Masked faces, Blurred Moments [discontinued]

Part 11

Stress followed the decision till December 23rd when everything was finally finished. Christmas was right at their front door and Dream felt the pressure. Their brother's first Christmas away from home, in a new country and everything. They craved for ideas on what to do. When an idea struck them. Dream knew Technoblade lived in the US, California to be exact.

Tommy may do best to have that friend there. They would fly out Phil and Will too, but the international travel ban was heavily reinforced. Dream did the one thing they could do best, Plan.

The next morning Tommy woke up in his bed, he stared at the twin bed opposite him. The weight of loneliness was digging into his heart and shoulders, tons weighing him down like a sack of bricks, enough to build a city. Tommy tried to close his eyes, blocking the sunlight from the window he never bothered to cover last night, shade barely blanketing the top forth. His phone buzzed on his nightstand as Discord and Twitter filled with messages.

He wanted to holler at the world. He wanted Tubbo to joke with, his mom to interrupt his streams. He wanted his dad's hugs that he got every morning and after every stream.

He realized at that moment hugging his father at the airport may be the last hug he ever got. Burning heat welled into his eyes. His mother would always avoid bad topics on the phone with him, and Tommy hadn't heard a single word about his father.

Tommy's father was a businessman who loved languages, he had taught Tommy Spanish and French growing up. The man was incredibly multilingual, he grew up with an opinionated Italian mother and a political French father. Tommy was required to know French and Italian by his grandparents, never allowed to speak any other language in their presence.

He grew up in Hospitals half his life because of his dad. The man had thalassemia, which was an inherited blood disorder causing anemia. Luckily Tommy did not inherit the disease nor show any signs of biologically carrying it. His father's condition had him in and out of the hospital almost monthly.

Tommy's eyes shifted to the small mirror above the dresser in the room. His reflection always made him think of his father, blond hair that curled when growing too long. Blue-green eyes, that whilst he would widen comically for jokes his father's own would glaze over in exhaustion. His wider nose he had received from his mother with her lankier build, but his height was solely his father's.

Snapping Tommy from his thoughts when the door creaked open.

"Hey Toms, it's Christmas eve eve, thought we could have a fun breakfast. Maybe play some Minecraft after and watch cheesy Christmas movies tonight?" Dream called from the younger boy's doorway. Patches leaped from the floor, where she must have come in when Dream opened his door, to the boy's bed. Patches curled up in the boy's lap leading to a small smile from the said boy.

"uh, sure, can we just watch movies though. I don't feel like streaming today anyways. Maybe we could play that racing game you got for the XBOX?" Tommy called picking up the thin cat in his arms walking barefoot along the carpeted floor.

Dream nodded moving out of the teen's way, they looked down at their phone seeing the notification from Techno appear there. Christmas might work after all.

They walked to the kitchen and got to work as Tommy curled up with the cat on the sofa. The pancake batter was thoroughly mixed as bacon sizzled on the stove. They pulled out the pancake forms they had setting the snowman and Santa one soundly down. Dream flipped the pancakes before turning on the TV in the living room. They set Tommy up with The Year Without a Santa Claus, which instantly held his attention as Dream finished cooking.

They paused the movie right as the police pulled over Jingle and Jangle on their Reindeer/dog Vixen for Tommy to come to eat.

"We can continue watching after you eat bubs" Dream softly said as they lead the usually loud and brash boy to the table to eat. Tommy quietly ate two pancakes; two pieces of bacon and some strawberries Dream had left on the side of his plate. Dream anxiously glanced at him whilst they ate a similar plate. When breakfast had finished Tommy ushered the boy back to the couch to curl up in a soft throw and cuddle Patches whilst Dream did dishes. Dream joined the boy again as the mayor began his song about getting snow in South Town that year, which Tommy happily hummed in tune to. Dream smiled as the boy was sucked from one old movie straight to the next. Their best gift for the boy would arrive tomorrow at noon.

'See you there, Techno'