The Neighbor's New Kid

Chapter 11

The next morning, Tommy woke up at 6 am, as per usual 'Dream acceptable' time. He knew better to disobey. Last time he did that in an old house, he wasn't allowed to sleep for four whole days.

"Good morning Tommy," Dream greeted from the dining room.

"Good morning," Tommy said, lightly scratching his arms,. "Smells good," he complimented. It was nice to say good things ever now and then. Especially after last night, he figured pandering was a good move to get Dream into a good mood.

"It does, doesn't it? Come take a seat," Dream said as he served a plate in front of Tommy.

The boy used all of his might not to frown at the food served before him. There was garlic bread which was alright but the green beans, corn and carrot salad wasn't very appetizing to him, for obvious reason.

"Eat up," Dream ordered.

They ate in relative silence before Dream spoke, "I nearly forgot to tell you," he started, "Your social worker, Sam, he's gonna be here in a bit for an inspection."

"Oh," Tommy said, followed by a sneeze, making his eyes well up. What else was he supposed to say, really.

"Yeah, so the house needs a bit of cleaning up," Dream said.

Tommy nodded, "I'll go do that now," he said, standing up.

"No, Tommy, you have to eat first, darling," Dream said. "You're gonna have to get strength from somewhere right?"

Tommy's nose scrunched up at the nickname but obeyed anyway. He wss hoping to not eat carrots but looks like Dream has other plans.

"Don't be like that, you have plenty of time to clean," Dream said. "I feed you a good and balanced meal so you can grow up healthy, you wouldn't want that to go to waste now, would you?"

Tommy shook his head, "No, of course not." He took a bite out of the salad. He could already feel the consequence of this move.

Once they finished eating, Tommy started washing the dishes, the water feeling really nice when it hits the small, barely visible rashes on his arm. He took a moment to soak them after washing, before deciding it's been too long and Dream's gonna wonder what's taking him.

He started on his daily chores, the list, once again, is on the table. Meanwhile Dream stayed in his office to work on some stuff.

Eventually, Dream came out of his room, just as Tommy was finishing up.

"Go get changed," Dream said. "Wanna be presentable when Sam arrives, right?" He glanced down at Tommy's arms., "Maybe that red sweater I got you? It's a bit cold today isn't it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll go change," Tommy said, rushing up to his room. 

*** 

"Sam! Good to see you again," Dream greeted the man in a green suit. 

"Dream," Sam nodded, "Where's Tommy?" He asked, looking around. 

"Oh, he's just changing," Dream said. "The little guy's very hardworking, he's been so insistent on chores. I have to tell him off and ask him to rest since he's very thorough with his work," he gestured to the house. "As you can see."

Sam let out a laugh, "I'm glad that you're looking out for him," he said. 

As if on cue, Tommy came down the stairs wearing a red sweater. "Tommy," Sam smiled at him. "How's it going?"

Tommy's eyes wondered towards Dream, the older man was giving him a strained smile. "It's going fine," he answered.

"You sure? Your eyes are a bit...puffy?" Sam pointed out.