Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was an early morning for the Sleepy Bois household, as it often was when Tommy had Tubbo over for a sleepover. The house was typically restless: with the twins teasing their younger brother until he’d burst into shouts, which wouldn’t stop until he had passed out from exhaustion. (The whole ordeal usually lasted for around 3 hours, which left the house settling down as the grandfather clock outside Phil’s door struck midnight.) However, with the addition of the young ram hybrid, it was assured that Tommy would be up all night. And given his tendency to behave when around Tubbo, he wouldn’t pass out from emotional or physical exhaustion as he would on a typical night.

These thoughts were all coursing through Phil’s brain as he woke up to the smell of something burning and the muffled shouts of his family from downstairs.

He sighed, throwing the covers from himself and swinging his feet over the side of his bed. As he stretched his wings, he felt the stiffness that ached in his joints. When he was younger, he’d laugh when his parents told him to treasure the time he had with his wings, as they’d become harder to use when he’d grown. What a fool he’d been back then. He shuffled into his house slippers and began his descent into the madness that, no doubt, awaited him downstairs.

The first thing that greeted him was Tubbo, who was holding a bag of flour up like a shield toward the kitchen.

“Good morning Mr. Minecraft!” The boy smiled, bright as ever despite the shouting coming from the kitchen.

“Mornin’ Tubbo, why’re you holdin’ a bag of flour?” Phil cocked his head, a smile creeping on his face. He was just a bit too tired to immediately put a stop to whatever chaos was happening around the corner.

“Well, Tommy and I tried to make everyone breakfast, as a thank you for you guys letting me stay over the night, but it kinda...”

“Went to shit?”

Tubbo nodded, “Techno came downstairs to make sure nothing was on fire, and Tommy hit him with a spoon.”

“And now they’re fightin’?”

Tubbo nodded again, his goat ears flopping a bit with the motion. Phil sighed, folding his arms and leaning forward a bit to look into the kitchen. Sure enough, his boys sat in the room, each one’s moves encouraging anothers wrath.

Techno was holding Tommy up by the armpits, the younger kicking and trying to hit him to no avail. Wilbur, who seemingly had no stake in the fight, was sitting on a counter eating what looked to be burnt pancakes, occasionally throwing in a sung-out insult or two.

For example, the current interaction Phil was witnessing:

“LET ME GO YOU OVERSIZED PIECE OF BACON!” Tommy shouted, attempting to throw a punch at Techno, who just leaned back.

“What, like the kind you turned into charcoal?” The piglin hybrid huffed.

“FUCK YOU!” A kick this time.

“Tommyinnit cannot cook,” Wilbur chimed in, voice warbling as he mimicked an autotuner, “He’s the weakest of us all.”

“FUCK YOU WILBUR SOOT I’M FUCKING MASSIVE!”

“Boys, that’s enough,” Phil sighed, clapping twice to get their attention as he walked in.

“Ohhh you two are in for it now,” Wilbur laughed, earning a glare from his twin and a string of profanities from under his younger brother’s breath.

Phil walked to where Tommy was being held up by Techno, looking at the piglin with an expression of tired disappointment. (There was only a hint of amusement at the red mark on the man’s forehead, certainly from where Tommy had whacked him.)

“What’d I tell you ‘bout pickin’ up your brothers?”

“Only in emergency situations.” Techno’s voice rang deep and monotonous as always.

“Good, now put Tommy down...” Phil watched Tommy tense up slightly in Techno’s hands, “Gently,” He added.

Techno huffed and rolled his eyes, the adolescent behavior unsuitable yet amusing on the towering piglin. Even so, he set his brother down, giving him a pat on the head and earning a few final swats from Tommy. The younger made a beeline for his best friend, still standing in the doorway with a bag of flour. He grabbed the goat boy’s arm, dragging him back up the stairs.

“Tommy come back here, I’m not done talking with you!” Phil called up the stairs.

“I’LL BE HERE ALL NIGHT!” Tommy shouted back before slamming the door to his room. Phil sighed, shaking his head. He knew there was no use talking to Tommy when he got into a mood like this; he’d just tune everything out and argue back and, quite honestly, make everything worse for himself as far as punishments went. He’d be more sensible when he came down later for food or water.

Phil turned back around, looking at Wilbur. “Why do you always have to egg them on?”

