The group splits. The two Purpleds and Tubbos remain by the portal to wait for the arrival of the server admin, Styll, and Jacobs to figure out what the fuck had happened. In the interest of letting them work, being polite, and maybe a little showing off, the two Dreams and Tommys off to Atlas’ shop in Summer Hills. Day already sent a message ahead so that a blank mask would be waiting, and now it’s just a matter of getting there.
Despite the relatively short travel time using the expanded and streamlined nether highway, they pass more than a few people. Most of them are a Dream or a Tommy, actually. The Dreams seem to largely not wear masks, even if that’s made up for by several of the Tommys wearing masks instead. It’s not hard to pick out which are which, thanks in part to the reliable pattern of nearly every Tommy they pass by, masked or not, wearing a small rose on their person. The colors of the rose seem unique to each person, but the outer petals fade all to black.
Notably, none of the masks have a smiley face. That, and none of the Dreams wear a solid lime green hoodie. Some of them don’t wear lime green at all.
Everyone they pass seems to regard the group with curiosity, but no hostility. A few try to ask questions, but Day or Theo politely brush them off while not quite revealing what had happened.
The four of them exit to a wide, partially covered walkway made of oak planks, cobble, and stone. A map is right outside the portal with a short blurb of what the area is, along with a warning that pranking the place is a bad idea.
At one end of the walkway is a decently sized shop with a sign in an elegant cursive that declares it to be Adamantium. Day and Theo don’t hesitate to walk in, though they do pause a few steps in. The shop is well lit and stocked with a wide variety of jewelry and accessories in a surprising number of different styles and creation methods.
At the front counter is a cluster of four people, which in and of itself isn’t surprising; plenty of people go to the store to just hang out. What is surprising is that none of those people are Atlas. Instead, three of them are yet more Tommys–though all are very different looking. One is by far the most visibly scarred–notably, one of them is a large starburst across the left side of his neck, jaw, and cheek. He seems unsettlingly desaturated in a way that the other two very much aren’t. He wears a short-sleeved navy hoodie embroidered with dozens of stars in varying sizes. In his left ear are two more star-themed earrings, though the left instead has a cuff near the top with a small sword charm hanging from it. It’s notable both because the sword has the only speck of red on him and because one of the other Tommys has a similar cuff.
That one is sitting on top of the counter and idly swinging his legs as he talks. His earring, though it has the same base, has a small shield with dark green on it dangling from it. The rest of the space on both his ears is taken up by at least a dozen gold earrings. In fact, gold seems to be a predominant theme in his outfit; when he shifts in place, the elaborate grey swirls on his pale buttercup yellow hoodie reveal faint glints of gold hidden in them.
The final Tommy is the most clearly Tommy of the three of them. His clothes are, despite clear upgrades to quality and taste, still a dead ringer for the outfit he used to wear. A red and white striped leather jacket and a white shirt with heavy red and black embroidery of poppies are clearly visible even from how he’s leaning forward from behind the counter. He has jewelry of his own, though the most obvious one is the large netherite ear cuff with white enamel poppies on a thorny stem. Amethyst, ender pearl fragments, nether quartz, and mystery red and pale yellow gems dot the thing. He’s also older.
The last of the four of them is perhaps the most surprising; he’s a dead ringer for Day, though is…significantly younger. Around ten or so, most likely, and the wings at his back make it immediately clear that they’re definitely part of the same family. His face lights up and his wings perk up when the door opens. He immediately darts forward, throwing himself at Theo. The older Tommy catches him easily, grinning at him. “Hey, baby brother! Miss us?” “Yup!” He leans around his brother to peer curiously at the other Dream and Tommy.
“Oh, you must be who the mask is for.” He pulls it from his inventory and hands it over. It’s a simple, blank porcelain mask; it looks entirely unworn.
