Chapter Text
Life was awkward as they awaited Ranboo's awakening. They danced around each other, everyone too unsure about the other to really approach. Well, everyone except Tommy, that is. Wilbur wasn't sure that anything could ever truly stop that boy.
He was a firecracker on legs, much more than he had been as a kid. (He didn't get the nickname from Phil for nothing.) He was bold and brash, and Wilbur adored his little ray of sunshine.
Where Wil was too scared to approach Phil again, Tommy was pulling them this way and that, always rambling about one thing or another so that they didn't have to stew in awkward silence.
Where Fundy was too afraid to leave the sitting room, terrified he'd miss something and Ranboo would suffer, Tommy was cracking awful jokes and dragging him outside for some much needed sun. (As much as Wilbur hated the cold, the fact that this wasn't actually the Arctic was a blessing and a half. He'd quite possibly lose it if he was subjected to weeks without sun again.)
Where Techno was awkwardly avoiding social interaction, too nervous to approach anyone, Tommy was shoving him in head-first with bright smiles and bubbly laughter.
And where Phil was terrified of fucking everything up again, Tommy did everything he could to include him in their activities. (Also known as activities Tommy created.)
"Wilby! Wilby! Wilby!" Tommy pestered him. He wasnt entirely sure what the teen was trying to get him to do, but he was being dragged outside. He could already see Fundy out there through the window.
"What are we doing, Toms?" Wil sighed, though his exasperation was only surface level. Tommy was an enigma and a half, but he loved every second he spent with the teen.
"We're gonna go have a snowball fight!" The blonde chirped back, now leading him down the stairs out front.
He let a soft smile grace his ashen face. It had snowed yesterday. He should have known that Tommy would be eager to play in it. He could hardly keep Tommy out of the snow, regardless. Sometimes he swears that the kid loved snow more than he loved 'the grind,' as he would always put it.
"Alright, Toms," he chuckled. He could see Fundy clearly, now, the shifter looking just as exasperated as him, though it was harder to tell through the lines of his fur covered face.
"Fundy! Fundy! I got dad!" Tommy yelled despite the fact that they were less than three blocks away. The teen was clearly no longer paying attention to him, as he let another 'dad' slip.
"Took ya long enough," the fox snarled, though there was a teasing lilt to it, and he could see the blonde's grin only grow.
Wilbur, knowing the two were distracted, scooped some snow from the ground below and tossed it at the back of Tommy's head. He crossed his arms behind him, afterward, toeing the ground with the tip of his boot.
"Wilbur!" Tommy shrieked, face red with joyful rage.
"What? What'd I do?" He teased, a smirk tugging at his lips.
"I didn't see anything," Fundy shrugged, canines in full view as he grinned. (Well, snarled was more accurate, but he had raised the fox. He knew what it meant.)
"Assholes- the both of you!" Tommy stomped a foot as if he were a petulant child. (He was.)
"You're talkin' shit now, but you won't be when I win!" Tommy yelled. Wil cackled at the insinuation. Tommy had never won a snowball fight without help, be it from teaming or deliberate bad play. His aim was fucking garbage, and that was putting it lightly. (There was a reason he was a close range fighter, after all.)
"The fuck are you laughing at, bitch!?"
"You," Fundy butt in.
The blonde squawked in indignation, the sound turning into a shriek when Wilbur pelted him in the back of the head with another snowball while he was distracted by his brother.
"Dad!" Tommy screamed, whipping around to face him. He wasn't worried that he had actually pissed the kid off, as the grin threatening to tug at his reddened cheeks spoke for itself.
Fundy broke into a fit of wheezing, mad laughter bubbling from his chest as he doubled over.
"Quit laughing at me!"
"Well, Tommy," Wilbur started, slinging an arm over the raging blonde's shoulders. "How about we give Fundy a piece of our minds, ey? Can't let him have too much fun." That got the teen to pause, a thoughtful expression passing over his face before it contorted into a gleeful, almost sinister- though not in a cruel way, of course- grin.
"I think you may be right, Wilby."
"I'm always right," Wilbur shot back as he prepared some ammunition, Tommy quickly following suite.
"Eeeeeeh," Tommy shrugged, amusement twinkling in his ocean eyes. Bastard child.
"You're lucky I decided to team with you, Toms."
"You're lucky you got to team with me, bitch."
They were both immediately pelted with snowballs from the one and only fox shifter who they may have forgot about in their bickering. They should really pay more attention to their surroundings.
"I'll give you two three seconds to run before I decimate your asses," Fundy cackled, a mad snarl on his face.
Tommy and Wilbur glanced at each other, fearful gazes meeting. "Run?" they each seemed to say before an understanding dawned on them. Fundy couldn't stop both of them if they charged.
When Fundy reached 'one' on his countdown, they bolted forward instead of away with dual smirks. The shifter froze at the unexpected movement, tail stopping its dramatic swishing and ears folded flat.
Tommy reached Fundy first, though that wasn't because Wilbur was slow. No, both him and Fundy were doing all of this for Tommy's sake, so he could put a little less effort into his run to make the kid happy. (That smile of his was brighter than the sun, after all.)
"Ack!" The fox grunted as he was thrown onto the snow- which is not as soft as it looks- a beaming blonde on top of him.
"Got you, Funds!" Tommy cheered, hands on his chest in a mock attempt to keep him down as he grinned.
"Yeah, yeah, ya brat," the ginger sighed fondly, reaching up to ruffle Tommy's fluffy curls.
"Oi!" The teen pouted like he always did when someone fucked with his hair.
Tommy's cheeks were red, and both of them were panting hard, breath puffing out in visible clouds. Even the tip of Fundy's nose was beginning to redden from the cold, Tommy's pale complexion long lost to the crimson hues. It was about time to head inside to warm up, Wilbur reckoned.
