Chapter Text
Tommy watched the human closely, waiting for them to become violent; it never comes even after they come across the planet’s most feared predators. The human doesn’t feel threatened around the predators, they’re curious and intrigued by everything that must be new to them. Sometimes, it looks like they’ll try to touch the predatory animals like pets. It makes him draw his feathered arms closer to himself, even though he knows it’s pointless.
_____________
The human is weird, Tommy decides. In the documents; they write humans as social creatures; violent when they feel threatened; they would kill each other for fun or out of hate; beings that refuse to show compassion to the weak; they’re determination itself is enough to wipe out one’s existence. But this human isn’t determined to kill. It just watches and follows Tommy. It fuels his ego, having tamed a human.
The most violent acts the human did were against Dream and their own self. Tommy found it was himself that was the common denominator. The human must’ve imprinted on him or something, because there is no other reasonable explanation for it to see Tommy needing to be protected. Tommy repaid the favor by saving them off that ship, albeit he’s never drove a ship, so it makes sense they crashed, and he didn’t repay that favor because he wanted to show his worth. Totally not.
(
Maybe if the human sees Tommy is just as dangerous as them; they’ll want to keep him around and protect him like he’s flock; they’ll preen his fingers and stick by his side when he molts; they’ll sing pretty songs even though they don’t have the vocal cords. Tommy can dream.
)
When the human bared its teeth at him for the first time, Tommy was petrified, thinking that they were about to tear him apart. They looked so sad when they sensed Tommy’s fear afterwards; it made him feel so guilty that he replicated the show of teeth. The human made a loud joyful sound at the show, and they did it again, but it looked different from their first time. He wrote it down as the human’s way of showing trust. It’s weird but highly appreciated.
When they were escaping the smoking ship, Tommy had turned around and found them gone. He panicked and quickly retraced his steps, only to find the human tearing at the cages to get to the people in them. Tommy had thought they were tearing the cages open to eat them while they could not fight, but they left the cages open as if trying to free them. It changed Tommy’s opinions on humans a bit; he was still fucking terrified of them, but it added perspective. Humans don’t hurt others unless they’re hurt by them, repaying it with worse.
When they stepped foot on the planet after countless moon cycles, Tommy almost got whiplash after he forgot humans can’t breathe certain air. But the human covered their eyes from the two Sagittarii stars. Tommy almost thought one of his heart’s stopped beating when frantic thoughts echoed around his head. He tried to recall if their planet had a star in their solar system, trying to figure out which star is theirs. But they unveiled their eyes and Tommy’s brain shut off.
They just needed to adjust to the environment change. Tommy felt so stupid for not coming to that conclusion first and only expected the worst, forgetting that humans were one of the biggest predators of the universe. He watched closely as they looked around, recognizing the planet’s features that were like their own. Tommy watched as water formed in the human’s eyes, possibly having the ability of lacrimation. They rubbed them away before they turned to look at him. They bared their teeth at him—possibly to reassure him—and he bared his back at them.
They stared at each other, waiting for the other to move first. They inclined their head, showing off their weakest points to him, and they look at him again. He tilted his head in response, his own species’ way of telling the other to move. They stood still, not understanding the meaning of the head tilt. He slowly stepped forward, not wanting to irritate the human by pushing its boundaries. Tommy grabbed their arm—even though it terrified him they were going to bite his hand—and dragged them towards the agglomeration of tall dendrons in the distance for cover. Who knows how long it will take until Dream’s backup squadron comes to see the wreckage.
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This planet has a long day cycle is the first impression Tommy gets. Multiple shorderes had passed and the stars have barely moved from the moment they first stepped on its planet. The human noticed too, as they made a shelter that blocked out the star’s rays. Tommy watched them add broken pieces from the dendrons and the fallen folium as well. It was built similarly to the nests Tommy has made on his home planet. ( No, he did not feel soft, and he doesn’t do soft. )
When the human finished, they ushered him inside and pushed him to lie on the soft ground. Tommy let them without complaint, seeing what else they’ll do. What he did not expect was for them to lie down as well. Albeit there was a distance between them, a part of Tommy loudly sang to be closer to his protector. He only let himself chirp at the human, as far as he will go.
They opened their mouth, as if to say something in their mother tongue, but they repeated the chirp back at him. They left Tommy speechless. Slowly, he let out a low whistle, saying hello. The human repeats it back, a little sloppy, but they can make his noises. Tommy lifted his head and stared at the human in awe, noises coming from the back of his throat, waiting for the human to repeat it. They stare at him and they make another noise, a noise that screams flock, family.
Tommy falls limp back onto the ground as he stares at the human, and they stare back. He doesn’t know if they’re aware of the weight of the title flock, but they stare at him with a weird expression on their face. Tommy pushes himself closer to them, as he lets his instincts move his body and mouth for him. They add in their own whistles and tweets, ones that make Tommy sing as he huddles closer to his flock. Tommy gets tired once he’s safely against his flock, his eyes fluttering close when his flock silently sings to him.
He feels them touch his coverts, and he doesn’t react because they’re being gentle with him. Not plucking his feathers out or cutting his primaries, they just have their hand laying there as a constant. They move their hand away, and even though Tommy is saddened, he knows that he’s going to freak out once he’s more awake. So he lets them move away.
Tommy falls asleep, feeling protected and surrounded by his flock, even if they’re human.
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Tommy awakes cold and alone. And suddenly, the shelter they made felt too small. Tommy got up on shaky feathered arms as loud calls for his flock escaped him. He didn’t bother stopping, already accepting the fact he imprinted on a human just for them to come back. As his calls got louder, as he crawled out of the tight shelter, they answered his calls.
