Work Text:
The meetup was supposed to be chill. They had managed to arrange everything without fans knowing, even flying techno all the way out to the UK so that he could stay with Wilbur and the rest of the SBI. They had decided to stay at Will’s place because it was the biggest and had enough rooms for all of them. They also had decided to stay inside for most of the trip, partially out of fear of being recognized, and partially because UK weather is absolute shit this time of year. These decisions had led to a quiet movie night, with all four sleepy bois snuggled up on the couch, drinks and popcorn in hand, trying to pick a movie to watch.
“I wanna watch Uppppppppp” Tommy insisted for what felt like the hundredth time.
“I already said no, gremlin child. How about marvel?” Wilbur asked
“Sure,” Techno replied- too busy scrolling through his phone to provide any real input.
“How about Spiderman- I think Tommy would like that one” Phil answered, being the first one with a real game plan, well other than Tommy with his constant insistence to watch UP.
“You got it, old man,” Wilbur said, starting the move
“I am not old-”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Techno added, putting his phone down and snuggling deeper into the couch as the movie started.
Tommy wasn’t a fan of action movies, so he zoned out, trying to block out the noise. He had always had an aversion to loud noises but never knew why. He didn’t have any real trauma, and his parents and friends were all very nice. The worst thing that he had to deal with was transphobes at school. He had come out as trans in middle school and dealt with mean people, but the worst it got was slurs, not anything physical thankfully. But after binding and being on T, coupled with a school change he passed quite well, and nothing seemed to be going wrong. He even managed to build up a popular online career, where he was known as Tommy from the beginning, being known as “The Big Man”. The general support and success he had, paired with an overall good homelife meant that he shouldn’t have anything to worry about, but logic did not seem to play a role in the sudden wave of panic he felt because of the movie.
It was the first fight scene, and they were barely 15 minutes into the movie as a whole, but the noises and visuals of a fight caused Tommy to freeze up. Suddenly it was hard to breathe. He was stuck. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. He was going to die. Shit. Why weren’t his lungs working?
“-ommy, Tommy breath with me” Phil had turned towards Tommy upon hearing the panic gasped of the younger, and now had his hands on Tommy’s, breathing deeply for him to copy. “With me Tommy- ok bubs. In-” pausing for the younger. He could do this. Tommy could do this. It was just breathing, so he took a deep breath in as instructed. “Good. now out-. Good job. Again” Tommy did, now able to think clearly. Shit. He had just had a panic attack in front of his pseudo-family. It was supposed to be chill. On top of the embarrassment, he had spilled coke on himself.
“Sorry- I’m sorry” Tommy choked out.
“It’s ok bubs- your safe. Let’s get you cleaned up. Will and tech can yall find a different movie while I get Tommy cleaned up?” Wilbur nodded and grabbed the remote.
“Come on buddy,” Phil said, grabbing Tommy’s arm and leading him over to the bathroom. Phil closed the door and turned around to turn on the shower for Tommy, as Tommy took off his now sticky shirt.
“I’ll put that in the wash, you can wear one of Will’s jumpers till it’s clean. The shower should be warm enou-” Phil said, stopping midsentence in shock as he turned around to leave, and being faced by Tommy with a binder. Now you get nothing wrong, Phil thought trans people were “pogchamp,” as he put it. He just would not have expected it from Tommy. Phil thought he knew all about Tommy, but apparently not.
“Thanks, Phil. I’ll be out in a bit. Phil?” The younger questioned at Phil’s confused expression. Looking down he realized his mistake. Tommy’s brain had already out panicked himself for the day, so he was just kinda standing there, accepting whatever was about to happen.
“Sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t think about it, and I was just trying to get out of the sticky shirt, and I didn’t think about it. Just get the yelling over with, and I’ll be on my way”
“Oh no- never bubs.” Phil stammered, trying to reassure the teen. “I love you just as much. You are still my Tommy, you are still my internet son” Phil said, emphasis on the son. “I’m sorry you didn’t feel comfortable coming out, but I understand! You are safe and loved.”
