In Times of War

Getting Closer

The past few days had been crazy for Tommy. It started with him being diagnosed with anxiety and considering the possibility of him getting PTSD from the traumatic events he faced during the war. They also started to make a plan on how Tommy can best handle his anxiety together. Puffy So far it has been helpful! After that Phil and Tommy had a meeting with Puffy to see what activities they should add or take out to make sure there wasn't anything that could trigger Tommy. So far they took out any firework display, limited the number of interviews, and added more breaks in between events. From there they spent the rest of their time incorporating these ideas and planned everything out for the festival and crowning. They were aiming for the day to be as stress-free as possible! It was looking pretty pog so far!

Today Kristan was coming from the underground to help get ready for Tommy's crowing and festival! To say everyone was excited was an understatement. Phil was rushing around making sure everything was perfect, Techno and Wilbur were talking to each other about how they couldn't wait any longer, and Tommy, well he was basically vibrating in the chair he was sitting in.

"How much longer do we have to wait until she gets here!" Tommy whined as he leaned back as far as he could on the chair he was sitting in

"She could be here any minute," Wilbur responded while pushing Tommy's chair back in place

"Ugh, I'm bored. Philllllllllll!"

"Yes, Tommy?" Phil already sighs seeing the direction this conversation is going

"What is the worst word you know?" Phil was clearly caught off guard by this question and seemed to freeze for a minute

"I don't know any bad words," Phil lies as his face turned a bright shade of pink

Tommy thankfully didn't pick up on this and just responded, 'Good lad!' And carried on with the conversation talking about how Phil was the manliest of men. Though mid-speech the door to the castle opened and Tommy stopped what he was saying and sprinted to meet Kristan. Seeing this Phil broke down laughing soon joined by Wilbur and Techno.

Soon enough Tommy dragged Kristan into the room while catching her up on all that she missed.

"And then Wilbur was all like 'why do you keep challenging me to fights' like the pussy he is-"

"What did you say?" Wilbur asked and smirked as Tommy quickly backtracked and continued on as he had never said anything bad in his life

The rest of the night had gone by quickly and was filled with laughter and hugs. But then came the part of the night Tommy hated the most. Going to sleep. As a result of Tommy's traumatic experiences, he has a really hard time falling asleep. Puffy said it was normal and that it should get better in time but Tommy still found it annoying. Especially when he had something important to do the next day. He just hoped that he would be able to sleep the day before the festival. As he thought more about it Tommy realized the crowing and festival was in only two days! This new information did not help Tommy sleep at all.

The next day was spent going over the crowing ceremony. It seemed easy enough. Tommy just had to stand on the altar as the Priest did his thing and then get the crown put on his head. But this did not make Tommy any less nervous. The mass amount of seats in the room were a constant reminder of how many people were going to be at the ceremony. Sure they cut down the number of people allowed to come but it was still a lot! Tommy must have counted at least two hundred chairs! It was going to be insane. What if Tommy tripped or had to sneeze! Oh, god now he was even more nervous! No this is okay Tommy quickly thought to himself as he took deep breaths like how Puffy taught him. The kingdom was going to love him!

"Are you excited?" Phil asked him later that day

"I have been a little nervous not gonna lie," Tommy answered as he stared down at his feet

"That's ok. I was nervous the day I was crowned as King. It was so bad I nearly tripped over the podium," Phil laughed as he recalled the events from that day, "But I just kept reminding myself how hard I worked and that everything was going to be ok." Phil paused for a second and turned to face Tommy, "You don't need to be perfect Tommy, just do your best and be yourself. Our people will love you!" 

Tommy almost cried when he heard this. Phil always knew what to say and Tommy couldn't be more grateful.