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Tommy sighed as he skated back to the barriers, clutching onto the sides for dear life as his legs wobbled and his hands shook, yet he pushed himself back and forced himself to practice again, becoming more and more wobbly the longer he spent on the ice, a little voice in his head, similar to his old coach’s voice ridiculing him for his posture and form.
”C’mon snowflake, you need to be perfect, whether this is or isn’t the Olympics!”
”You think this kind of behaviour would be accepted elsewhere? Trust me, Tommy, I’m going easy on you.”
”Start again, we’ll stay here the whole damn night if we have to.”
In his mind, he imagined his coach on the bleachers or sidelines, crossing his arms and shaking his head every time he did something wrong, throwing his arms out in a fit of rage when Tommy did exceptionally terrible. Guilt churned inside his empty stomach, ignoring the aches and pain in his body as he ran through his stretches again, body feeling as though it was going to crumble from the lack of food and hydration.
It must’ve been a few minutes, or maybe even hours, before somebody found him. Philza burst through the doors, looking around worriedly before he noticed the shocked, and slightly shaking, Tommy in the middle of the ice rink. Tommy noticed how he sighed in relief before he ushered him closer, gently grabbing his hand and guiding him off the ice as he spoke.
”Toms, you’ve overworked yourself dear. . .” He mumbled, though his tone lacked disappointment or irritation, but genuine care and concern could easily be detected. “How long have you been out here?” He asked, helping Tommy sit down as he untied his ice skates and took them off, his feet aching from the amount of time he’s been on the ice.
”Uh, I got down here at six am. . .” Tommy replied, groaning in pain when he put pressure on his foot, Phil immediately insisting he rest.
”Toms, th- it’s twelve o’clock at night.” He stuttered out, shock evident in his tone as he kneeled down and looked at Tommy’s face, his lips were chapped and his eyes held heavy bags, his cheeks were flushed bright red and his entire body was shaking with how cold he was.
”I- oh. . .” Tommy gasped, eyes widening slightly as he realised just how hungry and tired he now was, he felt like he could collapse at any given second.
”Yeah, me and the team have been looking for you for a while, guess we didn’t consider you being in here, especially since Ponk has been telling you to rest since the. . . Incident.” Phil muttered the last part, barely loud enough for Tommy to hear as he remembered what ‘the incident’ was, he attempted to do a backflip on the ice, only due to the unintentional pressure of the team, which resulted in him breaking his leg.
Or is Philza talking about the food incident? The time when Schlatt insisted that Tommy try one of his food concoctions, as a result, Tommy was sick and had to deal with an upset stomach for weeks. Either way, not a good experience in Tommy’s opinion.
”Here, let me just-“ Philza cut himself off as he turned around and carefully lifted Tommy up, Tommy immediately clinging onto him as he was forced into having a piggyback ride given to him by Phil, his mouth exploding with a plethora of apologies and insistence that he was okay.
”Oh my go- I am so sorry, Phil it’s fine, really, I can walk, you don’t have to carry me, I’m sorry-“ He was immediately cut of by Phil gently shushing him, carrying him with ease as he walked down the halls to the elevators.
”It’s fine, mate. You need to rest, I can pick you up easy as pie! You and the team seem to forget that I used to be a hockey player myself, and I still work out every morning!” Phil reassured, priding himself for his health as he pressed the ‘down’ button on the elevator with his foot, only wobbling a bit as he slowly lowered it back to the ground. The two waited for the elevator to come to the ground floor when all of a sudden, a shout could be heard behind them, resulting in Philza swiftly turning around as Tommy’s head shook, nausea hitting him like a windy day as he slowly lowered his head to rest on Phil’s shoulder.
”Phil, we can’t find Tommy anywhere-“ Quackity cut himself off as he noticed Tommy on Phil’s back, head resting on his shoulder as he groaned in slight pain, Phil immediately apologising as the man approached the two.
”Tommy, mi tesoro are you okay?” Quackity asked, gently cupping the boy’s cheek and swore under his breath with the icy cold feeling that engulfed his palm.
