Pairing: Tommy + Reader
Warnings: None
Pronouns: They/them
----------
(Y/n)'s body ruffled around in the bushes as they tried to toss and turn to find the right spot to keep themself warm. Clearly, the leaves and the branches weren't enough to keep the heat insulated, which left their shivering self to freeze out into the cold. On one of the darkest of months during the darkest of times, (Y/n) found themself stranded miles outside of Manburg. (Y/n) had been kicked out of their parents' house in that country, so they travelled miles and miles away from their home. This may have not been the best decision for them, but it was the only one left.
They were alone, with nothing to eat but the berries that grew on the end of the bush that they were snuggled in. Their stomach even growled at the fact that they hadn't eaten a proper meal in hours since leaving their home and exiting the border. The berries weren't even fully ripened as most of them had already been picked by what (Y/n) could only assume were other travellers. The sourness from the small fruits grew more bitter on (Y/n)'s tastebuds as they endured the distasteful sensation of them.
Tommy was wandering around the area by Pogtopia with his horse, glancing around the place to try and find berries and fruits to take back to the ravine to eat. Animals made a lot of noise, which meant that he wasn't able to take any large stock back to the base because it held them at risk of being caught. This small fact meant that he'd have to survive of things like fruit, bread and scraps of meat that he found around the plain. Breeding was basically forbidden within Pogtopia's walls, they had to keep extra quiet.
Of course, they had pets down in the ravine, but everybody that lived there had grown so attached to all of the animals there that they'd blow the walls off the ravine if they found out that the animals had died. They were all clinging onto any sort of attention that they got after being lonely for so long, this meant that forming friendships with their pets wasn't completely out of the question.
When Tommy's eyes laid on the berry bush, he gasped in a great surprise. He leapt off the horse, petting it as he moved towards the berry bush to start picking off some of the fruits, excited to tell his friends that he had gathered something for them. His horse breathed out heavily as he waved that he would be back, and with this information, he turned away from it, letting it stand by.
He knelt beside he leaves and started picking the red berries off, dropping them into a little bag he had attached to his belt to carry his food. He took the berries that looked the ripest. (Y/n) was on the other side while he was doing this and their breath was held to ensure that they didn't even make a peep. Their hand was clenched tightly to their chest to try and squeeze the silence out of them. They didn't want to get caught, especially not at this time of night. They must have figured that the figure on the other side was just another mob or monster. However, unbeknownst to them, it was actually just a regular guy.
Tommy's hand pulled one of the leaves back, which caused (Y/n) to gasp and pull away from their original spot in surprise. Tommy saw the movement beyond the bush and took a step back, a little puzzled at what could have just happened.
"Hello?" He called out, narrowing his eyes to try to look through the little gaps in the leaves whilst also trying not to move any more than he had been.
There was quiet.
When there was no response, Tommy just decided to move forward and check for himself since they weren't to keen on answering back to him. He was a little skeptical, but went through with it anyway.
He quickly pulled one side of the bush at its edge to reveal the crouched silhouette of a young person, shivering behind its leaves. They had a coat wrapped tightly around them like a blanket and a threatened expression was worn on their face. Tommy's eyes widened at the sight as he laid forth his view on this beautiful, but scared, character. Most of their body had been wrapped in the jacket that warmed them through the night, but their face was still visible. Little scars and patches of dirt were seen against their skin from hiding in the prickly bushes.
(Y/n) knew exactly who this person was. That was ex-Vice President Tommy. Now, (Y/n) hadn't lived in L'Manburg long enough to remember when he was Vice President because they moved in quite recently, but they had been taught enough to know that he was a bad person. Schlatt taught their school that people like Wilbur Soot and TommyInnit were bad people. Exiles, if you would. They poisoned the history of their great land and tainted the name of Manburg.
"Hey..." Tommy held his hand out forward to try and comfort them, but they swatted it away and snapped their body away from him.
"Get away from me!" They cried out, clutching themself in fear. To them, all they saw was an evil villain who they were taught to hate. There was nothing more to it.
"W-What..?" He spoke back softly, holding his hand away from them. "Why..?" He looked quite hurt that they didn't accept his hand, especially when his only attention was to help them.
"Because I know who you are!" They hissed, still shivering. "I know what you're like!" (Y/n) snapped.
"I don't know what you're talking about..." He softly scratched the back of his palm nervously while (Y/n) shuddered behind the leaves, gripping their arms tightly in a hug as they squirmed further away from him.
"You're a villain!" They bit defensively, still shaking like the fearful person they were.
"Huh..?" He furrowed his brows in a confused manner, his voice dropping slightly to accompany his gravelly tone.
"You're TommyInnit! You're the villain that Schlatt always teaches us about!" Tommy fell silent went the words rolled out of their mouth. "I'm not naive! I know you're just here to hurt me like you threatened to hurt the president!"
"I..." Tommy gulped, swallowing his words. "Listen, I'm not here to hurt you! I'd never hurt anyone... Unless you're American..."
"What?" They sat, puzzled.
"Wilbur tells me not to associate with Americans..." He muttered out. "But that's fine if you are! I'm not here to like- Attack you or anything." He cleared his throat. "I just came out here to pick some berries for food..." (Y/n) narrowed their eyes suspiciously as Tommy continued talking. "And since you're out here shivering in a berry bush, I'm guessing you're in need of shelter... If you'd like, I could take you to a place... A place where it's nice and warm... You could eat there too."
"You think I believe that?" They snapped, their lip quivering intensively. "I'm not stupid, you know!"
"I never said you were..." He spoke back gently, battling their harsh and petrified tone. "...But I'd say you'd have to be a little naive to turn down an offer for shelter to sit in a berry bush for the night." He shrugged.
"But..." They stammered, reluctantly crawling towards Tommy with fear glazed over their eyes. "You're going to hurt me..." They squeaked in a hushed voice, almost like a whisper.
Tommy held out his hand before them to allow them to grasp it. They felt the heat radiating from his palm, which was a strange contrast between their freezing skin. Despite it being incredibly cold at the touch, he took their hand and led them out of the bush.
"I won't hurt you." He stated kindly. "I promise."