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Imagine that you're a seventeen year old and out of nowhere you feel oddly drawn to this creepy ass building on a random afternoon day.
On what feels like autopilot you head into the probably extremely haunted building and into a creepy looking office where a man dressed in green sits behind a desk.
He asks all sorts of questions that blur together and by the end of “conversation” you can barely remember what was even said.
But what you do remember is the man’s strange grin and toxic green eyes staring at you with glee as he shakes your hand and says the words. “You got the position.”
And that’s how Tommy became the youngest archivist The Dream Institute had ever seen.
Tommy knows jackshit about what the fuck is going on. One afternoon his body gets bascially fucking hijacked then the next he has a weird fucking job.
His parents are thrilled with this news when they actually bother answering the fucking phone. Tommy tries not to let it bother him.
But yeah. Tommy had a job in a very haunted building in charge of people.
He may be in over his head, just a bit.
The man with the grin and green eyes who hired him name was Clay, but he said with a wink to call him Dream. He’s Tommy’s boss and the leader of the institute. Being around him made Tommy feel weird. Like he was a bug under a magnifying glass.
And sometimes in Dream’s office it would feel like the walls were watching him. Like every move Tommy made, eyes were following him. It made him feel nauseous and self conscious.
Tommy avoids the man and his office like the plague and stays in his own office.
Luckily for him the job he’s been given is super fucking easy and also extremely fucking weird. His job is to just read and review reports given on supernatural occurrences into tape recorders.
Tommy will say it again, it’s just fucking weird.
Weird but easy to do.
Now Tommy doesn’t not believe in this shit. He thinks ghosts are real the same way he believes aliens are real. But some of these statements are just… strange.
A yellow door that appears out of nowhere with something sinister lurking behind, a house on top of a hill too cursed to exist, something bloodthirsty that follows the sound of bagpipes, and instances where people get replaced by something else are just some examples of things that he’s read.
So yeah it was a weird job in a weird place with fucking strange people.
In the beginning it bothered him. The statements he read and the live statements he took. The horrible things people had claimed were happening to them or the horrible fate that awaited them. The invisible eyes pinning him in place following his every movement. Dream’s hungry gaze and green eyes that seemed to glow.
But slowly over time it just seemed normal? Well not fucking normal but Tommy grew used to it. He became desensitized to everything. Which was a good fucking thing because shit started to get….. weird.
Tape recorders started to be found in every room Tommy entered even though he swore that they weren’t there before. He started to eagerly wait to be able to read his next statements or to take them live. Plus Tommy felt like something new was watching him.
So yeah, new wild shit was happening.
Also apparently the person who had his position prior to him was an old lady who was a fucking asshole. And apparently she got fucking murdered. Which was another wild piece of information Tommy learned.
With everything going on and everything he noticed Tommy felt the eyes locked onto him even more. It seemed like they multiplied. He hated it.
Dream seemed to be almost excited about the new developments. The smiley man always dressed in green seemed to be in a peppy mood constantly these days whereas Tommy was filled with fear and paranoia.
Something was wrong with this whole situation and Tommy knew it. He just couldn’t place his finger on it.
One day Tommy was called into Dream’s office and he warily followed his orders. Dream was smiling at him with a warm grin that was just ever so slightly off.
“Ah Tommy! Just the person I wanted to see,” Dream greeted as he stared at the teenager hovering in the doorway right before he knocked. He beckoned the teenager in with a finger gesture and a grin.
Tommy flinched back a bit as his hand was still in the air hovering as he was about to knock on the door frame. He cautiously crept into the man’s office. “You wanted to see me?,” Tommy asked, raising an eyebrow still feeling a bit surprised.
Dream hummed and he drummed his fingers on the tiny ornate box sitting on his desk. Tommy, picking up on its presence, stared at it. “I do. The Dream Institute has a lot of fucking perks as your aware and is a highly academic job,” Dream began.
“Am I being fired or something?,” Tommy questioned as he kept staring at the box. Something in him refused to look away from it. It was like his gaze was locked in place.
“No no- actually it’s basically the opposite,” Dream chuckled. He opened the box and slid it towards the end of his desk closer to Tommy in a smooth motion. Dream gestured to it when the teenager made no movements to come closer.
Tommy walked closer and stared at the inside of the box and its contents as goosebumps rose on his arms. A chill passed through his body. In the golden box adorned with green gems were golden eye earrings. They glistened in the dim light of Dream’s office.
“They’re a symbol of power and status,” Dream said as he knocked on the desk to get Tommy’s attention. When Tommy forced his gaze to meet his, something in Dream’s eyes looked extremely pleased and slightly hungry. Dream lightly tapped his own earrings, green and golden eyes dangling from each ear. “Since you're the head archivist I figured you should have these,” and with that he slid the box as far as it could go towards Tommy.
