Not Even Real | Dream SMP School AU

11 - Captain Paint

Ranboo and Toby were waiting in the classroom while their art teacher was speaking with Eret. Ranboo couldn't hear what they were talking about, but he didn't care much. He didn't want to eavesdrop on teachers of all things.

"You'd think Tommy would be back by now." Toby thought out loud.

Ranboo agreed. Ranboo didn't think he'd ever seen Toby without Tommy, band class being an exception. Tommy was usually the one making the jokes and bringing up the subjects. Now that he wasn't there, it felt weird. They didn't know what to talk about.

Charlie entered the classroom and sat beside them. Charlie was better at conversation starters, maybe he could say something.

"Hi guys! What are you doing?" Charlie greeted them.

"We're waiting for Tommy, but he hasn't been here for a while..." Toby told him.

Charlie thought for a moment.

"Where did you see him last? Where did he go?" Charlie questioned.

"Well, we last saw him at the kitchen, then Ranboo left to go to the bathroom. About halfway here, Tommy said he had to go to the bathroom as well. I haven't seen him since then." Toby answered.

Toby looked tense. Ranboo guessed that Toby didn't spend much time without Tommy.

Eret said some final words and left. Their teacher went to the front of the class. She had brown hair and was wearing a white collared shirt. She had black pants and brown work boots. A red overcoat that reached to her knees reminded Ranboo of the way pirates dressed.

"Hi guys! I'm your art teacher. You can call me Ms. Puffy." She introduced herself.

Ranboo already liked her. She seemed nice.

"We don't have anything scheduled for today, but I have notebooks so you can free draw if you want." She pointed to a stack of notebooks and a cup filled with pencils.

Everyone stood up and grabbed a notebook and a pencil. Charlie got two extras for Toby and Ranboo.

"Thanks Charlie." They said at the same time.

Charlie looked shocked and the two of them laughed. They opened their notebook to the first page and began drawing.

-With Tommy-

Tommy ran through the halls. His head was pounding.

What did that mean?! Oh no... Toby what's going on?!

Tommy tripped on his shoe laces and fell on the floor. His vision blurred.

"Toby..." He closed his eyes.

He set his head on the floor. He wanted to go home. His head hurt worse than it ever had. He wanted Toby, and he wanted him now. Toby would keep him safe. Toby would help him. Toby would-

"Tommy?"

Tommy opened his eyes to see Eret speed walking towards him. Once he was beside Tommy, he knelt beside him. Eret placed a hand on his head.

"What happened Tommy?" Eret asked.

Tommy looked up, tears in his eyes. He wanted Toby, then he'd be fine.

"I... want... T... Toby..." Tommy stuttered.

Eret nodded. He stood up and held out his hand. Tommy grabbed it and stood up as well.

His head still hurt, although he wasn't sure why.

Clay... what happened when I saw Clay? He said something... something... important...

Eret led him to his office. They stepped inside and Eret took him to a couch in the corner. Eret let him lay on the couch.

"I'll be back soon, Toby should be in the art room correct?" It seemed like he was more of talking to himself than Tommy.

Tommy gave him a thumbs up and Eret left to retrieve Toby. Tommy closed his eyes again. His head was hurting a lot less.

What did... Clay say about Toby..? Why can't I remember...

He began to feel drowsy. He didn't want to sleep. He was at school for goodness sake! He couldn't sleep at school! He didn't want Eret to think he was lazy. He... he wasn't lazy. He wasn't... he wasn't tired. He... wasn't... sleepy...

His mind shut off and he fell asleep.

-In the art room-

Charlie kept drawing slimes from minecraft, Toby was drawing bees... from minecraft. Ranboo wasn't sure what to draw exactly, so he just drew circles. Circles were one of his favorite shapes. Squares made him feel trapped, like was being kept inside of a box.

"School's almost over." Charlie stated as he drew the fiftieth slime in his notebook.

"Yeah, then we can add each other on discord!" Toby smiled.

Toby kept drawing bees. According to things Ranboo had picked up from Tommy calling Toby 'bee boy' that Toby loved bees. Charlie also apparently loved slimes.

Ranboo was just about to draw another circle when Eret walked in.

"Ms. Puffy, I'm going to need to borrow Toby for a while." Eret told their teacher.

Ms. Puffy nodded and Toby stood up. He looked back at his two other friends and wrote down his discord. They waved goodbye and Toby followed Eret out the door.

Toby and Eret walked back to his office. Toby wasn't too scared. He had never gotten in trouble before and couldn't think of anything he had done wrong. He just followed Eret as they walked in silence.

-With Tommy-

He was falling. He tried to block clutch. He failed.

His eyes opened faster than he could blink. He sat up. His breathing was quicker than it should have been. He was hyperventilating.

He heard Eret open the door again, this time with another set of footsteps following close behind. Tommy sat up and saw Eret and Toby walking towards him. His vision blured again. He rubbed his eyes and waited for them to come closer.

"Toby..?" Tommy whispered.

Toby's expression went from normal to worried within the span of two seconds. His walking sped up and he sat beside Tommy.

"Tommy? Tommy what happened..." Toby's voice began to shake.

"Nothing... I'm fine. I was just worried about you." Tommy felt much better now that Toby was there.

Toby looked relived. Tommy was relieved.

"Are you alright now Tommy?" Eret asked.

Tommy turned his gaze to where Eret was standing. Eret didn't seem to question why he needed Toby. Eret just brought Toby to him without seeming confused.

"Yes, thank you sir." Tommy said.

"Heh... it's funny, I forgot something I was going to say when we did that introduction. I should post a message on the entrance walls. I use all pronouns, so calling me a he is fine, but I also use she and they! Plus the other many pronouns that exist." Eret stated.

"Oh! I'll try to remember that." Tommy told Eret.

Eret looked happy. The bell rang and Tommy and Toby stood up.

"Thank you Eret, and goodbye!" Tommy waved as they walked out the door.

Eret waved back. They closed the door behind them and went to the courtyard to wait for Ranboo and Charlie.