The human rushed forward, dropping the bundles of food and refreshments onto the ground as they hurried to his side. They pulled him close as they searched for any danger that would’ve had Tommy calling for them. When he was pulled against them, he quieted down as embarrassment sunk its teeth into his primaries. Tommy couldn’t believe he was calling for the human as if he was a nestling again. He tried to push them off of him but they didn’t lessen their grip; he had accepted his fate.
When they finally sensed no danger, they released him from their grip and turned to the provisions they brought back. Tommy once again felt foolish for assuming the worst happened. Another part of Tommy sang at how well the human did at providing food, like a good flock member. Tommy agreed mostly. They gathered a bunch of food that seems edible.
Tommy watched as they started a fire as he grabbed his berries. (he sniffed at them just in case they were poisonous to his species. He trusts the humans abilities, but they don’t know each other’s diets). They shuffled the food around, touching as least as possible, as they pulled out hefty amounts of meat. Tommy stared, wide-eyed, at the amount. Were human carnivores? When they showed their teeth, they had the similar omnivorous traits, so maybe they just prefer meat.
He watched as they cooked the meat over the fire, possibly meaning that they can’t eat it raw. They left it alone as they turned to look at him. The human then grabbed random foods, from meats to berries to seeds, and showed them to him. They waited for him to pick his diet with observing eyes, and Tommy felt touched that they were going to memorize his diet.
Tommy grabbed all the herbivorous foods, making sure that he didn’t grab the ones touching the meat. The human watched and nodded when he finished. They then threw the foods that touched each other away as they bundled the meat away from the other options. It was probably for themself.
The meat finished cooking, and the human had taken it off the fire, keeping themself from touching it as they waited for it to cool. The scent of cooked meat wafted through the air, slightly making Tommy nauseous, but he was more concerned about bringing in unwanted guests. And as Mother Prime heard his worries, he heard a snap behind him. Instantly, he was pushed down by the human to the floor as they covered him protectively. Tommy stood still as he heard a growl come from the direction of the snap and felt the human slowly move away towards their food.
Tommy felt terrified, betrayal creeping in as well as he assumed the human had given him to the hungry predators to keep their food safe. But he heard something being thrown towards the predator and then something being eaten.
The human came back to him, dragging him off the ground as they started moving him towards their shelter. Tommy looked at the predator and saw that it was a frilidote. A scaly predator of the planet Xium. Its hard scales were hard to penetrate through and the only opening they have is their underbelly. They have an elongated face with no eyes, depending on their sense of smell and sound to survive. Even with their lack of eyes, they were still a danger to visitors.
It was in front of them, and he was being pushed into the shelter before he could stop the human. They blocked him in as they made noises to catch the attention of the frilidote, Tommy kept quiet as he hoped that Mother Prime will let the human win. He heard feet hitting the ground, going farther away from him as the human led the predator away. Tommy stayed in the shelter, even after he cried for his flock to return and shordets had passed.
Finally, after eons felt passed, he heard stumbling feet calling for him. Tommy’s eyes snapped open as he pushed at the closed opening to meet the human chirps coming out of his mouth as light pour into the shelter. There stood the human with blue blood covering their body as they stared at Tommy.
They slump forward as they hold Tommy close, and he held them back. This was his flock, his protector and provider. Tommy hoped he was theirs back, just as much as they were his. They stumbled into the shelter and laid down, probably exhausted from fighting for their life. As the human grew tired, Tommy felt something warm press into his feathers.
Tommy pushed their arms off of him as he looked down at his feathers (
they moved too easily, they felt heavy
) and saw—red. Red was on his feathers, bright against his natural yellow, and saw it forming on the humans stomach as well. They were bleeding. And he didn’t notice. Tommy scrambled forward to look at the wound, to see how fatal it was (
to see if he’s going to lose them so early
).
They groaned in pain at the movement and Tommy wished he could slow down, but he can’t right now. He pulled the top covering up and saw a deep bite on their stomach. It looked like holes were in the human, the frilidote’s jaw locked in place and probably set its poison in the human. It’s a wonder how they made it back to him with Trimethylpurine in their bloodstream.
Tommy scrambled outside to find something clean enough to cover the wound. Maybe he could try to find herbs while they rest? No, he’s going too far ahead. He needs to stop the bleeding. Tommy found the fallen folium and grabbed them. Maybe they would be enough for now. Tommy crawled back in and found the human paler than before. He put pressure onto the bite mark with folium and tore at the human’s shirt to tie it in place. Tommy decided that was the best he was going to get.
Tommy went back outside and grabbed the sealed canister that looks like would hold liquid the human can digest. Just in case, he opened the lid and sniffed at it. Smelling nothing poisonous, Tommy sipped at the liquid. It tasted good. With the liquid now being Tommy approved, he brought it into the shelter and to the human’s mouth. It stayed closed.
“Drink. Drink the liquid, it’s good for you.” Tommy said in Common. He hoped the human can understand him, might have been smarter for them to communicate sooner.
They stirred and opened their eyes. Seeing liquid being offered to them, they opened their mouth and let Tommy water them. The human gulped the liquid down quickly. Must’ve been thirsty.
“I got to find you herbs and medicine. If we’re lucky, I’ll find a trading port. I’ll steal medicine or rob people for money. I will not fail you.” The human says nothing.
“You better not be dead when I come back. We’re family, flock.” They don’t stir or show that they heard him. They were still. Tommy huffed and covered the shelter, having second thoughts about leaving his flock all by their lonesome. While they’re at their weakest and he’s not there to protect them… oh, Mother Prime, please protect his human while he scavenges.
What did he get himself into?