Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It wasn’t often that the Syndicate was called and tasked with such a mundane errand. Being who they were they were used to shipping shady cargo or assisting (or straight up executing) the assassination of a corrupt individual. That was normally just on the more exciting jobs though.

But this time around they’d been hired as plain old exterminators . A very strange job for borderline space pirates. Maybe not borderline anymore. Hmm, that was a thought.

Either way, it was such a surprise to be asked for such a simple task that Phil found himself agreeing, even if it was on the verge of insulting. So here they were, the infamous Syndicate, flying through vast open space in the direction of some insignificant dwarf planet with a little pest problem in their woods.

It was mildly suspicious that the employer failed to mention what they were exterminating. But he was certain it wasn’t anything they couldn’t handle.

—

The Angel of Death was soon docking on a small planet hardly large enough to sustain life. But it managed, with forests and plains taking up a majority of its available space. The rest was scattered lakes and rivers. 

From what Philza remembered, this planet wasn’t even interesting enough to have a name. A proper one, at least. It was something boring and numeric. But it didn’t really need one much since it was only really inhabited for trade and the odd traveler who settled down.

He couldn’t even begin to imagine what sort of pest would have had them call the Syndicate of all people all the way out here. But, work was work. And Phil was admittedly curious.

“Captain Philza,” An unfamiliar breezekin greeted, little clouds and gusts of wind swirling around his core. But by the sound of it, he was the one who called.

Phil bowed in greeting, wings swirling into shape behind him. He stood back up straight as Techno joined him outside, eyeing down the breeze before them. “I assume we’ll be updated on the specifics of our job here?” Phil asked, tilting his head.

The breezekin whirled in place, making a whistling sound. “Ah, yes. I apologize for the ambiguity. You see, we’ve been having this issue for some time now, and were unsure who to call.”

Phil narrowed his eyes. “What exactly is this pest problem of yours?” He questioned, holding out a wing to stop Techno from advancing. “If you’ve mislead us–”

“No, no–” The breezekin insisted, shifting around with an airy sigh. “It’s just a rather dangerous, and… unpredictable situation.” He began carefully, raising Phil’s suspicions. “You see, a few weeks ago an unidentified shuttle crashed out in our nearby woodlands. About an hour after or so, a small group came together to investigate, looking for survivors, and potential enemies.”

Phil glanced back at Techno, then returned his gaze to the merchant. He was now gesturing out to the distant trees, not far from the established village. His vague arm of clouds blowing away in a breeze shortly after. “They found nobody in the wreckage, but continued to search the surrounding area. There were unknown footprints leading away, but they ended soon after the group found the trail.” He continued, growing nervous.

Phil did not like where this was going. What exactly was in those woods?

The breezekin shuddered, anxiously adjusting the clouds in their wind. “It wasn’t until nearly a month after that when somebody here spotted the human.”

Philza’s wings flared, and Techno seemed moments away from lunging for the breeze. “You lured us out here to trick us into getting rid of a human ?!” The eletryan hissed, glancing out to the trees again. “Do you have any idea the danger that could put me and my crew in?!”

The breezekin shuddered again, nearly dispersing. “I– I– Listen, please! If it was simply a matter of disposing of it we could have called nearly anyone to come out and shoot it down!” He protested, hovering slightly higher in his unease. “But it’s stolen a lot of valuables and items, and some of the people here have claimed to see it with a child hostage.” He explained, continuing on about something to do with retrieving stolen items. Phil wasn’t listening.

The eletryan faltered, eyes wide. “A… A child?” He repeated, confused. “I don’t– From whom? Or, where? How would it have gotten a child?” He questioned as firmly as he could. But the idea of someone so young out there had distracted him, just slightly.

“I don’t know,” The breezekin admitted. “As I said, that’s just what some people are saying. But , this is really dangerous regardless. We can’t trade, it’s ruining our peace of mind, our business, even these people’s homes. And we need help. Plus, if you can manage to take it alive, maybe it’ll be useful for you?” He tried suggesting, sounding awkwardly unsure. “Uh, intimidate your enemies or something. Y’know,” He offered. “But, just, please get rid of it. We’ll pay you. A lot .”

Phil hummed in though, eyes narrowed at the distant trees.

“Phil…” Techno said, warning. “Don’t do it Phil. You’re too curious, we don’t need this.” The maiabel tried to stop him. But Phil was already considering. In truth, he didn’t really care for the money. He doubted these far off drifting traders could offer much. But humans were infamous for their terrifying strength and horrific ability to continue on through even the most fatal of injuries. He was, admittedly, curious.

“ Please Phil. This is our vacation week.” Techno begged.

The captain grinned.

“ Nooo .”

“Techno, inform Niki and the others about the situation.” Phil commanded with a confident look to the breezekin, who puffed up in relief. “We’re hunting down this planet’s pest.”

“Y’re killin’ me, Phil.”

Chapter Text

Fatherhood was tough. Especially when it’s unexpectedly thrust upon you after you’re abducted by aliens, and lost in space, and get stranded on a tiny planet with other aliens freaking out and screaming whenever you so much as poke your head out of the woods. Oh, and your kids are also aliens that you don’t really know anything about.

Wilbur had been in space for, maybe a year now? Probably more than that really. But he found the kids about six months ago, and had been doing his best since then.

He says found, but in reality, is it finding when you stumble upon them during an escape from an alien lab and just decide to take them with you? Or is it kidnapping, technically…? What kind of sicko experiments on babies anyway? Well, he didn’t actually know if they were experimenting, but they did all sorts of fucked up tests on him while he was there, he could only assume the same for the two little beings of darkness and terror. 

Wilbur called them void bois. Or girls. He should think of a more gender neutral name maybe.

The older child he’d guessed to be about nine at the time, but had later changed his guesstimate to around six, based on the kid’s behavior. But he was still on the fence. So, he dubbed him somewhere between six and ten. A wide spectrum, he knew, but he didn’t have much to go off.

The younger child, on the other hand, was so small that it had been pretty obvious from the start that she was an infant, if not a little older. She was so little, and her presumed brother protected her fiercely. He couldn’t just leave them there, so scared and confused. So he took them with him in his escape.

Wilbur’s plan had been to somehow sneak them into alien civilization and leave them there, for someone to find, but that hadn’t worked out. And they seemed pretty damn attached by this point, so his chances of handing them over to some alien who actually knew what they were doing were probably over. So yeah. He was a father now. Whoopee.

Given that he couldn’t understand the weird and frankly eerie sounds they made, if those were even a language at all, he couldn’t learn their names. And he wasn’t sure if they had any to begin with if he was being honest. So, he graciously bestowed two beautiful but human names upon them: The older, Tommy. And the younger, Tallulah. He always liked those names, and after he got abducted he figured he’d never get to use them. But here they were, and they suited them quite well in his opinion.

But now he was stranded. There wasn’t hardly anything to eat here. It was cold at night. There was no shelter. The planet was small . The nearby civilization shrieked at the near sight of him. And worst of all, it rained . The horror he’d had after first making it to a planet that had rain was awful. He’d been so happy to have the cool water on his face, but the peace was destroyed within seconds after he realized that each droplet burned a new tiny hole in his babies’ skin, exposing blue blood and purple insides because yeah, it fucking MELTED their skin away if they stood in it too long.

He wasn’t reliving that. He never wanted to see their flesh and bones ever again if he could help it. They needed to stay safe and whole. No holes or crying. God, the crying. He still wasn’t used to the soul piercing wails Tallulah let out when she was hungry or scared or lonely or anything else that wasn’t one hundred percent content. But he was learning. He had no other choice.

Wilbur sighed, settling down beneath a tree. The makeshift camp they’d been staying at as of late was only a few feet away, and Tommy was messing around with a stick Wilbur had half-assed carved into a little man for him to play with, dancing him around in the dirt.

The aliens on this planet had come to investigate their crash pretty quickly, and returned a few times afterwards too, so he knew they couldn’t stay there. Wilbur had packed up what he could at the time and moved out a few miles from the crash site, eventually finding some sort of abandoned animal den to reinforce into a home for them. If you could call it that.

“ Wilby !” Tommy croaked, the few english words he could pronounce coming out hoarse and warbled. It hurt Wilbur when he tried, because it didn’t sound comfortable for the boy’s voice at all. 

“Yeah?” He replied, signing along with his speech. He’d honestly never been more thankful for deciding to learn sign language. Whatever alien race Tommy and Tallulah were may have had six fingers, but that didn’t stop the boy from learning. And was a lifesaver when it came to communicating.

Tommy let out a distinctly human giggle that came out broken, and pointed up to a bird in the trees, signing, “Look! It’s so cute and stupid!”

Wilbur laughed at the boy’s description, but it died in his chest when he noticed the storm clouds rolling in beyond the trees. “Uh oh,” He muttered.

Tommy blinked, glancing back to him before following his gaze. “Uhoh.” He repeated, spotting the clouds. “Rain?” He asked, looking worried.

