Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Wilbur was busy, as usual. He was a new king, having only just started his reign in the past few months. At the moment he was writing a new boring order about markets. That’s why he was so annoyed when Tommy burst in, yelling something about women, as usual. “WILBUR I AM IN NEED OF A WIFE, AND PHIL WON’T HELP ME!” Tommy shouted, skidding to a halt in front of Wilbur’s desk.

Wilbur sighed and put his pen down. “Tommy, as much as I would love to bother the great Mr. Minecraft himself, I’m a bit busy. You’re too young for a wife anyways. I don’t even have a wife yet.” Tommy sat in a chair and crossed his arms. “Becoming a king has made you so boring Wilby! This same time last year you would have gone and told Phil wives don’t exist with me.”

Wilbur sighed again, looking away. “Tommy, you knew this would happen. Becoming a king has responsibilities, especially being such a new one. I need to establish what kind of king I’ll be, and I want to be a good one. Run along. I’ll hang out with you after dinner, alright?” Tommy got up and rubbed his arm. “I guess so. I’ll probably leave tomorrow to visit Schlatt and Tubbo. I’ll get out of your hair.” Wilbur nodded distractedly, already having picked up his pen and got back to work.

Tommy shuffled down the hallway, feeling neglected. Wilbur barely had time to hang out with him anymore! The last time he hung out had been over a month ago, and all they did was eat dinner! What was the point of going all the way to Wilbur's new kingdom if he wasn’t even hanging out?

Tommy was pulled out of his thoughts when he ran into someone. “Fuck! I’m so sorry, I really should pay more attention-” he stopped talking when he looked up. Dream stood there, looking as composed as ever. Tommy hated how he could never tell what he was feeling past that stupid mask. At least his eyes are exposed. Makes him a little easier to read.

Dream gripped his shoulder hard, eyes narrowing in annoyance. “Wasn’t it you thinking too hard that got us into this mess? You need to stay out of your head, it’s not like it’s doing you any good anyways.” Tommy looked down and nodded. Dream’s usually right about stuff like this.

Dreams' grip softened, and when Tommy looked up his eyes had gone back to their usual neutral. “It’s fine Tommy. Where were you heading before you stepped on my foot?” Tommy looked down again. “I was going to pack up my stuff since I’m heading to Schlatt’s tomorrow. Going to hang out with The Tubbster since Wilbur's a bit busy, y’know?”

Tommy couldn't tell what expression Dream was making with his mouth covered, but when he spoke it was with certainty. “Tommy, I have some business to take care of with King Schlatt, I’ve decided I’ll come with you.”

He turned to walk away, but stopped. He seemed to contemplate something for a moment before saying “I’m not really surprised Wilbur didn’t want to hang out with you. He’s a king now, it makes sense he doesn’t want to be seen with an immature prince like you.” With that, Dream left to talk to Wilbur leaving Tommy feeling guilty.

Chapter Text

Wilbur hadn’t left his study since Tommy spoke to him last, so he left a note with the servants reminding him of where he was going. He packed his bags, albeit a little reluctantly. If he was being honest, he was hoping Wilbur would come out and tell him he was ready to hang out. It really had been such a long time since the pair had had some fun. Of course this didn’t happen (Wilbur really was too busy for him, wasn’t he?) so Tommy met Dream by the entrance to the castle.

“Have you got everything, because I don’t want to deal with a second long horseback ride just because you forgot something stupid.” Dream said as he climbed on his horse Spirit. Tommy paled just a little and rummaged through his bag. He sighed and nodded, climbing onto his horse, HorseChamp. 

They didn’t say much for most of the ride, Dream preferring to sit in silence. Tommy wasn’t sure if he preferred silence or words. With silence he wasn’t doubting himself with every sentence, but Dream was just about the only person who talked to him anymore. If Dream wasn’t talking to him, then he was alone with his thoughts just like always.

At least when he’s not talking to me I can focus on not fucking it up like I always do.  

As they neared the center of Schlatt’s kingdom and the city came into view, Dream spoke to Tommy for the first time since that morning. “You can join the meeting with me and Schlatt. Tubbo’ll be there, so act like him. He knows when to be quiet and when to talk, unlike some people.” Tommy stiffened, but nodded anyway. He could do that. Hopefully.

Schlatt was rushing to get to the meeting room. He was negotiating with Dream for more land today, and he couldn’t fuck it up. Land from Dream was rare to come by, and it was always the best quality. He had had such a shit morning though, and he’s already had to change his clothes once because he spilled coffee on his nicest shirt. 

“TUBBO!” He shouted, calling him to the central room. “What’s up Dad? I’m ready to learn!" Tubbo smiled. “Come on little bee. We’ve got a meeting soon, so let’s head over to the conference room and make sure it’s ready. As a king, you always want to do that to make sure the servants finish preparing the room.” Schlatt led Tubbo along, explaining how the room should be so guests feel the most comfortable.

The room was perfect, as always, so they both sat down. Schlatt started preparing various papers detailing deals for more land, and Tubbo sat down with a blank sheet of paper. “Ready for notes, sir!” Tubbo said, giving a mock o7.

By the time Dream walked in, Schlatt had everything ready. He got up to greet him, shaking his hand. He noticed Tommy trailing in behind him. “Hello Dream, hello Tommy. I hope the trip was pleasant and the castle is to your liking?” Schlatt said, fondness in his eyes as Tommy ran to hug Tubbo.

“I didn’t know you were coming!” Tubbo shouted as he fell into the hug. "Yeah, it was kind of short notice. Wilbur was too busy to hang out, and Dream was nice enough to let me sit in the meeting so I can learn with you." Tommy pulled out of the hug, and they walked to their seats. 

"Who needs Wilbur when you've got me? Dad's making me sit in so I can learn too, but I'm glad for the experience. I want to know how to run the kingdom before I'm in charge, right bossman?" Tommy giggled, knowing exactly what he was talking about. “Yeah, I’m not sure why Quackity thought it was a good idea to start his country without knowing how to run one. It’s a good thing he found Charlie before he ran it into the ground-” Dream cleared his throat and Tommy snapped his mouth shut. Tommy and Tubbo looked up and realized that Schlatt and Dream were ready to start.

“Sorry! We were just excited to see each other again.” Tubbo said sheepishly as he sat down next to Schlatt. “Yeah! It’s been forever since I saw Big T, but we’ll be quiet now.” Tommy sat next to Dream. “I’m sure. Next time have your reunion not right before an important meeting.” Dream said. He turned to Schlatt and they started the meeting.

Tommy knew Dream was right, he and Tubbo could’ve waited a bit before they started talking, an hour wouldn’t have hurt them. As Dream and Schlatt negotiated the land, Tommy zoned out a bit. This was boring and he didn’t need to be here for it anyways, he was only really here to learn and Phil had promised that when he needed to, he would start teaching Tommy.

Tommy was only 16, he still had 2 more years before he was expected to start participating in Royal matters, and 2 more after before he would take over Phil’s kingdom. Wilbur and Techno had decided they didn’t want to take over the whole kingdom, so they just received a portion of the land and expanded from there, but Tommy was sure he could take care of the rest of the kingdom. Well, he was sure, until Dream started showing him all his flaws.

A kick to the leg pulled him out of his thoughts, making him look up to see that Tubbo was staring at him. “I’m bored.” Tubbo mouthed at him. Tommy shrugged as if to say “Me too, but I can’t do anything about it.” Tommy was about to zone out again when Tubbo grinned mischievously. He ripped up a small piece of paper and folded it into a triangle shape. He held it up to show Tommy triumphantly. “Paper football?” He mouthed. Tommy nodded, grinning.

They started out small, only sliding it along the table and cheering silently when one of them scored a “goal.” They quickly became bored, and in turn their tricks became more daring. They cautiously started flicking the paper. When they didn’t get yelled at, they flicked it harder. Tommy was having a blast, and forgot he was supposed to be calm and quiet.

It all came crashing down when Tommy, wanting to impress Tubbo, flicked the paper as hard as he could. They both watched as it went in the wrong direction and smacked Dream in the face. Hard. Schlatt stopped mid-sentence, ears flicking in panic. Dream sighed, saying “I don’t know why I thought you could behave Tommy. I’m sorry Schlatt, I don’t know if I can continue this meeting. I think I’ll just go-”

Schlatt jumped out of his chair in a panic. “NO! It’s alright, I’ll just send Tommy out. Tommy, leave, you are not needed in this meeting.” Tommy glanced between Dream and Schlatt nervously. “I’m sorry Dream, I really didn’t mean to do-” Dream interrupted Tommy “I don’t care if you meant to do it or not, you were being immature, and interrupted an important meeting to do what? Play a stupid little game? Man up, shut up, and get out”

Tommy looked over at Schlatt, but shrank back when he saw Schlatt glaring at him. He has never seen Schlatt this mad before. When Schlatt jabbed his finger at the door, Tommy got up quietly and left the room with his metaphorical tail between his legs. He didn’t dare bring up that Tubbo was the one who started the game. Did it really matter? He was the one who fucked up, he should have been mature and just sat there quietly.

Dream found Tommy sitting quietly in the library an hour later. “Tommy, I need to talk to you.” Dream said as he sat down. “Before you do, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin anything.” Tommy said quickly.

Dream sighed and looked at Tommy with an unreadable expression. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Schlatt was very upset with you.” Tommy looked away, guilty. Dream continued. “I was pretty upset too, but I held myself back. He was going to kick you out y’know, send you back to Phil’s, but I stopped him. I told him I’d take you with me tomorrow if he let you stay the night.”

Tommy didn’t know how to feel about that. He really didn’t want to leave Tubbo so soon after getting there. But if he already got himself in trouble, what was to stop someone as selfish as him from getting others in the same boat? “Ok. Thanks Big D. Where are we going?”

“Stop calling me Big D, I’ve told you that before. We’re going to Sam’s. I want to talk to him about sending some of his best engineers to build me something important, so you better not fuck anything up. Pack your bags. We’re leaving very early in the morning, and I don’t want to hear any whining.” Dream stands up and goes to leave, but stops in the doorway.

“And Tommy? Don’t be a nuisance while we’re there. If you ruin this for me, I will not be happy.” After a shaky nod from Tommy, Dream leaves. Tommy sits there and fiddles with his hair. It was a habit he picked up from Wilbur when he first became king. Wilbur wanted nothing more than to have a braid like Phil’s. He wanted nothing more than to be a king as amazing as Phil. Tommy wanted the same thing, always has. He used to be so sure he'd be able to run a kingdom, but Dream showing him all his flaws has been making Tommy doubt himself.

With a sigh, Tommy leaves the library avoiding Tubbo's hall. He doesn’t want to face the disappointment that he’s sure Tubbo will harbor. Instead he goes to his room the guest room Schlatt lets him stay in, which he had never bothered to unpack, and promptly passes out on the bed. He never hears the footsteps in the hallway outside the library, and he never sees a forlorn Tubbo scamper to his fathers room. Nor does he hear the quiet but urgent conversation they have about him. For now, he sleeps.

Chapter Text

Desperately rubbing the grogginess out of his eyes, Tommy gathers his bags and walks into the hallway to find Dream. He was ready earlier than he was needed, but he was hoping that would please Dream. Maybe if he could follow orders, and go above and beyond, he could finally start being useful.

He wouldn’t dare tell Dream why he was up so early. Would never dare to tell him about the nightmares that plague him. Seeing Tubbo for the first time in a while brought back the nightmares. The ones about his family leaving him, finally deciding he’s worthless, ruining kingdoms and dooming tens of thousands of people, and the worst one, the scar. The worst part about the scar nightmare is that it’s less of a nightmare and more of a memory.

Tommy remembers how Tubbo got that scar. He doesn’t think he could ever forget the sounds of glass shattering, or the scream that Tubbo let out when the brewing stand exploded. The panic that he felt when Tubbo collapsed will always be locked in his mind, alongside the bloodied face of his best friend, constantly showing up in nightmares.

It’s been so long since he’s had the nightmare, and the terror and guilt that comes with it is still fresh in his mind as he makes his way around the castle. Despite knowing deep down that it was no one’s fault, he can’t help but feel responsible for it. If he had just payed attention to the small hiss of the brewing stand getting too hot, if he had just known the blaze powder was brand new, if he had just been the one at the brewing stand, everything could have been avoided and Tubbo wouldn’t have that horrible scar marring the left half of his face.

The sound of a door opening interrupts his wallowing, and he quickly tries to pretend he just arrived and wasn’t just standing there for several minutes like an idiot. The door opens, revealing Dream standing there, dressed with his bags ready by his feet.

Dream sighs when he sees Tommy. He always sighs when he’s around me. I really am just a pain to deal with, aren’t I? I should just be quiet . “What is it Tommy?” Dream finally asks. Suddenly feeling nervous, Tommy shrugs, then gestures to his bag. “Nearly time to go, innit? I was ready to go, so I figured I could help you I guess.” 

Dream sighs again.  He grabs his bags and closes the door quietly. “I suppose we should go then. I guess you did a good job taking initiative. I’ve been ready for nearly an hour though, I was about to come make sure you weren’t sleeping in again.”

Tommy steps aside to allow Dream to pass, then follows him out of the hallway. As they make their way to the stables where HorseChamp and Spirit are being kept Dream gives Tommy a quick debrief so Tommy doesn’t fuck anything up again. “I just need to go talk to Sam about something important. I’ve informed Phil that you’re coming with me, so don’t bother annoying him with another letter. I don’t have need of you while we’re there, but tomorrow I’m going to Bad’s castle for his ball. If you wish, you may accompany me and learn proper ball etiquette. Gods knows you need it.”

Tommy nods along. He really does need it, last time he was at a ball was when he was eight, and he was so crazy that Phil hadn’t taken him to one since. They both pack their saddlebags in silence, but to Tommy, the silence has never felt more loud. Just like the trip there, the trip away from Schlatts Kingdom was silent. Tommy wishes Dream would say something this time though. With the guilt he has festering inside him because of the Schlatt, he wishes more than anything for a distraction.

At a little after noon Dream stops his horse. Tommy quickly follows suit, and they both dismount on the side of the road in front of a small patch of forest. “We’re gonna take a quick break. When I say quick, I mean quick, ok Tommy?” Dream asks sharply as he starts pulling rations out of his saddlebag. Tommy nods, and they both set up a small temporary camp.

Tommy can feel himself zoning out as he starts the fire, only managing because of muscle memory from many nights going camping with Techno when he was younger. The exhaustion of yesterday's long ride paired with only a handful of hours of sleep is quickly catching up on him. His legs start shaking from where he’s crouched, so he sits in front of the fire while he waits for Dream to finish racking-up and watering the horses.

