Chapter Text
Tommy’s hands shook as he took deep breaths to try and steady himself. Webs of nightmares clung to his mind as he gathered his thoughts. His heart rate steadily slowed as he sighed, the wisps of memories beginning to fade as the details of the nightmare became more and more difficult to grasp. He looked around and frowned at the stoic grey walls. They never changed, he wasn’t much of a fan.
As the artificial sun had begun to rise, the lights in his room slowly became brighter as the minutes passed. He sat there for several moments, watching as they lit up the room more and more. Finally, he pushed himself up off the bed and to his feet. He stretched and groaned softly, making his way towards the door.
With a press of a few buttons on a keypad he couldn’t read, the door opened and he stepped out. He stepped quietly down the cool, metallic hallway as he reached the opening into the kitchen. Phil stood there, talking with Wilbur.
The two looked up and made what Tommy now identified as greeting noises. He greeted them as well and found a seat at the barstool. Wilbur walked over and leaned over the counter, speaking in words he didn’t understand. Tommy raised an eyebrow as he pushed him a glass of water. He sighed, “I don’t know what you’re saying, big man,” as he took the glass and took a small sip.
He quickly pulled away at the sour citrus taste and made a face. “Eugh, what is this? Is this fucking lemon juice? Does space have lemons?” He put the glass down, being extra animated in his displeasure.
Wilbur made a high clicking noise, his equivalent of a laugh. Phil shook his head, his feathers fluffed, with annoyance or amusement, Tommy couldn’t tell. He seemed to be fighting down a smile as he walked to the fridge and pulled out a large pitcher and poured another glass, handing it to the blond.
Before sipping, he took a small sniff of it, and sniffed the old glass, taking note of the differences. He took a larger sip of the water before pausing. He glanced back at the lemon-tasting liquid, before taking the glass and pouring a small bit into his water. He set the sour glass aside, pushing it back towards Wilbur, before taking a sip of the space equivalent of lemon water.
Both Phil and Wilbur seemed surprised by this, as Wilbur took the sour glass and handed it to Phil. The two exchanged words that Tommy still didn’t understand. He took another sip, irritated by the linguistics barrier that they still haven’t overcome. Was it difficult? Absolutely. Did they make it work? Barely.
As much as Tommy trusted them at this point, it was still incredibly stressful not knowing what anyone around him was saying to him or each other. He trusted they wouldn’t hurt him, he trusted they wouldn’t sell him out to whatever space police had been hunting him this whole time, but he couldn’t fully bring himself to put his complete faith in them. Not until he knew what they were saying. And, even though there were four others on the ship, he couldn’t help but feel lonely. Not that he had anyone to talk to about this.
He sighed and took another sip of the lemon water. Phil seemed to notice his unhappiness and walked over, gently nudging him. Tommy glanced over and offered him a halfhearted smile. “Just feeling lonely, big man, sorry.”
Phil tilted his head gently and spoke. Tommy shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re saying,” He repeated. The phrase was getting old.
Phil’s eyes filled with sorrow before patting Tommy’s back gently and walking away. Tommy turned back to the cup and sighed. On the bright side of all of this, he’d become very good at reading someone’s emotions. Including aliens.
Wilbur was watching him quietly, also seeming worried, before making a noise and a hand motion to wait. Tommy raised an eyebrow and took a larger drink, finishing off his space-lemon-water, as Wilbur left to do whatever he was planning to do. He brought his cup over to the large basin, it was like a sink, but much larger. He rinsed his cup out before setting it in a tray to the right, unwashed dishes.
He glanced around the room and waited for Wilbur to return. After a minute or so, he arrived, holding something. The bluish-green alien approached quickly and handed the yellow cow-like plush. He couldn’t bite back a smile as he took what he dubbed a “moobloom” from him. It was a yellow and white cow-like creature with black eyes and yellow flowers coming out of its back. He held it for several moments before hugging it close, his smile widening. “Thanks, big man.”
Wilbur smiled and replied with what Tommy had gathered was the equivalent of “you’re welcome.” He hummed and tried to mimic the noise. Wilbur’s ears pricked up a bit in surprise, before he repeated the word again, slower. Tommy copied it again and again, until he got an eager nod from Wilbur, seeming to have gotten the word right.
He went over the words he’d picked up from the crew and their meanings, adding this new word to the list.
