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"Do you have any specific requests for looks or temperaments or anything like that?"
"I... what? No, nothing like that. These are kids, not dogs. If a child needs a home, even just for an emergency placement I'm happy to provide it, regardless of their file."
"And your records show that. We'll be in touch if anything comes up."
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"You wanted to see me?"
The social worker gestured to the seat across from her desk with a stilted smile, and the boy took his seat.
"I've found another home for you to stay at. I'm hoping this one won't be as... temporary as your last few placements."
"Any specifics?"
She shook her head, "None."
"Do you... do you have any pictures of the family?"
The social worker slid a folder across the desk, "I figured you'd want to look at it, being as you are. All the information we have on them is in there."
"Thank you ma'am."
"Just... try to fit in. You know people with your abilities... aren't as widely accepted."
The boy nodded, curling into himself, "I'll be fine."
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The next day the boy was stood on a front porch next to his social worker, nerves threatening to overtake him.
He was fine. He had looked at the pictures for hours last night. Nothing was out of place. Nothing was out of pla—
The door opened gently and he stood still, immediately stopping his fidgeting.
A man with blonde hair and a green robe opened the door with a warm smile on his face, "Ah, Mrs. Neilson, and you must be Thomas, please come in!"
As he walked into the house, the first thing to catch his attention was a loud crash and a squawk of surprise from someone else in the house, followed by a deeper chuckle.
"Well Wil, maybe if you weren't trying to be so nosey, you wouldn't have fallen out of the chair," the deeper voice spoke.
Phil sighed with a fond look on his face before he led the two into the dining room, where two boys were waiting. One of them looked vaguely amused, while the other looked like the world had insulted him.
"Thomas, this is Technoblade and Wilbur, the twins. They'll be your foster brothers while you're staying with us."
Thomas nodded, giving a small smile to both of them. Wilbur seemed to stare at him in confusion for a few beats, but that was quickly replaced with a smile of his own.
Phil smiled, turning to the social worker, "Why don't we go into the kitchen, there's some tea ready there, and we can let the boys introduce themselves."
The social worker looked over at Thomas, "Is that okay with you?"
He nodded, "Yes ma'am."
As soon as the two adults were out of the room, Wilbur stood up and walked over to Thomas, who shrunk back a bit.
"Sorry, I... it's just so uncanny, you look just like us. I almost thought Dad brought home a long lost brother at first."
Thomas had to bite back a grin as he gently blew a stray brown curl out of his eyes. Of course. That's what he was going for. Except...
Techno didn't look like the pictures in the file. The file said the twins had been adopted when they were younger, and in all the pictures Techno and Wilbur had the same color hair. Now however, Wilbur maintained his brown hair, but Techno now had pink hair.
Thomas figured brown was still a safe bet for now.
Techno raised an eyebrow, "How old 're ya?"
"Thirteen."
"Wil and I turn 17 at the end of the month."
Thomas nodded, he knew that, but he wasn't going to say anything.
Wilbur smiled, "So what do you like doing? Do you have any hobbies?"
Thomas froze, "Uh... I mean—"
"Thomas, could you come here for a second?" his social worker called and he was quick to bolt out of the room.
Wilbur frowned as he turned to look at Techno, "Did I say something wrong?"
"He's probably just flighty Wil, this is a completely new environment for him."
"It's... it's not just me though right? He looks so much like a younger version of us. Like if I didn't know better I would guess we were related."
Techno shrugged, "I mean we are adopted. It's extremely unlikely but not impossible."
Wilbur grinned, "New little brother though."
"New little brother," Techno agreed.
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Phil smiled warmly to the boy next to him as he walked up the stairs, "So dinner's usually at 5, and each of us take turns in rotating pairs doing the dishes afterwards. I don't like the boys out past 11pm, so that will apply to you too. Knock and ask if you want to go into any of our rooms, but there really aren't any other rules."
They approached a door at the top of the stairs, towards the end of the hallway and Phil stopped, "This is your room. It's your own space, and you're allowed to be alone if you want to be. If one of us knocks on your door, you're not obligated to let us invade your space."