His blinks feel longer and longer, and time feels like it slows down in between each one. Blink. The fire crackles. Blink. Is that a bird to the right? Blink. He hopes Henry is doing alright by herself in the castle stable. Blink. Blink. Blink. 

“-mmy. Tommy!” Suddenly, he’s jolted out of his little universe. Dream stands in front of Tommy, waving his hand in front of his face. From what little Tommy can see from his face he’s annoyed, so Tommy does his best to snap out of it. Dream shoves a large chunk of venison -that he had, apparently, managed to kill a deer while Tommy was checked- out into Tommy's chest. Tommy has to scramble to catch it before it falls on the ground, and he glares at Dream when he knows it’s not gonna slip from his grasp.

“Cook that yourself, I’m not your servant.” Dream says as he sits down in front of the fire. He starts preparing his bit of venison, and Tommy silently does the same.

Blink. The meat is on a stick.

Blink. Blink. The meat is cooking.

Blink. 

Blink.

Blink.

The meat. Where- where is the meat?

Tommy snaps back when he realizes he had been staring at an empty stick for a few seconds. He glances into the fire and sees his lunch in the bottom with the ashes, unsalvageable. He looks up to see Dream also staring at his lunch, and he grimaces when he sees the angry downturn of his eyebrows.

He winces when Dream snaps his eyes up to meet his. “Tommy. What the hell do you think you’re doing, wasting the meat I caught?” Dream… is angry. Tommy doesn’t hear Dream angry often. Annoyed? Sure, all the time. Angry? Almost never. “Dream, big man, I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, it was an accident. I’ll make it up to you, I’ll catch you a deer the next time we travel. I’m sorry.” The last apology comes out as a mumble as he looks away. Tommy can’t stand to look Dream in the eyes anymore.

Dream sighs “Don’t bother. Listen, as your friend, I’ll share mine with you, ok?” Tommy glances up to see Dream no longer angry, so he nods quickly. Tommy beams when Dream hands him a piece of meat, almost half his portion. He mutters a quick thank you before digging in.

Tommy finishes as quickly as he can, not wanting to make Dream angry again. After Dream is done eating they make small talk as they take down the mini camp. “and then I told her ‘I’m sorry, all of my appointments are full, I simply have too many ladies to care for each night!’ I mean, what could I have done? I’m too fucking popular!” Tommy is glad when he hears the teakettle next to him get on his horse. It means that Dream has forgiven him. 

Together they ride away from the forest, and towards the Badlands.

Chapter Text

Sam feels a bit like a chicken as he runs about the castle. He’s fluttering between tasks that were put off in lieu of working on his project Sam Nook. He can’t help it, he’s an engineer at heart, he couldn’t control his mother being the Queen! It’s times like this where he regrets not paying more attention to his tutors as a child, the ones that were trying to teach him how to run his castle.

Currently, he is talking to one of his servants about making sure Dream and Tommy’s rooms are ready. It is thankfully one of the last things he needs to do before they arrive, whenever that is.

“I know, I’m sorry for checking in so late Hannah, but I was up all night and forgot.” Sam rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, and Hannah sighs fondly. “It’s alright Your Highness, I know how you can be.” She grins at him and they start walking to the castle entrance. “Besides, I already had it prepared, because I knew you were in your lab. You’re not the best at remembering things when you go in there Your Highness.”

Sam grins at her as they get to the entrance to the castle. “Again, thanks so much Hannah. I swear, sometimes I think you run this place better than I do!” Hannah waves the suggestion away with a laugh. “I’m not so sure about that, Your Majesty. I think you do a fine job!” Hannah starts to walk away, but turns back around to say “But without me you would certainly do a lot worse.” And with that, she runs off giggling.

Sam moves outside the door and waits for the two royals to arrive. He feels his mind drifting as he stands idley. First he thinks about Sam Nook, and how he wishes he could get it to work. He can’t figure out why it won’t work, and he feels like he’s tried just about everything he possibly can. 

Then, he thinks about his other redstone machines, and how he can improve them. But as he stands there thinking about general lab things, he feels himself drift off a bit. He’s so tired, he hasn’t slept in days because he’s been too busy trying to fix Sam Nook. It would be ok if he just… rested his eyes for a minute, right?

Tommy and Dream are led out of the stables by Hannah, whom Tommy has only really met once before. Sam doesn’t usually have any business with the Antarctic Empire, so it’s not really a wonder why.

She takes them to the front door of the castle, where Sam is waiting. As they get closer, Hannah calls out “Your Majesty!” and Sam seems to jolt for a second. He just shakes his arms and walks to meet them in the middle. 

Sam thanks Hannah, and she runs off to go run the castle probably. From what Tommy remembers, she’s basically Sam's right hand man behind the scenes. Tommy hopes he can find someone as helpful and loyal as her if he can manage to run the kingdom. Maybe Dream would be willing-

Tommy is forced to zone back in when he feels the clap of Dream's hand against his shoulder. Tommy looks around and realizes it’s time for them to follow Sam into the castle. With the help of Dream's hand on his shoulder to guide Tommy, Sam leads them into his home.

He takes them to his lab seemingly without meaning. He is just talking about the thing Dream wants him to build (it seems like some kind of surveillance robot, but Tommy is too tired to care) and they end up in front of the door to his lab. 

Sam seems just as surprised as Tommy, but shrugs it off saying “Well since we’re here I might as well show you some of my other works as proof of my skills, huh?” Dream takes his hand off of Tommys shoulder, and Tommy takes that as a sign that he’s allowed to wander. 

He meanders about the room, dragging his feet as the world moves around him. The past couple of nights have been rough (and all the horseback riding has really not helped.)

Tommy ends up stopped in front of a hulking machine that looks startlingly like Sam, but with raccoon ears that Tommy sometimes harbors. The chest seems to be made up of four plates which are currently open, exposing all the redstone and wires hidden behind the cold metal.

Tommy stands there for a while, admiring Sam’s work. Sam has always been a great redstoner, and the times that Tommy and him crossed paths, he was always excited to show Tommy whatever new thing he was working on at the time. The last time they saw each other, Sam was making some kind of long distance communication device.

As Tommy looks closer at the redstone, he notices something odd. To him, it looks like all the redstone leads out from some kind of power source in the middle, traveling throughout the limbs. But the one that’s supposed to lead up into the head is… different. From the looks of it, there’s something blocking the redstone. It would be difficult to see, because it was nearly hidden behind a bit of tubing.

Tommy reaches into the bot and grabs the thing in the way. As he does so, the redstone glows a small bit, and Tommy hears a very faint whirring noise. Moving the thing to his face, he can see it’s just a small bit of plastic, about the same colour as the tubing in this bot.

Suddenly, Tommy is jerked back by his shoulder, dropping the piece of plastic onto the floor under the robot. Tommy can just barely see it roll into the robot's feet before he’s spun around, facing a panicked Sam.

“TOMMY! What are you doing?! I’ve been trying to fix No- the Robot all day! What if you had broken it?!” Sam says as he pushes him away from the bot.

“I was just looking when I noticed something Sam, honest! There was-” Tommy is cut off by Dream, who shushes Tommy. “Hey Sam? Why don’t you let me have a chat with Tommy. Take a walk and clear your head. We’ll continue this talk over dinner, how’s that sound?”

Still fuming, Sam walks out of the room. 

After he leaves, Dream gives Tommy a look. “Honestly Tommy, how could you make the same mistake twice? I thought you would’ve learned that when you visit someone, you should just sit there and be still. I can do all the hard work, since I actually know what I’m doing.”

“But Dream! There was something in the-” Dream cuts him off again with the shake of his head. Tommy looks away in shame.

Dream’s right. We came here for him, and I messed it up again.

Tommy gives a small nod. “I’ll do better next time Dream.” Dreams' eyes crinkle in what Tommy can only assume to be a smile, and Tommy feels a bit of relief.

“Good. And I’ll be here to help you. You still have so much to learn, and that’s what I’m trying to do. You make it a bit difficult, but I can see that you’re trying. Why don’t you go have a small bite to eat, and then head to bed. We’ve gotta get up early to get to Bad’s castle with enough time to be presentable for the ball. I’ll finish my talk with Sam, alright?” Dream at least doesn’t seem mad, so Tommy figures he’s ok to leave without doing any damage control.

With that, they head out of the room. 

Unfortunately for Dream, neither of them noticed that the eyes on Sam’s robot were glowing a faint red.

Chapter Text

The ride to Bad’s castle was uneventful. Tommy would have been glad to have a ride where he didn’t fuck it up nothing went wrong if he wasn’t so stressed out about the ball he was going to have to attend with Dream. 

Tommy loved his father, but it was times like this where he wished his dad had been a little more forceful with teaching him to be the Crown. Sure, he loved having an almost normal life, but if he was going to rule an entire country one day, shouldn’t he have started from an earlier age like Dream did?

If the two stood side by side, anyone could easily tell who was more fit to be a ruler, just by the way Dream held himself. Dream had this air of royalty around him, an innate field of power. Dream held himself like he knew he was important. Tommy still had the slouch that came with growing half a foot in a year. He still had the confidence of a five year old, and Dream knew it. 

But Dream was kind, and one of his best friends. Tommy was always glad that he had such a good friend to help him when Tommy couldn’t help himself. Dream was always there to pick up the pieces of Tommy’s mess.

The horses' clip-clops go from muted to sharp sounding as they enter the Badlands. The cobblestone streets are lined with shops, nestled together with houses and other buildings. 

Halfway to the castle, they get stopped by a few kids walking home from school. Tommy lets them pet HorseChamp with a smile. They can’t be older than 12, and it looks like they just got out of school. Their eyes light up as they run their hands over her mane.

His eyes wander over them, and he frowns when he notices one of the boys hanging back. He’s wearing slightly torn clothes, and his hair is noticeably dirtier than the others. He dismounts HorseChamp and walks over to him.

He leans down, talking to the boy in a soft voice. “Hey bud, do you want to pet my horse? Her name is HorseChamp.” 

The boy snorts a bit, but starts walking over with Tommy. Tommy scoffs. “Listen, I named her when I was 5, ok? Besides, your name can’t be much better than that!” He nudges the boy as they reach her.

The boy gapes with mock indignation. “I’ll have you know that Shroud is a way cooler name than HoresChamp!” 

Tommy laughs, shaking his head. “You’re right I guess. Shroud is a very cool name.” He pauses for a second, thinking, then he continues. “Hey, do you want to feed her?” Shroud’s eyes light up, and he holds the carrot Tommy gives him with reverence. 

Tommy notices how gentle he is when Shroud holds the carrot up to her. Tommy’s secretly glad his horse is good with kids, otherwise this would have gone much worse. 

“Here, why don’t you take something for the road?” Tommy asks, holding out an apple. He knows it’s not much, but Tommy can’t stand to see this boy go hungry. His shirt -which is the perfect height for the boy-  hangs off Shroud like a blanket, so Tommy knows that for some reason or another, this boy isn’t getting enough food.

Shroud hesitates, but after a second he takes the apple from his hand. Tommy smiles, glad the boy didn’t fight him. He was about to say something else when Dream clears his throat.

“Oh! Sorry Dream, I forgot we were going somewhere. Bye Shroud, take care, yeah?” After getting a nod from the boy, Tommy turns to the rest of the children. “Alright kids, I’m afraid we have to be off. Say bye to HorseChamp.”

Tommy mounts her as they give her solemn pets goodbye. They rush back to the sidewalk as Spirit starts to trot back down the street. Tommy gives them all a wave, and nudges HorseChamp to follow.

Tommy settles HorseChamp to trot at Spirits flank. “So,” Dream starts, “that was something.”

Tommy recognizes the tone of Dream’s voice as ‘I’m about to lecture you,’ so he stays quiet. 

Dream sighs. “Tommy, that was cute and all, but we didn’t really have time for it. Plus, royalty should not just hang around with commoners, you should know this by now.” Tommy looks away. “I’m sorry Dream.”

Dream turns to look at him, trusting Spirit to follow the road, “That instance was fine because there were no nobles around, but you need to refrain from doing that in the future, ok?” Tommy nods, and Dream turns back around.

“I’m just trying to help you, ok?” Tommy nods even though Dream can’t see him. “I don’t want Phil’s kingdom to lose respect because you want to go play with a bunch of peasants.” Tommy flinches. 

“I-” Dream cuts him off, “Didn’t even think about that?” 

“Yeah.” Tommy mutters. “I’ll do better though, I swear!” Dream sighs again. “I believe you. Let’s just leave this all behind us, alright? I forgive you, there’s no harm done. And you’ve promised to be better, so there’s nothing left to discuss.”

For the rest of the walk, Dream does act like nothing happened, even joking with Tommy, but Tommy still feels like he’s in trouble. 

The talking stops when the castle starts to come into view, and they’re both silent as they enter the courtyard to Bad’s castle.

They hand their horses over to the stablehand, and start walking towards the entrance. “Remember Tommy, you need to be on your best behaviour, alright? This ball is important, most of the royalty for the continent will be there.” Dream starts.

“And Quackity, right?” Tommy adds, grinning. Dream eyes crinkle in what Tommy knows to be a smile, and Tommy feels most of the tension in his shoulders dispel. “Yes, of course. How could I forget? Most of the royalty and The Honorable President.”

Tommy snickers, and Dream continues. “For the most part you just have to stand there and socialize. As long as you don’t get into any mischief or mayhem, you’ll do perfect. I’ll do the hard part, making alliances and sealing agreements. You don’t even have to talk to any of the older folks. Unless they approach you, you just need to hang out with the younger princes’ and princesses.”

Tommy sighs a little, relieved that he can take it easy. He knows better than to pull anything at such an important ball. “Is my dad or brothers going to be there?” He asks.

Dream shrugs. “As far as I know, they have no reason to be there. Technoblade is known for not liking social gatherings, Wilbur is very busy trying to establish his new kingdom so no one is expecting him to be there, and Phil is usually pretty busy. Phil doesn’t show up to many events unless he throws them, so I’d say you’ll be the only representative from the Craft family. You know this means that you have to be the best you can, right?”

Tommy nods. “I know, I have to be perfect, otherwise Phil and my brothers will be frowned upon. I’ll be perfect tonight, I swear.” Dream nods, satisfied. 

