Chapter Text
The room watched, dead silent.
Tommy half expected the emperor to keel over and die. The tension had risen too high. Everything had just slowed down too much, like the entire castle was waiting to release a breath it had been holding.
Luckily the glass was placed back down safely on the table, untainted and uncracked.
A few people at the table cheered with a ‘here here!’, a couple staring around at each other with a questioning gaze. The rest of the table sat still, glancing around at the rest with confused glances. Wilbur was grinning, sipping from his glass. The bone masked person beside him did the same. Tommy eyed his wine with disgust, giving Tubbo and Ranboo a look.
Tubbo shrugged, downing his.
Tommy visibly gagged. He even watched as Ranboo recoiled, and boob boy had seen the both of them do weirder and worse shit then that.
“That was fucking disgusting.” The blond shuddered, shoving his glass even further from his spot. Tubbo laughed, voice practically a whisper.
“I’m blending in boss man.”
“That was a crime.” Ranboo muttered helpfully. “Underage drinking.”
“Okay, your point? It’s not a crime if nobody knows I’m underage.”
The moment they began talking it seemed the rest of the table had gotten the memo, the air of calm and relaxed returned.
It was like a normal dinner. Or at least what Tommy would picture as a normal dinner.
Waiters streamed from the rooms in even rows- where Tommy assumed the kitchens were- trays of silver lidded food in hand. Rich pricks. One came to his spot specifically, placing the food on his plate with a quiet clink. He muttered a quiet thanks under his breath.
The lid was taken off.
The food looked fucking delicious . Better than delicious, even. It looked like it came straight from the palace- which it did, but still.
Chicken was sitting on the porcelain, seasoned and cooked to what Tommy expected was perfection. He wouldn’t know, chicken was always too expensive to buy. Green beans sat beside it, buttery and thick with spice.
He engulfed the food with a smile, barely taking a moment to breath. Should he slow down so the bread roll incident doesn’t happen again? Absolutely. He was never one for using his full brain power, though.
Ranboo rolled his eyes, smiling. “You’re a hazard.”
Tommy grinned. “That’s what the ladies call me. Tommy Hazard Innit.”
Tubbo took a bite of his green beans. “What does that make your full name now then?”
“Tommy Danger Kraken Hazard Problem Handsome Innative Innit.” He answered easily.
Tubbo nodded comprehensively, as though it made perfect sense.
“Tommy?”
Tommy looked up, mouth full of green beans.
Ah, it was poor but also rich bitch Wilbur Soot again. Tommy couldn’t tell why he didn’t recognize the voice- it had a sort of melodic ring to it. Like it was said by the jingling of bells rather than a person. Tommy distantly wondered if the man had a nice singing voice as well.
He shut that out instantly.
The man gave Tubbo bad vibes, and Tubbo was normally right. Tommy could take care of himself, but he had to remember to be wary. This man, despite being just like them, was not one to mess with.
“Yeah?”
“I have someone to introduce to you.” The golden masked man said happily, smiling brightly.
Tommy felt Tubbo tense beside him, leaning towards the blond ever so slightly. Tommy fought the urge to roll his eyes, swallowing the food in his mouth and nodding to Wilbur.
“This is Techno Blade.” Soot introduced, gesturing to the pink haired man beside him.
He looked surprisingly average, despite the hair choice and boar shaped bone mask. He wore an off-white poet"s shirt, though it was stained in a few places from what Tommy could tell.
Despite this the man came off as intimidating, like he’d tower over Tommy and kill him with a single swipe of a silver bladed sword. He looked as though he was in a position of power, though if Wilbur knew him he couldn’t be. Lower class people don’t talk with upper class people.
But still, the man was oddly intimidating and Tommy didn’t like it.
So, there"s only one way to fix that isn’t there.
“That’s a dumb fucking name.” Tommy said instantaneously, crossing his arms. Wilbur snorted into his wine. “What parents would look at a poor innocent child and go ‘Yeeeahhhh that’s a fuckin’ Technoblade.”
Techno quirked an eyebrow. “Mine did.”
“Mmmm well your parents are right beta males.”
“My parents are dead.” Techno deadpanned.
Tommy blinked. “Well that’s rather unpoggers.”
“Yeah, you could say that.”
Silence fell over the two strangers like an awkward blanket. Tommy swallowed his food. Wiblur glanced between the duo with a half smile, trying to stifle laughter.
