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dingbatnix · 7 months

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Venture

Chapter 5

Yessss let's gooooo!!!!! Chapter five is a go!

So here, everything starts rolling, and I've got the beginnings of some plot! Yeee!

And thank you @da3dm for proofreading!! <3 u

Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 1

Chapter 6

Dream + Tommy reference

Word count: 6,271

Warnings: Mmmm, blood, gore, injuries, fear of death, cussing, fear of injury, death, ehhhh I think that covers it : D

They traveled through the forest for three days, a few uneventful mob attacks happening here and there. Dream chattered, not quite incessantly, about almost every little thing. The birds, the leaves, what types of plants were good to eat, the possible uses of other foliage, everything. Once Tommy had gotten him started, there was no shutting him up, it seemed. Tommy dimly noticed Dream avoided telling anything about himself, though he was willing to part with all sorts of information on other people.

Dream asked nearly thirty times a day if Tommy wanted out of the cage. The answer was always the same. No. Tommy always refused, flashes of the human’s huge hands clamping harshly down over his body plaguing his mind. No. Dream had smallfolk sized stuff. Tommy—Tommy didn't know where–how he managed to get it, and he maybe didn't want to know, but, one thing was for sure–he couldn’t trust Dream. Not when it was plainly clear to see that the human had held smallfolk captive before, and doubly clear what the man was when it was especially obvious that said smallfolk were no longer here.

Tommy wasn’t stupid. Dream was a trafficker of 'exotic beings,' not unlike the men who had caught him before. But, it was glaringly obvious that Dream was far more experienced than his previous captors. Why he wanted Tommy out of the cage, though, why he was asking if Tommy wanted out of the cage was something Tommy couldn’t fathom.

Maybe it was some sort of manipulation tactic, to try and get Tommy to trust him and not try to escape. He’d read about something like that once, in the library of the human’s house he had lived in. It was something about the functions of the mind, and how it responded to things outside of it. Unfortunately, Tommy had stopped reading it after the first page, because it had been so fucking boring. He was regretting that a little now.

Whether it was some kind of manipulation or not, Dream was being unreasonably nice to him, and Tommy didn’t know why. It left him feeling conflicted, especially after a conversation with the seemingly easy-going human. On the one hand, Dream was a human, and more importantly, he was a human holding Tommy captive. On the other hand, Dream made Tommy laugh harder than anyone else he’d ever met. He gave Tommy more food than he could ever hope to eat on his own, and he freely gave information on most of the things Tommy asked about. Dream talking about himself, apparently, was a no-go. No matter how many times Tommy had tried to direct a conversation towards the man’s life, Dream always somehow distracted the teen with something else.

Dream had set up camp for the night, and had a fresh slab of pork spitted over the merrily crackling fire. The smell was lovely, and Tommy was actually letting himself appreciate it. Dream hadn’t neglected feeding him, not even once, so Tommy was confident that he would get a small portion of food from the human.

Relatively small, anyway. Most of what Dream had given him was nearly as big as Tommy's entire arm, if not bigger. He'd even wheedled Dream into giving him a large scrap of cloth so that he could tie together all of the leftovers and not lose them. It was very considerate of the human.

Tommy tried his best not to get swept up in any conversations with Dream, feeling like it would be best if he stayed as distant as he possibly could. The human was so charismatic (even though he was a total bitch,) that in nearly every conversation the teen had with him, he found himself growing more and more attached.

It wasn’t a good thing, not at all. It would only hurt Tommy more when Dream did whatever he was going to do to him.

On top of everything, Tommy was mostly afraid of the future. He was dreading the day they arrived at wherever Dream was headed to, because that was the day that Tommy would get sold, or killed, or worse. He’d heard horror stories of what the bigfolk would do to inchlings if they got caught. The nightmares after his family explained to him what big people liked to do to smallfolk had been awful, and had persisted for weeks. The night terrors after his family was taken had been worse.

Tommy tried not to dwell much on what would happen to him if he was ever caught, but now, with the reality of it looming ever closer, it was nearly all he could think about. The fear and dread had built up over the past few days, horrible ideas and theories spiraling through his head, until it all became too much that night, and it all burst out.

"Alright, fuck this!" Tommy spat suddenly. Dream glanced over to the teen, startled. "What are you gonna do with me?!" He sprang to his feet, angrily jabbing a finger in the human’s direction and propping his other fist on his hip.

“What?” Dream cocked his head curiously, peering down through the bars of the cage he was settled beside. The dancing of the firelight flickered over Tommy’s small frame, bathing him in shifting shadows. “What am I going to…do? With you?” He shifted, stretching his legs out in front of the fire and leaning against the tree.

“Yes,” Tommy yelled, angrily pacing the length of the cage. “You’re taking me somewhere, obviously, because you haven't let me go. You've obviously dealt with my kind before, cause you’re not loud or grabby, and cause you’re not shocked at all, and all of the things you have that are my size are meant for my people, were made by my people,” he paused, heaving in a shaking breath. “You have too much for just a passing find, you had to have caught tons of us before and since they're not here you had to have sold them or killed them or given them to a witch–” He grabbed at his hair, breathing heavily. “And I don't know what you're gonna do to me and I can't stop thinking about it so just tell me, please, so I can at least know what's gonna happen to me!” Tommy’s chest shuddered with each hitching heave of air as he stared pleadingly up at Dream. His eyes glistened with unshed tears which were rapidly blinked away, and his tiny hands were trembling from his outburst.

