Chapter Text
Techno wasn’t actually all that shocked when Phil walked in carrying yet another child in his arms.
This had happened before. A lot. Phil just had a tendency to find kids in need. He brought them home like some people brought home kittens. Then, he treated them, got them back on their feet, and then helped them survive afterwards. He found them families and helped them out. So, at first glance, he just thought the brunet was one of those kids.
And then Tommy sprang to his feet, yelled out something along the line of “Tub” and then sprinted over as fast as he could. Which wasn’t very fast because he was still recovering from his various misadventures. But still. He managed to make it over, and the brunet reached for him.
“Tubbo!” Tommy burst out again.
“Tommaye!” His friend announced, arms thrown around Tommy’s neck. Then, Tommy collided with Phil. They almost fell over. Carefully, Phil stumbled over to the couch and dropped both of them down. Tubbo winced and yanked their hands back.
“Okay, son, I’m going to make you some soup.” Phil said, scrubbing a hand through Tubbo’s hair. Nodding, Tubbo went right back to holding onto Tommy. Small, unkempt wings poked out from beneath Tubbo’s shoulders. Many of the coverts had been ripped out, Techno could see multiple bald patches where his feathers had been stripped by his captors. “Techno, can you come with me?”
“Of course.” Techno followed Phil, ruffling Tommy’s hair and then hurrying away. They got into the kitchen. Looking around, Techno asked, “What are we making?”
“Toast, chicken noddle soup, and then hot chocolate.” Phil replied. “Plus apple slices, since I think that the kid Tommy went to go get is probably a bit malnourished. It would be nice to take care of him properly.” Techno nodded. When he glanced out into the living room, he saw that Wilbur had Tommy splayed out across him with both boys’ wings fully outstretched. On the other couch, Kristin had Tubbo’s head in her lap, fingers carding through his hair while she spoke softly. Little sparks of brown magic danced across her fingers and then settled into Tubbo’s skin, fading away on the touch.
“I don’t think you’ll need to worry about him disappearing.” Turning, Techno smiled at Phil. Immediately, Phil went to look and blinked a couple of times. Then, he smiled softly. Turning back, he shook his head and returned to the soup he was making. “I’ll work on the toast. Do you want it to be buttered?”
“Yes, please. Thank you so much.” Nodding, Techno went and pulled out the needed bread slices and knives. Found the butter. Popped bread slices in the toaster. Taking a slow breath, he closed his eyes for a second.
Thank everything that I managed to find Tommy. Kristin gasped softly. “Techno, can I have your help?” She asked. Pausing, Techno glanced over at Phil. Smiling, Phil nodded in a way that told him to go and help Kristin.
“What is it?” Techno asked. Quickly, Kristin gestured for him to lean closer. She carefully hugged him, then whispered in his ear.
“Tubbo’s got injuries on his back from being hurt and they’re worse than I thought. I think they reopened and I didn’t want to worry Tommy. Can you help me bring him to the guest room?” On her lap, Tubbo was asleep. Nodding, Techno carefully scooped Tubbo up. Tommy was asleep on Wilbur’s chest, and Wilbur gently shifted his little brother’s head to the side so he couldn’t look at Tubbo as Techno and Kristin hurried him to the guest room.
They settled Tubbo on the bed. Carefully, Kristin worked the kid’s shirt off. Sure enough, split across his backs were quite a few wounds. Bloody slashes like from one of those stupid cat-o-nine-tail whips that Techno had seen some of the rougher folks in the fighting rings carrying. Gently, he reached up and touched one of the cuts across Tubbo’s shoulders. His wings shook at the feeling of Techno’s hands being close to them. Even asleep, he flinched all of a sudden. Then, he woke up with a jolt.
“Ow.” He mumbled, sucking in a sharp breath. Shoulders shaking, he jerked twice.
“Ssh, ssh. It’s alright.” Kristin returned with a wet cloth and “It’s alright. Techno, can you clean this for me? I’m going to sit by his head.”
“Mhmm.” Tubbo kept gasping in little sounds, clearly freaked out. When Kristin settled his head in her lap and started brushing his hair, though, he eased out a little bit. Sighed softly. His shoulders slumped down a little bit, and Techno gently started wiping at the injuries.
Those people were lucky that they were gone already.
+++
Tubbo and Tommy were basically wrapped up in one blanket, both of them holding bowls of chicken noodle soup as they sat on the couch.
Sniffing, Tubbo rubbed at his nose with a blanketed hand. Shivered. Tommy shifted, wrapped a gentle wing around Tubbo’s shoulders. Tubbo relaxed then, closed his eyes for a second as he visibly relaxed and then sipped some broth from his bowl. On the other couch, Wilbur was tucked into Phil’s side, talking to him softly in another language. Kristin had settled herself by Tubbo’s other side.
Techno stirred his potato dumpling soup around, spooned one of the dumplings into his mouth. Hummed softly. Then, he looked over at Tommy. “Tommy, Tubbo. I have a little question.” He, Kristin, and Phil had chattered about it a couple times—mostly while making dinner. So, obviously, he was going to be staying for a little while. And he had a couple things to say. “Oh, and Wilbur.” Looking at his spoon, he arched an eyebrow at the little ones. “What do you say about doing some sparring training when you all feel better?”
Both Tommy and Tubbo brightened up, but Wilbur loudly groaned and flopped against his dad.