Wilbur shrugged, hopping off the counter to start making coffee for himself. With that the three adults started their breakfast routines: Wilbur making himself coffee and toast, Techno stealing coffee from his brother and making himself eggs, and Phil brewing tea. It was only once they’d settled at the table that any of them spoke again.

“Is something wrong with Tommy?” Techno asked, a twinge of emotion barely audible through his voice.

The tone seemed to catch Wilbur’s attention, the brunette locking eyes with him. “You noticed it too then?”

Techno hummed an affirmation as Phil looked between them entirely confused. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Right, I’m assuming this is some sibling communication thing I didn’t pick up on?”

“Well, he’s been flinching whenever we’ve said his name lately and he’s been a lot easier to infuriate. Don’t get me wrong, I love picking on Tommy, but…” Wilbur trailed off.

“... I think something happened that he isn’t telling us about,” Techno finished for his twin, who nodded in agreement.

Phil nodded, swirling his cup in his hands before taking a drink. “We ought to give him space, but remind him we’re here for him. If it gets too much I’ll sit him down, but don’t...” A sigh, “Don’t pressure him, okay?”

The twins nodded, and the day went back to normal as the three sat in content silence.

“Tubbo I don’t think I want to be Tommy anymore.”

Chapter Text

Tubbo blinked once. Twice. Three times before he took in what his best friend had said. “What do you mean you ‘don't want to be Tommy’ anymore? I think you’re pretty great, big m-”

Tommy groaned, cutting off the end of Tubbo’s sentence, “That’s not what I mean though! I love me! I love me more than anyone I know! I’m the best! But I’m not… Tommy.”

Tubbo nodded from his spot sitting cross-legged on Tommy’s bed, trying to seem like he’d understood anything the blonde had just said.

“I don’t know Tubbz, I just need to change something. And I think… I think it’s my name that's fucking with me. So I want to change it. My brothers did it, so it can’t be that hard.”

“But didn’t your brothers both do it cause they weren’t born with guy names?” Tubbo piped up. 

Tubbo and Tommy had known each other since they were little kids and, by proxy, Tubbo had known his older brothers since they were young as well. The twins had been his older sisters up until high school, when they’d both became his older brothers. Tubbo knew enough about people by that point to know that it wasn’t an abnormal thing, but it was something that made life different for them than it did others their age. Nonetheless, Techno and Wilbur took on their new names quickly and with few complications. (Tubbo stopped counting “transphobes who had to be given bloody noses” as a complication by the third time it’d happened, especially since Techno only had to beat up 5 kids to get the point across to the whole school.)

“Well I was born with a boy name and I don’t want it!” Tommy pouted, flopping face-first into his bed next to where Tubbo was sitting. The bed bounced a few times before Tommy flipped over, folding his arms as he looked at Tubbo. “Why do girl names have to be so cool and guy names are like fucking mayonnaise.”

Tubbo snorted, “Like mayonnaise?”

“Disgusting and only Americans like them.”

Tubbo laughed, leaning back and flopping onto the bed so his head laid next to Tommy’s.

“I think you just like women that much, big man.”

Tommy nodded, stretching his arms out above his head, “Women are pog.”

They laid there for a moment like two cats sharing a sun patch: warm and perfectly content with each other’s silent company. It was rare to see Tommy quiet, even in private he tended to talk to himself to fill long silences, a problem Tubbo would solve by playing music when Tommy got tired. Tommy being this quiet meant one of two things: one, he was embarrassed, or two, he was thinking something he was too embarrassed to say. 

Before Tubbo could ask what was on Tommy’s mind, the younger spoke it.

“What if I used a girl’s name?”

Oh.

Oh.

Tubbo understood what was going on now, but he couldn’t tell if Tommy did. Was it even his place to ask him? Techno and Wilbur would be better advice-givers here, but they weren’t here. It was just Tubbo, and Tommy was looking at him like he held all his hopes and dreams in his hands. So, Tubbo said the only thing he could think to say:

“What names do you have in mind, big man?”

