━━ "I HATE YOU. YOU'RE UGLY."

Dream rolls his eyes from his corner of the room. "I get it. You said that like every ten minutes. Look. I've been in here for... I don't even know for how long I've been in here, but way longer than you have. I'm used to it at this point. Like if anything, this has been better for me."

Tommy looks up from the book he's been writing in. The title says: Why I hate Dream. "What do you mean, this has been better?"

Dream shrugs. "It's been better."

Tommy finishes writing his page and tosses the book at Dream. "Read that."

Dream opens the book, reads the first page, and chucks it into the lava. Tommy expects that. "You're acting like it's the end of the world."

Tommy sighs. "Look at that." He points to the clock hanging on the wall. "See? In a few hours, it will turn ever so slightly... Let me — okay."

"Tommy, do you remember when you visited me, and I said that? But like now you're in here, and I don't need it—"

Tommy shakes his head. "Dude, this isn't... let me out now."

Dream stands up, picking the clock off the wall. "Okay, look." He tosses it into the lava. "We don't need that. We don't need to know—"

"What the fuck?" Tommy shouts, jumping to his feet. "It said do not burn!"

Dream ignores him. "Tommy, hear me out."

"What?"

"What if... we get out together, okay?"

"No," Tommy said. "Because then you break out with me, and I don't want you to break out with me."

"But why?"

"We went over this yesterday, Dream. I don't like you, and I'm not gonna help you for my sake. You deserve to rot in here, and I'm going to make sure of it."

Dream's face hardens. "Tommy, I will get out. And when I do... I'll get my revenge."

"What does that mean? What the fuck does that mean?"

"It means that I'll get my revenge."

Tommy raises an eyebrow. Revenge on who? On him? "On who?"

"On everyone who wronged me."

"On fucking everyone? You wouldn't kill anyone, would you? You wouldn't kill someone." Almost immediately, Tommy backtracks. Dream would kill someone. "You'll kill Tubbo."

"Tommy, I will get revenge on everybody who wronged me, okay? People that have wronged me."

"You said Tubbo! The last thing you said before going to this prison, Dream, was Tubbo wronged you! You'll kill Tubbo, won't you?" Tommy questions, his heart pounding inside of his chest. God's, how long has he been in here? Three days? A week? And already, his fear was heightened again, but this time he wouldn't let it get the best of him.

"I will get revenge on everybody who has wronged me," Dream repeats.

"You will not kill Tubbo," Tommy practically snarled. "What else will you do? Blow up L'manburg again? Oh wait, you can't. You're not a fucking-"

"L'manburg's already gone. I don't know how it's gonna blow up when it's already blown up, Tommy," Dream said, and Tommy could hear the smirk in his voice. If he could, he'd slap it right off Dream's face. Did Dream even have a face? Tommy realizes that he's never seen Dream without his mask and that he can't actually imagine anything beneath it but a dark and endless void. Perhaps, that was what was there.

Or something much more sinister.

"You're such a twat."

"Yeah, and you're annoying."

"I'm not annoying. Everyone says that at first, but then they realize I'm incredible."

"Well, I went through the arc. It went up, and then it went back down," Dream said.

Tommy rolls his eyes, picking at his skin. "You're fucking evil, you know that?"

"How am I any more evil than you are?" Dream asked, tilting his head to the side in that condescending way of his.

"Die. You're evil. You're so evil. What else you're gonna do when you get out?"

"I'm gonna get revenge. That's what I'm gonna do."

Tommy groans. "Oh, stop that man already! Revenge, really?"

"I've been sitting here for almost two years. The only thing I think about is the revenge I can enact when I get out."

"How could you even get out, man?" Tommy points out, gesturing wildly to the lava surrounding them.

"I have a plan."

Tommy lets out a laugh, crossing this arms. "What is it then? Tell me, Dream. I won't tell anyone."

"Well, it's with a certain someone that owes me a favor. But I'm maybe part of it, but I do have a plan."

Tommy furrows his brows at that. "Does that mean Techno," He mumbles. "What the fuck do you mean? Oh, fu —"

"And I will get out. When I get out of here—"

"You're on about a fucking Technoblade, aren't you?" Tommy cuts him off. He hasn't spoken to Technoblade in years. The last time they talked, it was made clear how they felt about one another. "No! Fuck you, man! You're not getting out of here. You're a fucking... Fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you."

Dream begins to laugh. "No. Fuck you, Tommy. I've sat in here listening to your bullcrap! You're whining, you're crying. Crying about how this is worse than exile. This is so terrible."

"I wasn't crying," Tommy whispered under his breath.