Dream winced, pushing himself up straighter. He turned more fully to the miniature teenager, considering. He hadn’t really explained what he was going to do with the teen, had he? He’d kinda just forgotten. And now, because of his negligence, Tommy seemed to be having a mental breakdown over things that wouldn’t transpire.

Dream sighed, reaching down to tap at the bars of the cage. Tommy flinched, scrawny limbs tensing noticeably. “I’m not going to do anything with you, Tommy.” The teen scowled, opening his mouth. Dream held up a finger much larger than he was, cutting him off. “I am heading to Manberg here pretty soon though, so I figured that would be as good a place as any to drop you off at.”

Tommy’s words died in his throat. Manberg! That’s where he was taken from! Maybe he could find Tubbo, or contact Phil, or something! Maybe he’d be able to escape!

But then, the words really sank in. ‘Drop him off.’ The words reminded him of the way someone would talk about a package. Dream was probably taking him to be someone’s exotic pet. Tommy’s temper flared back up, and he snarled.

"Drop me off!? So you’re not even gonna sell me!? You’re just gonna give me to some clueless fuckwad as some sort of pet!?" Tommy balled his fists at his sides, gaze livid.

Dream splayed his hands disarmingly at the teen’s outburst. “I’m not going to–”

“The fuck you aren’t! I know there’s a market for borrowers!” A snarl adorned Tommy’s face, and he was pressed right up against the mesh of the cage, hands trembling around the wires. “Why the fuck do you think I was kidnapped the first time?! I’m not fucking stupid, Dream!”

The smell of burning pork filled the air as they tore into each other, the air thick with a palpable, violent tension. The night critters that had surrounded the camp had long gone silent, the majority of the forest spectating the hot-tempered scene with a detached sort of interest.

"What?! No, you-!" The human's jawline twisted into a scowl as he leaned closer, looming over Tommy.

"You fucking lying bastard, I know your type, don't you try to trick me-" The teen snapped back face red in a combination of fury and indignation. Why the fuck would Dream try to deny it? Tommy knew the truth. He knew what Dream was going to do to him.

"Oh–you dumb fucking child—" Huge fists balled up from the human's sides, fingerless leather gloves literally creaking under the intense pressure.

Dream shot up abruptly, enormous boots absolutely demolishing the forest debris next to the cage. Tommy stumbled backwards until his bony shoulders hit the iron bars with a clang as the towering, light-blocking frame of Dream stood threateningly over him.

Tommy’s heart started to pound as the human just stood there, hands twitching, the gaze of the smiling mask boring into his soul. Suddenly, Dream whirled around and stomped away through the underbrush.

What the hell? Why the hell would he just leave? Tommy was left gaping in a confused fury, anger left to steep as apprehension bubbled up. Why the fuck would Dream just run off like that? Surely Tommy hadn’t said anything too terribly offensive? He didn’t fucking know. He didn’t particularly care, either.

Part of Tommy was cheering victoriously. Ha! Stupid bitch boy human can't deal with the great Tommyinnit! He had just won in a verbal battle with Dream! He’d made the human leave, all through the force of his words. He was quick witted, yeah, but he’d never talked a human into running away!

But the most overpowering part of his brain was terrified. He'd just pissed Dream off. What if he stopped feeding him? What if he stopped being nice? What if Tommy had screwed all of this up?!

…He needed to go. He couldn’t stick around when Dream could come back, at any moment, pissed to all extremes. He didn’t know what the human would do to him, but every single thing his mind conjured up was terrifying. He’d never made someone mad without painful repercussions occurring soon after, and he doubted this time would be any different. Dream would hurt him this time, plain and simple, and Tommy needed to be gone before the human could come back and do so.

His first thought was trying to pick the lock of the cage. He’d nearly gotten it, a few days ago before Dream caught him, and now he had the opportunity to try again, but…no matter how he twisted and turned and angled his body, he just couldn’t reach the inside of the lock. Even with a stick he'd grabbed that was near his cage, he couldn’t angle it right. The stick had snapped off inside of the keyhole, trapping him permanently. He’d checked the corners and seams of the wires, and had even tried to squeeze through the gridded bars, but, like the last thirty attempts, he couldn’t find a way out. He was trapped, waiting until his inevitable punishment came in the form of one whole overly-large human, one that he had foolishly pissed off.

Tommy was very, very terrified. Dream was nice, and soon, that illusion would come crashing down on his head, and he didn’t think he was ready for that. Not at all.

°°°°°°°

Tommy was getting antsy. Dream had been gone for what, four hours now?

And, even though he was relatively safe in the cage, (it wasn't like an animal could bust through it) the dark forest around him was creepy. He could hear things rustling around and the lonely, echoing calls of animals during their nightly hunting. He'd even heard the choked, gurgling rasp of a zombie once or twice. It made him feel edgy.

