Chapter Text
Phil looks around, blinking to clear the sleep from his eyes. The dim blue lights shining from the cracks in the curtains told him it must be around dawn. An early rise.
It's only been a few days since he woke up back home, and true to their word, the boys tried their best to make sure the man stayed in bed. They took turns bringing him meals or asking him if he needed anything.
It took some getting used to having this much help. He was accustomed to his lonely life he had made for himself before. He always had kept himself busy to distract himself
Nobody should be up this early in the morning, the bleary thought came to him and with a decision and plan made he kicked his legs off the side of the bed. Pain flares up in his wing and side, but it’s nowhere as near as bad as it had been. He gets up and could hardly hear his footsteps as he left the room.
He wasn't sure what he should do first. He was so used to always having an organized list of things to do around the cabin, but he could barely recall the tasks he had asked the boys to do while he was in bed. He walks to the kitchen and looks at the food they had stored. Techno and Wil had grabbed some more on a run out the other day, so he didn’t have to worry about that. He picks up a can of beans and thinks it would make a good breakfast.
He’s halfway there unscrewing the lid of the can with one of the can openers when he hears heavy footsteps behind him.
“Morning Techno.”, Phil says with a smile as he glances back at Techno. He doesn’t miss the way the man crosses his arms over his chest and clenches his jaw.
“You shouldn’t be up.”, Techno states. Phil laughs a bit.
“I can’t stay in bed forever mate. I’m heating up breakfast.”, Phil says as he lights the gas stove with a match. Techno pinches the bridge of his nose.
“Never thought I’d find an even worse patient than me.”, Techno says. “I’m no expert on wings...But if it still hurts then you should be resting.”
“The wing’s fine.”, Phil says even though he’s not too sure of that himself. The bird hybrid has scarcely moved the limb, let alone try to fly on it. He shakes his head. “I’ll get back to working around here. Anything that needs to get done you think I should do first?”
“No one besides you knows how to deal with bee farms.” Techno says after a defeated sigh. “One ounce of pain and you’re going back to bed old man.”
“Hey- I’m not that old.”, Phil rolls his eyes but can’t help but smile a bit. He notices the braid that Techno usually had his long hair tied in was coming undone at the end, stray strands sticking out at odd places. He smiles a bit and was sure his blonde locks were worse for wear all the same, but still..
“Want me to help you with your hair?”, Phil asks and the man stands up straighter at the offer. He looks at his own hair and back at Phil before he shrugs.
“Sure.”, He says slowly. Phil smiles and leaves his room, fishing a brush and a few hair ties out of a drawer next to his bed. He meets the man in the living room, sitting down next to him on the couch silently as he starts to undo the messy braid. When he’s done, he takes the brush and runs it through the long strands of pink.
“Just tell me if i’m hurting you.”, He voices his worry and Techno hums.
They’re silent as he undoes the small tangles in the hair tousled from sleep. He considers the silence between them. It’s not uncomfortable, and he has grown to appreciate the way they both could say little to each other yet enjoy each other’s company. He wonders what he would have done if he hadn’t met techno, if Techno hadn’t brought home Wilbur and Tommy. He starts to carefully braid the hair in his hands and smiles a bit.
“What did you do before all of this?”, Techno asks and Phil pauses for a second in his ministrations before he sighs.
“I wasn’t doing much mate. Just a retail worker.” Phil says. “Would just do my shifts and go home and play video games. I’m sure you have more to tell.”
“Was an English major.”, Techno says.
“Really? Well- I guess I can see that now.”, Phil says as he recalls the way Techno always carefully speaks. Techno just nods and continues.
“Did some fencing. Played the violin for a while. Played some games too-”, He continues. Phil grins.
“Holy shit. That’s a lot-”, Phil says.
“Hm. Not really.”, Techno says with a shrug. Phil finishes the final pattern of the braid and ties the end carefully. He smiles at his work.
“There- All set.”, Phil says with a smile. He doesn’t know how the young man managed all the hair by himself. Some days Phil could barely handle his own.
“Thanks da- Phil.”, Techno says with a slight cough at the end. Phil wonders for a second if he heard the slip up right before someone comes running in.
“Who left bloody beans on the stove?”, Tommy half yells as he locks eyes with Techno. He sees Phil and his face glows. “Oh Phil! Are you feeling ok?”
“Yeah mate- I’ll get them off the stove.”, Phil says as he quickly leaves for the kitchen. He fails to notice the tension between the two as he leaves.
“Toms.”, Wilbur said as he idly strummed at his guitar. He wasn’t playing any sort of tune, at least not one Tommy could decipher, but the odd sounds and notes were comforting all the same. They had finished eating and Wilbur and Tommy took to sitting outside in the dry grass. Phil could be seen in the distance by the bees, his hat blocking the slight sunlight out of his face. Soon it would get cold. Tommy frowned and wondered what would happen to the bees then.
“Yeah Wilbur?”, He says as he picks at the grass.
“Why’d you leave?”. Ah there it was. He was surprised the question hadn’t been asked already. Between the panic with Phil and the long shouting with Techno as Wilbur tried and failed to keep the madness at bay, the question had been forgotten. He swallows and looks down at the compass. Maybe he no longer needed it, but at the same time he needed it there all the same.
“It was stupid. It was really stupid, but- I don’t regret it.”, Tommy says after some thought. Wilbur frowns a bit but Tommy shakes his head. “I do regret doing it the way I did I think. I shouldn’t have stolen, or left without a word but- I needed to find Tubbo.”
