In Times of War

Sleep and anteaters

Soon enough the trip to the Antarctic Empire was over and Tommy was able to get off the death trap they called a boat. Just like Tommy suspected the Empire was cold. Too cold! It snowed year-round which is just too much snow in Tommy's opinion. And he was always right. Tommy was really lucky that Techno brought extra cloaks for him to steal even though they were way too big. At first, Techno tried to get his cloaks back at first but after seeing Tommy's sheer stubbornness he gave up rather quickly (not because he noticed Tommy didn't have something to keep him warm beside a really dirty red coat).

By the time they made it to the castle, Tommy was pretty much done with the place. Sure it looked pretty fucking amazing but he would rather die than stay another minute out in the cold! The castle sat on the top of a tall mountain that was dusted with layers upon layers of snow. The tall towers gave off the illusion that the castle touched the sky above. Inside the castle was even cooler with long red carpets and rooms for anything you could ever want! Phil even showed Tommy a room with a garden! The hallways were lined with handcrafted paintings of the royal family which brought Tommy to asking.

"Who is that woman in the painting?"

"You will meet her eventually" Phil replied smiling at the painting

"What kinda cryptid answer is that?!"

"Well, it's hard to explain." Phil paused trying to figure out how to put whatever he was thinking about into words, "It's easier to understand once you meet her!" Tommy gave him a concerned look so he continued, "Don't worry she's going to love you!"

"That's not what I was concerned about."

The rest of the week Tommy spent sleeping. Only getting up when he had to eat. Over the time he spent in hiding he was overly exhausted! He didn't realize how hard he fucking had it until he came to the place. It was hard getting used to being able to eat more than one meal a day. Tommy also noticed he gained a lot of concerning habits while he was by himself. He's not quite sure how to handle it. He could tell Phil but then again they have already done so much for him. The last thing Tommy would ever want to do is taking advantage of Phil. He doesn't even know how long Phil will let him stay. Tommy really should make a plan for when he inevitably gets kicked out.  Would he be sent to an orphanage or the streets? No Phil wouldn't send him back to the streets. Tommy wouldn't be able to handle it if he was sent back to the streets. Even if this time he would have the comfort of other people.

Over the week he spent in the castle he learned a lot about the king and the princes (when he wasn't sleeping). Something's that were interesting while others were rather concerning (most of those conversations were Will's fault). One particular weird conversation is when Wilbur talked about his hatred of Anteaters.

"They just shouldn't exist! They are freaks of nature!"

"Why?!" Asked Phil who was just exasperated at the conversation they were having

"Oh, he has a whole list of reasons why Phil." Added Techno who was dead serious

"You've had this conversation before," Phil said with the most disappointed yet proud dad look he could muster

"Of course we did!" Wilbur answered with a look of disbelief on his face. Like he was offended Phil would ever think otherwise, "I have 32 reasons and counting of why Anteaters are shit."

"I wanna hear this!" Responded Tommy who was getting ready for a full-on debate

"First off they eat ants which is disgusting-"

"Don't you eat sand?" Phil shot back with an even more confused look on his face

"Wilbur eats sand?" Asked Tommy who now was also confused and a little bit disgusted

"Yes but that's beside the point! Eating ants and eating sand is completely different."

"Sure Wilbur, whatever helps you sleep at night," Responded Techno with a smug grin on his face

This conversation when on for an hour before they all called a truce for the night and went to bed. Tommy didn't realize he missed social interactions so until he got them back. And now he wouldn't trade his time with the Royal Family for the world. He wants to keep them for as long as he can before he is once again alone.