#sizeshifter AU

[alaskan-wallflower]

thinking a lot about the sizeshifting au if anyone wants to send in some asks…or even interact 😭😭

[smallcherri]

I decided to draw my favorite sizeshifter in my favorite starting armor in my favorite game!

Daren Grounded au story when-

[thatonemarveldude]

More pocket sized James!

Look at this absolutely flustered man losing control of his height when his heart beat spikes a bit too much

What a loser

You guys really liked the last pocket sized James drawing so I just HAD to deliver more :3

[cyncerity]

merry christmas to all who celebrate!!

here’s my boys from the Store Shifter au celebrating christmas for the first time 💕

they live in the vents lol, Dream gave them a bunch of stuff to decorate their little hideout with!

i have a little bit of a backstory to this drawing that i might post later, but i just really wanted to get something out for the holidays! it’s been a long while since i���ve drawn something fully rendered out like this, so it was a lot of fun!!

here’s to another year of art and fics, im not burning out with this content anytime soon and that is both a threat and a promise! 💕

[i-am-beckyu]

Just out of Reach, but Never out of Sight

So..... it's been *looks at last update* SHEESH A YEAR ?!?! Uhhhh I'm so sorry this took so long to update, but I am far from done with this au so let's go for getting another upload! I've shared my views on the whole William Gold thing so further explanation is here. But without further a do, enjoy!

Chapter 4: Beginnings

chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3 cw: panic, anxiety, fear of abandonment, mentions of child abuse/neglect and a whole lot of fluff :3 wc: 3938

Disclaimer! This story is based on the characters of the Dream SMP and not the real life content creators. Anything that occurs in this story is purely fiction and should be treated as such. Thank you.

 ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *. .*  ･ ｡ﾟ☆ : ☽ .* ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *. .* 

Wilbur sat at the dining room table, his plate of syrup-drowned waffles staring back at him.

He wanted to know what Phil and Tommy were talking about and why the boy had hid under the bed.

He thought they’d calmed him down last night? 

The second he’d given Tommy the little cow plushie, Wilbur noticed how the boy’s eyes had widened with wonder. It was the sweetest thing the blonde had done since he met him, and he’d had to hold himself back from cooing and wrapping the boy into a hug.

But doing that would definitely be overstepping some kind of boundary judging by Tommy’s reactions and that was the last thing the brunette wanted to do. All the evidence was right there when he’d thought about it as he drifted off to sleep the night before. The flinching, the withdrawnness and the fear of saying the wrong thing; it all just began to add up. 

Tommy had been abused.

No child would be dressed in poorly put together rags and react the way they had if they hadn’t thought they were going to be hurt. Hiding under the bed was the confirmation he needed that his assumptions were true and all he could think about was how he didn’t want anyone else hurting that sweet little boy ever again.

Not if he had anything to say about it.

“What’s got you in a tizzy?” 

Wilbur lifted his head to see his twin, Technoblade, leaned up against the kitchen counter with a freshly poured steaming cup of coffee.

“Morning Techno. Sorry, didn’t hear you enter.”

“It’s not like you to be up so early Wil.”  The pink-haired teen commented curiously. 

He couldn’t help but observe the way his brother kept their gaze trained towards the hallway as he joined them at the dining table. He could make out the muffled voice of Phil talking from the other room but not what was being said.

“Is it that kid Dad brought home?” Technoblade asked. “I heard you both calling for them this morning which woke me up.” 

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Wilbur smiled apologetically as he faced his brother across the table. “We were, but Dad’s with him now under the bed.”

“He’s what?” Techno arched his brow perplexed. “Under the bed?”

“Yeah.” Wilbur sighed heavily. “I think I spooked him when I was going to come in about breakfast, and he panicked.” 

He couldn’t help but think about how closed off Tommy had been the night before. The way he seemed to carefully choose his movements and would shrink back if he felt like he overdid it. He wanted to see the Tommy with the spitfire attitude. Not the child that felt the need to tread carefully through every interaction.

“I think- I think wherever he came from he was abused, Tech.” 

“Well from how you and Dad described him in the messages, it certainly wouldn’t be too far-fetched to assume it.” Techno sipped his coffee as Wilbur grabbed his knife to cut into his waffles and sighed.

“Well whatever happened to Tommy, I’m hoping we can get him to open up and talk to us.” 

For his sake.

 ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *. .*  ･ ｡ﾟ☆ : ☽ .* ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *. .* 

Leaving the guest bedroom had been far harder than what it should have been.

While he knew Phil was only concerned for his well being, Tommy wasn’t quite sure he was ready to be in the presence of all 3 Beans at once. 

He knew Phil had mentioned the night before about Techno coming home late which undoubtedly meant the teen was up by now having his morning coffee and Tommy knew how Techno tended to act around ‘new visitors.’ 

One good perk of living in the walls was you learned how every person of the household acted around each other, and new people. Phil and Wilbur were always fairly welcoming, but Techno wasn’t the easiest to talk to. If you didn’t know him, he may come across as cold and calculating. Not the easiest person to approach without shaking in your boots that’s for sure.

But as Tommy would tell you, he knew that after the guests had all left, the sheer amount of relief the pinkette would feel, further revealing how awkward they had been about being around these ‘strangers’ was hilarious. It wasn’t a villain behind glasses moment, just an awkward teen with limited social skills. 

Tommy couldn’t help but giggle to himself as he’d watched the teen collapse in his bed after a certain interaction with a salesman as if it had drained all the life out of him. People just weren’t Techno’s strong suit.

But even knowing this didn’t ease the boy's nerves. It didn’t change the fact that even if Technoblade was socially awkward that he wasn’t capable of harm. The fencing trophies in his room a testament to that feat of strength.

His nervousness about having breakfast with the 3 must have been obvious, because Phil had gently placed his hand on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze before leading them both out of the guest room and to the dining room.

Just breathe Tommy. They don't know what you are yet. 

You’re okay for now.

“Morning Tech, good to see you up and about.” Phil greeted chipperly as he manoeuvred himself into the kitchen leaving Tommy to observe by the hallway. “I’d like you to meet Tommy.”

Tommy briefly met Techno’s gaze and was met with a solemn stare as they sipped on their coffee. He’d be joking if he said he knew what was going on in the teens head. 

The blonde forced himself to give one short acknowledging nod at the pinkette, not trusting his voice to form any coherent words as he shifted uncomfortably from where he stood. He deliberately kept his eyes averted from the twins at the table, fully well knowing Techno was most definitely staring at him, if the hot feeling of holes being burnt through his chest wasn’t already obvious enough. 

It took everything in him to not run right there and then.

“Tommy, why don’t you take a seat next to Techno and I’ll fix you up something to eat.”

Okay now would be a good time for his voice box to work because there was no way he wanted to sit next to Technoblade. 

That was NOT his ideal way of getting caught. 

It didn’t matter if humans couldn’t read minds, if anyone could catch on to something being off, it would be Technoblade. It was like the teen had a sixth sense and somehow just always knew when something wasn’t quite right. Just like the moving of the craft knife, he was sure if he slipped up in front of Techno, they’d know and it would be game over and onto the torture in a heartbeat.

Thankfully, it didn’t seem like it would come to that, as Techno was quick to stand and tuck in his chair as he excused himself to finish some upcoming school work.

“All good Dad, I’ve got homework to finish before school on Monday. I’ll just excuse myself.”

Tommy felt himself relax. Oh, thank Prime for humans and their absurd amounts of homework! Even if he didn’t really understand why they got it.

“Alright Techno, just make sure to have something more than coffee this morning alright? And don’t let me catch you having something potato-based before lunch, got it?”

“No promises.” The pinkette replied, before grabbing an apple from the refrigerator and began walking towards his room.

Tommy however was still glued to the hallway. 

The hallway that led to said Bean's bedroom.

Even though he was Bean sized right now, Technoblade still towered over the young boy. So much so that the light overhead was slightly obscured, casting an eerie shadow over the teens face making his deep brown eyes appear to glow a dark red. Tommy felt the way his heart spiked, his instincts screaming at him to run as his eyes darted around looking for potential tunnels and crevices to escape to. Anything to get away from this predator of man as they came to a steady stop before him.

“Ahem.” The teen cleared his throat along with a flick of his head.

What did he want? He hadn’t even done anything and was already in trouble? Should he have moved to the table quicker? Or had he stared too long?

A second cough with another jerk of the teen's head as Tommy’s anxiety began to grow finally keyed what Techno wanted from him.

Oh . 

He wanted him to move.

“Tech, quit scaring the poor kid and go around them.” Phil teasingly scolded. “You’re gonna give Tommy a heart attack.”

Techno huffed in minor annoyance before shuffling past, minorly brushing against Tommy’s arm as he did. It wasn’t hard or anything, but Tommy couldn’t suppress the flinch it caused from his prior panic. He missed the way Techno’s eyes furrowed in concern as he hurried to move before he caused any more problems.

“Don’t mind him Tommy,” Wilbur piped up, drawing the younger's attention back to the table. “He’s not much of a people person.”

The blonde finally let himself breathe as he brought his attention back to the brunette as they continued. “Come take a seat and have some breakfast, yeah?”

Tommy nodded, gingerly making his way over to the table plopping down opposite Wilbur as instructed before. As he sat, Phil picked up a plate and served a freshly cooked waffle onto it, before drizzling it in thick golden syrup and strawberries.

“Here you are, mate.” The man said placing the decorative dessert in front of him with a knife and fork.

He whispered his thanks as he picked up the utensils, but the Borrower couldn’t help but be on edge. Even if Phil and Wilbur had been nice to him his whole stay, Techno clearly didn’t want him here. He was sure that after breakfast, Phil was going to take him back to the park like he’d said, but then what? He couldn’t tell them that his real home was actually here, but also couldn’t risk being taken to the park and never finding his way back.

There had to be a way to figure out this whole mess before they brought up leaving. At most he just had to figure out a way to get back from the park after they left him there because it’s not like the walls were an option until he had a grasp on how he kept growing and shrinking.

Tommy cut a bit of the waffle off before stabbing it and a strawberry onto his fork, the maple syrup having sunken into the fluffy dessert. At least he’d get to enjoy one more good meal before he gets temporarily kicked out. 