Wilbur nodded, getting up and ushering him down into their little hovel. The brunet followed after him, pulling Tallulah off his back and ducking down carefully inside. Tommy scurried over to one of the lights they’d pilfered from the ship and shook it eagerly, turning it on and bathing the small space in white. Wilbur smiled, settling Tallulah down in her bundle of blankets away from the entrance. She sniffled, rubbing at her nose, but stayed asleep.

“You wanna do shadow puppets?” Wilbur offered, holding up his hands.

Tommy nodded excitedly, always ready to outshow his human father. Wilbur supposed having six flexible fingers and a child’s imagination probably made it a lot easier. 

The two settled in with their shadow stories and games as rain began to pour outside. Wilbur spared a glance out while Tommy was distracted making birds fly overhead on the half-dirt half-spaceship paneling ceiling. He watched the rain collect quickly in puddles on the ground, reminding him of previous rainy nights. He sighed, reaching outside and pulling Tommy’s wet stick figure in, before pushing their makeshift spaceship door in front of the entrance so the rain wouldn’t leak in. He hoped it wouldn’t last long.

Chapter Text

It was raining. That was really making their search difficult. Phil was mostly against searching by use of scanners, and Techno agreed with him. It was definitely some sort of infringement on privacy to set out with a scanner, spot your target’s temperature signature, and finish the job within a few minutes. A real confidence killer too for whoever you were hunting. Those things were hard to avoid, given how advanced they were. But still. Manual searching was tiring.

“See anythin’ yet, Phil?” The maiabel asked, peering up into the air with a hand over his eyes. He hated the rain. It was nice when he chose to be in it. But that wasn’t often.

Phil circled overhead, six massive leathery wings shifting into more insect-like ones as he glided down. “No, not yet,” He replied, landing beside Techno with a huff.

He sighed. “I hate this. How do we know this isn’t all just some sort of ruse? We might be bein’ punked.”

“Tech, people don’t tend to punk one of the most well known anarchist groups in the galaxies. Not if they want to live a long and happy life, at least. And besides, why would they?” He said, shaking his head to dispel water droplets before walking on ahead.

Techno huffed, glaring through wet hair. He didn’t like this at all. He sighed loudly, nearly tripping as he followed the eletryan deeper into the trees, wishing he was back on the Angel and settled down for a long nap. And Niki just made muffins, too. He was missing out on so much by being here.

Phil gasped up ahead, catching the maiabel’s attention. He hurried into a jog, slowing at Phil’s side. “What’sa matter?” He questioned, looking around. He blinked, spotting the absolutely desecrated space shuttle not far in front of them. Half suspended in the trees, debris all around, glass shattered. It was awful, there was no way anything could survive a crash like that.

Except, maybe a human. 

He groaned, face twisting into a scowl at the idea of it. 

He and Phil walked forward, the latter flying up on smaller insect wings than before, ones that allowed him to hover with ease. He carefully landed inside the broken control room, testing the shuttle with his weight, before turning back to Techno. “You coming up?”

“I don’t have a choice do I?”

Phil smiled. Techno sighed.

He pulled himself up in the closest tree, cursing his hooves and the slippery weather. Once he was high enough, he turned and jumped across the gap into the control room, waving his arms frantically when his balance was thrown by the entire shuttle jolting under his weight.

The two went still, waiting for it to settle. Phil let out a laugh once it did. “Maybe lay off Niki’s baking for a while, eh mate?” He chuckled, jabbing his wing Techno’s way.

The maiabel waited for him to turn around and move further into the shuttle before silently mocking him. “ Mimimi . Lay off the birdseed maybe.” He huffed, carefully following after him.

It was dark. Even Phil had resorted to pulling out a flashlight, and he was pretty good at seeing in the dark. The device lit up the path ahead of them, illuminating more debris and broken walls. The control room was completely destroyed. All of the actual controls were pretty much obliterated by the crash, and the rest of the room didn’t look too hot either.

But moving onward, they investigated the rest of the ship. They pretty quickly determined that it was really only a transport shuttle. Something that normally wouldn’t be used for more than moving across one planet, or docking on a nearby ship when your main one was too big to do so. Needless to say, it wasn’t longtime travel ready by any means.

“Tech, look at this,” Phil said in a hushed tone, gesturing to weird markings on the wall.

They’d reached the back of the shuttle now, with the biggest room opening up at the end of the hall. It was mostly empty storage crates, but at the entrance to the room, right where the wall cut off, there were two weird lines carved into the wall. The first was carved one and a half, maybe two feet off the floor, and the other was marked higher up at about just under five feet. There was indecipherable writing over each line, too. Not that they could understand it.

“What do you think it is?” Techno asked, walking into the larger room and looking around. There were lines here, too.

“I dunno,” Phil muttered, crouched down to examine the two lines. “Notes of some sort? Measurements maybe? What for, though?” He wondered aloud, slowly turning to find Techno. “Whatcha lookin’ at?” He questioned, shining the light his way.

It lit up multiple lines all over one side of the wall. Tens of little collections of tiny strokes, carved into the paneling. They were collected in groups of five, with the final line crossing over the first four. 

“What the heck is that?” Techno wondered, mildly uneased.

Phil shuddered, moving closer. “I don’t know–”

The shuttle groaned and creaked, shifting violently.

Techno and Phil jolted, nearly tumbling onto the ground. They steadied themselves, listening carefully for any signs that the ship would fall, but instead they heard sounds from down the hall, in the control room.

The two tensed, quickly moving around the corner to not be seen as an unfamiliar voice moved along the hall. It stopped at one of the doors, the one that had broken off completely, and disappeared inside, mumbling to themself. 

Techno glanced to Phil. The eletryan did the same, looking to him in question. The maiabel pulled out his weapon, followed by Phil, and they cautiously approached the room with the missing door. 

Experienced as they were, they made no sound, even with Phil’s talon’s and Techno’s hooves. The voice continued to mumble, shifting around through whatever was in the room. But they were only about six feet from the doorway when the mumbling stopped. 

Techno and Phil held their breaths, hurrying forward silent as they could. There was no way they heard them. But everything inside the room had stopped.

Chapter Text

Wilbur couldn’t breathe. Someone was outside the room, in the hall. He could feel it. It was like in old horror movies when they knew they shouldn’t turn around, that something was there.

He let out a careful, shuddering breath, bringing his hands up over his mouth. This wasn’t like when he ran into the aliens before, where they screeched and cried and ran away in fear from him. It wasn’t even like the one time he escaped his cell on an old ship and got hunted back down and thrown in, with a few zaps to the neck for good measure.

No, this was terribly, awfully different. 

Wilbur never considered himself a particularly fearful man. But it was raining. It was dark. He’d left Tommy and Tallulah back at their camp with specific instructions to stay inside until he got back. He just wanted to see if there was anything he could bring them. Anything else that would make that little hole in the ground less boring and cold.

Wilbur wanted to cry. Oh god . If anything happened to him, they’d be all alone. Tommy would only wait so long before getting worried. He’d try to come look for him. But if it was still raining–

He choked back a sob, hunched over on himself and stifling his cries. He couldn’t, he couldn’t . If, if that happened– Wilbur inhaled sharply, trying to steady himself.

The hair on the back of his neck rose. It was right behind him .

Slowly, he reached out for something. What could he use? Realistically, he could probably take any alien. Unless it was in fact not some alien hunting him down for science and questions, but some sort of alien monster that crawled out of the depths of this sorry little planet’s hell.

Wilbur was maybe a little sleep deprived.

He exhaled, lowering his other hand and closing his eyes as his fingers closed around a twisted piece of wall paneling. He wasn’t dying here. He would not .

Hand clenched around his weapon, he spun around and lunged for the figure behind him. Two. In a haze, he processed golden horns and indiscernible wings. He shouted as loud as he could, swinging the twisted metal towards the tall winged alien.

It shrieked, stumbling back in a mess of limbs and too many wings. Wilbur spun around, throwing himself at the other and bringing his weapon down on its leg. It yelled out in pain before kicking out and hitting Wilbur in the gut. 

He fell back and rolled on instinct, avoiding the wings that had shot out towards him. Wilbur pushed back to his feet in an instant and reared to attack again, only to find his weapon stuck.

He glanced back. The horned alien grabbed it, holding him from getting another hit. Wilbur screamed and pulled hard forward, before flinging it back and sending the alien flying in surprise.

No weapon now, but he knew from experience that he didn’t need one. Panting, adrenaline coursing through his veins, he charged forward. The winged alien shrieked, holding its arms out, but Wilbur rammed into it and shoved it over with ease. He grabbed it firmly by each shoulder and slammed it into the ground with a crack ! 

It’s head lolled, eyes going hazy.

A roar sounded from behind him before he was promptly yanked back off the winged alien, kicking and screaming, thrashing back and trying to land a hit on the other alien’s knees. It didn’t work. It didn’t work, it wasn’t working, he was going to die–

Wilbur gasped and shot his head backwards, effectively headbutting the horned alien right in the nose. It gave a pained shout and dropped him down on the floor.

