Tommy sits on the street curb, legs stretched out into the street. His duffle bag sits right beside him, nestled into his side. He keeps one elbow on the duffle bag, using it to subtly lift up his arm as he holds his communicator. The evening wind brushes through his hair, pulling at the strings of his hoodie with little lift, as Tommy taps the reload button once more. The screen goes white before showing the same screen he has been looking at for over two weeks. There is a list of one-sided messages without a response, and the lack of anything on the other side makes Tommy's stomach swell uncomfortably, like a wave crashing upon the rocky shore.

Behind Tommy, Techno closes the gym up for the night. Tommy listens to the clicking of the key. Techno's heartbeat continues to thunder against Tommy's fingertips as he taps the screen one more time. Nothing happens, and Tommy is starting to believe that nothing will. Techno approaches Tommy, and when Tommy sees the hybrid's legs in his peripheral, Tommy glances upward. "I wanted to look for you when you and the others went missing. I don't know how I fell asleep, but I fucking swear it wasn't on purpose. I even tried going after you. It was Salamander that wouldn't let me. I mean, the smoke was also making me dizzy, but I would have found you guys."

"I understand. I do not blame you nor do I require an apology," Techno says slowly, confusion rising in his red-brown eyes. He glances down at Tommy with narrowed eyebrows, and Tommy shifts to look away from that familiar expression.

"Does Wilbur understand that?" Tommy whispers. It has been a few weeks since the Craft family's outing with Tommy was interrupted by a fight between the heroes and the Binary Killer. A lot has happened since then, so Tommy has almost forgotten the way he felt when he saw the family again. He hasn't apologized for not going after them, for letting Salamander— Vulcan, these days—- and Nemesis to take care of it. Tommy thought he was doing the right thing at the time. He was getting people he... well, not trusted, but knew would follow through, to do what he could not. He figured the Craft family wouldn't want him to injure himself further. He would have gotten hurt in a heartbeat if it was necessary, but it didn't seem that way in this situation.

Techno steps down from the sidewalk onto the street. He squats, leaning backward to sit on the curb right beside Tommy. He sets his duffle bag on the other side as he crosses his ankles. He nudges Tommy with his shoulder. "I'm going to need more information than that."

Tommy sighs, pulling his legs up to his chest. He wraps his arms around himself, letting his communicator slide down in his hand so he cannot see the screen any longer. Tommy glances at Techno from the corner of his eye, unable to commit to making eye contact. "Wilbur hasn't answered any of my messages. He hasn't come to hang out in awhile, either. I don't know what else it could be."

Techno's expression shifts immediately, halfway between distant anger and intimate understanding. Techno sits up straighter, looking across the street like an explorer staring at the horizon. Techno shakes his head, his eyes reaching farther beyond what is presented in front of them. "Wilbur has always been like this. He sometimes gets into his own head, and he runs. He comes back eventually... Everyone else understands this and they accommodate him, but—"

Techno cuts himself off. His expression narrows momentarily, putting on display his full annoyance. Techno makes a conscious effort to rein in these emotions, but Tommy makes no such attempts as he finishes for Techno. "It's shit."

Techno snorts, a smile pulling on his lips. They don't fully turn upward, but the fact that they almost did provides a highlight in this conversation for Tommy. He has been ruminating on Wilbur's absence for the past two weeks, searching his memory for some sort of explanation. The answer he proposed to Techno about Wilbur being upset over Tommy not going after the family is the only one Tommy could think of, but Techno shot it down. Tommy is back at square one without an idea. He supposes he can trust the answer Shelby and Niki gave him about Wilbur disappearing for long periods to write music, but something feels different this time. Or maybe Tommy just thought he was special, that Wilbur would be able to leave his family but wouldn't abandon Tommy so carelessly. Tommy resents the selfish thought, especially now that it is causing unpleasant emotions inside his heart.

Techno doesn't disagree with Tommy's claim, but he is only given a few second window before his own communicator goes off. Techno pulls it out of his pocket. He clicks the screen on, typing a response. Tommy takes the opportunity to check his own communicator, and he feels like a fool for thinking anything would change. Techno puts his communicator away, sliding it back into his pocket. He stands up. He throws his duffle bag over his shoulder before reaching a hand toward Tommy. "Come on. We have somewhere to be."