"You're sitting in a box! I've been here—"

"Yeah, a claustrophobic box! A small box."

Dream snorts in response. "Okay, I've been in here for a hundred times longer than you! And you're trying to tell me that, it's so horrible and so bad. Yeah, it was! But guess what? We have each other to talk to."

Tommy shakes his head. "Dream? Dream. And listen to this. Fucking engrave this on you, okay? Write this into your arms, Dream. You don't have me. You never have me. We don't have each other. I am me, and you are this fucking loser who goes around manipulating people, lying to get what he wants. You are fucking no one, man. Alright?"

Tommy stands up. He balls his hands into fists. He couldn't even explain these feelings. It was pure hatred. Or was it fear? Tommy didn't know, and honestly, he didn't care. "And when I'm going to leave here. You're not. You might have a favor, you think - who is it? That fucking Technoblade is gonna go into this to let you out? He doesn't like governments. But he likes self-gain. You think he wants to piss off the owner of the most powerful building on this entire server?" Tommy pauses, watching Dream, searching for a sign that his words affected him. "No, Dream. You're a fucking asshole. You're deluded. You're delusional, and I fucking hate you."

"Uh-hm," Dream hums. "Okay. Yeah, but I have something Techno would want, so..."

"What does that even mean, man?"

"It means knowledge, right?"

"I don't care," Tommy dismisses, waving his hand in the air. "You don't have knowledge. You just fucking think that you're—"

"Why put me in prison when it doesn't take away my knowledge? What do you think that I know?" Dream asked. Tommy's silent. Dream stands up, meeting Tommy's eyes. "I will get out of here. I will. And then I get revenge. And the thing is, even when I'm in here, I'm more powerful than you are outside."

"Dream, I—"

"And that's true. It's always been true, and it will always be true," Dream said, knocking against Tommy's shoulder as he goes to stare at the lava.

"Dream. Look at me," Tommy commands. Although, with the mask, you can never quite tell if he's looking at you in the first place. "Stop fucking talking for once in your self-obsessed life."

"Says you."

"No! And you still keep fucking talking, don't you?"

Dream turns around at that, and he hits Tommy. "You've been here annoying me for the last I don't know long!"

Tommy retaliates, hitting Dream. "Are you gonna listen to me, or are you gonna keep talking to yourself? If I wanted to, I could just kill you. And the only reason I'm not is because of my friends, for Tubbo. Because we need that fucking revive book, alright? That's the only reason I'm not killing you. That's the only fucking reason."

Dream chuckles, stepping back. "Tommy. I'm never. I'm never ever going to use that revive book to help you or any of your stupid little friends, okay? I'm never. Never! I'm never going to."

"Say that again. Say that again," Tommy demands.

Dream steps closer to Tommy. He's so close Tommy watches his breath fan over Dream's mask. "I'm never gonna use the revive book. I will never use it on you. I will never use it on any of your friends. I will never use it to save any of you. So, kill me. Go ahead, c'mon."

Dream was a lot of things.

A liar was one of them. Tommy doesn't know what to believe.

But then again, when has ever?

"I'm not gonna use it. When Tubbo dies, you come here begging me. And I'll tell you: "Let me out. Let me out. Otherwise, I'm not using it." And Tubbo will be dead forever. So, you either let me out or you let Tubbo forget. So..."

"What do you mean 'when Tubbo dies'?" Tommy questioned. He couldn't let Tubbo die. Not after the life he's lived now. It wasn't fair. Tommy deserved to die. He was always going to die alone, but Tubbo? Tubbo had people who cared about him. He didn't deserve that.

"If Tubbo dies," Dream corrects, a slight annoyance to his voice. "I'll get out eventually. Because you either let me out, or people will be dead. And that's the thing like, yeah, you put me in here because you want me to use the book. But if I'm here-"

"Shut up," Tommy growls. "I know why I'm in here. This isn't worse than exile. In exile, I thought you had all the power. I thought you were tangling me like a puppet, man. And even though in here it's small and I'm claustrophobic, and I hate this. Here's the thing, Dream," Tommy takes a deep breath in. "Here's the thing I know. ... The revive book, Dream. It's not real, is it? It's not fucking real."

"Oh my god... Tommy," Dream drawls, his mask lifting up to show the grin on his face.

"Shut the fuck up!" Tommy shouts. "What I remember from exile is that all you do is lie to me. When we went down into your pit here's what you told me. 'It was me that reorganized your beach party. It was me who blew the Community house!'" Tommy mocks Dream's voice by making it more high-pitched before narrowing his eyes. "You are a clinical manipulator. A psychopath, if you will. So, I know. This revive book that you keep fucking going about? This little card that JSchlatt — JSchlatt was just a fucking drunk madman. He wasn't some guy that had access to this omniscient revive book. Fuck off, man. You're lying."