He squeezed the plush again, they were incredibly soft and squishy. Wilbur’s smile widened as he saw Tommy be comforted by the plush. He patted his shoulder gently before turning and walking off, likely towards his lab. He shifted in his spot for a moment. He never really knew what to do during the days. At first, he’d spent his time exploring the ship, taking notes of strange symbols and trying to identify what they mean.
He’d managed to figure out that “⎅⟟⌇⊑” probably meant dishes, as the label was repeated wherever bowls, plates, and cups were. There was a different label for silverware though, “⎎⌰⏃⏁⍙⏃⍀⟒”, which was too many symbols for Tommy to commit to memory.
However, Tommy had probably been through the entirety of the ship a hundred times, he’s looked in every nook and cranny, he’s committed the entire layout to memory. And now he’s bored.
He laid his head on the counter and closed his eyes, wondering if he could just fall asleep here. After a moment, he felt something prod his side gently. He jerked upwards, startled, and saw Ranboo standing over him, his ears down and tail twitching anxiously. He relaxed a bit and sighed. “Oh, hey Ranboo,”
The tall black and white alien tilted his head worriedly. He shook his head. “I’m alright big man, just bored,”
He stared at him and Tommy sighed. “Right, you’ve got no clue what I’m saying either,” He reached up and pat Ranboo’s shoulder gently before standing up. “I’ll be alright,” He assured, before walking off to wherever, squeezing the plush close to his chest.
Ranboo watched after him, letting out several anxious trills, before returning to his duties presumably. Tommy let out a soft sigh and made his way back to his room, not bothering to close the door and flopping down onto his bed. He curled up against the pillow and buried his face in it, closing his eyes.
After a while, he almost managed to fall asleep. Almost. First, he felt a bit of turbulence, and the engines of the ship shutter to a stop, suggesting they’ve landed somewhere. After about ten more minutes, he felt a gentle tap on his shoulder and looked over to see Wilbur watching him with a worried expression. He motioned to him to get up.
With a heavy sigh, Tommy pulled himself up from the comfort of the mattress. “What’s up, big man?”
Wilbur let out a soft trill and led him out into the main room. The rest of the crew stood in the room, all of which were dressed in more formal clothing and had bags. Tommy made a soft noise. They typically did this when they were stopping to restock on resources, just so he knew they were leaving. He nodded gently. “Alright, I’ll just stay here.”
Phil made a greeting chirp to him and chirped to the others, before showing Tommy his palm, in an instruction to stay. Tommy rolled his eyes. “I get it, man, stay on the ship or get hunted down by fuckin’, space police or whatever the fuck they are.”
Phil tilted his head before approaching him and patting his shoulder gently. They’ve picked up the reassuring gesture from him, and he couldn’t help but smile a bit. He looked down and laughed softly. “Fuck off, go do your shit.”
Phil seemed to understand and nodded, turning to the rest and beckoning them along. And with that, Tommy was left alone on the ship. He sighed and sat down on one of the sofas, leaning back and staring at the ceiling for several moments. If there was nothing to do before, now that he was alone, there was definitely nothing to do.
After several moments, he decided he wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep, and stood up, beginning to pace around. Unsurprisingly, there was nothing new on the ship. He sighed in frustration as he began to eye the doorway to the cargo bay, where the exit was. It was the first time they’ve landed in a long while, and Tommy hasn’t left the ship since he joined the crew, surely just a minute of fresh air wouldn’t kill, right?
He hesitated as he stared down the door. Just a peek, just a quick breath, then he’d go back in. He approached the doorway before hesitating. He should get something to hide in. He turned back towards the rooms and made a beeline towards Techno’s room. He had a lot of cloaks and capes, and they were roughly the same size, he wouldn’t mind if Tommy borrowed one, surely. He entered the pin to the bedrooms and made a satisfied noise as Techno’s room opened.
His room was relatively plain, seeming only to contain the essentials, though his desk had several small boxes on it. Tommy made a mental note to go through those at some point. He turned to his closet, opening it, and began to push through his fancy tunics and suits. He pushed them aside and grinned when he was met with the red, fluffy cloaks that Techno always seemed to wear. He found one with a hood and happily pulled it off the hanger and tied it around his shoulders, before turning and leaving, closing the doors behind him. He made it to the cargo bay and took a deep breath.