Tommy looked down at gold jewelry for a few seconds before looking back up at Dream before slowly looking back down again. Something in him felt off at the sight of the earrings.
“Your ears are pierced yes?,” Dream asked but in a tone that screamed he already knew the answer was yes.
“I- yeah my parents got my ears pierced when I was six,” Tommy said, slightly dazed for some reason. “The holes are still there and open.”
“Not that it would be a problem if they weren’t,” Dream said quietly to himself and before Tommy could react and ask what he meant Dream continued. “Well kid? Why don’t you put them on?”
Tommy felt like something else was controlling his limbs. Excuses rested on the tip of his tongue yet they wouldn’t come out. He wasn’t a jewelry kind of guy, he wasn’t interested, his excuses faded. Tommy grabbed the earrings with slightly shaking hands and started to put them in his ears.
Dream watched unblinking as the teenager put the jewelry in with shaking limbs. An almost dark grin rested on his face when the teenager shuddered when they were in fully. “They suit you,” he said in a loaded tone.
“Thanks,” Tommy choked out. “Is that- is that all you need, big man?”
Dream’s off putting smile was undetected by Tommy. “Pretty much yeah. You’re dismissed. Better yet take the rest of the day off. You earned it.”
“I- thank you,” Tommy somehow was able to say as he made his way to his office to grab his shit. Slowly he grabbed his stuff and made his way to his favorite cafe where he has been meeting a couple of new friends he’s made.
Wilbur was a strange man who sometimes seemed to be fake. He was tall and lanky and had warm brown eyes that made Tommy’s head swim sometimes if he looked too deeply into them. His voice was soothing and deep but occasionally Tommy could almost swear to hear static in it.
He sometimes brought a tall pink haired man named Techno and a small man named Phil who always wore a bucket hat. Techno constantly had the faint smell of iron lingering around him and Phil smelled like ozone and his clothes were always ruffled.
They were strange fucking people. But Tommy liked them.
They even seemed interested in his job. They seemed almost disbelieving when Tommy told them he was the head archivist for The Dream Institute. Which was fair given he was only seventeen. Tommy didn’t see the glances they shot each other over his head at that information.
Nor did he see the dark looks they exchanged constantly or the possessive gleam in their eyes especially in Wilbur’s. Tommy rarely picked up on the clues that they were otherwise something else.
All Tommy knew was that they were his friends and Tommy almost considered them to be somewhat of a second family the closer they got.
Plus Wilbur, despite his strange characteristics and quirks liked to call him “his little brother” sometimes. It never failed to make Tommy’s heart all warm and fuzzy.
So obviously after everything that has occurred Tommy wanted to see them. He wanted to see Wilbur. Tommy felt wrong and like his skin no longer fit. He wanted comfort.
The earrings felt both too heavy and too light as he made his way with his backpack to his usual cafe. They felt like they weighed him down one moment and the next they were too light to be noticeable the next.
Tommy opened the door and sagged in relief as he saw Wilbur sitting there typing away at his phone. If he looked too hard at Wilbur’s hands they seemed to warp ever so slightly so he didn’t.
Wilbur looked up and smiled at Tommy before it faltered at the state of the teen. “Hey hey- come here toms sit down,” Wilbur said in a worried tone as he got up and led the teen to his table. “What’s wrong?,” Wilbur asked with furrowed eyebrows.
“So you know how I’m the head archivist yeah?,” Tommy started and seeing Wilbur’s nod he continued. “Well my boss is a weirdo named Dream who gives me the creeps and makes me feel all wrong sometimes.” Tommy paid no mind to how Wilbur’s frown almost looked like a snarl or how Wilbur’s eyes darkened as he was staring at the table. “He called me into his office today to give me something.”
“What did he give you?,” Wilbur asked lightly.
Tommy shuddered as he became aware of the weight of the earrings again. “He gave me earrings,” Tommy whispered, staring at the table unblinkingly. “And I couldn’t say no for some reason.”
Tommy didn’t see how Wilbur’s form completely warped and was replaced by a taller snarling version of him and how pointed and dangerous his fingers were. Or how the cafe seemed to be empty for a second sans the two of them.
When Tommy looked up Wilbur was back to normal in the blink of an eye. “They don’t hurt do they?,” Wilbur almost demanded.
Tommy shook his head. “Not really. But they keep feeling too heavy and then too light and it’s making me nauseous,” he confessed, staring at Wilbur with wide blue eyes.
Wilbur melted a bit and leaned forward and rested his forehead against Tommy’s. “It’s okay toms. They’re just earrings.”