”He was on the ice since six this morning, I’m taking him to his room to get some food and rest.” Phil replied for Tommy, watching as Quackity’s eyebrows furrowed slightly before nodding opening his kith to ask a question.
”Alright, what food would you like querido?” Quackity leaned down gently brushing some of Tommy’s golden locks away from his face as he spoke, a warm smile on his face as Tommy blearily blinked at him before replying.
”Chicken noodle soup? Please?” He asked, shutting his eyes as Quackity nodded and kissed his forehead before walking to the kitchen, pulling out his phone as he told Phil he’d call the others and let them know what was going on.
Phil just thanked him as the ‘ding’ of the elevator alerted the two, the man quickly turning around and walking into the elevator once the doors had opened, yet again using his foot to click on button number 2, wobbling in surprise when the elevator started moving and he hadn’t put his foot on the ground yet. Once the two were calmed down, Phil started humming the tune to one of the elevator songs, nodding his head to the beat of the song until the elevator doors opened again, letting Phil step out and leave as a robotic voice filled the silence.
”Going down.”
Phil huffed out a laugh as Tommy made a confused noise, the smile he had on his face seeping through his voice as he spoke.
”That’ll be either the team or Quackity trying to ram their way up here.” He explained, sighing fondly when Tommy only blinked a few times before humming, too tired to talk and make proper conversation as Phil walked to his room, using his chin to open the door instead of his foot as he pushed down on the door handle and walked forward, grumbling a bit when his head hit the door.
”Alright mate, I’ll put you down on the bed, do you think you can take a quick shower?” Phil asked as he turned around and leaned down, depositing Tommy on the bed as the boy nodded his head, rubbing his eyes as he got up to go to the bathroom.
”Wait there, let me get you some clothes to change into.” Phil calmly instructed, walking over to his wardrobe and opening the doors, quickly grabbing a pair of pyjamas out for Tommy and a hoodie Schlatt gave him, folding the hoodie up with the pyjamas before he handed them to Tommy, ruffling his hair slightly as he sat down on his bed and waited for him to finish his shower.
Tommy felt slightly guilty, back at the Olympic dormitories there was a small kitchen and living room area combined into one that separated the rooms, kind of like a mini common room, that many of his friends would lounge around in whilst they were waiting for him, but since the Olympics ended and Tommy had been travelling with the hockey players and snowboarders (are Tubbo and Ranboo snowboarders in this AU?) the players all got their own small dormitory, which mean there was no mini common room.
Tommy shook his head slightly as he started the shower, grabbing one of the towels out of the towel cabinet and putting it on the radiator to warm up, setting his change of clothes on the radiator as well before he went into the shower, which was like pure bliss.
The water slowly heated up as Tommy got used to the temperature, luring the boy into wanting to curl up on the floor and sleep, but he couldn’t do that because he’s already caused enough trouble for the others, as he ran his fingers through his slightly greasy hair, sighing in relief when he grabbed the shampoo and conditioner and rubbed it into his hair, massaging his scalp until the water became too unbearable for him and he had to get out, taking a deep breath as the steam flowed out the shower, making everything seem misty as Tommy dried off, towel drying his hair before putting on the pyjamas and hoodie Phil gave him to change into.
Once Tommy was changed, he walked out of the bathroom, sleep tugging on him as Phil smiled at him, guiding him to his bed as Tommy yawned.
”You tired mate?” Phil asked, smiling softly as Tommy mumbled before collapsing in his bed, tucking himself under the duvet before sighing in relief, the aches and pains in his body easing to a minimum as Phil pressed a kiss to his forehead, whispering about waking him up when Quackity was back with his soup.
"Aww, Toms. . ." Quackity cooed sadly when Tommy could barely open his eyes, forcing himself to sit up and blindly reaching his hands out for the soup, squeaking in surprise when Quackity just when to the bottom of the edge and hoisted his foot on top of it, carefully walking on his knees towards Tommy before setting the soup in his hands, quickly peeling back the duvet and plonking under it before swinging it back over.
