suggested to him...

...Phil wasn't sure whether he was throwing the blame or not, but he found it suspicious that it all started because of a simple job offer.

The job offer was a simple job, but with a high salary. Anyone would do anything to get such a job offer, but no one would go too far as to even neglect their child for it. It was just a simple job, with simple deadlines. In addition, Phil wasn't even that much of a workaholic. He liked to sip tea and read books, not drink coffee and type on the computer for 10 hours a day.

There was no plausible explanation as to why he ignored Tommy's knocking on the door, or why his relaxed personality suddenly did a 180-degree flip.

There was no reason as to why—

"Dad."

Wilbur's voice came from behind.

"Can I have a talk with you? Just for a minute." He sat down next to Phil, and now he was in between his dead wife's photo frame and his still alive son. For whatever reason, it sparked a melancholic feeling within him.

"...Wilbur, we should probably save this conversation for tomorrow. It's already 1 AM, mate—"

"Dad. I want to talk about Tommy." Wilbur cut him off with a stern, stoic tone of voice.

Phil turned to him in surprise, but immediately shifted his gaze away as if he were guilty of some crime. "I guess you've figured it out."

Wilbur looked up at the beautiful moon, shining gorgeously in the night sky. Even the clouds did not dare to cover its mysterious beauty. "Yeah,"

"I think I did."

;--

Tommy woke up to what it seemed to be — the smell of pancakes? He sniffed the air curiously, taking in a small whiff of toasty, fluffy pancakes with sugary syrup put on top.

The young blonde knitted his eyebrows in confusion. He was pretty sure that he doesn't accidentally cook pancakes in his sleep, or even sleepwalk at all.

...Then, it was probably his brother's cooking. Tommy thought to himself as he got out of bed and started heading downstairs to supervise their cooking. It was good to be wary, as with the smell of toast can follow the smell of burning.

Fortunately though, nothing was burnt. But the person cooking the pancakes was not who Tommy expected it to be.

The 38-year old hung his hair on his ear as he flipped the pancake almost perfectly, holding a casual expression on his face as if he didn't just flip it 10 times and succeeded10 times too.

But unlike Phil, Tommy had a scrunched-up expression on his face, not because Phil flipped a pancake 10 times with ease but because it was Phil who was cooking them.

Phil. Phil was cooking pancakes at 4 AM. In the morning.

Tommy couldn't believe that what he just saw was real. He turned his head to the dining table, which consisted of his two twin brothers and a familiar vase of dandelions sitting in the middle. Hm? That vase wasn't there before. It used to be placed on the shelf next to the front door.

"Why is that there?" He questioned, earning the three other men's attention as he walked towards the table and sat on a chair.

"Hm? You're already awake?" Wilbur treated his question as if it didn't exist, sipping his coffee elegantly like a gentleman would. Tommy wondered for a second if they also learned noble etiquette when they were abroad.

"Yeah. School and stuff." Tommy replied lazily before remembering he was absent for an entire day, and especially on Gaming Club's weekly meeting. Fuck.

"You go to school at 4 AM?" Techno asked him as if he was psycho-analyzing his brother.

"What? No. I go to school at 7 AM." Tommy quirked a brow at his odd question. Who the heck goes to school at 4 AM anyway?

Techno sent back his quirked brow with yet another quirked brow. "Then why are you awake at 4 AM? You don't look like a person who has a healthy morning routine to me."

"Well, it's because school's far away from here, you arse." Tommy hissed at him, offended by his assuming statement. And he does have a healthy morning routine. Wake up, eat and then go to school.

"Can't dad just drive you to school?" Techno retorted, making Tommy feel slightly irritated as he just remembered he broke his bike 2 days ago. "Are you that scared of asking him?" He intentionally added an emphasis on the word "that".

Tommy fumed with anger, his short temper got the best of him.

"Well, he just doesn't. And I don't need him to!" Tommy yelled out the last sentence, so full of annoyance that he doesn't notice a small petunia sprout from the vase. None of them do. "Now, can you stop judging my mourning routine or whatever, dickhead?"

Techno shrugged at him with a monotone face. "Eh."

Tommy stayed quiet for a few seconds, puzzled by his surprisingly calm response. He decided that it was probably just Techno trying to awkwardly communicate, severely undermining his actual social skills. To be fair, Techno almost never talked to him when he entered the family.

He had thought it was just an awkward conversation starter right up to the point until Phil said these 9, bone-chilling words.

"If you want, I can drive you to school." He smiled as he put down three plates of pancakes on the table for each of them to grab.

Tommy went pale. "What?"

"...If you want, I can drive you to school." He repeated his exact words like a parrot.

Unfortunately, that was not the answer that Tommy wanted to hear. What he wanted to hear was "If you want, you can walk to school and I won't need to drive you there".