As they arrive at the entrance, the guard stationed there opens the door, revealing a beautiful red foyer, two stories tall. There are two sets of staircases leading to the top on each side of a large doorway leading deeper into the castle. Badboyhalo stands at the top of the staircases, waiting for the pair.

He grins at the two, white eyes shining from under his hooded cloak. He walks down the stairs as he says “Welcome gents! So glad you could make it! I received your message Dream, so I had two rooms prepared for the both of you to get ready in.”

Dream shakes his hand when he gets to the bottom, replying “Thank you so much. I know it was last minute, but I appreciate you being able to accommodate us. Run along Tommy, I'll fetch you when I'm ready to join the ball."

Tommy nods, and Bad waves a servant to show Tommy to his room, saying "I'll see you at the party later tonight, OK?" Tommy grins, nodding again. He hears Bad mention his pranks as he follows the servant up, but he's too far away to hear the exact words. 

The servant, a man with a french accent and a tag that just read “A,” led Tommy up the staircase on the right. The two joked as they walked, mainly about Bad and his incessant habit of yelling at people for their language.

A leads Tommy into his room for the moment, then takes some time showing Tommy how the faucet works. Tommy nods along, muttering a sheepish thanks. Finally, A leaves the room with a bow, promising to fetch him if the ball starts before Dream collects him. 

Tommy waves him off, settling onto a chair by the tub. As the bath fills, Tommy thinks. He mainly thinks about the ball, but his mind starts to wander to his family. 

All his life, Tommy had been glad he had his family. They loved him very much, and even though they were royal, they still acted like a normal family. Phil went to “work,” and when he was done, he didn’t really talk about it until Tommy was much older.

He always made time for his kids, and his kids all felt very loved. As his brothers got older, they had less time. They were off starting to make their own kingdoms.

Techno and his strength won wars, earning land through his sword alone. His armies stormed castles, and Techno’s sword was driven through the hearts of corrupt leaders. People who had been driven out by mad kings rushed to return to their homes, and they knew he’d keep them safe with his men and might. He hadn’t needed to cut his hair in years, and so his braid grew longer with the peace.

Wilbur and his charisma made alliances, earning land and people through his voice alone. Leaders fought for the chance to make deals with him, and people flocked to live under his rule. They knew he’d keep them safe through his charm and allies. As his kingdom grew, so too did his hair. 

Tommy was loved by his brothers, but conquering kingdoms didn’t leave much time to show it. Tommy constantly felt lonely, wandering through the castle during the day while he waited for his father to finish his duties.

During one of these days, he met Dream. 

Tommy looked up to see his bath had nearly overflowed, and he scrambled to turn off the spout. The water stopped, steam flowing out of the bathtub.

Lowering himself into the water with a sigh, Tommy started to scrub. They had been traveling through the dust and heat for basically two days without a chance to bathe. Tommy is absolutely covered in grime, and he has to spend a good 15 minutes scrubbing it off. 

Once he has the majority of the dirt gone, Tommy empties the tub and refills it with more clean water. It feels like the water is slower this time, but maybe that’s just Tommy being impatient. He’s always been a little impatient, demanding that time itself move faster for him.

Dream knew that, it was one of the first things he had noticed. Tommy did meet the man by running into him after all, trying to quell the boredom that grew with each day his brothers were gone.

But Dream was always much too kind for Tommy, and he ignored the disrespect Tommy showed him in their first meeting, even though as a prince he had every right to be mad. 

Dream just steadied him, catching him so he didn’t fall. From then on, Dream was always around. He came over just to hang out with Tommy, staying for days, even a week at a time. Their kingdoms were close enough together that it was only a few hours ride on horseback, and a mere half a day by carriage.

Dream spent so much time hanging out with Tommy in the beginning that eventually Techno started clenching his jaw every time they were both staying at the same time. When Wilbur and Dreams' visits overlapped, Wilbur’s eyes were always narrowed. When all three shared a home, the jealousy flew off the three like sparks from a blacksmith’s fire.

Tommy knew that Wilbur and Techno didn’t like it when he hung out with Dream, but they were hardly ever there! Tommy wasn’t mad at them, they had kingdoms to run. He never expected or asked them to take time away just for him. 

He hung out with Dream because Dream was there so often. Dream didn’t have his kingdom yet, Queen Puffy still held the crown. So when Dream wasn’t around making deals for his future kingdom, he was spending time with Tommy. 

It started out with the two of them just messing around, having fun in the garden. Eventually, sometime around Tommy’s 15th birthday, Dream started to care a lot more about how it would be when Dream was king. 

This was the time he started to want to help Tommy. “You’ve still got plenty of time to learn Tommy,” he’d say, “and I want to help you. I always feel like I should’ve started learning earlier, so I want to give you that opportunity.”

Tommy’s bath has refilled again, so he settles back into the water. He sinks down until the water covers the bridge of his nose, blowing bubbles out of his mouth. He resurfaces and starts washing his hair. The suds fall into the water as he rinses his curls out.

He applies some of Bad’s fancy vanilla conditioner, setting aside a small bucket to hold some of the water while it’s still clean. While the conditioner sets, he scrubs off the rest of the grime from his body. 

After pulling the plug on the tub, he grabs the bucket of still clean water and rinses the conditioner out of his hair into the draining tub.

He wraps a fluffy towel around his body as he steps out of the tub. He grabs a slightly smaller towel off the rack and starts to dry his hair.

Once it’s dry, he changes into the nicest clothes in his pack, a fine gold embroidered tunic, covered by a simpler -but still fine- vest, both with slits in the back. The trousers come next, with his nicest leather belt. The shoes come on after the socks, also his finest leather. Finally, an arctic blue cloak, lined with polar bear fur.

Tommy looked at himself in the mirror as he tried to tame his curls. Tommy adores his mother, but sometimes he wished that he had gotten his fathers straight hair. The curls have always made him look unruly and boyish. He does his best to brush them out, and finally decides to leave them as they are, slightly combed out but still wild.

After studying himself in the mirror for a moment, Tommy closes his eyes. Breathing deeply, he summons a pair of wings onto his back. Black, to match his fathers, but that of a raven, to match the ones his mother chooses to wear most often. Feeling a bit nostalgic, he also summons some small tusks, hidden by his lip, to match his older brothers.

Opening his eyes, he gives himself a soft smile. He practices a few poses in the mirror, trying his best to hold himself like he matters. Like he is important to the world. He leaves the bathroom with his head held high.

He sits in his room for a few minutes waiting for Dream. Dream was always quick to get ready, so Tommy knew it wouldn’t be too long before he came to fetch him.

He’s proven right when he hears a knock on his door after about 10 minutes. 

Tommy gets up from his chair, quickly putting a book he had started to read back in his bag. Opening the door reveals Dream standing in the doorway.

Dream stands in his finest regalia, a beautiful tunic covered by his most imposing green cape. He is adorned in golden chains, hanging off his cloak, his pants, and his mask. He is a picture of elegance, and Tommy can feel himself shrink a little in response. 

Dream gives him a curt nod, saying “You look good. Elegant.” He pauses for a second when he notices the wings Tommy has given himself. “Were those necessary?”

Tommy shrugs and looks down. “I felt like they made the outfit look better.” Dream looks away, saying “If you insist. Come along, we are almost late.”

Tommy follows him when he walks away. “I thought we were supposed to be fashionably late? Surely the great Dream is never too late for anything.” Dream chuckles. “I suppose you’re right. We’re not late, right? Everyone else is just early.”

The rest of the walk is quiet, aside from the clicking of their shoes on the stone floors. The quiet disappears as they get closer to the ballroom, the chatter of the partygoers sneaking through the doors.

Dream gives a curt nod to the guards standing off to the side, and the doors open. “Dream of Essempeii and Tommy of the Antarctic Empire have arrived!” announces the MC. A few people look up, and Tommy sees a few friendly faces. 

Tommy recognizes a few people, Quackity and his husbands for example. He also sees Punz in the crowd, and watches as the man starts to head for Dream. Dream nudges him along, giving a small “Remember to be good,” and Tommy walks away into the crowd.

Walking through the crowd feels overwhelming, so he’s glad when he makes it to the other side where the punch bowl is. He gasps a little as he sees who stands there.

“RANBOO!” Tommy calls out. Ranboo and the other boy he stands there with, Purpled, both turn around with grins on their faces.

Ranboo runs up to Tommy, wrapping him in a big hug. Tommy can feel a small purr rumble in Ranboo's chest, and his own purr starts up to match. When they pull out of the hug, Ranboos' tail remains wrapped around his leg. 

Purpled also gives him a quick hug, muttering a small “What, no love for me?” Tommy just shoves him with a laugh, and the three quickly start to catch up. 

“I didn’t know you were gonna be here Boob boy!” Tommy says eventually. Ranboo gives a small shrug. “Techno said he and Dream had some business to discuss, so everyone decided it would be easier to just meet up here, and then we were going to ride with him back to Regnum Liberorum. You never mentioned coming here either.”

Tommy nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been traveling with Dream. We met in Wilbur’s kingdom, and he sent a letter to my dad saying he was going to take me with him, so I’ve just been tagging along with him wherever he went.”

Purpled pipes up, saying “That sounds fun. Punz also had to meet with Dream, something about getting a new job, but I don’t think we’re going to travel anywhere with him.” 

After catching up for a bit, Purpled starts to snicker. “We should do something fun, this is starting to get boring.” Ranboo nods along. Tommy almost agrees, but he stops himself. “I don’t know guys, I’m supposed to be on my best behaviour because I’m representing the Antarctic Empire right now.”

Ranboo and Purpled share a look. “Who are you and what have you done with Tommy?” Ranboo asks. Tommy laughs. “Listen, guys. I would love to go cause some mayhem, but I promised Dream I’d be good, and I don’t want to make my dad look bad. Trust me, I’ve messed up a lot in the past couple of days, and I want to try and make it right.”

The other two share a look, and Purpled sighs. “Fine, I guess we can just go hang out. I have to go to the bathroom, I’ll be back in a bit, ok?” Tommy glances at him in suspicion, but waves him off anyway. “Don’t blow up any toilets, ok?” Purpled smirks, replying with a quick “No promises.”

After he leaves, Ranboo looks back at Tommy. “I’m not going to push it, but I’m sure no one would care if you had a little fun Tommy. You never cause any real damage, and everyone here loves you man.”

Tommy shrugs. “I’m just trying to be calm tonight Ranboo.” When Ranboo nods, Tommy continues. “Besides, we can still have fun while we’re here.” He holds up a bottle of expensive looking whine, saying “Do you think Bad would let us have some of this as a treat?”

While he’s holding up the bottle, disaster strikes. A passerby bumps him a little, small enough that they barely notice, and they disappear back into the crowd. To Tommy, who is running on very little sleep and food, it feels like a powerful shove. 

He topples onto the table with the alcohol, and the whole thing collapses under his weight. Wine and whiskey explode over both boys. The bottle Tommy’s holding shatters the second he hits the ground, and he’s left holding just the neck of the bottle. 

Tommy lays there with the ruined drinks, one arm holding the bottleneck and the other holding the shoulder he fell on. The whole room goes still, silence settling over the crowd as they all stare at Tommy lying there amongst the ruins.

Ranboo rushes over to check on him, asking frantically “Are you ok?!” The crowd starts to murmur. Bad bursts through the crowd, looking concerned. 

He rushes up to Tommy, trying to make sure he’s alright. However, the second he sees the bottle Tommy is holding, he starts to freak out. 

“Tommy, what did you do?! That bottle cost a fortune, I was supposed to propose to Skeppy with it!” There’s a gasp from the crowd as Skeppy emerges, and Bad looks up at him with tears in his eyes.

Tommy sits up, apologies spilling from his mouth. Bad ignores him, telling Skeppy “It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this.” He turns back to Tommy, fury in his eyes. It calms down a bit when he sees the tears starting to pour from Tommy, but he seemingly steels himself.

“Tommy, I’m going to need you to leave. Take Ranboo with you to get cleaned up, but don’t come back down.” Tommy nods, looking down.

He gets up, and Ranboo takes his hand. As they walk through the crowd to the door, Dream and Techno join them. Techno starts to fuss over the two, but when Dream puts his hand on Tommy’s shoulder, he clenches his jaw and focuses on Ranboo.

Dream drapes his cloak over Tommy, and the group walks upstairs.

As they walk, Dream says “Maybe we should just head out to your kingdom tonight.” Techno glances at him, and nods. 

Techno turns to Tommy and says “Sorry I couldn’t stop by earlier, I was busy trying to get out of a conversation with Quackity. I swear that man can talk about nothing for hours. But I’m glad you gave me an excuse to leave. You’re good at making a mess, huh Theseus?” He chuckles a bit and keeps walking.

It’s nothing big, a jab he’s heard a million times, but it stings more than it normally would. Dream tightens his hand on his shoulder, and mutters “Don’t worry, we all knew it would happen eventually.”

They reach the room, and the two adults start to leave the boys to get dressed. “I’m going to inform Bad that we’re leaving. I’ll meet you two back up here in a bit, ok?” Dream says. The boys nod, and Techno turns to them as well.

 “I’m going to head down to get everyone’s horses ready. It’s not a long trip from the Badlands to Regnum Liberorum, but it is starting to get a little late. If all goes well,” he glances at Tommy with a small grin, “we should be there by dawn. I know it’ll suck riding through the night, but it’s supposed to rain tomorrow, and that would suck even more.”

“Would I be able to ride with you Techno? I haven’t had much chance to sleep the past few days.” Tommy asks hopefully. “We’ll see. I see no reason why not, but it depends on how much stuff we all brought, and if,” he clears his throat, “...Horse Champ... will be able to carry all of it.” Tommy nods, and the adults finally head off.

As they get dressed, Tommy asks Ranboo “Are you going to put tonight in your memory book?” 

Ranboo pauses while putting on his new shirt. “Probably. It’s embarrassing, but it’s important to remember even the bad things. It helps us grow, y’know?” There’s a lull in the conversation for a second. 

“I’m sorry about your parents Boo.” Tommy mutters. 

“It’s fine,” Ranboo starts. “It happened so long ago, and I’ve had time to heal from it. If it weren’t for that fire, I would have them, and I wouldn’t have to write down my whole life story every 10 minutes, but I would never have met you or Bo.”

“I guess. I would never say I’m glad it happened, but I’m glad we got to meet at least.” Tommy says. 

The two sit in silence for a minute as they finish getting dressed. When Dream knocks on the door, Tommy yells “Come in!”

Dream enters, looking regal as ever. “Why don’t you go help Techno with the horses Ranboo? I’ll help Tommy finish packing.” Ranboo nods, grabbing his bag and memory book. He shuts the door with a quiet click .