Thomas hummed. That was... nice. His last home didn't have that. They hadn't even given him a door.
Phil twisted the knob and opened the door, revealing a rather plain room with just a twin bed and a desk, as well as a window.
"It's not the biggest, and I wasn't sure what you liked, so it's not very decorated. We can go shopping later if you want though."
Thomas shrugged, "This is fine, thank you sir."
"Please, just call me Phil."
Thomas nodded, "Okay Phil."
"Dinner's in about an hour, feel free to hang out up here or come back down. No worries."
Thomas nodded again as Phil gently touched his shoulder and then walked back towards the stairs.
He took a look in the room ahead of him and sighed, walking in and gently closing the door behind him. He tossed his backpack on the bed and sighed as he spun around slowly, taking in the scenery of his new room.
His eyes caught on a mirror that was hanging on the closet door. He stepped closer to it, frowning at his hair, it had gotten frizzy. He took a deep breath, and within a few seconds, his hair shifted and was still curly, but no longer looked so frizzy and unkempt.
Satisfied, he turned back to the bed and started unpacking the few things that he had. A few changes of clothes, another pair of shoes and a hat.
Once he had finished unpacking, he looped the backpack over the back of the chair that was pushed up under the desk and turned to go back downstairs.
If this was going to work, he had to get to know them well. And fast.
Thomas walked down the stairs, back into the living room where Wilbur and Techno were talking with Phil.
"Don't you think it's a little weird that the agency didn't show you a picture or anything like that?"
Thomas froze in the doorway. The agency didn't keep pictures of him, at least not in the public records. That was one of the stipulations his social worker had set up for him. It really didn't matter what he looked like before. All that mattered is what he looked like now. All that mattered was that he fit in.
He shuffled nervously into the kitchen, and the conversation stopped. Phil smiled from where he was sitting in a sofa chair facing towards the kitchen.
"All unpacked?"
Thomas nodded.
Wilbur piped up, "Would you like to play a game? We have card games or board games."
Thomas shrugged, "If you want to."
Wilbur furrowed his brow, "Do you want to though?"
Thomas subtlety bit his lip. He wasn't supposed to have wants. He was just supposed to fit in and not make a fuss. Slip in perfectly to wherever he lived.
He shrugged, "I'm the new person, I just kinda want to go along with what you're doing for a while. Get used to things."
Learn how to act.
Techno nodded, "Seems fair enough. I'll go grab the games."
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A few days passed, and Wilbur could feel that something was weird about Thomas. He had never seen a kid adapt so fast to a new environment before. Within the first two days, he just seemed to slot into their family. Nothing really changed, other than there was a new body in the house.
Phil had asked him if he had any preferences for food, and he responded "whatever you guys normally eat will be fine."
When Techno asked him what movie he wanted to watch, he just told them to put on their favorite movie.
The kid never complained, and he never seemed to have his own opinions on anything. It was "whatever you want" and "I'm okay with anything" and "don't worry about me."
Well Wilbur was worried. This kid was weird.
Techno sighed, "Wil, I know that look. You're plottin something."
"Does Thomas not bother you? Like at all?"
"He's a good kid, why would he be botherin me?"
"It's like... I don't even know! He has no opinions about anything! It's always what we want. What does he want?"
Techno shrugged, "Maybe he's just that kind of a person. A go-with-the-flow type."
Wilbur sighed, "Maybe. I'm looking too deep into this aren't I?"
"Maybe just a little."
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Techno was sitting on the couch reading a book while Thomas was curled up on the opposite side watching a video on his phone.
"What's your favorite animal?"
Thomas looked up, "What?"
"Do you have a favorite animal?"
"Um... sheep I think?"
He phrased it as a question, with an intonation that sounded like he was second guessing himself.
Techno nodded, "Wilbur loves sheep too."
Techno didn't miss how Thomas' body seemed to visibly relax at that.
"What's yours?"
Techno hummed softly, "Pigs probably."