He was beat to the punch by Techno rushing outside, a panicked expression on his face.
"Ranboo-" Techno gasped. "Ranboo's awake!"
Everything seemed to freeze for a moment, as if the very weather itself had infected their bones. It didn't last long, though, for soon, all three of them were rushing towards the house, deadset on seeing the boy they had cared for for so long. (Wilbur didn't really know the kid, but he knew Tommy put a lot of faith in him, and Phil and Fundy weren't too adverse to him, so his opinion had already been swayed.)
Fundy was the first to reach the room, spurred on by having watched the boy for so long, stewing in his own guilt. Wil (and even Tommy, on one occasion) had tried to get the fox to believe that there was nothing he could have done or even predict that that this would've happened. He still felt responsible.
Tommy was second with Wilbur last, though for no other reason than the fact that he had no personal attachments to the ender hybrid. (An ender hybrid was still strange, to him. Of course he knew that Phil himself hailed from the realm, but it was different. Hybrids themselves weren't common. Nether, he'd never even seen one before.)
"Um, hello?" Ranboo rasped, voice echoing with that strange warble only enderman seemed able to produce.
"Ranboo!" Tommy shouted, always the first to express himself in a tense situation. Phil was by the teen's side, waiting with a glass of water. Fundy was frozen still, and Techno was leaned up agaisnt the wall next to him. Tommy was much braver than any of them, that's for sure.
"Tommy!" The new teen laughed softly, his dual toned face lighting up. He guessed that the two were closer than he had originally thought.
"Boob boy! It fuckin' took ya long enough!" Tommy chuckled in that light hearted, bubbly way only he seemed to be able to.
"Yeah, yeah," Ranboo sighed fondly, finally accepting the glass of water from an anxious Philza. He paused to take a sip while Tommy plopped himself on the end of the cot, practically vibrating in excitement.
He knew Tommy had been the most worried of them all, despite outward appearances. Ranboo was someone who chose to stay by his side, despite having seen the blonde at his lowest, and that would always earn Tommy's upmost respect (as well as Wilbur's.)
"Where even are we?" The kid asked next, gazing wide eyed at all of them standing around the sitting room like a bunch of fucking idiots.
"The Antarctic Empire!" Tommy gleefully piped up.
"Commune," Techno interjected gruffly. Right, that whole 'government' thing of his.
"Right," Tommy huffed dramatically. "The Antarctic Commune."
"I uh- I don't mean to overstep," Ranboo stuttered. "But you're kinda soaked, Tommy." Tommy blinked slowly for a moment before he glanced down. Snow and fires don't mix very well.
"Huh. Guess you're right, boob boy."
"Will you stop calling me that!" Tommy laughed but made to get up to go change. (He knew Wilbur's rules, after all. Had had them ingrained in his head since the moment he was strong enough to head outside the chilly halls of the Empire. Cold, wet clothes led to illness. Tommy was never very good with illness, even all these years later. It was the one area he was truly weak in- his immune system.)
Wilbur went to follow him, leaving the other three alone with the ender boy. He really felt out of place, standing around a kid he didn't know other than from brief stories.
Tommy was quick to scan through his clothes, pulling out a yellow shirt and a pair of blue bottoms that just did not match in the slightest. They weren't built for the weather, either.
"Tommy," Wil sighed fondly, taking the articles out of the boy's hands. "Let's find a set that matches, yeah?"
"But-" he started, a pout already forming on his face.
"You're lucky I'm not making you take a warm bath, as well." That had been another one of his rules. He had to warm up thoroughly (usually via bath) before he changed. They couldn't risk sickness during those long years alone.
"Fine, dad," Tommy grumbled, but let Wilbur hand him a new set of clothes. This time, it was a grey, long sleeved shirt with a pair of black pants. Not as bright as the others, but certainly warmer and far more complimentary.
"I'll be outside," Wilbur smiled softly, ruffling his messy, blonde curls one last time before be slipped outside the door.
In a way, Wilbur was glad that Tommy was still just a teen. A mere sixteen years old, despite his maturity. (Notch knows he certainly wasn't as mature at his age. Firecracker was for more than his bright personality.) It meant that he could still coddle him without too much complaint. He loved Fundy more than anything, but he missed when he could just hold the ginger in his arms and protect his little champion from the horrors of the world. But Fundy was grown, now, and didn't need him like he used to. He only hoped Tommy would let him coddle him for just a few years longer. He loved his sons- more than anything.
Soon, Tommy was back out, his cape clasped over his shoulders, as well. It looked ridiculous, but he knew that it had become somewhat of a comfort item to the boy, so he didn't mention it. Instead, he just smiled sweetly and tried to ruffle his curls again, only to be swatted away with an indignant huff.
"Can we go back to Ran, now?"
"Yes, Toms. Do you want me to make some hot cocoa for everyone?"
"Yeah! Ran hasn't had it!" Tommy was now elated. He found it endearing how fast his emotions changed, from pouting at being treated like a kid, to grinning wide, words not far off from a childish giggle. It reminded him of himself when he was younger, moving from one thing to the next like he would die if he stayed still. Thankfully, Fundy didn't inherit that particular trait of his. He may have found it endearing, but he could not handle two children like that. He was only one man.
"Alright. You go talk to your friend, now. But be careful! He's not quite healed yet."
"I know, Wilby!"
"I know you do," Wilbur chuckled. Tommy was always so considerate, whether the kid realized it or not. It was like second nature to him.
"Now, shoo," he beamed, shoving the teen back towards the hushed living room while he headed towards the kitchen. He knew Tommy would keep the awkward tension away, at least for a while. Notch knows those fools needed it.
They'd deal with the heavy stuff later, of course. But for now, he's sure all of them needed some light hearted fun.