The night air was cool. Tommy shivered and wrapped his quilt more securely around his shoulders. The fire was still crackling merrily, but its heat didn’t quite reach Tommy’s cage. The pork that Dream had been cooking was a charred husk that smelled awful, but just the thought of it made Tommy’s stomach growl.

Absently, he reached over to his stash of leftovers and broke off a piece of (stale, by now, but Tommy didn't really care) bread to munch on. It wasn't as good as meat cooked straight from the fire, but it would do its job.

He ran his fingers over one of the patterns embroidered on his quilt (some kind of brown-and-white spotted animal with four legs and horns on its head. Tommy didn't know what it was, but he really liked it.) He worried the soft stitches between his fingers, staring at the colorful patterns.

His mind was still circling on the possibilities of what would happen when Dream came back, but the sheer terror had dulled somewhat. It was boring, incredibly so, waiting for anticipated pain that hadn’t come yet. There was some lingering anxiety about what would happen after Dream punished him, about how things would be different, but he tried not to think about that. He’d take one thing at a time, and right now, he was just trying to focus on the details of his quilt. It was…soothing, in more ways than one, no matter how Dream had obtained the thing.

There was a sudden, distinct crunch of leaves behind him, and Tommy’s heart spiked. Oh shit. He was back. He whirled around, quilt clutched to his chest, to see a shadowed figure loom into sight. He squinted at it in slight confusion. He couldn’t see too well in the dark, his night vision had been spoiled by the fire, but something felt…off.

“...Dream…?" His voice was weak and wobbly, even to his own ears, and he cringed. The figure moved, then, without answering, and Tommy realized something awful. The approaching form wasn’t Dream. They were too thin, too short, and suddenly, all Tommy wanted was for Dream to come back. Dream was better than an unknown human.

Dream would probably keep Tommy alive.

The stranger spoke, voice low and smooth and delighted, and Tommy realized that he was completely and utterly fucked.

“I thought I’d never get the chance to grab you." The human drawled, reaching down and plucking Tommy’s cage into the air. The teen lost his balance and nearly fell at the sudden movement, dropping his quilt in shock and stumbling back until his shoulders hit cold metal. He felt his heel strike against something that clattered away and fell outside of the bars of the cage, but Tommy didn't have the presence of mind to care about it, not right now.

The only thing between him and this new human was the thin wire bars and the small, delicate lock on the cage door. Tommy pressed himself against the back of the cage, glaring distrustfully at the almost overwhelmingly large face. The human grinned, bright and triumphant, before reaching for the cage door. He poked curiously at the lock before frowning and deciding to just yank the door open.

The thin metal bars were snapped open with ease, the small hinges not made to withstand the strength of an entire human. Tommy tried to scramble back, away, as far as he could from the encroaching hand, but it was no use.

The fingers pinched painfully around his left shin, grinding the bones together so hard they almost cracked. He was dragged screeching out of the cage despite his desperate hands clinging to anything they could grab and dangled upside-down in front of the human’s face.

“I’ve been looking for one of you for a loooong while,” the man grinned, reaching up with his other hand to tug at Tommy’s hair. Warm breath washed over him as he tried and failed to push away the massive, hurtful fingertips. The fingers rose away from his hair and instead moved to poke his stomach, shoving Tommy back and sending him swaying through the air.

He swung dizzily, the blurred ground far, far below him twisting in and out of focus as more foul breath wafted past him, making him gag.

“Get some breath mints, bitch!” Tommy spat, desperately holding back the queasy roiling of his stomach. His leg pinged painfully, calling forth another wave of nausea.

The human scowled, baring his teeth in an ugly snarl, and Tommy realized that he maybe should not have said that. The man plucked the teen’s right arm in a tight pinch and easily twisted it away from his body.

“Shut it,” the human snarled, holding Tommy's arm stretched below his head. “Unless I say otherwise, you don’t speak.” He tugged slightly at the teen’s arm, making him wince.

Tommy’s temper flared up in spite of the warning. “No! Fuck you, you twat! Put me the fuck down—!”

The man’s glower deepened, and suddenly, he pulled the two limbs in his grasp in opposite directions.

Tommy screamed. Pain lanced up and down the whole of his torso, and then some. He could feel it as both his shoulder and hip were slowly pulled from their sockets. His spine and ribs were gradually being drawn apart, and it hurt.

And then, suddenly it didn’t.

A nasty, meaty craak-krunch! sounded off below him as the fingers slipped from his arm. Something hot and viscous splattered all over Tommy’s aching body, and the human holding him wheezed out a wet, gurgling groan.

Tommy blinked open eyes he didn’t even remember closing and immediately caught sight of the gorey sword-tip that appeared to have sprouted from the man’s chest. He yanked his gaze away, nauseated at the sight of all of the gooey little bits of blood and meat and bone shard glistening wetly in the light of the dying fire.

The fingers crushing his leg suddenly slackened, and Tommy screamed hoarsely when he immediately started to plummet down towards the very much solid ground.

“Oh, shit-” Dream shoved the dying man to the side and dove forward, arms outstretched. He very nearly missed, only just managing to clap his hands around the small teen before tripping and thudding harshly down onto his chest. He wheezed, half in pain, half in embarrassment, because whoops, that was an oversight on his part. Tommy was still belting out ear-piercing shouts and curses and wriggling violently between Dream’s gloved palms.