Thomas nodded, "I like those too."
"Do you like all animals?"
Thomas seemed to think for a minute, "Sure, but I think sheep and pigs are my favorite."
Interesting.
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Phil sighed as he opened the fridge, he needed to go shopping soon. Also he didn't feel like cooking tonight.
"Alright boys, who's turn is it for deciding where we eat out?"
Wilbur piped up, "I think it's Thomas' turn."
Thomas just shrugged, "Wherever is fine with me. Pick you guys' favorite."
Phil frowned slightly, "You sure you don't want to pick?"
"Nah, I'm honestly good with whatever. Although... Pizza would be good."
Wilbur lit up, "Hey! We're on the same wavelength then! Pizza good with you Tech?"
Techno nodded, "Always."
Phil laughed, "Pizza it is."
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Thomas huffed as he leaned over to try to fix his hair in the mirror of the bathroom. It was doing that thing again where it was being frizzy and no matter what he did it just wasn't cooperating.
He groaned as he frantically carded his fingers through his hair, ruffling it up and changing the color and length of it a few times before he finally got it looking like Wil's again.
"Oh my gods, you're a shifter."
Thomas whipped around only to be face to face with Wilbur who was staring at him from the hallway. He had just flicked on the light to fix up his hair, he didn't close the door, he wasn't expecting to shift it...
So many things were at the tip of his tongue, and yet the only thing that came out was a small "what?"
"You're a shifter! That's why you've been so weird! You're acting... why?"
"I'm not acting! I can't act if this is how I normally am!"
"And how you normally are is an exact copy of us?"
"If it gets me to be liked, then yeah!"
Both teenagers froze for a second, before Thomas shoved past Wilbur out into the hallway.
Wilbur huffed, "Pretending doesn't make people love you. Pretending makes people love an illusion that you can't maintain."
Thomas glared back at him, "Fucking watch me."
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Was Wilbur being petty? Yes.
Did Wilbur have a problem being petty? Absolutely not.
And thus Wilbur proceeded to completely ignore Thomas for the next two days.
On the second day, Thomas was sitting on the couch while Wilbur was at the table working on his homework.
"Are you seriously just going to pretend I don't exist now?"
Wilbur shrugged, not looking over at him, "Be yourself."
Thomas rolled his eyes, "I am"
"No, you aren't."
Another day goes by. The same interaction unfolds.
A week goes by, and every day the same interaction occurs.
Thomas groaned, "Seriously, are you just going to be like this forever?"
"I already told you, and I'll keep telling you. Get your own personality. Be yourself."
"And what if I don't fucking know who that is? Then what? What if he's gone forever?" Thomas snapped and Wilbur's eyes shot up to meet Thomas'.
"What if..." his voice was quieter now, "what if I don't remember who I am?"
Wilbur's resolve melted and he immediately scooped up the teen into a hug.
"Then we'll just have to find out together."
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"Why are we here again?"
The three of them were currently walking down the hair dye isle of their local supermarket, and Thomas was starting to fidget.
"I need some more dye for my hair," Techno shrugged, as they kept walking, "Say, if you could dye your hair any color, what would it be?"
Thomas stopped for a second, "Um... what color would you get me?"
Wilbur shook his head, "That's something you have to decide for yourself. It's a personal statement. It doesn't work if someone else chooses for you."
Techno walked over to the pink dye and grabbed a specific box, "It's about time to dye my hair again."
Thomas seemed to lock up, not entirely sure what to do. He needed to please Wil and Techno, but he didn't know what the right answer was.
"I... uh."
Wilbur frowned in thought, "What color is your hair when you're not shifting it?"
Thomas seemed to curl into himself farther, "I'm... not sure. Shifting is so natural to me that I don't even know if I have an unshifted state anymore."
Wilbur slightly frowned as he turned to Techno, the two silently deciding to return home before they caused the boy any more stress.
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Wilbur's phone rang at around noon, and he scrambled to answer it.
"Hey Wilbur!"