Tommy broke the silence. “Good talk, Blade.” He turned to his friends, ignoring as Wilbur opened his mouth to speak. He picked up the chicken. “So, boys, I bet I can fit this whole chicken wing in my mouth-”
“No you very well fucking can’t.” Tubbo stated sternly. “You’ve choked once, don"t do it again. Then people are gonna look at us weird, and you’ll be a corpse on the fucking floor-”
“I literally inhaled the green beans and I was fine-”
Wilbur muttered something, probably trying to get his attention again, which the boy promptly ignored.
“Well 4 green beans isn’t the same as a whole fucking chicken wing- ”
A squeak of a chair to his right interrupted them. Tommy turned to the noise.
The emperor was standing again.
The chatting slowly died down, all waiting for the man to speak with newly printed smiles on their faces. Tubbo took the opportunity to take the chicken from his hand, Tommy shooting the brunette boy a glare in return before refocusing on the emperor.
The emperor waited a couple more moments before speaking, voice carefully calm. “Unfortunately the castle will be on lockdown.”
It rang around the dining room like gun fire.
The silence was tangible, smiles wiped clean off the peoples faces. The whole table felt as though it was pushed under a collective wave of surprise and sudden dread.
Then the entire group erupted into angry yells, Tommy among them.
“What? You can’t just fucking keep us here!” He shouted, shooting up from his seat, previous smile gone and chicken long forgotten. He was easily drowned out by the other raging citizens, all far older and far more ready to make loud, nearly screeching arguments. Phil regarded his angry citizens with a calm gaze.
In all honesty it made Tommy feel worse.
“I understand why you’re all upset, it’s reasonable,” The older blond explained, voice eerily relaxed. “But there is nothing I can do about it at this time. I cannot send the carriages out in this weather and I cannot allow anyone to walk home while there’s a snowstorm going on.”
Tommy laughed derisively, ready to spit out a vicious ‘we do that everyday already’. Beside him Tubbo tapped him a quick ‘shut the fuck up.’ He glowered, snapping his mouth shut with an audible click.
Tommy didn’t notice when Wilburs eyes glittered, a curiously dark smile growing on his face.
Philza continued explaining as though people weren’t yelling over him. “The snow is too high. You’d all freeze to death-”
Someone screeched something impossible to understand above the rest. Tommy clutched the table, knuckles white. This- even he can admit this was too much. He was angry, sure, but not like that.
His heart hammered.
Tubbo squeezed his hand. Tommy squeezed back.
Phil suddenly slammed his hands down on the table, shaking the utensils, and despite himself the blond jumped. The table instantly hushed. “Everyone be quiet!” His voice was dangerous, despite being so incredibly collected. “I understand you’re upset, but the more you talk over me the less likely we are to fix this. Do you understand me?”
The entire table nodded almost instantly, reminded of the authority here. They were in the presence of the emperor. Not some other citizen. This was not a time for pointless arguments and useless screaming.
Once everyone had once again gone quiet Emperor Philza continued. “We have guest rooms for everyone. We’re prepared for all of you to stay here.”
A man in a fox mask bristled. Even Niki looked upset, taking a sip of her wine and fiddling with the glass angrily.
“So you want to just keep us here?” Someone in a beanie asked, the wild scar stretching across his face hardly blocked by a duck feathered mask. Tommy wondered distantly where he might’ve gotten an injury like that. He honestly wasn’t sure he wanted to know.
“We don’t have a choice.” The emperor answered.
Someone with poofy hair and a pirate hat clicked their fingers on the table, nails tapping loudly. Her voice was surprisingly soft for being so clearly upset, white mask hiding narrowed eyes. “I get that you don’t want us to freeze your highness, but shouldn’t there be another way? We all have lives we need to get back to.”
The entire table hummed in agreement.
Philza shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”
Wilbur, the dumbass, decided to stand at that very moment, smoothly glaring at the emperor without a flicker of fear or hesitance in his face. Tommy almost told him to sit back down, but stopped himself when Tubbo grabbed his arm.
“I propose something.” Wilbur said, voice lilted with honey. “I say we stay here, but we have free reign of the castle.”
Sam opened his mouth, brows furrowed to argue.
“Only-” Wilbur interrupted, giving Sam a pointed look. “If it’s within reason, of course.”
Philza glared. A weaker man would have shrunk under the gaze. Wilbur, apparently, was not that man.