‘Hopefully not forever’ the Borrower thought bitterly at the idea of abandoning yet another home.

“So, Tommy,” Phil began as he set a plate of his own waffles down to join the pair at the table. “Feeling a bit better?”

“Yeah, a bit.” He answered as he took another mouthful of waffle. “The waffles are really good.” The boy said, muffled between chews.

“Ew, finish your mouthful before you speak.” Wilbur grimaced as Tommy shovelled another forkful of waffle in. “I don’t want to see your mushed-up breakfast, thanks.”

Tommy slowed his chewing and allowed himself to swallow. Shoot, he hadn’t meant to upset him with how he ate again. Did he now have to be conscious about how he ate too? He thought humans ate like this all the time though?

“Wilbur.” Phil scolded as he elbowed his son in the arm. “You’re almost as bad as Techno.” 

The man sighed before turning his attention back to the tense blonde with a sympathetic smile. “It’s alright Tommy that’s not what Wilbur meant. It’s just you need to finish your mouthful before speaking. You could choke if you’re not careful.”

The boy nodded hesitantly before taking another mouthful and chewing it fully before swallowing. Why did humans have to have so many rules? In the colony, no one would have bat an eye if you spoke with your mouth full. You’d get your share and move on. How you ate was no one’s business and certainly no one cared about how Tommy ate. Then again, he’d never really had enough food to stuff his face when he was at the colony for it to be an issue. 

Perhaps he was being sloppy…

“Sorry.” He whispered before taking another bite. 

Phil sighed, setting down his knife with a soft clink. How was he going to get this kid to see that he was safe here? He hadn’t meant to make them feel more uncomfortable but it seemed the stress of it all was starting to get to the kid.

The man stared at the plate in front of him, his waffles half-eaten and starting to get cold. Each step of progress to make Tommy feel comfortable felt like it took 2 steps back. The kid was probably itching to get to the park and get back home too, but the thought of leaving Tommy like this just didn’t sit well with him. He glanced at the young blonde as he took his time with each bite, noticing how his gaze flicked from Wilbur to him and back to the plate worried as they ate in silence.

So tense, like walking on thin ice…

After finishing pacing himself on breakfast, Tommy had been intercepted by Wilbur. 

The brunette had taken one look at him and insisted he have a shower, shoving some clean clothes into him and ushered him into the bathroom. It’s a good thing he knew how taps worked, because understanding how to change water temperature would have been an awful experience had he not. 

Despite feeling bad about using the Crafts water, Tommy had to admit being able to wash up properly after so long felt wonderfully refreshing. Even seeing his own reflection in the mirror; clean and well-groomed for the first time in years, had him taken aback at how nice his hair and skin looked after a good wash.

The clothes Wilbur had given him had been some old clothes he didn’t fit into anymore and had had lying around. A pair of jeans, a basic t-shirt with some humans on it that Tommy didn’t recognise and an old blue sweater that was slightly too big on him. It felt odd to wear clothes made with fabrics of such high quality, but he instantly fell in love with the sweater. 

Now yes, he was aware of how bad his clothes had been. They were basically falling to bits on him, but it’s not like he didn’t know that. The Great Tommyinnit knows how to make nice clothes thank you very much.

If anything he was a pro tailor back in the colony, but considering he’d been roaming for weeks at a time carrying only the bare necessities before finally settling in at the crafts; new clothes hadn’t been much of a priority. He’d only really just managed to get his new home to his liking and with all the necessities he would need. New clothing had been next on his to-do list, if the mud-stained and holey garments he wore daily had made any indications of needing them.

He just needed a few days to gather the fabric and thread and he’d have a new wardrobe within the week. But the clothes he made vs the clothes Wilbur had lent him were nothing in comparison to quality! It was all just so soft and silky feeling and Tommy almost never wanted to take any of it off even if it was slightly too big. It wouldn’t be hard to adjust the seams on the jeans to make them fit better and the same with the shirt. His trusty handmade needle could make quick work of that. 

Maybe Wilbur wouldn’t mind if he took them home with him? 

That was, if he’d ever be able to go home.

Tommy still didn’t understand how any of this worked and trying to make himself leave the bathroom to ‘take him home’ was not helping.

The curling feeling in his gut telling him to just stay put and hide kept him mulling over the options in his head. But how could he do that after he told Phil he lived near the park? They would expect him to be fine once he left and go back home just like he supposedly wanted.

He turned to face himself in the mirror, stray water droplets dripped down the side of his face from his still-damp hair. The clean, presentable Tommy he saw now, no longer the same dirty, orphan he knew he was. Perhaps if he’d always been like this, he’d never have been kicked out of the colony. He never would have been alienated by those meant to care, never felt so small when it was normal. But now he was big, clean and everything someone might love as a Human Bean and yet he felt so fake hiding behind a false facade.

After all, he was only a Borrower.

The dreaded small feeling came creeping back in and all it took was one glance at the mirror for Tommy to wish he was back to his old self. He shouldn’t have put the thought of being loved in his head again. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t bear the thought of the Crafts turning on him should this disguise fall. Tommy squeezed his eyes shut tightly as he clutched the edge of the sink counter.

He wanted to go home and be small again. Hide away where it was safe from all that was out to get him. Away from this reflection of a boy he didn’t recognise. A tingly sensation pricked at his skin as tears began to drip steadily down his cheeks. He was being childish; he knew that, but he didn’t care. Why couldn’t he just be loved as he was?

Upon opening his eyes to look at the disgrace that was him in the mirror, Tommy found he was no longer staring at himself, but rather at the side of the wooden cabinet- three times smaller than he’d been almost seconds before. 

He’d shrunk. Again?

Confusion swept over his mind as he scrubbed at his face. How did this keep happening? One second he’s big and hating his Bean size counterpart, the next he’s smaller and wishing….

To be smaller…

It suddenly all began to make sense as the puzzle pieces began to slot into place. Every time he’d grown or shrunk, he’d been wishing to change. To be bigger to catch up or smaller to go home. He willed it, and it happened. 

Did his desire to change trigger the shift of his size?

Tentatively, Tommy stood back from the counter and focused hard. He wanted to be smaller, like his old self. Small enough to fit through the cracks, small enough to hide out of sight, be 3 inches tall again, the only right size. The Tommy size.

The tingling returned, this time all over his body as the blonde focused on changing his shape to be what he envisioned. It was a warm sensation and Tommy thought it was strange how he’d never felt it until now. When the tingling dissipated, Tommy slowly opened his eyes as a small gasp escaped him.

“I shrunk.” He whispered in awe as he took in the now enlarged bathroom. He grabbed at his hands and arms, patting himself down to prove that he indeed had changed with a disbelieving laugh. “I’m me again.” 

“Ha, I’m actually me! Oh, thank prime.” Tommy cheered as he hugged himself tight. “I thought I’d never work this out.”

The familiarity of large objects and tall ceilings finally returned the Borrower's sense of normalcy. How he missed this. He could finally go home, size not restricting him at all and return back to the safety of the walls. Just the walls, his tiny shoebox home and-

Me.

Tommy glanced around the little bathroom. The light green tiles were clearly a design choice by Phil but the fluffy light blue towels were definitely a conscious decision by Wilbur, and you’d never guess the yellow daffodils were put together by Technoblade. Each had their own little way of expressing themselves.

Tommy sighed as he stared at his hands, inspecting them front and back.

So a simple thought was all it took to change size right? 

Just think big- be big. Simple. 

Right?

Only a bit of tingling later and Tommy was back to his Bean height. It truly took no effort at all, as if it was second nature to him. Not Borrower nature, but certainly something. Maybe the other Borrowers had always been able to sense that in him. This thing that wasn’t quite right was this incredible size-shifting ability that probably no one had ever heard of and he had it. He certainly was no Borrowerer and definitely not a Bean. 

But no one else knew that.

Tentatively, Tommy reached out and picked up a single Daffodil and twirled it in his hand. He’d heard Technoblade talking about how there was a whole language of flowers and that each one meant something different when presented to another person. He couldn’t remember what a Daffodil meant but, the flower itself brought the happy memories of Crafts to the forefront of his mind.

They didn’t know what he was and with this shifting ability sort of figured out, what could stop him from staying? Or at least from getting to know the Crafts better. With something to leave behind, all it would take is to leave a trail back to the Crafts house from the park and he could go and come when he pleased. He’d be able to walk distances that used to take him days in a matter of minutes with ease and the Crafts would never have to know about where his true place of residence was.

It was a second chance at having a real family, or at least a relationship with someone that didn’t immediately hate him. He wouldn’t have to leave forever and could come back and actually talk to someone! It may be risky without knowing the full extent of the shifts, but it was a chance and a chance he was willing to take. 

A knock at the door caused the boy to jump, but thankfully he remained silent this time. 

“Tommy you alright in there?” It was Phil. Bless the old man's heart for his concern. “You’ve been in there awhile and just wanted to check if you were okay?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m alright,” Tommy called back through the door looking around the bathroom for something to enact his hastily thrown together plan. “Just about done. I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Okay, we’ll get ready to leave shortly to take you back to the park then, if you’re happy to.” 

The blonde finally spotted something suitable for his trail and quickly grabbed a handful of decorative little blue pebbles from the bottom of a vase filled with fake pink camellia flowers and shoved them into his pocket before grabbing his dirty clothes.

“Sounds good, big man,” Tommy said as he opened the door to where the taller blonde was standing a little bit away looking minorly concerned.

“Let’s get going.” the boy said with a smile.

This was going to work. 

He knew it.

 ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *. .*  ･ ｡ﾟ☆ : ☽ .* ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *. .*

__________________________

YAY! WE FINISHED CHAPTER 4!!! WOOOOO Again I am so sorry this took so long to do. I've been working on it on and off for awhile with little progress and life has just been kicking my butt lately that finishing stuff up sucks. I have made a start on chapter 5 and I do plan to finish this fic, it just may take awhile with current circumstances.

HUGE thank you to @a-xyz-s and @munchkin1156 for beta reading this chapter and grammar issues! You are my heroes TwT.

