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tommy stands atop the cobblestone pillar, standing with his toes gripping the edge. he stares at the ground far beneath him.
he’s high up, higher than he ever has been. each time he comes up here, he goes a little higher, hoping the fall will be far enough that his body is broken beyond repair. he knows it won’t work. it never does.
he barely even hesitates before he jumps.
he plummets to the ground, feeling the wind slap his face as he falls. he almost feels like he’s falling in slow motion. that almost makes it worse.
he hits the ground with a crunch. all his bones shatter on impact. fuck.
he’d hoped he’d die as soon as he hit the ground.
he hopes he’ll die even more as he hears the pounding of footsteps coming towards him.
”tommy…” dream’s voice isn’t concerned in the slightest. it’s disappointed. he sounds like an owner disciplining his pet. dream sighs. “alright… let me get some health pots. don’t go anywhere!” he chirps, the unaffected joking unsettling tommy even more. everything hurt, but he knew living would hurt even more.
breathing hurts. he wish he could just hold his breath until his soul left his body. he can’t— he’s tried. curse his survival instincts.
dream returns, tutting as though he’s cleaning up a toddler’s mess and not a teenager’s almost-corpse. he flips tommy over, ignoring the boy’s cries of pain as his already broken bones slide around. without another thought, the masked man pulls the cork out of a glass bottle, pouring the reddish-pink contents into tommy’s open mouth. he watches unwaveringly as the teenager coughs up the liquid, struggling to swallow the bitter brew.
he feels better instantly. he hates it. he feels his bones begin to mend, albeit messily. that’s gonna hurt.
“tommy..” dream starts, noticing the teenager has come back to consciousness. “what have i said about killing yourself?” he says it so casually. “oh well.. you’ll learn.” tommy recoils at the words. he knows what comes next.
CRACK!
tommy screams as his newly-mended ribs shatter once more at the impact of dream’s boot into his torso. he doesn’t even get time to recover before dream is grabbing him by his matted blond hair, pulling him to his feet roughly.
“hey tommy.” he says in a sickeningly cheerful voice. “run.” he hisses, and tommy’s eyes widen.
this is a first. he’s never been given a chance to escape. he doesn’t know if that’s better or worse.
well, no time to contemplate. tommy starts running, wincing at every step as his ribs ache. everything hurts but it’s so exhilarating. he has a chance this time. he can’t fuck it up.
CRASH!
fuck. tommy knows that smell— weakness. dream threw a weakness potion at him. even when giving him a fighting chance, he really can’t play fair, can he?
tommy feels the effects immediately, the bone-deep weariness soaking in as he starts to stumble. he has to keep going. he has a chance. he can’t lose. not again.
if dream’s not gonna play fair, he doesn’t have to either. right?
tommy opens his inventory as quickly as he can, fumbling with the menu before he pulls out what he needs— an ender pearl. sorry, ranboo. kinda an emergency.
he chucks the pearl as far as he can— not very far, but a decent distance for someone who can hardly keep their eyes open.
his anxiety grows as he waits for the pearl to land, hoping dream’s footsteps arent as close as they sound.
the world goes dark, and for a moment tommy thinks— no, hopes that dream put an axe through his skull.
but nope, he ends up a few yards ahead of where he was before. he takes off once more, making good progress. he doesn’t dare to see how close dream is to him. he can see a spruce forest in the distance… if he can just make it there… but he’s so tired…
tommy collapses. he can hardly keep his eyes open, his blurry vision just barely able to make out a porcelain smile staring down at him. he swears he can hear laughter.
when tommy wakes up, logstedshire is surrounded by walls. obsidian walls. he can’t even see the sky. ignoring his drowsiness, tommy stumbles to the nearest wall, clawing at the purple stone. he hates this. he can’t be trapped. he doesn’t have any blocks, or tools, or anything. he curls in on himself.
when dream finds him, he’s sobbing at that same wall, fingers raw and bloody, nails broken. he barely made a mark on the obsidian.
he’s a bird in a cage. he’d tried to escape, so his wings were clipped. it was about time, anyway. the kid was a nuisance.
“hey, tommy..” dream approaches the boy, voice gentle, as if speaking to a wounded animal. tommy flinches at his voice. it makes dream giddy. he really has broken the kid, hasn’t he? perfect. ”you just needed to be disciplined. you didn’t have to run.” tommy turns to glare at his friend.
“you bitch, you told me to run!” he spits. he recoils as dream runs a hand through his formerly golden locks.
”since when did you listen, toms?” tommy blanches at the nickname. no one was allowed to call him that except wilbur. “either way,” dream continued, seemingly ignoring the reaction. “i’ll take the walls down in a few weeks,” tommy starts, but is immediately cut off. “if you behave, ‘kay?” he smiles behind his mask. without waiting for a response, dream turns to leave, disappearing out of view. tommy stands suddenly, ignoring the wave of nausea as he rushes after dream. but when he turns the corner, the man is gone. the teenager sinks to the floor.
weeks? how is he going to survive weeks without seeing the sun…
he’s better be on his best behavior.