Ink Stains (MCYT Oneshots)

[R] Your Worth (SBI)

(A/N: Welp: can I have some protective sleepy bois with fem tommy who has problems with self-esteem because of some guys from school)

The comments shouldn't have hurt her that much.

Tommy's used to them. She's used to the sharp twang of bitterness that came with it, followed by the small bouts of self-doubt. Usually, she got over them quickly; there would always be people who hated her and her work, after all, and nothing in the world would change that. She would move along, and the comment would be forgotten like always.

Not this time. No, this time, the comment stuck in her mind, looping like a broken record. It wasn't even anything new — just a scathing remark about her personality, that was all.

Maybe it was because it was some people at school who said it, people who she knew, though never interacted with. Maybe it was because of the vague intimacy that came with actually knowing who was insulting her.

Whatever it was, she hated it.

Tommy tried to put it out of her mind. She streamed, as usual, and laughed and chatted with both her chat and some of her friends that had joined the voice call to come talk with her. She managed to get a few hundred subscribers, and put away the thought about the comment for now.

But later, lying in bed, the comment returned to her mind. She tossed, and she turned, but no matter what she did, she couldn't fall asleep. She couldn't get it out of her mind.

It started to hurt, a little. Yeah, she knew it was true, that her personality was shit sometimes, but it still hurt to hear it out loud.

On a whim, she got out of bed and sat down on her chair. She was going to spontaneously call the rest of the Sleepy Boys. Opening up her computer, she noticed that it was already 1 in the morning. She hesitated.

'Why are you bothering? They have lives outside of you. You don't matter,' her traitorous mind whispered to her. She gripped her mouse tighter.

Her eyes stung with tears, and blindly, she clicked around her computer until she was calling Wilbur, Techno, and Phil. She wasn't expecting any of them to pick up; it was pretty late, after all.

So she was naturally startled when her call was actually picked up.

"Toms, it's fuck o' hell in the morning," Wilbur spoke up first, yawning in the middle of his sentence. "What are you doing?"

"Isn't it late where you guys are at?" Techno asked.

Tommy tried to speak up, she really did. But her words caught in her mouth, and before she realised what was happening, a sob tore out of her throat, and oh god, she was crying, this was so embarrassing.

Dimly, she heard someone make a startled noise, but she couldn't hear much over her own stupid crying. It shouldn't bother her much, the comment was one she saw on social media everyday, but it did, and now she was crying in front of her friends, and god did she hate crying.

"Breathe for us, Tommy," she heard Phil say to her soothingly, and she realised that she had curled up into a ball. She unfurled herself from her foetal position, and saw Wilbur and Phil's face cameras on, while Techno's was still off, like always.

"What happened?" Techno's voice was monotone as ever, but there was a noticeable undertone of worry in it. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm fine," she mumbled. "'S nothing."

"Well it's not nothing if you're calling us at one o' clock and crying," Wilbur cut in sharply but softly. "Please, Tommy. What happened?"

"It's nothing," she repeated. "I just... I was insulted at school. That's all. 'S nothing new. They said some shitty stuff about me. That's it."

"And do you believe it?" Phil asked her gently. "What they said?"

Tommy wanted to say no, because she knew better, she knew that she was cool as fuck, but her confidence just wasn't here right now. The other three took her silence as an answer, though.

"You're amazing, Tommy," Wilbur said fiercely. "Don't believe what they say, alright? You keep being yourself, and that's already very good."

"What Will said," Phil joined in. "You're cool, mate, and the people who insult you don't know who you are. Their insults are worthless."

"They're idiots," was all Techno said, but it got across the intended message anyways.

Tommy nodded, her heart feeling lighter, then realised she had to actually speak because they couldn't see her face, so she said, "Yeah."

Somehow, the others could tell that she was still feeling down, because Wilbur offered to play some music on his guitar. The soft strums of his guitar filled the call as she, Techno and Phil talked some more.

"We're always here for you," Techno said awkwardly. "If you need us."

"Thanks, guys," Tommy whispered, feeling warm. She leaned back on her chair, realising how tired she actually was. Slowly, her eyes slid close, until she fell asleep to the tunes of Wilbur's guitar, and Phil and Techno's soft chatter.