Tommy didn’t pick up on the slightly guilty tone in Wilbur’s voice, too preoccupied by being comforted by Wilbur’s cold forehead pressed against his. “Okay,” he whispered.
“Why don’t you go home and rest, yeah? Maybe you’ll feel better tomorrow,” Wilbur hummed.
“I-yeah okay Wil,” Tommy sighed as he got up from their table and hugged Wilbur goodbye. “Bye big man,” he said as he left.
He never noticed the earrings that dangled from Wilbur’s ears depicting a spiral of colors that slowly bleed into one another.
Now a lot of strange things has been happening since he started this fucking job. But that didn’t stop Tommy from being surprised when he woke up four days later and the earrings refused to come out.
“Fucking- peices of fancy shit,” Tommy grumbled as he made his way to work. Tommy ignored the satisfied look in Dream’s eyes when the man looked at him.
Wilbur politely demanded they meet up more often after their conversation. Tommy quickly folded since he cared for the weird prick.
Tommy was smothered in light affection from Phil, Wilbur’s fond affectionate gestures, and the occasional comforting words from Techno whenever they met up. It always seemed to be the three of them nowadays when they met up. Not that Tommy was complaining.
He paid no mind to how Wilbur squashed the spiders that occionally appeared on the table with a snarl and a hiss of “fuck off Schlatt.” Or how Wilbur tsked and gently got rid of the random cobwebs that appeared on Tommy’s clothing. Wilbur was more than happy to get rid of them for him.
Tommy felt…. different nowadays. He couldn’t describe it but he felt changed. Still Tommy paid no mind to it and tried to ignore it.
He was never hungry and never seemed to need rest. It was…. strange. Almost as strange as the shadows he could have sworn to see following him. Or the spiders that lingered in his office.
Everything was different.
Dream seemed to be different too. He pushed Tommy to follow leads by himself and look for answers alone instead of using the research team he rarely talks to.
When Wilbur found out he made an annoyed noise that almost sounded like a snarl put through radio static. He also hugged him so tightly that it hurt.
But yeah things have changed.
And maybe it was because he knew shit was weird to begin with.
But after having two run-ins with two horrifying creatures and getting new scars it didn’t really surprise him that much.
A man with buzzed hair and red and blue tinted glasses burned him with his touch and a smug ignorant smirk and with a warning. Tommy could only blink as he switched up out of nowhere and apologized frantically when he found out Tommy was only seventeen and not really a “true archivist.”
What a prick.
The next was a lady who seemed to be made of plastic with a short pink wig who apparently was a manikin. She clawed open his arm while touching his skin by accident. Again she lost it when his age was revealed.
Fucking weird.
Techno was the one who snarled when Tommy came back with two new scars littered on his skin. If Tommy didn’t know better he’d say it was an animal that made that noise.
Dream seemed overjoyed when Tommy made his way back to the institute. Tommy didn’t even want to go back that much but it felt like he had to. Like he was tethered.
As more meetups with creatures and people with supernatural abilities seemed to be a possibility in the future the more Phil, Wilbur and Techno shared more dark impatient looks.
One day Tommy strolled into the cafe looking defeated and resigned.
“What’s got you looking so down?,” Phil asked as he subtly scanned him for new injuries.
“Dream said I have to go to Hill Top road tomorrow,” Tommy quietly said.
“What,” Wilbur slowly said.
Tommy shrugged, shrinking a bit in his seats as all three gazes locked onto him. “Apparently we got a new statement and we need more evidence so he’s sending me there.”
Wilbur snarled lightly before he settled down as Phil lightly squeezed his shoulder in warning.
“I’m sorry to hear that mate,” Phil said. “I’m sure it won’t be so bad.”
“You see I thought that too but Dream looked too… excited?,” Tommy tried to say. “So who knows.”
It was silent for a bit as Tommy finished his pastry as the three shared a dark look.
“It’ll be fine toms,” Wilbur assured.
“Hopefully Wil,” Tommy huffed.
Soon Tommy had to leave, leaving the three inside the cafe.
“Phil,” Wilbur started to whine. “We can’t let Schlatt-”
“I know,” Phil said, cutting him off. “And we won’t. I think we’ve let them go on long enough. Eh boys?”
Techno and Wilbur perked up and shared bloodthirsty inhuman grins.
Tommy walked home from the institute and shuddered at the cold. Before he could process it he was grabbed. Tommy trashed and wiggled in their arms. The grip only tightened.
“Stop fighting,” a familiar voice rumbled in warning.
Tommy froze as he leaned back slightly. It was Techno but he looked wrong.
Red eyes that were slitted and sharp pointed teeth. He had claws and pointed ears. Techno looked like an animal who was hunting. A predator. The iron smell made sense now.
