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“Wilbur!” Tommy practically shouted, draping himself off of one of the makeshift table that had been set up, sprawling his wings out behind him, “Wilbur play with me.”
Wilbur brushed feathers off the table and nudged Tommy’s wing out of the way, “Tommy please, I told you, I’m trying to help Phil with blueprints.”
Phil only chuckled and shook his head. Tommy furrowed his eyebrows and grumbled under his breath.
“You’ve been doing that all day, can’t you take a break? I’m bored,” Tommy rolled off the table, hanging off Wilbur’s shoulder, his wings drooping.
“Not right now,” Wilbur went invisible and Tommy nearly face planted on the ground if he hadn't caught himself. Wilbur reappeared a few inches away from where he had been previously.
“Tommy, why don’t you go wake Ranboo up and see if he wants anything to eat and then you two can hang out,” Phil suggested, spreading his hands. Tommy crossed his arms in front of his chest and glanced over at the thin mat that Ranboo had been sleeping on most of the past week while his ender pearl was healing.
“Fine,” Tommy huffed, “I bet Ranboo’s more entertaining than you are Wilbur.” Tommy pushed himself up to his feet, puffing his feathers out.
“You can insult me all you want Tommy,” Wilbur waved his hand, raising one eyebrow, “it’s not going to change my answer.”
Tommy knelt down next to Ranboo’s sleeping form. The Enderian was curled up on his side, his tail curled tightly around his leg. The blue blanket that he had gotten a bit attached to was wrapped around his ankles from him shifting around in his sleep.
“Ranboo! Wake up,” Tommy shook his shoulder a bit more forceful than necessary. Phil might’ve wanted to warn him about being careful but it was too late for that now.
Thankfully Ranboo wasn’t startled. He chirped quietly and shifted, staring up at Tommy. He grimaced and rubbed his eyes saying something that Phil couldn’t hear from where he was sitting.
“Are you hungry?” Tommy asked after a moment of silence. Ranboo squinted and sat up slowly. He gave no visible or verbal response.
“Ranboo I think we still have some of those sweet berries left that you liked,” Phil chimed in. Ranboo’s ear twitched and he nodded.
“Ranboo let’s go on the roof, we can have a picnic,” Tommy said, leaning closer to Ranboo.
“Ok…? The roof?” Ranboo muttered, he rubbed his chest, tugging at his shirt. Tommy grinned and nodded, hurrying to his feet. He sifted through Phil’s bag of food and took out the pouch of berries, waiting for Ranboo.
Ranboo took a bit longer, he took the time to fold up the blue blanket and lay it carefully on the mat while Tommy waited patiently, shifting his weight back and forth. He scraped his talons against the wood and fidgeted with the pouch.
Ranboo finally stood up and nodded with a vwroop, satisfied.
“Come on,” Tommy half ran to the scaffolding that led up to the roof. Ranboo followed his tail swishing back and forth and he tilted his head with curiosity.
“Be careful you two,” Phil warned, “Ranboo make sure not to strain yourself too hard while you’re still recovering.”
“Okay,” Ranboo watched Tommy scale the scaffolding with practiced ease, his wings flaring out behind him to help him keep balance. Hesitantly Ranboo pulled himself up onto the scaffolding, his paws nearly slipping off.
Tommy looked over his shoulder and stopped near the top of the scaffolding.
“This is safe?” Ranboo asked, halfway up the scaffolding. He nearly slipped again, it was hard for him to grip the sticks that held together the scaffolding enough to push himself up.
“It’s safe as long as you don’t fall,” Tommy said, leaning over the side. Ranboo flinched, his ears drooping, “don’t worry big man, you’ve got this.” Ranboo nodded and continued climbing.
When Tommy was close enough to reach him, he held out his hand which Ranboo took hesitantly, and let Tommy pull him up to the platform that he was sitting on. Ranboo scrambled to get balanced, his tail wrapping around Tommy’s arm. He let out a small warble.
“Come on,” Tommy nudged the trapdoor open and squeezed through, tucking his wings tightly against his back. Ranboo poked his head up, glancing around at the top of the roof. There was a small flat area near the corner of the roof that was just big enough for the two of them to squeeze onto. Tommy was already settling on the flat of the roof.
“Are you coming or no?” Tommy asked, showing off the pouch of berries almost as a taunt. Ranboo glanced back at the scaffolding before pushing himself up through the trapdoor, crying out in surprise as it almost slammed shut on his tail. Tommy laughed at him.