Dream sighs as he turns to Tommy. “I thought you promised to be perfect tonight?” Tommy almost bursts into tears. “I tried, Dream! Purpled even wanted to pull something but I said no! Someone pushed me into the table by accident, I swear.”

Dream tuts. “You’re always trying to push the blame on someone else Tommy! Why don’t you take responsibility for once! And seriously? Trying to pull Purpled under the bus with you? I can’t believe you.”

He starts to pace as he continues. “Seriously, I try to help you, and you refuse it at every turn!” He whips around to face Tommy. Tommy still can’t see the bottom half of his face, but his eyes are squinted, and his eyebrows are downturned in anger.

“How are you supposed to rule a kingdom when you can’t even be good at a simple ball?! Bad said that bottle was worth hundreds of thousands! He had to import it from halfway across the continent, and he was furious that you ruined his proposal!”

Tommy starts to sniffle, and the tears he had been holding back spill from his eyes. He grips Dream's sleeve as he falls to his knees in front of him. Resting his head on Dream's leg he starts to sob. 

“Dream, I’m so sorry! Please, I know I’ve messed up so much, please stay and help me change. I promise to do better, but I need your help!” Dream scoffs. “Your promises don’t really mean much anymore.” His eyes soften as he looks down at Tommy. “But I’ll stay. You’re just a child, I’ll stay and help you. I love you Tommy, I would never leave you.”

Tommy mutters his thanks over and over as Dream pets his hair, and the two spend the next few minutes calming down before they head to the stables.

They end up meeting a nervous looking Ranboo in the hallway. “I forgot how I was supposed to get to the stables.” He says, not looking either of them in the eye. Tommy finds this a bit odd. He usually doesn’t meet most people’s eyes, but most of the time he’ll look at Tommy’s. 