“Tubbo”, Wilbur asks with a raised eyebrow.
“He’s my best friend. Before all of this we had each other’s backs. He was there. At that camp.”, Tommy explained. “He said he liked it there. Him and his dad- I think that’s rubbish though. They’re crazy there.”
“They are.”, Wilbur says as he stops playing. He sighs. “Tommy. I was there once in that camp. For a long time actually..Since it was created basically.”
“You what?-”
“Yeah..I got thrown out, but honestly I should have left earlier anyways.”, Wilbur says as he shakes his head. "They're crazy there. They just care about numbers and power-"
"Yeah- That Dream guy was crazy.", Tommy says. He sighs "Tubbo is still there though. He said he didn't want to leave but.."
"I'm sure things will change Tommy. Just- Don't leave us all like that again ok? You almost gave us all a heart attack.", Wilbur says and Tommy snorts.
"Even Techno?"
"Yeah. He's just hard to crack but you're working your way into his heart.", Wilbur says with a grin.
"Gross.", Tommy says with a face and Wilbur laughs.
"If you decide to pull any big stunts like that again just tell one of us. We always have your back Tommy.", Wilbur says and Tommy blinks at the words. Memories of wandering alone, of being in that cell start to fade, as though they weren't as recent as they were. He nods.
"Yeah. Yeah I know. Thanks Wilbur.", Tommy says and Wilbur nods and continues to strum on the instrument. They both look when they see Phil walk over, new jars of honey in his hand.
"How about some tea?", He asks.
"Sounds good. Would be better with biscuits..", He says and Phil laughs a bit but Tommy catches the slight wince the movement caused the older man. Wilbur must notice too because he gets up from the grass, wiping at his pants quickly before putting a hand on Phil's shoulder.
"Think it's time for bed for you actually-", Wilbur says and Tommy gets up too, hand on Phil's other shoulder. The man rolls his eyes and Tommy smiles.
"Yeah- You shouldn't be up with your wing and shit still hurt anyways.", Tommy joins in. He looks at the limb and winces at the bandages coming loose from it. It was difficult to even get the things to stay on it. When there was so much blood in the feathers, Techno had tried his best to wrap the bandages around it. He's relieved the man is up and walking around, that he's able to and is getting better. He never wanted to see anyone he cared about like Phil was on that night again.
"Jesus- I'm not dying you know.", Phil says. "You two might be even worse than Techno."
"We'll make the tea and you get to lying down.", Wilbur says with a smile as he takes the honey from the man's hands. Phil sighs in defeat.
"Fine- Just so you guys will calm down.", He says. Wilbur motion's for Tommy to go with him, and Tommy does, staying close to the man's side in case he needs the support.
"Phil..Seriously man- Are you feeling ok?..", Tommy asks in a quiet mumble as the two walk to the man's room. Phil looks surprised at the concern and smiles at Tommy kindly.
"I am. Just a bit sore but- It's fine. Don't stay up worrying ok mate?", Phil says and Tommy sighs.
"It was my fault you got into that mess..Sorry-", Tommy says as he looks down and Phil shakes his head.
"Tommy-", He quickly interjects. "That shit was not your fault. It was their fault. They shouldn't have kept you like that. I don't regret what I did.", Phil says and the seriousness in the usual gentle blue eyes catch Tommy off guard. "So it wasn't your fault. Ok?"
"Ok.", Tommy says with a nod and the older man nods back, a smile forming again. Tommy watches as the man climbs into his bed, folding his wings carefully as he laid down. The feathered limbs were still a shock to Tommy, but he thinks they fit the man perfectly. He's seen hybrids before, Tubbo was one himself, but he's never seen a bird one let alone one with wings. He sometimes wants to reach out and touch them, but he always stops himself. Phil was a person, a badass one at that, not some fucking petting zoo.
Tommy sits in the chair next to the bed. He's been sitting in it a lot lately since the man was on bedrest.
"You must have had a cool job before this.", Tommy says out loud.
"Why's that?", Phil says with a slight laugh.
"Well you have wings- You can fly wherever you want-", Tommy says and Phil's smile strains.
"I wouldn't say that. Mostly hid them.", Phil says and Tommy frowns.
"Why's that?", Tommy asks.
"It's a..thing. It doesn't matter anymore I guess.", Phil said as if that made any sense. Tommy frowned, but the man quickly changed the subject.
"You must have been in school before all of this.", Phil says.
"Yeah- That shit was boring though. And the teachers were assholes- I did like to play games though, too bad I don't have my switch anymore..", Tommy starts to talk and the way that Phil listens and nods along makes him glow.
Wilbur puts the kettle of water over the stove, staring at the metal object as he leaned against the counter. He sees Techno walk in out of the corner of his eyes, the man stopping in front of him.
"Techno.", He says and the man nods.
"Phil is getting better..He'll be fine on his own for a while. Just in case that kid leaves again.", Techno says and Wilbur sighs and rolls his eyes.
"Tommy WON'T leave, but yeah Phil is getting better.", Wilbur says. A smile plays on his lips. "So you're really wanting to go through with this?"
Techno nods.
"Tomorrow night we'll leave. Dream isn't going to get off scot free for this one.", Techno says. He's grinning, a threatening gleam in his eyes that makes Wilbur's hesitation at the proposition ease.
"I agree."
They were going to make Dream pay. The kettle screams.