-Rehabilitating a Child Soldier-

Paint Bonds

"Holy shit!" Skeppy exclaimed, his eyes locked on Tommy's overgrown nails, "How did Bad not notice those?! I though he was the perfectionist..."

"Language!" Tommy paused, pursing his lips. He didn't know why he said that... It felt so wrong coming from his mouth.

Skeppy blinked down at him, snickering under his breath.

"... Where is Bad?" He mumbled the question he was originally going to ask, still unsure of how to feel about the man standing in front of him.

He wasn't as physically intimidating as the demon, but his attitude made him a little threatening... 

It was almost like a Techno and Wilbur situation...

...Almost...

"Oh, he's with Sapnap. The two of them went to the Nether for a little father-son time. Annnnd, I can't swim in lava, sooo, here we are? After all, demons hibernate if their bodies get too cold, and it's going to snow in a few days, so they're probably going to stock up on lava buckets while they're out there."

Tommy nodded at his response, taking in every element of what that meant for him. In short, while it did make sense, the house was now less guarded and less secure. Skeppy definitely wasn't helping that feeling go away. Neither was this atrocious excuse of a breakfast that was worse than the stuff he ate in Pogtopia.

He quickly finished the glass of orange juice and placed the tray down, grabbing Bad's muffin before Skeppy continued.

"Now, those nasty looking nails won't do. Come on, before Bad sees and makes it a whole scene."

With that, Skeppy grabbed Tommy's wrist and brought him out into the living room. It freaked him out for a moment before the adult released him from his grip.

"Sit." Skeppy commanded, pointing down at the white carpet.

Tommy swiftly obeyed, tense, and nervous of what could happen if he did something wrong.

At least the carpet was soft...

"Wait here."

Skeppy left the room for a moment, while Tommy had a whole internal panic trying to figure out what he did wrong. He was terrified that Skeppy was going to come back and start yelling at him... or worse...

Tears actually began to well up in his eyes before Skeppy returned, carrying a tub of stuff.

Skeppy plopped down right in front of him, setting the stuff aside and taking the kid's hand before noticing the distressed look on his face.

"Hey, um, are you good?" He tilted his head, clearly concerned, but not really doing a good job connecting with him. 

Tommy quickly nodded, wiping his eyes in an attempt to erase the feelings.

"Want me to go get Bad?"

A quick head shake told him no. Tommy didn't want to cause the demon more trouble than he already had. After all, Bad had been so kind to him... letting him stay and took care of him.

"Hmmm....Okie! Hold still. I don't want to accidentally clip your finger."

Skeppy, got to work, his tongue falling out of his mouth as he concentrated. He cautiously began clipping Tommy's fingernail that were so awful, they might even be on the verge of infection. 

It took Tommy a minute to regain the confidence to even look around, he was so anxious. And even when he did, he kept his eyes low, avoiding contact with him, just going along with what he wanted. It hurt a little, but the derp just seemed like he wanted to help...

...He just wasn't as good at it as Bad was...

"Done. Now, what color do you want?"

Skeppy pushed the tub towards him as he set the nail clipper down. To Tommy's surprise, the box was filled with little bottles, filled with different colors.

"Actually..." Skeppy though out loud, "What colors would look the best on me? You can chose which ones would be best for me first!"

His cheeky, cheerful smile melted Tommy's worry. The amount of energy couldn't even be found threatening anymore, and it was finally clear that the dork meant no harm. He began digging through the box to find his favorite colors.

Blue and red!

Once he found them, Skeppy explained how to use them, and then gave him his hands. Tommy decided on an every other nail pattern, but he didn't have the steadiest grip...

He managed to get one and a half hand painted before he got any reaction.

"Careful!" Skeppy coaxed after a minute, his hand turning to diamonds to avoid getting more paint on his skin, "That stuff isn't good for human skin."

Tommy looked up at him, making eye contact while noticing the diamond mass on Skeppy's cheek...

...He only said it was bad for human skin...

He slowly began to reach up, dabbing red paint on the diamond splotch.

"H-Hey!" Skeppy giggled, as he playfully swatted at Tommy. And for the first time, Tommy joined in on the laughter, mischievously gigging as Skeppy slowly grew more colorful.

Of course, all good things must come to an end, and it did as he felt his leg bump into something.

"Tommy!" Skeppy's tone changed as he gasped, quickly scooping up the open bottle that he had knocked onto the white carpet.

It was too late, there was already a blue stain on the rug.

For a moment, anxiety gripped Tommy's gut, fearful that he had just fucked up... But Skeppy simply chuckled again after a bit.

"Oh my... Bad is going to kill me when he gets back... Oh well! I think we've had enough excitement for one day. Wanna go back to your room? You'll have a bit more peace there while I clean up the messes I've made."

Skeppy's tone was so lighthearted that it confused the poor kid, because he thought he had just done an irreversible, terrible thing. Nonetheless, he nodded.

He was surprised when he was scooped up, although, with a little bit of trouble.

"Oh my goodness... you're heavy!" Skeppy complained, beginning the walk across the house.

"Well maybe you're just weak!" Tommy teased with a grin, before his face fell.

The words felt so different when rolling off his tongue. It made him freeze.

You're weak, Tommy...

Wilbur's words ran through his head, and as the adult giggled at the tease, Tommy curled his knees up and snuggled into Skeppy's hoodie, clinging on as tight as he could...