With another wheeze, Dream pushed himself up with his elbows and settled down onto his knees, bringing his hands up in front of his face. He unfolded them, gently curling his fingers to cup the gore-splattered teen in front of his eyes. He squinted behind his mask, trying to see if Tommy had any injuries with just the dim light of the moon filtering through the trees and the faint light of the campfire.

Tommy scrambled back, as far as he could, until his shoulders were crammed against Dream's curled fingers. Dream could feel the miniscule heart pounding frantically against his fingerpads while the teen’s thin chest heaved, drawing in great, heavy half-breaths.

Dream bit his lip, thinking, before dropping his hands and gently dumping the teen onto the ground maybe a foot from his knees. Tommy tumbled onto the dirt and laid there for barely a second before he shot up and tried to run.

As soon as Tommy tried to put weight on his left leg, he crumpled, a high-pitched yowl of pain escaping his lips. He didn’t manage to get his hands up in front of him in time and ended up skidding facefirst back onto the ground.

Dream winced. “Shit, Tommy, don’t move, okay?” He reached out for the small teen, gently brushing a finger over his thin shoulder blades. Tommy shrieked and flipped himself over, scrambling backwards on his elbows and one good leg. Dream jerked his hands back immediately, splaying them out in an attempt to reassure the boy.

“Hey, hey, hey, Tommy, it’s just me, it’s just me, Dream, okay?” He tried, voice gentle. Moving slowly, he scooted backwards, away from the shaking teen, until he was far enough to lay himself down on his front. He rested his hands on either side of his head, in clear view, and rested his chin on the ground in front of the teenager. From this new perspective, Dream got a closer look at the teen, the closest since he had first found him.

Tommy’s face was scraped up and bleeding, and there were tiny bits of dust and gravel clinging in his hair. A tiny plaster adorned his jawline, and his shirt looked worn, with many patches stitched in a haphazard pattern at nearly every seam. His beige shorts were heavily patched around his knees, and his shoes looked old and like they were about to fall apart. The most concerning of all, though, was how thin he looked. Dream could swear that he could count the boy’s ribs from behind his shirt, and his joints were so knobbly that they looked like legitimate twigs.

Blood was splattered up and down Tommy’s front, and Dream couldn’t help but feel a little guilty over the fact that it was his fault, technically. It was also kind of his fault that Tommy had gotten grabbed in the first place, because he had left the teen unattended, but he wasn’t going to think about that right now. Dwelling on guilt and regret had never gotten him anywhere before, and it wasn’t going to help him now, not when he was trying to calm down a miniature teenager that had just nearly been kidnapped (again) and had just witnessed Dream brutally murder someone.

The teen’s face screwed up in confusion as he watched Dream settle down onto his stomach just shy of two dozen inches away, his chest heaving in an alarmingly staccato rhythm, but the tension in his shoulders did ease up the tiniest bit. Dream had learned, years and years ago, that if he reduced himself in height and wasn’t towering so high over an inchling that was panicking, he would scare them less. It didn’t work all the time, of course, but it usually got the job done.

“Tommy, Tommy, hey, can you try and relax?” Dream asked, voice pushed down to the softest whisper he could manage. His voice could only go so low, though, and Tommy flinched back. Dream frowned, but tried again. “You’re okay, Tommy, you’re safe. That guy is gone, Tommy, he’s not gonna come back, And I won’t hurt you, alright?” The teenager didn’t look like he quite believed Dream, but his breathing had evened out. Dream counted that as a win, and pushed on.

“Can I take a look at you? So I can make sure you’re not hurt?” It took Tommy a long, long moment to reply, but when he did, his answer was a short, jerky nod of his head. Dream thought he heard the slightest whisper of an “okay,” but he couldn’t be sure. It was too breathy, too quiet. It might’ve been the trees.

“Alright,” Dream breathed, glad the teen was responding. That was a good sign, one that told him Tommy wasn’t too far gone into his panic.

"Here, hold on," Dream murmured, reaching back and sticking a hand into one of his many pockets. He dug around for just a moment before pulling out some flint, steel and an unlit torch.

"Let me get some light here, okay?" Tommy didn't say anything as Dream lit the torch with a bright flare of sparks. The teen winced at the sudden light that burst forth, blinking his eyes rapidly to clear the dots that suddenly danced in his vision.

Dream stretched his arm out to the side and planted the end of the torch in the dirt with a firm hand, the action a bit awkward due to the odd position he was laying in, then turned back to Tommy.

In this light, Dream could see the teen much better, but that just made everything look so much worse. The assassin held back a pitying grimace as he scanned over Tommy’s battered, bloody form. The boy’s cradled right arm was a mottled yellowish green, and from what little Dream could see of his legs, they were scraped and bruised as well, the left leg in particular a nasty shade of violet.

The human winced sympathetically. “Can I see your leg? It looks…bad.”