"Oh. Uh... No thanks." Tommy politely refused, his tone missing a dash of passive-aggressiveness as he was currently swallowed by a feeling of sheer beffudledness. He had absolutely no idea what was happening and why.

"Why refuse the offer? Would you rather walk to school, or chill on a car for 10 minutes?" Wilbur's silver-tongue struck the young blonde right in the chest.

Still, his willpower would not falter, nor even waver at such tempting poison apples.

"Sorry, but I think I'd rather just walk—" Tommy was immediately interrupted by a large piece of pancake shoved into his mouth.

"Tommy, it's tiring to walk to school. You should just go in the car and let dad drive you to school." Techno agreed with his twin brother as he munched on his soft, toasty pancakes, no syrup included. "Mm. Nice."

"Thanks." Phil thanked him for his compliment and turned towards Tommy, his gaze of anticipation meeting Tommy's stare of confusion.

"Mmph. Mmurgph." Tommy tried to talk, but his words became gibberish when his mouth was full of pancakes.

"I think that's a yes. Right, Techno?" Wilbur smiled devilishly as he asked for his brother's opinion, who answered back with a wordless nod.

"...." Tommy felt as if he was being unknowingly set up by his family.

;--

The entire car ride was awfully awkward. Tommy refused to talk or reply with long answers, leaving Wilbur, who for some reason decided to join them lead the conversation for most of the time, and Phil, who was as awkward as a fish on land often answered questions with sentences ending in "haha..." or "yeah...". It was a disaster.

In the end, Tommy walked out of the car feeling victorious while as Phil felt defeated, having made no progress in reconciling with his son.

The blonde teen pushed his way through the sweaty crowd of students before finally finding a tall, black and white-haired boy standing at the very corner. He stood out from the other students like a landmark.

"Ey, Ranboob!" He greeted — or, well, shouted at the lanky teen as he stretched his open hand to the sky and waved at him, almost as if yesterday wasn't a wild emotional roller coaster at all.

"...Tommy?" Ranboo paused before closing his locker door and looked at him as if he was an alien. "Why are you at school?"

Tommy felt puzzled for a moment. "What do you mean? Why else would I not be at school?"

"Because you still have no control over your affinity...?" Ranboo narrowed his eyes at the suspicion that Tommy might've forgotten it. "Shouldn't you be at home, calling in for sick?"

For just a second, time seemed to stop altogether.

"...Shit." Tommy grimaced. He forgot about that, surprisingly.

Chapter Text

08.17.2021, Friday.

Unsurprisingly enough, Tommy's always been a troublemaker. He was always loud, funny, and sometimes stupid. That vibrant blonde head was always... there.

So suffice to say, it felt weird when the loudest, center of the group wasn't there.

"...I'm starting to get slightly worried." Freddie didn't voice a name out loud, but the rest of the group nodded as if they knew who he was talking about.

"I'm sure he's fine." Purpled sighed, his hands in his pockets despite the sunny weather. "What's the worst that could happen to him?"

"...Dying?" Charlie replied in a hesitant tone.

"You didn't have to say that." Freddie huffed.

"Then what else could have happened then?" Charlie turned to Freddie, who paused slightly before going silent.

He shrugged, his brain empty of ideas to come up with. "That's what I'm worried about."

Tommy has never been, to say the least, quiet. The boisterous blonde had never failed to reply to their messages immediately, and sometimes, Freddie would wonder if Tommy had some secret AI that could text messages for him when he wasn't there.

It was a bit worrying when the normal reply from Tommy didn't happen.

"Me too." Another voice called out, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Freddie flinched subconsciously at the familiar voice, shifting his head towards the present culprit. "Eryn! You scared the shit out of me."

"Not my problem." Eryn scoffed jokingly. "So... Where's Tommy?"

"That's what we were just talking abo..." Just as the other was about to finish his sentence, a curly ball of dirty blonde hair appeared in the corner of his eye.

"There." Purpled answered for him, pointing to the talking blonde twenty steps away from them.

"Oh. Problem solved, then?" Eryn grinned.

Expectantly, the other's gazes followed Purpled's finger, expecting to see an energetic ball of blonde waving at them with a grin.

Instead, the unexpected happened.

The curly-haired blonde surely didn't seem to notice them yet, but the group could clearly notice a sort of strange look of nervousness the teen had on his face.

"...Something happened, maybe?" Charlie observed him from afar, unsure.

"Obviously." Purpled grunted. He was starting to get worried like the others. For as long as he knew Tommy Craft, he had never seen the blonde so nervous and tired before.

Tommy was supposed to be energetic, boisterous, a ray of sunshine, cheerful... All sorts of positive things.

Yet, right now, the Tommy they just saw exuded none of those descriptions.

