"Yes sir!"

"That sounds like a great idea, Schlatt."

"Great. Done. We can do that tomorrow. And Alex, do us all a favor, start working out, your ass is flat. Wow, no one told me how easy this whole leadership thing is."

"...Excuse me?"

"Yeah, you fuckin' heard me. Flatty patty. Maybe you should work out more."

"I work out every day, I don't know what you want me to do--"

"Yeah well do more exercises then. You've been slacking. You thought I couldn't tell? Nahhhhhhhh. I see it, baby. Flatty patty."

Sigh. "Homework for today, Schlatt?"

"You know, I like this kid. He's a good kid. Knows exactly what to say."

"Thank you, sir."

Niki shoots Tommy an are-you-seeing-this look.

Yeah, he's not loving this either.

He makes a point of working on mana for Wilbur instead of homework for Schlatt and Toby. Wilbur needs it right now. He does his best to tune out Alex and Schlatt arguing.

Niki contributes a little. Or, well, a lot, compared to what Tommy's making; being a year ahead does that. It's almost nice, except for everything else about the situation.

And the next morning Wilbur shows up at his door.

...Well, better than Wilbur not showing up. It's been--what, a week without him? (Long enough that Toby had stopped contributing to the Wilbur-mana pool. Long enough that Tommy had, traitorously, started to wonder--) "Wilbur! You're okay! Niki and I got you more mana."

"What are you trying to imply? If you're trying to make me feel bad, if you're trying to guilt me with Niki, it's not going to work."

"We just thought--you need mana, man. I was worried about you, fuckin', giving away all your mana and disappearing like that."

"She means nothing to me. None of them mean anything to me. They're not--they're not on my side. None of you are."

....Tommy puts his hand on Wilbur's chest and shoves the mana from the crystal through him to Wilbur.

"I didn't want that."

"Yeah, well, I wanted you to have it."

"I'm not crazy, Tommy. I'm not. I know you think I am, but I'm not, I know what I'm doing."

"Wilbur. Wil. They're--they seem happy. You can come back, man. We're having a party today, we're going to the vending machine--"

"Yeah, everyone's fucking happy. Look how great Schlatt did! Look how happy everyone is with Schlatt! He's throwing a fucking party! Look how lovely it is! I've already said, if I can't have that, no one can." Quieter: "No one can have... happiness."

He pauses.

"Tommy, look. You're my friend, okay? You're still my friend. Let's just--not talk about it, today. Just--enjoy yourself."

"...Okay."

Class passes slowly. Toby is... a bit excited, despite himself, for the party. He tends to hoard a fraction of tokens in reserve, in case he or Tommy needs them--it's not rational, really, but it makes him feel better to have things saved. It's good for this sort of thing, too, he'll have plenty to contribute. In class, Tommy seems to be in a better mood than yesterday, at least.

But when it's time for the party, Tommy doesn't show. Not at the library, and not at the vending machine. (He's never not shown up before. Toby tries and fails to not think about the implications, there.)

"Party time, let's fucking go! God, I love the vending machine."

"Not more than you love me, though, right, babe?"

"Oh my God, Alex, get over yourself. Go to the fucking gym if you want me to give a shit."

"I brought tokens."

"See, there we go! I make fun of Toby, but at the end of the day, he's the one doing my homework, he's the one giving me tokens. You just fucking whine all day."

"I have tokens too. And the fattest ass in the club." He does have a couple tokens! Definitely fewer than Toby brought, though.

"You have a flatty patty, is what you have." Schlatt throws a token into the communal pool that's gathering in front of the vending machine. (Niki doesn't contribute any, just glares at everyone in stony silence.)

...Is he supposed to say thank you? He is very unclear if he's supposed to say thank you. Probably not, at least not if he wants to stay on Alex's good side. He really wants to distract Schlatt from Alex, though. "You, um, you said yesterday we would maybe get high, did you bring anything for that?" Hopefully this will help and not make everything worse.

"Smart kid, smart kid. 'Course I did." He pulls a flask out of his backpack and takes a big swallow. "Want some?"

"...Sure, why not." He takes the offered flask and takes a swallow as well. Eugh. He's not actually sure he's ever tasted anything worse. He tries his best to keep his face neutral, but he's pretty sure he failed, given that Schlatt's pointing and laughing. Well, whatever.

Everything goes sort of pleasantly fuzzy around the edges, after that. He gets handed a bag of kettle chips which taste, incredibly, as though they're actually new. He's kind of seeing the appeal of this whole 'party' thing, really.

And then he sees... Tommy? Waving at him. From--a ways away.

"Excuse me, Schlatt, I remembered--there's something in my room that might explode, I should, y'know, fix that."

"Go for it."

Cool. Cool cool cool.

Okay now where did Tommy go.

