Chapter Text
Tommy hissed quietly as he messily wrapped a band-aid around the last open cut on the side of his middle finger. He maybe should have been much more careful when he handled the razor blade, but it worked, so he didn’t regret a single thing.
It had to happen today, tonight when his two roommates weren’t home, but having a sleepover at some other friend from school Tommy wasn’t invited to. It hadn’t really bothered him, even if he heavily complained about it to Tubbo. He rather was excited to have the room for himself for once when he barely had any time alone.
When he managed to force the cheap ass thing to stay sticking on his skin, his gaze trailed off to the table in front of him. It was covered in a few wrinkled wrappers of band-aids and of the sweets he sneaked out of the common hall into his own room. A bloody tissue paper was witness to his incompetence and the stolen razor blade the convict.
In between that mess, that wasn’t even unusual for Tommy’s room, was the heart of his current project. The thing that made him stay up until past one in the morning to carefully craft it in the shitty flashlight of his phone that was too dim and too bright at the same time, and behind closed curtains.
An empty can of coke, cut up just in the right angle to open up just how Tommy wanted it to.
Sure, to an outsider, this might seem weird. To the people of the orphanage, it might look like a place to hide drugs in. Tommy wouldn’t blame them, it happened, but he didn’t plan on doing that. That was more of a third-floor kind of thing to do, the kids up there were the first thing you warned newbies about.
No, this was going to be Tommy’s altar. His first one, to be exact, and he felt excitement bubbling up in his stomach when he thought about it.
It wasn’t for anyone or anything. It was just a settlement, a tiny place to anchor his naïve practices on and to have something to ground himself on.
He shoved the trash aside and inspected his altar once more, picking the can up and turning it in his bandaged fingers. No, it was good like that. Tommy set it back down and reached into the pocket of his jacket that hung over his chair to pull out a single tea light. He carefully brushed off some crumbs and dust off the white wax as well as he could and set it into the can.
When this was done, he scrambled through the trash again. The little shiny rock he found outside on his way to school weeks ago found it’s place next to the small candle.
And… that was it.
That was what Tommy was starting out with.
And despite him knowing that this was pathetic, it was all he could manage to bring to the table at the moment. He would punch anyone who dared to say that it wasn’t good enough.
When Tubbo and Ranboo returned in the afternoon of the following day, a Sunday and therefore a very quiet day in the orphanage, they looked like someone emptied out a bucket of water over their heads.
Tommy turned his head towards the door when he recognised their step patterns in the hallway, approaching the end of it. He hastily closed the book that laid on his lap and shoved it under his pillow. Sure, he trusted his friends, but he would rather not hear the berating and warnings they would have left for him if they found out that he decided to mingle with magic, even if it was just minor magic.
He appreciated it that they worried, and he knew that it wasn’t his place to stick his nose into witchcraft – that was reserved for a few, special children each year who got sent off to practice the big, big spells and not learn out of an old book on low magical items like crystals.
Tommy found that book in the public library and borrowed it, so he had to read it quickly before he had to bring it back. It wasn’t the first one he read on that topic, and it would not be the last. He was sure he borrowed almost every book he could find on different craft forms and magic basics the public library had to offer.
Despite the risk, Tommy was drawn to anything that was even remotely close to magic from a very young age. He was simply not strong enough to resist that, so his sneaky fingers slipped into things they were not supposed to be in on a regular basis.
But he just now started to follow the overwhelmingly strong call to get into some kind of practice himself.
Tommy quickly pulled out his phone and opened a random app, leaning back against the wall next to his bed. Just in time.
The door opened and Tubbo stormed into the room.
“Hey guys, how was- “
“Don’t ask,” Tubbo grumbled. He was dripping with rainwater. Ranboo followed and closed the door behind him. He dropped his bag right next to the foot of Tommy’s bed and used his sleeve to wipe his face down.
“You look like shit,” Tommy chuckled.
“Ah, yeah? Thanks for that observation, dickhead!”
“You missed lunch.” Tommy yawned as if he was bored, but the sparkle in his light eyes betrayed how interested he was in hearing how the sleepover went.
“I know. Were they mad?”, Ranboo wanted to know.
“Eh, I dunno, I don’t think they noticed. They didn’t ask me at least, and if they had, I would have said you have homework to do or anything like that.”
Ranboo shrugged and removed his dripping coat. Rain was still drumming against the windows of their room.
It was room 014, and on the end of the hallway of the ground floor. The room was a bit larger than the others, that usually were rooms with just two beds. It wasn’t pretty, but it was enough – the floor made from some rubbery plastic material, the walls painted in a weird vanilla looking yellow colour and the curtains bright orange with an obnoxious chess board pattern.
Each of the boys had a bed with different coloured sheets and a small desk area, just as a white closet that weren’t that white anymore. Various stickers were slapped all across the doors, some that had been there before they were even born and some that they added over the past years.
Tommy set his phone down, finally.
“So, how was it?”