He’s not going too far away, just outside to feel the sun and get some fresh air. He pulled the hood over his head and pressed the button that opened the door. He took a sharp breath as it opened to the decontamination chamber. He stepped in and heard the door close behind him. Tommy squeezed his eyes shut as the mist of fast-drying antiseptic filled the room, followed by the fans turning on. Once he was dried, the door opened. Tommy took a sharp breath at the light. It was so bright outside.
After a few moments, he took a step out and onto the staircase down. There were several ships docked around, and he couldn’t help but marvel at their size. Phil’s ship was about half the size of most of the others. He stepped down the stairs and walked up to one nearby, gaping at how massive it was. It was almost intimidating.
He suddenly heard the sound of glass shattering and whipped around to see a four-armed alien fumbling with several jars, one shattered on the ground. They looked frustrated as another one, looking nearly alike, approached with a cackling noise and took some of the jars.
Tommy nearly turned back to get back on the ship before his eyes landed on the city nearby. It was colorful, very colorful. All of the buildings were bright, the pathways were a marble-esque material, and the windows were geometric stained glass. The larger, more intricate buildings, had more intricate stained glass. He offhandedly wondered if the intricacy of the stained glass was a symbol of status or wealth of some kind. He hummed to himself and began down the path. The light reflecting off the glass was beautiful, painting the streets in every color of every shade. Some buildings seemed to be more themed than others.
Soon he realized he was in some kind of market, there were booths all around with different things on display. Some had gemstones, some had jewelry, some had food, and he was tempted to approach one of them.
He felt someone bump into him and mutter what he inferred to be an apology, before feeling his blood freeze as he remembered where he was. Immediately he turned and began to make his way back to the ship before he felt something grip his arm. He yelped in a panic as he was tugged out of the light and into a dark alleyway.
.oOo.oOo.oOo.
Phil sighed as his feathers twitched anxiously. Wilbur gave him a look. “Phil, he’ll be fine,”
“I know I know, but I still worry.”
“He’s human, Phil. He’s the last person on this crew we have to worry about,” Techno chimed in.
“Yes, I know, but you all saw how he looked this morning. He’s upset,” He argued, his feathers fluffing a bit.
Wilbur sighed. “We all know, Phil, but can you really blame him? He doesn’t know what we’re saying, we don’t know what he’s saying, I’d be pretty depressed if I was in that spot.”
“He probably feels lonely,” Ranboo added quietly, his ears down as he spoke.
A small, distressed chirp managed to escape Phil’s throat at that. They were all pretty confident that Tommy was the youngest member of their crew, and he clearly wasn’t doing well, but there wasn’t much they could really do until they learned to understand each other. They tried, they really did, but it was difficult.
Phil sighed. “Alright, let’s just finish restocking,”
Ranboo straightened a little bit. “Maybe we can give him something? Something to help cheer him up?”
Phil smiled a bit at the idea. “Yeah, I’m sure he’d appreciate it, Ranboo.”
The Enderain’s ears pricked up happily. “What do humans like?”
“Tommy loves the Ranuntaurus plush I gave him,” Wilbur offered, “so they probably like soft things.”
Ranboo nodded and hummed. “I’m gonna look around for something,”
Phil nodded as Wilbur stepped forward. “I’ll go with you,”
Ranboo seemed pleased at this and turned to begin exploring the market stalls again. Phil turned to Techno. “Wanna take the rest of this stuff back to the ship?” He hummed, motioning to the crates of supplies.
Techno nodded simply and they placed the crates on the wagon, leading it to the hangar. They carried the boxes through decontamination and set them inside the cargo bay.
“I’m gonna go see how Tommy’s doing, it’s been a bit,”
Techno nodded, opening the first crate to start putting things away.
Phil made his way to the main room. “Tommy?” He called.
He got no response but wasn’t very surprised. Though, as he made his way through each room, finding them empty, his anxiety grew, his calls for the blond became more frantic. By the time he’d been through the entire ship, his heart was practically skipping beats as he sprinted back to the cargo bay. “Techno!” He yelled, startling the Piglin.
Techno looked up, his eyes blown wide and searching for the danger. “What?”
“Tommy’s gone,” He panted, “He’s not on the ship,”
Techno straightened up. “Are you sure?”