He swallowed, pushing himself back up, rushing to keep fighting, to keep going for Tommy, and Tallulah. He had to. He couldn’t die here.

But then a big, black, feathered wing lurched out and whacked Wilbur in the head, knocking him back hard against the wall and everything went dark.

—

Phil panted, world spinning slightly around him. He looked up to Techno, finding his friend with a bleeding nose and multiple scraps across his arms. He inhaled shakily. “You good?” He slurred, head feeling light.

Techno hummed in response. “Yah… Holy– Holy heck. What was that? This guy didn’t even look that strong,” He grumbled in disbelief, holding a hand up to his nose.

Phil’s head wobbled and he leaned against the wall. “Uh huh. I dunno. Gods my head. It’s definitely strong,” The eletryan noted, squeezing his eyes shut and wincing at the throbbing pain in the back of his head.

Techno huffed. “How’d he even know we were here?” He wondered, crouching down beside what could only be the human they came out here searching for. “Still, that was easier than I thought.”

Phil scoffed. “We caught it off guard.”

“Did we,” Techno deadpanned, glancing back in the room they’d found it in. “Well, should we take it back to the ship?” 

The captain took a minute, sucking in long deliberate breaths. “I– Yeah. We gotta– But we gotta use the strong cell, ‘kay?” He instructed, opening his eyes to see Techno’s response.

The maiabel hummed, looking down at the human slumped on the floor. “We should get to moving it before it wakes up. We have no idea how long it’ll stay out.”

Phil sighed. “You’re right. Let’s– Let’s go.”

Chapter Text

“You’re lucky you weren’t hurt worse,” Niki scolded, pressing a hot rag down on Techno’s wounds.

The maiabel hissed, listening to the gross sound of snapping and crackling health potion work away at his wounds. “Yeah, I know that much,” He muttered, yelping when she pressed down on another cut.

“And Phil,” She sighed, “He got pretty banged up. He’s got a concussion ! Goodness, you two are insane,” She tsked, hanging her head.

Techno frowned. “Sorry. But I didn’t even want to be out there in the first place so, blame Phil.”

Niki whacked him over the head with her tail. “You hush. Weren’t you the one who volunteered to be this crew’s protection? It’s your job to be Phil’s bodyguard more than any of us. That eletryan’s too curious for his own good.” She tutted, pulling her rag away and placing some plasters over Techno’s wounds.

Techno huffed thoughtfully. “You think it’s a sign of old age? His curiousness?”

Niki gave him a hard stare.

“Yeah you’re right.” The maiabel sighed. “Phil’s just Phil.”

“And Phil’s going to be out for a while, so it’ll be your job to deal with the freaking human you brought onto our ship.” Niki declared sternly, rolling her tank back to examine his arms. “There. You should be good to go now. But be more careful.”

Techno hummed in acknowledgement, getting to his feet. “Do you need help getting back into the canal?” He offered. Only to get another dead stare from the kiokec. He sighed, “Just thought I’d offer, y’know, chivalry or whatever.”

“I’m good. But thank you,” Niki replied, rolling her tank over to the wall, releasing the front, and sliding down into the water canal in the floor. She swam down it, stopping beside him and propping her arms up on the ledge. “Now go, shoo. Make sure everything’s in order, Mr Security.”

“Right.” Techno sighed, giving her a nod in thanks before exiting the medbay. Niki swam off through the lower canals, disappearing deeper into the ship.

Okay. First, he wanted to check on Tubbo and Ranboo. They were pretty distressed when they first explained what was happening. Ranboo more so than Tubbo. The young endarnen practically started wailing on the spot. But they calmed him down. Though, he doubted they knew that the human was now on board the ship…

“ AHHHHHH! ”

Techno turned tail and booked it down the hall towards the cell rooms. That was Tubbo screaming. Why would Tubbo be screaming? There was no way it got out. If it did–

He skidded to a halt, finding Tubbo against the wall opposite of the cell door, looking both terrified and curious. Ranboo was down the hall maybe ten feet, curled in a ball on the floor.

“What’s the matter?” Techno asked, rapidly looking over the small xizzendor for injury. “What happened?”

Tubbo blinked a few times in rapid succession before getting back up, wings buzzing. “Look,” He stated, moving back towards the door. “It woke up and has been going crazy.” 

Techno frowned, carefully ushering Tubbo out of the way to look inside. The human was indeed awake, cuts and scrapes and patches of internal bleeding from after the fight all seemed to be nothing to it. It screamed and howled, scratching at the walls and jumping for the one window up near the ceiling. It clawed at its hair and ran around, looking frenzied. Until it saw Techno. 

In hardly more than a blink it was at the door, banging and clawing and shrieking.

Techno jumped, startled. Tubbo buzzed, moving up beside him. “That’s why I screamed. It jumpscared me.” He explained.

The maiabel narrowed his eyes at the human, subconsciously putting an arm between it and Tubbo. He didn’t like this. There was no ‘intimidating their enemies’. They didn’t need that. They’d be lucky if it didn’t tear their arm off. Who was to say it couldn’t break down the door?

“Why did we have to do this?” Ranboo whined, glancing back over his shoulder. “It’s so loud.”

“Ranboo, no offense, but you’ve been louder.” Tubbo said, tilting his head. Techno wouldn’t verbally agree, but it was true. He couldn’t count the amount of times he’d nearly lost hearing due to Ranboo’s startled shrieks.

“Come here, Boo. It wants to see you.” Tubbo said with a big, mischievous smile.

Ranboo only hunched in on himself more, hiding his face in his hands. 

Techno sighed. “Didn’t you say you were curious about humans only a week ago?” He prompted, walking over to the endarnen on the floor. “I assure you, it can’t get past that door. You’re safe to come see if you want to.”

Ranboo didn’t move for a moment, but slowly, he raised his head, craning his neck to try and see into the cell. He sighed shakily, getting to his feet and walking over, with Techno in front as a shield.

The human was still spitting and snarling inside, and Tubbo was having a hay day just poking at the glass and giggling when it screamed at him. But as soon as Ranboo moved into its line of sight, it stopped.

“Damn Ranboo, you some sort of human whisperer?” Tubbo asked with a chuckle, giving the endarnen a light punch to the side.

Ranboo frowned, wringing his hands. “I dunno…” He muttered, stepping a little bit closer to see. 

Techno watched as Ranboo approached the transparent door, hunched over slightly so he could see inside better. The human was watching him directly, and it visibly made the kid nervous. But he didn’t back down, not yet at least.

“Why’s it looking at me like that?” He asked, tilting his head back but not taking his eyes away from the door. “It’s weird…”

Techno didn’t know why. Maybe it was the endarnen stare thing? But it didn’t look like the human was looking directly at his eyes, so he didn’t know. It squinted its eyes, walking closer to the door than before. Its gaze traveled all over Ranboo with a strange sort of interest, but its eyes just seemed confused.

It placed its five fingered hand on the invisible door, and after a long moment, Ranboo did the same. It stayed like that for a few seconds before blinking and turning away, giving them all a snarl before retreating into the cell.

Ranboo shuddered, pulling his hand back. “I don’t like it.”

Techno hummed. Weird.

Chapter Text

Wilbur felt sick. Not only was he once again trapped on a new alien ship, but Tommy and Tallulah weren’t with him. And they weren’t with him when he was found. Which means they weren’t found. And even if that was good in some aspects of the situation, it wasn’t overall. Wilbur was pretty confident that these aliens would be a lot nicer to other alien children than to a wild feral human man. But nobody knew . They were stranded out there alone. 

He shuddered to think what could become of them.

Wilbur inhaled sharply, glancing back over his shoulder. There was a small, bee-like alien watching him like a kid at the zoo, four hands pressed against the glass, or whatever the door was made of. They turned to look back at something else, saying words he couldn’t understand or hear. Wilbur took the opportunity to move up to the door, eager to make these guys regret taking him.

He reached the door, bee alien still chatting to someone in the distance, and banged his fists against the invisible force, baring his teeth. The bee alien screamed, jumping back and hovering some feet in the air, legs tucked to their chest.

Wilbur grinned, banging again on the door. “Let me out!” He shouted. “Let me the fuck out of here! Where the fuck are my children!!” When the bee ignored him, only flinching once at his words before settling down, he turned back to the cell he was in, looking around.

Were they already in the air? Had they already left his babies behind to die?

He inhaled shakily, hurrying over to the opposite wall to try and reach the window. He had to see. He needed to know. If they were still on the planet he might be able to get back to them. There was still a chance . But the stupid window was too high up for him to reach, so he resorted to new tactics.

His clawing at the walls and screaming his lungs out must have drawn attention though, because soon there was another alien at the door. This time, it was one he recognized.

Wilbur rushed at the door, banging his fists against it with new rage. “YOU!” He shrieked. “YOU’RE ONE OF THE ONES WHO TOOK ME!”  