Tommy’s nervous expression broke into a grin at that, and she (Tubbo wondered for a second what he should be mentally calling his best friend now and settled on bringing up the pronouns in a bit, but trying them out mentally for her just in case. The last thing Tubbo wanted to do was upset his best friend, even if by accident) scrambled up and across the room to grab a notebook. It was the same book she used for his English classes; Tubbo knew because across the front in red marker the words “TECHNO WAS HERE” were printed in neat script. She jumped back onto the bed, flipping through pages before settling on a page with “COOL WOMEN NAMES POG” scrawled at the top.

Tubbo sat up, leaning on the blonde’s shoulder while she held the book at a better angle for Tubbo to read from. “I made a list of the coolest ones because while all women’s names are cool, some of them are just better.” 

Tubbo snorted at that, glancing over the page in front of him. They were all pretty… well, girly girl names. Miette, Bea, and Athena all made appearances on the list, and it became pretty obvious that these names were all found in texts they had to read for school or from classmates they’d worked with. None of them really felt like Tommy though. (Well, Athena maybe, but Tubbo decided to leave that one for Techno to decide on.) None of them, until Tubbo reached the bottom of the page.

“Tessa.”

Tommy smiled, “It’s a cool one, right? I dunno where I got it from, but I guess I’m just that awesome and creative.”

Tubbo shook his friend slightly. “It sounds like you!”

Tommy paused at that, and you could almost see the gears turning in her brain. Then he turned to Tubbo fully, rushing into a hug that sent the two of them back onto the bed.

“Tubbo you’re a fucking genius!” She grinned, leaning back to bump their foreheads together. It was an affection that the whole family had picked up from Tubbo over time but was most present between Tessa and Tubbo.

Tessa.

Tessa and Tubbo.

That worked a lot better than Tubbo expected it to, which made him grin and wrap his arms around his best friend, pulling her back down into a hug.

“You’re the one who found the name, Tess, not me!” He laughed, and he felt the blonde melt into his touch and giggle at the use of her name. He wondered how long she’d been feeling like this, and how long she’d gone without telling anyone.

“Yeah but you’re the one how pointed out how pog it is!”

“I thought you already knew that boss man!” Tubbo paused, “Should it be boss woman now? I think that sounds a little weird though, doesn’t it?”

Tessa stilled against Tubbo’s chest. She pushed herself up to look at Tubbo’s face, her own set in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why would you call me ‘boss woman’?”

“Because you’re a woman?”

Tessa cocked her head to the side, “I’m not?”

Oh, so he didn’t realize yet. Or he wasn’t at all. Huh.

“Oh. I’m sorry Tess, I just assumed because of the name-”

“I’m not trans, Tubbo.” He laid his head back down onto his chest.

“There’d be nothing wrong with it if you were, T.” 

“Well, I’m not.” 

Tubbo wondered if Tessa could hear his own tone right now- defensive and scared. He sounded like he’d break if Tubbo prodded anymore. So, Tubbo didn’t, because as much as Tubbo was certain his best friend was internalizing something having to do with his gender, he knew that he wasn’t ready to deal with it. Instead of saying anything back, Tubbo hummed an affirmative and leaned down to bump his forehead with the top of the blonde’s head. The two eventually fell asleep like that, the all-nighter they’d pulled catching up to them. When Tubbo woke up a while later, a blanket had been laid across the two of them and two small bowls of eggs and rice sat on the bedside table. Tubbo smiled, rolling the sleeping (and slightly drooling) Tessa off his chest and began to eat the breakfast they’d been given. Tessa could figure out his gender whenever he was ready, and Tubbo would be with him no matter what.

A crash and a yelp signaled his best friend’s awakening as he fell off the bed, leaving Tubbo laughing while Tessa yelled insults to him from the floor. 

Chapter Text

It was days like these that made Wilbur cherish his life the most. The sun was shining at just the perfect angle to warm the spot under the katsura tree in the backyard where Wilbur liked to spend his afternoons. After he ate his lunch and took care of his housework, he’d take his guitar and writing book outside. He spent the afternoon practicing old songs and writing new ones, only coming in when Phil called for dinner. Phil was out now, meeting with an old friend for lunch, leaving just him and his brothers at the house. He leaned his head back onto the trunk of the tree and felt the warmth on his skin as he listened to his father’s crows sing.

He exhaled, picking up his guitar and flipping open his notebook. He scribbled down a few notes on chord progression before he began to play. It was almost peaceful.

Almost.