Tubbo simply snorted at the question and pulled his wet hoodie over his head to slap it onto the heater.
“It sucked,” Ranboo said, “they apparently just invited us to make fun of us with. We also didn’t expect that there were like four more people we didn’t know of.”
“Oh,” Tommy let out, “wow, that’s a dick move! Such assholes.”
“True.” Ranboo rolled his eyes and kicked his shoes off his feet. He hadn’t even bothered to tie them when he put them on earlier
“Yeah, yeah, just let’s forget them,” Tubbo said and made a dismissive hand movement as if he was throwing something away, “more important, wanna play a round of Mario Party?”
“The TV on our floor should be free.” Tommy shrugged and slipped off his bed. Tubbo was hurt, he could feel it underneath his portrayed anger, but he was not the one to pressure him into talking. He also knew better than bothering Ranboo. The taller one would come to him if he needed to talk, and it would just counterproductive of him to press it.
Ranboo shoved his bag towards his closet using his foot and nodded. “Sure, just let me change my clothes too.”
The TV was free, just like Tommy predicted. The weekends were often used by the kids to visit people, sometimes family even. Not everyone here was an orphan either, some were just here because their parents couldn’t care for them anymore for whatever reason (and sometimes, Tommy envied those people). So, the corridors were mostly empty.
They planted themselves on the chairs that were crammed into the narrow room after Ranboo closed the windows someone had left open and locked the rain out with that. Tubbo turned on the TV and connected the console they shared. It was one of the most treasured possessions of their floor and most of them put money together, so they managed to pay for it and call it their own. Mario Party was the usual evening activity, and it destroyed more friendships than it created.
It never got to touch the thing Ranboo, Tubbo and Tommy had though. Maybe one of them was mad at the other for a few hours, but they would always end up fine again.
They were just on the edge of finishing their round as Ranboo’s phone went off with the usual generic alarm he always put at 5:50 pm. Just in case they got caught up in something and forgot dinner. It never happened before, but Tommy knew that this fact wouldn’t stop Ranboo to set alarms, three times a day, every day, ten minutes before the meals.
“You fucker,” Tommy hissed at Tubbo as the last bonus star was given out and Tubbo snatched first place. His shorter friend set his controller down while Tommy boiled with rage.
“Ha!”
“I’m going to curse your entire bloodline!”, Tommy threatened.
“Sure thing, bossman, go ahead. There isn’t much left of that.”
The room went silent for a moment before Tommy suddenly started wheezing and Ranboo let out a concerned chuckle.
“What the fuck,” he muttered under his breath.
Tubbo let out a laugh too, proud of himself that he once more managed to conceal difficult circumstances with a joke that amused his friends, before he got up and turned off the tech.
“Okay, let’s get going, I don’t wanna have to stand in line for half an hour again.”
That was threat enough for Ranboo and Tommy to get moving. Tommy was not going to let this go though, so he kept raging while they climbed up the stairs towards the kitchen.
“I want revenge, I would have won if it wasn’t for that stupid bonus star!”
“I want revenge too,” Ranboo agreed, “I just had shit luck today, that wasn’t even my fault.”
“Yeah, sure, you would get your revenge when you would be actually good at the game,” Tubbo teased as they reached the short line that had formed, “go and practice first.”
“Fuck you,” Ranboo muttered, “you lost to me three times in a row last week.”
“We shall leave past events in the past.”
Their arguing soon was interrupted by the bell that called everyone for dinner and soon after, the corridor was full of children and teenagers who hungrily waited their turn.
Tommy wasn’t very hungry, he had to admit. His thoughts wandered and landed back on the book he borrowed. He found liking in quite a lot of the crystals over time. He could order some online, but he would rather want to see and inspect them first…
He also wanted to get his hands on a set of tarot cards, but maybe that was a bit far for the beginning…? A tug ran through his stomach, and he swallowed. No, he decided. Some things shouldn’t wait for too long. Tommy could feel his fingertips tingle at the thought of that gate opening up for him and he had already read a million books on that. Enough of the theory, Tommy wanted to actually get better and collect own experiences.
“You there? Aye! Houston to Tommy, please answer!”
Tubbo’s frantic finger snapping in front of his face made his eyes focus again and his brows furrowed.
“What?!”
“It’s our turn.”
Tommy rolled his eyes but followed his friends to pick up his plate with dinner from where the kitchen was handing it out. His thoughts drifted off to other fields while he forced the only slightly disgusting food down his throat.
He needed to get a better grip on what was called school too, his grades were slipping… Tommy knew that he was guilty of neglecting his homework from time to time and he was more than aware of the fact that there was unfinished math and history homework laying around on his little desk in their room. He knew that he should be doing it all day, but his nose had sunk far too deep into that book for him to care.
He wouldn’t die from not doing it once in a while. Maybe his grades would, but that was a problem for future Tommy.
Tommy was still chewing when he pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened his browser, just to be met with an annoying ‘No Connection’ message. He forced the Wi-Fi to reconnect a few times, cursing the other kids who were holding loud conversations all over the dining hall, probably watching some shit on their phones and blocking him from doing a simple Google search, before he finally managed to get the website to load.
