Playing In The Woods (The Best Method Of Escapism)

An Impromptu Sleepover

Tommy Careful Danger Kraken Innit was grounded.

He lay on his bed, looking up at the ceiling, crossing his arms. It wasn't fair. All he'd done was come home ten minutes too late from his time in the forest, and he was stuck in his room for the next three days. The worst part was, he'd promised Tubbo that he would meet him in the woods again the next day. He didn't like having to lie to his friends.

Unless... it wasn't a lie. Tommy sat up and looked out the window. He'd never considered sneaking out of the house before- God knows he'd give Dream a heart attack- but he was being forced to choose between worrying Dream and lying to his best friend. He chose to be honest.

He didn't need to leave yet, of course. It was almost nighttime, and he'd promised to be in the woods by 10 AM the next day. He decided to go to bed early instead. There probably wasn't going to be any dinner to stay awake for, anyway. He covered his face with his thin, worn blanket, willing himself to fall asleep sooner.

When Tommy woke up, it was because his alarm was blaring in his face. He shut it off quickly, fearing that it might wake up Dream, and that'd ruin all his plans. Dream was a fairly light sleeper, after all.

The red numbers on the alarm clock read 9:00. It was probably too early to get going just yet, but Tommy had never claimed to be the most patient person.  Quickly, he changed out of his pajamas and put on some clothes, a white tee over a lime green long-sleeved shirt, with jeans. He stuffed his pajamas under the covers, hoping to make the illusion that he was still sleeping. He'd seen that trick on TV.

When he turned back towards the window, he reconsidered for a moment. Dream would be really worried about him. Even if Tommy pretended he didn't care about that, he knew that eventually that worry would melt away, replaced with anger. Dream being angry was scary.

But what kind of courageous warrior would Tommy be if he let fear stop him? Without another moment's hesitation, he opened the window and clambered out, dashing away so fast that he forgot to close it.

If Tommy had to guess, he would say it was about 9:30 when he arrived in the part of the woods that he and Tubbo liked to hang out in. That left about half an hour until the ram hybrid arrived. He watched bugs crawl through the grass in the meantime, giving each one a name.

Eventually, Tommy heard footsteps running through the grass. He looked up to see Tubbo, who had arrived a bit earlier than Tommy anticipated. "Tubbo!" he called, grinning.

Tubbo startled, clearly not expecting him to be there. "Hey, big man," he greeted once he realized who it was. "When did you get here? I usually show up early."

"Yeah, well, I had to leave pretty early on. Had to sneak away from the green man." Tommy laughed a little at the memory, still not fully believing he'd actually done it. At Tubbo's confusion, he clarified. "He was pissed that I came home late yesterday, so he grounded me. I outsmarted him, though."

Tubbo sat down on the grass beside Tommy. "Hm. I don't get grounded."

"Really?" Tommy blinked in disbelief.

Tubbo chuckled. "If anything, I get anti-grounded. When I make my dad mad, he just kicks me out for a few hours."

"And you can do whatever you want?" Tubbo nodded, and Tommy crossed his arms. "Lucky."

Tubbo shrugged. "I dunno. Sucks not having access to free food."

"What, you can't get free food from convenience stores?"

"Nope."

"What if you tell them you're starving?"

Tubbo gestured toward himself. "I doubt they'd believe that."