Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Snow was piling up against the walls when Phil saw a tiny pink splotch of color.

The blob of color was tucked up under a box in the alleyway near the bakery Phil often visited, and Phil was often too curious for his own good, so he approached it carefully. He was prepared for everything except a small child suddenly attacking him.

Phil’s wings were pressed uncomfortably against the snow and a wooden sword was held at his throat before he realised what was happening.

He smiled up at the boy and said, “That was really good. It takes a lot to catch me off guard.”

The boy blinked, an ear flicked, and the hand holding the sword shook slightly. Phil sat up, letting the sword stay at his throat. When the boy flinched back, he said, “Just have to straighten a few feathers. It’ll only take a moment.”

A wing flared out a little, just enough for Phil to run his fingers through the inky feathers. The boy’s eyes widened at the sight of the wing, one ear twitching. “You’re- you’re like me?”

And that was how Phil acquired his first child.

{+}

When Phil arrived home, small boy tucked under one wing, his main priority was getting the kid into dry clothes. He began searching for any clothes that might fit the child, but didn’t hold out any hope that he had any.

“Here you go,” he said, handing a shirt and a pair of his old shorts to the boy. “They’ll be pretty long on you, but we can get you new things tomorrow.”

The boy, he had said his name was Technoblade, took the shirt and rubbed his fingers against it. “Soft,” he muttered.

Phil smiled down at him. “Let’s get you into a bath and then we’ll have some food, okay?”

The boy nodded. He climbed into the water and sat calmly as Phil washed his hair. When they were done, Phil scooped him up in a towel and deposited him on the floor to get dressed.

Warmth filled his heart when Techno was safely bundled up on the couch in the fluffiest blanket he could find.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, hurrying to the kitchen. He was running low on supplies, so he grabbed a few potatoes and stuck them in the furnace to cook and began heating up some milk on the stovetop.

“Do you want to eat at the table or on the couch?” Phil called over his shoulder. There was a rustling from the other room before Techno shuffled into the kitchen, dragging his blanket behind him like a cape. He clambered up into one of the two chairs at the table and looked at Phil expectantly.

Phil chuckled. “I guess that answers that. Would you like to help?”

Techno nodded.

In a small bowl, Phil put some cocoa beans and set the bowl and a small pestle in front of Techno. “I bet you’re strong enough to grind these up for me.”

Techno nodded again and began crushing the cocoa beans with a single-minded focus Phil had never seen before.

Just before the milk was hot enough, Phil felt a tug on his sleeve. “That was fast! Good job.” He took the bowl from Techno and began stirring the cocoa into the milk. Some sugar and a pinch of salt followed after, and it was finally done.

The potatoes went onto a plate with a few slices of bread and cups were filled with hot chocolate. Techno stayed wrapped up in his blanket throughout the whole meal, but he ate all his food dutifully, only pausing when he got to his drink.

“Have you ever had hot chocolate before?” Phil asked him.

An ear flicked and then came a tiny, “No.”

Phil smiled. “I promise you’ll like it.”

Techno reached out tentatively and held the cup between his hands. “Warm,” he whispered. He took a sip and his eyes widened. “Sweet?”

In seconds, the cup was empty and Techno turned pleading eyes on Phil. Even though he knew the kid would be on a sugar rush later, Phil couldn’t resist refilling the cup two more times.

Chapter Text

Phil hadn’t really expected to gain another child.

Techno was at his friend Dream’s house, practicing sword fighting. It had been exactly a year since Phil had found the boy, and he had been planning to celebrate when Techno got home. Phil was relaxing on the couch when there came a knock on the door.

Outside, there stood a gangly boy who couldn’t be more than twelve years old. A tattered red beanie was pulled over his curls and an oversized yellow sweater was all that protected him from the snow.

“Hello, sir,” the boy said. “I’m looking for work.” He gestured to the barn. Some of Techno’s horses were poking their heads out to gawk at the new arrival. “I’m good with animals, if you need someone to feed them or milk the cows.”

Phil could feel his heart melting. “Why don’t you come inside to warm up?” Phil asked. “We can talk about it once you have some food in you.”

The boy blinked once, shocked, before cautiously following him inside. Phil sat him down at the table and pulled out some cocoa beans. “It works for Techno, so why not try it?” he thought.

“Can you grind these up for me?”

“Um, sure.”