TAG LIST: @local-squishmallow @brick-a-doodle-do @justarandomsloth @veryfunkycheesecake @munchkin1156 @kayla-crazy-stuffs @da3dm @eiscreme135 @orchid-harmony @the-tiny-lurker @colossal-red @nobodywritingao3 @nata2343 @bad-author777 @crazyfoxgirl10 @guppybubbles @box-beanz

Link to tag list for future tags :3

✨Thanks for reading! <3✨

[angstylittleguy]

The Rift

Part 2 of "Broken." After Rory rescues Dalton from a too-curious Bennett, Dalton reveals his newly-formed opinion of him, which leaves a divide in the group. // Part 1

tw: anger, guilt, bruises

character context: Dalton is a size-shifter whose height is affected by his emotions. Bennett frequently gets stuck in time loops and the only way to get the loop to end is for him to survive the day. Rory is a mind reader that is unable to control her ability. The voices in her head are constant and the emotions of the people around her are often inflicted onto her.

word count: 2k

-> In Which Everything Goes Wonderfully Wrong masterpost link: Here

-> character introductions and moodboards: Here

Dalton stood on the bathroom counter, his shirt pulled up and back facing the mirror. He peered over his shoulder, staring at the marks on his skin.

Rory stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame with her arms crossed uncomfortably over her chest. Her skin was crawling with anger, sadness, confusion—all emotions coming from Dalton—and she couldn’t help the frown that decorated her lips. 

When Bennett had called her, she was still in the library. She hadn’t even known that he and Dalton had left. And then Bennett said that there had been an accident. That Dalton had shrunken and they had to leave. That they were in Bennett’s dorm and Dalton was crying. 

As she walked down the dorm hallway, her neck immediately pricked with regret and fear. It was emanating from Bennett’s room in harsh waves, and it didn’t take a genius to know that something was horribly wrong. She opened the door—it wasn’t locked—and she saw Bennett sitting on his bed in the far corner of the room. His knees were tucked close to his chest, back pressed against the wall like he was trying to make himself look small. His eyes cut to Rory as she entered. With a shaky finger, he pointed to the other side of the room.

Rory’s eyes fell upon Dalton, impossibly small, curled up on the surface of Bennett’s desk, laying on his side. His back was to the room, his arms gathered around his midsection. Strong feelings of mistrust made the hair on Rory’s arms stand on end.

She kneeled next to the desk. “Dalton?”

He rolled over on his back, turning his head to face her. His eyes were red and angry. “Can you take me home, please?” Dalton asked her, closing his eyes like he was fighting back more tears. 

Rory glanced back at Bennett one more time before very carefully scooping Dalton into her hands. He groaned at the movement. 

As Rory was leaving, she regarded Bennett. He watched her numbly. “I’ll come back later, okay?” Rory said, holding the door open with her hip. 

Bennett just nodded. 

Now at Dalton’s house, Rory wasn’t sure what to do for him. He was angry and upset, small and helpless. He wanted nothing more than to be left alone but Rory couldn’t bring herself to leave him in good conscience. 

“I knew he was too reckless,” Dalton said, his voice hard and laced with venom as he stared at his reflection. “I knew it the moment I met him that something like this was going to happen.”

Rory was quiet, still watching his small figure examine himself in the mirror.

“And the worst part,” Dalton continued, “was that I let it happen.”

“This isn’t your fault,” Rory responded, sympathy twanging deep in her chest.

“It’s not,” was Dalton’s short answer. “It’s Bennett’s. He’s too unpredictable. Doesn’t know what he’s doing. He never thinks. This could have all been avoided if he would just use his stupid brain!” 

Rory didn’t say anything. The air in Dalton’s house felt thick, suffocating almost. Rory could feel the weight of Dalton’s words, the sharpness of his anger—a heaviness she could practically touch as it settled between them. She had been in this position before, trying to soothe someone who didn’t want comfort. It never felt easy.

Dalton continued to stare at his reflection, his tiny form so vulnerable in contrast to the fury in his voice. He had a way of making everything seem like a disaster, as if the world was always crumbling around him. Rory didn’t know if it was his usual self-destructive streak or the aftermath of what had happened with Bennett. Probably both.

“Dalton, it’s not all on Bennett,” she said softly, her voice tentative but firm, hoping he could hear her through the layers of his anger.

Dalton scoffed, the sound small but biting. “You don't get it. He's dangerous. One minute he’s fine, and the next—” He stopped himself abruptly, his voice cracking. The vulnerability underneath the anger was hard to miss. “I thought I could trust him,” he muttered, his eyes drifting back to the mirror, his expression changing from rage to something quieter, sadder. “But I should’ve known better.”

Rory didn’t respond immediately. Instead, she just moved closer, kneeling next to him on the counter, keeping her distance but offering a presence, the kind that didn’t ask questions or try to fix things. Just someone to listen. 

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Dalton,” Rory said. “Bennett’s just... He’s still learning, just like us. You both are. This isn’t the end of the world. It’s just a moment.”

Dalton’s eyes flicked toward her, but his face remained tight, the corners of his lips pressed into a line of frustration. His small form seemed so fragile against the vastness of the bathroom counter, yet the intensity in his gaze was anything but small.

“Moment?” he repeated, his voice low and bitter, “This is more than a moment, Rory. He nearly killed me.” He sucked in a shaky breath, his fists clenched at his sides, the anger still simmering beneath the surface. “I don’t care if he’s learning, okay? I’m the one who pays for his mistakes.”

Rory felt a stab of helplessness as she watched him, wishing there was more she could do—more than just listen, more than just offer hollow assurances. She understood his anger, his frustration. It was so much easier to lash out, to blame someone else for the pain, especially when that someone was someone you thought you could trust.

She opened her mouth, ready to offer more words, but Dalton cut her off before she could speak.

“I shouldn’t have trusted him. I should’ve known better. It’s always the same with me—people get close, and then they—” He trailed off, swallowing hard. His voice cracked with the rawness of the emotion, but it wasn’t just about Bennett anymore, Rory realized. It was about the constant cycle that Dalton had somehow resigned himself to. Trusting people, letting them in, only to get hurt.

The air between them thickened with the weight of unspoken words. Rory’s fingers twitched, unsure of whether to reach for him or give him the space he so obviously wanted. Instead, she settled for her words.

“You deserve better than this,” Rory finally whispered. “Better than feeling like this... all the time.”

Dalton shifted slightly, the first hint of vulnerability flickering in his eyes, though he quickly masked it with a sharp inhale.

“Yeah,” he muttered, more to himself than to her. “I know.”

They sat in silene for a moment. Eventually, Dalton spoke again, his tone quieter now, almost apologetic. “I’m sorry, Rory. I don’t mean to be... this way. It’s just... a lot.”

“I know,” Rory replied gently.

Finally, she stood up from the counter. “I should let you rest. You’ve been through enough for today. But I’ll check in on you later, okay?”

Dalton gave a small nod, not quite meeting her eyes. “Yeah. Thanks, Rory.”

“Take care of yourself,” Rory said softly, her hand on the doorknob, looking back at him one last time before stepping into the hallway.

Dalton didn’t respond, but she knew he’d heard her.

…

Rory knocked softly on Bennett’s dorm room door, the sound a gentle tap against the heavy silence that seemed to hang over the hallway. She waited for a response, but there was nothing but stillness on the other side. She pushed the door open slowly, the hinges creaking as she stepped inside.

The room was dimly lit, the curtains drawn tightly shut, leaving only a faint sliver of light filtering through the edges. Bennett was sitting on the bed, his face buried in his hands, his body shaking with silent sobs. The sight of him, so raw and vulnerable, took Rory by surprise. She had always seen him as confident, maybe even reckless, but never like this.

“Bennett?”

Bennett lifted his head slowly at the sound of her voice, his eyes red and swollen, the weight of his guilt palpable in the room. His face crumpled again, and he buried his face in his hands once more, letting out a muffled sob.

“I didn’t mean to hurt him,” Bennett said, his voice barely a whisper, thick with regret. “I didn’t mean to… I didn’t know, Rory. I didn’t know how fragile he was when he was that small. I thought I was just… But I didn’t realize how much I could hurt him.” His words were tangled in his grief, and Rory could hear the guilt twisting his insides.

“You didn’t know,” Rory said gently, her voice calm but firm.

Bennett shook his head, his hands still gripping his face as if trying to block out the shame. “I should’ve known better. I should’ve… I thought it was all fun, Rory. I thought—hell, I thought it was cool, you know? I’ve never seen anything like that before.” His voice cracked, and he lowered his hands to his lap, his eyes vacant as he stared at the floor. “I don’t know how to fix it. How can I fix it after everything that’s happened?”

“Maybe you don’t need to fix it right away,” Rory said after a pause, her voice thoughtful. “Maybe you just need to be there for him. Show him that you care. You don’t have to have all the answers, Bennett. Just listen to him. Let him know that you’re sorry. And don’t push him. Let him come to you when he’s ready. That’s how you can start.”

Bennett looked up at her then, his eyes still full of confusion and pain. It was as if the weight of her words was just starting to settle on him, too heavy to lift on his own. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Instead, he closed his eyes tightly, shaking his head again.

“I don’t know if he’ll ever forgive me,” he muttered, his voice strained and brittle. “I don’t know how to show him that I didn’t mean for any of this. I just wanted to—” He stopped himself, running a shaky hand through his hair. Bennett wiped his face with the sleeve of his hoodie, his chest rising and falling with the weight of his emotions. He let out a shuddering breath before speaking again, quieter this time, almost to himself.

“I don’t even know what to say to him. What if it’s too late? What if he hates me?”

Rory’s expression softened. “You don’t know unless you try. And if you don’t try, you’ll regret it.”

Bennett sat there for a moment, quiet, as if weighing her words. Then, slowly, he nodded. “I’ll talk to him,” Bennett said finally, his voice steadier now, though still threaded with doubt. “I don’t know what I’ll say, but I’ll talk to him.”

Rory smiled softly, her hand resting on his shoulder, grounding him. “That’s all you can do, Bennett. Just be honest. The rest will come with time.”