Tommy sent him a scathing glare and shifted to stick his leg out. “Nn–no ff-fucking shit it looks bad, dumbass.” The miniature teen spat vehemently, voice weak and shaking. Dream was glad he decided to speak, though. He had learned, over the past few days, that silence was as natural for Tommy as it was for creepers to fly.

The teen stretched out his leg with a wince, gasping when he caught sight of the huge, deep purple-black bruises spanning the length of his shin and calf. Already his skin was starting to swell, and even the simple movement of moving his knee had his entire leg aching. Against his will, his eyes stung and watered. He scowled, and scrubbed at them with his wrist.

Dream leaned closer, whistling lowly. "That's a hell of a bruise, kid."

“Y-you fucking think?!” Tommy half hissed, half growled. His face was pinched, and his fingers were twitching from where they were hovering around his shin. “I think–I think it’s fucking broken.” The words were a mix of fury, of pain, of fear, and Dream couldn’t help but pity the teen. A broken leg was practically a death sentence for any inchling, let alone one on his own.

“Gimme just a second…” Dream trailed off, turning to dig around in his satchel. He knew he had it somewhere, he had just gotten one a few days ago, where’d… “Aha!” Triumphantly, he pulled out a glittering bottle about halfway full of a vibrant red liquid. He shook it gently, inspecting it as it sloshed against the glass walls. This was one of the potions he had pilfered from the five hunters that had Tommy, so he wasn’t entirely sure how effective it would be. It was the only health potion Dream currently had on him, though, so it would have to do.

He slowly propped himself up on his elbows, wary of spooking the teen, and popped open the cork on the bottle. Tommy was watching him, blue eyes absolutely drowning in suspicion, so Dream explained what he was doing.

“This is just a health potion, alright? It’s gonna fix your injuries, okay?” Dream gave the teen a small smile, even though it couldn’t be seen from behind his mask. “You’ll be as good as new in no time.”

Tommy gaped up at Dream, eyes widening in consternation. Dream was going to use a fucking health potion? On Tommy? Why the hell would he waste such a valuable item on him?

The cool magic of the potion splattered against his skin and absorbed into his bruises almost immediately as Dream poured it over his body, chasing out the spiking ache and leaving behind a cool numbness that Tommy appreciated very, very much. He sighed, the tension in his shoulders loosening as the pain rushing jaggedly through his leg washed away.

He'd only ever had a healing potion used on him once, and that had been when he'd broken his leg so badly that the bone had come out. The feeling was familiar, and Tommy found that he enjoyed the warm prickling that ran through his skin.

The remainder of the potion was whisked away into Dream's pockets, leaving Tommy to stare wistfully after it. If only he had a bottle on him. He could definitely use an emergency health potion.

"Here," Dream reached forward and gently curled his fingers around the teen. Tommy cursed with a violent flinch, shoulders hitting the ground from how far he went backwards. The assassin paused at the teen’s reaction, and thought better of just grabbing him. Instead, he pulled his hand back a couple inches and laid it flat on the ground.

“C’mon,” Dream murmured, voice gentle. He tapped his knuckles against the dirt, indicating towards his hand. “Climb on. I’ve…we need to move the camp, alright?” He sent a meaningful glance towards the bleeding corpse sprawled next to the dim, dying fire and turned his gaze back down to Tommy.

The teen nodded reluctantly, unwilling to come into contact with Dream, much less climb into his hand, but much, much more adverse to spending any more time near a dead body. It would start stinking pretty soon, and Tommy absolutely did not want to be around for that. Dream was the lesser of the two evils, as much as that fact made Tommy's skin crawl.

He pushed himself up on still slightly numb legs and forced himself to walk the few inches over to Dream's splayed palm. There, he balked, body freezing of its own volition.

Dream's hand was massive, the flat of his palm coming up to just a little below Tommy's waist. Each finger was as thick as Tommy himself was wide, and they were all much, much taller than he was, excluding the thumb, which was only a few centimeters or so higher than Tommy stood.

Tommy clenched his hands into fists, breathing deeply, and forced his legs to move. One step after the other, he climbed onto Dream's hand.

The leather of the glove wasn't very pliant, but Tommy still almost lost his balance. He threw his arms out, wobbling as he regained his footing. He crouched down as soon as he was in the center of the wide palm, balanced over a crease in the leather glove. He wasn't going to outright sit in Dream's hand, but god forbid he stay standing and inevitably fall over.

Tommy breathed deeply, scrunching his eyes closed. Rarely did being in a human's hold ever lead to a good thing. Tommy had so much experience to back the fact up, and despite his desperate desire not to, all he could see were the bad things that could happen to him.

He saw himself being thrown, he saw himself being dropped, god, he could see himself being crushed between fingers stronger than any sort of struggle he could muster—

Tommy sucked in several breaths of air, more than a little frantically, and forced himself to calm down. Dream wouldn't hurt him so drastically, wouldn't kill him in such a violent manner. Tommy was too valuable whole and alive, and he was sure that Dream knew that, too.

"Ready?" Dream asked, and Tommy was surprised. Nobody'd ever asked him if he were prepared for a rapid ascent through the air via human hand, and Tommy expected it least of all from Dream. Not even the good humans Tommy knew had ever asked.

