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Tommy thought that after a while he would stop finding things that surprised both him and the aliens. The crew had settled into a strange sense of peace, all learning to coexist with one another in a way that worked for everyone. Sure, the aliens didn't know everything about how humans worked, but they all settled with the fact that they knew enough to tell the difference between life or death situations when it came to their human crewmate.
That was, until Tommy got itchy.
Tommy scratched at his upper arm as he cursed out whatever it was that made his skin suddenly itchy. It was the type of itch that crawled under your skin and felt impossible to get out, no matter how much he scratched at it.
That's what Techno and Tubbo currently walked in on as they walked into the common room of the ship, watching with curiosity as Tommy itched at his arm absentmindedly as he scrolled on his holopad.
It wasn’t an issue for either of the two aliens, who were more than used to Tommy’s occasional little quirks that they no longer found weird.
Well, they were fine with it, until Tommy’s arm started getting red from all the scratching he was doing.
“What’s up with your arm?” Tubbo asked, gaining the attention of both Techno and Tommy, who both turned to look at the blonde’s arm which was now a red mess of scratches. Techno let out a concerned chuff and grabbed Tommy’s arm gently, pulling it away from his other hand that was still raised up to the irritated skin.
“Sorry. I guess I got distracted while scratching myself” Tommy said with a shrug, turning back to scrolling and reading the strange alien language with the hand that wasn’t currently still in Techno’s grip. He was practically fluent at this point, and was slowly getting into reading more; seeing what the alien world had to offer in terms of literature.
“You were scratching yourself?” Techno asked, his normally monotone voice breaking in concern, something that gained Tommy’s full attention.
“Yeah, just got all itchy for some reason. It happens sometimes” he said, looking over to Tubbo to see if his friend would be of any help.
Instead, Tubbo only looked alarmed, looking at Tommy with something akin to panic in his eyes.
“Next time you feel the need to scratch yourself, let me know” the brunette alien said, his wings fluttering.
Tommy looked confused, glancing in between Techno and Tubbo, trying to discern the meaning of their off behavior. Off for aliens, that was.
“I mean, I can try. It’s not that big of a deal” the blonde said, wondering what he was saying wrong that led the two aliens to getting all worked up over a little scratch. It didn’t even break any skin, and the aliens surely by now have learned that red doesn’t immediately equal bad. The crew learned their lesson after catching Tommy post mental breakdown when his face was all red and puffy from crying his eyes out.
Needless to say, it was definitely a break from his spiraling mind to see his crewmates freaking out over the fact that his face was red, something that apparently doesn’t happen to aliens. Or so they claim. Tommy swears Wilbur’s cheeks go a little purple whenever he’s embarrassed.
“I mean, it clearly looks like its a little bit of a deal. We’re here for you, you know” Techno chimed in, bringing Tommy from his thoughts.
Tommy tilted his head to the side in confusion, his thoughts not putting together what was going wrong here. Why his crewmates were so bothered by this?
“I know. You guys have been, and continue to be amazing. I was just itchy. Humans do this all the time. No harm no foul” the teen said with a nervous chuckle, gaining a little worry when his words continued to fail him, and to still not understand what it was he was doing wrong here.
“Humans do that all the time?” Tubbo shrieked. Techno’s hold on his arm got a little tighter; nothing even close to painful, but enough so that Tommy noticed the difference in the man’s grip.
“I mean, yeah. I had a friend who visited the jungle and got so many bug bites they practically scratched their skin off from how itchy they were” Tommy said, laughing at the memory. His friend had used almost an entire bottle of anti itch cream within a day with how many mosquito bites they had. Tommy would be lying if he said he didn’t laugh at their suffering. Just a little.
It didn’t help to ease the tension. Soon enough he was being bear hugged from behind by Techno, who only recently started showing the human physical affection after realizing it was something the blonde craved.
“Just- is there anything we can do to help?” the pink alien asks, Tubbo nodding along with his antenna drooping.
Tommy paused, turning his head around so that he could stare at the alien hugging him from behind. He attempted to break out of the hold so that he could turn all the way around, but Techno kept his hold on him, Tubbo letting out a worried noise when he attempted to do so.
“I think there’s some sort of misunderstanding going on” Tommy started, puzzle pieces starting to click together in his brain.
“Do you want to explain to us why you want to scratch yourself so that we can understand then?” Tubbo said, using his I'm trying very hard to be calm for the sake of the human voice that was used surprisingly often.
Tommy finally got it, and let out a little breath of realization, remembering a past conversation with the aliens over dinner where he had explained some of the… less happy things that humans did.
“This isn’t like the hurting yourself stuff I was telling you about. Humans get something called itchy- which- well I don’t actually know how to explain it but the only way to fix it is by itching yourself. Or if it hurts then I guess rubbing the area but those people have crazy self restraint”
“But doesn’t the itching hurt?” Tubbo asked, his head tilting in curiosity.
Tommy hesitated, wondering if he should tell the truth and risk making them worry, or lie a little. He went for the truth, but did so carefully so he wasn’t smothered anymore than he currently was. “Only if I do it too much, which I guess I was doing a little. It wasn’t on purpose, though, sometimes its just a fidget type thing”.
Techno’s hold on him lessened a little, which made Tommy grateful that he was explaining this right. “So you weren’t scratching yourself because you’re sad here?” the alien asked, a rare vulnerability in his voice.
Tommy caught his drift, shaking his head so quickly that he almost got dizzy. “Holy shit- not at all. If anything, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been here” he said truthfully, mind going to the countless dinners gone wrong that ended in laughter and smiles. Pranks being pulled with Tubbo, and so much more stuff that he never had on Earth.
“So you’re telling me I can call off Wilbur?” Tubbo asked ominously, making Tommy’s eyes go wide.
“You did what-”
“TECHNO KEEP TOMMY STILL IM ALMOST THERE” a voice hollered down the hall, the voice echoing off the metal walls of the ship. Techno, Tubbo, and Tommy kept quiet for about three seconds before they all burst out laughing, each laugh sounding extremely different.
Wilbur walked into the living room with a roll of gauze, a sedative, and way too many painkillers to be safe with a confused look on his face as he saw the two aliens and one human laughing at him.