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Tommy sits on the edge of the tower, overlooking the bustling streets of the SMP beneath him. His legs dangle and he runs his fingers through the folds of the shimmering white and grey feathers of his wings, preening and cleaning them idly. A small, gentle smile rises to his face.
Things had been peaceful recently, the boy hardly had a care in the world. No political adversaries, people didn’t hate him as much anymore, he had all his conflicts sorted out. He used to think it would never be possible, in all his days, but he was finally content to just live. And as the cherry on top, his hybrid wings had finally come in full force. Likely due to the reduced amount of stress. So, he was free to soar around as much as he wanted. Though they could get annoying at times, he couldn’t sit in chairs or couches the same way as he could when they were just stumps and they were sometimes heavy and tedious to care for. But he heeded Phil’s advice from when he was a child and developed a sort of routine to deal with it all. He wouldn’t trade this freedom for the world anyways.
He finishes up the edge of a worn white feather he’d been particularly meticulous about, and folds up the wings behind him, wiping the excess preen oil off onto his trousers. His eyes trail down across the landscape, spotting Jack Manifold running across some plains with an armful of goods in a hurry, Fundy sitting by the edge of a pond with a sun hat draped across his eyes, Ghostbur darting in and out of bushes in circles with Friend trailing close behind, and finally, he lands his gaze on a particular goat boy walking as if he were on a mission along a wooden path. He seems stressed, preoccupied, probably busy… so Tommy took that as the perfect opportunity to go bother the ever-living hell out of him.
He drops from the tower, letting himself fall for a moment before unfolding to catch on the wind and soar down to his friend. It seems Tubbo hadn’t noticed him yet, and as he approaches, he can almost hear him muttering incoherencies to himself. Tommy smirks, anticipating the look on his friend's face when he pops up in front of him.
He lands with a loud and powerful THUD in front of Tubbo and yells at the top of his lungs “HI TUBBO.”
The brunette is immediately broken from his trance and screeches in an ungodly shrill pitch, likely high enough to break all the windows of the white house. His pupils become sideways slits of almost nothing but sclera and a single furry ear twitches like a rabbit’s foot against the ground. Then he stops, rolls back on his heels, and in much a goatly fashion, falls back right then and there. His head hits the ground quite harshly with a clack and the rest of his body falls limp.
“Oh shhhhiiittt”
Tommy is suddenly very hyper-aware of his stupidity, face falling from a playful smirk into shock and concern. He looks around wide-eyed to ensure that uh… nobody saw that. Then, he turns his attention to the major problem. His positively conked out friend. His wings puff outwards with slight guilt and he cocks his head to the side. what the fuck he could do right now. Call Phil? No... Well, they didn’t exactly have a real doctor on the SMP so...
His tongue clicks twice, then he squats down and cradles Tubbos neck and legs into his arms, hoisting the smaller up with a puff.
He should take him back to the nest. That would be best so he would keep an eye on him, patch him up, and ensure he doesn’t have a severe concussion. He nods, reassuring himself that this was definitely the best option and he totally shouldn’t tell an adult. Nope. That would be stupid.
He flaps his wings once, twice, three times before taking off from the ground. It was hard with the added weight of another person versus his weak arms and wings (though he would never admit they were such)… however it wasn’t impossible.
The two travel through the air, fast approaching the small entrance to a cave atop a mountain that Tommy had come to call a sort of home away from home. A comfort room of sorts. A place to escape.
Tommy lands more smoothly, folding his wings swiftly and running a few paces to lose momentum before finally coming to a halt in front of the ledge. His right-wing tremors forcibly for a moment, shaking some kind of debris it had caught. He flaps it violently, groaning lightly before letting it settle back against his back.
“I got yah bud don’t worry” He murmurs to the air.
