Lavender Snow

Run

Orange and gold and red.

Tommy stared into the lava. The heat flowed over him, scorching, making his skin shiny with sweat, but he didn't move. A cinder spat out and landed on his foot. Tommy flinched, but didn't move his gaze.

Orange and gold and red light stung his eyes.

"He's really not coming back, is he?" Tommy said quietly. The lava offered no response.

"God, I'm an idiot." Orange.

"Kristin was wrong. I'm just the same, stupid, scared kid I was when I jumped in the void. All it took was a hug, and I was practically besties with Dream. He. . . He wasn't ever my friend, was he?"

Gold. Tommy took a step closer to the wall of lava.

"Nobody's coming for me. Kristin's dead. She's not coming back. I'm so stupid, of course Dream's not gonna revive her. He's just a sick, twisted—"

Tommy bit his lip. He wiped the wet from his face, and took another step forward. "He did trust me, though. He— he laughed at my jokes, I laughed at him. That was genuine. Maybe his methods are. . . sadistic and wrong, but he does care for me!"

"Or. . . he did. I fucked that up, too."

Tommy hugged himself, less than a foot away from the lava. "No one's coming. Dream's gone. Kristin's dead. Wilbur thinks I'm dead. Ranboo. . . he's probably dead, too.

"I'm alone."

Silence.

Red. Tommy shut his eyes, breathing heavily. The heat was intense, this close to the lava. Tommy wondered what would happen, with another step. Would his clothes catch fire? Would his hair begin to singe?

Would it hurt to jump into the molten rock?

Tommy hoped it wouldn't.

But it probably would.

It hadn't hurt the first time he died. It felt like his whole body was in the box, everything just. . . draining away, floating, dissolving into purple and black.

He wouldn't go into limbo again, would he?

He didn't want to go back.

But, at the same time. . .

Quiet rumbling of the elevator.

Tommy blinked, stepping back from the lava. His eyebrows scrunched together. "Dream. . .?"

The lava parted for the elevator, cold metal clicking into place.

The door slid open.

"Oh, pants, this isn't the conference room." The guard squinted at Tommy. "Hey, you're an Enderian. What are you doing—"

Tommy sprang forward, jumping in the elevator. The wall slid closed again, and they began to move.

"Oh, will you look at that, we're, uh, going back." The guard shifted. "Uh. . . hi? I'm Connor."

Tommy stared at him, then slumped against the wall, covering his eyes with his hands. "Fuuuuck, what am I doing?"

"I dunno, man, I just got in an elevator, and then you hopped in, and now we're both in here? Does this, like, normally happen? Is this, like, a thing?" Connor stuffed his hands in his pockets, shrugging.

"No, no, it's not a thing, I'm just— fuck!" The elevator stopped abruptly. "What's happening?"

Connor looked up. The lantern bled to red, and began pulsing gently. "Oh, I remember this from orientation yesterday! That's the alarm, everything's locking up!"