"The Case Of The Fire Inside."

For the friends ive made, for the sleepless nights 13

Tommy has never seen Dream this angry.

Dream's default mood always seemed to be bored or indifferent in some way or another. Whenever Tommy did see him he barely ever spoke past casual conversation or a quick smile. That was fine too. Tommy hated the silence but he was more than used to it by now.

Dream had been mad before too. He remembers flashes of it when he was younger, memories stained and blurred with time and fear, but he can recall moments of screaming, glass shattering on the ground, the sound of snapping bones and wailing screams.

Dream's been mad before, but not like this. Tommy had been sitting on the couch when he came in. Tommy looked up at him, trying to read his face for any sign of what to do. Dream's face was cold and shut off, with no hints for Tommy to pick up at.

"Dream I'm so sorry," He said, hating the way his voice wavered. Dream said nothing, simply putting down the keys he had in his hand. Tommy sits in the silence, heart pounding hard in his chest.

He could see the anger written in every line of his body. See it in the way his arms and legs were tensed, the way his jaw ticked and his eyes were cold. The last time Tommy had seen Dream like this was the night Sapnap tried to convince him to leave. Tommy doesn't want to think about that night.

He can see a hint of something dangerous lurking in Dream's eyes, and for a second Tommy wonders if Dream's mad enough to shoot him too. He pushes that thought down.

"Dream?" Tommy asks after another moment of silence. Dream had walked over to the counter, grabbing a briefcase and putting it down on the table. Tommy knew exactly what was in there. His instincts screamed at him to dart forwards and grab it, hold his pelt after so long with it being gone. He knows he doesn't deserve to. "I'm sorry."

"No you're not," Dream said, his voice deadly quiet. Tommy flinches back at it, curling up into the couch. His heart is pounding and he realizes with a jolt that he's shaking like a leaf. He doesn't know why. It's Dream, Dream never does anything that isn't necessary.

Sure he hurt him sometimes, but only because Tommy broke the rules. Only because Tommy messed up and needed to be put back into his place.

What would happen now that he broke the biggest rule of them all? He got a leg broken for staying out too late. Bruised ribs for asking too much about humans. Sapnap had gotten shot for even attempting to make Tommy break this rule.

What was going to happen to him? Why couldn't he have just listened? Why did he have to be so fucking stupid and go and get attached to some random humans?

"What were you thinking?" Dream asked, turning to face him, leaning deceptively calm against the wall. "I come home early to surprise you, and that's what I come back to? Did you think I wouldn't notice? That it would've just escaped my sight? What was your plan Tommy?"

"I don't-" He falters, breath catching in his throat as a low whimper rumbles in the bottom of his chest. He flinches back at the noise, biting down hard on it. He's not allowed to make those noises. He can see Dream's lip curl up slightly at just the small slip up. Tommy hunches further into himself.

"You weren't thinking were you?" Dream shook his head, moving closer. Tommy's frozen on the couch as Dream kneels down at his side, roughly grabbing his chin and jerking it up to meet his eyes. "After everything I've done for you, raising you, keeping you safe, you leave just like that? Go off with some humans and what Tommy? Befriend them? Is that what you were doing? Blow your cover and ruin everything I've worked towards? Everything I've done for you? Are you that ungrateful? That selfish?"

"No!" Tommy tries to protest but the fingers are digging deeper into his skin, the grip so tight that Tommy feels hopelessly trapped. His instincts are going insane, rising up in the back of his head. It's begging him to run, go back to your pod, back to safety, grab your pelt and run, you're trapped, you're trapped, you're trapped-