The alien jumped back, startled. Wilbur snarled, playing into every beastly stereotype they seemed to have for him. “Turn this ship around right fucking now and take me back to my kids!” He demanded uselessly, kicking the door as hard as he could.

They were turning away now, talking to whoever the bee had been talking to down the hall. Wilbur’s energy waned, and he felt his eyes growing hot with tears. “ Please , take me back! Let me go!” He begged, scratching at invisible, unbreakable glass.

The aliens kept talking, and soon the one with golden horns around their head walked away. Wilbur’s gaze turned to the bee, who was also looking at him. He bared his teeth and snarled, but they just seemed to smile oddly and poke at the invisible doorway. Wilbur screamed at them.

A few moments later, the pink alien with horns returned. Wilbur gave them a vicious spit of curses in greeting, but fell silent when their companion walked into sight.

They looked just like Tommy and Tallulah. Inky black skin with darker marks and purple freckles, their eyes were green but still had residual purple swirls on the edges, like Tommy’s, and the horn on their forehead was bigger and starting to branch off like an antler. The down that Tallulah had and Tommy was growing out of was completely gone on this guy, replaced with sleek black feathers for hair and on their tail and four ears. They were so similar. They had to be the same race as them.

Wilbur placed his hand on the glass, brows furrowed in thought. He almost wished he could speak to them, to ask if he was raising Tommy and Tallulah right, if there was something he was missing.

The dark alien mimicked him, placing their hand over his with only the invisible doorway between them. Wilbur stared at it. Six fingers too, just like them.

He moved away with a sigh, sparing one last snarling glare at the majority of them before retreating into the cell and settling down on the floor, not bothering to stop the tears that came rolling down his cheeks.

—

Dad was gone. He said he went to go look for more parts to make their new home super cool, and that he had to stay behind as ‘man of the house’, even if it wasn’t a house, because he was a big man, and had to protect baby Tallulah.

But, he still wasn’t back, and the rain had died down a while ago. Tallulah was crying, and Tommy did his best to make her calm. He shook up the light and showed her shadow puppets, and retold stories that dad had told before. But she was hungry, and Tommy didn’t have any food for her or himself.

He waited a few more hours, just to be sure, because dad was never gone more than two or maybe three. But he didn’t come back, and the rain had completely stopped some time ago.

So, Tommy had to be a big man for longer. He grabbed the baby wrap dad made and his bag which Tommy was only supposed to touch in emergencies. He fastened Tallulah to his front, and filled the bag with important things. The light, his stick man, Tallulah’s blanket, and dad’s beanie hat. Then he put the bag on his back, and moved the door so he could get out.

There were still some puddles around, which Tommy was careful to avoid, especially while he was climbing out. His hands weren’t as tough as his feet.

Once he was out, he stood up straight, and wiped the dirt off his hands onto his shorts. Then he pat Tallulah on the head for reassurance, and he was off. The first thing he did was head for the crashed ship. That’s where dad went, so he should check there first.

He avoided big puddles and didn’t whine when the mud burned his feet because he was big and strong, and it was his job to make sure everyone was safe while he was man of the not-house house. 

But getting to the ship would take a while. Dad said they were a few miles from it, and Tommy was pretty sure that was a long way. But he was a big man. He could do it. He had to. Because, he was scared. And he had to make sure dad was okay.

Chapter Text

Phil was awake. He came to with a terrible headache, but Niki told him that he was pretty much healed up and had only been out for thirteen hours or so. The first thing he did was check on his crew, and Techno informed him of recent happenings.

“It’s that violent already?” He asked, not really surprised at all.

Techno hummed, glancing towards the cell hall. “Yeah. It was screamin’ and trying to get through the door. But it stopped when it saw Ranboo,”

“Ranboo?” Phil repeated, confused. He looked over to the endarnen in question, settled in the common space with Tubbo. They were looking over something on their tablet. “Why? What happened?”

“Dunno,” Techno admitted. “It just stopped screamin’ and stuff when Ranboo showed up. Was very interested in him.”

“Well, maybe we keep him away from it for now. I don’t know how I feel about the human being interested in Ranboo. It might, like, I dunno, be plotting his death or something.” Phil sighed, rubbing his eyes. 

Techno hummed in agreement. “Yeah. That’s a good idea.”

“Are we still groundside?” Phil asked, moving on to the control room. 

The maiabel huffed, “Yah. Didn’t want leave while you were still out of it. The merchants did pay us though.”

“Oh? How much?” Phil asked with a humorless chuckle.

“Not even enough to pay for the fuel to get here.” Techno answered dryly.

The captain sighed. “I thought as much. Oh well. We should get going. And– figure out what to do with the… human.” He trailed off, sounding tired.

“Alright,” Techno replied, walking off to inform everyone that they were taking off. 

Phil settled down in the pilot’s chair, starting the ship up and readying it for flight. They never saw any child, but it did seem to be mostly hearsay after all. He supposed he should be glad, as it meant there likely wasn’t a child to rescue in the first place.

— 

There was a spaceship in the sky. Tommy saw it a little after finding their own crashed spaceship. Dad wasn’t there. But the spaceship in the sky was big, all white with two green stripes across the middle and black wings. There was a mark on the side with wings and a crown, but Tommy didn’t know what it meant.

He sighed, walking away from the crashed ship and towards the people town. Dad said to stay away from there, unless it was an absolute emergency. Tommy liked to think that him going missing counted as an absolute emergency.

It took him even longer to get to the town from the ship than it did to get from their not-house to the ship. His legs were so tired, and his feet burned badly from walking through the soggy mud. But at least Tallulah was asleep, so he could be stealthy.

A lot of the houses in the town weren’t real houses either. There were a lot of tents and weird half tent half house things where people sold stuff. Tommy hid behind a tree, watching it all nervously. What if they freaked out and screamed like when they saw dad? Or what if they tried to trap him, or they did tests on him and covered him in scars like dad too?

Tommy trilled anxiously, sinking down behind the tree. Why was he so scared? He was a big man. He had to find dad. He had to. 

Tommy took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut. He wouldn’t be scared. If anyone so much as looked at him or Tallulah funny, he’d fight them off himself. His dad was the strongest guy out there, and Tommy knew he was okay. Even when people screamed and were afraid, his dad was still strong. Tommy would be too.

He made his way out of the trees and down towards the town, Tallulah clutched close to his chest. He made it all the way to the town and found a whole bunch of different people watching him. He faltered slightly, before holding his head high and tugging on the cloak of the nearest person. “Hey, ha’e you seen Wilby?” He asked loudly with his voice cracking as he stared up at them.

They stared back at him, eyes wide and distant. They shuddered, looking away. Rude. They muttered something to somebody nearby, but Tommy couldn’t understand. All these people were speaking gibberish.

He scoffed, turning away and walking through the town. Everybody was watching them, and he felt the need to hide Tallulah in his arms. These people were real creeps staring at a baby like that. 

He made it to the end of the little town, where a wide clear space was. There were ships here, but none nearly as big as the one he saw fly off just a little bit ago. Tommy glanced around, judging the ships around him with scrutinizing eyes. They were all lame. 

He sighed, looking back to the town. They were still watching him, whispering to each other about something. He frowned, sniffling. Where was dad?

Human .

Tommy blinked. That word meant dad, he knew that. That’s what the people were saying. Some of them were looking up to the sky, too, where the ship had gone.

Tommy’s eyes went wide. Did the people on that ship take dad ? His chest started hammering, and he knew it was his heart because that’s what dad said it was whenever he got scared like this. Dad was on that ship. And it was already so far away! 

His breaths were so fast now, and that was bad. A long time ago he was trapped in a white room before Tallulah even had a name or could open her eyes, and his breaths were fast there all the time. Because there were mean people there, and they wanted him and Tallulah because they were special. But dad was there too, and he rescued them. Tommy had to rescue him now, so he wasn’t scared and breathing fast too.

But he didn’t know how . He needed to be on the ship. The ship so far away. Ships are so so fast . There was no way he could get to it. He was too small to try and steal a ship like dad did to get them here, and he couldn’t fly or anything like that. But he had to get on that ship.

Tommy’s hands felt tingly, and he couldn’t feel his chest pounding but he could still feel his heart. His head buzzed, and he clutched baby Tallulah tighter. He felt sick. But– He had to get on that ship !

All of a sudden Tommy couldn’t see his body anymore, and the world was dark with flashes of white little lines. Then it was all white, and cold, and he could feel his body again. He landed on a cold floor, head spinning. 

Now he really felt sick. Tallulah was crying, and Tommy couldn’t see. But he forced himself up and over to a wall with a window. He blinked, trying to focus, and outside was dark with stars. 

Tommy was on the ship.

Chapter Text

The human seemed to have lost its will to fight. A few hours after they took off from the merchant planet, it practically laid down to die. Phil had tried multiple times to get it to eat. Meat, fruit, vegetables, flowers, bugs even, and anything else. But nothing, and it wouldn’t even drink the water they gave it. It just laid on the ground, facing the wall.