The cave was warm, homey, comforting. A fire from the night before was dulled to embers in the corner. Along the walls were shelves covered in trinkets and trophies from over the years, mostly small shiny objects like mirrors or tin foil statues or objects he’d grown attached to like tridents, his compass, and other tools. From the ceiling hung an assortment of vines, flowers, cut out cardboard bees, and even some disks (not the important ones). In the dead center was a circular bed of fluffed blankets and objects of comfort. If he had been awake Tubbo would have seen numerous articles of clothing of his own that had mysteriously gone missing recently, along with some of Wilbur's old scarfs and a big fluffy red cape belonging to a certain pig. You don’t even want to know what Tommy had to do to get his hands on some of this stuff.
It felt strange to be taking someone other than himself into the nest. It was supposed to be a secret special place but… this was an emergency and Tubbo was the one person he, arguably, trusted most. So it was definitely strange, but not an uncomfortable kind of strange.
The winged boy lets his friend down on the circular mattress and makes his way over to the glowing wood, grabbing a tool off the wall and poking around a few times to see just how much was left. It immediately sparked and caught a small piece of wood shaving at the bottom. He hummed in gratefulness to the fact that he didn’t have to fuss over the embers and threw another log onto the fireplace. It went up to a steady roar a few moments later.
Then, he grabs a copper tea kettle that used to belong to Phil--of which he totally didn’t steal-- off of the wall and swirls it around. There was still some water in it. So he sets it on a hot plate over the fire.
Some tea would do nicely for Tubbo… maybe an ice pack too.
He opens a cupboard and pulls down a mug, a jar of tea leaves, and a jar full of raw honey. Fresh from one of the beehives. Its outer rim was slightly sticky and smelled of subtle sweetness. Tommy licked one of his fingers that had been covered and hummed with satisfaction. If he could, he would eat a whole jar of the stuff. But it was hard to get your hands on.
He then reaches below the counter into a small, chilled compartment. Grabbing a sock he had filled with lentils to work as an ice pack. It was especially good for migraines, as he had discovered. Hopefully, Tubbo didn’t have a severe migraine, but there was likely to be some semblance of a headache, what with how he fell. If only he’d been fast enough to catch the poor thing.
The tea kettle begins to scream angrily at him, steam pouring from the spout like smoke from a train. Tommy groaned, annoyed.
“I’m comin’ I’m comin’ calm your tits”
It shuts up when he flips the lid and removes it from the fire, pouring it over the loose tea leaves he had just put in the mesh metal strainer in the blue, porcelain cup.
Tubbo eyes started to flutter just behind him, pulling him from his sleep into a murky awakeness. He feels… warm and safe… but this sensation of bliss is short-lived for as soon as the light starts to spill through his eyelids he’s greeted with the oh so pleasant feeling of a skull-splitting headache. Just as expected, of course. He audibly groans, reaching up to clutch both of his horns and pull, relieving at least a little of the tension.
Tommy doesn’t turn to face him, focused on stirring the thick clump of honey into the tea, but does watch out of the corner of his eye.
“Mornin’ goat boy”
Tubbo jumps, unaware of the presence of someone else, “Tommy? Wh-what?” He pries open one eyelid, hissing at the light. But it was softer than he thought, not as harsh and pure daylight anyways.
The blond turns with a cup in hand and smiles sheepishly. “So… I may or may not have accidentally made you pass out and hit your head really hard… uh oops.”
Tubbo cocks an eyebrow. His hands fall from his head to his side and he adjusts to the light. The faint memory of his heart palpitation and confusion from earlier comes to rise. “Right um…” He drags out the R, looking around the unfamiliar surrounding in hazy confusion. Where the..? “Where the hell are we?”
This didn’t look anything like Tommy’s house.
Tommy scratches the back of his head, scrunching his nose up. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to bring him here. No one even knew he nested except Phil but even the old geezer didn’t know where the place was. If he came clean it’s possible he would be mocked to hell. No, he was in fact SURE he would be mocked… he would never hear the end of it.
Oh what the hell too late now.
