"i liked this sweater cause it made me feel special, like i was a wearing a crown.
i don't feel that special anymore."
y/n held tommy's hand as they walked through the woods.
y/n noticed his sweater was a mix of white with some bits of green here and there. it was a dark green like cactuses. the cat had its tongue sticking out and it was a gray tabby cat with mixed colored eyes.
"what do you want to do today, tommy?" y/n asked, trying to distract him from wilbur.
the boy thought about it. and thought. and thought. his face turned red at the answer.
"fishing. i..never learned how to properly do it."
he thought it was very unmasculine of himself to not be able to fish properly.
they stopped at a pond and looked in it. tommy stared a little too hard.
"show me how you did it then, big man." y/n encouraged and tommy laughed.
he rolled up his pant legs to his knee, which didn't take long, and took his boots off with his socks. he took his sweater off and rolled up his red sleeves. he stood in the middle of the pond while leaning over the water.
he squinted and suddenly slammed his hands into the water, yanking a sizeable cod out.
"here's a looker!" he yelled gleefully
"well done tommy!" y/n shouted back and he held it up above his head while walking over to y/n.
he held it out and she looked down at it.
"he's missin an eye, poor bloke." tommy said sadly as the fish wiggled in his hands.
"very well then, return this king to his waters." y/n saluted and tommy marched like a soldier back to the water.
"there ya go lil fella." he said in an australian accent and also saluted as the fish scurried away.
"what a cute lil bugger- ooh what's that! another is approachin! we must be calm, let him want to come to us..." he went on in his accent, his A's sounding like O's.
"alright big man, i've seen enough of your top notch skill. time to learn a different way." y/n chuckled and tommy stepped out of the water with a smile.
"here's a fishing pole. so you lean it back and yank it forward."
"yay!- awwhh..."
he caught something!
it was a nearby tree.
"okay okay i get two more tries!"
he got it the 10th time.
"now what?"
"we...wait."
tommy wasn't a big fan of waiting. but for y/n...he would.
"something's pulling it?"
"okay tug it back!"
he stood up and ran backwards, stumbling over a rock.
he landed on his back with an 'oof!' and saw something land on his chest.
a little purple tropical fish wiggled atop him and he sat up, grabbing it around its stomach.
"look look! i caught a fish for the first time!" he said excitedly as y/n cheered.
"good job tommy! let's put it in a glass bottle so we can take it home." she smiled and he quickly slid it into the bottle, running over to get water for it.
y/n smiled at the excited boy who looked like a little kid again.
tommy caught her gaze and suddenly felt like a younger person, spending time with an older person he wanted to be just like. her gaze was loving and soft.
his face relaxed and he smiled back at her, standing up to walk back.
they continued fishing, until the sun began setting.
y/n helped tommy make his sweater into a makeshift basket to carry his treasures.
empty bottles, soggy maps, and even boots. he loved them.
they were walking down a path, wanting to see where it would take them. they saw purple and orange fireworks go off above the trees nearby and a dark building loomed over. they looked to each other.
"fuck it." they said at the same time and set off.
october 17/18, 2021 1k