Wilbur watched Ranboo disappear through the trapdoor in the roof and chuckled, shaking his head.
“Are you sure we should let them do that?” Wilbur asked, fidgeting with a pencil.
“I think it’s good for them,” Phil shrugged, “they’re bonding. As long as neither of them gets hurt I see nothing wrong with it.”
“Knowing Tommy, I wouldn’t be surprised if he pushes Ranboo off the roof.”
“I think that Tommy likes Ranboo more than he lets on,” Phil said, he licked his lips, scribbling some measurements down on a scrap piece of paper.
“Maybe,” Wilbur shrugged.
“My plan is that maybe if Ranboo gets more comfortable with us, especially Tommy, then after his pearl is healed he might want to stay,” Phil shifted, folding his wings behind his back. Wilbur couldn’t read his expression.
“Ah.”
Phil just chuckled and turned back to the blueprints.
“It’s nice up here,” Tommy said, leaning over the edge of the roof. He flared his wings out behind him and nearly whacked Ranboo in the face with them. Ranboo tugged at the hem of his shirt and wrapped the fabric around his hand.
“It’s a bit high up,” Ranboo scooted away from Tommy, moving towards the trapdoor. His tail curled and uncurled in a rhythmic pattern. He dug through the pouch of berries, the juice staining his fingers.
“Are you scared of heights, Ranboo?” Tommy asked, leaning closer with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“No, not particularly, I’m just not used to it,” Ranboo pursed his lips. He opened his mouth to say something then seemed to decide against it. He ate a berry instead.
Tommy sighed contentedly and leaned back, stretching out on the roof. He spread his wings out behind him, the joint of one of his wings was bent slightly off compared to the other one. Ranboo reached out with a berry in hand and placed it gently on Tommy’s knee.
Tommy looked up, confusion written on his features. Ranboo smiled gently. He placed another berry.
“I’m not a plate!” Tommy exclaimed.
“I’m sharing.” Ranboo shot back, Tommy pursed his lips.
“Well…” Tommy took the berries and popped them into his mouth, they left a red stain on his knee, “thanks… I guess.”
Ranboo vrwooped, pulling his knees up to his chest. There was berry juice smeared around his mouth which made it look like blood. Tommy stared at him with his eyebrows furrowed.
“What?” Ranboo asked nervously. Tommy reached forward, wiping the juice off his face with his hand, grumbling under his breath.
“Messy.”
“Oh.”
Tommy wiped his hand off on his pants. They sat in silence for a bit, Ranboo continued eating some of the berries. Occasionally he would put one on Tommy’s knee, his way of letting Tommy know he wanted to share.
One thing that Tommy noticed (and couldn’t tell if it bothered him or not) was that Ranboo was always making noise. Whether it was the slight rumbling from his chest or quiet chirps and warbles. Tommy wasn’t sure that Ranboo was aware that he was doing it.
He didn’t say anything about it though, that felt rude and Ranboo looked like he was enjoying himself at least a bit.
Tommy swallowed thickly and looked over at Ranboo. The Enderian was looking off into the distance, his head tilted to the side. He shivered from the wind.
“Do you wanna know why I like it up here so much?” Tommy asked before he even had the chance to think about it. Ranboo’s ear twitched and he turned to look at Tommy.
“The air?” Ranboo asked.
“It’s cause the air is thinner—” Tommy cut himself off, “wait how did you know?”
Ranboo leaned his chin on his knees, “I took a guess. This island isn’t very high off the ground. And I’ve heard you talk about the air a lot, I don’t really know what about though.”
“Oh,” Tommy hadn’t thought that Ranboo heard any of that, the Enderian spent most of the day sleeping or following Phil around.
“What about the air?” Ranboo asked, leaning forward, his eyes wide with curiosity.
“It’s uh…” Tommy scratched at the back of his neck, “Avian’s used to live really high up above the clouds y’know…?” Ranboo nodded, “and… since the air is a lot thinner up there, we evolved to be able to breathe up there and all that… but too much oxygen makes me light-headed after a while and I get a massive headache if I sleep on the ground. This is as high as I can go…”
“Can’t Avians fly?”
Tommy visibly grimaced, “well… yeah… but uh—you know…” Tommy swallowed thickly, curling his wings around himself, he spoke quickly almost all in one breath, “I got into some trouble with some hunters and I can’t really fly anymore because it didn’t heal properly.”