His fork set down on the plate and he swallowed before taking the phone in both hands and searched up the store he found ages ago already – but never dared to go into. He checked their website almost every week and debated whenever he should go or not.
Tommy turned down the brightness of his phone before the obnoxiously bright yellow and purple design of the website with its clashing colours could sting in his eyes. The weirdly animated letters on top announced the store as (Witch)Craft, Soot & more. Tommy remembered how he had scrunched his nose at the bad word joke when spotting the shop on his way back from school for the first time, but despite the bad humour of the owner, the shop was the only one that sold low level items that he could get use out of. And that were available for the public.
Tommy knew how frowned upon practicing magic without guidance of the Grand Academy of Magic was, but it technically wasn’t illegal.
The reviews of the store left an impression that was questionable at best, and the photos attached to them often showed weird ass shit that supposedly laid around in it, but it was the only store around. Even if it looked shady.
Tommy scrolled through the website while ignoring the loud conversation between Tubbo and Ranboo. He picked up his fork again, stabbing a piece of potato with it a bit too hard and it broke into two pieces. The fork slipped over the porcelain with a disgusting scratching sound and Tommy simply dropped it, deciding he was done now.
There were no new updates since last week. What exactly was he even doing? It was bullshit. Tommy would never be able to practice in any meaningful way – he wasn’t meant for it. He would have gotten picked for the Academy if he had been meant for it at fourteen already, and how old was he now? Correct, sixteen. Two years late, bitch.
He scrolled up to the top of the website a bit too harshly, suddenly caught up in his own misery about things he couldn’t get to change, and it refreshed.
A new update jumped up in Tommy’s face, flashing in big letters and horribly obnoxious colours, and he felt a familiar, curious spark flare up in his chest.
!!!Sale!!!
Up to 50% off all crystals
Only this Monday, 4th of March
Now this… This was interesting. Tommy stared at the white letters on colourful underground on his screen for a few seconds as his mind ran wild. He didn’t have a lot of money, really, but he was sure that he could afford at least one crystal if he found one he liked and it was 50% off. Maybe even two?
Even with the privilege to hold them in his hands before simply buying them.
He would have to finally gather the courage to walk into the strange looking and just as strangely smelling shop, but Tommy was a big man and got all the ladies, so he could manage for sure!
The thought of finally owning a real crystal after having read about them for ages now made his hands tingle gently. It could be his only chance to get something decent in his hands for his humble coke can altar that was well hidden in the back of his closet.
Tommy locked his phone and dropped it onto the table.
“I’ll have to stay longer at school tomorrow,” he told Tubbo and Ranboo, suddenly interrupting their heated conversation about… something exciting for sure.
“Oh? What did you do to deserve that?”
Tommy felt a little pang of guilt for lying to his best friends, but he couldn’t tell them what he really was going to do.
“I forgot my math homework and you know how that goes.”
“Eww,” Ranboo commented, and Tommy couldn’t make out if he was talking about the slightly dried up boiled potato he just shoved into his cheeks, or the situation Tommy just made up. He decided to shrug.
“We’ll pray to Kristin that she’ll handle your soul gently,” Tubbo joked and Ranboo snorted into his cup of water. It took Tommy a second to understand that he was reciting a common funeral phrase and he rolled his eyes.
“Oh wow, you’re such an overdramatic bitch. I’ll survive a simple detention hour, that is no obstacle for me.”
“Your true obstacle is the homework you could just do instead,” Ranboo said.
“You can be glad that I don’t have anything to throw right now that wouldn’t get me in trouble,” Tommy grumbled and meant it.
After dinner, Tommy went back to their room while Ranboo and Tubbo went to play some stupid board game with the kids from room 011. He tried to catch up on the homework just so much that they would count as done, but while history went okay, he wasn’t sure if he even understood the math assignment correctly. With no real way to find that out that didn’t involve texting a classmate and admitting that he, the big man, struggled with such easy homework, he decided that he would learn about that soon enough tomorrow.
Tommy shoved his school stuff into his bag without caring too much about some pages wrinkling and threw himself back onto his bed to return his attention to the book that was still under his pillow.
The room was quiet, just filled with the occasional sound of a turning page or Tommy muttering some random comments on what he read under his breath. When he heard footsteps approaching around an hour later, the book disappeared under his pillow again.
The light in room 014 turned off at 10 pm, just in time for their curfew, but that didn’t mean that the boys didn’t continue talking. Laying in the darkness, they whispered to each other or held their hands over their mouths to muffle the one or other laughter.
Tommy finally fell asleep at maybe half past 12, way after Tubbo’s soft snoring filled the room and Ranboo’s quiet complaints about him snoring died down. He couldn’t sleep earlier, his stomach twisting in excitement and fear about the next day and his palms tingling.
Just as if he had found a particularly interesting looking stone or something extremely exiting like a fairy ring.