"Hey." He greeted, turning to face Tommy with a grin on his face, beaming when Tommy laughed in disbelief before he started drinking the soup, allowing the spoonful he had to cool down as he blew on it before shoving it in his mouth and moving onto his next spoonful. Eventually, all the soup was gone and Tommy started munching on the chicken and noodles, happy that Quackity didn't stare or judge him as he finished off his bowl and set it on his bedside table, jumping when Phil swooped down and picked it up, the older man smiling apologetically as Quackity gasped scandalised.
"Sorry mate, didn't mean to scare you." He apologised, Tommy smiling and insisting that it was alright before Quackity dramatically pulled out his phone and called the others, wrapping an arm around Tommy and pulling him in for a hug as he waited, pressing a kiss to his head as he tangled his hand in his locks of hair, gently scratching his scalp and urging Tommy to sleep as the call started, the faces of the other hockey team members coming into view as Quackity turned his phone away so Tommy wasn't on camera.
"Q, where the fuck are you?" Schlatt asked, holding his phone right up to his face to piss off George, who was muttering about how that isn't the way you hold a phone.
"Tommy's dorm, I brung him some delicious chicken noodle soup." Quackity replied, looking very smug about himself as Schlatt groaned in annoyance.
"Okay, is Tommy still with you?" Sapnap spoke up, looking very focused as he marched through the halls. Quackity just smiled as he shifted the phone again to show Tommy, all tucked up and hiding his face in Quackery's side as he hugged him.
"He's right here." Quackity replied, grinding his teeth together when Wilbur cooed right into the microphone, something he had a tendency of doing, either to annoy people, or when he couldn't be bothered to hold the phone up.
"Wil, stop holding your phone so close to the mic." Techno reprimanded, smirking when Wilbur pulled the phone up to show his face, pouting in annoyance before Techno continued. "Is he okay Quackity?" Techno asked, greeting Sapnap as the two joined each other in marching own the halls to the elevator, Sapnap muttering curses about the building being so big.However, Quackity ignored his complaining as he grinned, deciding now was the time to get into some dramatics.
"Well, Tommy was enjoying his chicken noodle soup, finally content and happy with his favourite hockey player next to him-" Quackity ignored the cries of outrage as he continued. " -When all of a sudden Phil Watson swoops in and scares him, traumatising my poor boy." He dramatically threw his head back as Phil groaned, already knowing what was going to happen.
"What the fuck Phil?!" Wilbur yelled, the sound coming through his, Techno and Sapnap's mic, Quackity assumed he had met up with the others now.
"Yeah, Phil, that's child abuse." George accused, grinning when Phil let out a shocked laugh before defending himself.
"Yeah, Phil- Wait is Tommy asleep?" Schlatt asked, leaning down to look at the phone, Quackity turned his head to face Tommy, who was now fast asleep as soft snores left him, Quackity cooed fondly and grimaced when a lot of loud comes came from the call, the loudest being Wilbur as he quickly left the call and resumed scratching tommy's head to keep him asleep, frowning a bit when he realised the boy hadn't even shifted.
"He must be tired. . " Quackity mumbled, eyes napping to face Phil who just opened the door to Tommy's dorm to leave, smiling softly as he nodded.
"Yeah, but we'll work on it, everything will be okay." He reassured, bidding Quackity a quick goodbye as he shut the door, his footsteps slowly fading as Quackity nodded, leaning down and kissing Tommy's forehead before he lay down and carefully wrapped Tommy up in a hug.
"Yeah," He muttered slowly closing his eyes as he fell asleep. "Everything will be okay.
. . . . . . . .
Everything was not okay, Tommy decided when he not only woke up to a lack of Quackity cuddling him, but he also had the worst headache and stuffed nose everywhere, resulting in him needing to breath through his mouth, which did nothing to help his poor throat, which felt like someone dragged a knife across as he fell into a coughing fit, wriggling around in his sheets as he groaned in pain, immediately attracting the attention of a visitor he had just enter the room.