Tommy actually doesn't have anywhere to be, but he takes Techno's hands regardless. Techno leads Tommy to his motorcycle parked near the gym. Tommy has never rode one before, never even seen one up close, but Techno seems extremely comfortable with the machine. Techno tosses the helmet at Tommy. He feels bad for taking Techno's helmet, but he knows that he's going to lose whatever argument he has with Techno. Tommy hopes they don't get into a crash as he pulls the helmet over his head. When it is firmly protecting his head, Tommy gets on the motorcycle behind Techno, wrapping his arms around Techno's waist to keep himself secure.

Techno starts the vehicle, and they start riding down the paved streets. The wind is biting as it slams against Tommy's body, threatening to tear him off the motorcycle altogether. Tommy takes a deep breath, remembering how he took leaps into the air with Ravager. This is nothing compared to that, and Tommy slowly gains confidence with those memories propelling him forward. Tommy finally opens his eyes, looking at the passing city through the tinted glass of the helmet. It is nothing speculator, nothing he hasn't seen before, either, but it sits in Tommy's chest with a potent awe.

Tommy recognizes where they're going after a few more turns. He is proven right when Techno parks in front of Shelby's greenhouse. Tommy swings a leg off the motorcycle, standing up beside the vehicle. He pulls it off his head, and Techno instantly takes it. As Techno hooks the helmet on the edge of the motorcycle, Tommy looks back at the greenhouse. The front doesn't look any different from the last few times Tommy was here, but there are two people standing in the front, talking to each other. Tommy recognizes one of them as Kristin, but the man beside her is someone Tommy doesn't know.

The man is short with black hair and blue eyes that are darker than Phil's eyes but in roughly the same shape. He is wearing a black hoodie with dark blue sweatpants. He stands with his hands in his pockets. His slouched position and his messy hair give away the type of person he is, and the chill expression on his face gives away his current mood.

"Mom... Sneeg," Techno greets, saying both words with vastly different tones. Surprisingly, the expression in his eyes doesn't change as it passes from his mother to this Sneeg character. It continues to hold such profound and loyal love. Tommy is almost jealous until he remembers that Techno sometimes looks at him like that. Tommy minutely shakes his head. He must be wrong about what the expression means, then.

"Hey, you should be more respectful," Sneeg tells Techno, glaring half-heartedly at the pink-haired man.

"Why?" Techno deadpans immediately, raising an eyebrow as if he's genuinely confused.

Sneeg gestures a hand towards Tommy in lieu of an answer. Techno glances over at Tommy, scrutinizing the blonde's appearance. Tommy raises an eyebrow, lips halfway pulling into a snarl as Techno's gaze hardens. Techno finally looks back at Sneeg. "Tommy is disrespectful, too."

"Hey! I am not fucking disrespectful! I am full of respect. Just ask my many wives," Tommy argues, startling visibly at Techno's plain words. Tommy puffs his chest up, ready to take Techno in a fight. Unfortunately, Techno isn't even paying attention to Tommy. His eyes are still on Sneeg, having what looks to be a staring contest between two people who don't show their emotions like the rest of humanity. Techno is neutral, and Sneeg is simply relaxed.

Kristin laughs quietly, looking at all three of them with patient eyes. She uses her head to point at Sneeg and Techno. "How about you two go inside for a moment?"

They follow her suggestion, continuing their argument about respect and worthiness as they enter the building. Their voices are eventually obscured by the thick glass. Kristin watches after them, shaking her head. She looks over her shoulder back at Tommy. "Sneeg is Techno's uncle from Philza's side."

Tommy nods slowly, remembering what Wilbur told him about his family. Wilbur mentioned that he had an uncle who was a prankster. Tommy thought it was strange he hadn't met that uncle yet. He doesn't think right now is a bad time for their first meeting, but he does dislike that Wilbur isn't here.

Instead of mentioning any of this, Tommy asks, "Why aren't we going inside?"

"I wanted to spend a moment with you without the others," Kristin tells him honestly with a positively bright expression on her face. She reaches her arm out. She links her elbow with Tommy's, pulling him closer to her. They remain arm-in-arm, leaning against one of the front windows of the greenhouse. The evening wind finds Tommy again, but he feels warmer standing this close to Kristin, probably due to her nature as a hybrid.

Kristin closes her eyes, looking upward with a pleasant smile. Tommy leans closer, purely because of the warmth and not for any other reason. Despite her serenity, Tommy still finds himself asking, "What's the real reason?"

