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A/N: have a double update for not posting for so long <3

Ch. 9—space

Tommy had been meaning to speak to Tubbo for a good amount of time, the only problem with that being that he never really could get a hold of him. About fifty percent of the time the boy was entirely out of sight, but he couldn't have gone to the surface considering the world hadn't fallen apart yet. Alongside him, however, Jschlatt seemed to have been making fewer and fewer appearances as of recent. The connection between both, Tommy wasn't one hundred percent sure of yet, but he had a feeling that it had something to do with the secret alliance they had formed with the underworld.

He felt that the other leaders hadn't noticed their absence at all, seeing as their home—The Temple, was far out in the wilderness in a secluded mountain corner that would be inefficient to scale. Even Badboyhalo, perhaps the nicest Angel leader he had ever met, didn't care too much to go check on them, and besides, he and Technoblade had better things to do, maybe involving ignoring each other's existence. 

Anyway, he was wandering the halls of the fourteenth floor of the skyscraper, the one that Schlatt had permitted him to explore as much as he desired without consequence. So far, he was combing through the rooms to look for even the smallest scrap of information that he could get his hands on, though his efforts did remain fruitless so far. The only thing he had actually figured out was how to assemble various types of furniture from the dusty manuals laying around. 

Tommy sighed and pushed his fingers through his hair, letting the honey-colored curls fall back over his forehead as he walked out of yet another room empty-handed. His hands were caked with dust and grime—Tommy felt as if the floor hadn't been cleaned up for a while now, seeing as everything had a thin film of gray settled over it. He was approaching the elevator, deciding that he'd take a break and grab a bite to eat (although he didn't feel hunger) to maybe distract him from the looming deadline. Jschlatt was growing more and more suspicious by the day, in accordance to Dream, so they'd have to work quickly. 

The elevator dinged softly before Tommy could get close enough to press the button, which startled him enough for him to stumble back. The doors drew open to reveal a brunette on the shorter side with bright green eyes, his skin accented with cuts and bruises. Shimmering gold blood matted his face and arms, the ichor dripping down to his fingertips.

It took about five seconds for both to take stock of the unwanted run-in, the twins froze and stared for what seemed to be an eternity before Tubbo's eyes widened and his injuries hastily melted away. His skin cleared, cuts closed and the blood, every last drop, was wiped from his appearance and, although his chest was rising and falling rapidly, he looked fine. It didn't stop Tommy from questioning him, though.

"Tubbo, might I ask what the hell was that? Did you get into a fight? How—" He was interrupted by Tubbo perking a brow in his direction and looking at him as if he was a madman. His brother shrugged his shoulders before speaking in a painfully casual manner, his tone skipping right over him looking so beat up. 

"Oh! I um— I have no clue what you're talking about, Tommy. Are you okay?" He responded innocently enough, though the nervousness in his voice was prominent. Tubbo was a terrible liar. "Maybe we should uh, get something to eat, you've been working all day right?" He paused for a few seconds between his words, like he was thinking of something to say. 

"Tubbo, you suck at lying." Tommy bit back quite bluntly, causing the other to flinch. "What did you even do? You looked like you got your ass kicked, which shouldn't even happen in the first place." 

Tubbo's face fell for a moment, finally, before he started spilling what sounded like a reasonable truth. "I was training, yeah, the people here scare me sometimes, and besides, I haven't used my powers in forever, I've gotten pretty rusty. You should join, sometime soon, in the near future, um..yeah." He mumbled the last few words through his teeth and averted his eyes to the ground. Tommy felt his brow crease with worry, but it didn't linger for very long. It was true that they haven't gained the need to use the abilities they were blessed with in past centuries, and he had to admit that he wasn't really in shape to do so, either. 

"Don't worry about me so much, I'm not a kid, it's not like I can die either." Tubbo finished with a hint of passive-aggressiveness.

"I have to worry about you! You're the only family I have." Tommy snapped, harsher than he wanted to. For a second, Tubbo's eyes narrowed, a shadow crossing his face. The expression held a cold mirthlessness, but was gone in a second. 

"As I said, I'm not a kid, and I'd love for you to stop treating me like one like everyone else does! What are you even worried about? Me getting hurt? Getting lost again? I can take care of myself, Tommy! And I don't need you to mom me around all the time even though we're the same age!" It was his turn to flinch, each word hitting Tommy like a slap in the face, and it must've shown, too, because Tubbo's glare softened ever so slightly. 

Something was off—Tubbo wouldn't just lash out at him like that, or, maybe he would and he had just been bottling all that up for god knows how long. Tommy looked at his feet, a frown playing about his lips before he answered. "This isn't you, Tubbo, can you...chill, please?" He asked quietly, but that seemed to have set the other off even further. 

"What the hell do you mean? Am I not allowed to have a bad day?! Everyone else can get pissed off just fine, but when I do it, suddenly I'm not acting like myself?" He seethed back through grit teeth.

 Tubbo closed his eyes for a moment and inhaled once he noticed that Tommy was making no effort to retort. He passed his hand over his face and looked at the taller of the two through the slots in his fingers. "I just—I need some space. Thanks." His tone softened radically as he flicked his gaze away. "I'll be here, I guess." He added. 

Tommy didn't bother to listen, nor did he really register the small sorry that emitted from Tubbo's mouth as he made his way back to the elevator. He kept his mouth shut, chiefly out of fear that he'd say something wrong and they'd go right back to arguing—which, they never did too often, but also because maybe Tubbo was right.

Maybe he was being too protective.

Maybe he was being too clingy.

Maybe he was in the wrong here.

Maybe he should just shut up.