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- - 1 - -
Every soulmate has a different thing that connects them, something special. Sometimes they’re able to feel each other’s emotions or see through their partner’s eyes for a few seconds.
Tommy’s soulmates were able to see the markings on his skin. This would’ve been pretty cool if it weren’t for the fact that the blond was constantly hiding bruises from them. Oh, and the fact that they didn’t even know who their third member was. Tubbo and Ranboo were left completely in the dark, and Tommy wanted it to stay that way.
It was easier said than done.
“Hey,” Tommy's hand was tight around his phone. “Do you mind if I stay at your place tonight?”
There was a pause.
“Of course. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” he was quick to reassure. “I just don’t want to be home right now.”
There was a soft hum of understanding. “Ranboo’s coming over, too.”
Oh, great.
“Okay.”
He hung up pretty quickly after that and slowly pushed himself up from where he was laying on his bed, careful to silence any squeaks that came from the mattress. He warily made his way toward the front door, freezing when he saw his parents sitting together on the couch, acting as though everything was fine. They turned to look at him as soon as his hand wrapped around the doorknob, and he glanced away guiltily. So much for trying to be quiet.
“Tom,” his father twisted around, his back toward the show he was watching. “You better not be going out like that.”
He suppressed a small squeak of fear and wrapped his arms around himself.
“I—I’m just going over to Tubbo’s.”
“And?” his mother spoke, her eyes still fixed firmly on him. “Hide those feathery monstrosities. I’m sure he doesn’t want to see them.”
He did. He had told Tommy countless times that he thought his feathers were cool. Ranboo had, too.
Tommy went upstairs to bind his wings to his back and grab a larger sweater to hide them. The clothing covered his arms better than his previous sweater had. He walked back down the stairs and was completely ignored this time. Tommy almost called a goodbye to his parents but instead decided to shut his mouth. The most he would get in response was an annoyed grumble.
Tubbo didn’t live very far from Tommy, maybe a twenty minute walk, but it felt like so much longer today, when all he was craving was a hug from his soulmate. When he arrived at the house, with his hands tucked into the pockets of his hoodie and his head bowed, the door swung open almost instantly.
“Tommy!” Tubbo’s voice called in greeting, and he flinched at the loud noise. “Oh, sorry.”
Tommy looked up to give Tubbo a weak smile and found Ranboo standing behind the smaller boy, his eyes wide and concerned.
“Are you having a bad day?” Tubbo asked softly and Tommy nodded slowly, flushing and looking away from Ranboo’s curious face.
He had never let the older boy see him in this state before.
“That’s alright. What do you want to do? Watch a movie? We can play games or something.”
Tommy shrugged.
The other boy observed him for a quiet moment. “Let’s go inside, Toms.”
Tommy shuffled after his friend, making a beeline toward the couch. He flopped onto it and didn’t complain when Tubbo threw a blanket over him, only squirming further into the warmth.
“Is he okay?” Ranboo whispered to Tubbo, eyes tracking the blond's movements.
“Yeah, he just gets like this sometimes.”
Tommy felt a pang of guilt. Tubbo and Ranboo were obviously hanging out together, probably having fun, and Tommy had come by to ruin it. He was being selfish and inconsiderate.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, already moving to sit up. “I can—I can go.”
“No!” Ranboo and Tubbo spoke together, and the older boy continued. “We want you here.”
He couldn’t make himself believe it.
“Do you want to take your wings out?”
He shook his head. He didn’t want to get feathers all over his friend’s home. He couldn’t be more of an annoyance than he already was.
“You know binding them isn’t good for you.”
His lip quivered. “I just want to be normal.”
“Tommy,” Tubbo breathed, coming over to sit beside him. They’d had this conversation so many times before that Tommy could practically predict his next words. “You don’t need to change to fit your parents’ ideals. There is no such thing as normal.”
“But it would be so much easier,” he argued, his voice cracking. “It would be—it’d be better.”
“You have a gift for a reason, Toms. Just because your parents say something doesn’t mean you should believe them.”
“But—”
“Do you want me to be normal?” Ranboo chimed in, his tail swaying behind him anxiously. Tommy turned to stare at him in horror.
“No!”
“Then why should you?”
“Because mine is stupid. It’s nothing but a hindrance.”
