One More Step Out of the Pit

chapter 3

"Are these tomatoes?!" An excited scream was what woke Tommy up. It was not even two hours after he'd fallen asleep and part of him wanted to be pissed about being woken up when he was so exhausted. The other part of him smiled into his pillow.

"Cut them open," Tommy called back.

He listened to the rustling coming from the kitchen area as Tubbo rushed to do as he said. "Seeds?" Tubbo asked after a moment, his voice quieter and closer now like what he was saying was a secret. It was a secret. Tommy peeled his face off of the pillow to look up at the boy in their bedroom doorway. "Where on Earth did you find these?"

"I stumbled on a hidden community garden on the way back from work last night," Tommy explained.

He watched the war on Tubbo's face as he bit his lip. His hands were covered in tomato juice from where he'd picked a few seeds out of the vegetable. He was cradling them between his palms now. "These are very illegal to have," he said. Yet, despite his half-hearted protest, the seeds had already started to sprout in his hands. As Tommy watched, a baby stem curled up his finger, a pair of leaves opening and sitting at the tip of his thumb.

"You should find some dirt for them," Tommy suggested softly.

"Right," Tubbo agreed. "Dirt, water... and sun somehow in a place no one can see. Or maybe a grow light in the bathroom? I'll figure something out."

Tommy nodded, struggling to keep his eyes open. Tubbo seemed to notice. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to wake you up. I was just excited."

"I know Tubs," Tommy yawned.

"You got back kinda late last night, huh?"

"Had a run in with the SBI," he said.

"Are you hurt?" Tubbo asked, concerned.

Tommy shook his head. "They didn't even manage to get a finger on me," he assured proudly, but then deflated a bit. "But, uh, Dream wasn't too happy that I didn't arrest them. I got whatever they were trying to steal, but that wasn't enough for him. So... no paycheck."

Tubbo frowned. "What were you supposed to do?" he asked. "1v3 the SBI of all people?"

"Apparently."

"That's not fair."

"Life's not fair," Tommy reminded.

"I hate that you fight them," Tubbo said, quietly. "The Blade killed 4 level 6 heroes with a flashlight and a set of car keys two years ago and that's with him being taken unaware and alone."

He'd also held a sword to Tommy's neck once. It had been just them alone in an alleyway. He'd lowered it a moment later and slipped away into darkness without a word. Tubbo didn't know that though.

"Eh, Philza's scarier and Whippoorwill's more creatively bloodthirsty."

"They shouldn't send you after any of them."

"They know I'm a big man!" He paused at the look on Tubbo's face. "I'll be fine," he promised.

"I just worry..."

"Don't," Tommy said. "I'm wily. Like the coyote... wait, no. I'm the Road Runner! The Road Runner wins those things, right? Never gets caught, right?" He'd never really had an opportunity to watch cartoons. He'd just absorbed knowledge from other people talking about them. "That's me! Meep meep motherfucker."

Tubbo cracked a half smile. "Well," he said. "No paycheck, but we do have veggies and veggies that will regrow if we're careful to hide them. Well, the tomatoes are fruit, but still."

"Not a fruit," Tommy enlightened him.

"I... they are?"

"No," Tommy said solemnly. "I reject that reality."