Tommyinnit Oneshots

The Loyalty of a Friend Is Greater than the Obligation of Allies

Being perfect had to be hard. Tommy didn't know what it was like, but he could tell that it came with heavy burdens. To be placed above the world, to have everyone look to you in awe, must have had negative consequences. Tommy knew that his Father and Brothers had individual issues, but the one thing they had in common was the general hate or distaste they would encounter in their daily lives.

Dream had hated Wilbur and Techno from a young age. Firstly, he lost to Techno in most competitions, and he lost to Wilbur in the first student council election of middle school. Eventually, a few more people joined Dream's inner circle of friends. By proxy, they didn't like the Craft family. The genuine hate came in when they all had their own experiences with one or more members. The loathing wasn't unwarranted, but their hatred of Tommy specifically was.

Tommy didn't know any of these people. He'd been told to stay away from Dream, but he didn't get much of an explanation as to why. Tommy simply kept his distance like his brothers asked. This meant that Tommy had never met anyone from Dream's side except for Ranboo, who he was the pseudo friend of. They hated Tommy for his name, not his actions.

That's why it was extremely awkward when Tommy and Tubbo were working on their project. They were at the kitchen table, messing with wires and old scraps from dumpsters and whatever their allowance could afford. Admittedly, Tommy's allowance was a decent amount of cash. It was Phil's way of keeping Tommy from asking for money, and you know, interacting with his son. Tubbo would have been jealous of the cash, but the way Tommy seemed upset by it shut down his spite.

More than once, somebody from the 'Dream Team' (as Tommy put it) would come to the kitchen for a snack or drink or to check up "the project" (they were there for Tubbo). Every time, Tommy would make a joke that would get varying reactions. Tubbo and Ranboo would always laugh, SapNap responded with his own joke, George fought his chuckles, and Dream had this apathetic smile. Tommy hated fake smiles.

"I think we have a good amount done. We should finish tomorrow, yeah?" Tubbo said as he leaned back in his chair. They had been working for hours. The low power rocket was almost done, and they had a few things they needed to finish regarding their boards. Tommy would have liked to stay and finish, but he wasn't oblivious to Tubbo's subtlety.

"Yeah, Big T. We'll make the best goddamn rocket this shit-high has ever seen," Tommy said with a smile as he packed up all of his stuff in his backpack. He hesitated when zipping it up. He was going to his Dad's that day. Tommy spent most of his time with his Dad, but he was still wary of it. Tommy knew his family wasn't bad. They were good people and they treated him right. It was just... Tommy's feelings sometimes didn't act in accordance to his thoughts. Logically, there was nothing to fear, but his stomach was churning at the thought of being alone with Wilbur.

"Craft, can we talk for a moment?" Someone said at the doorway. Dream was standing there with his hands in his pocket without his signature smile. Dream looked between Tommy and Tubbo before taking slow steps away. Tommy would have argued because his brain wanted to go home. His feet were following Dream, and his mouth had been shut by his jaw.

Dream led Tommy to a backyard area. It was incredibly small, and surrounded by wooden fences taller than Tommy. There were patches of sand with some dead grass surrounding it. A pitiful excuse of a yard no matter what socioeconomic class you're in. Dream leaned against the wall beside the sliding door, and Tommy hunched over the back of a metal chair.

"What do you know about me, Craft? About my family?" Dream asked. Tommy wondered if Dream knew his first name. Tommy almost laughed when he thought about how Dream would address them if everyone in Tommy's family was together. That rarely happened, but if Dream was somehow able to see it, who would be the Craft?

"I know that I'm not supposed to talk to you. Failure number one. I know I'm not supposed to hang out with anyone from your group. Failure number two. I know I'm definitely not supposed to be alone with you. Failure number three." Three strikes, I'm out. Wilbur will beat me tonight.

"Do you know why I hate your family?" Dream continued, oblivious to the last part of that mental checklist Tommy went through.

"Techno beat you at a lot of stuff. He never dies, not in sports. Wilbur won an election against you. That's fucking it. I don't even know how the elections went, or what games you lost in. Though... I don't particularly care. I was told to stay away. So, I did. I wasn't told I was allowed to know this shit. So, I didn't," Tommy waved his hand around as he talked. He looked behind him at Dream. The man had an unreadable expression, but Tommy could see worry in his eyes. "Look, after the project is done, I'll be gone. I won't be a little shit in your kitchen. Can you wait one more day?"

"No, it's fine. You aren't like your brothers as far as I can tell. Ranboo doesn't have anything horrible to say about you. He might actually like you," Dream said with a sigh. It was the sort of sigh you gave when you didn't get the answers you wanted. Tommy scoffed. Did Dream want Tommy to be an asshole?

"If that'll be all, Big D, I'll get my little scooter out of here. Do me a favor: don't tell my brothers I was here. I'll get..." Beat. Yelled at. Locked in the shed. "reprimanded... badly."

Dream nodded slowly. Tommy gave a salute as he walked passed the green wearing man. Tommy grabbed his backpack from the cleaned off and person-less kitchen table. Tommy left that house without looking back.

———

"Not ideal, but we need to get this shit done," Tommy said sheepishly. Tubbo seemed more uncomfortable with each step he took. Tommy didn't know what he could say that would bring comfort to the short boy walking beside him. Tommy was more uncomfortable than Tubbo was, and this was his own house they were going to. "We'll be fine. Dad is at work. Techno should be at the library. Wilbur won't bother us. We won't have to deal with their shit. You'll be gone long before they show up."

"Because that's reassuring," Tubbo snapped underneath his breath. Tommy couldn't blame him. If it was up to the blonde, he would turn tail and run. There was nothing at that house for Tommy. It was a pain that Tubbo's house started leaking hours after Tommy left. The Underscore family didn't want anybody over. Even more troubling, they had cleared one location for an alternative build site. Tubbo's partner's house. Tommy's house. The Craft family's house. See where this is going?

Tommy lived in a decently sized house. It wasn't a mansion because Phil thought too much space was pointless. The house was roomy but not grossly huge. It showed off their wealth, however, so Tommy never invited anybody to hang out. Not like he had any super close friends he would invite over.

They sat at the kitchen table. There weren't any incidents until the very end. As Tubbo was packing up his bag, Wilbur came down the stairs. Tommy's eyes widened as he prayed that Wilbur wouldn't say anything. He didn't want to get in trouble. It was all for a project. Nothing else. Wilbur couldn't blame Tommy for trying to get an A. Wilbur should be proud of Tommy's work. He had to be. If he wasn't-

"Toms! Toms! Toms! Whose this?" Wilbur asked as he skipped over to the pair. He threw his arms around Tommy's neck, pressing his shoulders as he stared at everything with big, slow blinking eyes. Tommy should have known immediately what was going on. This wasn't Wilbur, not exactly.

"Ghostbur, how are you? This is my... friend, Tubbo. He was working on a project with me. He has to leave now. You and I can go play games, okay? We'll color in your coloring books, mmhmm?" Tommy gave the man a pat on the head. Wilbur's smile went bright as he leaned into the touch.

Tubbo was mouthing some sentence soundlessly, and Tommy had a pretty good idea what it was. ("What the fuck?"). Tommy tilted his head to the door while mouthing later. Tubbo didn't look pleased. He went to the door, though, which was good. Tubbo gave Tommy a wave goodbye.

"Ghostbur, did you do anything that Wilbur wouldn't approve of? We should go fix that now," Tommy whispered gently as he took Wilbur into his arms. The man leaned into the touch while shaking his head. Tommy nodded as he kept petting Wilbur's hair. Tommy gave a quiet sigh as he felt Wilbur sleep against him.