"You're calling me a liar when I'm not lying."

"You're lying! You're fucking lyi—"

"JSchlatt gave the book. Why else would I switch to Jschlatt's side!" Dream defended, and Tommy doesn't care. Dream was Dream. He never needed a reason for anything.

"Why would Schlatt have that book? That doesn't make any sense, man! You're just lying, aren't you? It doesn't make sense, that you have this revive book. Like it doesn't add up. I genuinely think that you're just lying."

"Tommy," Dream calls.

"So, you know what, Dream? There is no-"

"Every time you come in, you've been disrespectful, you've been annoying," Dream yells, effectively cutting off Tommy. "You've been a little bitch and then complain when you talk to me. And you accuse me of things. You accuse me of being a liar, being manipulative."

"You are," Tommy said.

Dream disregards his comment. "I'm not lying. JSchlatt gave me a revive book. He gave me a revive book before he died. Because he said-"

"Then revive him! Revive him right now!" Tommy shouts.

Dream scoffs. "That's not how it works, Tommy."

"Revive Schlatt right now."

"Tommy, I'm not lying!" He shoves the blond back. "Why would I lie about that? To save my own skin or something? To try and-"

Tommy stumbles back, using the wall as support. "Exactly that! You're a liar. You're a liar and really—"

"Tommy—"

"Through your netherite armor and skin, I look at you, and you know what I see?" Tommy asked, a sick grin spreading across his face. If he could see it, he would say it reminded him too much of Dream. "I see a sad little man who's insecure about the fact that he lost everything, and his only little glimpse of power in this world is gone. All I see is an insecure sad little man, alright? So, fuck off."

Under the mask, Dream's eyebrow twitches. His hands turn into fists because Tommy was right. And Dream never wanted to admit that. "Tommy, your life is literally in my hands. Does that make you lose? Does that make so you mad? That you can't kill me?"

"My life is not in your hands, Dream. I know, you're not gonna do shit to me," Tommy said easily. If Dream wanted to do something to him, then he would've done it already.

Dream's nails dig into his skin, blood beginning to drip onto the obsidian. He knew what came next. "I might as well be a god, Tommy! You can't kill me! And I can kill you! You will need me! For your own revival."

"Do you hear yourself? You're fucking up your own ass, you self-obsessed—"

"What does that mean? If you can't kill me. Does that make me some kind of god?"

Tommy wrinkles his face in disgust at that. "I could kill you right now if I wanted to." His eyes drift to Dream's fists, dripping blood, and something inside Tommy stops.

"Okay. But you won't." Dream shoves Tommy harshly against the obsidian. "I could kill you if I wanted to."

"Do you know why I won't? Because I'm leaving this prison in a—," Dream punches him across the jaw.

"I could kill you. I could kill you right now, actually," Dream snarls, pulling Tommy back and slamming him against the wall again.

"Stop it!" Tommy screams, beating at Dream's hands holding his shirt. "Look at me. The only reason I'm not is because you're in this prison. And I'm gonna get my little scoop around, and I'm gonna be fine Dream. You? You're stuck in here forever. I don't think this revive book is real. Schlatt? He's fucking dead. I've seen his grave! His grave is real. His corpse is there."

"Why don't you go see him then?" Dream shouts and lands another punch across Tommy's face.

Tommy begins kicking and hits Dream off of him. He rolls to the floor, wiping the blood from his nose. Before he gets a chance to stand up, Dream kicks him in the ribs, and Tommy lets out a groan.

"Stop it," He croaks, but Dream ignores him.

Dream jumps on top of him, and Tommy begins kicking violently. He hits, and he pulls. He does everything to stop the hits that keep coming. Dream lands punch after punch across Tommy's face, and each time, he feels his head smack the floor. There's a ringing in his ear, and he begins coughing up blood next to him. He must've been hanging on by a thread because he can't hear anything anymore, but he can feel Dream's punch cutting the skin across his face. Tommy shuts his eyes tightly, waiting for the punch that never comes. And suddenly, he can see it happening. It hits him square in the jaw, but he doesn't feel anything.

There's nothing but darkness, and a voice calls out for him.

"Tommy?"

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
wc; 2.6K
Song inspo: oh yeah, you gonna cry? by lovejoy
Originally published: December 13th, 2021 7:20am

a/n: ITS MY BIRTHDAY!!! so what better way to celebrate then killing off tommy :) hehe

hope you're all having a lovely day and thank you for reading <3