He sucked in more air and jerked a curt nod, pressing his hands against the leather surface of the glove to stabilize himself. He hated being carried by humans. It always made him nauseous.

"I'm gonna put you in my pocket for now, okay?" The hand started to raise as the words registered, and Tommy’s heart leaped with an enormous desire to just not.

Tommy's eyes snapped open, and he cut Dream off with a vicious shake of his head. “Fuck no! Don’t you dare, don’t you dare.” He hissed, face twisting into a hot glare as he jabbed a finger up at the human's gleaming white mask.

"It'd be safer for you, though…" Dream offered, pausing the hand's ascent. Tommy scowled, mouth forming a snarl, and spat, "I'm claustrophobic, you ass! You wanna give me a goddamn heart attack!?"

Dream faltered. "...ah. Oh. Okay, okay, alright. I'll just…" He cleared his throat. "Shoulder it is, then." And then Tommy was moving again, up towards Dream's neck.

He was deposited gently onto Dream’s shoulder, underneath the human's hood. The shoulder he stood on was cast in shadow, and despite all of Tommy's reservations, it was…cozy. He could probably even jump down the back, into the pocket the base of the hood made, if he really wanted.

His hands latched onto the black fabric of Dream's raised shirt collar, and his face twisted. Dream was wearing a turtleneck, but his shoulders were bare. What kind of weird outfit was the human wearing?

As Dream kicked out the mostly-dead fire and gathered the few things that had been set out, Tommy’s gaze wandered to the corpse of the human that had attacked him. The corpse was laying on its side, facing away from Tommy, thankfully, but he could see the red, gooey crater in the human’s back, where Dream had stabbed him though.

The image brought a sick twist of nausea to his stomach, and Tommy was suddenly afraid for himself, of what Dream might be willing to do to him. He needed…he needed to convince the human that he didn’t need to punish Tommy. That he’d already…that he’d learned the lesson, or something. Tommy sucked in a steadying breath, fingers tightening in the thick fibers of Dream's shirt.

“I’m…I’m sorry for yelling at you.” Tommy blurted, shoulders hitching up and eyes scrunching shut. His breath shuddered as he exhaled, half convinced that the human would turn violent after being reminded of what had happened.

“Please don’t…don’t…” He trailed off, unable to find the words to beg Dream not to punish him for his (completely justified) anger.

“Tommy.” Dream’s voice was firm, and the tone made the teen flinch. Was he angry…?

Dream continued, unaware of Tommy’s whirling thoughts. “I’m not going to hurt you, okay? Not now, not ever, and especially not over something as stupid as an argument, alright?” Tommy seemed doubtful about that, but didn’t comment.

“Why’d you leave…?” The teen murmured, hesitant. The only reason Dream even heard him was because the teen was right next to his ear.

“I got mad. I…I needed to go blow off some steam, before I did something stupid." The human admitted, voice low and…seemingly regretful. Tommy was perturbed by the remorse in Dream's tone. Why…why did he sound upset? Was he still angry at Tommy?

Dream sighed, a genuinely tired sound, and then, to Tommy's complete and utter shock, apologized.

"Sorry for leaving you for so long," Tommy saw the human's jawline tense in what seemed to be a grimace. Tommy's eyes widened. What the hell?

Dream's voice came out a little grouchier, a little more strained. "I didn't realize we were being followed, so that's…that's my bad."

Tommy's eyes got wider, if that were at all possible, and his jaw slackened. A human was apologizing!? To him!? What the actual hell was going on!?

If Tommy didn't know any better, he'd say he was having a fever dream.

Even still, he murmured a quick, confused acceptance of the man's apology and fell silent, contemplating as Dream started moving near-silently through the dark, whispering forest.

The human was so goddamn strange. At nearly every turn, he said or did something that contradicted everything Tommy knew about bigfolk, and the more time Tommy spent with the man, the more confused he became. Dream just didn't make any sense, whatsoever.

Eventually, they found a spot that would make a suitable camp for the remainder of the night. Dream didn't build a fire, instead pulling out some rabbit jerky for them to split for dinner.

Silently, Tommy mourned his stash of bread and meat. He understood why Dream hadn't grabbed it, it hadn't been a priority, but…Tommy felt wrong without some store of food. At least he could start over with the (still too large) chunk of rabbit jerky.

Dream had at least retrieved Tommy’s quilt, but made him sleep inside of his pack maybe a foot away from the man's own sleeping space. Tommy really wasn't complaining, though. If he tried sleeping out in the open like Dream did, any number of night critters could come crawling along to snatch him up for a midnight snack.

And God forbid if he actually tried to sleep with Dream. The human was a light sleeper, and he didn't move much, but even the slight chance that he could be crushed made Tommy cringe. Never mind the fact that he'd have to be in close proximity to the human for the whole night.

He’d tried searching for an exit, once he’d waited long enough for Dream to have fallen asleep, but no matter where he looked, no matter how thoroughly he scoured the walls and seams of the bag, Tommy couldn’t find a viable way out. Not even the top flap was an option, as it was sealed much too tightly for the teen to squeeze through. He was stuck in here, just as much as he had been in the cage.