Phil wasn’t sure what to do.

But it wasn’t completely down for the count. Whenever he or Techno went in to see if it was alive it tried to kill them. But it lost more and more prowess every time. If they didn’t do something, Phil knew it was going to die.

They needed someone who knew about humans. But someone who wouldn’t give away the fact that they had one. But how to go about finding someone like that?

“What’re you doing?” Ranboo asked, suddenly behind him.

Phil startled, wings flaring out in surprise. Ranboo apologized sheepishly. “It’s fine, Ranboo.” He assured with a sigh. “I’m just thinking.”

“About the human?” Rambo guessed, leaned forward as he walked up beside the chair Phil sat at.

Phil hummed affirmation. “I am. You wouldn’t happen to have a book on them, would you?” He tried hopelessly.

Ranboo frowned. “No. But you could try C. Karl.” He suggested, sitting down on the floor in front of him.

The eletryan narrowed his eyes in thought. “The archive?”

“Mm,” Ranboo replied. “Yeah. It’s anonymous, and always has new information. If anyone out here has known anything about humans, it’s probably in Karl’s archive.” He explained absently, messing with the feathers on his tail.

Phil thought it over. It couldn’t hurt to try, right? He hopped up from his chair and moved over to the control panel, pulling up the big screen. It didn’t take him long to find what he was looking for, and a big purple swirl appeared on his now teal screen.

c!K.A.R.L…

Cognitive Knowledge Archive of Research and Learnings

Phil hummed curiously. Seemed legitimate enough. He waited for the words to disperse, and a multicolored hologram replaced his screen.

“Hello! I’m Karl! What do you need?” The hologram greeted, manifesting minimalist traits like eyes and limbs, and another swirl appeared on its torso.

“Hello Karl, do you have any information regarding humans in your database?” Phil asked, straight to the point.

The hologram rested its head on its hand, the mark on its torso swirling around. Then it stopped, replaced with an exclamation mark. “I do indeed! Quite a wide library, in fact,” It informed, hundreds of small articles appearing behind it. “Do you have specifics? And always keep in mind, all of my information is anonymously updated. I cannot tell you who or when the information is from or how accurate it is.” It warned, holding up a hand.

Phil bobbed his head, trying to decide what to look for. He wanted to start simple, something that was sure to have an acceptable answer. “What do humans eat?”

Karl whistled, and many of the articles cleared away, while the remaining ones moved closer. “ Humans are omnivorous. ” He began simply, referencing more than half the articles at hand, “ This is the most widely known and written fact. They’re also known to eat things that are normally poisonous to other species, including but not limited to; caffeine, chocolate, and highly acidic fruits. And while the majority eat a variety of meat, vegetables, fruits, and other things, some humans have been known to limit themselves or cut certain foods out of their diet for health or personal reasons. And then they have preferences as well when it comes to what they want to eat .”

Phil frowned. He’d offered the human meat, vegetables, fruit, and a bunch of other things. This couldn’t be a matter of preference. It hardly even acknowledged them! He frowned, stretching out his wings. “What could cause a human to not eat?” He tried.

Karl paused for a moment, the swirl mark returned and rotating again before it found answers. It pulled forward only eight or nine articles, reciting information. “ Illness, injury, fear, and mental distraught can all cause a human to refuse food. These can cause the human to lose appetite, thus the idea of eating is highly unappealing. Also, it’s been noted that some humans will refuse food as self punishment for something, or if they simply do not want to gain more energy. Suicide rates are very high for humans taken from their home planet. ”

“Holy shit…” Phil muttered, thinking back to the human in the cell. He gathered his thoughts, moving his hands about as he tried to word his next question. “Can– Do humans– Are they really as violent as they’re claimed to be?” He settled on, looking up to the hologram for a response.

This question took Karl a long time to answer, paused in a loading state for some time before chiming, three articles coming forward. “ Only a few users have uploaded information stating otherwise: Based on this, I can say that humans, like many species, are violent when provoked. But the information I gather from one particular article states, quote; “It entirely depends on the human in question. ”

Phil sighed, falling back into his chair. That wasn’t much to go off of, was it? Exceptions were a thing for all races. Maiabels were known for grace and their elegant wins in battle, and Techno was one of the roughest, uncoordinated people he knew. Not to mention clumsy. And Tubbo, xizzendors traveled in hive groups, never straying from their families, but the young boy found his way to them on his own. And just, pretty much everyone in his crew was an exception from their norm, but that didn’t make it common. It just made them a mismatched band of weirdos. So who was to say this human was any different from the ones on reports?

“ Do you have any more questions ?” Karl asked, head tilted.

Phil let out a long breath, rubbing his eyes. “Not today Karl, thank you.”

“ Of course! ” The hologram replied. It fell still for a moment, before speaking again. “ My record of your search has been removed. Goodbye .”

The hologram dispersed into a single swirl, before it wound back on itself and disappeared, bringing Philza’s blank screen back up.

Ranboo looked up to him, expression anxious. “You don’t think that’s what’s going on, do you?” He asked worriedly.

Phil gnawed at his lip, deep in thought. “I think… We might need to do something about this.” He glanced to Ranboo, giving him an apologetic look. 

The endarnen tensed, growing apprehensive. “What…?”

“Ranboo, I’m putting you in charge of the human’s mental health. And Tubbo in charge of making sure you actually do something about it.” He stated tiredly.

Ranboo was horrified.

Chapter Text

Phil put Ranboo in charge of human mental wellbeing, and then put Tubbo in charge of making sure Ranboo actually did his new job. Techno, however upset that he put the two kids on the ship in charge of watching the dangerous killing machine, needed to find whatever had stowed away on their ship while they were on that awful little planet.

Nobody else seemed to have noticed it yet, but Techno knew. His ears may be oversized and droopy, but that didn’t mean they didn’t work . Something was in his ship. 

He’d already done a scan of the ventilation system to make sure nothing got up in there, cleaning it out in the process before moving on. Now he was searching the rooms. He checked those that were inhabited and found nothing, and was now left with scanning the rest of the massive ship and its many rooms.

After a few hours of looking, he stopped in the kitchen where Niki was baking. He slumped down at the table with a sigh, inhaling deeply after catching the scent of whatever she was making. “What’s cookin’ today?” He asked, glancing over to her workspace.

She rolled around in her tank specifically set up to the kitchen, moving the dirty dishes into the cleaner. “Cookies,” She informed. “It’s a new recipe. These ones have berries in them, and should be much thicker and softer than the ones I normally bake. Of course, if they turn out.” She explained with a smile.

Techno returned it. He had quite the soft spot for Niki’s baking. It was somewhat strange, because maiabels definitely weren’t known for their love of sweets.

“What about you?” She asked, rolling along the track in her round tank and stopping beside the table. 

“Somethin’s in the ship. Must’ve picked it up when we were planetside dealin’ with that human. But I haven’t found it yet.”

Niki tilted her head curiously. “How do you know?”

Techno frowned, pulling up the audio recordings from last night's security footage and playing it on the screen over the table.

Niki covered her ears as soon as the audio began, warbling cries echoing through the halls on the screen. “You guys have soundproofed rooms. I do not, for this very reason.”

He turned the audio off and hung his head back in his seat with a sigh. “I have no idea what it is. It almost sounds like Ranboo, but… shriller, and less, I dunno, mind melting? You know what I mean?”

“Mm, I do.” Niki assured, rolling her tank back over to the oven. “You think it’s from his planet then? Something passed from one merchant to us?”

“It’s possible,” Techno admitted, trailing off as she opened the oven. “Oh that smells good,” He said quietly, watching her pull out a round pan full of little puffed up cookies with spots in them. “Lemme taste one?”

Niki glanced over her shoulder, giving him a teasing look. “Of course.”

She scooped a couple off the pan and onto a small plate before bringing them over to the table. Techno grabbed one immediately and ate half of it in one bite, melting at the flavor. “Th’s is am’zin’,” He mumbled through his mouthful.

Niki laughed. “Only person I know who can eat them straight out of the oven like that.”

He quickly finished it off, and the others followed after. He sighed contently, glancing over to the tray with the rest of them. His eyes widened in shock at the sight of a tiny arm sticking out of the cupboards below and pulling cookies down. “HEY!” He shrieked, jumping up from the table and rushing for the cupboards. 

When he reached the doors and threw them open, he found nothing inside but cookie crumbs. He huffed in frustration, grabbing another cookie off the tray and devouring it angrily.

“Was it the intruder?” Niki asked, craning her neck to look down at the cupboard.

Techno grunted in affirmation, swallowing hard. “Yes it was . And these are still great by the way,” He noted gruffly.

Niki smiled.

—

Ranboo had begun to think he was making progress. It took him a while to get the human to interact with him at all (even longer before to actually get himself to settle down and try anything), but things worked out somewhat. Now he found himself uselessly explaining the effects of foreign travelers landing on Pandora and what it did to the culture. Tubbo never listened to his history facts, and the human couldn’t understand so it couldn’t tell him he was boring.