Wilbur heard Tommy before he saw him- shrieking and yelling swears as he pounded down the stairs within the home before emerging from the back door, Techno hot on his tail.

“WILBURRRRRRRR!” he yelled, running full speed at the musician, who flinched as the teenager took a sharp turn, hiding behind the tree.

Techno huffed, stopping in front of Wilbur with his arms crossed. Underneath his beanie, the brunette’s ears twitched as his brother grunted curses in a language only the two of them knew. 

Wilbur chuckled, “What’d he do now?”

“Stole.”

“Stole?”

“Gold.”

Wilbur nodded. That explained how frantic he seemed. Wilbur placed down his guitar and peered behind him at Tommy.

“Tommy, you know you can’t be stealing gold from piglins. You know how Techno reacts.”

“But it was the only kind of jewelry he had! I swear I was just going to borrow it! Honest!”

“Your intent doesn’t change our instincts, Toms, and it doesn’t change the fact that you fucking stole it. Give it back before I have to get dad involved.”

Tommy squinted at them for a moment before letting out an exaggerated sigh, rooting through his pockets. He pulled out a pair of gold dangling earrings, with rubies decorating the intricate loops throughout the design. Wilbur was glad he covered his piglin ears with his beanie or else Tommy surely would’ve seen his ears twitch up in surprise. He’d expected a simple gold chain necklace at most, but those? Techno had bought them the same day he’d told Wilbur that “Gender is a concept that, when followed and enforced, is the gateway to a capitalistic monarchist government.” It was his way of reconnecting with his femininity after rejecting it for years, so it was a shock to see Tommy with them. Tommy didn’t even have his ears pierced.

It was probably his way of asking for attention. It’d make sense for him to be bored; it had been 3 days since Tubbo went home after staying with the family for a week because of a trip his father had been on, but he usually just annoyed people when he wanted attention. Something was definitely wrong.

“Don’t pressure him, okay?”

Techno took the earrings from Tommy’s hand, huffing before walking back indoors without a word. Phil’s words were still ringing in Wilbur’s ears when Tommy spoke.

“You two fuckin’ suck.”

Wilbur didn’t respond. He simply picked up his guitar again and began to play. He could feel Tommy’s eyes for a moment, but the world around him always tended to become white noise as he got into whatever he was playing. While he sang, what was once background noise became one with the music, enhancing the harmonies of his instruments in the warm air. When Wilbur finished and looked up from his notebook, Tommy was sitting beside him, just a bit too close for comfort, with wide eyes.

“How do you do that?” His voice was far quieter than before, almost like he was afraid of being heard asking.

“What?”

“The thing at the- I wanna be the girl- y'kno? That part?” Tommy’s voice cracked as he tried to reach the high notes he did to mimic a girl’s voice.

“Oh. Uh. Training and practice mostly? I always do warm-ups to be able to do it, but it took a lot of practice to be able to do that. It isn’t even close to what a girl’d actually sound like singing it,” Wilbur laughs nervously, Tommy’s stare now piercing. His little brother was never scary, just creepy sometimes.

“Teach me.”

“Tommy, what the hell are you on about?”

“Teach me how to do the voice.”

“Tommy why the fuck do you want to do a girl’s voice?”

Tommy’s nose scrunched up and his lips formed an angry pout as he grabbed Wilburs arms, making his guitar fall from his lap, and shook him.

“Wilbuuuuuuuuuur,” He whined, stopping the shaking so he could make eye contact with the hybrid, “Teach me how to do it or I’m never gonna leave you alone for forever.”

“For forever?” Wilbur questioned mockingly. Tommy let out a groan of defeat, flopping onto his back while Wilbur laughed. “Alright, alright. I’ll teach you.”

Tommy shot up grinning, repositioning himself so he was sitting cross-legged and leaning forward with his hands clutching his ankles to keep himself from falling face-first into Wilbur’s chest. Wilbur sighed and shook his head, moving his guitar onto its back and out of the way. He turned to face Tommy before speaking.

“Sit up straight and roll your shoulders back.” Wilbur showed the posture as he spoke, and Tommy followed his motions to a T. He must really want to learn this.

“Alright, let's start by learning your range. That's both how high and low you can go, but we’ll be focusing on the high range here.” 

