The Silence of a Somber Day

Nacreous Clouds

Tommy was finally allowed home two days after Dream had visited. The first day had been spent getting poked and prodded by doctors all throughout the morning while emotional supporting his friends turned family in the afternoon. Tommy had the same story for every one of them, but he gave Wilbur the most detail. Tommy admitted to being childishly jealous of what Wilbur had with his family, and his envy made him more carless than usual. Wilbur had held Tommy as he explained that Tommy had his own family in the form of all the people around him. Tommy smiled and agreed, though part of him didn't believe it.

Tommy was given exactly fifteen minutes of listening to songs on the radio Wilbur bought him after learning Tommy's TV broke because 'a bird flew into it when I left the window open' before someone knocked on the door. Tommy made a disgruntled noise as he pushed his hands against the arm rest to stand on his feet. Tommy walked over to the door, a hidden knife in the sleeve of his shirt.

Tommy was face to face with someone he didn't know but was probably around the same age as him. It was a blonde with dark purple eyes wearing a light purple hoodie and jeans two sizes too big. He was holding a kitchen knife in one hand, eyes shooting from one direction to the next like he was looking for something. Tommy rolled his eyes as he shifted in a position to protect himself from getting murdered from some kid on drugs.

"Theseus?" The person asked. Tommy hesitated before opening the door wider. The person gave him a cheap smile as he shuffled inside. Tommy peeked his head out the door to make sure there weren't any tails that the kid didn't notice. Tommy didn't see anything out of the norm, so he shut the door, locking it tightly. Tommy placed his ear to the door. There wasn't any sounds that Tommy didn't recognize.

"Where the fuck did you learn that name?" Tommy snapped angrily as he turned around. The kid was holding onto both of his arms, protecting his chest in case Tommy decided to retaliate. It was true that Tommy could. The kid in front of him wasn't recognized by the L'Manberg officials meaning that no one would notice he was gone, and if his body was found, the investigation would be minimal. Tommy could make sure that it wasn't traced back to him. Tommy wouldn't do that, however, because the first rule Dream had taught him about heroics was that murder was the worst offense.

"We are the protectors of every human who lives within this city, even the scum of it. We reform the villains. We don't play executioner."

"I found it in the old records of that woman. I was able to find them in the rubble," The kid said with a cautious glance. Tommy could relate. The truth was messy thing after all. "She gave me the name Grayson."

"She actually gave a normal name? That's fucking insane," Tommy muttered as he approached Grayson. He fumbled backwards, but Tommy was able to direct him to the couch easy enough. Tommy stared at him for a long minute as he stood by the coffee table. "What are you doing here then? Why come all the way to L'Manberg? Why find me?"

"You are the only other person that has escaped from her and her allies. They haven't found yet, so I assumed you had some tips," Grayson asked as he stared at the table like it was fascinating. Well, something like that probably was fascinating to Grayson. Tommy couldn't be sure he ever saw a coffee table before that moment.

"The trick is that they aren't a group of dumb bitches. Here in L'Manberg, they has no power. I got out of that place because an important hero found me. I know someone who could level cities if he wanted to. She may have been a bitch, but she wasn't ever stupid," Tommy continued. "Now that you're here, they can't do shit to you. You're free. Congratulations."

"What am I supposed to do?" Grayson asked as he looked at his hands. Tommy could see the red marks along Grayson's wrists that implied he was chained up for a long time. Tommy desperately wanted to know how Grayson escaped, especially since she had any more people involved in her schemes, but that was a traumatic episode for another day.

"You get a dead-end job like the rest of us," Tommy rolled his eyes. "What's your power?"

Grayson blinked in surprise at Tommy's question. Before Tommy could continue, Grayson waved his hand, palm down, in front of the radio. Immediately, the pieces of the radio came undone. The screws, plates, and wiring all floated in the air away from each other. Grayson waved his hand in the opposite direction, and the pieces all came back together to make the radio whole again.

"Pog as shit, man," Tommy said as he tapped against the radio to make sure it was completely back together. "I'm guessing you can only put things back together if it was your power that broke them apart." Grayson nodded. "You can't reorganize the pieces." Grayson nodded again. "Is there a time limit between how long it needs to be broken apart? If you broke it, a month later, can you fix it? A year later? A decade?"

"I haven't tested long periods of time, but I would guess I don't have a time limit. There's also the problem of pieces rusting meaning they won't fit right," Grayson explained.

"Can you do this to humans?" Tommy asked. Grayson looked away with a dark look. Tommy took that as answer enough. "Well, you came all this way for my help, I guess I can do something."

Grayson brightened up at the thought. Tommy gave him a long stare before snapping his fingers. "You're going to be apart of my cover story. After my parents kicked me out, I stayed with your folks for a bit. I came to L'Manberg to get my big-shot job. Did not get that job. You came because you don't know what to do with your future."

"We're cousins?" Grayson raised an eyebrow.

"I've seen siblings who look less alike than we do. We both of blonde hair, similar body types, a decent height difference, and our eye colors are blue and purple, not that far apart. My dad is brothers with your dad. Our moms don't like each other very much. Boom! Cover story," Tommy said with a shrug. "Now, off to names. See, I'm Tommy Innit. No one has called my Theseus in a long while. I hate that name. I'm sure you hate Grayson, as well. Understandable, really."

Grayson nodded along with the words, trying to memorize them. It was the name part that had him thrown for a loop. He could remember to call Theseus 'Tommy'. That wasn't a problem. Grayson having a different name would be difficult. But he did agree that he didn't want the name given to him.

"I'm going to call you Purpled. Enjoy that name," Tommy gave Purpled's head a pat. Purpled blinked in surprise at the action. "Now, Purpled, I have some noodles that want to be eaten."