“It won’t always be,” Tubbo pointed out.
Tommy only shrugged in response. He knew something was wrong with his wings; he could feel it. They weren’t growing as fast as they should be, and he constantly had feathers falling out. Honestly, he would be lucky if he could even glide.
“Can we just—” his voice broke. “Can we talk about something else?”
They nodded, but the look on Tubbo’s face told him that this wasn’t the last they’d hear of it.
They spent the night snacking and watching movie after movie, all light topics of course, until they passed out, sprawled out on the floor in a nest of blankets that eased Tommy’s anxiety. These nights were definitely his favorite, but he knew he couldn’t have them forever.
- - 2 - -
It had been a hard day. His parents had found several feathers in his room, which he had foolishly forgotten to clean up after a quick preening session, and they had even discovered the small nest under his bed.
So they had punished him.
And he received a call from Tubbo right after.
“Hey,” he greeted, an emotion in his voice that the blond couldn’t figure out. “Ranboo and I were going to go to the park. Wanna come?”
He ached for the company so much that he couldn’t say no.
He grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a loose sweater from his closet before rushing out the door, avoiding the scolding eyes of his parents. They didn’t care where he went as long as he wasn’t near them, and Tommy never really wanted to be near them anyway.
When he arrived at the park, Tubbo and Ranboo were wearing sweaters as well, and Tommy winced, hoping they couldn’t feel the pain that accompanied the marks beneath those sleeves.
“Hey,” Ranboo greeted gently, his eyes soft. “Do you want to go for a walk?”
Tommy shrugged, looking to Tubbo. He nodded encouragingly and Tommy found himself agreeing, even though he wanted nothing more than to sit in the grass and breathe in the warm breeze.
They walked mostly in silence, but Tommy could feel himself getting restless. He wanted somebody to speak, to fill the tense air with words and laughter. So he did.
“I thought you had to study, boob boy, what with you being so smart and all.”
The tension dissipated.
“Yeah, I forgot. I guess I have to leave now, my smartness can’t be seen hanging out with you two.”
“Oh come off it, prick.”
They walked a trail around the park, stopping at an ice cream stand to get a cone before continuing on their way. The light bickering trailed off into a relaxed conversation between Tubbo and Ranboo that Tommy was content just listening to.
“Hey,” Tubbo suddenly turned to him, stopping him in his tracks from where he was absentmindedly licking his ice cream. “You do know you can tell us anything, right?”
Tommy stiffened before relaxing again, shaking the melted dessert off his hand and tugging on his sleeves. “Yeah, I know.”
There was a hesitant silence.
“As long as you’re aware,” he murmured, and Tommy raised a brow in confusion.
“Um, yeah,” and the conversation moved on.
- - 3 - -
I’m here for you.
The words were written in the scrawling script of Ranboo’s handwriting, and Tommy knew it was aimed at Tubbo. Who else would it be aimed at? It wasn’t like they knew they had a third soulmate. Not many people had a bond connecting them to more than one person.
So the message written on the palm of his hand was for Tubbo, and Tommy felt his heart clench in response, wishing somebody cared about him enough to check up on him, to leave a simple message in ink and hope it made it through to the other side. Instead, he was left crouching over a toilet and desperately trying to stop himself from throwing up. He hadn’t gone to school that day due to a high fever, but it probably would’ve been better if he had. At least then he would have the energy to get up and drink water.
“Tom, get out of the bathroom!” a voice yelled, and Tommy flinched. He stood to flush the toilet and quickly washed his hands, shrinking into himself at the pounding on the door as his vision swam. He swung the door open to see his mother standing on the other side, a scowl on her face.
“Now look at the mess you made.”
He glanced over his shoulder to see his feathers scattered across the bathroom floor. Shit.
“Sorry,” he apologized quickly, scurrying back to scoop up the feathers, his wings twitching.
“You should be,” she hissed. “Now get out. And if you’re going to skip school to be lazy, you might as well do chores.”
Going to school would’ve been so much better. He noted that down for next time.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Get out.”
He scampered out of the room with the feathers held tightly in his fists and his wings curled over his shoulders. It took him only a couple seconds to reach his room, tossing the feathers in a trash can on his way. He dropped onto his bed, hoping fiercely for his nausea to go away, but no such luck. A quick glance at his phone revealed several concerned texts from his friends, but he couldn’t bring himself to answer with his eyes burning from the light.
