The World's Not Perfect But It's Not That Bad (If We Got Each Other)

Cliff(literally)hanger

Sharp pain erupts into Tommy's finger and he hisses, hand pulling back as if burnt. He brings it up to eye level, staring at the droplet of blood on his index, place where the needle had pierced his skin, before putting it up to his lips, the metallic taste spreading in his mouth.

It's been a little more than a week since Dream had found him with Wilbur and Techno and brought him back to the tower. Dream wasn't pleased to learn that he had been going behind his back to meet knights, convinced that he had told them everything, and cut off his right to go outside. He would now randomly pop up during the day to knock at Tommy's door, checking that he hasn't left his prison.

Tommy tried to run, once. He waited a few days without doing anything so as to not raise any suspicion, and, right after Dream had checked on him for the day, escaped through the window to get some air.

When he came back, Dream was waiting for him with a smug look on his face.

There are bars on the window now. The tower's never felt more like a prison.

Earlier today, Tommy had managed to get some progress, after complaining about how bored he felt, with only Henry as company. Dream had pursed his lips before smirking, and left. Tommy had sighed and apologized to Henry for using him as an excuse, running a hand through the cow's soft fur. However, unexpectedly, Dream had come back a few hours later, wheezing like he had just heard the funniest joke ever, and thrown a piece of wool at him.

"You're bored?" A wheeze. "Why don't you- why don't you make yourself a nice little scarf?"

And he left, leaving Tommy to ponder how satisfying it would be to stab him a good hundred times with the needle he found in the wool.

That's how Tommy found himself in this position, knitting Henry a nice little beanie. He doesn't remember quite how he had picked up knitting. He thinks it comes back to a time with less wars and bloodshed, a time where he was still a person and not a weapon.

He misses that time.

Tommy is letting out his tenth sigh of the day, when he hears shouts coming from outside. His ears dress up and he immediately drops the beanie, approaching the window cautiously, the needle held tightly in his right hand, like it would be enough to defend himself from any possible intruders. He hears the shuffling get closer and louder, and takes a defensive stand, ready to stab, when Wilbur's head pops up behind the bars.

"Hi!" The man greets him happily, elbows firmly placed on the edge of the window and face red with fatigue. "How do you even go back up there so often? It's so high!"

Tommy can't do anything but stand there, frozen. Wilbur's not supposed to be there, and he's not supposed to be talking to him. Dream made it clear that he would never see the knights again. He isn't even allowed to talk about them, so how-

"Since when are there bars here?" Wilbur frowns, grabbing the bars with his hands and shaking them, like that would make them disappear, managing to not fall by planting his feet firmly into the cobblestone. "This is gonna be an inconvenience. Techno!"

It isn't long before Techno's head pops up as well. "You are an idiot, Wilbur. Sup, Tommy."

He receives no answer.

Wilbur shakes the bars even harder. He kinda looks like a feral cat who was put in prison. "Technooooo," he whines. "Fix this."

Techno lets out that very specific, exhausted sigh he only reserves for Tommy and Wilbur, before grabbing a bar with one hand and literally tearing it apart. He threw it on the ground and did the same with the second one, right in front of Tommy's bewildered eyes.