The supposedly "happy-go-lucky" and "energetic" teen didn't look positive at all, or energetic. He had dark circles under his eyes, his hair was dirtier than usual and his nervous expression was only the cherry on top.

A cold sweat ran down the back of Purpled's neck, as if foreboding him of the future.

"I'll go talk to him." Freddie, the one who'd been the most worried about Tommy for the past two days decided to take initiative and walked toward the nervous teen.

Surprisingly or not, it was defyingly difficult trying to get across an ocean of sweaty teenagers. Ignoring the smell as much as he could, he failed to notice the blonde teen already climbing up the stairs with another taller boy.

The moment he managed to somehow get out of the crowd, Tommy was no longer there.

;~

"...Care to tell why we're on the fucking rooftop right now, Ranboob?" Tommy questioned the lanky teen beside him, his gaze narrowed.

His legs swung off the edge of the ledge, his steady eyes having no sign of fear. Ranboo had been worried about the fearless blonde falling to his death, but Tommy assured the other that he would, by no means, 'be stupid and fall off a cliff.'

Ranboo had reminded him of the rooftop not being a cliff, but Tommy shrugged otherwise, talking about how they were the same thing but in different letters. The horrifically tall teen suppressed a sigh, supposedly letting Tommy do whatever he wanted.

Thus, the curious blonde looked down from the ledge, trying to spot any strangers walking on campus. There were some having a heated conversation, some trying their best to avoid everyone, and some were passionately making out under a tree. Gross. Tommy had decided then that that was the end of his short-lived observation.

The grossed out blonde immediately tilted his head upwards and looked at the sky, his attempts at unremembering the memory ending in success as he was suddenly immersed in the landscape.

The sun was up, and the grass looked greener under it. The hot air was less hot from above, allowing more fresh air to slip in.

Tommy noticed how his hair moved in the wind like a rhythm, how his clothes brushed on his skin like clouds passing by, how the air felt on his feet, how—

" —Well, uh, you asked for a place without people, so..." Ranboo's voice promptly brought him back from his thoughts, triggering a small flinch from the blonde.

"...Good point." Tommy paused for a moment, recalling his memories. He had panicked a little, asking Ranboo to bring him somewhere safe and empty.

Well, they were definitely here now. Without anything else to do, that is. And every living person who knew Tommy knows he doesn't do well with being bored.

"So... What the fuck do we do now?" He asked a second after his previous statement. To his surprise, Ranboo beams at the mention of his question.

"A-Actually, I have a plan for that." He confessed bravely, his hands shaking in excitement. It was a tell of his that meant 'I've waited for this moment for too long'.

"You do?" Tommy quirked a brow, puzzled at how Ranboo had even planned for something like this. "What is it, boob-boy?" He chirped back excitedly. If there was fun in it, then he'd blindly follow.

"Well... I'm not sure if you'd be okay with it, though." His tall back hunched a little.

"Why? What kind of fucked up shit are you gonna make me do?" Tommy faked an expression of disgust and shock, quickly getting a frantic reply from the other.

"No, no- It- it isn't fucked up, or anything like that." Ranboo denied the teen excessively, his tone in a strangely hurried fashion as if he wasn't even sure himself if it was bad to talk about or not.

Tommy tilted his head, slightly impatient. "Then, what do you want me to do, big man?" The young blonde grinned eagerly. If it meant having his boredom disappear, then he would gladly do it.

In the contrary, Ranboo looked nervous. "I... Um..." He stammered a bit, his voice hesitant. "I..."

"I want you to investigate something with me! With uh, using... Using your magic powers." He glanced to the side, his stomach full of guilt for treating his best friend like a tool.

The awkward silence stretched out for more than a minute, with Ranboo anxiously waiting for an answer, while the shorter blonde tried to process what he just said.

"Forget it, you don't have to-"

"What's it about?" Tommy cut him off before he could finish, earning a thrilled expression from the other teen.

"Really?" Ranboo doubted his ears for a second, but Tommy's nod showed him otherwise. "Wait, you're actually serious about this?" He asked again, this time with a more stern tone.

But instead of another nod, Tommy had bursted out laughing, catching Ranboo off-guard. "Pfft— Sorry, you look like you just ate shit Ranboob." The young blonde giggled, decreasing the worry off the other's shoulders.

Despite being a loud troublemaker, Tommy had always had the strange trait of being able to lower someone's guard and help them relax into the conversation. One moment you're being awkward, and the next you're suddenly telling him your darkest, deepest secrets.

He was like the sunshine to your dark world, and the stars to your unlit sky. He was bold and energetic, but calm and mature at the same time. He was quite an enigma to others, but also an open book.

In truth, nobody really knew what was going on inside his head. And perhaps, he didn't know either.

Ranboo managed to catch himself before the charismatic teen could unintentionally lower his guard and make him laugh too. "Tommy, this— this isn't funny. I found this really strange book in the library and I need your help."