“We’re uh… at my nest?” He shrugs nonchalantly and hands the warm mug and ice pack to Tubbo, who takes it gratefully with a twitch of the ear. He takes a sip of the warm beverage, relishing in its delicate flavor allowing him to relax even a little, and places the ice pack on his head. The cool sensation is also welcome. But all the same, he seems to grow wide-eyed in awe and disbelief. Tubbo's eyes dart around the room again, drinking in every detail with a newfound understanding and interest.
“Tommy you… you nest?”
“Sometimes..”
Tubbo knew what nesting was... but he’d never seen one or even expected to see one.
“But I thought..”
“Hey male Hybrids can nest too don't even say that-”
“No no, I know that. It’s just that…” He wraps both hands around the warm mug. His body language suddenly becomes rickety, he closes his legs into his body and rocks back and forth a little. “I thought that… I thought that nests were like special and no one could ever see them but family… and trusted people and... stuff.”
Tommy blinks, tilting his head to the side as he processes. Then, he starts to laugh. First, a light snicker before developing into full blown wheezing.
“What?! Did I say something wrong?”
“N-no!” He says through gasps, “You didn’t say anything wrong it’s just… god you’re stupid.”
The brunette pouts, shoulders drooping slightly. Tommy takes a seat next to him and extends a hand out to his shoulder.
“Tubbo you’re practically family to me. I trust you more than I trust my own father. If anyone deserves to know about this place it’s you.”
Tubbo’s eyes obtain a shimmer, and start to tear up around the corner. A large smile spreads across his face. “You mean it?”
“Of course stupid! You’re my best friend! Beyond that even, you’re my brother.”
Suddenly, the ram collides with his chest, tears slipping freely from the corners of mahogany eyes. Tommy lets out an oof and places a hand behind him to steady his body, one wing extends in surprise but after a moment, he merely sighs with a soft smile and wraps the feathers around his friend.
Sniffles die down and Tubbo murmurs a gentle “Ow.”
“What did you headbutting me hurt your head? Go figure you hit it pretty hard earlier.”
“Yeah… it’s your fault though.” Tubbo muses gently. Tommy only huffs, petting the back of his friend's head gently. Tubbo knew him well enough to realize that was his form of a sincere apology. He took it gratefully and leaned his head into the other's shoulder.
“Listen I don’t want you going out and hurting yourself with the possibility of a concussion so… you can stay here until your headache is gone or whatever.”
“Aww are you lonely? I know we haven’t talked in a while... do you want me to stay and keep you company?”
“No I’m just a good friend and I’m concerned for you, take my concern damnit.”
“Okay Clingy bird brain”
“Shut your goddamn mouth.” He rolls his eyes playfully, “Jeez I try to do one nice thing and I get accused of being clingy you’re the clingy one dickhead.”
“Okay Tommy.”
“I mean I could leave you outside to go bust your skull open some more and see if I care then.”
“Okay Tommy.”
“Pshh.. clingy my ass.” His wing tightens a little more around Tubbo and he pulls him down and falls back on the nest into a tight, annoyed hug without thinking much of it. The goat merely giggles, shaking his head in disbelief.
A few minutes go by in comfortable silence, the fire continuing to crackle faintly in the background. Like a song to keep them warm.
“How is your head anyways?”
“It’s fine… I still have a killer headache but it’s better now. Thank you.”
“Yeah yeah… I’m the best whatever.”
“You really are.” The brunette smiles. Even if it was Tommy’s fault it was still admirable that he was willing to take this much care of him. He knew he was being silly about being the best but… to be honest, he deserved some recognition every once in a while at least. He catches the bird-brain blush bashfully and smiles a little, exhaling sharply in a sort of laugh.
“Give yourself some credit too big man.” Tommy’s voice drops to a softer tone, an indication of his complete relaxation. He’s let his guard down entirely.
“Mm..”
“I don’t know what I would do without you Tubbo I’m serious.”
“Mm..?”
“Probably would have died by now really.”
“Don’t say that-”
“No for real! You know how many times you’ve talked me out of my own stupidity?”
Tubbo pauses before snickering, “Too many times to count on all my fingers and hooves.”