“Chores, Tom!”
Tommy sighed and heaved himself to his feet once more. He bound his wings as quickly as he could—his parents didn’t want his feathers getting anywhere in the house—and made his way toward the kitchen, where he knew he’d have to scrub the dishes until they were sparkling.
He resigned himself to be doing chores for the rest of day, with little to no break despite his illness, and settled himself by the sink.
A few hours later, a new message appeared on his wrist.
We both are.
Tommy frowned.
- - 4 - -
There were new bruises on Tommy’s arms, ones that didn’t come from himself. There weren’t many, but enough for him to seek out his friends and check up on them. His suspicions were confirmed when they didn’t answer his calls.
It took only a few minutes for Tommy to jog to Tubbo’s house and knock on his door. His parents were the ones who answered, and they kindly told him that Tubbo had left about thirty minutes ago and said he wouldn’t be back until later. Tommy thanked them with a small smile and started jogging toward Ranboo’s house. He stopped outside the door and knocked, this time having to wait a few minutes for an answer.
“Hey, kiddo. Ranboo and Tubbo are upstairs.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Beloved,” Tommy slipped past her and climbed the stairs, pausing outside the room when he heard muffled voices. He knocked and slowly pushed it open to see his friends staring at him.
“Tommy,” Tubbo’s voice sounded relieved.
“Hey,” he entered the room and shut the door behind him. “Neither of you were answering my calls. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, Ranboo was just—”
“It—it hurts, running into things,” Ranboo spoke softly, his hands rubbing at his arms. “I can’t imagine having to deal with it every day.”
“What do you mean?” Tommy asked. He moved forward to perch on the edge of the bed next to Tubbo.
“I…ran into something and got banged up a bit,” Ranboo muttered, and Tommy could tell he wasn’t being entirely truthful. “Tubbo helped, and it won’t happen again, but I can’t—I can’t imagine our soulmate feeling this every day.”
“What soulmate? Tubbo?”
“No, our third.”
“Ranboo,” Tubbo mumbled softly, and the taller boy glanced away.
“Sorry,” he murmured. “I just—wish I could help, is all.”
“I’m sure they’re dealing with it,” Tommy tried to offer comfort, but he felt like he was walking on glass. “They know what they’re doing and what they can take.”
“Do they though? Because it almost feels like they’re drowning.”
“Then they would come to you,” and he would. If Tommy genuinely felt like he was going to die, he would tell his soulmates. He just hadn’t reached that point yet.
Tubbo and Ranboo both seemed to relax after that and Tommy was glad he could provide some comfort to them, even if it wasn’t as much as he wished he could. It was better for them if they didn’t know he was their third soulmate. After all, two will always be closer than three.
“Well, while we’re all here,” Tubbo pushed himself to his feet. “Why don’t we go down to that restaurant nearby and get something to eat?”
They all agreed and made their way out of the house, nodding gratefully to Ranboo’s moms as they went.
- - 5 - -
Okay, so maybe he was avoiding his friends. But that didn’t mean they should come after him. Like, hello? Doesn’t privacy exist?
“What the fuck are you guys doing?” Tommy hissed, looking over his shoulder and halting in place only a few feet from the front of his house.
“We’re checking on our best friend because someone decided it was a good idea to ghost us.”
“For no reason,” Tubbo added.
“I have a perfectly good reason,” the blond protested, not having a reason at all.
“Yeah?” the shortest challenged, his eyes bright.
“Yeah,” Tommy snarled back.
“So what is it?”
“I, uh… I think you’re both stupid. That’s why.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Mhm.”
The truth was, Tommy wasn’t an idiot. He saw how happy Tubbo and Ranboo looked when they were hanging out together and how happy they looked to be sharing a bond without him. He knew he would only mess it up, tear them apart, make them snap, whatever they wanted to call it. He’d change the relationship and make it worse, so he might as well start distancing himself now. It wasn’t like they would care much; they still have each other to play games with and chat to.
“What’s the real reason?”
“I just told you, prick. You’re stupid.”
“Tommy, you’re not fooling anybody,” Tubbo took a step closer and Tommy took a step back. His eyes tracked the movement. “Did we do something wrong?”