Instead the brunet grinned, the smile strangely condescending. Like he was in power here. As though this was his palace, and he was the emperor. “If you really cared about your citizens you’d agree that it’s important to stay here, wouldn’t you? Well it’s also important to keep us happy. Wouldn’t want anyone leaving now, would we?” It was a threat. One that didn’t even try to veil itself.
Philza took a deep breath. The table went still, waiting for a response on stale breath. Tommy felt sick from the tension. The emperor nodded. “Okay. I give you access to everywhere other than the dungeons and the royal bedroom halls.”
The entire table gave a simultaneous nod, a few grumbling in distaste. Nobody seemed entirely happy with it, but it was better than nothing. Tommy noticed Techno shoot a glare in Wilburs direction, who just grinned back.
Tommy turned to his friends, barely noticing Soots eyes flickering in his direction curiously, quickly followed by Technos own curious gaze.
“So boys, what"s the plan?” He asked under his breath, for only them to hear.
Tubbo shrugged, voice strangely quiet. It was weird considering the fact he was just laughing moments ago, before the news was dropped. “Not much we can do, boss man. Unless you want to freeze to death.”
“I don’t want to freeze to death,” Ranboo muttered. “I prefer living, actually.”
Tommy huffed, giving him a look. “Yeah you would say that wouldn’t you.”
Ranboo blinked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“If you know you know.” Tubbo said.
Tommy nodded. “And if you don’t, you don’t.”
Ranboo sighed.
“So, are we just gonna stay here then?” Tommy asked.
Tubbo nodded. He opened his mouth, but cut himself off. “We can discuss this more in our room.” The brunette boy"s eyes found Soots.
The other two nodded, and Tommy turned to stare back at Wilbur. Wilbur did nothing but smile.
Tommy didn’t understand.
The rest of dinner went by filled with quiet murmurs, the sound of clattering forks and plates a forgotten memory.
- - - - -
The whole dinner was over quickly after the bomb shell dropped, and Tubbo hadn’t said a word since.
The trio were just standing about like a group of lost puppies, unsure of themselves and what to do. Waiting for something to happen.
Normally Tommy would crack a joke, but he just couldn’t right now. Not when he could see the self loathing beginning to stir in Tubbos gaze, or the intense worry taking root in Ranboos eyes.
It fucking sucked. This whole situation fucking sucked. They shouldn’t have come here in the first place; royal parties are no place for them.
“Sir, if you"ll kindly follow me to your room.”
Tommy snapped from his stupor, head nearly snapping from how quickly he spun to face the servant.
“Sorry, pardon?” He asked, startling himself at his own politeness. Ew, the rich pricks surrounding him were rubbing off. Disgusting. He’ll have to get that checked.
“You need to come with me to your room, sir.” The servant repeated.
The blond shook his head. “I’m sharing a room with Tubbo and Ranboo. I’ll just go with them”
“We’ve been told you cannot.” The servant said, completely expressionless. “I’m sorry sir, but you must follow me.”
Tommy blinked. “Hang on a minute- no, wait. That’s bullshit. That’s fucking ridiculous!” Tommy started. “We came here together, so we can stick together. Check the fucking letter, I’ll even ask Ranboo to get it-”
“Sir-”
“ Please .”
The servant paused, looking over Tommys shoulder for just a moment, then sighed. “If you wish to, I’m sure we can make accommodations.”
Tommy felt relief flood his stomach. “Thank you.”
- - - - -
He passed through the hallway, following the servant.
The castle felt off now. Not in the way it did before, with its large and eerie halls. More like the entire palace had shifted just ever so slightly to the side, leaving it just…odd. Strange. Different.
Tubbo and Ranboo felt it too, warily glancing around. Tommy could have sworn he saw a shadow move, or maybe heard the patter of footsteps.
Quiet.
That’s what it was.
His mind landed on the word, and with a jolt he realised it rang true.
Every person here had gone silent, the entire place left tilted and echoing with nothingness. They were too spread apart, too far away. If Ranboo and Tubbo weren’t sharing a room with him he’s sure he’d lose his mind.
- - - - -
The room was as extravagant as they expected. A cleaned red carpet was draped along the floor, almost too neat in its cleanliness. The walls were too far apart, the whole place feeling too big for the trio. A giant bed sat in the middle of one of the walls, heavy blue sheets laid perfectly across it. The glass chandelier that hung from the ceiling was one of the only sources of light, along with a giant frost covered window on the other end of the room.
Normally the three would be amazed.
Somehow Tommy found he didn’t care too much anymore.