Tommy just stood in confused silence. He knew how his friends acted towards other members of the community, but it was going to be different with Tommy. They were going to hate him. Weren’t they?
“Thanks- thanks Phil,” Tommy said, starting to cry. “I can’t believe that a fucking spider man fight scene lead me to coming out” he let out a wet laugh- attempting humor.
“Can I give you a hug?”
“Sure- wait I’m all sticky and-” Tommy was cut off by the best hug that Philza had ever given him.
“Sooooo... what do I do now?” Tommy asked, letting go of the older.
“Well the shower should be ready- so I suggest that first. You can tell the boys if you want, and if you are not ready that is completely ok. I’ll be here for you no matter what.
“Oh my god, Phil why are you the perfect dad? You are supposed to not say everything perfectly, it’s not fair.” Tommy laughed out. “I think I’ll shower, can you tell them while in here. I think coming out to one person was hard enough- but they deserve to know, so could you?”
“Sure mate. I love you. Shout if you need anything-” Phil said closing the door.
As Tommy stepped into the shower after taking off his binder he thought. He knew deep down that they would be kind and accepting, but he wasn’t ready to tell them. Well, it’s not like he had a choice, but he was glad he did not have to be as careful about his binder showing, or if he left a trans pin on his backpack or something.
After drying off and putting back on his shorts, and Will’s jumper he headed out to see his pseudo-family. They were all sat back on the couch and had put up on the TV. Why are they all so fucking perfect? They were supposed to be mean to him, but they seemed so nice.
“Umm- hi,” Tommy said, announcing his presence to the room. The three turned around to see Tommy, standing there kinda awkwardly.
“Hi bubs,” Wilbur said, being the first to speak. “I’m so glad you let Phil share this with us, and I wanted you to know that I support you- and love you. You’re still my younger brother.”
“What he said. You know I’m not great with words but just know that I love you.” Techno chimed in.
“I kinda already said this in the bathroom, but I love you mate.”
Tommy started tearing up. They were so good to him. “Thanks so much, you guys.” He said, plopping back down on the couch in between Phil and Wilbur. “Don’t really want to talk- can we just put on the movie?”
“Sure thing dude,” Techno said, starting UP.
Tommy had his head rested on Wilbur’s shoulder when his brain started going fuzzy. This was home, and Tommy felt safe. He was normally really invested in movies but didn’t normally cry at movies, which is why he was so surprised when tears started to fall.
“Is little Tommy sad that she died?” Wilbur poked fun. ”It’s alright, just wouldn’t have pegged you as a movie crier.”
“I’s jus’ that she n’vr got her baby,” Tommy sniffled out “‘an they n’vr got to go to falls, and now she gone”
“Woah, It’s- It’s ok” Wilbur responded obviously shocked by the sudden change in mood and speech pattern on Tommy’s behalf. “Are you ok? You seem a little out of it?”
“World’s just so big- and I feel tiny right now” The other two looked over at Tommy now- obviously concerned.
“Tommy, how old are you right now?” Technoblade asked. There were a few things wrong with this. Firstly techno blade never dealt with feelings, so him being the first to step up at Tommy’s “tantrum?” was concerning. Secondly, no one was supposed to know about the regressing. It was for Tommy and Tommy alone. How did techno even know what it was? But in Tommy’s confused state he didn’t even consider these problems or lying, so he held up four fingers. Techno got off the couch to crouch in front of the little, while Wilbur and Phil looked at each other, extremely confused.
“Oh, we’ve got a big boy! Do you want me to get anything? Or do you want to keep watching the movie?” Techno asked, shooting a glance at Wilbur and Phil that said ‘Don’t ask, I’ll explain later’ The two were still very confused but knew better than to bring it up at the moment.
“H’nry’s in m’ bag Techie-” Techno grinned at the nickname that he was now assigned. He would mock Tommy for it once he was big, but for the time being, he reached over to Tommy’s backpack and found a stuffed cow. After giving henry to the younger he looked back down at the bag to see if he had any other little gear. There was only one other thing in the bag, a little pencil pouch. Opening it Techno was glad that Tommy had come out earlier because finding a bag full of needles and testosterone bottles looked awfully like drugs if you didn’t already know someone was trans. Techno sighed at the lack of gear and went to his room. He returned with a soft blanket and a sippie cup. Tommy made grabby hands
“Not yet bubs- I’m gonna go fill this up with some water, then you can have it’ Techno said after handing the blanket over. Techno came back to the living room with a full sippy and went to hand it to Tommy, only to find that he was fast asleep, laid against Wilbur.