“No!” Tommy protested, because even if he was trying to push them away, he didn’t want to make them feel bad.
“A bad day?”
A shake of his head. It wasn’t a complete lie.
“Then what?” Tommy could hear him getting impatient. “I can’t help if you don’t tell me.”
“I don’t need help.”
“Bullshit. Come on, Toms. You refused to sit with us at lunch today, didn’t return any of my waves when we passed in the halls, blew off Ranboo for that library study session you promised to do, and didn’t even wait for us after the final bell to chat for a bit. You can’t tell me nothing’s wrong.”
“I’m fine,” his mouth formed around the words that now came easily to him.
“You’re not. Come on, we care about you. We’re your friends. We’re not just going to accept you distancing yourself. Right, Ranboo?”
The taller boy nodded rapidly, his tail flicking in agreement. “He’s right, Tommy.”
“Fuck off,” he muttered, wrapping his arms around himself.
Suddenly, a door opened behind the three boys and Tommy tensed, recognizing the impatient huff of breath that came from his father’s mouth. He could feel the man’s heavy gaze staring a hole through the back of his head.
“I gotta go,” he muttered, readjusting his bag strap and turning to walk toward his house.
“Oh, hey!” Tubbo kept pace with Tommy, waving joyously at the man in the doorway. “You must be Tommy’s father. I’m Tubbo.”
“Nice to meet you,” the man returned politely, although his eyes were still fixed firmly on Tommy.
“Yeah, you too. Um, I was wondering if we could have a sleepover tonight?”
Tommy froze, his eyes widening in horror. Even Ranboo seemed to sense a line being crossed, but Tubbo kept the fake grin on his face.
“He has a lot of homework to finish, I’m sure,” his father’s voice was tight.
“We have the same classes, though,” Tubbo assured. “It wouldn’t be a problem. It could even be like a study session.”
“I would let you guys, but he hasn’t done his chores yet.”
“We can help him do them now? Please sir, just for the night?”
Tommy avoided his father’s burning gaze and instead focused on his feet.
Normally it wouldn’t be an issue spending the night at his friend’s house. He was actually there more often than not. However, wasting his father’s time to actually ask was what made him want to say no. Tommy didn’t understand it, but he understood that his father hated wasting time when he could be doing something else, like watching his favorite show on the tv, because that was so productive.
“Just for tonight, boys. And you’re gone by ten tomorrow.”
Tubbo bounced in his excitement, turning to grin widely at Tommy and Ranboo.
“We have to go pack our things!” the shorter boy said, and Tommy furrowed his brow.
“Wait, where are we spending the night?”
“Here, idiot,” he laughed. “C’mon, Ran.”
“Wait, my house?” Tommy asked frantically. “I thought we were going to yours!”
“You’ve been to mine so much, though. I wanted to see what your house looks like.”
“Alright, boys,” his father still had his eyes fixed on Tommy. “You better get going, and Tommy will have to get his chores done before you get back.”
They waved goodbye and as soon as they were out of sight, the older man had dragged Tommy into the house and slammed the doors. He glowered down at the blond, ignoring his mother when she asked what was going on.
“What are you playing at, kid?” he snapped. “You know we don’t like having people over. Especially more hybrids.”
“I—I didn’t know they were going to ask.”
“Do you think I’m stupid?” Tommy wanted to say yes, but his mouth stayed firmly shut. “You brought your friends here because you knew I couldn’t say no to them with our neighbors watching. You fucking knew I’d have to agree.”
What kind of logic was that? Nobody would’ve blamed him if he’d said no to a couple of overexcited kids, and it wasn’t like their neighbors constantly had their noses pressed to the windows. It was his own paranoia that was the problem. Tommy wanted to bet that he also couldn’t come up with a good enough reason to say no, especially with tomorrow being a Saturday.
But if Tommy was being honest, he was dreading the sleepover.
- - +1 - -
Having his friends over actually ended up being pretty fun. They spent hours playing board games Tommy had found buried in the back of a closet and chatted for a long time about anything and everything. They also didn’t care when he had to take a break to stretch and run his hands through his wings, only offering their help, which he declined.
It was fun, and his parents even left during the night, which he only figured out when he had groggily awoken the next morning to a door being swung open a few rooms down and Tubbo chattering quietly to Ranboo above his head.