For a long moment, the two of them sat in the stillness of the room. Bennett, his thoughts still swirling with guilt. Finally, Bennett stood up, wiping his eyes once more as if trying to regain some of his composure. “Thanks, Rory,” he said, his voice hoarse. “I… I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

[musicallygt]

It’s probably obvious by now that this post I made some time ago was always about these two lol

[rosella35]

Kaleb's Bad Day: Part II

Part II of my little thing featuring Kaleb's existentialism and Brooke being... considerate? Consider this a teaser of what their relationship will be like two months after the events of the main story...

I hope you enjoy!

Content warning: contains swearing and themes of prejudice.

****

After checking briefly that the coast was clear, Brooke sucked in a breath and exited the girls bathroom. She walked down the empty hallway with as much purpose as she could muster, though her heart still pounded loudly in her chest. She could feel a second, much smaller heart pounding against her body as well, fluttering even faster than her own. Kaleb sat hunched up at the bottom of her jacket pocket, his tiny, shaking hands gripping the thick denim on either side of him to steady himself.  

After the two of them had recovered from their embarrassment in the bathroom and Kaleb had readjusted the toilet paper around his waist, Brooke had taken it upon herself to put the rest of their plan in action—anything to get her mind off of what she’d just witnessed. Obviously, Kaleb had protested against her planned hiding spot for him, complaining that it would be too obvious. To prove her point, Brooke had stood in front of the mirror by the sink, demonstrating how little Kaleb’s tiny form actually stood out from inside the pocket. After seeing that, Kaleb had shivered but said nothing, and dropped down into the pocket without a word. 

If anything could have reminded him of just how small he was compared to a human, it was that. 

A few minutes of walking later and Brooke cleared her throat, a sound that Kaleb felt as well as heard from his position. “We’re at your locker.” She announced. When no movement could be felt from her pocket other than Kaleb’s slight weight, Brooke frowned. “Oh, c’mon, are you really gonna sulk for the rest of the day? Your clothes are in there, right?” 

Carefully, she lifted the flap of the pocket up, watching the small borrower inside shield his eyes from the sudden change of lighting and peer up at her cautiously. Curled up as Kaleb was, her pocket almost looked roomy, a thought that had never exactly crossed Brooke’s mind before. “If you don’t wanna move yet, then at least tell me your locker combination.” 

“It’s 1-2-6-4.” Kaleb replied, voice quieter than normal. 

“1-2-6-4…” Brooke muttered to herself as she fiddled with the lock. Moments later, the door came loose with a faint click, and she pulled it open, revealing Kaleb’s untidy collection of belongings. Brooke stared at the locker’s contents for a moment in bemusement. At first glance, it looked like your everyday teenage boy’s locker: a disorganised pile of notebooks, pens, and crumpled worksheets. What drew her attention though was the assortment of knick-knacks Kaleb had managed to cram into one corner—stray buttons, rubber bands, bits of string and wire, thumbtacks, screws, aluminium foil, and even an empty plastic soy sauce fish from a packet of sushi. Brook wrinkled her nose. “Sheesh, it’s like a dumping ground in here. You do know we have bins on campus, right?” 

Kaleb gave a sheepish shrug from within the confines of her pocket. “What’s that saying you humans use? One man’s trash is another man’s treasure?”

She groaned. “You’re obsessive.” 

Not bothering to wait for his snarky reply, Brooke leaned into the locker so her chest was out of sight of anyone passing by and reached a hand into her jacket pocket, closing her fingers around the borrower inside as gently as she could muster. Kaleb couldn’t help but shudder slightly as he felt the all-encompassing pressure of those digits against his torso. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to being handled by humans, despite how many times Brooke had proven herself to be careful in the past. Kaleb fought against his instincts to squirm against her grip as he was brought out of the pocket and into the relatively spacious interior of his locker. Once inside, he took a moment to adjust the toilet paper around his waist, before glancing across at Brooke, whose giant frame blocked out the expanse of the hallway beyond. 

“Thanks for the lift.” He said, shifting awkwardly under her gaze and trying to mask the unsettling feeling of being watched with a half-assed smile. “You can close the door while I get changed. I’ll knock twice when I’m done.” 

“Right.” Brooke nodded. The human girl spared the empty hallway a quick glance, before pushing the locker shut with a creak. 

The second the door clicked shut and darkness swallowed up the locker’s interior, Kaleb let out the breath he’d been holding in. His eyes adjusted instantly to the nearly pitch-black space, taking in the stack of notebooks, school supplies and trinkets he’d only ever interacted with at human size. It almost felt surreal seeing them now, like he was a stranger getting a glimpse into the unreachable world of Kaleb the human. Those thoughts nagged at Kaleb’s mind as he sought out the small pile of borrower clothes he kept tucked away at the back of his locker. Wasting no time, he tugged on a simple short-sleeved navy shirt, capri pants and tan shoes, and tapped lightly on the metal door to let Brooke know he was done.

Kaleb shielded his eyes as light flooded back into the locker and his world opened up again to reveal Brooke’s gigantic gaze. From outside, the human girl smiled slightly, glad to see him back in his usual borrower getup. Anything to get her mind off his bare chest, and… well… Brooke’s crude thoughts were interrupted suddenly by the sound of the school bell echoing through the hallway. Kaleb jumped at the volume, tiny hands clamped over his ears. “Crap.” He winced, glancing around nervously. “I forgot we still had recess before next period.”

“Me too.” Brooke said, before realising the implications. “Oh, shit.” Acting on instinct, her hand shot out to wrap around Kaleb’s midsection, and she quickly lifted the flap of her jacket pocket to drop him inside, out of sight. The borrower yelped at the sudden transfer, disoriented, though his breath hitched as the noise outside suddenly picked up, hundreds of humans beginning to swarm the halls in their mad dash to the cafeteria. He drew his knees to his chest automatically, feeling smaller than ever. Despite knowing full well that no one would ever suspect Brooke Tucker of all people to have a borrower hidden away in her pocket, the layer of denim separating him from the outside world didn’t feel thick enough. 

Brooke, meanwhile, slammed Kaleb’s locker shut before anyone could see what she was doing, and started off down the hall. She passed by her own locker on the way to retrieve her packed lunch—with her parents’ current financial situation, joining the line for the cafeteria felt like a fleeting memory—before hesitating, wondering where she should go. 

From inside her pocket, Kaleb’s ears were pricked, listening intently to the sea of voices and squeaking of giant sets of shoes on the vinyl floor outside. It was always disorienting to travel by pocket and even more so when he wasn’t able to see what was going on around him. With a sigh, he shifted into a more comfortable position with his back against the wall of Brooke’s chest, hearing as well as feeling the pounding of her giant heart through the denim. Suddenly, the commotion outside ceased, and Kaleb frowned to himself, wondering where exactly his human chauffeur had ended up. Tentatively, he lifted the flap of the pocket, though froze when he felt the pressure of her hand on the outside, covering it. “Hang on.” Her voice rumbled through him. 

Kaleb’s stomach lurched uncomfortably as he felt her take a seat. Finally, once she was settled, Brooke lifted the pocket’s flap to allow her borrower passenger to take in their surroundings. 

Immediately, Kaleb pressed himself back into the depths of the pocket. “We’re outside?” He gulped, blinking up at the blue sky he rarely ever got to see from his regular size. “I thought you’d go to the library or something.” 

Brooke leant back against the trunk of the tree she’d chosen to sit under. Her face was dappled with the shadows of the rustling leaves above as she stared down at him, confused. “No one ever sits here, so I figured it’d be safer. I guess I could find us a spot in the library though, if you really want.” 

“Oh.” Kaleb said, hiding his flushed face. It was rare for Brooke to consider his needs like that. “No, it’s okay.” He said hurriedly, trying to hide the flutter of nerves that always came with being outside in an unfamiliar place. “I don’t mind staying here.” 

“Sweet.” Brooke said simply, turning to get out her lunch. Unwrapping her somewhat squished sandwich, she hesitated, sparing her downsized classmate a thoughtful glance. “Uh, do you want some of this? It’s just PB and J, but if you’re hungry…” 

“Sure.” Kaleb smiled gratefully. “Thanks.” 

Unsure how to go about sharing her lunch with a borrower, Brooke broke a small portion off her sandwich and held it out to him between her pinched fingers. She tried not to think about how she’d used her bare hands to touch his food, or how stale the bread her mum had used to make the sandwich probably was. Luckily, Kaleb didn’t seem to mind at all. To a borrower, food was food, and the novelty of actually being able to eat while at human school wasn’t lost on him. He accepted the squished clump of bread and condiments with a grin, nodding his thanks. 

It didn’t escape Brooke’s attention that Kaleb hadn’t asked to leave her pocket since she’d sat down. “You can come out, if you want.” She said, looking out at their surroundings. The tree she’d chosen was far enough against the perimeter of the school grounds that no other students were in sight, other than a group of boys playing soccer on the oval nearby. Even if somebody did come over, Kaleb would have plenty of time to duck out of sight before they arrived.  

Apparently that wasn’t enough to convince the borrower in question. “I’m fine just staying here.” Kaleb said dismissively. “I don’t wanna risk anyone seeing me.” 

He supposed it was a version of the truth. In actuality, there was a larger part of Kaleb that was absolutely terrified by the thought of being stuck out in the open without his borrowing gear. It was one of those realities of his kind that he would never expect any human to understand, let alone Brooke. To him, venturing outside unequipped was like a death sentence, something even the most hardened of borrowers wouldn’t dream of doing. Just as humankind had survived by creating their tools and weapons and inventions, a borrower’s grappling hooks, sewing needle swords, and thumbtack daggers were like their lifeline. Without them, Kaleb would be the perfect prey for a crow or stray cat, or worse, an overly curious human who just couldn’t leave well enough alone.

Which leaves me all the more dependent on Brooke right now. That unhelpful part of his brain reminded him. 

“Fair.” The human girl said. “I don’t exactly wanna be caught eating lunch with a borrower, either.” 

Kaleb smirked, internally glad she hadn’t pressed the issue. “Doesn’t really suit the exterminator’s daughter reputation, huh?”

“I will leave you here.” 