He's with Wilbur, just out of eyeshot. "Hey, man! I'm--I'm really sorry I didn't show up today, I'm, uh, I decided to--Wilbur's here? But I thought you'd want to... uh.... see me."

"Tommy appointed himself my bodyguard."

"Right. Cool. Well, I appreciate knowing you're not dead." Small laugh. Wow, he must be high, saying that to Tommy's face. "Wow, I'm high."

"Yeah, you look kind of out of it. You okay, mate?"

"You sound like Phil. Not that that's a bad thing!"

"What does that mean."

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine. I got a bag of kettle chips at the party, it was great."

"Well, as long as you're alright, mate. Just had to check, 'cause you're so clingy."

"You do realize that doesn't make any sense, right, like, if you're the one following me around I'm pretty sure that makes you the clingy one. I bet Wilbur agrees with me."

"He would not."

"Hey, I'm with Toby. You've been clinging to me all day, being all oh Wilbur do this with me, Wilbur stay with me, Wilbur can we go see Toby, blah blah blah."

"Like I said. Sorry Tommy, you're outvoted, motion passes 2-1."

"This sucks. You guys suck. Maybe I will just find better friends and cling to them, hmm? --Hold on." He flips open his pocketknife and stabs a small slug-looking mal that had been climbing up the wall.

"You won't, though."

"How can you know that, huh? I don't think you know that."

"You're, like.... you." Gesture.

"That is the least helpful thing thing you have ever said."

"It is not. I have said so many more useless things than this."

"Is that, like, your defense."

"Absolutely." Pause. "I should probably go back before Schlatt starts wondering where I am. Thanks for letting me know you're not dead, I guess."

"Anytime, man."

And when he's back:

"Where were you, Toby?"

"At my room, like I said, sir. I had to stabilize a reaction."

"I don't like fucking liars, Toby."

Toby's head is spinning. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to have gotten high after all. "Then it's--it's good that I'm not a liar, right, Schlatt? I don't--"

He stands up, starts walking towards Toby. "Don't think I couldn't hear. You were with Tommy and Wilbur, and you fucking lied to me about it, and when I asked you again you lied to me. I don't like people who lie to me, Toby!" His voice raises as he goes until he's yelling.

"I'm, uh, I'm sorry, sir--"

And then one of his explosives is in Schlatt's hand, is being drawn back, and Toby is covering his face with his arms, and

flash

it hurts

He can hear Niki and Alex screaming at Schlatt and Schlatt screaming back, how could you do that and fucking taught him a lesson, don't fuck with me, and what the hell, Schlatt, he's a fucking kid, he didn't do anything, and I don't even want to be here and fuck you you don't do shit for me anyway and what the fuck just happened, holy shit, Jesus Christ, and he's thinking kind of stupid of me, to die from my own explosive, and he's thinking well at least I'm already on painkillers, and he can hear Tommy screaming, can hear Tommy asking him over and over "are you alright", and he can't answer, can't get his mouth to work properly, and he can hear Wilbur saying "if you're going to hurt anyone, hurt me", and there are at least two pairs of hands on him maybe more keeping him upright keeping him moving, and he's not entirely sure how he hasn't passed out but he can work with this, he can move where he's brought. It probably won't matter, they shouldn't waste resources keeping him alive, Tommy might need those, but when he tries to say so all he manages is a weak and vaguely hysterical laugh before he passes out.

And at some point he blinks awake. His arms are mottled with colors, and on top of them some sort of glowing goo. Tommy’s there, curled in on himself and playing Over the Rainbow on his music box, and Niki, going through backpacks. 

“…Hello?”

“Are you alright? I mean— he—”

“I’m fine. Schlatt just—! He just—” Toby closes his eyes for a moment. “I’m, uh. It hurts? Not very much. Not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. Kind of hungry, honestly. Maybe the, uh, cooked meat—”

“Jesus Christ, Toby.”

“I’m fine, Tommy. I’m, I’m alright.”

“You just woke up from being passed out, you’ve got burns all over, like, what the fuck.”

“I feel fine, though. Well, mostly. Am I in shock? Maybe I’m in shock. I think I might be in shock.” Small laugh. “You get my stuff if I die, remember. Uh. I guess Niki can have some, too, for, uh, for helping me. —Where’s Wilbur?”

“…We fought.”

“Oh. I’m, uh, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“He’s gone fuckin’ crazy.”

“Yeah. That seems about right. So, uh. No study group, then.”

“There’s still us. And maybe Alex, if he wants. We’re together, alright?”

“We are. We’ll figure something out. We can stick together. It’ll be alright.”

Well. As long as he doesn’t die. 

“…Yeah.”

“Fuck,” Tommy says, with deep conviction. 

He can get behind that, too. “Yeah.”