Phil began to warm up the milk and checked on the roast he had been making all day. “Do you eat meat?”

“Yeah,” the boy said, brow furrowed as he ground up the beans.

Phil was just pulling the roast out of the furnace when the door banged open and Techno waltzed in, bundled up in his red cape. “Dad! Dream said-” He stopped in his tracks when he saw the boy.

The boy’s eyes widened and Phil could feel his heart sink. “This isn’t going to be good,” he thought.

“Dad,” Techno said quietly. “Why is he doing my job?”

“What?” the boy asked meekly.

Techno turned his head slowly toward Phil. “Why is he doing my job?” he repeated. “Why is he grinding the beans?”

“Oh.” The boy looked down at the bowl. “You’re welcome to do it. I’m not that good at it, anyway.”

“No, you’re not,” Techno huffed. He grabbed the bowl and pestle and retreated to his chair in the corner.

The boy fiddled with the sleeves of his sweater nervously, glancing up at Techno every few seconds. “Um, I’m Wilbur,” he said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Techno just grunted and kept his head down.

Phil took pity on him and said, “Hey, Wilbur, why don’t you come stir the milk?”

“Okay.” Wilbur could barely see over the edge of the pot, so Phil kicked over the stool he kept in the corner. Techno soon came over with the bowl in hand and Wilbur stirred the cocoa powder into the milk.

A few ingredients later, Phil was portioning the hot chocolate into mugs. The boys were curled up on opposite ends of the couch, but eventually migrated together as the drinks worked their magic.

Wilbur’s shivering had subsided, but Phil wrapped a fluffy blanket around his shoulders, the same blanket he had given Techno when he first came home. Techno wasn’t about to let his blanket rights go, so he discarded his cape and burrowed under the blanket with the other boy.

Phil hadn’t expected to gain another child, but there was no way he was letting Wilbur go now.

Chapter Text

This time, Phil had actually gone looking for another kid.

Wilbur and Techno had decided that they wanted a little sibling, and had created an entire presentation on why it was a good idea. Phil had given them both a hug and promised that they would go for a new sibling together.

It hadn’t worked out quite like they expected.

Every orphanage and group home they visited made their hearts clench at the things the kids had to go through every day, but they never clicked with any of them. The boys began to lose hope, but Phil knew that someone would show up.

After all, Phil’s kids had found him, not the other way around. Why would this one be different?

{+}

It was actually Wilbur that found the kid this time.

He came home from school one day with a tiny blond-haired kid trailing behind him. “You have a duckling following you,” Phil said with a grin.

“I can’t get rid of him,” Wilbur replied grimly.

“Hey!” The kid scowled up at him. “You said I could come with you!”

Wilbur smiled down at him fondly. “I did? I can’t seem to remember that.”

As the two bickered, Phil set out one extra place at the table. The kid looked too thin, and Phil was damned if anyone thought he would stand for that.

“Why is there a gremlin here?”

“I’m not a gremlin, bitch!”

“Don’t call Techno a bitch, Tommy.”

“You can’t control me!”

Techno just blinked at the boy calmly before grabbing the cocoa bowl and some beans. When Phil raised an eyebrow at him, he just said, “We’ve gained another one.”

Phil couldn’t argue with that logic.

{+}

They had settled into a routine after Wilbur came. Techno would grind the beans, Wilbur would stir everything together, and Phil would pour the hot chocolate into cups for everyone.

Tommy threw a wrench into that, like he did most things.

Phil woke up one night to Tommy trying to grind the beans while wiping tears away at the same time.

“What’s up, mate?” Phil asked, coming over to rub Tommy’s back. “Bad dream?”

Tommy nodded. “I wanted some hot chocolate, and I thought I knew how to do it ‘cause I’ve watched you guys do it so many times.”

“We can have hot chocolate,” Phil said. “I’ll go get the boys.”

They went through the motions of making the drink, Wilbur wrapping Tommy up in a huge hug whenever he wasn’t doing anything, but when it came to putting the cocoa into the milk, Phil stopped.

“Hey Toms, do you want to put the ingredients together?”

“Yeah!” Tommy stepped up to the pot and started putting everything together. Techno was hovering over his shoulder to make sure he didn’t put too much in.

Phil grinned. His boys didn’t get along all the time, but when it came to hot chocolate, they were a well-oiled machine.