They were silent for a moment, and Kaleb took a bite of his makeshift sandwich, chewing thoughtfully and trying to ignore the sound of Brooke doing the same albeit at a larger, far more unsettling scale. “I never thought I’d see the school like this.” He admitted as a way of distraction, gazing over at the red and yellow brick building in the distance. From his current perspective, there might as well have been an ocean of grass separating it from where Brooke was sitting; a reality that was both humbling and unnerving at the same time. Kaleb found himself wanting to try and explain it to her, whether she chose to listen or not. 

“I’ve always kinda seen coming here as like my second life, where I can live the way any other human teenager would without being in constant fear of danger or being caught.” He said, arms draped over the lip of Brooke’s pocket as he brooded. “But right now, when I’m like this, it’s hard to explain. It makes it so obvious that the person I become when I’m human-sized—my whole identity when I’m at school—it’s all fake. Just a lie I built to protect this Kaleb. The real me.” 

Kaleb stared at the outline of his hands, so tiny in comparison to the human whose pocket he leant out of, and even tinier when held out in front of the backdrop of Westmount State High. When Brooke said nothing in response, he sighed, speaking more to himself than anything. “But still… Even though Upsize is a pain to deal with, and clearly it doesn’t always work the way it’s supposed to, I can’t imagine going back to the way things were before I started using it.”

Her borrower neighbour’s honest words stirred up a torrent of emotions inside Brooke; something that had been happening more and more frequently lately. I should’ve known he’d start getting all existential on me, her thoughts were screaming. Deep down, she knew that she and Kaleb were beginning to reach a bit of a stalemate with their empty threats and bickering, but a part of her still found comfort in those interactions. She could keep her guard up that way, and maintain a certain degree of separation from being genuine with him. Still, Brooke couldn’t deny that other part of her—one she tried to keep sealed away—that yearned for connection. If someone had told her two months ago that she’d be finding that connection from Kaleb Finch of all people, she would have laughed in their face. And yet here they were, and Brooke couldn’t help but agree with his words. She was sick of pretending, too. 

“You basically just summed up why so many humans like playing video games.” Brooke mused, swallowing the last of her sandwich and leaning back against the tree trunk with her legs stretched out in front of her. She laced her hands behind her head. “When you’re playing as a character and really immersing yourself in their world, it’s easy to forget how shitty your own life is behind the screen.” 

Now it was Kaleb’s turn to hesitate, not expecting such an earnest answer. Brooke surprised him more and more with those these days. “My life isn’t shitty.” He said. “It’s just…” He stared down at his hands again.

“Small?” The human girl offered with a smug grin.

Kaleb hid his own smile behind the material of her pocket. “I was going to say dull, but I guess that’s a more obvious way of putting it.” 

“To be honest, I forget too.” Brooke said. “That you’re actually a borrower. You fake being human so well it’s kinda scary. But then I come home and you’re suddenly popping out of some random hole in the wall and scaring the shit out of me like it’s the most normal thing ever.” She gave a half-hearted, knowing sigh. “I get it. For you, the difference between who you are at school versus home is literally huge, and honestly, I don’t even want to try and imagine what that’s like. But you’re not really as alone as you think. Every human who knows what’s good for them puts on a face at school to protect themselves. It’s just part of fitting in until you’ve figured out the kind of person you want to be.” 

“Yeah…I guess you’re right.” Kaleb said, looking up at her dinner-plate-sized grey eyes as they gazed out across the grassy oval. He could see that the Brooke at school was a different person too, in a way. She always seemed sadder, more wistful. Hidden behind that trademark smug look of hers was the pain of understanding what it felt like to be marginalised. It made Kaleb wonder how much of that was his fault. 

“I just wish I could tell everyone the truth.” He blurted out before he could fall into that particular pit of self-loathing.

From his position, Kaleb could feel as well as hear Brooke snicker. “Seriously? Like the whole class?” She asked with an amused grin. “You reckon you could trust them all? Even Amy Snyder?” 

I trust you. Kaleb wanted to say. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” He agreed instead, but found himself hesitating when two figures kicking a soccer ball across the oval caught his eye. Kaleb blinked, surprised at how small they both looked from this distance, even though he knew it was only a matter of perspective. The borrower sighed. “I’d want to tell Thomas and Marcus.” He amended. “I’ve known them since I started here back in middle school. It’s exhausting, lying to them about everything. I didn’t really notice it until I started opening up to you.” 

Brooke hummed in agreement. “Yeah. Now that you mention it, I guess you do find every opportunity to tell me some weird borrower fact that I don’t actually care about.” 

When Kaleb shot her a withering look, the human girl tried again, though not without smirking first. “You’re worried they’ll look at you differently once they find out what you are, right?” 

Kaleb’s gaze dropped to the inside of her jacket pocket, where he began to fidget with the overlock stitching lining the edge. “Well… yeah.” He said quietly. “I mean, you did, didn’t you?” 

“I… did. I mean, I do.” Brooke had to admit. He’d gotten her there. Glancing down at his tiny, sulking form, she sighed, trying not to think too hard about how much she meant the words that came out of her mouth next:

“But is that really a bad thing? Yeah, I admit I still think borrowers are shit-talking little tight-wads, and I bet you still think me and my family are just another bunch of human bigots… but at least that means we both understand each other a little better, right?” 

Kaleb froze in place. Tactless as she was, he could see Brooke’s intentions as plain as day, how this was her own roundabout method of cheering him up. It made him smile, properly this time, and he met her giant eyes, opening his mouth to reply.

But then the bell rang again, signalling it was time to go back to class.

****

Fourth period was as dreary as ever for Brooke, who sat in her usual spot up the very back of the classroom so she could doodle in her notebook in peace. Although she was by no means flunking out of the subject, she definitely didn’t harbour the level of care towards maths that the borrower stowed away in her pocket seemed to have. Feeling her eyelids droop out of boredom, Brooke hid a yawn behind one hand while she sketched the outline of a guitar with the other. She hadn’t felt Kaleb’s tiny form shift against the inside of her pocket in a while now, figuring he was busy listening intently to Mrs Crowley taking questions about their upcoming exam as promised. 

Brooke rested her elbow on her desk and propped up her head with a hand. At the front of the classroom beside the whiteboard, the clock ticked away at her tauntingly. She blew the bangs out of her eyes with a huff. The sketch of her old guitar had killed exactly ten minutes of class time. 

Only eighty more to go. She thought miserably, reminded again of Kaleb and his abnormal appreciation for maths.  

After triple checking that no one was looking, Brooke decided that now was as good a time as any to check on the borrower in question. Maybe seeing him taking rigorous notes using the tiny scrap of paper and pacer lead she’d provided him earlier would spur her into actually engaging in the lesson herself. So, as quietly and non-discreetly as she could muster, Brooke pinched the flap of her jacket pocket between her thumb and forefinger and lifted it up to peer inside. She was fully expecting Kaleb’s tiny hand to immediately try to bat away her intruding digits, and for him to let out a string of curses for interrupting his note-taking (which she probably deserved).

Instead, Brooke was met with a very different sight.  

Her borrower classmate lay fast asleep at the bottom of the pocket, paper scrap and lead all but forgotten. The human girl watched his tiny chest rise and fall steadily, undisturbed by her relatively giant eyes gazing in. His body was curled up, free of the tension it had harboured since shrinking down hours ago. The near-permanent shit-eating grin had been wiped from his face, his features softened and relaxed. Brooke’s gaze lingered on his slumbering form for a moment longer, before she let the pocket flap fall back into place.

So much for catching those stupid exam tips. She thought to herself. 

For some reason though, Brooke wasn’t as annoyed as she imagined she’d be. If anything, seeing Kaleb let his near-impenetrable guard down after everything he’d been through that day made the human girl’s chest swell with unexpected warmth and that all-too-familiar emotion she wouldn’t dare acknowledge out loud. 

The corner of her lips tugging upwards into a smile, Brooke let out a sigh and turned to a fresh page of her notebook, writing the title “final exam tips” at the top. 

“You’re welcome." She whispered as she got to work.

[pain-is-too-tired]

Anyone remember when winged aus were a big thing or was that just big in the areas I was in dhdh

Like,not any specific species or anything,just characters with wings.

Sometimes whole society had the wings,sometimes it was few people who did and usually had to hide it etc

I remember rping that au a lot too.

Think should bring it back...mainly cause I like seeing characters drawn with wings dhdh

[nobodywritingao3]

Cold Love

masterpost

Wilbur is a dragon, his most wellkept secret. Tommy finds out so he brings him back to his hoard in the mountains.

CW: - vore

title taken from Cold Love by Rainbow Kitten Surprise

word count: 1.7k 🐉 read it on AO3

"Let me go," Tommy spits out. Despite his aggression, there's a fearful, panicky air about him that sends pangs into Wilbur's chest.

"Toms, come on. You know me - you know I'd never hurt you." He wrestles him into the ground, easily pinning him to the dirt without having to exert real effort.

Tommy's arms shake from the effort of trying to fight him off. Wilbur is almost relaxed above him, a slight frown on his face as he easily presses the boy down. The more he tries to fight and the more he sees how futile it is, the more his hostility slips into abject terror.

"Wilbur, please." His voice cracks and he starts to go limp. He blinks back tears. "I won't tell a soul. Your secret is safe, just let me go. I'll disappear, and you'll never hear from me again."

No. No, he doesn't want that at all -

And something must show on his face too, because Tommy's eyes widen at his reaction, and he starts to writhe again, sobs building in his chest.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I don't - I didn't - "

"Hush."

He falls dead silent, tears still streaming down the sides of his face.

"You're fine," Wilbur murmurs to him, trying to imbue his words with as much love as he can. "Everything's going to be fine, okay?"

He starts to stand, pulling Tommy up with him as he goes.

He's tense in his arms, but Wilbur remains gentle.

As soon as they're both standing up, Tommy lurches away from him, but he's not fast enough.

Wilbur pulls him close, his arms still loose around Tommy. "Were you trying to catch me off guard?"

Tommy is sobbing and yelling and hitting at his chest, but he doesn't react.

"I... what are you doing? You - you know I'm much stronger than humans, sweetheart, you've got to stop fighting me."

He breaks down in his arms and tries to fall to the ground, but Wilbur catches him and holds, staring at him in puzzlement.