Kristin's expression hardly changes, but Tommy does notice the way her eyebrows come together and the twitch of her lips. She opens her eyes slowly, the fading sunlight reflecting in her purple irises. "I love spending quality time with you, Tommy. I would have asked you to stay here with me even if I didn't have something important to talk to you about."

"If it's about Wilbur, I've already had this talk with Techno," Tommy informs her. He's also had this conversation with Shelby and Niki, though the circumstances were different back then. Regardless, Tommy knows that Wilbur sometimes gets emotional and thinks the best plan is to run away. Tommy doesn't like it, and it seems like Techno doesn't either, but everyone else lets Wilbur get away with this for whatever reason. Tommy doesn't know what category he's going to fall into. He wants to think he would challenge it, but honestly, Tommy would let Wilbur keep running away and coming back as long as Wilbur swore to come back.

"It isn't about Wilbur," Kristin assures him, patting his forearm with her hand.

"If this is about Philza, let the record show that I'm not mad at Philza for leaving me behind... If Philza is mad at me, I'm willing to do what it takes for forgiveness," Tommy tries again, thinking that must be the only other thing Kristin would want to talk to him about. Tommy hasn't been avoiding Philza nor the latter avoiding him, but Tommy has noticed a sort of strain in the way they talk to each other. Philza looks like he has something he wants to get off his chest. Tommy waits for him to do it, but the moment never comes, either because of external interruptions or Philza's own hesitance.

"Philza isn't mad at you," Kristin answers. She shifts slightly, moving closer to Tommy like she's about to whisper a secret to him. Instead of that, she looks out across the street with a pair of eyes that seem to notice everything. She continues instead of letting Tommy flounder for what this could be about. "That comment you made, however, is what I wanted to talk to you about. You seem to have a general disregard for your own life."

Tommy glaces side-long at Kristin, more than a little surprised by her words. To Tommy, they feel like they've come out of nowhere, but Tommy has no idea what an outsider like Kristin could be seeing. So, Tommy just shakes his head and denies her claim. "You're mistaken. I would dare say I want to live more than other people do."

"I'm not denying that you want to live. I know you do. I've just noticed that you tend to put other people's lives before your own, and this inadvertently places your own life in danger," Kristin explains, a knowing look in her eyes as she finally looks at Tommy. She meets his eyes, squeezing his arm tightly to keep him in the moment with her like Tommy is a leaf in the breeze, ready to depart at a moment's notice.

"I'm not following. I'm a selfish person," Tommy admits even though it makes him feel a little sick to admit such a thing to Kristin, of all people. He doesn't want her to think poorly of him. He doesn't want any of the Crafts to think poorly of him, nor would he want his new friends to know this about him. But he feels like he has to be upfront about it before Kristin's ideas spread to the others. Tommy would rather they hate him for his selfishness than praise any good qualities he doesn't have or be concerned for certain traits that he doesn't have, either.

"You aren't, Tommy. You really aren't, and I'm scared you're going to end up sacrificing yourself," Kristin tells him softly, pain creeping into those eyes of hers. Tommy feels a weightlessness in his stomach, and he is reminded of the green-eyed serpent that has always been wrapped around his heart, making him its prey. Tommy knows that his younger self would have gladly done anything if it meant someone would look at him like this. The Tommy of the present day, however, knows that he hasn't done anything to deserve it.

"I'm not," Tommy assures her plainly. Kristin says nothing, but she levels him with a skeptical look. Tommy stares at that expression for a long moment, searching for hidden depths. When he finds nothing, he fears that Kristin is genuinely concerned for him. Tommy's eyes narrow, and he asks, "Why do you care? If this is about—"

"Because I care about you," Kristin answers immediately, sternly, certainly. She turns fully, setting one of her hands on his cheek. She rubs her thumb against his cheek, smiling sadly at him. Tommy's eyes can only widen with surprise, shock lodging itself deep inside his heart. Kristin exhales out of her nose, talking with the same assured tone. "You should start taking care of yourself, Tommy. I would be sad if you didn't."

Tommy isn't able to come up with an appropriate response, so he chooses not to say anything. Kristin doesn't seem to require a response as she pulls Tommy's arm along, heading into the greenhouse. The air is warm against Tommy's skin as he steps into the main room. He can hear Techno and Sneeg arguing before he sees them at the end of the main path into the greenhouse. Niki and Jack are sitting on the counter, idly whispering to each other while watching the argument. A teenager with brunette hair and blonde tips sits on Jack's other side, joining in their conversation. Shelby and Philza are discussing a pot with some flowers in them, and it looks like they're bartering with one another.