Tommy nodded excitedly and Wilbur began his scales, which Tommy would mimic to the best of his ability. Wilbur had to admit, the kid’s range was pretty impressive, and his voice was stable even as he began reaching for higher notes. Of course, though, there was a point where he broke, his voice cracking and his face flushing bright red.

“Sorry,” He muttered, looking away from Wilbur and to a random spot of grass. Wilbur had never seen his brother look so ashamed over something as small as a voice crack.

“Hey, Tommy, it’s alright. Like I said: this takes time. We haven’t even done any practices to stretch your range yet! I guess you just have a pretty girly voice.”

The statement was meant as a jab, but Tommy looked more reassured than angry with his playful teasing. His face was still slightly pink, but he was facing Wilbur again, even if he wasn’t making eye contact with him. “You said you have ways to stretch it?”

An hour or so later the two were back onto scales. Wilbur beamed when Tommy was able to pass the note that had held him back just an hour ago and complete another three whole scales before his voice gave out on him. 

“Well fuckin’ done Tommyinnit!” Wilbur cheered, clapping for his blushing and grinning brother.

“Oh shut up!” Tommy said with a groan, punching the musician in the shoulder. 

Wilbur faked being hurt, which got a laugh from Tommy. The hybrid smiled, standing and picking up his things. Tommy’s laughter stopped, and he watched owlishly as Wilbur moved.

“That's it?” He questioned, his voice small.

“Yeah! I mean, we can definitely keep doing this to work on your higher range, keep it increasing and keep it healthy, but that's really all there is to it!”

“Oh,” Tommy mumbled, looking at his feet.

“Don’t pressure him, okay?” Phil’s words once again rang in his mind. But this time he brushed them off.

“You sound disappointed, Toms,” Wilbur said, but it sounded like a question out loud. He propped his guitar on the tree and placed his book beside it before walking back over and crouching by Tommy. “Come on, talk to me.”

Tommy was quiet for a moment, and then there were tears in his younger brother's eyes and he was crying and oh fuck what did Wilbur do?

“I’m sorry,” Tommy tried to wipe the still falling tears from his eyes, hiccupping and trying to stifle sobs that just kept falling out, “I just… I just wanted to sound like Niki.”

Oh.

Oh.

It clicked. How didn’t it click before? Wilbur’s heart shattered as he watched his little sister fall apart in front of him. She had wanted to train her speaking voice to be higher in pitch. She had come to Wilbur for help and he’d misread her intentions. Wilbur sat down with his legs crossed and reached out, pulling Tommy into his lap. Tommy went willingly, quickly shifting herself so she could press her face into her brother's shoulder, muffling her sobs. 

“I’m sorry Toms, I didn’t realize… I’m so sorry.”

Tommy shook her head into Wilbur’s chest. “Tessa.”

Wilbur didn’t have to ask to know what she meant. “I’m so sorry Tessa.” 

They sat there like that for what must have been 30 minutes: Tessa tucked into Wilbur’s chest letting out sobs while he pet her hair, apologized, and reassured her things would be alright. When Tessa finally stopped crying, she was limp against Wilbur’s chest. She was still weakly sniffling and rubbing at her face. Wilbur had stopped speaking but had never stopped the gentle petting on the top of her head. Tessa nestled a bit further into Wilbur, and he could tell she was about to fall asleep. So, against his worries about leaving his things alone, he lifted her and began to walk her back to her room. She barely reacted, her grip on Wilbur’s sweater only slightly tightening.

“Tessa’s a lovely name,” Wilbur commented, and he could feel Tessa’s smile.

“Tubbo helped me pick it out.”

Wilbur hummed in acknowledgment and Tessa leaned into the vibrations from his chest like a moth to a flame. “Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me all of this,” he said as he pushed open the sliding back door, “I remember how scary it was when I first was figuring myself out, so I know how big this is for you.”

Tessa made a noise of confusion, so he continued as they made their way up the stairs.

“I know that even with me and Tech around it’s probably really scary. There doesn’t- shit-” He nearly tripped on a stair, causing him to pause and for Tessa to let out a squeal. He stabilized before continuing up. “There doesn’t have to be a real reason for why you’re so scared of all this right now. Being afraid is normal,” he pushed open the door to Tessa’s room, moving over and placing her into her bed. He pulled the blankets over her and sat on the edge of the bed as she got comfortable. 

