Eburnean tommy with a twist (cover is my art)

Chapter Two: Through tight teeth

Tommy sat in his room alone, his flash cards sat on the nightstand beside him. his bed was soft, the blankets tossed and the pillow fluffed. the window still let in a breeze that had been there since morning, but the cold air helped remind him he was there. tommy slowly breathed in, the cold air piercing his lungs. something shuffled outside the window, making tommy stiffen.

the light that once illuminated the room was now replaced with a dim shadow, the only light being a candle that sat on the nightstand. tommy didnt mind the dark, but suddenly he felt like there was something wrong with it. something thudded behind him, making tommy turn around instantly, and without emotion. "Tommy, sorry im here so late, i have something i need to talk to you about." the familiar face whispered. tommys eyes glazed over, fear making his body shiver.

'It was him, hes here, hes going to kill me.' tommy thought, his bottom lip quivering when the green clad stepped towards him. tommy stood up, feeling as though he couldnt move more than that. he felt out of place, like he was back in that god forsaken cave again- in the dark, alone. Dream took his right hand and lightly grabbed his right shoulder, leaving his wrist bare infront of him. without thought, tommy whipped his head forward and bit his wrist, as hard as he could. Dream tried to pull back, but tommy held on hard enough that blood began to trickle down. "Tommy, please." he begged, pulling his wrist away with his other hand. Tommy didnt know why, but he felt he should let go. tommy unclenched his jaw, sending dream back and falling onto the hard wood floor.

dream held his arm below the bite, stumbling as he stood back up. Dream looked at tommy for a moment, taking in his pale face and deep scars. his once vibrant irises were now paler than the sky. dream frowned at this, why did he look so damaged? what happened to him? The moon emit light onto tommys face, his white hair making a pained shiver run down dreams spine. "what did he do to you...?" dream felt tears prick his eyes. who else would do this besides himself? no, that ungodly demon. "how long... how long has it been?... what happened tommy, please, i-i- theres so much new things, so much sadness, and destruction, what happened while i was gone?"

Tommys gaze softened, the fear and worry in dreams eyes once unfamiliar. wait, why were his irises not green? are those real tears? tommy stared at dreams shaking hazel eyes with a repeating worry. Where was the dream that ruined his life?

dream knew he had thought of tommy as annoying, just as he did with his other friends, but the tommy he knew was erratic, childish, even outgoing. so, why was he so silent now? why, no matter the moment, did he look so unfazed? dream watched tommy grab a set of cards on a key chain and shuffle through them. tommy had gotten some recent ones, so he hoped he could speak clearly enough.

'time' tommy held up the card, watching dream frown at it, this clearly wasnt enough. tommy put up another. 'hurt' tommy watched dream frown. 'you' another one said, making tears fall from both of their eyes. "I-I hurt you? why?" tommy shuffled through the cards slowly, pulling up another one that could help. 'me' and the next, 'loud' and another, 'mean' tommy tried his best, he didnt know why, he just needed to help him. 'you' 'mad' 'fight' 'me' 'sad' 'you' 'hide' 'me' 'me' 'hurt' 'time'

"wh-what are you trying to say? dont you have your communicator?'' dream asked, pulling out his own. 'you' 'take' 'it'

"oh..." dream frowned, not knowing what to do. "tommy, i dont need to know what happened, alright, just- just know that... it wasnt me." tommy cocked his head slightly, the most emotion he had shown dream through this whole series of events. 'it' 'you' Dream frowned, getting what he was trying to say. "no, it wasnt me, see this mask? this is my old one." dream grabbed the mask sitting on the side of his head and took it off. an aroma of age came off of it, something unfamiliar compared to the reek of toxins that came off of dreams old one. "the one i wore, recently, with whatever happened... it had something in it, the gods gave it to me, and i put it on not thinking. there was- some kind of... of demon inside of it, and it controlled me, it hurt me, tommy. and- and i dont know for how long..."

dream sighed and put the mask back on the side of his head. 'why' 'you' 'hear' tommy gently shook his head at the last card, meaning he probably meant 'here' instead. "i- well- i tried to contact everyone else, but nobody responded, and- there were all these new names like phil and wilbur and there were so many, why are there so many people here?" tommy nodded his head slowly, the thought of the names he brought up making him want to recoil, but he knew he couldn't. 'friends' 'people' 'not' 'some' 'me' 'friends' Tommy had a hard time making that sentence, but dream felt like he understood now, "so these are some new friends? but... they arent all?" Tommy nodded his head, pulling out the 'yes' flashcard.

"Tommy, why cant you speak?" dream asked out of pure curiosity and concern. 'you' Dream frowned and shook his head. then he remembered someone. "is- is tubbo here? hes the only other person i havent tried to talk to yet..." Tommy pulled out the 'yes' card and looked slowly to the door out of his room, knowing that tubbo and his family were asleep just down the hall. tommy looked back at dream, seeing he was looking at the door aswell. 'Tubbo' 'sleep' Dream sighed. I dont have anywhere to sleep, Tommy. Can- can i crash on your floor..?"

'yes'