He’d just gotten to the point of describing the changes to architecture from outside influence, letting out a happy trill, when he came to a sudden stop. The human mimicked him, nearly perfectly replicating the trill.

Ranboo blinked, tilting his head curiously. “How did you do that?” He wondered, coo rumbling in his throat.

The human smiled and mimicked that too.

Ranboo’s eyes widened. “Wow! That’s amazing. Tubbo, come look at this!”

Tubbo buzzed deliriously, jolting out of sleep and flying over. “Yah hmmmm?” He hummed in question, settling beside the endarnen.

“Make a sound. Buzz or something.” Ranboo commanded, glancing down at his friend.

Tubbo yawned. “Okay, Boo.” He replied, letting out a low and sleepy buzz.

It wasn’t completely spot on, but the human copied Tubbo’s buzz too. That caught the xizzendor’s attention, shocking him out of his sleep. “Woah! How’d he do that?!”

Ranboo wondered when Tubbo began thinking of the human as a he, but didn’t really care. “It– He mimicked my trills and stuff too!”

“Not your super otherworldly space creature sounds, did he?” Tubbo asked, looking up in disbelief.

“No,” Ranboo clarified. “Not those. But the simpler stuff!” He turned back to the door, tapping the invisible barrier a few times. “Do it again?”

The human blinked and took a deep breath, before letting out a loud trumpeting noise similar to the tall trunked beings from the shulkers’ planet. Tubbo burst into awed laughter, buzzing up near the top of the door. “Holy crap!”

The human laughed, rocking back slightly where he sat.

Ranboo sat in thought for a moment. “Hey, do you think he could say our names then?” He wondered, looking up at Tubbo who regarded him with eager eyes.

Almost instantly he smacked himself against the door, using one of the hands off his right arm to gesture to himself. “TUBBO!”

The human seemed confused, so Ranboo scooted forward, clearing his throat as he placed a hand on his own chest. “ Ranboo .”

He looked between the two of them. Then, “ Tubbo .” He stated, staring up at the xizzendor who then shrieked in amazement. And afterwards, turned to Ranboo and mimicked his name as well. “ Ranboo .”

He cooed eagerly, tail wagging behind him. “Yes! What about you?” He asked, placing his hand over the door in front of him.

The human paused, glancing down at himself before repeating the gesture, hand on his chest. “ Wilbur .”

Chapter Text

Techno had a plan now. He’d spotted the intruder swiping cookies, so he knew how to lure it out. He had Niki help by baking up more cookies which the two set out later that night. They placed them along in a line, leading into the common space and into a little cage.

Techno and Niki hid behind the seating area, Niki down in her canal and mostly out of sight.

He had no idea what sort of creature they were dealing with here. Based on what he saw of its hand, and the sounds he heard the night before, he thought it was safe to assume it was something from Ranboo’s home planet Pandora. Maybe some sort of tree dwelling creature. It would explain the hand shape.

The two sat (or floated, in Niki’s case) in wait for at least an hour before they heard anything.

Shuffling footsteps down the hall, quiet sniffling, clacking of nails on the floor. Techno tensed, watching apprehensively.

Slowly, out walked a little, endarnen child. He shuffled along a few steps before pausing to reach down for the next cookie, and repeating, stashing them within the bag in his arms. He hummed to himself, a wide grin on his distinctly endarnen mouth. Endarnen didn’t smile like that.

Techno’s face contorted in disbelief, and mild disgust. A child. A… child. How ?

The boy continued forward, placing each new cookie into his bag before reaching the cage. He scoffed, glancing to the side with only his eyes then shaking his head back and forth. He muttered something to himself, and while it was quiet, that shouldn’t have made it sound like complete gibberish . 

Techno squinted his eyes, fully lost with the situation. He wouldn’t dare speak to Niki about it though until the child was caught, knowing how well endarnen hearing was.

But that didn’t seem to be the kid’s plan. He walked around to the other side of the cage, reached inside, triggered the front to close, then triumphantly pulled each cookie out through the bars, mumbling “Mmm mmm,” to himself happily.

Techno hung his head, hiding his face in his hands. What was happening? He sighed, glancing down to Niki, but of course she was gone.

He whipped his head around rapidly, scanning the room for her. And there she was, down the canal, holding out another cookie and alerting the child to their presence. How did she even have one without it being all wet from the water?

“Hey, hey little guy,” She said softly, startling the boy.

He dropped the bag, hands flying behind his back like he was trying to hide something.

Niki smiled. “Hey, don’t worry.” She assured, holding the cookie out farther. “You’re not in trouble.”

“I beg to differ,” Techno mumbled under his breath.

Niki shot him a glare before turning back to the endarnen child. “It’s okay, come on.”

The boy narrowed his eyes at her, and warbled hoarsely. It made Techno wince, ears flicking to press tighter against his head and keep the sound out. Niki reacted similarly, and he saw confusion in her eyes.

But the boy shook his head back and forth again, extending the finger beside his thumb in the direction of the water canal.

Niki frowned. “Oh, the water.” She whispered understandingly.

She glanced to Techno for help, and the maiabel glared back. No way. Nuh uh. He wasn’t getting involved in this. He huffed, turning around where he sat, only to be met with big purple eyes.

Techno shrieked, stumbling back. “ACK!”

The child smiled. It was unsettling.

Techno snarled, baring his teeth. And the endarnen laughed, reaching out and poking his tusks. Techno snorted, shaking his head in surprise. Niki chuckled.

“I called Phil,” She informed, swimming a bit closer.

The child backed off after that, rounding the seating area and picking his weird bag back up. He shoved a cookie in his mouth, chewing contently just as Phil rushed out of the hall, wings half formed and hair a mess, floating around his head. 

“Whazit?!” He exclaimed, glancing around, alert. His eyes landed on the boy and they blew wide, wings flicking out. “ What ?”

The child blinked, waving his little hand back and forth at him. And turned to face Phil like he was, Techno noticed something else. Fastened on his back by a long, thick strip of fabric, was a baby . “Oh my gods…”

“What? What is it?” Phil asked hurriedly, walking over to the group. “Something else–? Oh my void that’s a baby!”

Techno sighed, laying down on the floor, hands under his head as a cushion. “That’s enough. I’m done. Goodnight.”

He closed his eyes, wanting peace.

Chapter Text

Tommy had never had cookies before, but he definitely liked them. And, a plus, turned out the people on this ship were nice! But he still couldn’t understand them, which sucked. But that was okay, he’d find a way to figure out where dad was without talking.

For now, he needed to get energy. So he ate cookies and yummy fruit slices and napped in the big bird guy’s giant bed. Tallulah too. They tried to take her from him at first, but they stopped when he bit the bird guy’s hand, so she stayed with him, gnawing on her own fruit slices and napping at his side.

He yawned, watching the big tv in the corner that was playing something about plants and animals. Tommy had never seen a tv before, only hearing about them from dad.

He cooed quietly, rubbing his eyes. He was tired. But that was fine. He could keep looking for dad when he woke up. 

—

Ranboo frowned. “Can– Can you repeat that?” He asked, confused.

Techno sighed. “There are two endarnen children in Phil’s room. They must have snuck unboard while we were on planet dealing with the human–”

“Wilbur,” Ranboo stated absentmindedly. That at least explained one thing; why Phil was passed out in the common space, draped over the couch his wings stuck out awkwardly. He was snoring, and drooling on his arm.

“So… endarnen? Like, actually the same as me?” Ranboo repeated, glancing back to Techno.

“Yep. And I’d put you in charge of watchin’ em, but someone ,” He glared at Phil, “Already has you babysittin’ the wild human. So Phil will have to do it. Speakin’ off, I don’t want them kids anywhere near the human, alright?”

Ranboo swallowed. “Yeah, makes sense. I got it.” He assured. “What’re we gonna do with them, though?”

Techno sighed. “Drop em off at the nearest multi-race orphanage? Maybe set em up with some officials who can track down any relatives they might have? I dunno. We ain’t keepin’ em though. This crew is already almost half children, we don’t need you tinies outnumbering us professionals.”

Ranboo warbled acknowledgement, and Techno dismissed him. Instantly, he headed down the hall to Wilbur. He didn’t even bother taking Tubbo this time. He wasn’t even awake yet.

He reached the cell fairly quickly, peering inside. Wilbur was still asleep too.

Ranboo sighed, settling down against the clear door. “Wilbur, I’m tired.” He admitted to the air. “Two kids, the same species as me–! stuck onto the ship while we were back on the planet getting you. Things just keep getting weirder and weirder it seems…”

He glanced back into the cell. Wilbur hadn’t moved.

Ranboo narrowed his eyes. Actually, that was the same spot he’d been last night after he fell asleep. Ranboo had still been there at the time, talking to him, and he just passed out. But not a hair on his head had changed since then. And he’d been acting weird yesterday, too.

“Wilbur…?”

Nothing.

