Alliums

Get away

Tommy woke up in an unfamiliar room. 

He didn't know where he was, or what had happened. His head hurt, his ears hurt, his ribs, hurt, even his fingers hurt! Tommy was in a lot of pain. One of his arms were wrapped up in some sort of splint, or maybe a cast. Either way, it felt broken. 

At least his ears were still hidden. The cloak, in fact all of his clothes, were still on, so his ears could still be hidden by the hood. Hopefully Tommy could get in and get out of this house, before anyone started asking question. He knew the second they found out about his ears, they'd be suspicious and scared of him, they'd think he was a monster, just like everyone else. 

Tommy slid his legs to the side of the bed he was on --must have been a guest bedroom-- and hopped off. He felt kind of dizzy, so he stood there, hoping the feelings would go away and weighing his options. As tired as he was, and as much as he wanted to fall back asleep, Tommy was starving. The last time he ate was........ was........

Tommy had no idea. 

"Okay, food, then I leave." Tommy murmured. He had no intentions of staying longer than he needed, but he needed food. 

Tommy staggered to the stairs, using the walls for support. He stayed quiet until she reached the living room. It was very open and sitting at the table in the dining room across the room was Tec-tec-techno? Maybe. Tommy hoped he didn't mess up his name in front of him.

Techno gently grinned. "H-hey, Tommy. Come eat." 

Tommy was trapped. He was sure no wasn't an option, so he decided to just sit down at the table. He watched curiously as Techno poured cereal and milk into a bowl. Then Techno pushed the bowl towards him. 

Tommy's eyes widened. "It's okay." Techno reassured. "I can make another. Just eat." 

Tommy smiled. "Th- thanks, Techno." 

Techno grinned, trying and failing to hide it. 

Tommy took a bite, realized how good it was, and started to wolf it down. 

"When was the last time you ate?" Techno asked. 

Tommy shrugged. "Five days ago.... wait, how long was I out?" 

"Two days." Techno grinned. "Me and Wilbur finally threatened to knock Phil out with a hammer. We've all just been waiting for you to wake up." 

"Oh... sorry." Tommy murmured. "I guess seven days then." 

"So that's why you stole the bread." Techno murmured. "Desperation." 

"Y-yeah, I guess. Desperation and stupidity. I knew he was looking at me." Tommy sighed. "I was just..... desperate's a good word for it." 

Techno said nothing, just sliding the cereal box towards Tommy and motioning wordlessly to his empty bowl. Tommy smiled. "Th-thanks." he said, pouring more. 

When he and Techno were both finished Techno suggested Tommy took a shower. "Phil said you could if you feel up to it. Wilbur's not awake yet and..... we could get you out of those clothes and into some... not destroyed clothes? Come on." 

He led Tommy upstairs and into a bathroom. "Wait here." Techno instructed. "I'll find some clothes. They'll probably be a bit big but..... I don't know, at least they'll be warm." 

Tommy nodded. "Um... Th-thank you, Techno." 

Techno suppressed another grin. "Yeah, of course." 

When he stepped out of the bathroom Tommy got his first good look at himself. He was covered in blood, he had a black eye, and his lip was split. His left arm was in the cast and Tommy could see bruises along his neck. 

Techno stepped into the bathroom and found Tommy crying. "Oh... Tommy." he murmured. 

Techno bent down and gently wrapped his arms around Tommy. Tommy broke, sobbing. 

"Shhh, I know. I know." Techno whispered, carefully rubbing circles around Tommy's back. "Shhh, it's okay now. It's okay." 

I don't deserve his kindness. 

If he only knew. 

I'm a monster. 

He'd hate me. 

Tommy cried harder. 

"Shhhh, it's okay. You're okay now. You're safe." Techno promised. "You'll always be safe." 

Wait, always?

"Why don't you go take a shower?" Techno suggested. Tommy nodded, not trusting himself to speak. 

Techno left, leaving Tommy and a pile of clothes. 

And Tommy took the best shower of his life. 

Afterwards, Tommy realized Techno had taken his dirty clothes out of the bathroom. (There was a shower curtain, Techno didn't see anything)

That was nice of him, but there was one problem. He took Tommy's cloak. Tommy had nothing to hide his ears with. 

Tommy started to panic. They can't see my ears, they can't! He took a deep breath, flattening his ears to his head and running out of the bathroom after he put the new clothes on. 

And almost immediately slammed into a boy with brown hair. Owwwwww. "Woah, oh! Hey Tommy!" Wilbur cheered. "What are you doing up?" 

"Huh? Nothing. Nothing, uh, where's Phil?" Tommy asked hurriedly.

"Is something wrong?" Wilbur asked, looking concerned. 

"No, no no." Tommy insisted. "I just, uh, I was just wondering where my clothes went." 

"Oh yeah, Techno stuck them in the wash. Do you still want to see him?" 

Tommy nodded, careful to keep his ears flat against his head. 

He thought he saw a small flash of jealousy in Wilbur's eyes. "Here, they're both in Phil's office. I know Phil wanted to check on you anyways." 

He led Tommy down a hallway to a closed door and knocked. "Hey, Dadza! Open up!" 

Techno opened the door, rolling his eyes. "There are more polite ways of knocking, you know." 

"Oh, stop pestering your brother, let him in." Phil smiled gently at Tommy. "Hey, mate. How are you feeling?" 

" 'm alright, thanks." Tommy mumbled. 

"Techno stole his clothes!" Wilbur exclaimed. "And he wants em back."

Tommy winced. "J-just the cloak. It's just... it's just important to me, that's all." 

Phil nodded. He sounded like he was trying to coax a squirrel. "Alright, you can have it as soon as it's out of the wash." 

Tommy's ears started to shake and twitch. It really hurt keeping them held down. He knew they couldn't stay down for long. He had to hurry. 

"I-I- I can't I can't. I- I need it now." 

"What's wrong?" Techno asked. 

"Yeah. It's just a silly cloak." Wilbur agreed. "You'll be alright, Toms." 

Tommy felt like they were surrounding him, the walls were closing in. he was panicking, he was terrified. He started to shake and he couldn't get any words out. Suddenly, he felt his ears pop up on his head, being revealed over his blonde hair. 

Everyone fell silent. "Ohh...." Techno murmured. 

"I'm sorry!" Tommy cried. "I-I-" He struggled to speak and ended up hissing like a raccoon. Fear coursed through his veins and he did something extremely stupid. 

He ran.

Luckily he was fast, and no one was expecting it. He raced downstairs and out of the house, fleeing past houses and even the place where the man had beaten him up. Tommy realized all of these people were seeing the dirty street freak with raccoon ears. 

Tommy fled into the woods around the village. He ran until his legs gave out on him and he fell, painfully landing on his injured arm. His vision swam, black spots were gathering from who knows where, and his lungs burned. He wasn't sure how long it was before darkness met him, and he fell asleep.