“I don’t understand,” Tommy whispered, still encased in the man’s iron grip.
Techno only rumbled again as he held Tommy against his chest tighter. “You will soon,” he told the kid.
Tommy only watched as Phil descended from the sky and stared at them with glowing blue pupiless eyes. His clothes being always ruffled made sense.
Tommy was torn away from staring at Phil’s pleased face by a yellow door appearing. Tommy flinched. He knew that door. He’s read countless horrifying statements about that door.
Nothing prepared him for Wilbur to step out of it.
Tommy sobbed at the sight of him.
Wilbur was taller and his features sharper. Claw like fingers and wide eyes that were hypnotizing to look at.
“What did you do,” Wilbur demanded to Techno. “How did you make him cry.”
“I didn’t do shit,” Techno huffed. “Your ugly face made him cry.“
Wilbur growled stalking forward. “You may be Mr.Hunt but I will kill you for making what’s mine upset.”
“He’s just as mine as he’s yours,” Techno snarled back.
Phil whistled sharply making all three of them flinch.
Wilbur and Techno cowered at his glare. Phil strode forward and gently wiped Tommy’s tears. “Sorry mate this must be a lot to take in.”
“Why,” Tommy said in a broken tone.
“Why what kid?,” Techno asked.
“Why now? Why me?,” Tommy shuddered. “You’re the hunt, and the vast, and the spiral. Just- why?”
“Because you're ours,” Wilbur hummed. “Well mainly mine since I first called dibs but I digress.”
Tommy choked. “I’m not- I’m not fucking yours-”
Phil titled his chin up and tightened his grip making Tommy wince. Tommy fell silent at the threatening arua Phil was giving off and the faint smell of ozone growing stronger.
“You are whether you like it or not,” Phil said sharply. “It was foolish of us to wait this long. We should have taken you when you told us you were the archivist.”
Tommy shuddered and Phil softened. He brushed a thumb gently across Tommy’s cheeks. “It won’t be so bad being ours. You’ll be kept safe and sound Tommy.”
“I was safe-,” Tommy tried to say.
“Niki and Jack hurt you,” Wilbur hissed. “And you would have walked straight into Schlatt’s domain if you followed Dream’s orders.”
Tommy was silent as he didn’t know how to rebuke that.
“You’ll be safe with us,” Techno promised before he huffed with a laugh. “Besides you're barely human anymore so you’ll fit right in.”
Tommy shuddered as more tears fell at hearing that. It made sense but…
Phil cooed as he wiped them away. He then took a step back. “Take him to his room Wilbur,” he ordered as Techno begrudgingly handed him over to him. “Me and Techno are gonna get rid of Dream.”
“I don’t -,”
Tommy was shushed and his face was shoved into Wilbur’s chest. “Shh sunshine. Don’t worry about it. Soon you won’t care about trivial things anymore.”
Tommy could only cry as Wilbur led them through the yellow door and into a never ending maze of wrongness before they reached a bedroom.
It was red themed and the bed was covered in pillows. There was nothing sharp in there and the corners of everything were rounded. Wilbur laid on them both on the bed and held Tommy to him tightly.
Tommy hiccuped as he shook. Wilbur cooed and petted his hair with his long claw-like fingers. “Don’t worry darling Dream won’t be a problem anymore.”
Before Tommy could respond he arched up and screamed as phantom pain coursed through him. It felt like his head was splitting.
“Shit shit- toms? Sweetheart? Sunshine?,” Wilbur fretted.
Tommy's eyes rolled into the back of his head as eyes appeared everywhere on him. They glowed and blinked. And then just like that they were gone.
The only sign they were there was an unconscious Tommy, the faint blood on his body, and Wilbur rocking him back and forth.
“You’re the true avatar of the beholding now dear heart,” Wilbur murmed to him. “You’re almost immortal. You’ll stay with us forever and we’ll love you for eternity. You’ll never leave and you’ll learn to like it here eventually.”
Soon Techno and Phil came back. Techno covered in blood as his skull earrings shone through his splattered hair. His animalistic prideful grin made Wilbur relax ever so slightly.
Phil only smiled at the sight of all three of his sons in one place. Tommy would learn to like it with them. He didn’t have a choice.
And sure enough after a month full of escape attempts and trying and failing to use his newfound powers Tommy gave up.
It took three months to fully accept them as his family.
Three months filled with Techno restraining him and snarling at him after chasing him through the halls. With Wilbur cooing at him and praising him as he trapped him against his hollow chest. And with Phil’s cold and forceful touch and warm smiles.
They may be inhuman and monsters but so was Tommy now.
And Tommy was starting to be okay with that.