"How do I make this better?" He asks, almost blankly.

Tommy is still crying. "You - you ate the mayor," he whimpers. "You burned half the village to the ground. You burned the orphanage to the ground. You killed Phil and Tech - "

Wilbur swallows a lump in his throat and shoves down rising feelings of guilt. "I did what I had to do. I ate the mayor, I destroyed your village, including the orphanage. But how else could I get you?" He brushes a strand of hair from Tommy's eyes. "All that paperwork... it's easier if they think you perished in the fire. And for the record - " he conspiratorially winks at Tommy, trying to get humor him, "Phil and Techno are just fine."

He doesn't wait for a response, closing his eyes and starting to shift. He pays extra mind to Tommy's position in his arms. The change is done in seconds, and when he opens his eyes again, Tommy's just a tiny little thing lying between his clawed paws.

"Treasure," he purrs irreverently. "My little human - let's get you taken care of, yeah?"

Tommy stares up at him with wide eyes, completely frozen on the ground.

Wilbur wastes no time in leaning down and swallowing Tommy. He screams and kicks as he goes down the throat, but Wilbur's body was designed to eat live prey. Functionally speaking at least, Tommy is no different from the deer or tigers or knights he regularly eats.

He hums contentedly as Tommy settles into his brood pouch. It's padded out so he can be rough as he wants in there and it won't hurt either of them (and let it be said that he is trying very hard to hurt Wilbur).

"You're safe now, Tommy. Let's get you back to the rest of my hoard." He purrs again, a burst of delight in his chest. "I've waited so long to get you with the rest of my collection. Bit of a shame that you found out this way, but I'm a little glad too. I was going to reveal myself in a few months, but now I don't have to wait."

He spreads his wings and takes flight towards the treacherous mountains. Only the royals' finest knights could traverse the landscape, and even then, they were so tired and cold from the trip that their hands could barely grip the hilts of their swords.

He lands in the entrance and strides in. Techno and Phil sit idly on a pile of gold coins, chatting away, but as soon as their eyes land on him, they avert their gazes and seem to wilt. He's learned not to take it to heart - they've gotten better about managing their fear of him in the past few months since he added them to his hoard, and he's sure that as the years progress, all three of his humans will come around again.

He leans over Techno and Phil and opens his mouth up, finding it just the teeniest bit funny when they flinch back and start to plead with him not eat them. He brings out Tommy, letting the boy gently fall onto the two men below.

He sits back and admires them, a happy sound growing in the back of his throat.

"Finally," he says dreamily, "I have all three of you."

He shifts back into his human form and saunters up to them, ignoring how Tommy flinches backwards into Techno and Phil.

Phil pulls Tommy into his arms and starts to soothingly rub circles into his shoulder. "Wilbur, you're scaring him."

He shrugs nonchalantly. "You were scared too, in the beginning. He'll get over it soon - you all will - and then you'll be a proper part of my hoard."

Phil and Technoblade share a glance that he doesn't bother to decipher.

"Your hoard... what does that mean?" Techno asks slowly.

Wilbur grins brightly at him. "My collection! My treasure - it means you're mine now."

Tommy stares at him slack-jawed.

"Why us?" It seems like it slips out of Phil's mouth, something he says before he has a chance to apply a filter. But Wilbur doesn't mind answering.

"Techno is my twin, Tommy is my little brother, and you're my father." Those are all the human words for the familial terms, so they should understand.

Phil bites his lip. "Wil... we love you, but you can't - "

"I can do whatever I want," he cuts in, his voice edged with aggression.

Phil falls silent.

Wilbur smiles at him again. "Do you have anymore questions?"

Techno awkwardly coughs. "I hate to be the bearer of the obvious, but humans don't live as long as dragons. We're a lot less hearty, and you've stationed us on Dead Man's Hill. Because that's the name of this mountain, Wilbur - Dead Man's Hill. Are you sure you don't want to take us somewhere else?"

He feels his expression darken. "That won't be an issue. You're my hoard now. Which means your life force is tied to mine, and all three of your aging processes have stopped. If I'm to die - if - then you'll begin to age again." He turns a steely eye to Techno's. "And we will leave this mountain. But only when I know you won't try to do something silly, like leave me."

Techno nods, avoiding his eyes. "Sounds good."

"It does, doesn't it?" He agrees happily. "Now that I've taken Tommy, my collection is complete."

"Sorry - sorry, what the fuck?" Tommy chimes in, finally having found his voice.

Techno lowers his voice and says into his ear, "Wilbur is a dragon and he's keeping us now."

Tommy stares at him. "I thought you were fucking dead."

"Mm, me too," he says dryly. "But I'm not. I'm just the adopted twin brother of a dragon."

"Did you know?!" Tommy asks, sitting up and stumbling away from them.

Wilbur watches him curiously, fondly noting as he tips backward into a stack of gold coins.

"Did they know what?"

"What do you - what do you fucking think, Wilbur?!" He screeches.

Wilbur smiles, and lets himself shift again. Tommy flinches away as he approaches but he doesn't mind, picking him up in his mouth and plopping him back down next to Phil and Techno.

"They didn't know," he says soothingly, gazing down at them. He curls his tail loosely around their little group, forming a protective barrier. Or a cage.

Techno slides an arm around Tommy's shoulders. "Trust me," he murmurs, "if we had known, we never would have let you - " he cuts himself off, seeming to stiffen as his eyes nervously dart up to Wilbur. "We didn't know," he concedes.

Wilbur laughs lightly. "Can you imagine if you had? You never would have been my friend! And Phil never would have taken both of us in. I had to lie."

There's a look on Phil's face that he can't decipher. "Wilbur... I would have. Of course I would have," he says gently. His words carry weight, but the meaning behind it is unidentifiable to Wilbur.

"No," he says simply. "So it's a good thing I lied. Because the years passed and you realized how much you loved me, and now that you know I'm a dragon, you won't leave."

A sharp wave of paranoid insecurity strikes through his chest. "I don't think you'll leave," he mutters in afterthought, his tail slightly tensing around them.

Technoblade looks conflicted. "We love you for you, your being a dragon doesn't change that."

Wilbur frowns down at him, puffing a plume of smoke out. "Why are you saying that?"

"What - what do you mean?"

"We aren't leaving this mountain, Techno. I'm not that stupid."

A look of surprise crosses his face. He's a good actor, Wilbur decides. "I wasn't saying that to trick you, we do love - "

"I know you do!" Wilbur sharply cuts in. "Because I spent years bonding with you as a human. And now that you know I'm a dragon, it doesn't matter!" He gives them a smile with his large, sharp teeth. He ignores how forced it feels. He ignores how it feels like he's trying to convince himself more than them.

Phil looks at him with a pained expression. "Mate - "

"You're a little scared right now, but that's fine," he purrs, cutting him off. "We have the rest of time for you to love me like you used to. You weren't supposed to find out, but you have, and that's fine. I'll just keep you here. I'll just keep you here, and we can be a proper family."

He nuzzles the three of them with his snout, ignoring how they flinch away from him. "I love you!" he exclaims. "And you love me. So everything is fine. It's fine."

~ ~ ~

🏷️: @i-am-beckyu @da3dm @flowers-of-plenty @gracideaviolet

hope you enjoyed :3

[munchkin1156]

New au infodump?

Dystopian au go brr

This is going to be a dystopian (:0 shocking) sci-fi world with a borrower Tommy who has a special wristband that lets him sizeshift, a gift from a long lost friend.

The au is mainly sbi centric (because I have a very very hard time writing anything else, though believe me I will try one day), other than Tommy there will be avian hybrid Philza, piglin hybrid Technoblade, and shrunken phantom Wilbur who got shrunken due to technical issues with a device he was tinkering with (and now needs to figure out how to get back to normal size).

The sbi are all first class, first district people, which, though it does make them seem stuck up and posh, they don’t actually know about the crumbling world of the lower districts.

Tommy’s been forced to steal to survive, and while shifted into human form, accidentally loses his way and finds himself in the higher districts, where he runs into Phil.

…you can probably guess that Phil’s hybrid brain goes to ‘child-its-child-why-sad-keep-safe’

Phil offers to take Tommy to his house, wanting to help him as well as pry information out of him to try and find out why he’s so scrawny

Tommy (reluctantly) takes up the offer because free food and a chance to steal something of actual value so he can get a lot of money, two birds with one stone in a way…

Oh and I forgot to mention that the sbi is kinda famous/important…

So they go to the sbi’s house and Tommy meets Techno and Wilbur, who are also enchanted by the blond. When Tommy sees Wilbur, he loses it for a moment, thinking that he’d finally found another one of his kind, until Techno explains the situation and Tommy feels ashamed he let his instincts control him like that and almost force him to shift.

They have dinner and game night, over which they bond with Tommy a lot, and even offer him to stay for the night ‘cause it’s dark out.

Tommy says yes, knowing how dangerous it is to walk the lower districts streets at any given point, especially at night, and they set him up in his new bedroom the guest room.

In the middle of the night Tommy wakes up from a nightmare and accidentally reopens a stab wound that he got a couple night ago (I did say the lower was dangerous after all), therefore his body shifts down to borrower size in order to heal it faster.

He can’t shift back until it’s healed, and now he’s at a upper class house with people that have been nothing but kind to him, though he knows that once they see him for the pest he is they’ll kick him out.

Fuck.

. . .

That’s about what chapter one should be, though I won’t start it for a while, homework is murdering me and I used to be at a really chill school with basically none of it so….

Please please please ask me about this, I would love to answer shit about it :D

Taglist under cut: (it’s not long, tell me if you want to be added :])

@i-am-beckyu, @brick-a-doodle-do

[alaskan-wallflower]

guys pls pls pls send me asks about my aus for me to answer in the morning 😪😪

[smallcherri]

Happy 2025!

To welcome the new year I am changing my profile picture!

To the folks that have recognized me by the little cartoonish drawing of Daren I’ve had for years, worry not! This just just a fresh coat of paint.

This is also a somewhat artistic representation of their auras, which is also a representation of the magic inside them!

This year I’m hoping to drop more of their story, and interact with you guys!

Have a great one, folks!