He did have a pretty long day. Tommy thinks as they head to meet Techno and leave.

~~~

Ranboo leaves as he’s dismissed, but he sits just by the door to the room as he pulls out his memory book. “I need to write that down before I forget the small stuff.” He mutters as he starts to scribble into his book.

It’s quiet for a moment, before Dream starts to talk inside the room. Ranboo almost ignores it, but the distress in Tommy’s response makes Ranboo’s ears perk up. As he starts to pay attention to the conversation, he gasps.

His slow scribbles stop, and he frantically flips to a blank page, before they furiously start up again. “This is terrible. What happened to Tommy?” Ranboo mutters.

The yelling stops inside the room and Ranboo sits there in shock. He’s still for a few minutes, until he hears the two start to move around in the room. He gathers his things quickly, rushing down the hallway. 

They end up finding him as they walk, and Ranboo comes up with a measly excuse as to why he wasn’t with Techno yet. He thanks the Void that he’s known for his memory problems. He also thanks It that Endermen are known to avoid eye contact, because he can’t meet either of their gazes, too worried that Dream will catch him in his lie.

Together, the trio walks to meet his mentor/maybe dad.

Chapter Text

Tommy is worried. Ranboo was acting weird. Normally Tommy would just write it off as him being tired, but Ranboo won’t even look at him. “You alright Boob boy?” He asks Ranboo. Ranboo just nods, watching Techno and Dream gather everyone’s bags.

Tommy sighs a little. I know he doesn’t like eye contact, Tommy thinks, but he always at least makes an effort to look in my direction.

Techno and Dream start preparing the horses. Tommy notices with a small smile that Horsechamp is loaded with most of the bags, freeing up Carl for two riders. The two horses are ponied together with a rope from Technos pack.

While the adults prepare the horses for the trip, Tommy pulls Ranboo aside. “Me and Ranboo are going to take a piss before we leave.” Tommy says over his shoulder as they walk outside. “Don’t take too long, we’re almost done.” Dream calls back.

The walk to the bathroom was quiet, with only the crickets to keep the two company. Ranboo kept fiddling with the poof on his tail, looking away any time Tommy tried to catch his eye.

Ranboo tried to scurry away when they reached the bathroom, muttering a quiet “I’ll go first,” but Tommy just grabbed his arm and dragged him in with him.

Locking the door with a quiet click , Tommy turned to look at Ranboo. “What’s going on with you man?” He asked. Ranboo still refused to meet his eye, looking instead at the sink. “Nothing, I swear.”

Tommy scowls. “You haven’t looked at me once in the past half hour! Look, I know you don’t like eye contact, and I respect that, but this is getting ridiculous. You always at least try to look at me and Tubbo, but your eyes haven't come within 5 feet of me since we got to the horses.”

Ranboo frowns a little, but keeps looking away. Tommys gaze softens, and he glances to the mirror. He remembers Dream’s comment about his wings. Looking at himself, he understands what Dream meant. He doesn’t deserve to wear something as grand as wings. He rolls his shoulders, shaking his wings back out of existence.

Sighing a little, he turns back to Ranboo. Softly, Tommy says “You know you can tell me if I’ve done something wrong Boo. I’m sorry for causing such a mess with Bad.”

Finally, Ranboo looks at Tommy. He holds his gaze when Tommy meets his eyes. There’s something shining in his eyes that Tommy can’t decipher.

“You’ve done nothing wrong, I promise.” Ranboo says sharply. Tommy glances back to the mirror. “I’ve done a lot of things wrong Boo. You don’t even know half of it.”

Tommy’s startled as Ranboo puts a hand on his shoulder. Squeezing gently, Ranboo says “I know some of it. There’s nothing you could do wrong that would really matter to anyone. I swear to you Tommy, you’re doing amazing.”

Tommy sniffles, keeping his gaze down. Ranboo sighs, and Tommy feels a hand grab his chin gently. He gasps as Ranboo forces Tommy to meet his gaze. "Tommy, nothing you've ever done could make me like or care about you less." 

A sob forces its way out of his throat. Ranboo pulls him into his chest, rubbing his back as he cries. His tail wraps itself around Tommy's leg. 

"I'm always here to talk Tommy. You have to remember that, ok?" Tommy nods, sniffling into his chest. When Tommy doesn't say anything, Ranboo sighs again. There I go, making people sigh around me, Tommy thinks. 

The two of them sit in silence for a minute, before Tommy chuckles wetly. "I really do gotta piss Big Man." 

Ranboo lets out a startled laugh, untangling himself from Tommy. “Don’t let me stop you man. I don’t need to, so I’ll wait for you outside the door. We’ll walk back to the stables together.” Tommy nods, heading into the bathroom.

After he’s done and washed his hands, the pair walks towards the stable. Ranboo’s tail finds its way around Tommy’s wrist, and the teen fiddles with the poof on the end as they walk. The tension that was there before is gone. The two joke and laugh all the way there, but Ranboo gets much quieter once they’re close.

Tommy can see Ranboo looking at him in his peripherals. He almost says something to him, but decides against it when Ranboo looks away. Tommy glances at him, lips pursing at the look of determination Ranboo now has.

Just as the pair is about to walk through the stable doors, Techno and Dream lead the horses out of the front entrance. Dream is the first to speak, calling out "What took you guys so long? Did you drink a waterfall today?" 

Techno chuckles a bit. He waves them over, handing Ranboo his reins. Dream and Ranboo mount their horses as Techno brings Carl closer to Tommy. His tail wags slightly as he speaks. “You mount first, I’ll climb on behind you.”

Tommy hesitates for a second, and Techno’s tail slows down. He looks worried, asking “What’s wrong?” Tommy shakes his head. “Nothing. I think I’m just tired.”

“Not sleeping well?” Techno asks. Tommy glances at Dream, who looks very interested in their conversation. Tommy shrugs, saying “I think I’ve just been doing a lot of riding, y’know? I’m kinda hoping I’ll be able to sleep on the way there.” He sees Dream nod slightly. Tommy looks back to Techno once Dream faces forward.

Techno nods. “That’s fine, I know you and Dream have been going from place to place the past few days. Don’t worry, Carl can handle both of us just fine, and I’ll control him so you can rest.” Tommy gives a toothy smile, and climbs on the horse. 

When he looks back at Techno, the man is standing there frozen. His tail is whipping back and forth, and a grin has broken out on his face. Climbing on behind Tommy, he asks “Were those little piglin tusks?” Tommy jerks his head away, blushing furiously.

“NO! They were just… my teeth!” Tommy bursts out, “Don’t be weird about it!” Techno laughs, nuzzling his hair. “It’s alright runt, I think it’s cute that you want to copy your older brothers.” 

Tommy shoves the reins in Techno’s hands. “Let’s just go already!” He says, mortified. Techno chuckles, but takes them. With a gentle click, Carl starts walking, pulling HorseChamp into walking behind them. Skellyboo and Spirit follow quickly. Tommy leans into Techno’s chest as the fatigue of the past few days catches up to him.

A purr builds in Techno’s chest, and Tommy’s own purr starts to build to match it. As the purring and gentle canter of Carl lull Tommy into sleep, he can feel the purr crescendo behind him.

He’s woken from his sleep a little while later by gentle rocking. Vaguely, he can feel himself being set into a soft bed. “Wha-?” he gets out, but a hand in his hair stops him. Techno shushes him, saying “Go back to sleep.” Tommy obeys, slipping back into the inky void that was a wonderfully dreamless sleep.

Waking up when my body says it’s done sleeping Tommy thinks, is the best feeling ever. He woke up in a Techno certified bed. Anyone who knew Techno could tell that this was a Technoblade approved bed by the sheer quantity of pillows and blankets. Being a piglin hybrid, he had this insistent urge to nest, so there were quite a few rooms in his castle dedicated simply to his nests. 

Tommy feels his heart grow fuzzy with the thought that Techno put him in one of his nests to sleep. His instincts must have creeped in if he put me here instead of my usual room. Tommy thinks. Might as well embrace it, I’m feeling a little nostalgic.  

He stretches out before shaking his arms, letting a more pinkish hue float to the surface. He feels his mouth, pleased that his tusks are still there. A small piglin tail pokes out from his trousers. Shaking his hair, two pink ears sprout from his head. Humming, he wills his vocal chords into adapting to the gruffer piglin grunts and whines.

He basks in the buzz of instincts that start floating to the surface, content to lie there for as long as he wants. He’s interrupted pretty quickly by the quiet sound of the door opening. “Runt?” Techno whispers. “Are you-” Techno cuts himself off with a choked sound.

The bed quickly dips as Techno rushes into the nest. runt-here-happy? he grunts. Tommy nods, letting out a happy-protector-warm . Techno lies next to Tommy, and he’s quick to snuggle into his older brother's warmth.

This is not something that Tommy does often, but it’s been so long since he’s really had alone time with Techno. Tommy is more than happy to indulge in his instincts, to be his runt for a little bit. Plus, he gets some very nice cuddling time with his not so touchy feely older brother. 

They could both use some time to unwind after the eventful evening they had yesterday, so the two spend most of their day in bed. Ranboo slinks into the room at some point to join the pile, and Techno is quick to pull him into the nest. 

Tommy feels like goo, like he’s trudging through a room full of molasses, and he’s enjoying it so much. The contentment shatters when a servant knocks on the door.

“Your highness?” She calls through the door. Techno lets out an irritated sigh. “Yes? What’s so important to interrupt me on my day off?” He asks. Hesitantly, she replies “I’m sorry for bothering you, but Dream is in your throne room. He's asking where you are. He says the two of you were supposed to be meeting today, and it’s nearly 4pm.”

Techno curses under his breath. He gets out of the nest, chuffing at Tommy when he lets out an unhappy whine. He opens the door, saying “Thank you for coming to get me, and I apologize for my snappish tone. Please inform Dream that I will meet him down there in 20 minutes.” The servant gives a small nod before skittering down the hallway.

Techno turns to the nest. Ranboo had taken over Techno's position and is curled around Tommy, purring loudly. He looks at the two fondly for a moment. His expression falls slightly, as his eyebrows pinch. “I forgot that me and Dream had a meeting today. I have to go back to my room to get ready, I should be back in about 2 hours. Why don’t the two of you go grab some early dinner?” He grins as he continues. “Make sure to steal some sweet rolls for me when you terrorize my baker, ok?”

Tommy beams at him. “Will do big man! Right Boob boy?” Ranboo sighs as he nuzzles into Tommy’s neck. “I guess so. I don’t think I’d be able to convince you otherwise anyway, so yeah.” Techno and Tommy both chuckle. Techno pauses for a moment, looking at the pair. Then he walks out of the room.

The two lie there for a minute, content to do nothing. The silence is broken by Tommy’s stomach growling. Tommy’s face flushes a brighter pink. “I guess we should go get that dinner, huh?” he asks. Ranboo snorts, nodding.

The two leave the hazy room, walking down the hallway towards the kitchen. Tommy notices that Ranboo isn’t carrying his memory book. “Where’s your book, big man? I thought you always kept it on you?” 

Ranboo thinks for a moment. “We went on a horseback ride last night, right?” Tommy nods. Ranboo continues, “I must’ve put it in my enderchest then. I usually put it in there when we go on rides, because I’m always worried about it being damaged.”

Tommy nods. “I get that. Do you want to go grab it?” Ranboo ponders for a moment, before shaking his head. “I think I’ll be ok for a few hours. Plus, you’re here. If there was anything important I had to do today, you or Techno would have reminded me. There’s nothing to do today, right?”

Tommy shakes his head. “Nothing I can remember. If it was important, I would remember it for you. Do you want to swing into your room to get it later?” Ranboo nods. “We can get it on the way back. Let’s just eat for now though.”

The two grab some stew that the chef had cooking, making sure to swipe a few treats from the cabinet. They try to run when the chef catches them, but he traps them in a scolding. He smiles fondly at them though, so the boys know he’s not really mad.

After they eat, they return to the nest. They were having too much fun, so neither of the boys remember to grab the book. They relax in the room until Techno comes back. He smiles when he sees the boys in the nest, lounging around. Tommy sits up, pulling the sweet roll from the drawer where he put it. Techno beams as Tommy hands it to him.

“There you go Tech. Grabbed a fresh one just for you. We risked our lives for this sweet roll.” Ranboo nods solemnly, and Techno puts on a grim look. He bows after taking the roll, saying “Thank you so much for this valued treasure. I will cherish it.” 

He immediately stuffs the whole thing into his mouth, and Tommy gasps in mock indignation. Ranboo giggles as Techno struggles to chew. Tommy laughs, saying “Maybe you should’ve savoured it big man. My life is worth more than.”

Techno nearly chokes on the roll. Finally swallowing it, he says “Yeah? I think it was worth it.” Tommy just shakes his head. After a moment of silence, he perks up. “Hey, since it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, why don’t we have a duel tomorrow?” Techno raises an eyebrow.

“Do you think you’ve gotten that much better since the last time I’ve seen you?” He asks. Tommy puffs out his chest, saying “I reckon I could beat you now.” Ranboo looks skeptical, saying “I doubt that Tommy. You’re a twig, you can't beat anyone.” 

For a second, Tommy feels hurt. But he shoves it down, not wanting to falter and prove them right. “Well then, why don’t we just have a duel right now then?” He asks. “HEH? Right now? It’s like 6 o’clock tommy!” 

“What, are you scared? Afraid I’ll beat big bad Technoblade?” Tommy mocks. Techno sighs. “Fine,” he says, “but you have to put your normal face back on. I won’t be able to fight you if you look like a runt. My instincts won’t allow it.”

Ranboo looks worried. “Are we sure this is a good idea?” He asks. Tommy nods as he shakes off all of the piglin parts he put on earlier. He pauses for a second. “I feel like you have an unfair advantage.” Techno snorts, but Tommy continues. “Will your instincts be ok if I put on my raccoon pieces?”

Techno thinks for a second. “That should be fine. Why raccoon though?” Tommy grins, showing off his growing fangs. “No reason.” Techno looks scared for a second. Ranboo laughs, saying “You’re the one who agreed, you can’t back out now Techno!” Techno just shakes his head fondly.

Tommy and Techno go their separate ways to put on their dueling gear. Ranboo goes with Tommy to his room. After they’re both ready, they all meet up in the courtyard where the soldiers practice. 

There, in the middle of the yard, is a slight dip in the ground, nicknamed The Pit. It’s where one on one duels occur. The two brothers stand across from each other, holding their training swords. Technos cape flutters with the slight breeze. 

The scent of that mornings rain is heavy in the air. The ground is thick with mud, but it is especially thick in the pit, where there is no grass to hold onto soil.

“First blood wins?” Tommy asks. Techno nods. “First blood, then we stop.”

Ranboo stands in the middle. He holds a flag in the air. The air is tense, everyone waiting with bated breath. Tommy feels his hair flow gently in the wind. Then…

The flag whips through the air with a sharp woosh!  

Tommy is first to act, using his small build to speed around Techno. Techno is quick to dodge his sword, quickly retaliating with his own blow. Tommy blocks it with the edge of his sword. 

Whipping around, Tommy tries to strike Techno on the back with the pommel of his sword. Techno stumbles a bit, but is quick to turn around. Raising his sword, Tommy goes for another strike.

Techno slices him with his blade, and Tommy hisses as the cut starts to bleed. The swords aren’t sharp, they’re only training swords after all, but they’re still enough to draw blood. Tommy raises his hand and wipes the blood with his thumb.

Techno freezes when he sees the blood. His pupils dilate, and his grip on his hilt tightens. Tommy lets out a shaky “Techno? You win man, I guess I wasn’t ready to beat you yet.” He’s breathing hard as he raises his hand out to shake Techno’s.

Techno pants, eyes honed in on the blood. Tommy squints as a weird static forms around the hybrid. He becomes blurrier, but his eyes start to stand out more. Tommy doesn’t remember them being such a deep red before.

Techno takes a measured step towards Tommy. Tommy almost glances at Ranboo, but something in him screams to not look away from his brother. Tommy’s never been scared of his brother before, but Techno is giving off a weird energy.

“Techno?” Tommy calls. Techno snorts, before jabbing at Tommy. Tommy lunges out of the way milliseconds before the sword runs through what would have been his heart. 

“What the hell man!” Tommy shouts. He can hear rustling from the edge of The Pit, as Ranboo calls out “Techno? What are you doing?!” Techno ignores him, lunging for Tommy again.

Tommy jerks out of the way of another blow. He can’t tear his eyes off of his brother the thing for a second, his body won’t allow it. There’s a ruckus from the courtyard as Ranboo leaves The Pit. “Try and stay away from him, I’m going to get help!” He calls out.

“Don’t fuckin’ leave me here with him!” Tommy calls after him, but it’s too late. Ranboo’s footsteps recede into the distance, and Tommy is left with the beast he calls his brother. 

Techno goes for another strike, this time aimed at Tommy’s ribs. Tommy whirls around, but he’s a little too slow. Another cut sluggishly bleeds through the now tattered fabric of his shirt. Techno lands another hit on his back as he turns away.

With every new wound, Techno seems to grow more frantic. Tommy can barely see him now, and so he’s too slow to dodge out of the way as another swipe lands on his leg. He slips in the mud, and has to scramble to get back up. He barely manages to avoid a strike through his back.

He’s slowing down now, tired from the fight, covered in mud, and wounded. Techno lands a hit with the hilt of his sword, managing to crack him on the arm. 

Tommy winces, holding his arm as he runs away. Techno follows him with vigor, missing his next swipe aimed at Tommy’s back.

Techno leaps at him, pinning him to the ground with his weight alone. He holds his sword upside down above him, ready to pierce through Tommy’s chest. 

Tommy closes his eyes and turns his head to the side. He manages a small “Please…” through his heaving breaths. He recites a small prayer to Prime in his head, praying for a painless death from whatever took over his brother.

