I'm More Me When I'm With You

Devil's Advocate

     "What about Foolish," Deo blurts out from seemingly nowhere. Tommy, who has only just now woken up, is both thoroughly confused and fucking done. "Iunno, wha bout him," he slurs his words together in an attempt to seem awake. Deo laughs at him. Fucker.
        "You stay here while Foolish and I build? I hear he's quite good at builds," Deo clarifies. Tommy nods sleepily, before fully processing what Deo's said. Much rather than let a look of bewilderment flit across his face, betraying his façade of general disinterest, he settled for asking how much it would cost to ask Foolish for help.
     Deo shrugs his shoulders in response, this isn't information that he has on hand. "Then go ask him, I'll make breakfast while you're gone," Tommy orders, stretching his arms as he speaks. "Actually, message him to see if he's awake first," he amends, realising that not everyone wakes up at the times he and Deo do. He can see Deo whipping out his comm out of the corner of his eye.

       Let it be said that Tommy appreciates Deo helping him out of exile, truly. That doesn't mean that he's not also saddened by the revelations that this new found freedom will bring. Sure he'll be with Quackity, and protected from Dream, but he still won't be free, not in the slightest. Dream still has his discs, therefore he still has control.
      Tubbo probably doesn't want to be his friend anymore, and more than likely has his own stuff to work through. Sure, Deo's great, he's the best, really! He still can't help yearning for Tubbo. Deo's known him longer, but Tubbo's been there for what he had once deemed the worst moments of his life (how stupid he had been to call them that) and that outweighs all the other factors.
         Maybe he's just being childish, and looking a gift horse in the mouth, the very thing he's often advised against. Hasn't Dream warned him about taking things for granted? About underestimating how good he has it compared to others? How lucky he is to be alive now, where he's currently standing?

         The slamming of a door breaks him free from his depressing reverie, if only because of his involuntary flinch at the sound. He can hear more than one voice, which usually only ever means danger. Had he managed to summon Dream with his thoughts? Is that a thing people can do? He has the feeling he doesn't want to find out.

      Deo steps through the threshold of the hours, with Foolish trailing behind him. "Mind your head," he absently warns, mind focused on food for the time being. "Oh, are you hungry? Toms made breakfast," he suddenly remembers his manners as he trods into the kitchen.
       "Nah, I'm good. Thanks for the offer though," Foolish answers just as absent-mindlessly as Deo had asked. Deo mutters a quiet, "suit yourself then," and starts setting places at the table, even if Foolish wasn't eating with them.
         Although unsaid, Deo could sense Tommy disassociating from across the room. Once done with the table, he stands next to Tommy, a reassuring hand placed on his shoulder to keep him grounded, to remind him of where he was and what he was doing.
      Tommy nods his head in appreciation, a subtle enough gesture that would escape the eyes of most. Not Foolish, though. Foolish takes note of every interaction and movement, of each tell of the body and expression that flits across the face. He wasn't a god's apprentice for nothing, after all.

         Tommy puts the food on the table for him and Deo, but Foolish can sense that there was enough in there for him as well. He watches as Tommy whispers with his eyes closed before eating, and can easily feel XD's influence cascade over the house. How intriguing to see someone who believes in the old gods and worships them still. That is to say, such a sight puts a smile on his face.

       Now that Tommy has begun eating, they can now carry on with the business at hand. Deo is the first to speak. "We were wondering how much it'd cost to have you help build a house," plain and simple, straight to the point.
      "Well since it's not just me whose working on it, it'll cost less than what I normally ask. Size is another deciding factor as well," he remarks, seriousness written across his demeanour. While watching these two, he seriously reconsiders his initial declination of breakfast.
      It's not like he doesn't have a plate and silverware in front of him. Without asking, Tommy gently slides the center dish over to him. As far as he was aware, Tommy didn't have any unnatural abilities like Karl, Dream, or he did. Hm, curiouser and curiouser.

      "We don't want anything to big, just two or three bedrooms? Unless you don't mind sharing a room again Deo," Tommy has a pointed look when he says this. Foolish can see the sweat that begins to drop from Deo's forehead. He understands now, these two are roommates.

    Deo swallows thickly. "I mean, I don't really mind it all that much, but..." Deo trails off, earning him a raised eyebrow and a look that Foolish can't quite name from Tommy. "But," Tommy's eye begins to twitch as he asks for Deo to finish his sentence.
         "But uh... you're kinda scary y'know? You go to bed at like what- two or three in the morning, and still wake up in time for the sunrise. That's...no normal person does that," Deo exasperatedly exclaims. Foolish can't help but feel like he's watching a married couple banter.
       "So that's a two bedroom then," Foolish continues on the track of house building. Deo and Tommy both nod in response, Foolish bites into his food as he calculates the expenses. "I'd say that be about...a bit of glass. Normally I'd ask for more but I don't really feel like mining and smelting all that sand, y'know," Foolish answers, quietly revelling in the taste of the food before him.

       "Where exactly do you plan on building? And what materials do you want," he needs all the information he can get if he's gonna build these two insufferable idiots a house. Tommy runs out of the room, and returns just as quickly with a blueprint of the house they are currently residing in.
     "Literally just this but with an extra bedroom. Don't worry about interior decoration, we'll do all that if need be," he says as he rolls out. The blueprint, pointing at the box in the bottom corner that has the materials listed. "We will," Deo asks confusedly. Tommy gives him a glare, and with a smile that so clearly means danger, says "of course we will."

         Tommy sends Deo out to gather materials while he does household chores, leaving Foolish to study and rework the mathematical map before him. Tommy steps into the room to grab a drink and fill a can with water. Foolish watches him curiously.
      He can hear faint vibrations coming from Tommy's throat, a clear sign he's humming. What song he is humming he can't tell. "I'm the devil's advocate, you don't know the half of it... Good luck tryna manage it. If a god's a dog, and man's a fraud then I'm a lost cause."
      For some reason, Foolish can see it; can see Tommy speaking on behalf of the devil, whoever it may be. Maybe the devil is free will, and the ability to do more than survive in this hellish server. Maybe the devil is youthful joy and an being blind-sided to how truly evil humans can be.

Tommy goes back outside, and foolish is left alone. Once he finishes that statue of XD back in his little desert he'll ask him to help Tommy somehow. Prime knows the kid deserves it. He heaves out a sigh, pushes himself out of his chair, and decides to head home for the evening. He'll come back again tomorrow, help out with more then just the building if he can. For now though, he'll just rest.