“Positive, I checked every room, he isn’t on,”
He had an unreadable expression for several minutes before turning. “Then he probably left,”
Phil felt his wings fluff up. “What?”
“He’s been uncomfortable since the day he joined our crew. I wouldn’t be surprised if he took this opportunity to leave,”
Agitation flooded the Elytrian’s veins. “Techno, you can not be serious right now,”
“I am,”
His wings fluffed out even more. “Techno! He wouldn’t just leave like that!”
Technoblade turned to face him suddenly. “And how do you know that? Did he tell you? Or do you just want to believe that? Face the facts, Phil, the most obvious answer is the most likely answer, he probably just wanted to leave.”
Phil turned. “I don’t think that’s what happened, Techno. I’m gonna go look for him.”
Techno gave him a look before sighing. “Fine, but if he doesn’t want to come back, don’t force him.”
“I’m not taking him prisoner, Techno.”
Techno only hummed and turned back to the crates.
Phil sighed to himself. Surely Tommy wouldn’t just leave, right?
.oOo.oOo.oOo.
Tommy slapped the hand that covered his mouth away and snapped. “Who the fuck are you?!”
The hand covered his mouth again. “Shut the fuck up- do you want to get caught!?”
Tommy froze before slapping the hand away once more. “You speak English?!” He whispered.
The other looked back at him and Tommy got a good look at him. He was shorter than Tommy by several inches, he wore mostly black and brown, a mask covering the lower half of his face and goggles with a hood covering the upper half. He had gloves that, strangely, only had three fingers, and had a lot of padding with his clothes. “Of fucking course I do!” The figure hissed back.
His heart pounded against his ribcage and his eyes lit up. “Holy shit, holy shit! I haven’t spoken to anyone in so long!” His voice broke as he grabbed the figure’s shoulders.
The figure paused and turned to look at him. “What?”
“I haven’t had an actual conversation in fucking months, what’s your name? Where are you from? Oh my god, oh I have so many fucking questions, I-”
“Hold on, hold on, slow down,” The figure laughed a bit, putting their hands up. “You’re human,”
Tommy immediately froze a bit. “I- well- you see-”
“It’s okay, I am too, my name’s Tubbo,”
Tommy felt his limbs sag with relief as he grinned. “Pleasure to meet you, Tubbo, I’m Tommy.”
The boy nodded. “It’s good to talk to another human,”
The blond laughed. “It’s good to talk, man, I’ve been on some crew for like, three months now and we still can’t communicate well,”
The boy seemed startled. “You have a crew?”
“Yeah, fuckin, bird guy, tall guy, pig guy, gh-”
“Are you crazy?”
Tommy blinked at the boy’s tone. “Pardon?”
“Are you insane?! They’re gonna turn you in!”
“My friend, I’ve been with them for months, if they were gonna turn me in, they would’ve done it already.”
“How sure are you?” The shorter demanded, crossing his arms.
“Why the hell would they keep me for so long?”
Tubbo shrugged. “I don’t know man, to study you?”
Tommy went a bit rigid at that. “No.”
He paused at his adamance before looking down. “Oh, you came up here on one of those ships too?”
The blond looked away. “I figure most humans do, most aliens don’t exactly seem eager to come to meet us.”
Tubbo was quiet for several moments. “You said you’ve been with them for three months now?” He asked, his voice just above a whisper.
Tommy looked at him and nodded. “Yeah, you should join us, they’re fucking great,”
“I… I don’t know, I mean, I haven’t met a single alien I trust yet.” Tubbo sighed, shifting on his feet.
Tommy hummed. “Have you given any of them a chance? I mean maybe you just haven’t met the right ones.”
“You make it sound like marriage.” Tubbo snickered.
Tommy couldn’t help but laugh aloud at that. “Well, I mean, you are probably sticking with them for life, so it isn’t far off innit?”
The two shared a laugh and Tommy grinned before sitting down. “So, what’s your story, big man?”
Tubbo stared for a moment before joining him on the floor. “I mean, I figured you could work that out yourself, I came on one of the research ships, haven’t left.” He shrugged.
“Well no shit,” Tommy scoffed, “But what then? I mean, you’re alive now, you’ve gotta have been doing shit in between.”