“So, Ummmm. I’ll explain” Techno started
“Thank you. I’m quite confused at the moment” Wilbur responded, Phil just nodded at Tech.
“So Tommy is an age regressor, which means that he reverts to like, a child’s mind when he feels especially stressed or safe. It’s absolutely nothing sexual, and he is completely normal in doing this. Many therapists recommend it actually. He doesn’t seem to have control over it, but some people do. The best thing to do is just treat him like a child until he goes back to being big.”
“Ok- wait why did you have a sippie cup in your room?” Wilbur asked
“I used to regress, don’t anymore. I have more control over it, and I haven’t needed to in like a year. I just haven’t bothered to take the things out of my bag. They come in handy sometimes” Techno responded, gesturing at the asleep Tommy, who was snuggled up to Wilbur on the couch.
“Ok. That’s a lot of information, but I think everything is good?” Phil asked.
“Yeah, it seems like he just was super comfy and slipped accidentally. Don’t bully him about it when he wakes up, he’ll probably be embarrassed. You can tease a bit to make him feel more comfortable though.”
“Ok. Good job taking up the role as dad, that’s normally my place” Phil responded. “I’m going to stay here, but we can change to a different movie if you guys want?”
“Nah,” Will responded. “As much as I give Tommy shit about it, I actually like this movie.”
So all three settled into the couch and got engrossed in the movie, while Tommy slept soundly next to Will.
--------------------
When Tommy woke up he felt safe. Still in the sleepy state from just waking up, he snuggled henry closer to his chest, making a content sighing noise.
“Hey, bubs- you up?” Asked Wilbur.
“Shhhhhhhh- still tired” Tommy responded.
“Ok- go back to sleep”
“ I can’t when you keep talking dickhead- I’m up now,” Tommy said, rubbing his eyes.
“How big are you?” Wilbur asked.
“The fuck? What do you mean?”
“Good to know. You were little when you fell asleep.”
“Fuck. You weren’t supposed to know- no one was supposed to know. It’s nothing weird I swear I was just safe, and I slipped, and It was an accident- and I’m so sorr-” Tommy’s ramblings were stopped by Wilbur when he started to play with the younger’s hair, still snuggled up next to each other.
“It’s ok bubs- I know. I still love you. I looked everything up last night, and I’m trying to learn for you. Philza and Tech are still both asleep in their rooms, but they are chill with it too. We all love you”
“Thanks. Thank you, Will.”
“Can ya’ll be quiet for a little longer pleasssseeee” Techno said loudly, coming out of his room.
“It’s like 8 in the morning, you should be up Techno,” Tommy said
“Techno? Awwww, what happened to ‘Techie’” Techno responded
“Shut up dickhead”
“Language,” Phil said coming out of his room as well.
“Looks like someone is having their BBH arc?” Wilbur joked at the oldest.
“Oh shut up mate. Looks like a certain gremlin child is up”
“I am not a gremlin!” Tommy insisted
“So you don’t reject the child part. Good to note” Techno said
“I don’t think I can after last night. Thank you by the way, for being so chill with everything yesterday.”
“No problem bubs- It was an eventful day, to say the least, but our opinions of you don’t change” Wilbur reassured
“Yeah dude- your still my annoying little brother”
“Shut up- Techie” Tommy added the name as an afterthought
“That isn’t as much of an insult as you think it is. Your making fun of yourself at this point.” Techno said.
“Boys- calm down” Philza insisted
“Yes, Dad,” Will, Techno, and Tommy said in unison, mocking him for falling so heavily into the father role.
“But again- thank you” Tommy restated.
“No problem. We love you” Wilbur said. And Tommy felt safe and loved. Everything was good.