Weathered Walls || MCYT AU || DISCONTINUED!!

Chapter 10

Tommy could consider himself a wallower. He wallowed in his own self-pity often, and it showed in the way he was almost constantly miserable. For someone who hated pity, he pitied himself an awful lot. Perhaps there was something to be unpacked there.

Not today.

Today was a 'blame society for all of your problems' kind of day, and that was exactly what Tommy was doing.

Laying under his bed.

Blaming society for all of his problems.

Realistically, when you considered the nature of Tommy's problems, most of them were caused by society. The rampant speciesism, the horrific state of the foster care system, among other things. Each and every one of his problems could be traced back to society, in some way.

Or maybe he was trying too hard to shift the blame, and he deserved everything he got.

He was getting remarkably good at psychoanalysing himself. Perhaps his 'psychoanalysis' was just him being honest.

A lot of uncertainties were running through his mind. That probably had some sort of deeper meaning that would tie into the cause of his abandonment issues and near-constant need for human contact later. Maybe.

For now, he was perfectly content to lie on the cold, hard ground, underneath a probably soft-ish bed, wallowing in his own self-pity. Had he mentioned how much he hated pity?

He groaned, flinging an arm over both of his eyes. Too many thoughts today. Not enough violent urges.

He was bored. So, so bored.

Maybe the people observing could read his mind, for just as he began begging for something to distract him, the door to his cell slid open.

"Hey Tommy." If he was growing fond of Eret, Tommy wouldn't admit it. He wouldn't have to, either, seeing as he definitely, most certainly, was not growing fond of them.

"Cafeteria?"

"Yup."

"Poggers."

The walk to the cafeteria was, surprisingly, less quiet. And it was not even by virtue of Tommy's extensive social skills.

"So," Eret started off, hand rubbing the back of their neck.

"Yeah?"

"I don't really know how to say this-"

"Spit it out then...?"

"I... I don't want this to be unpleasant, in a way? Not the whole 'being trapped in an underfunded government facility' stuff, I don't control that, I just-"

"Wait, you're underfunded? Thought the government would fund their speciesism a bit more, seeing as they love it so much," Tommy couldn't deny the fact that he was bitter. He'd been pursued his whole life, and for what? His prison to be underfunded. And their staff was bad at small talk.

Eret winced, "Yeah... underfunding a facility specifically designed to contain and test human subjects is not the most intelligent of plays to make. However, I don't want to be an asshole, you feel? I don't want to make your life even shittier, because being here? Shit. Y'know?"

It was... considerate. Tommy just stared at them, at a loss. Was there something he wasn't picking up on?

"Yeah... I dunno if you want something, or-"

"What? No, no, I'm just trying to- to keep out of your business, in a way? This place sucks and I don't want to contribute."

Tommy thinks he understands, so he cracks a grin and lightly punches Eret in the shoulder. Better to test the boundaries sooner, rather than later.