WORSHIP ( ❥ ) DREAMNOBLADE [Reupload]

21. | CATHARSIS

"Bruh, I can't keep doing math like this," Tommy said, holding the sides of his head.

"It does it for you!" Dave's voice strained.

It had been a while since they'd gotten together for a family game night like this: Phil, Dave, Wilbur, Tommy, and now Tubbo and Clay were joining on the chaos. Dave and Tommy were always very competitive with each other while Phil simply enjoyed the company and tried to keep things civil. Wilbur—well, Wilbur liked egging Dave and Tommy on the whole time.

"Well, I can't keep looking at numbers like this!" Tommy corrected.

Phil laughed, "Tommy, c'mon bud, it's not that bad."

"I hate Monopoly," Tommy muttered.

"It's my turn!" Tubbo cheered as the TV blared the typical jazzy sax and piano music that Tommy was growing to hate.

"If Tubbo wins, I'm setting this whole thing on fire," Wilbur said.

"Please don't try to start a fire in my house again, you know you can't," Dave deadpanned.

"Again?" Clay whispered to himself as Tubbo's dice rolled across the screen.

"I have no idea what I'm doing, to be honest," Tubbo confessed.

"What?!" Tommy exclaimed.

"You're in second place! What do you mean you don't know what you're doing?" Phil said between laughs.

"I've just been making random decisions! Your turn now, Dave."

The corners of Dave's lips threatened to flicker up into a smile, but he forced it back. Hearing somebody call him by his real name, Tubbo in this case, without feeling sick to his stomach from thinking about Skoal was such a gratifying feeling.

Nearly a week had passed since Dave spilled his life story to Clay and, while he felt relieved, he found himself thinking a lot about it—not bitterly, but rather apathetically if he was to be honest. Dave had been reflecting a lot about his childhood, his mother, and his father. He'd repressed so much for so long and after opening up that door, he couldn't just shut it like nothing happened. Now, he realized that this was his real family and had been this whole time. The people in this room were who he belonged with—the people he could count on and be counted on by. Every single one of them, from Phil all the way down to Tubbo, had helped Dave learn to trust again, to accept love and empathy from others and show how he felt in return. Clay had been the one to make the final blow, but if it weren't for the rest of them, Dave was certain Clay would have made little to no progress.

"Dave! It's your turn," Tubbo's voice snapped Dave out of his short daze.

"Oh, sorry," he said, pressing the button prompt shown on screen and watching the dice roll.

"I wish Judith was here," Tubbo said wistfully.

"Oh, enough about the mantis!" Tommy barked.

"You named your mantis Judith?" Clay asked.

"I think it suits her perfectly!" Tubbo beamed.

"I'm surprised the poor bug is still alive," Wilbur murmured.

Phil hummed with curiosity, "How long do they live on average, again?"

"Smaller ones like Judith are supposed to only live four to eight weeks. I'm not sure how old she was when I actually found her in the garden but I'm pretty sure she's outlived the usual limit. I've been trying to take really good care of her..."

Tommy smiled; he couldn't even be upset about it anymore. Tubbo could be silly at times and fixate on odd things but it was just nice to see one's friend so happy and passionate about anything. Tubbo always had a love for small insects and animals in general, but it often surprised other people how much research he did and the intelligent conversations he could hold on topics he truly found interesting.