Day narrows his eyes slightly at the three Tommys at the counter. “...So, not to sound unhappy to see any of you,” he says, “But I’d love to know where Atlas is.” The Tommy behind the counter gives a lazy wave. “Off to do stuff somewhere else. Dunno, didn’t tell me, didn’t fuckin’ pry. Asked me to man his store because, as he put it, I owe him n’ my shit basically fuckin’ runs itself.” He shifts his attention to the two visitors and grins a little. “‘Ow do, new people? Here to stay or just here to get shit unfucked? Lucid is still a bit of a fuckin’ bitch but he can do the fuckin’--admin nonsense just fine. Usually the worst of my many war criminal older sibling figures, but he’s tolerable. Mostly.”
Day grimaces a little. “...So they aren’t from the world we just got back from.” The gold and navy Tommys both straighten a little. The more normally colored Tommy narrows his eyes. “...Okay, so how the fuck did they end up here, then?” Theo speaks up, his wings ruffling slightly at his back. “Lucid is fuckin’ figuring that shit out with Jacobs n’ Styll. These fuckers are same set of swaps as us. Less, uh…seems like baseline most of the way through, though, no real fuckin’ big changes to anything.”
The yellow-hoodied Tommy hops off the counter and strides up to them, smiling warmly. “Well, if they’re here and they’re not hostile or rude, then they’re fine by me! Welcome to Sanctuary. I’m Daz, the scary Tommy is Aster–who is a nice guy, actually, he’s just got something with his expressions…don’t worry, he’s not super mad, just can’t emote properly.” Behind him, Aster’s eyes narrow ever so slightly. Daz continues, “the Tommy behind the counter is Aver, or Tommy Prime–as in, he’s the one who was here first, and helped make this place what it is!”
Aver hops over the counter rather than walk around it and then walks up to stand next to Daz. “Yup. Part of the original team who fuckin’ turned this place from a real fuckin’ hellhole into a decent place.” He pauses, and taps the floor with the toe of his red and black sneaker a few times. “No offense, San, but…your admin was and kinda still fuckin’ is a bastard.” Day winces slightly.
The ten year old Dream raises his hand and says cheerfully, “I’m Lee, short for Achilles. I’m a Dream like Dad is, sort of. Kind of. We’re cosmically similar in a lot of ways. Don’t worry too much about it. Theo is my oldest brother and the coolest person I know–”
The praise is cut off by Theo carefully ruffling his hair. This only serves to highlight the small, partial circlet in Lee’s hair–which seems like a clear nod to the larger, more worn one in Theo’s hair. The biggest difference between them is that it seems like Theo’s uses mostly emeralds with a few diamonds, while Lee’s uses mostly diamonds with a few pieces of calcite.
“N’ Lee is the most fuckin’ precious little brother. Adorable little gremlin.” The fond tone of Theo’s voice makes it very clear that it’s a term of endearment and not an insult. Day smiles a little at it. “The only one who can give Lee a run for his money as far as being a friendly ball of sunshine is Daz.”
Said Tommy immediately protests, “Oh, no, Lee wins that contest. Even if I didn’t believe that wholeheartedly, I’m not really willing to admit that in earshot of two of his biggest supporters.” He looks to Theo, and then instead of looking at Day, he looks back at Aster.
The more severe-looking Tommy has remained quiet and hung back thus far, but this finally makes him smile faintly. “I’m not that overbearing,” he says, and just like his expressions it seems like some of the life has been leached out of his voice. He’s got a disquieting monotone to his words that shouldn’t be there. His eyes flick over to Dream, that slight smile dropping. His gaze is oddly intense as he adds, “...Don’t do anything stupid.”
The clear warning makes Daz wince a little. “C’mon, North–” Aster’s eyes narrow as he cuts him off. “You might not take it seriously, but I do. Threats are threats are threats. Especially ones that…what, just wandered through the portal? You really want to tell me that’s not suspicious?” Lee frowns at him and sounds reproachful as he says, “It’s not a great look, sure, but Lucid is figuring out how they got here, right? They’re just like any other temporary people. So we treat them nicely first. Be nice.”
Bafflingly, it seems like this is enough to make Aster relent. “As long as they understand that any hostile actions will be repaid a thousandfold.”