“Oh.”
That was the end of the conversations. Ranboo didn’t ask anything else. He put another berry on Tommy’s knee.
For some reason, Tommy started laughing. He didn’t like talking about his wings, and he never actually needed to unless they were bothering him because Phil and Wilbur already knew. Ranboo didn’t. Tommy figured that Ranboo might give him pity or feel bad for Tommy, but he didn’t. He gave him a berry, placed it in the same spot he had been placing other berries the past half hour. For some reason, that little berry became the funniest thing.
Ranboo jumped, he was looking at Tommy confused while he laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Ranboo asked, worry creeping into his tone, “did I do something wrong?”
“No, it’s… it’s just…” Tommy sighed, he rolled the berry between his fingers, “Phil and Wilbur already knew about my wings. I thought you might pity me or something when you found out. But… I got a berry instead… which wasn’t the reaction I was expecting.”
“Why would I pity you?” Ranboo curled his fingers around the pouch of berries.
“I don’t know… I mean what kind of Avian can’t even fly?”
“What kind of Enderian has a broken pearl?”
“Fair enough,” Tommy popped the berry into his mouth. He nearly jumped out of his skin feeling something brush against his arm. He looked down to see the fluff of Ranboo’s tail brushing against his elbow.
Tommy sighed and stared off at the horizon, “Ranboo do you wanna see me jump off the island?”
“Huh!” Ranboo exclaimed, “no!”
“Watch this!” Tommy stood up and brushed his hands off on his pants.
“Wait no!” Ranboo scrambled to his feet, trying to catch Tommy’s arm. But Tommy took a running jump off the roof, spreading his wings out. He wasn’t able to hold his weight in flight but he was able to glide still. Ranboo watched with wide eyes as Tommy descended, laughing the entire way down and occasionally looking over his shoulder to see Ranboo.
Ranboo vrwooped nervously, wringing his hands. He realized that he had spilled the remaining berries. He quickly shoved them back into the pouch. He couldn’t see Tommy anymore.
Ranboo was unsure if he should stay up on the roof or try to get down.
Since he didn’t want to be left alone up there, he decided to try his luck getting down off the scaffolding. The trapdoor was heavier than it seemed when Tommy opened it and Ranboo almost went sprawling off the scaffolding when he climbed back into the house. Ranboo’s claws dug into the wood this time, giving him a bit more grip.
“He jump off the roof again?” Phil asked, barely looking up from the blueprints when he heard the trapdoor open. Wilbur laughed, slouching over the table, his shoulders shaking.
“Can he… uh…” Ranboo hesitated at the top of the scaffolding.
“He’ll be fine, don’t worry,” Phil smiled.
Ranboo nodded, still clutching the pouch of berries. He vrwooped softly, his tail wrapping around one of the wooden poles.
“Do you need help down?” Phil asked, already standing up from the table that he was sitting at.
“Uhm…” Ranboo clenched his jaw, he nodded weakly.
“Alright, mate don’t worry. I’ll help.”
By the time that Phil had helped Ranboo get down off the scaffolding, Tommy was pulling himself up to the island and bursting through the door, a large grin on his face and leaves stuck in his wings and hair.
“Ranboo!” Tommy’s grin bubbled into laughter, “was that pretty cool or what.”
“Uh… yeah…” Ranboo said, hunching down. His eyes were darting around the room, Phil could see the anxiety in his posture.
“Ranboo can you preen my wings?” Tommy asked, his tone softer than before. Ranboo’s eyes widened.
“Huh?”
“Please,” Tommy stuck out his bottom lip in a pout, knowing that it always worked on Wilbur, “I’ll tell you how to do it.”
“I can try,” Ranboo’s face was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
“Hey! You can’t just replace me the one time I try and do something that doesn’t involve you,” Wilbur protested, pressing his hand to his chest in mock betrayal. Tommy stuck his tongue out at him and tripped over his feet as he made his way to his nest, flopping down in the mess of blankets.
“Ranboo if you’re tired you can sleep, Tommy can wait a bit with his wings,” Phil reassured him, spreading his hands in a placating gesture.
“I’m fine,” his voice was a bit clipped at the end with a hint of distortion.
Though when he approached Tommy’s nest he hesitated a bit. His mat was right next to the nest but Ranboo had never actually gone in Tommy’s nest.
