SBI - His Curse of Binding

16

As the sunlight hit his face, he knew it would be a bad day.

He was used to nightmares about his own past lives, but nightmares of his brother's lives terrified him. He didn't even know if what he dreamt after the Dream visit was real, if his brother causing more unnecessary wars and bloodshed actually happened. Regardless, it left him shaking and frail, helplessly watching someone who raised him commit such inhumane actions, unable to stop it.

Techno was asleep on a chair to his right. He must've pushed his lounge chair from his bedroom into here after Tommy fell asleep. The corner of his lips twitched at the considerate act; Techno made sure Tommy didn't wake up alone after another potential nightmare. But the warmth inside of him quickly overheated, burning him just like that explosion did as the resemblance set in. The mother had done the same thing for her children in that apartment. She laid by their side until they fell asleep, to keep them safe when they were most vulnerable. Yet not even the love a mother felt for their young could protect them from his brother's terrorism.

He wept silently, clutching Henry to his chest, but the stuffed animal couldn't fulfil the weight he needed. With bleary eyes, he looked down at Henry and empty beads stared back. It wasn't the same. Estella was gone and he had to accept that.

Tommy sat up, the phantom pains from falling to his death in the void aching his back. He grabbed his notebook from underneath his pillow, Henry still resting under his chin. His hands shook as he opened it to a familiar page. For once, he didn't want to update his file on Dream's visits. But he could do this, he could write this. He was fine.

Dream said that Wilbur is my brother. Or was he lying?
He hasn't lied about rebirth before.

He held his pen tighter, the plastic digging into his palm. It was fine, it was all fine.

He showed me what Wilbur did in his past lives.
But he doesn't remember it now. (Or does
Wilbur doesn't remember.

Iron bled into his mouth; he had bitten into his lips. Teardrops dampened the paper and he broke. It wasn't fine. He couldn't do this, he couldn't handle this. It was one shitty thing after another and he never caught a fucking break.

"What do you even write in that book?" Tommy jumped at Techno's voice, the man was awake. "Oh, you're crying."

Tommy wiped his face with his covers and put the notebook back under the pillow. "Nice observation there, big man."

"I mean, I'm just stating the obvious," Techno said.

A silence fell between them. Tommy opened his mouth to speak, to maybe even thank Techno for calming him down when he woke up, for not leaving him alone and sending Wilbur away despite not knowing why the sight of the man invoked fear into him. But the words wouldn't leave his lips.

"Don't be cringe," Techno declared, sitting up in his chair.

"What?"

"I don't need to hear your heartfelt or thankful words," he explained. "Especially this early in the morning."

Tommy scowled at him, his eyes still red. "How'd you know I was gonna say anything nice?"

"Your body tenses every time as if it's against your natural coding to say nice things to people."

"Stop psychoanalysing me, you prick," Tommy snapped as he pushed his covers around him to hide his body.

"Now look, your shoulders are relaxed."

"This is harassment."

"No, this is the result of that one psychology class I took before I dropped out of college."