Till Death Do Us Part

Camp

These next chapters are going to lack so much emotion but it's okay because I don't care B)

...

Tommy's first instinct was to run.

But something he'd learned over many years of hunting, being hunted and watching hunts, is that fight or flight was something you should never give into.

At least in his case.

Techno was still frozen across from him, arms piled with wood and looking the exact same from when Tommy last saw him. Which was over seven years ago.

Time flies when you're having fun.

Neither of them seemed like they were going to speak, which was fine by Tommy. He was all too ready to turn back to the trees and forget this ever happened. He knew Techno would let him. They'd probably never see each other again and Tommy could go on pretending he hated his family like they didn't teach him all he knew and loved. He'd done it before and fully prepared to do it again.

This was just a minor setback that's all.

He was half-turned and ready to sprint when a figure appeared beside Techno. And sure, Tommy should've expected this, with that stupid hat still trampled by his feet and the more than one tents in the clearing, but. He was stressed. Details like this weren't his brains main concern as it fought desperately to come up with the most beneficial solution to this very confronting problem.

So when Phil steps out from behind Techno, he short-circuits.

"What are you-" Phil starts, eyes on Techno. Then they slide to Tommy and the world tilts. "Oh."

"No-" Tommy doesn't trust his feet to move at this point, but his mouth has – almost – never failed him. "Um. I was just. I need to."

He gestures pathetically at the trees beside him. Phil is staring at him, and the gaze is more piercing than Technos. It's greatly unappreciated in the moment.

Nobody moves and Tommy is fully prepared to stay this way til nightfall, burning in a precariously mixed cocktail of emotions.

Then Michael walks out, and Tommy laughs. Its short, more of a rush of air then anything substantial, but the situation he's landed himself in was everything he wanted to avoid and more. Everything started clicking in his head, from Michael's mention of travelling partners to the reviving of Wilbur to the trio in front of him. Suddenly his head was full of questions, pushing out the panic that previously clouded it.

"Oh, Tommy, hey!" Michael called. He came forward, dropping his pile of branches by the empty firepit. "How are you? How's Isaac? Any better?"

Tommy blinked rapidly, trying to pull himself together from the atmospheres energy change.

"All good thanks?" He answers. He didn't actually hear the question.

"That's good. Welcome to our campsite! This is Phil." Michael gestures to Phil, who's still staring at Tommy. "And Techno. They basically raised me, we're like a little family."

And, oh. Michael may as well have taken an axe to his heart. Because they'd replaced him. Michael was standing where Tommy used to stand, except Michaels eye was kind and his soul was pure, two things Tommy never had, already marred from a forgotten war when Phil found him again.

"Oh." Tommy says. He wants to take it back immediately, cheeks burning with how upset he sounds. He draws his shoulders back, defensive.

"Tommy," Phil starts, again, but this time he drops his wood to the side and steps forward. Tommy steps backwards.

"No." He says.

"Tommy please, it's been years." And now Michael looks confused, which, kind of hurts Tommy more, because did they not tell Michael about him?

"I know." Tommy channels all his hurt into those two words, glaring.

"We looked for you, you know?" Phil says. His tone is placating, something he'd use on a scared child. Tommy wasn't a scared child anymore.

"I do know, actually." He points at nothing, waving his finger through the air. "Everywhere I went, posters of my face. All titled, 'WANTED' or 'BOUNTY'. Never 'Have you seen my son' or 'missing'. And every one was signed by your kingdom. Or worse, Dream."

Tommy huffed. He didn't want to get angry. He wanted his son to be better again so he could leave and pretend none of this ever happened. But he had things wanted to say. Things he needed to say.

"Do you know how hard it was? To survive while people hunted you, knowing that it was your own family that set them on you." Michael is visibly uncomfortable now, shifting on his feet. "Knowing that they didn't care to look for you themselves, even though you still cared for them?"

Tommy would've said more, was going to say more, when Techno shifted. He stopped speaking, frozen by the red gaze.

"Stop." He said, voice still lisped by his tusks, sending shivers down Tommy's spine like it always had.

"Let me give you the real story."

...

I was gonna write more Tommy monologue but then I got lazy. I also apologise once again for the whack pacing, trust me, I'm painfully self-aware

Don't expect much more after this posting spree I'm going to struggle so hard to connect this joyride-plot to the spine of the story

Also I had to go back and reread the Michael chapters to write this and guys. They're so bad I almost cried. Like yes, this fic isn't supposed to be good, it's just for fun and writers block release. It's probably the most fanfiction fanfiction I've ever written, and I didn't and still don't read over a single chapter before I post. But they were horrific and I know for a fact none of these have improved. I would've stopped reading if this was anyone elses fic. Y'all are soldiers for surviving this long I'm so sorry lmao.