"Oh God, Tommy are you okay?" Quackity asked, setting what a bowl of what smelled like lentil soup on his bedside table, immediately reaching over and helping the boy sit up.
"Jesus, kid, you look horrible." He remarked, holding Tommy's hand in his own as he leaned into the warmth of Quackity's hand. "And you're burning up, we better get some of these blankets off you-" Quackity cut himself off as Tommy whined when he tried to peel off some blankets, looking at the boy in both confusion and worry as he murmured.
"I feel cold. . ." Tommy grimaced slightly as his stomach started doing flips as he swayed from side to side before Quackity caught him as he collapsed.
"Shit, Phil! Phil!" Tommy heard Quackity yelling, though it was difficult to hear him as he felt like he was swimming, the man seemingly being so far away despite him holding Tommy so close to him.
"Mate. . . Wrong?" Phil asked, and did he forget a few words, or was that just Tommy?"
"Tom. . . Collapsed. . . Sick. . . Passed out-" The rest of the conversation cut off as Tommy slowly felt his eyelids drooping, though he couldn't focus on his sudden sleepiness, instead, his mind was protesting that he wasn't tired and that he could still train he was just being lazy, though everything soon came to a stop as he finally allowed himself to sleep as someone seemed to be running towards him.
"Or, were they running away from me?" Were his last thoughts as sleep consumed him, allowing his body and mind to rest as an entire team of hockey players freaked out.
. . . . . . . .
Tommy woke up what seemed to be a few minutes later, though this time, he was in the warm and comforting embrace of Quackity, both of them sleeping in his bed as the summer sun was peaking through his blinds.
"Huh, perhaps it was all a dream?" He mused slightly, suddenly lifting his head up slightly when he noticed a bowl of lentil soup on his bedside table, though there was no steam coming off it. Was he asleep for that long? Tommy's pondering came to a stop as Quackity woke up, quickly checking his temperature and whining when it was still high.
"Toms, you're not getting better! Now Phil is going to drag me out of bed so that I 'don't get sick'." He grumbled, pouting childishly when Tommy laughed slightly at him, poking him slightly as he agreed with Phil, and that Quackity should stay away from him so he doesn't get sick, Quackity grumbled some more before dragging Tommy into a hug, resting his head on Tommy's as he hummed a tune, making Tommy relax some more as he felt himself fall asleep, until Techno walked into the room, carrying some chicken noodle soup in one hand and a serviette in his other hand, greeting the two and apologising for the disturbance before setting the soup onto the bedside table, taking the now cold bowl of lentil soup with him before looking at Quackity expectantly, raising one eyebrow when the man pretended to sleep.
"Quackity if you don't get out of Tommy's bed in five seconds I will drag you out of it myself." He spoke calmly, his voice monotone as Quackity practically leaped out of his spot, giving Tommy one last hug before scrambling out of the bed, flipping off Techno before running out of the room when the man started counting down, waiting until he was at the end of the hall to talk to Tommy.
"You are under strict rule to not go onto the ice, if you do you shall be carried back inside and coddled." He spoke like a knight in medieval times, making some grand, royal announcement to the citizens, before he gently ruffled Tommy's hair and walked outside, shutting his door before he walked down the hallway. Tommy simply sighed, being left to his own devices, he decided to sit up and grab the tv remote, scrolling through the channels before settling on watching 'Wednesday', picking up his chicken noodle sup as he watched the show, jaw dropping as in the first scene she dumped piranhas into the swimming pool the jocks were in, getting way too invested already as he sat there and watched a few more episodes before pausing and taking a look outside his window, noticing the hockey team was practicing as Tubbo and Ranboo chatted with one another on the bleachers next to Phil, who instructed the team on what to d next. Tommy sighed, wanting to be watching them on bleachers, or maybe do a bit of skating of his own, his legs suddenly becoming restless as he couldn't get comfortable anymore, deciding to watch the drills a little bit longer, catching Sapnap's eye, who excitedly waved at him as the hockey puck zoomed past him, Tommy snickered, waving back until George skated over and slapped him across the head, before looking up and waving at Tommy as well.
