Stealth. (FtM Karl)

Support

Tommy rested his head on Karl's shoulder as he sat beside him against the wall. It was the only form of physical support that he deemed appropriate in this situation.
He just patiently waited for Karl to be ready, he listened as his breathing evened and his sobs fell silent.
He waited for Karl to take that deep breath that signified that he could breath properly once again.
And he waited for Karl to lift his head back up, he looked in the mirror at Tommys reflection and the blonde smiled at him.

"Hi." The younger greeted.
"...hey."
"Before you ask, I got sent home for beating up a kid. Don't tell Phil."
Karl chuckled slightly due to the randomness of the boys comment, "I'm sure he had it coming... what did he do?" He asked, wiping his cheeks with his sleeve.
Tommy shrugged, "let's just say he said some shit I wasn't too fond of."
Karl hummed in response, the room fell back to silence, a surprisingly comfortable silence.

"Sorry if this is weird," the blonde started, "I'm not great with the whole comforting thing."
"It's fine, don't force yourself." Karl smiled. But Tommy didn't move from where he was.
The younger waited for a moment before asking, "do you want to talk about it at all?"
Karl shook his head, no. Tommy nodded, understanding.
It once again fell into silence, the two just listened to the small and usually unnoticeable noises of the world around them for a bit.

"Bouncing round the foster system, you learn not to grow attached to people you meet, you realise that most relationships you build with others don't last very long or sometimes they don't even mean anything." He started, surprising Karl as the brunette didn't expect Tommy to ever want to open up to him about anything, "but when Phil adopted me and I met Wilbur and Techno, after a while I felt like I really had a place in the world again, and everything started to just fit." He explained, Karl listened to his story, "I don't know what you went through, I haven't got the slightest clue. But I know that this place will help you cope, the people in it have that effect on you." He smiled.

Karl smiled aswell, not just because Tommy was but because the boy had actually opened up to him about something and given him advice. He was worried he would never grow close to anyone in the house, that he would never really bond with Tommy or Techno, even Phil, now he understood why.
But this was progress.

"Wow, Tommy, who knew you were so wise." He mocked weakly.

Tommy put on a dramatic, shocked expression, "are you calling me dumb, Karl? Cus I'll have you know, my IQ is big, like me. Cus, like, I'm a big man." He proudly objected.

Karl laughed a little bit, "you sure are, Tommy. Possibly the biggest man I know." He added, "even if I am taller."

"Nonono" Tommy protested, removing his head from Karl's shoulder so he could be face to face with him, "you just don't get it, Karl, big men aren't big men on the outside, all the big manly man-ness all comes from the inside. The biggest of big men come from in here." He exclaimed, slapping his chest to imply his heart.

Without Tommy even realising it, he had literally just given Karl guidance, an awakening of sorts. The boy felt oddly comforted by Tommys words.
'When he's not full of energy and running around, he's actually very calm and comforting. Wise kid.' He noted.

"Hey." Tommy whispered, "can I tell you something?" He asked, a huge grin on his face.
Karl smiled, knowing that what would come next was bound to be wither hilariously surprising, or humorously random, "yeah, sure. What?" He agreed.

Tommy looked around the room as if checking to see if someone was watching before he replied, "that kid I beat up earlier? Huge piece of shit. Not a big man." He shook his head in disappointment, "he was being very transphobic. So I punched him. Bitch wouldn't even say it to my face, so I gave his a slap."

"As you should." Karl inputted, not wanting to encourage the boy but also wanting to let him know that he doesn't necessarily disagree with it.
'What does he mean by "say it to my face"?' He thought, but he shrugged it off assuming maybe it was just a misunderstanding.

"Exactly. I like you, Karl. You get it." He nodded, approvingly.

"So you beat up a bigot and got sent home early?"

"Yeah. Sounds like a win win on my half, punch a kid AND go home early? Living the dream."

"Did the school not call Phil already then?"
"Shhhhh shshshshshsh, let's not think about it. We can just hope that they didn't." He interrupts, trying to stay positive.

By this point, Karl has completely forgotten why he was even originally sad to begin with, completely distracted by Tommy.