Ranboo inhaled sharply, rushing up to his feet. “Wilbur? Come on, wake up.” Still not a flinch. The endarnen glanced anxiously down the hall. Could he go in? Technically, he could, but would he get in trouble? The others were busy. So maybe…

He took a deep breath, unlocking the door and hurrying into the cell. It occurred to him shortly after entering that it might be a trap. Maybe Wilbur was trying to make a break for it. But as he approached the human he found him breathing really shallowly, and he was thin . Thinner than he’d been when he got here. Ranboo hadn’t really noticed before, with the distance between them from the cell door.

“Wilbur!” He shouted, shaking the human. No response. Just his head lolling to the side. “ Fuuuck ,” He muttered, glancing around frantically. “Okay, uhm, let’s just…” He carefully scooped Wilbur up in his arms, uneased by how light he was.

He snuck him out to the medbay, which was easy enough to do with everyone else currently occupied by the two newcomers on the ship. He laid Wilbur down on a cot, and turned on the scanner to start. He had to figure out what was happening before he could do anything about it.

It took a minute or so before any diagnostics popped up.

Malnutrition, Dehydration, Near Organ Failure, Internal Bleeding,

“INTERNAL BLEEDING?!” Ranboo shrieked, hands in his feathers. He tugged on his upper ears, trying to figure out what to do. With literally no information available about human biology or medical whatevers, he literally could only wing it and hope the machine wouldn’t mess him up.

He took a deep, shaky breath, and set up the machine to heal what it could. He paced around while it worked, anxiously watching the door. There was no reason for anyone to come in here, but he was still worried. He’d be in so much trouble if they found out he brought Wilbur here.

It took half an hour before the machine beeped, signaling it was done. Ranboo rushed over, quickly glancing at the warnings to feed and hydrate the patient before pushing the machine aside. Wilbur was still worryingly thin, not that he expected that to change, but he wasn’t as pale as before and he hoped that counted for something.

“How am I supposed to feed you when you won’t eat anything though?” Ranboo asked with a sigh. He watched Wilbur for a moment, deciding that it was very unlikely that he would wake up any time soon, then hurried off to get him some food.

—

There was blood everywhere. It flooded the ground and warped into swirled red soil, resembling mars. Wilbur held his head up, tense. But no harsh reprimand came, and instead he tumbled down through the sandy dirt and into a ship.

The space beyond the windows was completely dark, lacking any star or planet. Nothing but void. He placed his hand on the glass, and when he pulled back he’d left a bloody handprint. The ship faded away, leaving him in darkness.

Wilbur stumbled, finding ground beneath his feet despite the nothingness spanning out around him. Ear-piercing cries reached his ears. He recognized them.

He sighed, and laid down to rest, weary with tiredness weighing heavy on his heart. But now his arms were strapped down to a white table, everything was white. Sharp, sharp, white –

Wilbur gasped and shot upright. His forehead exploded in hot white pain and his stomach lurched. He gagged, moving to lean over but instead toppled right off of whatever raised point he was on. He hit the ground hard, feeling cold tile beneath him. He shivered.

Inhaling slowly, he tried not to throw up. It wasn’t working well. 

He stumbled to his feet and rushed over to what looked like a sink, leaning over it unable to stop himself from painfully dry-heaving up nothing. He shuddered, legs shaking.

Where was he?

Wilbur blinked blearily. It looked like a hospital. He scanned the room, finding white sheets tumbled off the side of a cot. Was that where he’d been? 

Deep breath in, and he let it out slowly. Okay. He was… He was on that ship. The one with the aliens called Tubbo and Ranboo. He liked Ranboo. He looked like his kids. His kids that these aliens took him away from.

Wilbur choked, leaning back over to sink to once again find nothing coming out. He was starving . He wheezed, wiping saliva off on his sleeve before sliding down against the cabinets and collapsing on the floor.

God, he was so tired. 

“ Wilbur? ”

He raised his head unsteadily, brow furrowed as he processed the figure before him. Right. Aliens. That one was Ranboo. He liked Ranboo.

Wilbur sighed, raising a shaky hand in greeting before letting it fall back down, head lolling. Ranboo let out a distressed sound, hurrying over to him.

He actually managed to pick out a few words of what he was saying. Okay, you, I . Tommy taught him a few of the simpler ones before transitioning into english and sign.

Breathing heavily, Wilbur shook his head. “I’m fine.” He grumbled.

Ranboo tilted his head, looking around the room at the cot and the fallen blankets. He frowned, but only with his eyes. He didn’t really have a mouth most of the time. Tommy used to be like that too. Wilbur missed Tommy, and Tallulah.

Ranboo let him sit there for a while longer, continuously glancing nervously back at the entrance to the room, before coaxing Wilbur to stand. It was only on the way out of the hospital room that he noticed Ranboo had a plate of food in one hand, and a container of water in the other.

Wilbur frowned, “Give me that,” He mumbled, walking ahead to take the container. Ranboo flinched, and Wilbur yanked it away, glaring at him. “Are you stupid or what? This’ll burn you.”

Ranboo stared at him for a moment, before blinking and continuing onward. But he kept looking back at him after that. Wilbur rolled his eyes.

After a while, Ranboo stopped again, and Wilbur realized he hadn’t even thought about where they were going. But he was brought back to the cell. Ranboo looked at him expectantly, eyes flicking to the doorway and back at him. The longer Wilbur stood there the more nervous he got.

The brunet blinked. He could try to make a break for it. This might be his only chance. But… He doubted he could make it back to that planet anyway. And who was to say his kids would even be there if he did.

Sighing in defeat, he walked inside, and sat down at his spot against the wall. Ranboo hesitantly followed, and despite everything, when he offered Wilbur a slice of yellow fruit, he took it.

Chapter Text

It had been a week since the children were found. Phil learned their names after a few days, and found them highly unusual for endarnen children. Tommy, and Tallulah. And aside from their overall strangeness, things were going well.

Except when they weren’t. Which was growing more often by the day.

Tommy couldn’t speak common, or even endoran, which was likely the language he was taught after birth. He had a few snippets of it here and there, but nothing enough for a sentence. Also, he kept trying to run off to parts of the ship he shouldn’t go. Every hall and room had to be explored. Every cabinet, every crate, every door. The poor kid almost shot himself out the airlock at one point.

After that, Phil made sure they had eyes on them constantly . Especially after Tallulah started fussing to get down on her own. There was no crawling yet, but Tommy seemed determined to teach her. They didn’t need that just yet. Things were already at their limit.

In other news, Ranboo had gotten the human to eat. He didn’t seem particularly energetic, and almost completely stopped trying to attack anyone when they came into the cell, but he didn’t seem fond of them much either. Only Ranboo could get comfortably close.

“Phil,” Techno called from across the room in a tone of warning.

The eletryan looked over, finding Tommy wandering off down the hall. He sighed, flicking his wings out and flying after him. He scooped him up in an instant. “Where do you think you’re going?” He scolded lightly, giving a smile.

The boy muttered something in gibberish, wiggling around to try and get away. Always so eager. Phil wondered what he was looking for.

Phil placed him back in the seating space and pulled an old tablet off the shelf, opening a drawing program for him to play with. But instead of taking to it eagerly like he would expect, the boy scoffed and pushed it away, getting up again and heading down the bedrooms hall. Phil followed, wondering what he wanted now, and found him heading to Philza’s own room.

Confused, he opened the door for him, watching him go in.

Tommy huffed, climbing up on the stool in front of Phil’s desk and yanking one of the drawers wide open. 

“What do you want, child?” Phil hummed, turning on the light and moving to his side. “I don’t know what you think I have in here that’ll help you.”

Tommy shoved the drawer closed with another scoff, pulling the next one open and looking through it too. He must have found what he was looking for, because a few seconds later he shouted triumphantly and retrieved some old paper and a near empty pen from the depths.

Phil’s eyes widened in mild surprise. “Huh. I haven’t used paper in a long time,” He muttered, watching the kid slip down from the stool and make his way back out to the common space. Phil followed, tilting his head as the boy settled down on the floor, slapped his paper down, and began to draw.

He chuckled. “Old school, huh?” He mumbled, sitting down nearby. “Alright. I’ll see if I can find more paper and pens for you then.”

—

Wilbur had accepted that he couldn’t get back to his kids. And even more reluctantly, that he wasn’t going to be allowed to die yet. So he let himself be cared for by Ranboo, and somewhat by the others too.

It was easier to keep a little motivation for the tall alien because he not only reminded him of Tommy and Tallulah, but he seemed young too. And nervous all the time. It was somewhat endearing, in a way. 

He talked to Wilbur a lot, even if he couldn’t understand it, and brought him a variety of foods to try, keeping it from growing repetitive. Sometimes that bee guy Tubbo would join him. The two seemed very close. Even literally sometimes, because on a few occasions he’d only come with because he was asleep and clung so tightly to Ranboo that the taller alien couldn’t pry him off. That was actually how he ended up in Wilbur’s cell the first time.