Suddenly, he feels Techno’s weight get shoved off of him, flying to the side. Tommy is quick to get up, looking over. 

One of Techno’s head guards, an imposing man named Steve, sits on Techno. He wrestles with the man, shouting at Tommy “Go! Leave with Dream! I know how to handle him when he’s like this.”

Tommy turns to see Dream standing at the edge of The Pit, a hand on the hilt of his own blade. Ranboo stands next to him, wringing his hands. He looks worried, but also relieved. Tommy looks back one last time at Techno, who is struggling under Steve, before climbing out of the pit with the help of Dream and Ranboo.

Dream rushes the boys away from the yard. Ranboo gives Tommy his arm to hold after he notices Tommy’s limp, but Tommy refuses, afraid to get mud on his friend. After they reach the castle, Dream turns to Ranboo. “You should go and make sure Techno is under control, ok?” 

Ranboo hesitates. He gives Tommy an odd look, but turns back towards Dream. “Ok. I’ll be back as soon as I can, ok?” He says. “Don’t worry about Tommy, I can treat him.” Dream responds. “You can treat him,” Ranboo says, “but I still want to make sure he’s ok after everything is over.”

“Whatever.” Dream says, turning around and walking away. Ranboo gives Tommy one last look, before rushing off down the hall back towards the yard. Tommy turns to Dream, who has paused a few yards away.

“Are you coming?” He asks impatiently, “If you don’t want my help you can try to do it by yourself.” Tommy shakes his head quickly, limping as fast as he can towards Dream. Dream sighs, turning around.

The two walk towards the medical area in silence.

Techno can still feel the residual effects of the voices as he comes to. There’s always a lasting effect, but this time it feels different. The leftover energy from their control feels almost… remorseful. Their usual clamoring is replaced by mournful wails as they all collectively cry out.

There’s a hulking weight on his chest, a heavy guilt that is being leaked into his soul. There is also a man. Sitting on his chest.

Steve looks down at him grimly. Releasing Techno’s hands, he climbs off of him gracefully. 

Techno sits up, rubbing his hands. He takes assessment of his surroundings, trying to piece together what happened. 

He’s covered in mud and drops of blood, sitting in the center of The Pit. Steve is sitting silently to his left, and Ranboo is running out into the yard.

While he waits for Ranboo to get to them, Techno tries to remember what happened himself. The last thing he can remember was getting into the pit with Tommy. He was impressed, because Tommy was holding his own quite well. And then… and then he smelled blood.

The voices hadn’t had the violence they wanted in a while. It had been over a year since he had last had to kill anyone, and they had been causing him so many headaches as of late with their incessant screams for destruction.

So when they caught a whiff of blood, they had forced Techno to take a backseat in his own mind. He was still there, controlling the body, but they had overwritten his logic and forced him to hurt his own brother.

That’s why they’re so upset. Techno thinks. They love Tommy, but they couldn’t control themselves. 

Sorry!

Sorry!!

We’re so sorry Techno

We didn’t mean it!

sorry

It won’t happen again

Yeah!

yeah

promise

Can we help?

How could we even fix something like this?

“I don’t know, chat.” Techno says. Steve looks at him suspiciously. “You are back, right? I let you up cause you stopped fightin’ me, but if chat’s still there, I’m gonna hafta restrain ya again.” 

“No, it’s fine. I’m back.” Techno responds as Ranboo comes running up. “I think as soon as the blood left the area, I was able to take back control. They’re sorry though, they hate that they’ve hurt Tommy.”

Steve hums noncommittally. “Sure.” He says. 

Ranboo bends over to breathe once he reaches the edge of The Pit. He holds up a finger, and the men wait patiently.

“Are you ok?” Ranboo asks in between pants. Techno snorts. “Yes, I’m ok. I don’t think it’s me you should be worried about though.” 

Ranboo nods, climbing into The Pit. “Good, I’m glad you’re ok. And you’re right.” He socks Techno in the arm. 

“Ow.” 

“What the hell was that?!” Ranboo shouts. Techno winces, rubbing his arm. “Listen. You know about the voices, right?” Ranboo nods slowly. “Well, sometimes they get to be too much. Even they can’t control themselves sometimes.”

The voices are still murmuring their apologies in the background. Ranboo hums. “So, they couldn’t stop themselves?” Techno nods. “That doesn’t seem very safe, to have the possibility of just becoming a violent psychopath.”

Techno winces again. “Usually they’re not so bad. They’ve been bugging me lately since it’s been so long since I’ve maimed anyone.” Ranboo looks scared for a second, before understanding dawns on his face.

“So when you kill those corrupt rulers?” He asks. Techno nods, saying “The voices demand blood, so I try and only kill those who are hurting others.” 

Steve stands up, offering a hand to Techno. Techno grabs it, saying “You know I’m only taking this because I respect you so much.” Steve lets out a mighty laugh, saying “I know. I don’t know many people I’d let help me up either, but you’re definitely one of ‘em.”

Steve heads off into the barracks, saying something about getting back to his duties. “Where’s Tommy?” Techno asks.

“I think he’s somewhere in the medical wing. Dream took him to get patched up” Ranboo replies. “I’m going to apologize to him.” Techno says. “Do you need me to come with you?” Ranboo asks. “You said that Dream was with him, right?” Ranboo nods. “Then I’ll be fine. With the voices as remorseful as they are, they won’t try anything. If they did, Dream’s held his own against me before.”

Ranboo nods. “I need to get my memory book anyway. I think me and Tommy were talking about it earlier, and I need to read through it.” Techno waves a hand at him, and Ranboo scurries off down another hall.

The clink of Techno’s shoes are the only sound for the long minute it takes to get to the infirmary. Once he gets closer, however, he can start to hear muffled shouting through the door of the infirmary. It sounds like Dream.

He quiets his steps as he gets closer, hoping to hear the conversation. From the sounds of it, it’s less of a conversation, and more of Dream yelling at whoever's in the room.

“-honestly, what did you expect? Did you really think he was going to hold back from hurting such a weak thing like you?!”

Techno grits his teeth, about to open the door to scold Dream for talking to anyone like that, but he stops when he hears someone respond.

“I’m sorry. I thought he would care about his brother.” Tommy mutters.

Techno freezes. 

“Why would he care about someone so worthless? Look at yourself, would someone who thought of you as a brother do this to you?”

There’s a heavy pause. Techno's ears droop as he waits.

“No. I guess not.” Techno can feel his heart shatter in his chest. 

Dream's voice is softer when he says “I’m just trying to look out for you Tommy.” There’s another heavy pause. “This could've been avoided if you had just come to me to talk about this. I would've never let you do something like this.”

Techno has had enough. He raises his fist and knocks gently on the door. “Tommy?” He calls softly.

There’s a lot of muffled movement behind the door, before a ruffled looking Dream opens it. 

“Tommy’s a bit out of commission, thanks to you.” Techno grits his jaw. “I know.” He tries to relax his jaw, but he can’t quite get it to settle. “I came to apologize.” He admits softly. 

“Tommy?” Dream murmurs into the room. There’s a short pause, before Tommy says “Let him in.” Dream sighs, but opens the door wider.

There, sitting on the gurney, is the most pitiful boy Techno has ever seen. He’s got slashes and dried blood all over him, and multiple spots on his body are covered in bruises. His left arm is wrapped in gauze, looking like a makeshift splint.

Techno shuffles towards him. Techno has to hold back a whine when Tommy flinches as he sits down. 

“Theseus,” he starts, “I’m sorry. I promise, I never would have done that if I had control. There are things that you don’t know about me, things that I hate.” Some of the voices start to protest in offense, but the loud ones are quick to shush them.

“What do you mean?” Tommy asks. Techno sighs, looking away. “I’m cursed, Tommy. I have these voices, and they’re always screaming for blood. I haven’t had the chance to indulge them on someone bad recently, so when they caught the scent of yours, they took over.”

Techno looks back to Tommy. There seem to be a million emotions on his face. “Do they hurt you?” He asks. Techno huffs a small laugh. “Of course, only you would ask if I get hurt after I beat the shit out of you.” 

Tommy lets out an offended noise. “You didn’t beat the shit out of me! ‘Tis but a scratch.” Dream snorts from his corner of the room.

Techno shakes his head. “Tommy, I love you. Ok? I love you more than every bit of gold in this entire kingdom, and I’d give it all to you if that would make up for what I’ve done. But it wouldn’t, so I’ll never be able to apologize properly.

Tommy shakes his head. “Techno, you just said they took over your body, right?” Techno gives a small nod. “In a sense, yes.” “So you had no control over yourself?” He asks. Techno nods again. “Then I don’t blame you for any of that.”

Techno can feel himself tear up, but he holds it in. “Can I hug you?” Tommy doesn’t even answer Techno, he just launches himself into his arms.

After a good bit, Dream clears his throat. “That was lovely, truly, so sweet. I think me and Tommy need to leave soon though.”

Techno whips his head around to meet his eyes.

They can’t leave!

stay

They have to stay

e

who knows what Dream will do if they leave.

e

After a second of thinking, Techno says. “Why don’t the two of you at least stay the night? You have both traveled so much in the past few days, wouldn’t it be nice to have another day to rest?” 

Dream sighs, looking away in irritation. “I guess so.” Techno's grin is only teeth, but Dream doesn’t see it. “Good. It’s going to be stormy again tomorrow, so it’d be best for you both to stay a few days. If you want to, of course.”

Dream nods. “I guess it won’t hurt to stay tomorrow, but we really must be leaving the next morning.” Techno drops his grin as Dream turns back to look at him.

“Excellent. I’ll make sure the servants are accommodating.”

Techno tries to lead Tommy back to the nest room, but Dream is quick to intervene. “I’m going to take Tommy into my room to finish bandaging him for the night. I need to talk to him about the trip anyway.”

Techno looks at Tommy, but Tommy won’t meet his eyes. “Tommy? Are you sure you want to go with him? I could finish wrapping you in the nest room, if you wanted.”

Tommy glances at Dream, before turning to Techno. “I think it would be best if I went with Dream. If he wants to talk with me about something, it’s probably important.”

Dream nods. “Then we best be going. See you around Techno.” Tommy follows him as Dream walks out. Pausing in the doorway, Tommy turns around to say. “See you around, Tech.”

Techno just stands there as he watches the real monster in the room walk away with his little brother.

Techno is seething in the nest room where just hours ago he had both his treasures, when Ranboo bursts into the room. He’s panting hard, clutching his memory book in one hand. When he sees Techno, he runs to him.

He trips on his way into the nest, and Techno steadies him. “What’s wrong Ranboo?”

“I don’t know how Phil agreed to let Dream take Tommy with him. I don’t know how soon he got Dream’s letter, but we need to message him urgently.” Ranboo blurts out. At Techno’s questioning sound, Ranboo whips open his memory book and flips to the page where he wrote everything down.

Techno, confused, starts to read it. A growl starts up in his chest, growing louder by the second. “I thought I was going to kill him before,” Techno spits out, “but I don’t think he deserves the privilege of death.”

Chapter Text

Wilbur wakes up with a start. There’s drool on the side of his face, flowing down the indents from his desk down his neck. His pen is still in his hand.

Wilbur grimaces when he looks at his paper, seeing the trail his pen made when he fell asleep.

He smacks his lips a couple of times as he stretches out his aching back. He takes a sip from the water he left on his desk, trying to chase away the taste of sleep. 

A quick look at the clock tells him he overslept. Wilbur winces as he stands. It sounds like there’s a pop from every joint in his body. “I’m too old to be sleeping at my desk.” He mutters. He grabs the last of the paperwork he didn’t finish last night.

Rubbing his face, Wilbur walks out into the hall. He flags down one of his servants, saying “Could you bring something to eat into the dining hall for me please?” They nod. “Would you like something to drink as well Majesty?”

Wilbur hums. “Yes, go ahead and bring my coffee out as well.” The servant gives a small nod, turning towards the kitchens.

The walk to the dining hall is quiet, with the sound of his own footsteps the only thing to keep WIlbur company.

Settling into his chair with a sigh, Wilbur sets his papers down. He blinks, trying to shake the last bits of sleep away, but it’s in vain. 

“My stupid fuckin’ caffeine addiction. Dad was right, shouldn’t have gotten hooked on it.” He mutters as he sets to work.

A few minutes in, the servant from earlier comes in with his brunch. There’s another servant trailing them with an urgency in her steps.

As the first servant sets down his brunch, the second servant rushes to stand beside him. “Your Majesty,” she starts, “I have something very important to tell you about your brother and Dream.”

“Oh? Please tell me.” Wilbur says. He sips his coffee and she continues. “Dream, he… he was talking to Tommy last night. It... wasn’t good. Dream, he was just being awful to the young Sir!”

Wilbur chokes on his drink. The other servant comes up to pat him on the back. After a moment, he says “What do you mean? What kind of things was he saying?”

She hesitates for a moment, opening then closing her mouth. Wilbur raises an eyebrow at her. Finally, she says “It was just terrible! He was talking about how he was so stupid that his head wouldn’t “do him any good,”, and how you don’t want to be seen with him because you’re king and he’s just an immature prince!” She tears up near the end, truly distraught.

The cup Wilbur is holding shatters as his grip tightens. The other servant, who was still hovering, rushes over with a towel. “Are you alright Sire?!” They ask frantically. They wrap his bleeding hand in a towel, applying pressure. 

The second servant runs up with another towel. She uses it to sweep the broken porcelain into the broken cup. She looks up at him, concern in her teary eyes. “Sire, are you alright?”

Wilbur grits his teeth, shaking his head no. “I’m royally pissed off.”

The first servant speaks up. “Sire, if I may?” Wilbur waves his uninjured hand. “I feel like you should speak to Tommy about this. He left a note with another servant, and he gave it to me when I mentioned I was bringing you brunch.”

They hold out the note, and Wilbur takes it gently. He reads the note aloud. “ Hey Wil. I know you’re busy, so I figured I’d get out of your hair. Dream” Wilbur pauses for a second to scoff, before continuing, “ has some business with Schlatt. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Tubbo, so I’m going to go with him. Sorry for bugging you while you were doing important work. -Love you, Tom.”

Wilbur just stares at it for a moment. He rereads the hasty scribbles, eyebrows furrowed. The guilt sets in as he reads “ Sorry for bugging you ” again. “Why would he think he was bugging me?” Wilbur asks out loud. “He wasn’t really bugging me, I just needed to get work done.” 

The servants both look away. Another servant comes in to bring some gauze, and he takes the old porcelain away. The original servants start to wrap his hand as he continues. “And why did he leave so soon?” 

“Sire…” The first servant says. “He was here for two days. You had dinner with him the first night, remember?” Wilburs eyes widen. “He was? I was so busy doing paperwork, I guess I didn’t notice.” The guilt from earlier grows, almost swallowing him whole.

The dining hall is silent for a moment as his hand is finished being wrapped. Wilbur swallows, before saying “I must make this right. You,” he points at the female servant, “thank you so much for telling me this. Please have people pack my bags. Plan for a week's journey.” 

She hesitates for a second. “What about your work?” She asks. “That can wait, my brother is more important.” She nods before running off. 

Wilbur turns to the other servant. “Have my carriage set up please.” He says. “Which one?” They ask. “The largest fast one we have. I’m going to be taking him back with me, so I need to have space for him and possibly Tubbo, plus all the crap they’re gonna bring.” They nod, running off as well.

And thus, WIlbur is left alone in the dining room again. He leans back, covering his eyes with the crook of his arm. “I’m going to make this right Tommy. I swear it.”

-

Schlatt is pacing across his room. “And you’re sure he said all that?” He asks Tubbo, who’s sitting on an armchair in the corner. 

Tubbo nods. “I’m positive. I’m not exaggerating or anything, he said everything I told you. Why would he talk to Tommy like that Dad?”

“I don’t know, kid.” Schlatt says. “I’ve never heard Tommy so sad before.” Tubbo mutters.

“I just don’t understand why Dream would lie. I was never really mad at Tommy. I was more scared that Dream was mad at Tommy, and then he would be mad at me.” Schlatt says. Tubbo winces, saying “I don’t know Dad. The last time Tommy saw you, you yelled at him. I can see why he would think that you were mad.”

Schlatt sighs. “You’re right. I need to apologize to that kid in the morning.” Tubbo nods. “I was the one who got him in trouble anyway. I started the stupid game.” 

Schlatt turns to look at him. “You did?” He asks. Tubbo nods sheepishly. “Aw man,” he says, hitting himself in the forehead, “I yelled at him for something he didn't even do."

The room is silent for a moment. “I guess we better go to bed. We need to catch those two before they leave. You said they planned to leave early, right?” Schlatt asks. “Yeah,” Tubbo says, “Dream says they needed to leave early. Tommy’s not one to get up early, so I’d say that they’re not going to leave until a few hours after dawn.”

Schlatt nods. “Then we need to head to bed now if we want to be up by then. Go ahead and head to bed Bee.” Tubbo hesitates for a second, so Schlatt asks “What’s up kid.”

“Could I sleep here tonight? I know I’m a little old for it, but I’m feeling really anxious right now, and I don’t want to sleep alone.” Schlatt pauses for a second. It must be a second too long, because Tubbo sticks out his hands, shaking them. “Nevermind, don’t worry about it, it’s stupid-”

Schlatt just chuckles. “C’mere kid. You’re never too old to want comfort. Besides, you’ll always be my little bee.” Schlatt wraps Tubbo in a hug. After a minute, he picks him up and slams him into the bed. Tubbo screams, before laughing.