“And Fundy, the school furry, said that Wilbur was his—”
Tubbo broke off at the sound of yelling coming from down the hall, and Tommy shot up in bed, his eyes fixed firmly on the door. He could recognize the slurred words and angry shouts from his parents anywhere.
His father was drunk. He was fucking drunk, and his friends were sitting right next to him, listening to him pounding down the hall, coming closer and closer. Tommy jumped in front of his soulmates as the door swung open, his arms lifted defensively just in time to block the glass bottle from hitting his face. It bounced off his hands and rolled across the floor, luckily staying in one piece.
“Keep your feathers out of my fucking house!” the older man erupted, his hands ripping at several that he must’ve found buried in a corner somewhere. It pained Tommy to see them being treated that way. “Or I’ll cut your wings off for real this time.”
The blond flinched, drawing his wings closer to his body. “I’m sorry.”
“You should be fucking sorry,” he spat. “We take you into this home and this is how you repay us? By leaving your messes everywhere and laying around doing absolutely nothing? How dare you. Don’t you think we deserve more than that?”
Tommy ducked his head, ashamed. He felt the burning gazes of his friends and shrunk further, embarrassed to be called out so plainly. Now they would know how bad of a person he really was.
“I asked you a question, kid.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll do better.”
He scoffed but turned his attention to Ranboo and Tubbo.
“Get out of my house.”
The room fell into a long and deep silence as they listened to his father walk away, the door remaining open and the voice of his mother echoing throughout the house. Tommy’s body was trembling, but he still forced himself to grab the glass bottle and gently set it on his desk to wash out later.
“Let’s get out of here,” Tubbo muttered eventually, standing to gather his things. Ranboo quickly followed.
Tommy’s heart splintered as he watched them hastily shoving their things back into their bags in an effort to get away as quickly as they could. He sat numbly on the edge of his bed, watching them preparing to leave him.
When they had slung the bags over their shoulders and made their way toward the door, he wasn’t expecting them to glance back at him, waiting.
“Aren't you coming?”
“I thought—I thought you were going home.”
“We are. You’re coming, too. No way are you staying here with them.”
His shoulders relaxed and he heaved himself to his feet, quickly falling into step behind them. They easily slipped past his parents, who were now shouting at each other, and made their way into the cool morning air.
Tommy trailed a couple steps behind his friends, suddenly hyper aware of the gentle breeze rustling through his feathers, which were in open view. He avoided eye contact with the occasional neighbor they passed, freezing when they approached a busy road.
“Guys,” he pleaded, blinking at them when they turned to him with questioning gazes. “I can’t—they’re not hidden.”
Realization bloomed in their eyes and Ranboo audibly scoffed, curling his tail around his legs. “You don’t need to hide it.”
“But—”
“There are a lot of hybrids,” Tubbo interrupted. “And they don’t hide it.”
“They're not me.”
“Shut the fuck up and stop being so hard on yourself. You’re fine, Tommy. You don’t need to hide it, trust us.”
He bit his lip uneasily but took a hesitant step forward, hiding himself between them as they walked along the trail next to the road. They easily angled themselves to offer him more cover, which he was grateful for. They walked in silence until Tubbo’s house came in view, their go-to meeting spot. It was almost exactly between Tommy and Ranboo’s homes, and Tubbo’s parent would always welcome them at any time of the day.
They silently entered the house and headed straight up to Tubbo’s room, where they all settled onto the floor and stared at each other silently, with Tommy’s wings drawn protectively around himself and Tubbo and Ranboo exchanging pained glances.
The room was hot, almost enough to make Tommy take his sweater off, if it wasn’t for him wanting to hide his bruised skin. Tubbo and Ranboo had no such thoughts apparently, as they both ripped their sweaters off with a relieved sigh. They both looked at Tommy when his breath hitched and followed his eyes toward their arms, and the fresh purple blossoming across them. Tommy traced his eyes lightly over the identical bruises, his mouth twitching into a small frown.
“Does it hurt?”
“No,” Ranboo spoke, his eyes fixed firmly on Tommy. “We don’t feel anything, but for our soulmate, I’m sure it’s quite painful.”
Tommy hummed in acknowledgement, shrinking back to curl his arms around himself.
“Yeah,” Tubbo chimed in softly. “I wish we knew how to help them. I don’t know why they don’t trust us.”