"Oh thank gods, Quackity please tell me you found his private file."
"I did, but you're never going to believe it. I'll send the file over now just... try not to freak out too much."
Wilbur hesitated over the icon with shaking hands. He really shouldn't have done this, but he was too curious.
He tapped the icon and the file opened.
Name: Thomas Innit
Age: 13 y/o
Species: Shifter
Wilbur recoiled a bit at that. So what if Thomas could change a few of his features. The file was acting like he wasn't human at all.
He scrolled down to the lists of his previous homes and gawked. In every single file picture, Thomas looked completely different. In one he had short black hair and grey eyes. In another he had longer red hair and green eyes. In another he had extremely curly brown hair, and in yet another his hair was straight and brown instead.
In every single placement this kid had ever been in, he shifted his features in order to fit in with the family that was housing him.
Was it a defense mechanism?
Wilbur sighed as he looked up from his laptop, an exercise that his old therapist taught him flashed through his mind.
He climbed off the bed, grabbing three pieces of paper from his bedside table and rushed downstairs.
"Hey Thomas? Techno? Could you guys come into the dining room for a few minutes?"
The two came and sat at the dining room table, each appearing confused as Wilbur slid them each a paper and pencil.
"I'd like to try a little exercise with the two of you if that's okay?"
Techno shrugged, and Thomas nodded.
"Alright, first off, write your name at the top. Whatever you want to be called.
Wilbur carefully wrote 'Wil' at the top of his page, Techno wrote 'Techno.'
Thomas hesitantly wrote 'Thomas' and then looked up for approval from Wilbur.
Wilbur smiled patiently, "Whatever you want to be called. It can be anything. If you're okay with that though, just nod again and we'll keep going."
The table was still for a few seconds, and then Thomas scribbled out 'Thomas' and wrote 'Tommy' underneath it, instantly casting his eyes down towards the ground.
Wilbur and Techno shared a look, and Wilbur burst into a smile.
"That's a lovely name Tommy. You're doing so well."
Thomas looked up, "You're... not mad?"
Wilbur looked hurt, "Gods Tommy no! We aren't mad you want to go by something different!"
Tommy nodded, turning his attention back to his paper, "What next?"
"What's your favorite animal?" Techno asked, and Tommy frowned.
"I already told you that though."
"Did you? Or did you tell me what you thought I wanted to hear?"
Wilbur quickly wrote down 'sheep' before covering his answer. Techno wrote 'pigs' and also covered his answer when he saw Tommy try to look over.
Wil smiled, "Come on Tommy, it doesn't have to be anything significant, just do any animal that makes you particularly happy."
Tommy frowned at the paper for a minute or so, before he gingerly wrote 'cows'.
Wilbur's eyes lit up, "Aw Tommy! Cows are amazing! Good choice!"
Tommy blushed a little, but if the twins saw it, neither commented.
"Alright, favorite color time!" Wil cheered as he wrote 'blue' on his sheet.
Techno wrote 'pink' and again they both covered their answers, much to Tommy's annoyance.
After only a few seconds though, a scribbled 'red' sat on his paper, and Wilbur was overjoyed.
"Okay, one more question. What is your favorite activity?"
Wilbur wrote down 'playing guitar', Techno wrote down 'farming or fencing'.
Tommy frowned.
"I... when I was in another house. The older kids liked to play video games yeah?"
Wilbur and Techno shared a look, but Wilbur quickly nodded at Tommy to keep going.
"They didn't want me playing on their console, so I ended up hiding and watching most of the time, and I just kinda hoped that one day I'd be able to play them myself."
Wilbur and Techno shared another glance, and Tommy immediately started to backpedal, "Sorry, I... I shouldn't have said that. I'm perfectly happy with what I hav—"
Techno cut him off with a small smile, "You're more than welcome to play on our consoles, or just watch us play. Whatever you prefer."
Wilbur smiled, "What game is your favorite?"
Tommy fidgeted for a few seconds before he softly responded, "Animal Crossing."