Tubbo chortled a bit before nodding. “Well, it’s really just a lot of trial and error. I figured out what’s safe to eat by eating it and not dying, I figured out how to hunt some of the small things on this planet, I’ve basically just been getting by.”
Tommy hummed. “Sounds like you’re having the time of your life,”
“Yeah,” He snorted. “You could say that. I’ve got a little hideout outside of town, these guys don’t really leave the town border so I’m pretty safe.”
Tommy nodded. “Found anything that tastes good yet?”
“Oh god, man, everything tastes bad here.”
“What!? Oh, come on, there has to be something good,”
“There really isn’t! Everything tastes burnt or sour, or both.”
“Eugh,”
“Yeah, it fuckin’ sucks!” Tubbo yelled, throwing his hands up. “The fruit those stalls sell tastes alright, but everything else man,”
Tommy burst into laughter at Tubbo’s annoyance. “You really should join my crew, big man, they’d love you.”
Tubbo hesitated and looked away. “I don’t know, I mean, all it takes is one of them turning us in and we’re screwed.”
“I’ve crashed one of those ships and escaped alive, I can crash another.” Tommy scoffed.
The shorter let out a startled laugh. “Really?”
“Oh yeah, I’ve crashed like, two ships since I’ve been up here, they really underestimate humans.”
“Huh, well that’s good to know.”
“Yeah, they’re also kinda shit at chasing us down. Most of them are slow as fuck, except some of the winged bitches, they can fly like hell.” Tommy scowled at a memory of being chased down by one, not Phil, but a smaller one with brown and white wings. Not a good memory.
Tubbo hummed. “I think those ones are called Elytrians,”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I bought a book a few weeks back and I’ve been trying to read it, it's about them.”
Tommy froze. “Wait, you can-”
Suddenly, he heard wings flapping and a yell. “Tommy?!”
He quickly turned to see Phil, with Wilbur and Ranboo in tow. The winged alien looked incredibly relieved to see him when suddenly Tubbo gripped his wrist with startling strength and pulled him to his feet. “Wait-!”
Tubbo pulled him down alleyways and corners. He could hear Phil yelling for him, sounding absolutely distraught. “Tubbo!” He yelled as they moved.
The shorter boy didn’t respond, only pulling him along. After the third corner, Tommy planted his foot in the ground and yanked away, catching the other off guard. “Tommy, what are you doing?!” He immediately demanded.
“Tubbo, they’re my crew!”
Tubbo looked between Tommy and the open alley. “They’re aliens! We don’t know what they want to do!”
“If they were gonna do something, they’d do it already! And they’re not like that Tubbo, just trust them- just trust me,” Tubbo stared at him, and even though he couldn’t see his face, he could see some kind of desperation in his stance as he continued, quieter. “Please,”
The shorter hesitated and Tommy heard footsteps behind him. Phil turned the corner, his wings fluffed and a distressed look on his face. He looked a bit frantic when he saw the blond, before speaking in that foreign language that he didn’t know. Tubbo froze as he spoke, looking between Tommy and Phil, as Ranboo and Wilbur turned the corner as well.
Tommy took a breath. “Tubbo, they’re safe, they’re not gonna hurt me, they won't hurt either of us, but please, trust me,”
Tubbo stared at him. “Tommy, I…” He trailed off, seeming unsure.
Tommy took a soft breath. “Tubbo, you’re the first person I’ve met that can understand me, they’re not gonna hurt you, and if they do we can both leave, just please, give them a chance.”
Phil spoke behind him, a bit of urgency in his voice, as Tubbo looked between the two. Tommy offered a hand. “Please, Tubbo.”
With that, Tubbo’s arms went slack. After several seconds, he reached up and pulled down his hood, revealing a mess of brown hair, before pulling off his goggles and mask and looking up to meet Phil’s eyes.
Phil seemed to freeze as he realized Tubbo was also a human. The shorter hesitantly moved to Tommy’s side, before taking a breath and speaking in that language. Tommy gaped as Phil’s eyes widened. After a moment, Phil responded and Tommy yelled. “Holy fuck you know the language?!”
Tubbo let out an airy laugh. “I mean, kind of?”
Tommy burst into laughter and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. “Oh man, you just became the official ship translator, my friend.”
Tubbo grinned. “I’m gonna mistranslate everything you say.”
Despite the threat, Tommy couldn’t help but laugh. Things were about to get a lot easier.