Tommy shrugged. “Maybe…” he faltered but quickly started again. “Maybe they think it’ll make things worse.”
“Why would they think that?” Ranboo asked quietly.
“I’m—maybe they don’t want to drag you guys into it. Maybe,” he muffled a sob. “Maybe they think you’re better off as a duo than a trio.”
“Oh, Tommy,” Tubbo whispered, staring at him with wide eyes. “Never. We’ll always need you. You’re our soulmate, too.”
He twisted around, his eyes wide. “I’m—I’m not your soulmate. You’re mistaken.”
“We’ve spoken to each other about the markings, Toms,” Tubbo spoke gently. “We know they don’t come from either of us, and you’ve told us your parents can be strict sometimes.”
“Although you never told us they were abusive,” Ranboo said darkly.
“They're not!” the blond protested. “They just discipline harsher than most.”
“Tommy,” Tubbo waited until he was looking at him. “They're hurting you, both mentally and physically. That is abuse. And besides, they obviously don’t care about you.”
“Yes they do!” he felt a heavy heat at the back of his eyes, his chest pounding. “Why would they have adopted me if they didn’t?”
There was a hesitance, but Tommy could tell that they both had an answer. They were just unsure whether they should speak it or not. Eventually, Ranboo spoke up.
“You were a kid when they adopted you. By then, you hadn’t even grown your wings yet. They didn’t know you were a hybrid. I think they probably changed after that.”
“But they didn’t send me back,” his voice cracked. “They didn’t—they would’ve—”
“They wouldn’t have. They care deeply about how other people view them. Sending you back into the foster system would’ve been a big red flag in their eyes.”
He couldn’t hold back a sob, covering his mouth to muffle it as much as he could. When Tubbo and Ranboo moved forward to hug him, he leaned into them, wiping furiously at his eyes.
“You can stay here for a while,” Tubbo offered softly.
He turned away, his eyes downcast. “I don’t want to be a burden. I don’t want you guys to have to pretend to be happy with me as your soulmate.”
“We’d never pretend. You’re our best friend, Tommy, and we care about you. We care about you so much.”
He blinked the tears out of his eyes and leaned into them, allowing himself to believe it as they wrapped him in their arms. He couldn’t even be bothered as Tubbo gently rolled up his sleeves and rubbed at the bruises. He couldn’t be bothered when Ranboo ran to get a cream for them and began rubbing it in. He couldn’t be bothered when Tubbo’s father opened the door and surveyed the scene with worried eyes.
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing—”
“Tommy’s our soulmate and his parents are fucking pricks,” Tubbo interrupted. “And we can’t let him go back to them.”
“So, like a kidnapping?”
“No! Like a soulmate protection…thingy. I don’t remember what it’s called. We should’ve done this ages ago.”
His father heaved a heavy sigh, rubbing at the crease between his brows. “Okay. Prime, kid. Let’s get you settled in, and then you can explain this further to me before we do anything else.”
Everything moved quickly from there.
Tommy didn’t even know this was a thing, but apparently if somebody’s soulmate had a bond like theirs and clear proof, it would take almost no effort for his parents to be arrested for child abuse and neglect. It took maybe a month for Tommy’s life to completely flip and for him to be put on hold as they searched for a new home for him, with only his soulmates as a constant.
They spent night after night at Tubbo’s house, but Tommy could tell it was staring to wear on his father, who was providing for them as an only parent. He tried to take as little from them as he could, but he still felt guilty for every bite he ate and every clothing he had to borrow.
“He doesn’t mind,” Tubbo reassured him after he had voiced his concerns. “If he did, he would mention something. You’re okay.”
When they finally received the call that they had found a home that would be good for him, Tommy was incredibly nervous. He had heard stories about bad foster homes and couldn’t help his mind from jumping to the worst conclusions.
“We’ll be there with you,” Ranboo told him. “You aren’t going alone.”
Tommy felt more comfortable with his soulmates at his side as they approached the door to his new home. He knocked lightly on it and the door swung open with a soft creak. A gentle breeze ruffled through the blond's feathers as he gazed up into warm blue eyes, his soulmates flanking him protectively.
“Hey, mate,” the man spoke, his large black wings spread welcomingly behind him. “I’m Phil.”