[thatonemarveldude]

Mission Stuffs

I imagine they’re tryna get from one point to another and it’s just more convenient to use James’ size shifting to get there quickly

And thus, a fluffy little scenario of June on James’ shoulders

I love these two so much look at them

A commission for @lttanuki !!

And the inspiration for this one:

[cyncerity]

Any AU

Someone- "Tubbo where's Tommy?"

Tubbo who making Tommy rest- "No idea :D"

Tommy who is resting peacefully- "Zzz"

-Plant

HI PLANT TY

man it’s been a while since i posted anything about the Sizeshifter Tommy au, but i checked and I have literally no other aus where Tubbo can nom Tommy cause this is the only one where he’s not a tiny. Wild. Anyway-

i almost never draw big prey for how much i like the overstuffed pred trope, so here’s some big prey Tommy cause he’s got a bad habit of shifting in his sleep lol

[i-am-beckyu]

Just out of Reach, but Never out of Sight

AWWWWW YEAH! HERE SHE IS BOIS!!! THE LOOOONG AWAITED CHAPTER 3!!!! I have reread and changed this so many times but finally I’m happy with it and ready to move onto the next part!!! (there are so many bits I’ve written and cut and pasted into different parts for future chaps it’s not funny lol) As always, thank you to @a-xyz-s for beta reading and your feedback! (love you!/p)  And thanks to Brick and Squishy for help on some earlier chapter issues! Thanks besties ❤️ Anyways, ENJOY!

Chapter 3: Dreaming

chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 4,  cw: general fear, panic and anxiety, fear of death, child abuse/neglect, comfort and allllll the fluff!!!! word count: 3692

Disclaimer! This story is based on the characters of the Dream SMP and not the real life content creators. Anything that occurs in this story is purely fiction and should be treated as such. Thank you.

Phil smiled fondly from his place in the bedroom doorway, as he watched his eldest give Tommy the small cow plushie. 

How could one little boy be so endearing? 

He thought back to that afternoon when he’d first found the young boy. It had been a simple day at the office. Nothing out of the ordinary, just the usual paperwork and filing he couldn’t do at home. It should’ve been a simple walk home too, but when the sound of heavy breathing had caught his ear, he hadn’t expected to turn and see a kid with messy blonde hair running straight towards a street light. “Hey kid, slow down!” He had tried to warn, but the kid seemed too lost in thought and charged forward anyways. “Hey wait, stop!! You’re going to hit the-“ 

He didn’t even get to finish the sentence before a loud thunk echoed into the air, as the kid crashed into the pole, causing them to backpedal from the impact, and down to the ground. He rushed forward crouching down to be eye level with the kid and quickly began to look them over.

“Are you alright mate?”

The kid's head snapped up, blue eyes meeting his own, widening at the acknowledgment of his presence. 

 “Ah, mate? You with me?”

As if a switch was flicked, the kid frantically scrambled back with a loud scream, a look of pure terror painted across their face. 

Phil’s heart ached at the sight.

 “Hey, hey it’s alright. I’m not going to hurt you.” He said, hands up placatingly so the kid could see he meant no harm. 

The kid curled in on themselves as their breathing began to grow irregular and shallow.

“Shhhh shhh it’s okay! I need you to take deep, slow breaths for me. Can you do that?” Phil asked, coming closer. 

 The kid took a few sharp breaths in, presumably trying to do as he had asked.

“In for 3, out for 3.” he instructed, as he began to rub the kids back up and down to help time their breathing.

The kid flinched at the initial contact, but didn’t shy away.

“There you go. You’re doing so well mate.”

 Slowly, the kids' breathing began to even out and as they focused on regulating their breathing.

“My name’s Philza, but you can call me Phil. What’s your name?”

 The kid tensed slightly at the question, but immediately melted back into Phil’s touch as he continued to rub their back. How adorable.

“T-Tommy.” The kid –Tommy said shakily.

It took a few minutes to fully calm Tommy down, but eventually he settled enough to find out why he had been so focused on running. That had been a mission in itself to get them to open up about it, but he had managed to find out that Tommy was lost and was concerned about losing something important. 

 What that thing was, Tommy wouldn’t say and had started to hyperventilate at the mention. He had quickly reassured him that he was okay and that he just wanted to help, inviting him to come back to his place where he could better do so. 

 It was slightly worrying how quickly the kid had agreed to coming home with him though... 

 Tommy even almost seemed eager to go when Phil mentioned that he lived only a street over from where they were. From terrified to willingly to follow a stranger was uh, interesting to say the least. 

 And the way they acted coming home; staring at objects with so much wonder and intrigue while adorable was concerning.

 Who knew where this kid had come from to act like that? 

 He would have to worry about contacting Tommy’s guardians if he had any later. Kid had been through enough and needed the rest. He smiled as Wilbur closed the door quietly to the Guest room, noticing the fondness in his gaze as he turned and made his way back to his own room. In the morning, he’d introduce Technoblade to Tommy and hopefully get him to open up some more. Then they’d be able to get a better run down on the kid and what the best course of action would be.

At least that’s what he thought they’d do…

        (๑•́o•̀๑)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Tommy felt different when he woke up. 

 The last thing he remembered was falling asleep on something really soft, holding something really fluffy.

 Huh, Strange. 

 He doesn’t remember his bed being this nice.

 Slowly, he peaked an eye open to find himself in what appeared to be a plush cave. 

 Well this was the weirdest dream he’d ever had.

 Figuring it was a dream (because what else would this be), Tommy began to search for an exit. Might as well explore whatever dreamworld he was in while it lasted. 

 It took a bit, but eventually he spotted a sliver of light creeping in from a crevice above and made his way across the weird, uneven surface. It was far too soft to try and walk across properly, as his feets just kept sinking down with his weight. Not to say he didn’t like it, it was just strange to be on so much uneven ground.

 Geez dreams are weird. 

When Tommy reached the crevice, he began to climb up finding the side wall was actually some kind of nice fabric. Pity he couldn’t have fabric like this in reality. A bed made from this would be heaven! 

 But upon breaching the surface, it was only then that he realised where he was.

 He glanced around at the ‘not cave’, realisation hitting him with the sight of the light green bedding from the guest room bed. But what really grabbed his attention was the cow plushie resting in the middle of the messed up pile of sheets. All the memories of the day prior came rushing back full force.

Oh.

So that part hadn’t been a dream. He really had talked to the Human Beans. 

But then that would mean…..

Tommy patted himself over, up and down, even pinching himself to check that he was in fact awake. 

 He was back to his normal size. 

3 whole glorious inches of pure normal TommyInnit.

But how? 

 He was sure that he was going to be stuck Bean size forever, but here he was. 

 Tommy’s head spun with a million questions. 

 What if growing in size was a dream and I’m just waking up? But I have the cow plush which means I was given it. But maybe I did succeed in getting it, and I just left it in the guest room? But the bed sheets are messed up so clearly someone has slept in here so why would I be here now?

 Trying to shake the growing list of questions in his head, Tommy tried to focus on the things at hand. He would worry about what had happened later. Right now he needed to get back home.

 He made his way to the side of the bed closest to the wall, and stared down. 

 Hidden in the corner behind the bed leg, was a tunnel entrance. The tunnel itself led to his home, just tucked within the corner wall of Wilbur’s bedroom right next door. It would be difficult without his equipment, but he could get down in mostly one piece. 

 Maybe… Steeling himself, he turned around and began to slowly descend down the side of the bed, before momentarily stopping and climbing back up. 

 Well he couldn’t just leave the cow plush behind! Not after all the trouble it had caused from his maybe real-not real dream. 

 It really needs a name. Henry sounds nice. 

 After ‘gently’ dropping Henry down to the floor, Tommy was about to resume his descent down before suddenly the sound of someone approaching made their way to the guest room door. 

 Tommy knew those pretentious footsteps anywhere.

‘Knock’

‘Knock’

‘Knock'

“Tommy, are you up? Dad’s made breakfast.” The muffled voice of Wilbur drifted through the closed doorway.

Well that answered it then. 

 Definitely NOT a dream.

“Tommy? Are you awake?”

Tommys’ heart pounded against his chest. 

Oh Prime. They knew he existed. They actually knew!!!

“Tommy?” Wilbur knocked again, concern lacing their voice.

They can’t know. You’re dead if they know.

“Tommy? You okay in there?”

Get back to the walls.

“Tommy?”

Run Tommy. He’s going to enter and then he’ll see what you are. 

“Tommy, I’m going to come in on the count of 3 okay?”

Please…

“1”

Don’t,

“2’

Come,

  “3”

 Tommy dropped to the floor behind the bed leg just as the door opened, his heart pounding in his chest as he gripped his shirt to try and ground himself.

 “Tommy? Tommy where- Tommy are you in here?” 

 With bated breath, Tommy slowly peaked his head out to get a better look at his situation. Of course all he could see was Wilbur's stupid fancy shoes (seriously? It’s like 9am and he’s wearing those pretentious shoes at home?) but more importantly, he could hear the panic rising in Wilbur’s voice at his sudden disappearance.

 “Dad- Dad, the kid’s gone!” 

 Tommy watched as Wilbur frantically ran out of the room to find Phil. 

Oh Prime he’d made him worried. He’d F***** made Wilbur worried about him…

No. No this was for the best. 

 He needed to leave while he still could. Especially now that he’s small again. Him staying would be nothing but more trouble for the Crafts. 

 “What do you mean he’s gone?” Phil’s voice trailed to Tommy from the kitchen. 

 “He can’t have just disappeared.”

Oh f***. Now he’d made Phil worried too.

“Wilbur, did you check all the rooms? He couldn’t have just left?”

The panicked footsteps of Wilbur returned and Tommy watched with guilt rising from his gut as Phil’s green slippers walked past with Wilbur's shoes by the guest room door.

 “But what if he left during the night Dad? It’s not like he can’t unlock the window with the keys still in the lock?”

 “I doubt we would have slept through that mate. If not us, definitely not Techno.” The concern in Phil’s voice seemed to increase with every word.

 He- he was, making them more worried. 

 Like really REALLY worried about him. 

 But, they just met? They shouldn’t care like that? 