“What the hell, Dad?” He says in between giggles. “I needed to wipe that frown off your face somehow!” Schlatt says, before crawling into bed. He wraps Tubbo in a hug, and together, the two fall asleep.

~

A servant knocks on the door, waking them both from their slumber. “What is it?” Schlatt calls. “Sire, Dream told me to inform you that he has left for Sam’s kingdom. I was going to wait for you to leave your room, but it’s getting late.” 

“Fuck!” Schlatt says, springing out of bed. He rips the door open, asking the servant “What time is it?” Tubbo sits up in the bed, rubbing his eyes. 

“It’s about 10 am, your Majesty.” She says. “When did he leave the message?” Schlatt asks. “A few hours ago, Sire. They left only a half hour after dawn.”

Tubbo curses from the bed. Getting up, he gives Schlatt a hug. “I’m sorry dad, I really thought that Tommy wouldn’t be up that early.” Schlatt sighs, rubbing Tubbos back. “It’s fine, Bee. Neither of us could have known. How about we just go downstairs and get something to eat while we make a game plan, yeah?”

Tubbo pouts a little, but nods. The two head downstairs to eat. About a half hour later, a servant runs up bearing a note. “Your Majesty’s. King Wilbur has sent a missive that he’s going to be arriving to your kingdom soon. He said he was leaving at 11, so he should be here a little after lunch. Shall we prepare something for him?”

Schlatt’s eyebrows furrow. “Yes, prepare to have something hot for him when he gets here, and have a room ready just in case. He didn’t mention anything to me before, so I don’t know how long he’ll be here for.”

Tubbo turns to Schlatt. “You said you didn’t know he was coming?” Schlatt nods. “Hmm. Tommy mentioned something about Wilbur being busy, so he must have just been at his castle.” Tubbo looks thoughtful for a second.

“DIdn’t Tommy travel with Dream?” Schlatt nods again. “Then, maybe he was staying at Newfoundland as well. I wonder if something happened with Dream there as well.” Schlatt’s face hardens. “If it did, then I’ve got an ass to kick.”

Schlatt and Tubbo are still in the dining room talking about what to do with Dream when the doors fly open. Wilbur stands there, slightly out of breath, like he had just run all the way from his carriage.

"Where's Tommy? I need to see him immediately." He all but shouts. Tubbo and Schlatt look at each other and wince. 

Wilbur stares at them."What? What's with the looks?!" Schlatt stands up, walking over to Wilbur. “Why don’t you take a seat and have a snack.”

Tubbo pipes up, “We have something important to tell you about Tommy.” Wilbur looks hesitant, but he allows Schlatt to lead him to the table.

Schlatt calls in a servant, who brings out a bowl of soup for Wilbur. “You look like skin and bones, Wilbur. We’ll tell you everything we know while you eat.”

After Wilbut takes the first bite, Tubbo starts saying “Dad was showing me how to set up a meeting…”

-

Sam is in his workshop the morning after his meeting with Dream. After he cooled down, he and Dream finished their meeting. The two agreed on a price for the mini surveillance system, and Dream convinced him to not do anything too harsh to Tommy.

Dream also had let Sam know that the two were going to leave for the Badlands first thing in the morning.

The two were already gone when Sam woke up, so after he ate a late breakfast he informed Hannah that he would be in his workshop with Sam Nook for the rest of the day.

“I’ll be sure to bring you something to eat later. I assume you’ll be alright with stew?” She asks. Sam nods, and they go their separate ways.

Sam spends a good portion of his morning going around the lab, making sure all of his other projects are in working order. He realizes that he’s procrastinating when he finds himself messing with the broken sweeper bot he hasn’t touched in years. 

Sam drags his desk chair over to the front of Sam Nook, ready to spend the rest of his day there. Settling into the chair with a sigh, Sam says. “Alright, let’s see what Tommy did to you.”

Sam is startled by the whirring of Nook’s head. Whipping his own head up, Sam is astonished to see that Nook is on. 

“I believe what he did was fix my wiring, Sire.” Nook says. Sam beams. “You’re working!”

Glancing back down into the redstone, something catches Sam’s eye. There’s a small bit of plastic that must have come off of Nook’s tubing laying behind his feet. Picking it up, Sam sees a small coating of redstone dust on the bottom of it.

Looking back into Nook’s chest, Sam realizes there’s a section in one of the major power nodes where the dust is disrupted.

No longer grinning, Sam looks back up at Nook. “You said Tommy did this?” He asks, Nook nods. “I was not powered up when it happened, but as I booted up I saw him pulling that bit of plastic away from my chest.”

“Oh jeez. I’ve got some apologizing to do.” Sam says. Nook pipes up, saying “Most likely. However, I believe there are more pressing matters to attend to. Please listen to this audio that I recorded after you left.”

Nook plays back the conversation that Dream had with Tommy after Sam stormed out. Sam starts hissing, feeling his chest get hot. He has to take a second to breathe, otherwise he would blow right there.

That’s the exact moment that Hannah comes in. She pauses in the doorway to his lab. Glancing between the two of them, she asks, “Is this a bad time?”

Sam takes another breath. He shakes his head, standing up. “You brought lunch?” He asks. She nods, holding out a tray with a bowl of beef stew and a cup of water. 

After he takes the food, she pulls a letter out of her pocket. “We also got this about 10 minutes ago, so I figured I’d bring it all at once. I believe it’s from Manburg.” 

While he’s setting his tray down, Hannah walks over to Nook. “He got you working then Nook?” She asks. Nook gives a nod. He points to the disturbed redstone in his core. “There was a small hunk of plastic blocking one of my main power lines, but the young prince fixed it for me last night.”

“So that’s all it was?” Hannah asks Sam. Opening the letter, he mutters a small “Apparently.” After a moment of reading, he looks up at Hannah. “We’re gonna need several of our fastest carriages prepared. Wilbur, Schlatt, and Tubbo are all going to be traveling with us to the Badlands.”

Hannah looks shocked. “Why, your Majesty?” Sam just shakes his head. “It’s about Tommy. Nook, why don’t you fill her in on what happened while I go talk to everyone. We’ve only got a few hours to prepare, and we need them ready as soon as possible.”

Hannah’s mouth is agape. “Is there some kind of emergency that I need to get people ready for?” Sam looks grim. “It’s not an emergency, but it is urgent. Nook will tell you everything. If you’ll excuse me, I need to send a missive to Bad straight away” Sam rushes out of the room as Nook starts to speak. 

-

Just like they said in their missive, the trio arrives a few hours after he got the letter, at about four. Just like with Dream, Sam is waiting for them at the entrance to his castle. 

He’s pacing the doorway when he hears footsteps. He hears the caw of a crow from the courtyard, and then a few sets of footsteps. Looking up, he sees a frazzled Wilbur, closely trailed by Schlatt and his boy Tubbo. Sam squints at the crow that’s flying away from the castle, but quickly focuses up again.

Wilbur is rushing towards the door. The guards beside Sam tense up, but Sam calms them with a small wave of his hand. 

“All of you, come inside. In your missive, you mentioned that Dream was messing with Tommy?” Sam asks as he leads them inside.

Tubbo nods. Schlatt speaks up, saying “Apparently he’s been doing more than just messing with Tommy. For too long too.”

“I’m gonna murder that bastard.” Wilbur says. Sam sighs. “Let’s discuss this over a nice meal. I have some things I need to tell you all too.”

“A meal?” Tubbo asks. “Isn;t it a bit early for a meal?” 

“Well,” Sam says, “We’re going to be traveling for a while afterwards. We’re going to have to leave soon if we want to try and catch Tommy in the Badlands.”

“Tommy’s going to the Badlands?” Schlatt asks. Sam nods.

“I did get an invite to some ball that Bad was hosting, but I’ve been so busy.” Wilbur says. “Oh yeah.” Schlatt says. “We did too, but we’re not really ball people.” Tubbo snickers, and Wilbur smirks a bit, but they both focus up quickly.

They enter the great hall where the servants have laid out a hearty meal of stew, bread, and roasted vegetables. 

“Dream told me that the two of them were going to be attending Bad’s Ball tonight. We won’t be able to make the ball, that’s for sure. With all of us travelling, it’ll be no less than half a day.” Wilbur looks stricken, but Sam is quick to reassure him. “We should arrive by 11 if we leave after our meal, hopefully Tommy is staying the night at Bad’s castle.”

“Hopefully.” Tubbo mutters.

“Don’t worry bee, we’ll catch up to him.” Schlatt tells him.

The four of them catch up on everything they know, and the three guests look sick when Sam tells them what happened in his castle. By the end of the meeting, they’re more determined than ever to fix what they broke.

-

After the fiasco with Tommy, the people attending the ball disperse on their own. A few people come up to Bad to congratulate him, or to compliment him on the party, but most seem in a hurry to leave. There are a few drunk ones who stay behind to chat with their friends, but after just a few minutes, most of the guests are making their way out.

Skeppy remained silent, despite Bad’s attempts to start a conversation. In fact, Skeppy refused to acknowledge Bad at all, pointedly looking away from his direction.

It was only once the last of the rushing guests leave that he looks at him.

“Bad.” Skeppy starts. Something in his tone makes Bad nervous. “Yes, Geppy?” Bad responds nervously.

“What was that?!” Skeppy shouts, and Bad winces. He had been feeling guilty since Tommy left, but the anger he felt was overpowering. Now that he’s cooling off, Bad is really starting to feel the remorse bubble up to the surface.

Skeppy glares at Bad as he shrinks back. “That was straight up unnecessary Bad. Tommy didn’t deserve that, and you need to apologize to him.” 

Bad nods. “I know. I was just so upset about it. Tonight was supposed to be special, and I guess I let my emotions get the best of me.” Skeppy gives him a pointed look. “You’re right,” Bad sighs. “I am going to apologize to him in the morning, ok?”

“You better, or I don’t know if I can marry you.” Skeppy says.

Bad gasps. “What?” 

Skeppy shrugs with a small grin. “What can I say? Did you think I would say no?”

Bad sweeps Skeppy up into a kiss, dipping him down. Pulling him back up, Bad pulls the ring box out of his pocket.

“I wish this was under better circumstances, but I’m glad I can still do this,” Bad says as he slips the diamond ring on Skeppy’s finger.

The few people left in the ballroom clap. The servants who were cleaning up clapped the loudest.

Bad poured two drinks from one of the few remaining bottles, and the now-fiances shared a toast.

Bad only manages to take a sip before someone comes up to him. It’s one of the nobles from his kingdom, some Lady that he can’t remember the name of. She looks sheepish, barely able to look Bad in the eye.

“Your Majesty…” She says as she curtsies. 

“Yes?” Bad answers, unable to keep a little irritation from seeping into his voice.

“I have to apologize.” She says. “I fear I was the one who bumped into the young Prince. Unintentionally, I was the one who broke the wine, and I have to apologize.”

Bad feels his heart sink. “Oh muffin.”

Chapter Text

Later that evening, after all the other guests have left, Bad goes to the room where Tommy is staying the night. He stands outside the door for longer than he probably should, but he’s justifiably nervous. Finally gathering the courage, he knocks on the door. 

When he doesn’t get an immediate response, Bad assumes that Tommy is nervous that he’s still mad. 

“Tommy,” he says into the door, “I’m not mad, I swear. What I did was uncalled for, and you didn’t deserve it. I’m here to apologize.”

When there’s again no sound, Bad sighs. “I know you’re probably not happy with me, and that’s totally fine! You can yell at me all you want, it would definitely be fair.” Bad starts tearing up as he continues. “You don’t have to accept my apology, but at least let me make it to your face.”

Bad starts to get worried when there’s still no response. Fearing that Tommy is hurt, Bad says “Tommy? I’m going to open the door. Tell me to stop if you need to, but otherwise, I’m coming in.”

After a second of no response, Bad turns the handle to the door to reveal an empty room. 

“Oh no. Where is he?” Bad mutters. He turns and starts to run. 

Coming up on an intersection, Bad see’s a servant about to turn the corner. “Excuse me!” Bad calls to their back. They startle, but turn around to face Bad quickly. They give him a short bow, putting their hands behind their back.

“I’m sorry to bother you when all hands are on deck to clean after the party,” Bad starts, “But can you please just answer one quick question?” The servant makes a short ‘go-on’ motion with their hand, quickly putting it back behind their back.

“Also, please don’t be so formal around me.” Bad says awkwardly. “I’m not going to get mad, earlier was a fluke.” The servant visibly relaxes, allowing their hands to rest at their side. “Apologies, Highness. We were all worried, not just for us. We’ve never seen you this mad before.”

Bad scratches the back of his head. “It’s alright. Tell everyone that I’m not going to explode like that again.” He sighs, looking away. 

“Anyway,” Bad continues, “Have you seen Prince Tommy recently? He wasn’t in his room.” The servant looks confused.

“Sire, didn’t he leave with his older brother and his protegee? I believe His Majesty Dream accompanied them as well.” They say. 

Uh oh. How am I supposed to apologize now? Bad thinks.

“Thank you for your help. Carry on with your duties, and I apologize again.” Bad says. The servant nods, walking away.

Bad rushes back to the main ballroom, running into another servant along the way. 

“Sire, you’ve got an important missive from King Awesamdude.” He says.

“Walk with me, I need to talk to Skeppy. What did Sam say?” Bad says, and the two continue the way to the ballroom. 

“His Highness says that he is going to arrive soon with King Soot, Kind Schlatt, the young Prince Tubbo, and a dozen of their collective staff.” Bad whistles. “That’s what I was thinking, Majesty. King Sam claims he has important news about the young Prince Tommy. He requests enough room for everyone for a single night, and an audience with you.”

Pausing for a moment to think, the two arrive at the entrance to the ballroom. “Have any free staff start preparing rooms. We’re going to have quite a few guests tonight.” Bad tells him. The servant bows, and scurries off.

With a sigh, Bad heads into the ballroom. Spotting Skeppy chatting with one of the lesser nobles that remained after the party, Bad jogs over. 

“Geppy!” He calls. Skeppy glances over, then turns back to the noble. He must dismiss her, because she bows, then heads out of the room. Bad slows to a stop in front of him. 

“Did you apologize?” Skeppy asks. Bad shakes his head, saying, “He wasn’t in his room. Apparently he’s traveled with Technoblade, his apprentice, and Dream.” 

Skeppy cocks his head. “Odd, I thought he was going to spend the night.” He says. “As did I,” Bad replieds, “I have more news though. Apparently Sam is going to be arriving shortly, alongside a considerable entourage.”

“Considerable?” Skeppy asks. 

Bad nods. “Apparently, Schlatt, Tubbo, WIlbur, and a half dozen servants are set to arrive at our doorstep in an hour.”

“With so little notice?!” Skeppy exclaims.

“Yeah, Sam mentioned they've got major news about Tommy. There's something off about him, more than just a broken wine bottle, from the way he reacted to me.” Bad replies.

“Alright. Did you ask someone to start setting up?” Skeppy asks. Bad nods, and the two head out of the ballroom.

“I’m not sure what time they’ll be here, but I’ve already got any spare servants setting up accommodations.” He says.

“Then I suppose all we can do is wait.” Skeppy says. With that, the two head deeper into the castle.

-

Dear Father,

I fear I have made a mistake. Tommy stayed the night in my castle, as he does, but yesterday I was snappish with him, and now he has left. I’m worried, because he left with Dream, and from what my servants told me, he was even worse than I. 

I’ll tell you more when I see you, but believe me when I say that Dream is no good for Tommy anymore. I know you may just believe this to be jealousy that I’ve always harbored towards Dream, but I swear this is serious. I wouldn’t send an emergency crow otherwise.

I am traveling to Manburg, so by the time this bird has reached you, I should have arrived at Schlatt’s. Keep an eye out for my next letter, as I’ll write again as soon as Tommy is in my arms.

Love you always,

Wilbur

-

Dear Philza Minecraft,

I’m sure Wilbur sent you a letter already, but I’m writing to inform you that I’m going to murder Dream. I don’t know how much Wilbur may have told you, but you need to know that the bastard will be dead by the end of the week.

Not only did he make me lose my temper at Tommy, which I deeply regret, but Dream made him feel like it was his fault, which I assure you it was not. Dream is a manipulative asshole, pardon my profanities. I will not sit idly by as he continues to live.

We are heading to King Sam’s kingdom now, so expect a crow once we find Tommy, so keep watch. 

Regards,

Schlatt

-

Dear King Minecraft,

Something is very wrong with Tommy and Dream. I’m not sure how, but a very unhealthy relationship has formed between your youngest and Dream. We all know how Dream was as a child, and I was worried about how becoming king would affect him, but I fear we let that hunger grow in him too long, and now Tommy is the victim of him.

Me, alongside Wilbur, Schlatt, and his boy are all heading to the Badlands to meet with Bad after his party. We aren’t sure if Tommy was planning on staying the night, but we’re hoping that he does. We’ll send news via crow once we learn more, but just know that there’s a lot to learn once we rescue Tom.

Hoping for good news,

Awesamdude

-

Dear Your Royal Majesty,

As the others have told me, and I’m sure told you, Dream is being truly awful. Everyone is spending the night at my castle tonight, but we are leaving first thing in the morning to head to Elpis, where we know Tommy headed with your oldest, Ranboo, and Dream. 

We hope to arrive by nightfall, but with the rain it’s not a sure time. If you plan on intercepting us, just meet us by the next morning. I know it’s a much shorter trip for you, of a shorter distance and a lesser entourage. I’m not sure what will happen when we arrive, but I would like to remind you that we cannot just kill Dream, no matter what Schlatt wants to do. We must keep it civil, or else there will be a revolt.

Hopefully the next message you receive from us is a letter informing you that we have saved Tommy, and can deliver him safely into your arms.

Cordially,

Badboyhalo

P.S. Skeppy would like me to inform you that he plans on holding back Schlatt, but that he can make no such promises for Wilbur or Tubbo, as he says “I only have one set of arms, dude.”

-