Tommy patted the spot next to him. Ranboo first gathered the blue blanket that he had folded up and put on his mat earlier and wrapped it around his shoulders, clutching the fabric tightly. He nervously sat down in the nest near Tommy.
“I’ll tell you what to do okay!”
Ranboo nodded, pressing his lips into a thin line. There was a tightness in his chest that being near Tommy didn’t really help, but he didn’t want to feel the same crushing loneliness he sometimes felt by refusing Tommy’s request.
Tommy gave Ranboo a brief instruction of what he should do, Phil interjecting with a few things along the way and Ranboo began to card his fingers through Tommy’s feathers. His hands were shaking and Tommy could feel how bad they were each time he pressed his hand against his wing.
Ranboo’s movements were gentle and hesitant, he hummed under his breath as he adjusted Tommy’s feathers and picked dirt and down from his wings. Tommy could hear him muttering to himself in a different language, but at the moment he didn’t care to focus on that.
He let his eyes slip closed, relishing in the moment. Ranboo’s nails were long, and he was pretty sure that Ranboo also had claws that he could extend and retract but Tommy would have to ask later.
There was a fuzz in Tommy’s brain. And Ranboo’s movements were getting a little less shaky, the action giving him something else to focus on which loosened the tightness in his chest.
What surprised Ranboo was how soft Tommy’s feathers were. He figured they would’ve been, but compared to anything else, Ranboo would have to say they were the softest thing he’d ever felt.
Tommy was pulled from his stupor by Ranboo’s movements stopping. His hand rested on the base of Tommy’s wing.
“That okay?” Ranboo asked nervously, retracting his hand and curling it around his chest. Feathers were clinging to his shirt and pants.
“Mmm, yeah,” Tommy said, barely glancing back at his wings. He didn’t really need to examine them that closely, his wings felt better and less itchy and it was Ranboo doing it so he didn’t get that weird gross feeling when someone else touched his wings. That thought in itself was enough to pull Tommy fully back to consciousness. Since when did Ranboo gain the ability to touch his wings comfortably?
Tommy tried to think about that one. The only people he trusted were Phil and Wilbur. And Ranboo?
Tommy jumped when Ranboo’s hand rested at the base of his wing again.
“What?” Tommy asked quickly.
“Sorry…” Ranboo pulled his hand away, “soft…”
“Oh… you can… feel… if you want? I guess…” Tommy muttered, he looked over his shoulder and could practically see the internal battle Ranboo was having with himself. He tightened the blanket around his shoulders and chirped softly, his ears twitching.
“Can I lay down here…?” Ranboo asked, almost too quiet to hear.
“If you want,” Tommy shrugged, “if you wanna sleep you can too.”
Ranboo nodded and curled up on his side a bit away from Tommy, the blanket wrapped tightly around him.
“Thanks for hanging out with me,” Tommy muttered, leaning against the side of the nest. He folded his wings up behind himself.
Ranboo responded with a vwroop which Tommy didn’t know how to interpret as anything. Tommy noticed that he didn’t sleep but he still laid there with his eyes closed a few feet away from Tommy, his tail swishing back and forth. Tommy liked watching it move.
Without thinking, Tommy reached out, burying his hand in Ranboo’s hair. Ranboo opened his eyes but he didn’t make a move to pull away. Tommy scooted a bit closer which caused Ranboo to flinch.
“Are you okay with this?” Tommy asked quietly, low enough that Phil and Wilbur wouldn’t hear from across the room (though they probably could anyway.)
Ranboo nodded, a low rumble coming from his chest again.
Tommy scratched lightly at Ranboo’s scalp, running his fingers through his hair. He rubbed the skin around where his horns protruded from his head, knowing that Wilbur likes it when Phil did that. The rumbling in his chest got louder which Tommy noted sounded a lot like purring.
He decided that he liked the noises that Ranboo made.
Ranboo’s tail curled back and forth for a while, the only indication that he was still awake. He was completely still and his eyes were closed.
Tommy moved to scratch lightly behind Ranboo’s ears. Ranboo visibly relaxed, tension draining from his shoulders. He was out in a few seconds after that, his tail settling next to him. At least Tommy knew he liked his ears rubbed now.
In fear that if he moved, Ranboo would wake up, Tommy stayed there, his hand buried in Ranboo’s hair and absently rubbing behind his ears. It’s not like it was an uncomfortable position either. Tommy found himself quite comfortable.
He felt Wilbur or Phil staring at him, he didn’t look up to see. He didn’t care either.