 Not for him anyways… right? 

 He’s just some dirty street kid in their eyes, which isn’t entirely wrong but surely Beans don’t just care for people like that? Well maybe they would for other Beans but for Tommy? He’s not even the right size for that to be even slightly true right now. 

 If they found him in his weak, small helpless Borrower form, he’d be done for!

And if things couldn’t get worse for the Borrower, that's when Tommy felt it. His entire body began to tingle with an unfamiliar sensation and suddenly, he felt himself growing. 

“S***, S***, S***!” 

 Tommy was sprinting to get out from under the bed as he felt himself growing in the cramped up space. He’d barely stumbled forward before hitting his head with a thump beneath the bed's wooden frame. 

 “What was that?” 

 Tommy’s blood froze as the set of footsteps thundered down the hallway towards him. He scrambled back as far as he could, cupping his hands over his mouth to muffle any unwanted noises escaping himself as the green slippers reappeared in his vision; exasperated breathing filling the eerie silence. 

 He remained completely still, as Phil presumably scanned the room before the elder let out a sigh and moved towards the door. 

 Tommy let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding, as he watched the retreating shoes leave. 

 That had been close. 

 Too close…

 ‘It’s okay, Phil didn’t find you. I’ll just stay here and wait till they all leave and work out how to shrink again and then-’

“Hi mate.”

Tommy shrieked in surprise, hitting his head on the bed frame in the process. 

 Phil was down on the floor looking straight at him with concerned bright blue eyes, a hand up in surrender and an amused smile. 

How had he not noticed him get down on the floor?! 

 He’d just watched him leave for Primes sake!

 “Woah woah, it's alright Tommy just breathe.” 

 Tommy scrambled back as far as he could. Even though it was cramped, he was still small enough Bean size to put a little distance between them. 

 “Stay away from me.” He growled, trying to mask his fear in attempts to make the blonde leave. 

 Even though he had meant to leave, in the Beans' eyes, it had appeared like he’d tried to run away. If he came out now, he’d probably be punished for trying to pull such a stunt. He didn’t want that…

Not from Phil.

“Tommy shh, shh. It’s alright. I’m not going to hurt you.” Phil tried to soothe, crawling ever so slightly closer.

 “Stay back.” Tommy spat, pushing further against the wall. 

He could feel where Henry was squashed against him and his enlarged limbs with the wall. He felt bad for the little plushie, but that was far from his concerns right now.

  “Why didn’t you respond when we were calling for you? We were so worried you’d left.”

Worried, he’d left? Really?

“Normally when you help someone out, they respond when someone knocks to let them know breakfast is ready. Not have the host worry about their guests' whereabouts and find them hiding beneath the bed.”

 Tommy kept pushing himself further into the corner and his wall entrance. 

 He knew it. 

 He’d f***** up. 

 Phil shouldn’t have even found him! He didn’t mean to grow again, he just wanted to get back in the walls. But then they’d have been worried anyway and now Phil was pissed at him for not responding and being under the bed and now-

“Tommy- Tommy breathe. It’s alright. You’re not in trouble.”

 The confused look on Tommy’s face must have said it all, because Phil explained.

 “Tommy, it's okay. You’re not in trouble for doing any of that. I was just worried, okay? Wil and I both were. We thought something might have happened to you and we wanted to check you were okay.”

 Tommy took a shaky breath in and stared at Phil. There was a chance he was lying, but it was hard to believe from the gentle smile the older man was pointing his way.

“Would you mind if I join you?” Phil asked timidly. “I can stay here if you prefer, I’d just like to talk.”

 “Dad! Dad! Dad! He’s not anywhere in the house he’s- uh… why are you on the floor?” 

Wilbur. Right. 

 He’d managed to worry him too hadn’t he? 

“Wilbur, could I get you to wait outside for me? Kinda in the middle of something here.” The man said, turning his head awkwardly to presumably look at his son. 

 “Is he - under the bed?” 

 Tommy could only imagine Wilbur was pointing down at him from where he stood with a stupid look of confusion on his face. He rolled his eyes at the thought.

 “Yeah he’s fine. Just, can you give us a minute?”

 Without another word, Tommy watched as the obnoxious brown shoes retreated from the guest room, the door slowly closing after with a soft click. 

“So about joining you under the bed?” 

Tommy drew his attention back to Phil. 

 Phil really didn’t seem like he was going to grab him and pull him out and punish him or hurt him if he came under. Not that it mattered even if he didn’t. 

He wouldn’t be escaping any time soon as it was in his current state…

  With a timid nod, Phil’s smile brightened ever so slightly and he crawled his way under the bed. There certainly wasn’t enough space for the grown man to do so, but regardless he stuffed himself under, joining the boy in the cramped space.

“You know, Wilbur and Techno used to play hide and seek in here all the time.” Phil said as he tried to get situated.

 “This used to be one of their favourite hiding spaces until they got too big to hide under here. I’m surprised I actually made it under here at all.” he said with a chuckle.

 Tommy bit his lip. 

 The sight of Phil was rather funny. If anyone were to look at the scene from beyond the bed, it would be a rather silly sight to see the grown man attempting to fit, but Tommy couldn’t help but linger on the thought of the twins playing hide and seek. 

 He’d never been allowed to join in such games with the other Borrower children. Or when they had let him, he’d always hide, but never be found. It got to a point where he wouldn’t even try to hide to just have someone find him.

 It became pretty clear they had no intentions to do so.

“You alright?” Phil said, breaking his thoughts. “Something you want to talk about?”

 “Uh no no I’m fine. Just thinking about something unimportant.” 

Me, he thought bitterly.

“Okay well I was coming to invite you to breakfast but if you’d prefer to stay here we can. I’d just like to get a better idea of helping you get home and find that thing you were after is all.” 

 Phil watched how Tommy’s face perked up at the mention of food but deflated when it came to home or talking about what he was after. Maybe he’d run away from home, trying to get away from a bad situation? But then again he was after something, so that could mean anything. 

At least food seemed like an in with Tommy.

“How about we start with where your parents are, yeah? I’m sure they’re worried about you.” 

 “Ain’t got any.” Tommy stated flatly. 

 “They abandoned me when I was a baby.”

 “Oh.” 

Phil didn’t miss how blank Tommy’s face was at the statement.

“Are you staying with anyone else at the moment?” 

Surely someone had been looking after this child? 

“I had some people looking after me for a while, but they kicked me out when I was 13. Been looking after myself ever since.” Tommy finished with a shrug, as if the information shouldn’t be surprising. 

 But judging by the horrified look on Phil’s face, that clearly hadn’t been the answer he’d been after so he was quick to add,

 “I don’t need anyone! I’m a Big man and waaay more capable than you can imagine Big Man. Been looking after myself for the past 3 years, easy peasy.”

“You’re 16?” 

 Tommy shifted nervously under Phil's disbelieving gaze.

3 years. 

For 3 years this child had been on his own. Tommy didn’t look anywhere close to 16 years old. He knew he was skinny and malnourished based on appearance alone, but for 16 he was way worse than what he first thought. Maybe he was lying about his age? He looked like he could be 13, maybe 14 at most now, but clearly he had not been doing okay if he could see his ribs poking through his shirt. Perhaps not eating stunted his growth?

“Do you- have you had somewhere to stay?” Phil asked hesitantly. He didn’t want Tommy to run off if the reason he was on his own was because of past potential abuse.

 “I do. I’ve switched houses a few times and I’m currently in this nice place at the moment.”

 Tommy paused, looking away almost shamefully before continuing.

 “Though I’m not sure y- um my, uh- neighbours will want me around when I go back. They probably think I’m a pest like you do right now; wasting your time under the bed.”

 “Oh no no Tommy! I don’t think that at all!” Phil was quick to reassure. 

 “You’re not a pest! Who the f*** ever told you you were?”

 Tommy looks away in shame.

 “Tommy look, you just got spooked waking up in an unfamiliar setting right? We didn’t mean to frighten you. We just got concerned when you didn’t respond. I don’t mind being under the bed if you feel safer here.”

 Phil watched as Tommy took what he said in, the gears turning in the blonde boy's head. Phil had to suspect that something had to have happened to him more than just getting kicked out of home if his first instinct was to hide.

 “You’re not mad that I hid?” Tommy asked timidly.

 “No, not at all. We just want to help you get back home and find that thing you were trying to find yesterday.”

 Tommy relaxed a little at this but not completely. There was still some uncertainty in his gaze but Phil didn’t want to overstep.

Baby steps Phil. Baby steps.

“I’m sure whatever it is we can help you find it. Maybe if we call your neighbours they could come-”

“NO.” the boy snapped, eyes wide, but just as quickly reeled back as he realised his outburst, instead reiterating himself.

“Uh I mean, no. No, there's no point calling them. I don't have their uh- names to call.”

Phill blinked at him.

“...sure mate, it’s fine.”

“Besides,” Tommy continued.

 “I know my way back to them once I get to um the- the park.” 

“Oh that’s not far from here. We can take you back there after breakfast if you like?” Phil offered with a small smile and something sad behind his gaze. Not that Tommy noticed as he mentally slapped himself. 

“Oh um, thank you.” 

Did Tommy feel bad about lying through his teeth? 

 Yes. Yes he did. 

 But he couldn’t exactly tell Phil that he lived in his walls and that he, Wilbur and Techno were his neighbours. But lying and saying he can get home once he’s taken to the park? 

TOMMY YOU FLIPPEN DUMBA** DON’T SAY THAT!! 

Now he’s going to be taken to the park, AWAY from his actual home! That’s exactly what he doesn't want to happen!!!

“Well how do you feel about some breakfast then? I made waffles.” 

 “That would be nice, thanks.”

How does he keep getting into these situations?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ANNNNNNNNNND! THAT’S A WRAP ON CH 3!!! LETS GOOOO Thanks for reading to the end if you did. I really appreciate it and hope you enjoyed <3 I used so many italics..... but even though this took ages to get out, I’m really happy I took the extra time to get it just right. No idea when I will update it next but keep your eyes peeled for meme snippets. This is now going to be a thing thanks to @rosewriting-ao3 (I’m stealing your idea ❤️❤️❤️)

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