“Okay well that’s rude… but you’re right.”
“Hmm I guess you’re right you just wouldn’t make it without me.”
“Okay when you word it like that I feel like taking it back.”
They both fall into fits of laughter, it’s bubbly and lively banter. Normal and natural between them. Tubbo feels at home, and he vaguely wishes he could stay forever. But responsibility calls the both of them. They had jobs to do. But sometimes he wishes they could just be kids.
His gaze drifts to the surroundings, the nest is littered with an array of different colored hoodies and scarves, some plushies even. They all seem to have a distinct aesthetic, strange since none of these really look like they would belong to Tommy save for a red hoodie laid across one of the pillows.
Then, he narrows his eyes at a green turtleneck, and then another green scarf, and two dark green hoodies that looked familiar… and vaguely reminded him of…
“Tommy are those my clothes?”
“Hmm?”
He reaches out and grabs one of the hoodies, holding it up to show the blond.
“Oh well uh…” He looks away in embarrassment. “Yeah…”
“So that’s where these went.”
“You can have them back if you want… I just like to have stuff that reminds me of my family and comfort things around…”
Tubbo takes the fabric between his fingers and fiddles with the splitting seams. He was wondering where these had gone but now that he knew he didn’t have the heart to take them back. Besides, he had like thirty of these at home so what's the harm in losing two. He smiles.
“No, it’s okay keep it.”
“Really?”
“Sure. But you’re never gonna live it down.” He shifts a little, “Aww little Tommathy misses me!! What will he ever do when-”
“See this is why I was so hesitant to bring anyone in here.” He begins to gesture passionately with his hands, waving them about in rapid circular motions. “Because they would make fun of me and call me clingy and needy and vulnerable and all the things I can’t be and be annoying about it when I’m just TRYING to-”
“Tommy I’m teasing calm down.”
“Wh-WH- WELL I know that I’m just-”
“It’s okay to be vulnerable sometimes. I’m glad you showed me this place… it’s nice.”
He squeezes Tubbo a little closer “You think?”
“Yeah! I mean it’s all warm and homey and like... it's so you y’know?”
“Hmm yeah, I guess.”
“I like the bees”
“Of course, kinda why I put them here big man.”
“You know a fun fact, I like bees a lot not just because they’re cute and incredible but because they remind me of you.”
The blond gives him a puzzling look, “How do bees of all things remind you of me? Wouldn’t swords be more fitting or something? Since I stab shit and I'm badass?”
Tubbo shakes his head and smiles, tilting his head so he can see the cardboard cutouts a little better. “No bees are good. I mean think about it! They’re yellow, like your hair” he reaches up to ruffle the blond locks, “They’re aggressive if you mess with them or their home, they have a stinger so they stab shit like you, and they have wings, and they chase you so they’re clingy!”
The hybrid pauses, he did have a point. It was… touching almost. He then snickers and knocks their heads together gently.
“You’re so dumb.”
“Ow! Bitch” He giggles lightly, rubbing his temples with soft fingertips, the pain had mostly gone down but it still lingered. “Careful with the injured man.”
“Hmm okay sorry” He mumbles in a mocking tone. One of his wings that wasn’t immediately underneath Tubbo folds over top like a blanket and he buries himself into the other, the goat sighs in contentment.
They lay there for a while, in silence and warmth. Until Tubbo hears the soft breathing of his friend become rhythmic and deep. He was asleep. He has to cover his mouth to keep from snickering. But it wasn’t like he was able to flaunt or tease, he wasn’t much farther behind anyways, and soon thereafter drifted off wrapped in the soft, comfortable greyish-white feathers.
Tubbo woke up later with no pain in his head, and a light feeling in his heart. After that day he would always come to Tommy’s nest to calm down when he was stressed, or find his friend when he was nowhere to be seen. Sometimes he would even leave small gifts and trinkets like shiny necklaces he found on the ground, or fresh bread from the bakery. It was a nice routine they slipped into and something that the two of them trusted with each other dearly. No one could come between that.