At least in the bag he was shielded from the wind, but the thought was little comfort when compared to the fact that he was still trapped, and still traveling to his uncertain future.

It was slightly easier to sleep at night, though, when he was in a decently warm shelter.

Taglist: @brick-a-doodle-do @i-am-beckyu @da3dm @kayla-crazy-stuffs @local-squishmallow @skullsnbruises @munchkin1156 @jakersdaboss

#mcyt g/t #mcyt gt #writing #g/t writing #bat's writing #venture #g/t primeboys #primeboys g/t #giant!dream #tiny!tommy #fuck my predilection towards italics #i have to manually go through them all and redo them cause tumblr resets the text t_t

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tinyascanbe · 17 days

Text

Introducing my g/t story

Beetle Shells

its based on actual entomology work ive done as a scientist, very self indulgent! TW: Cursing, light nudity, light blood, bugs (non aggro bugs)

Chapter 1: Introduction

I took quick and long strides down the sterile white hallway. At the end of the hallway were double doors tinted a dark black with yellow and red warning plates on the side. Reaching the end of the hallway and approaching a set of lockers, I instinctively reach for one marked with pink duct tape. Sighing, I shed my coat and donned a fresh laboratory coat along with medical boot covers. I tied my hair back into a messy bun of curls and finished up by secured the boot covers and buttoning up the coat. Beep beep beep beep! I stepped through the first door after punching in a personalized unique code. It was completely dark except for the UV light and stepped onto a sticky white pad. I heard the familiar hissing and allowed the cold air shower to blow onto my face and body before the stream dissipated. Lights automatically turned on and she then entered the quarantine lab. The quarantine lab was divided into four sections with one of the chemist labs right at the entrance.

“Heya Kyle. Any lucky today?” I approached the other scientist, peering around his shoulders at the beetle he was dissecting.

“Eh yknow, still having a hard time replicating the pheromones of this particular species. Still no preference or response to any of my solutions. The boss is pressuring me to get one ready in preparation for a public meeting with the state. Theres some big money involved with this research and the public havent been responsive. These invasive lil guys sure are causing me to lose sleep.” His face is creased with stress as he talks about it and he drops his tools in frustration.

“Yeah…they sure are cute lil guys. Imagine when you finally formulate it though! Theyll want to be all over you. Then your army of beetle lovers can eat the public opinion!” I laugh and pick up an analytical jar filled with peat and watch as the horned beetle emerges to munch on some sugarcane.

“Also hey how many do we have in inventory?” I inquire.

“Uhhh probably around 400 individuals over 5 generations. Sixth generation is scheduled to emerge in a few days now.” He answers, still not looking up at me. I admire his brown sleek hair, shining under the fluorescent lighting. I usually made excuses to talk to him throughout the day.

“Wow I wonder how much room we have left in here, we’re packed full. Well I have to work for about 3 hours with the longhorns so Ill come check in later to see if I can assist you.” Striding off, I walk through a hallway and enter a large metal door with a large latch.

I come into an enclosed refrigerated room and curse my luck on being stuck here. Its all plated metal with a chrome shelving unit on wheels and a long black table that stood about waist height. Plopping down on the black top swivel stool, i reach up for my clipboard, a binder, and mechanical pencil. Flipping open the binder, I scan the list of insects to be tested and pull out a form from another tabbed section. I flip open my airpod case and connect to my phones spotify playlist and walk out of the refrigerated hell to go grab my lil buddies that I get to hang out with for awhile. The insect species are separated by room so I dance over to the longhorn beetle room down the hall. The walls are lined with cups full of insect food and individual insects in each container. Buckets of different types of plants for feeding and a few carts along with another black table in the center of the room, fairly messy with forceps and papers were scattered about. The containers were marked with a gender sticker and had assigned genealogy tracking numbers. Sometimes Id mark a little heart on their containers if I was particularly fond of one of the individuals.

Dancing over and grabbing the cart, I stack male beetles and referencing my clipboard every so often. I scooted them all carefully back into my refrigerated testing room while grooving a bit to the music. I grabbed my favorite stick from the shelving unit and popped the top of the container to LB-08924 and was greeted by shaking and hissing.

“Oh nope. How bout you calm down there young man. Ill give you a few more minutes.” And grab another container for a second try.

On the table is a glass Y tube. Theres one small air hose connected to one side with the vaporized pheromone that the lab created and one small air hose connected to the other side with regular air. I get the next individual onto the stick and gently transfer them to the entrance to the tube and start a timer. The little antennas move a bit and stays in place. Waiting for the male to make a decision, I scribble in quick notes and information out on my form. Finally after 3 long minutes the male decides to walk down the tube towards our lab solution. I detach the air hose and gently pinch the lil guy to pull him out with a gloved hand. With a rather ungraceful plop, the male is dropped back into the container and the lid snapped shut.

Three hours go by and Ive listened to a whole Phish album and a podcast. I push a fallen curl behind my ear and straighten my posture, flipping through my reports to make sure I didnt miss any information.

Id been looking forward to taking a break and talking to Kyle again and the thought made me smile a bit to myself. I replace all my test subjects back to their respectful places, pop out my earbuds, and walk down the long hallway back to the main chemist lab.