Dad,

I don’t know what to do. Dream has been mentally abusing Tommy for Gods knows how long, and Tommy doesn’t even know it. Worst of all, the voices hurt Tommy. Not only is he being abused by someone else, but I contributed to it, and I don’t know if I can ever forgive myself, even if Tommy has.

I need your guidance. Please help me.

The World,

Techno

-

Dear Queen Puffy,

I need to have a word with you as soon as possible. It’s an emergency.

Get back to me please,

Philza

-

That night, Tommy slept in his designated room, not in the nest. It stung, but Tommy understood why Techno told Dream that he should sleep in his own room. Tommy could understand that Techno didn’t want such a weak runt anymore.

Dream came by early the next morning to check on Tommy and to change his bandages. Tommy was silent the whole time.

“Get dressed.” Dream said, turning to leave the room.

“Why?” Tommy asked. I don’t want to leave yet.

“We’re going into town to get supplies. King Minecraft responded to my letter, and he said that he is ok with you coming to stay with me in Essempeii for a while, since you’ve been such a problem lately.” Dream paused for a moment. Facing Tommy again, Dream added, “Apparently he’s worried that you’ll mess something up in his kingdom.”

Tommy’s breath hitches. Then, he slowly nods. Struggling, Tommy climbs out of bed and goes to his closet. Hearing the door click, he gets dressed. Tommy avoids his nicer clothes, worried he’ll ruin them just like everything else.

Dream collects Tommy a few minutes later, saying “I dropped off a note with one of the servants. I told them to deliver it to Technoblade. I told him that we’re going to get supplies, and that we changed our minds.”

“Changed our minds about what?” Tommy asks.

“Keep up please Tommy,” Dream says, quickly outpacing Tommy, forcing him to speed up. He continues, saying, “I told him we don’t want to stay any extra nights, and that we’ll be out of his hair soon.”

“Oh. What if I-” Tommy cuts himself off. Dream sends him a questioning glance. Tommy rubs his arms nervously. “I wanted to stay the extra time.” He finishes quietly.

Dream laughs, startling Tommy. “I’m not surprised you wanted to leech off of Techno for longer.” Tommy winces as Dream continues, “Listen, Tommy. Techno asked you to stay to be polite. It’s his responsibility that he feels he has to uphold. But I knew that that was why he asked. So I decided to do everyone a favour and drag you out of his hair.”

Dream stops walking, causing Tommy to almost run into him. He turns to look at Tommy, a serious expression on his face. “Tommy, I care about you, ok? I want you to do well, so that we both can do well.” Tommy nods as he looks down.

Dream puts a hand on Tommy’s chin, forcing him to look into Dream’s eyes. Tommy swallows nervously. “Let me teach you how to be a great king, ok? I can’t do that if we’re runnnig around all over the place all the time. When I take you to my castle, you’ll be isolated with me, and there will be no more interruptions. Won’t that be great.”

Tommy shrugs, but doesn’t answer. Dream sighs, letting go of his chin. “Just come on Tommy. Let’s go get supplies. I’ve already told Techno we’re leaving, so let’s just leave.” With that, Dream resumes his walk to the stables.

Tommy stays for a moment, glancing over his shoulder. He doesn’t know what he’s looking for. A servant to stall him, his older brother, or maybe even just answers. He’s not surprised when the hallway is just as empty as before.

“Wait for me!” Tommy calls after Dream, running to catch up. Dream slows down a mite, but continues walking. It’s enough to let Tommy catch up, and together they go to the stables. The stablehands have saddled up the horses, getting them ready for their trip to town.

Dream pulls a servant aside, telling him to bring their bags down and pack a carriage that Techno has loaned for the long trip back. “Have everything else ready by the time we get back from town, so that our supplies can be loaded and we can leave.” He finishes. 

The servant nods, and scurries off.

As the two mount their horses, Tommy can’t help but feel the nerves building in his gut. The feeling persists all the way to town, the trip silent as usual.

Tommy is quieter than normal as Dream goes from shop to shop, purchasing the weeks worth of supplies it’ll take to get to his kingdom. Dream fills the silence with chatter for once, telling Tommy about all the fun they’ll have at his castle.

He describes how amazing his kingdom is, and all the places they can visit within it while he’s making Tommy better. When Tommy doesn’t really talk back, still stewing, Dream starts to tell him about some of the shenanigans he got up to as a kid. Nothing as bad as Tommy ever did, just discovering secret entrances around the castle and sneaking things from the kitchen.

Eventually, Dream comments on Tommy’s silence, complimenting it.

“Glad I can talk without interruption for once.” He says as they dismount in front of a sketchy shop. Tommy just shrugs, feeling the words clog in his throat.

Dream stares for a second, then shakes his head. He starts to head in, but stops when Tommy goes to follow him. 

“Actually, Tommy, you shouldn’t come in here with me. This is private business. Why don’t you stay out here and take a break.” Dream says. Without waiting for an answer, he heads into the shop, leaving Tommy alone with his thoughts the horses.

The time alone without talking gives Tommy time to think. Even though he has been such a nuisance lately, Tommy still misses his family. He was so excited to stay with Wilbur, and then Techno. He thinks back to his talk with Techno, and how sincere he had been with his apology. Mad or not, Techno had wanted Tommy to stay with him.

Tommy is still thinking when Dream comes out of the shop, holding a faintly glowing book.

As Dream goes to get on his horse, Tommy stops him. “What, Tommy? We’re almost done, just a few more shops to go.”

Tommy hesitates. “Dream… maybe it would be best for you if I stay with Techno for the rest of the week. I keep messing things up for you, you deserve a break from me.” Dream looks at Tommy with a small crinkle in his eye, what Tommy knows to be a frown.

“But wouldn’t you just burden Techno?” Tommy winces, and Dream continues. “I know how to handle you best.” Tommy looks down, fiddling with the hem of his tunic. “I don’t know, I feel like…,” Tommy sighs, “I feel like I need to apologize to Techno, and see if I can maybe fix things.”

After a short pause, Tommy counties, “Plus, you’ve had to deal with me so much in these past few days. Surely you’d like a break before you have to bear with me that long?” Tommy tears up a little here, saying “I just want to fix things with my family. It’ll probably only be a few days, then I’ll set right off for your kingdom, ok?”

Dream is silent for a long time, a crease in his brow. Tommy starts to fidget with his tunic, unable to stand still.

“Fine.” Dream says. Tommy lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “But you have to swear you’ll leave as soon as you’re done.”

Tommy nods enthusiastically. “I will! I do want to come to your kingdom, so as soon as I make it up to Techno, I’ll leave.”

Dream sighs. “Ok. I will see you soon then. Send me a message when you’re on your way, alright?” He says as he mounts his horse.

“I promise I will.” Tommy says. Dream flicks his reins, and Spirit trots away.

Tommy waits until Dream is out of sight before climbing onto his own horse. HorseChamp starts into a slow trot, making her way back to the castle.

The ride back is blissfully silent, without the toiling worry in his stomach has finally eased. Even though Tommy feels like he should be worried without the guidance of Dream, he feels strangely at peace.

For the first time in a while, Tommy takes the time to admire the landscape around him. The winds blows gently through his hair as Tommy takes in the beautiful green hills covered in wildflowers that surround the path out of town.

As he gets closer to the castle, he’s able to admire the architecture that he’s never noticed before. Glancing up ahead, Tommy realizes more time has passed than he thought. It’s well past lunch time, and Tommy’s stomach rumbles.

Pulling into a strangely empty stable, missing even the carriage Dream was supposed to take back with him, Tommy puts his horse up on his own. Sneaking her a carrot, Tommy mumbles a “Where is everyone?” into her mane.

Sneaking into the kitchen through the side entryway, Tommy is once again astounded to see it is empty. Shrugging, Tommy tiptoes to the pantry, almost afraid to disturb the sudden eerie peacefulness of the castle. Grabbing an apple and a half loaf of bread, Tommy heads back out.

As Tommy makes his way to the heart of the castle, he thinks over everything he has done in the past few days. Shame starts to trickle through his body as he relives all his mistakes.

Suddenly not hungry anymore, Tommy looks down at the core of his apple. Changing course, Tommy heads to the solar, no longer having the courage to face his older brother anymore. He walks into a room without looking, because he can feel the tears starting to well in his eyes. He starts to beat himself up for every mistake he’s ever made, feeling the shame roil in his stomach.

Closing the door quietly behind him, Tommy sets the apple core and bread down on the dresser. Tommy kicks off his shoes, slinking into the massive bed. 

Tommy curls up on himself, feeling more alone than ever, and quietly cries himself to sleep in the middle of the day.

-

A darkness flies over the castle. A huge winged thing is in the sky, followed by a hoard of birds, some adorned with bows or other things. The amount of crows in the sky is enough to cast a shadow onto the ground below, covering a departing carriage in darkness.

Landing with a thump in front of the castle is King Philza Minecraft, a crow hybrid. His flock lands anywhere they can, making the castle look black in most places. The guards don’t look surprised when he lands, because this is not the first, nor the last, time he has shown up in this fashion.

Walking up to the guards, Phil says “I need to speak with my sons immediately, please.”

The guard simply nods. He rings a bell, and someone quickly shows up, moving to stand in his place. 

“Follow me, they’ve been waitin’.” He says. He leads the king into the silent castle. 

“Where is everyone? Normally this place is pretty full of noise.” Phil asks.

“His Majesty has sent most of th’ staff to search th’ grounds for your son.” The guard replies. “They’ll explain everythin’ to ya as soon as they can, I’m sure.”

Coming up on a beautiful set of ornate doors, Phil can hear the noise from a few dozen feet back. Bowing quickly, the guard makes a hastey leave.

Left alone outside the door, Phil takes a moment to listen to the cacophony of voices behind it. While the words themselves are intelligible, Phil can make out a few voices, including his two elder sons, and several kings from around the continent, all in one room.

Sighing, Phil wastes no more time. Shoving the door open with a bang, Phil observes the now silent group.

His two songs are sitting at the end of a table, joined by Schlatt and his son, Sam, Bad and his husband, with a half dozen guards lining the room.

Just as quickly as the noise stopped, they all start yelling over each other again. Quickly, Phil’s wings poof at the noise, causing his two boys to snap their mouths shut, recognizing the signs of a hybrid about to blow.

The rest of the group are smart enough to stop talking when Phil holds his hand up, quieted instead by his sheer control and presence.

“Anyone want to explain what’s going on?” Phil asks the crowd.

He’s met with silence for a long moment, before Techno finally speaks up, saying “Dad. Tommy’s missing.”

Everyone stares at Phil, watching as his wings poof up again, unable to control the hiss that he lets out.

“For how long?” Phil finally spits out. Everyone glances around at each other, before landing back on Techno.

“Not very long. Dream said they were going to go to town and gather supplies so that he could take Tommy to his castle, so I had sent people out to try and stop them. When Dream came back, Tommy wasn’t with him, and he left before anyone could stop him.” Techno explains.

Phil sighs, saying “That’s good. Hopefully he’s not too far away then. What have you all done to look for him?” He asks the room.

When no one speaks up, Phil can feel himself getting frustrated. Taking a deep breath, Phil addresses the room again. “Ok, so we need a plan.” Pausing for a moment to think, he says “We’ll need to search three places. The castle, the town, and the outskirts. The outskirts will need the most people, so I’m going to send Sam, Schlatt, and Tubbo to look there. Sam, make sure to use your machines to aid, and Schlatt, don’t be afraid to use a little magic to help as well.”

The trio nods, and Phil adds “Take most of the servants with you as well. Even with your abilities, there’s still a lot of ground to cover.” Looking at his boys, he says “You too need to decide who’s going to town, and who’s going with them,” he gestures at the group getting up to leave.

“I’ll go with them. I’ll bring the hounds with me to help track anything, but with the rain I don’t know how helpful they might be.” Techno says.

Wilbur nods. “I think I could be better asking around town anyway.”

Phil nods. “Good. Bad, you and Skeppy go with Wil. Take the rest of the staff, ask around town for any information.”

“Got it.” Bad responds.

“Excellent.” Phil says. “Is there anything we should know before we all leave?”

“Wait.” Tubbo says, looking at Phil curiously. “Are you going to search the castle by yourself?” He asks.

Phil chuckles. “I’m never by myself, Tubbo.” As he speaks, there’s a loud fluttering of wings outside, joined by several caws.

“Ah, I understand.” Tubbo says. 

He pauses for a second, seeming to realize something. “I think there is something we should know.”

Everyone stops preparing to leave, all turning to look at Tubbo. 

“What do you mean Bee?” Schlatt asks.

“Dad,” Tubbo says, turning to him, “What was Dream giving you land for again?”

“Oh. He needed some help with a spell. Said his wizards weren’t going to be able to cast it, and that my magic would be perfect.” Schlatt responds.

“Ok. And Wilbur, why was he at your castle? Everyone knows you and Dream are usually at odds.” Tubbo asks.

“Ah, that.” Wilbur says. He rubs his chin, saying “He asked me for a truce. He said we could become allies, and that he was willing to lend me his men for my upcoming skirmish with the south, since I’m not much of a military state.”

“What did he want in return?” Techno asks. “I would’ve helped you as well, you know…” He mutters.

“Sorry Tech. I was trying to go the diplomatic route before everything turned south.” WIlbur sighs, continuing, “But anyway. He said he wanted to view my library. Everyone knows my library isn’t the biggest, but he said I’m the only one he knows that has books on shifters. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but with what we know now…”

Tubbo smacks a fist into his palm. “And Sam!”

Sam startles, not expecting the shout. “Yes?”

“Why did Dream go to your kingdom originally?” Tubbo asks.

“He had commissioned me for some advanced surveillance bots. He was coming by to check on their progress, since they’re almost done.” Sam answers.

“This all sounds pretty suspicious.” Tubbo says thoughtfully. “I don’t know if this is important in finding Tommy, but I was just thinking about why Dream was going to all these places in the first place, since he usually likes to stay holed up in his kingdom with his mom.”

Schlatt ruffles Tubbp’s hair. “I think you were right to bring this up kiddo. It does feel important to know. I don’t know exactly what he was digging his fingers into, but it can’t be good.”

Phil nods. “I agree. I think we need to start our search with urgency. We need to find Tommy, and we need to help him snap out of whatever Dream has started.”

There’s a quick moment, just a flash of regret in everyone’s eyes. They look at each other knowingly. Agreeing in this moment that they all need to fix what they’ve messed up.

Without a word, everyone leaves the room except Phil. Watching them all go to find his son, Phil just watches.

He sits in silence for a few minutes, struggling to keep his instincts at bay. He knows he has to stay as human as possible to solve the whole Dream issue, and if he goes too crow-y, he won’t be able to stop himself from hoarding his children in his nest until everything sorts itself out. But without him, nothing will be fixed, so he spends precious minutes just breathing.

Eventually, Phil can feel his claws retract, and he decides that that’s enough for him to leave the room. He realizes, when he does leave the room, that he doesn’t know where to start.

The castle is eerily quiet with everyone having left; all Phil hears as he walks is the clicking of his talons on the marbled floor. He decides to just start where he is, and sweep the castle. While he doubts that Tommy is hanging out around the war room, Phil knows it’s better to be safe then sorry.

Besides , Phil thinks, if he is in the castle, he’s probably not going to leave. It’s if he’s already ran away that would cause a time crunch for us.

After reassuring himself, Phil starts looking around each room. 

Of course, he doesn't find him in the war room, or any of the rooms surrounding it. He doesn’t find Tommy in the servants quarters either. Nor does he find him in the bathing chambers. He’s not in the library, the chappel, the dining hall, or the great hall.

Phil starts to get frustrated when he realizes he’s been looking for more than an hour, and still has found no trace of his boy. But that’s why I started in the least likely areas. He reassures himself.

His crows report that they haven’t found him anywhere on the castle grounds, but they assure him that they will keep looking until he tells them to stop. He sends a few off to aid the rest of the search, leaving a third of his flock to look over the grounds again.

Phil resumes his search in the stables. Noticing a horse left in her stall, Phil creeps up for a closer inspection. Gasping when he sees HorseChamp, Phil runs up to her. Glancing around the stall, Phil sees a saddle hung up. 

After giving her a quick pat, Phil rushes back to the castle. He stops to search the kitchen, hissing when his chick son isn’t there.

Finally, Phil heads to the last place left to search. 

Entering the Solar, Phil checks Tommy’s room. 

He knocks on the door, waiting a moment. He doesn’t hear anything inside, not even quiet shuffling of any kind. 

Phil checks the handle of the door, and finds it not locked. “I’m coming in, Tom.” He murmurs into the door.

Phil holds his breath as the door creaks open. Glancing inside the room, Phil doesn’t see much. There’s a few bloody bandages in a corner of the room, as well as a few clothes strewn about. Phil spots a lump on Tommy’s bed.

Walking up to the bed, Phil feels his wings puff up at the thought of seeing his son again. However, when he gently pulls the cover back, Phil sees a bundled up blanket instead.

Phil hisses, feeling his pupils start to turn to slits. Calming himself again, Phil sits on the bed. Leaning forward, Phil puts his head in his hands.

“Tommy, where could you possibly be?” He wonders.