"We have that game! I can help you make a new island and you can have it all to yourself how about that?"
Tommy looked up at him in shock, "But it's your game!"
Wilbur waved him off, "I've already played it a lot, I think it would be in better hands with you anyways."
Tommy blinked for a few seconds, "This isn't funny. This is all just a big trick and it's not funny!"
Wilbur shook his head, "We want you to be happy by being you, not by pretending to be what you think other people want. We genuinely care about you Tommy."
Tommy froze for a moment, tears in his eyes.
And then he pushed away from the table and fled back upstairs.
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"Pizza night!" Phil called, "Everyone good with the usual?"
"Yep!" both of the twins called back from the living room, but Tommy walked into the kitchen, gently fidgeting with his hands.
"Can I... can I have cheese pizza this time?"
Phil blinked at the boy in shock for a few seconds, and then he smiled, "I think we can arrange that mate."
Tommy smiled before turning around and bounding back to the living room to watch a movie with his brothers.
"And I said I wanted to watch a musical, but nooo, Mr. Action-Adventure over here is too good for musicals!" Wilbur huffed and Techno rolled his eyes.
"What about Up?"
The twins blinked at Tommy as he slotted himself onto the couch.
"It has music and some action. Plus I like it."
And they couldn't really argue with that.
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A few months of adjustment had passed, and Tommy was getting more used to being assertive on what he liked and didn't like. He enjoyed playing video games with his brothers, and loved when Phil would take him to the park to feed the murder of crows he called his "flock."
One day he was stuck in front of the mirror again, fussing over his hair. Although as he paused to look at himself in the mirror it felt... wrong.
Tommy frowned, shifting his hair to be curlier, then straighter, then a slightly more chocolate brown.
Nothing he did shook that feeling of just wrongness.
"You're a shifter! That's why you've been so weird! You're acting... why?"
"I'm not acting! I can't act if this is how I normally am!"
"And how you normally are is an exact copy of us?"
"If it gets me to be liked, then yeah!"
"Pretending doesn't make people love you. Pretending makes people love an illusion that you can't maintain."
Tommy gasped as the memory of his interaction with Wilbur slammed into his mind. He felt a tear run down his cheek, then two, then he slid down the wall and started sobbing.
This wasn't him. He flinched as he realized after years of pretending to be someone he wasn't, this wasn't him.
Who he had been isn't who he is anymore. He started to sob harder as he realized that he didn't want to ever go back to where he was before.
Tommy shakily stood up, bracing himself on the counter. As his eyes met his own in the mirror, he gasped softly. Staring back at him was a curly blond haired, blue-eyed teenager, with tears running down his cheeks.
He gently reached out to touch his reflection, and all of a sudden all of the pieces clicked into place.
This was him. This was the answer to Wilbur's question.
This is what he pictured when he thought of himself.
This was his true face.
∘₊✧──────✧₊∘
Tommy nervously exited the bathroom, ignoring every instinct that told him to put his façade back up, that they won't like how he looks and that they only liked him because he was what they wanted him to be.
He stepped into the living room, immediately bracing for their reaction, but to his surprise, they all just looked up to him in surprise.
Tommy shrunk into himself, "I can... I can change back if you want me to I—"
Wilbur gasped softly, "Tommy... is this what you really look like? Is this the real you?"
Tommy nodded, tears threatening to slip from his eyes as he bit his lip.
Wilbur practically threw himself at the teen, wrapping him into a hug and whispering praise into his ear. Techno and Phil followed not long after, pulling everyone into a tight hug.
Phil smiled, the warmest Tommy has ever seen, "Thank you for trusting us enough to show us your true self, mate. It's wonderful to meet you."
Tommy sniffled, "Are you... are you mad at me?"
Wilbur let out a pained noise, "Oh Tommy, we could never be truly mad at you for being yourself. We may get annoyed or upset sometimes, but that's just part of being human. Being yourself is the most important thing to us."
And Tommy...
Tommy cried, wrapped up in the only people to truly love him, feeling like maybe life wasn't so bad after all.