Time seemed to slowly tick by as Tommy waited, switching between watching the team practice and watching Wednesday, eventually turning the tv off and slumping in his bed. There was practically nothing he could do, he was restless, and there was only so many shows he was willing to binge watch, curse him and his stupid illness for ruining his day.
"Wait a minute."
Tommy perked up, immediately shooting out of bed and pulling on a reindeer onesie he got for Christmas, along with some fluffy slippers as he hurried downstairs to get out of his bedroom, pausing when he had to violently cough into his hands, which resulted in him taking a calm stroll to the elevator. You see, Techno said that Tommy was under strict rule to not go onto the ice, he never said he couldn't be near the ice. So, Tommy decided he was going to sneak downstairs and watch them play, maybe even get himself a snack as he speed-walked to the ice rink, quickly grabbing and peeling an orange before continuing his journey, eventually, Tommy got there, he peaked his head behind the corner of the entrance, eating his orange in silence as he watched them play, muffling his giggles and coughs as he got to hear whatever sarcastic remark was made, or whatever commentary Tubbo and Ranboo made.
"Alight guys, time to clear off!" Phil announced, making Tommy wince as he clutched his head, before bolting down the hallway and back into the elevator to go upstairs, allowing himself to cough as he stumbled through the open doors. No way would he be able to get back to his room and make himself look casual, so he would have to pretend, he'd walk out of his room once he was sure everyone was off the ice, and by the way they all rushed to get off, they were certainly no longer on the ice.
"Okay, Tommy, you can do this." He muttered, letting out a final cough as he picked up his bowl of chicken noodle soup and walked out the door, feeling very tired as sleep tugged on him, his body begging him to rest as he sneezed into his arm, sniffling slightly until the ding of the elevator alerted him that someone was coming.
"Hah! Suckers- Tommy! What are you doing up?" Wilbur asked, no longer doing his little victory dance as he ran over to Tommy, taking his empty bowl away from him as he brushed his bangs away from his eyes, Tommy leaned into the coolness of his hand, humming slightly before replying.
"W'nted to sp'nd time with y'u." He mumbled, ignoring Wilbur's cooing in favour of being pulled into the older man's side, an arm thrown over his shoulders as the two walked to the elevator and took it downstairs, the elevator music caused for Tommy's headache to worsen as he leaned into Wilbur's side, grumbling slightly until the elevator came to a stop and the music ended, making Tommy sigh in relief, until shouting could be heard on the other side of the elevator, the doors sliding open to reveal Quackity and Schlatt rough-housing with each other, Tubbo recording it on his phone as Ranboo stood to his side, arms clasped together in prayer, Tommy caught words of 'These idiots-' 'Please don't let them die.' 'At least not until the next Olympics.' Until the shouting came to a halt as Wilbur cleared his throat, cuddling Tommy to his side as he raised on eyebrow at the two, who immediately let go of each other and greeted Wilbur and Tommy.
"Sorry, about that- Wait, what are you doing out of bed, Tommy?" Quackity asked, sending Wilbur a look as Schlatt raised an eyebrow, Tubbo muttering about the former opponents ganging up on Wilbur.
"He came down to put his bowl away and i caught him, but he wanted to see me so I allowed him to come downstairs." Wilbur huffed, walking past Quackity and Schlatt as they made noises of disagreement.
"No, he came down to see us, right Tommy?" Schlatt spoke up, looking at Tommy as the boy simply nodded, far too comfortable in Wilbur's sideways hug to move, Schlatt gave a victorious grin to Wilbur, whosimply ignored the older man as he quickly ran off to the kitchen to put the bowl away.
"Well, now that he's gone," Quackity wrapped a blanket around Tommy's shoulders before Schlatt hooked an arm over his shoulders and the trio walked away, snickering when they heard Wilbur shouting at them.
Tommy was just content, no longer bothered about his aching headache or scratchy throat, just happy to be surrounded by his family. . .
His found family.
.
.
.
"Why is Tommy out of bed?"
"He wanted to see us!"
;Back to bed. Now."
"Bully. . ."