“Kyle! Still hard at work I see. Im finished up with my beetles, need me to try and take a crack at yours?” I call out, seeing him in the same exact position as before. But this time, he actually turns to meet my green eyes with his darker gaze.

“Actually…yeah. The boss just fuckin yelled at me again to hurry this up. He doesnt understand that I cant rush this and once it is formulated, we have a long QC process ahead of us… Test this for me will you?”

“Yeah, anything for you. Give me a couple minutes to warm up first. Sample size?”

“Lets do 50 individuals. Using a spoon is your best bet to dig em out of the peat. Thanks, Clementine.” He holds out a vial to me and i take it, flashing him a smile and receiving one back.

I take the vial and slip it into my lab pocket readying a new cart of the new much larger rhinoceros male beetles. I struggle to balance their glass containers on the cart and right as I attempt to move the cart into the doorway of the testing room, the cart wobbles and causes the glass jars with the beetles to fall. Lunging to save the falling beetles, I trip in the process, breaking the vial and causing the glass to puncture through my jacket and shirt into my side. I land on other glass and thankfully none of the beetles.

“FUCK. ME.” I hiss and to my dismay I hear footsteps running over to me.

“Dude this didnt happen, lets not file an OSHA report and shit you know how much paperwork that is. Its my fault I shouldnt have tried to bring in that many bugs. I’ll take care of it all seriously Im fine. Im so sorry for breaking your vial I know that took you a long time..” I couldnt stop talking. Nevermind as fast as I was. I felt so embarrassed by the whole thing and wished I was alone. Kyle was staring at me with saucer eyes as if I ended the world by smashing his creation and I felt so badly about not being more careful.

“Uh Clementine… are you…. are you ok..? What the fuck…?”

I look down and see blood… but the blood stains look huge…but so does the lab coat itself…fuck I dont feel good. Woah all the beetles are surrounding me. The ones on the walls all surfaced from their peat. What the fuck….

Everything was in slow motion. I couldnt think straight and I felt like I was floating on hard drugs.

I realize Im craning my head up at Kyle with panic in my eyes.

“What was in the vial?” I slowly struggle to ask?

“Nothing that would cause this?? Its impossible. Maybe a dream??” He looks down at her with matching panic, hands shaking and staring down in fear as he appeared larger and larger to my now slumped body.

Ten or so beetles had finally began to crawl on me as I reached the height of the waist high table. Fear gripped me in the uncertainty but I realized I could barely stand from the overwhelming dizziness and weakness that overtook me. I was no taller than the waist high table and I collapsed to the ground causing two beetles to jump off.

“Help, please” desperation soaked my voice as their barbed legs gripped into my skin and my height still diminishing.

Kyles eyes darted and he finally began snatching the beetles off me and placing them in the labs emergency bug net. His huge hands approaching me caused my heart to race faster with fear. Holding the net of angry buzzing beetles, he turned and ran to secure them, leaving me. I had no idea how tall I was at this point, just that I was probably under 1’ by the look of things. I began to drag myself towards the bottom of the cart to try and hide underneath. There was no where else to hide and I couldnt trust a scientist, no matter how cute. The loud sound of footsteps coming back pumped fear through me and I realized I wouldnt be able to hide in time.

“Oh fuck youre so much smaller now…are you still shrinking?! Wait hey stop its ok theres no more beetles. All the insects are all locked up.” Kyle pushed the cart to expose the top half of me that had dragged myself under and squatted down in front of me.

“Uh sorry it took me a minute to process everything before helping you. I have no fucking idea whats happening but I feel responsible for giving you that vial. Im going to….pick you up now. Theres a lot of glass on the floor. Youre like 4 inches right now and I think you stopped shrinking.”

I watch, laid out on my side, bleeding in various places as he reaches both hands out in front of him, tilting his head as he considered how to exactly pick me up. I swallow as the hands approach. He uses his pointer finger to roll me onto the palm of his other hand. I puke in my mouth as he slowly raises me up to his gaze. His eyes are massive now, huge glossy orbs of color right in front of me. Exposing me. I had never felt so naked before and I shyly move my hands to cover myself despite my naked body already touching his warm palm. Averting my eyes, I hold back tears and feel absolutely out of control of reality.

“Ive got you, dont worry. I’ve got you.” He whispered quietly.

“We’ve gotta go though. We need to address your wounds first and foremost. Youre coming back with me.” Taking control of the situation, Kyles voice filled with more confidence.

“We gotta put you down first though so I can clean this up to prevent any suspicion. Im gonna lay you on the table now. Ill grab your shirt so you dont get cold. Youre shaking…i think.”

I couldnt speak. I didnt know what to say. I nodded weakly at the massive being and the nausea hit again as he lowered his hands and moved to the table. Using two fingers, he gently pushed me off his palm and I rolled onto the cold metal. In that moment I felt like a rag-doll specimen. He quickly plucked my bra from my shirt and brought the shirt up and wrapped me in it. My shivered chattering began to quiet and I soon found myself asleep to the sounds of him cleaning up broken glass.

#g/t community #gt text #g/t fluff #giant/tiny #g/t writing #beetle shells #beetle shells part one

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