The only person that is missing from this scene is Wilbur. The very thought makes Tommy's chest seize up with sadness. Luckily, Kristin is there to squeeze his arm reassuringly. She gives him a smile that seems to chase away the sadness, if only for a moment.

As Kristin does this, moonlight falls into the greenhouse. Some of the plants begin to glow underneath the lunar light, spreading their leaves and petals out as far as they can go to catch every silver ray. Tommy pulls away from Kristin to turn in a slow circle, trying to look at every plant at the same time. Most of them glow in pale or muted cool colors, but Tommy sees a set of flowers glowing a vibrant warm gold color as if trying to bring sunlight into the night.

"Tommy! Come look over here at these!" Shelby's voice cuts through Tommy's reverie. He turns around quickly to find the group looking over at him and Kristin. They are all smiling— well, Techno is as close as he usually gets— and Tommy feels something thrum in his chest, growing louder like a marching drumline. He thinks it's everyone's heartbeats, at first, but he realizes that it's his own heart, beating in time with his pulsing happiness. He genuinely feels welcomed here. It's almost hard to think he was able to get here just because someone shot him when a musically gifted brunette was walking nearby, but alas, the universe seems to be making a mockery of Tommy's life once more.

Tommy feels a light pressure against his back nudging him forward. He looks over his shoulder to meet Kristin's eyes. She winks at him as she shoves him into his first few steps. Tommy shakes his head in amusement, and he keeps walking of his own violation. As soon as he's close enough, Shelby grabs his wrist, yanking him forward. She leans down, showing him a large pot with more glowing flowers. They are shining a pale red color. Their luminosity would have been nonexistent if not for the fact that so many of them are bunched up together.

As Tommy leans down to get a better look at the flowers, the group around him start talking again. Their conversation all interweaves like some great tapestry, their laughter echoing in the moonlit greenhouse. Tommy feels like he could wrap himself up in this and never get cold again. Tommy reaches a hand down to touch the flowers, and he sees Shelby smiling kindly at him from the corner of his eye. She starts talking about where the flowers came from. Tommy listens until he feels something strange. He looks around, doing another headcount of the people in the room. For some reason, he thinks there is an extra heartbeat thrown in the mix. Tommy looks around again, but his eyes snag on something. For a single second, Tommy thinks he sees a floating pair of brown eyes. It is gone within a single blink of his eyes, so Tommy assumes that he saw hallucinating. Maybe it was a bug that Tommy saw incorrectly.

"Are you okay?" A voice asks. Tommy's attention snaps away from where he was looking so intently to find the person who asked is the one Tommy doesn't know leaning forward, holding tightly onto the counter to keep from falling.

"Yup," Tommy answers, pushing away whatever just happened. It doesn't seem important, so Tommy won't worry about it.

"This is Tubbo, Jack's friend," Niki introduces him, realizing that Tommy doesn't know who the person talking to him is.

"I'm more than Jack's friend," Tubbo says immediately, glaring at Niki from the corner of his eye.

"I doubt that," Jack shrugs, taking on the full force of Tubbo's glare.

"Of course you're more than Jack's friend. You're also a good demolitionist," Sneeg remarks.

"I blew something up once!" Tubbo argues, his attention whirling around to look at Sneeg. Tommy can almost see the story from the look in Tubbo's eyes.

"Twice," Philza corrects.

"That second time wasn't me," Tubbo promises them, putting his hands out defensively.

Tommy chuckles under his breath. He pushes against his thighs, standing back up. He walks around Shelby to stand next to Tubbo's seated form. The dual-haired boy glances at Tommy curiously, and the blonde puts a hand out. "Don't worry, Big Man, I'll defend you against all these old people."

A few people laugh at the claim, and the rest start explaining that they aren't old. Tommy and Tubbo share a look, and they start giggling together. Tubbo throws an arm over Tommy's shoulder, pulling him closer. Tubbo's smile is wide and bright as he declares, "I have decided that we're going to have a long and prosperous friendship."

"Hell yeah!" Tommy cheers, fist-bumping Tubbo. As the conversation continues onward, Tommy comes to a realization that makes his smile shrink minutely. This is what Kristin was afraid of. Tommy looks around at the others, at their happy faces and open body language, and he realizes that he would sacrifice everything for these people, just because they've been kind to him, just because they've let him be a part of this.