“I mean, even Techno was afraid when he realized. I really don’t know what he would’ve done if it weren’t for me.” The statement was meant to get a laugh, but he was met with silence. He continued, “What I mean is: you don’t have to be afraid of yourself. Of your… transness. There’s nothing wrong with you for being who you are.”

There was a bit of silence before Tessa spoke.

“I… I don’t know if I’m a girl.”

“That's okay too.”

Another pause.

“When I… When I talked to Tubbo I thought it was just my name that was wrong. But then he called me a woman and I…”

“You liked it more than you thought you would?”

Tessa let out a whimper of affirmation, pulling the covers further around herself.

“I just don’t know what it’d feel like to be a girl… I don’t know if I want to be dainty and weak and… girly.”

“Well hold on Tess, none of those things make a woman. Is Puffy any of those things?” 

He watched as her brows furrowed in thought. Puffy was one of the strongest women they knew: she was a captain of a ship, had been for many years. She was loud, powerful, and she didn’t silence herself for anyone. 

“No,” Tessa mumbled.

“So why do you have to be those things to be a woman?”

Tessa shrugged, “Cause Puffy was born a girl and I wasn’t?”

“Tessa,” Wilbur said firmly, and Tessa looked up at him, "If you’re trans, you were born trans. That means that if you’re a woman now, you were born a woman. What’s in your pants has nothing to do with your womanhood.”

Tessa was quiet. The muffled ticking of their grandfather clock was the only thing breaking the silence of the room, timing the seconds from when Wilbur stopped talking and when Tessa whispered back to him, “I don’t know.”

Wilbur nodded, leaning down and kissing Tessa’s temple. “That’s okay too. There’s no time limit on figuring this out. Take your time, Tess.”

He stood, walking to the window that lit the room and shutting the blinds. He moved to leave, standing for a moment in the doorway to look at his sibling. 

“I’ll be downstairs if you need me.”

Tessa’s form shuffled in what Wilbur assumed was an acknowledgment, and he stepped from the doorway, closing the door behind him. 

Once the door closed, Wilbur let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He rubbed at his watery eyes before walking downstairs to be greeted with a very angry Techno, shifted fully to his piglin form and staring down at Wilbur with fury in his gaze.

“You saw that just now?”

“What the hell did you do to make him cry like that?” Techno huffed in Piglin, and if Wilbur didn’t know his twin the way he did he’d be afraid.

“I didn’t do anything, you oaf. We just had a big conversation, that's all.” Wilbur pushed past his brother, who began shifting back into his humanoid form, similar to Wilbur now.

They walked to the kitchen, Techno leaning on a counter while Wilbur looked through the cabinets. 

“Just a big conversation?” He was speaking English again, which was a good sign. Wilbur hummed in agreement.

As badly as he wanted to just tell Techno, he knew that the conversation he and Tessa had was private and that he was trusted to not tell anyone of what Tessa told him.

“Alright then.” Techno huffed, pushing himself up to grab a kettle for the instant miso pack that Wilbur was just pulling from the cabinet. 

The twins stood in silence as they waited for the kettle of water to boil. It was almost tradition in the house: when someone was ill or after something bad had happened, some shitty instant miso was made for them. It was the easiest way to show affection between the siblings when feelings got complicated, so Phil always made sure to keep stocked up on the packs. The sun was setting now, cicada’s chittering pouring through the windows with the evening breeze, pushing Techno’s hair into his face as he watched Wilbur prepare the bowl.

“What are you doing?” Techno mumbled as Wilbur finished setting up, the brunette hopping up to sit on the counter.

“Getting ready for the water to be done?”

“Why didn’t you put the paste in?”

Wilbur cocked his head to the side, “Because you put in the paste after the water?”

Techno’s eyes widened and a smile grew across his face. “You put the paste in after the water?”

“Why would you put it in before the water?”

“It dissolves quicker and you can serve it the hottest? Why would you put it in after the water?”

“So it can dissolve while you wait for the water to cool down?”

Techno’s mouth was agape with amused shock, “You drink your soup room temperature?”

“No! It’s just too hot if you don’t wait!”

“Wilbur, we were born in the Nether what the actual fuck are you talking about?”

When Phil got home he found his twin boys wrestling in the kitchen, the kettle behind them singing loud as the cicadas outside.