"...Sounds really complicated, Ranboob." Tommy rolled his eyes sarcastically. "And why the fuck do you need my help for a book, for fucks sake?" He stared at him with a suspicious gaze. "This isn't some 'tyrant' bullshit or whatever, right?"

Ranboo paused at his last remark, confused. "What— Tyrant?"

Tommy caught his slip-up a little too late, swiftly covering it up with a playful laugh. "Haha, don't know why that slipped out of my mouth. Guess I read too many anarchist novels last week."

The half-haired youth could clearly see through his best friend's flimsy lies, but he wasn't stupid enough not to notice how the younger blonde fidgeted nervously, showing his clear refusal of wanting to talk about it.

With a sigh, Ranboo shoved the topic aside for later and chuckled back at his friend's antics. "Anarchist novels? Really now, Tommy?" He would probably never know what happened, but he hoped to hear it from him later.

Tommy bantered back in relief of not getting caught. "I- It's not my fault I get fuckin' interested in weird shit when I'm bored!" He seemed angry at Ranboo, but the both of them knew he would never be able to.

"You always get interested in weird things even when you're not bored." The taller teen argued back, albeit in a fond tone.

"No, I don't! I'm just too busy being confessed to by my many women and doing drugs." Tommy announced rather proudly of himself.

"...I highly doubt that."

"Oi! Take that back, bitch!"

;~

"...What the fuck?" Tommy gawked at — what seemed to be, a glowing book under his feet. "What the fuck?"

"You said that already." Ranboo uttered as he picked up the glowing book on the floor Tommy just threw three seconds earlier. "I knew it! I knew it was magic." He snickered to himself proudly.

"What? You fucking knew?" On the other hand, Tommy was, to say the least, very fucking confused. "And you gave it to me without saying anything?!" His shout was immediately followed by a faraway "Quiet!", silencing the boisterous blonde.

"Shh." Ranboo muttered shortly after.

"I—" As Tommy turned his head to face him, he found that the other boy didn't even spare him a glance or two, his heterochromatic eyes heavily focused on the weirdly glowing book.

Tommy huffed in annoyance. "I'm right here, big man." He addressed loudly, but with no response other than the silent noises of pages flipping.

He was a little irritated by the lack of replies, thus changing the subject back to the book. "Fuck, how'd it even glow? It wasn't glowing before."

"...I don't know, actually. I'm guessing it was because you touched it." Ranboo never took his eyes off the book, as if an excruciatingly bright glowing book was normal for him. Tommy couldn't even stare at it for a second, not wanting to risk eye damage.

"What about me touching it?" Tommy raised a brow, puzzled.

"I think..." Ranboo took a moment to finally take his eyes off the book, realizing how much the bright white hurt his eyes. "It might be because of your magic."

Tommy had already gotten the gist of it, but he couldn't help but ask again, his brain still loading. "My... Magic?"

"Yep. Your magic awakened it... Or something like that, I guess." Ranboo popped the "p", pausing slightly before continuing to flip through the pages.

The young blonde subconsciously tilted his head, unable to understand how Ranboo even knew the book was related to magic in the first place. "How'd you know? That the book was magic."

When Tommy finally saw the book Ranboo wanted to show him so much, he was undoubtedly confused. All he saw was an old, dirty book. The cover was cracking, and the only thing particularly "strange" about it was, according to Ranboo, the book apparently didn't have any words on it. Just blank pages.

Admittedly, Tommy didn't have many expectations for a regular-looking book with blank pages.

That was, until he touched it. The moment his hands were on that old, cracking book, a sudden flash of light protruded out of nowhere, scaring the blonde enough to make him throw the object on his hand to the other side of the wall.

Nevertheless, he will never hold whatever book Ranboo will give him to "investigate" next.

"Uh- I didn't, actually." A shocking confession left from the older boy's mouth, furthermore confusing the other.

"It just felt like it was magic. Like that feeling I'd get when Schlatt used his magic, or when Tubbo talked with the bees." He talked in a casual tone almost as if it was already second-nature to him.

"...You felt it? I didn't feel shit when Tubbo talked to the bees." Tommy leaned on the bookshelf, perplexed about what "feeling" Ranboo was talking about. "What in the fuck are you? A metal detector?"

"I... I guess? Except, it's for magic?" Ranboo shrugged nonchalantly. He wasn't the most curious of his newfound traits, his mind fully focused on a certain page of the book. "Tommy, look over here." He whispered in a serious tone.

The young blonde immediately rushed to his side, scanning through the page. "What? I don't see anything funny." He grumbled, tilting his head as if looking at it in a different angle would make it any better.

"Look, this last part." Ranboo pointed to the very end of the page, the unnoticeable, tiny text sitting silently on the very bottom.

"The Magic Research Club of 1999...?"