Robotically he made his way across the carpet, but not before toeing off his shoes and placing his mask on the desk. The window stood wide, frost crawling at the edges.
The emperor wasn’t lying. It was incredibly snowy out there- way worse than when they were on the balcony. Tommy could hardly see the wrought iron gates, let alone the path back home. The path that is definitely covered under feet of snow and ice by now.
The air felt slow and solemn, despite nothing truly terrible having happened. Tommy felt a little sick as the realisation dawned on him. There were citizens stuck here. So many citizens, all with jobs and families they need to get back to. Fucking bullshit. This is all fucking dumb.
“So, what do we do now?” Tubbo asked quietly.
Tommy shrugged.
Ranboo pressed his forehead against the cold glass, the surface fogging up with every breath. “We just wait it out, I guess.”
They lapsed into silence, unsure what to say. It wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable, but Tommy didn’t like the quiet. That was just the truth. A bit of a conundrum when he thinks about it: he hates silence but apparently gets too overwhelmed when it’s too loud. Damn, that’s unfortunate for him.
Doesn’t matter now though. Half the guests are gone through the storm, and the ones who didn’t seem to hate each other.
Well Tommy could fix one of those issues.
Tommy grinned. “At least we weren’t killed.”
Tubbo huffed a laugh. “True.”
He paused, waiting for the perfect comedic timing. Just to make the quiet disappear. Just for Tubbo and Ranboo. “And there are women here.”
Ranboo groaned, but he couldn’t hide the amusement in his voice. “Why? Why do you do this every time?”
Tommy cackled. “Mmmmm me gusta. Me gusta women.”
Ranboo shouted laugh. “Oh no, now he’s gone spanish.”
Tommy turned to Tubbo, giving a feral smile. Tubbo didn’t return it. The already faint amusement melted away in a second.
“Tubbo?”
Tubbo shook his head. “Sorry.”
“What about big man?” Tommy asked. He didn’t like it when Tubbo got like this. It could only mean one thing.
“I gave the okay to come.”
Tommy shook his head, sighing.
Ranboo frowned. “Stop blaming yourself, it’s not your fault.”
“But it is! I should have pressed when Tommy and I were on the balcony! If I’d just convinced him then we could have left before we got stuck here! And even before that, I knew this would be a bad idea and I didn’t fucking listen to myself-”
“Woah woah woah-” Tommy cut the boy off. Tubbo swivelled to look at him, eyes narrowed with grief and rage. Tommy didn’t falter. Didn’t miss a beat. “That was my choice. How were we meant to know the Emperor was a prick and wouldn’t let us leave?”
Tubbo didn’t look convinced. Tommy scowled.
Ranboo glanced between them nervously. Distantly the blond noticed the tall boy playing with the cuffs of his sleeves. Tommy was beginning to realise it was a nervous habit, but his focus was on Tubbo. Tubbo who still wasn’t letting up.
Ranboo sucked in a breath. “Guys-”
Tommy cut him off with a sharp glance. “No, Tubbo, listen. Quit feeling guilty. This isn’t your fault. If anything it’s mine-”
Tubbo opened his mouth to stop him, but Tommy continued.
“-I was the one who made the decisions. You followed me . You know what though? I’m not gonna go fucking blaming myself because I know it isn’t mostly my fault, so fuck right off with that.”
Tubbo hissed out something quietly under his breath. Tommy didn’t stop, growling a harsh. “What?”
Tubbo gave him a look. “You’re not making this better.”
Tommy threw out his arms. “Well what do you want me to do? If I can’t convince you, and Ranboo can’t convince you, who can? The emperor? Fucking- Soot?”
Tubbo scowled at the mention of the tall man. “No, never.”
“Then explain Tubbo, help us understand, how do we help you .”
Silence fell over the trio.
“You can’t.” Tubbo muttered.
Tommy sighed frustratedly. “Listen, Tubbo, we’re on the same side. You know this. Blaming yourself will lead us nowhere, and you know as well as we do that we need to move . Maybe not out there, but in here. We came because we wanted to make the most of this opportunity.” Tommy spoke sharply. Tubbo needed something to hope for, and Tommy will give him something. “If you want to blend in and convince people to try to make it better for the lower class like us, then you need to quit acting like a pussy and start thinking about the reason we came in the first place. We can make the most of this.”
Tubbo stared, completely quiet for a moment.
Finally the brunette sighed. “Okay.”
Tommy nodded. “Okay.”
And with nothing else to say, the duo turned away.
A little more frost grew on the window.