Days passed, and he grew tired. While he appreciated Ranboo’s company and attempts to keep him active, he just didn’t have the energy to participate much in life. He was weighed down by pain. It made it hard to stand each morning.

Today, he sat near the door, waiting for Ranboo’s visit. They weren’t particularly set on any one part of the day. He didn’t seem to have that kind of schedule. He just showed up at random.

Footsteps came down the hall. Hooves, and clacking nails. Probably the pink guy and the bird then. He heard the water one of them carried, so they were probably coming to give him lunch. Wilbur sighed, getting up to move from the door so they could come in, but he froze when he heard them talking.

He could have sworn– Did he mishear? There was no way. He hadn’t heard anyone say any word like it before. Tommy . That was distinctly human. It couldn’t be anything else, right?

He scrambled to his feet, pressing against the invisible door. The two aliens came into view and stopped after seeing him. “What did you say?!” He questioned, watching them with blind hope. “Did you say Tommy?! Have you seen him?!!”

The aliens shared a glance, and the pink one stepped forward, giving him a warning glance and a pigish grunt. 

Wilbur groaned in frustration, slamming his fist against the door. “Come on! Tommy? My Tommy?! There’s no way that’s a word! What the fuck would it mean?!” He shouted. “‘Sunshine?!’ ‘Sweetest boy in the universe?!’ Or maybe ‘light of my life’?!”

They looked worried now. Wilbur felt tears in his eyes.

“ Please ! If you’ve seen him– I need–” He broke off in a sob, falling to his knees and beating uselessly on the barrier between him and outside. “Is he even alive…?”

They waited a long time before attempting to open the door and give him his meal. They later sent Ranboo in to calm him down, but Wilbur just cried in the corner of his cell, feeling just like he had on the first day here.

Chapter Text

Tommy liked drawing. He didn’t get to do it much, and had only ever had actual paper to use once before. But these guys had some, so he could put all his dirt drawing practice to good use, and with colors . 

He drew him and Tallulah and the yummy cookies that the fish lady made. He drew spaceships and flowers and little animals he’d seen in the woods before. He even drew dad. He drew dad a lot, because he missed him. And he practiced his writing too. He didn’t get to do that often, so it was kinda sloppy.

‘Wilby - Dad’ was written over one of his drawings, labeling him. Tommy smiled, proud he didn’t mess up the spelling. He wrote his own name too on some papers, and Tallulah’s, but hers was hard. He was pretty sure he didn’t spell it correctly. Taloola just didn’t look right, so he was still trying to fix that when the bird guy came up beside him.

Tommy smiled, setting his pen down. “ Like what you see, yeah? ” He signed. He’d resorted back to it recently, even though he quickly found out they couldn’t understand that either. But it didn’t matter, he liked to talk either way, and his throat had been sore lately. Dad said that was because his voice wasn’t made for the words he knew, so he had to talk with his hands a lot. Tommy hoped it wouldn’t be the same for Tallulah. Sore throats were not fun.

The bird guy twittered, saying something that sounded encouraging. Tommy grinned big and wide. “ I know. I’m the best. A real artist ” He boasted, before grabbing his pen again and returning to Tallulah’s name spelling.

The bird guy looked through his other drawings, cooing and making other birdy sounds as he did. Tommy hummed to himself, scribbling over the O’s and writing a U over them instead. Talula. That looked a lot better. Words were weird.

“Tommy?”

He looked up. “Yeh?” He mumbled hoarsely, swallowing afterwards to soothe his throat. 

Bird guy looked over at the guy with pink hair and ears and said something before looking back at Tommy, holding up one of his pictures of dad. He asked him something, but Tommy only knew one word. Human.

He blinked, eyes wide, and jumped up on his feet. Ignoring his sore throat, he asked. “You know ‘ere Wilby is? He’s human!” He exclaimed, pointing to the picture in bird guy’s hand. He picked up another one to show him. “See?! Wilby!”

The bird guy only looked worried. He took the picture over to show pink guy and fish lady, talking grown up nonsense with them. Tommy frowned, whining as he sat back down on the ground. He said human . That meant dad, so he had to be here. They must have seen him. But why couldn’t Tommy find him? Were they trying to keep him away? Were these people secretly bad ones too…?

Tommy wrapped his arms tight around himself in a hug. Maybe he should hide, like before he found the cookie path. He and Tallulah.

“Wah!”

He sniffled, looking over to her. She had rolled over and grabbed one of the pens and was scribbling all over one of his spaceship pictures. Tommy rubbed his nose and crawled over to her side, pulling her up in his lap. He pulled the pen away when she tried to chew on it, giving him his hand instead.

“We gotta find Wilby…” He mumbled, using his free hand to play with her soft feather hair. It was a lot darker than his, kinda like dad’s. But his was more like some dirt or old leaves. Brown was a pretty color. Tallulah’s was closer to black.

Bird, pink, and fish lady all looked over at them, and Tommy sent them a glare. Dad was here. They were trying to keep him from finding him.

—

Phil was completely lost as to how Tommy would know who Wilbur was. There was absolutely no way he got all the way down to his cell and saw him. They were watching him nearly all the time, and that hall was mostly blocked off by crates for that very reason! It just wasn’t possible.

And yet, here he was, watching the child peacefully doodle away, trying to fix his foreign spellings of some word. Amongst the pile of previous pictures though, were multiple of the human in their containment. The brown hair atop his head, the same thick, dirty yellow shirt, same dark eyes and even specific prominent scars on the human’s body. It was too on point to be some sort of weird coincidence.

“Tommy?”

The boy looked up at him, replying with a short sound.

Phil glanced quickly over to Techno in worry. “Tech, look at this. This is– Has he somehow gone down to the cell?” He asked in concern, turning back to Tommy. He held the picture up. “Hey, do you know who this is? This is a human, they’re dangerous. Where did you see this?”

Tommy’s eyes widened and he jumped to his feet. He exclaimed something that nearly sounded like Wilbur, and said human . He extended his second finger towards the picture, some gesture to show the importance of it, Phil assumed. He then picked up another drawing of the human and said the near Wilbur word again.

Phil frowned, warbling nervously. He got up and walked over to where Niki and Techno were, holding up the picture in hand to show them. “Do you have any idea where he got this from? How would he know what Wilbur looks like?” He questioned.

Techno and Niki glanced down at the picture, then over at Tommy. “What the heck?” Techno muttered, squinting his eyes at the childish drawing. Which, another thing, wasn’t similar to any style of children’s drawings they recognized. “That’s actually the human. How does he know?”

“Did he slip down to the cell somehow? I’ve been watching him all day, he hasn’t left the room.” Niki informed, ears flicking in distress.

“I don’t get it,” Phil exhaled, wings curling around him, more feathered. “He shouldn’t even know what a human is. He can’t even understand us but he knows the word human ? It doesn’t make sense…” He trailed off.

The three of them looked back to the boy. He held his sister in his arms, tousling her hair. When he noticed them watching, he glared sourly. Phil’s wings twitched. That was quite a change from his recent behavior…

He didn’t like any of this.

Chapter Text

Ranboo hadn’t visited today. Wilbur would almost assume it was because of his breakdown yesterday, but from what little he’d seen he would think that Ranboo would come earlier and stay longer, to help his health or whatever he was here for. But he hadn’t come at all today. And he only got a very quick breakfast from the winged guy.

He wondered what they were doing. He seemed to be in quite a hurry to head back, and he gave him this look . Very judgemental. Wilbur didn’t know what he did, but he was pretty sure that he’d lost whatever good terms he might have been on with the aliens here.

So, he sighed, and settled down on his own, counting the specks on the white cell ceiling. Not much else to do, and it kept him occupied.

He laid there for somewhere between three minutes and seven hours before he heard footsteps coming down the hall. He jolted out of his staring contest with the ceiling, inhaling sharply and rolling over onto his side. About time, he was kind of hungry.

But, actually, these footsteps were weird and shuffley, and slow , and didn’t really sound like footsteps at all.

Wilbur narrowed his eyes and sat up, watching the door in confusion. He waited cautiously, hoping it wasn’t some weird alien rat that would be able to phase through the invisible door or anything. Because if so, he would probably scream. He did not like rats. Or mice. Or anything similar or alien equivalent. 

It took maybe seven whole minutes before he saw anything, and he only stayed where he was out of fear that it was some sort of rat. 

At first, it was only the tiniest flash of dark outside the hall, just on the edge of where he could see. He tensed, watching anxiously as whatever it was moved ever so slowly forward. Tiny, spindly fingers, thin dark arms, deep grey fluff–

Wilbur’s heart jumped to his throat when he heard familiar sounds. Soft coos and warbled sighs, strained through exertion.

Wilbur had never gotten to his feet so fast in his life. He bolted across the cell, practically crashing into the invisible door just as a little face came into view. He choked on air, eyes watering. Sliding down against the barrier, he pressed his hands to the clear force between him and the hall.

“ Tallulah ,” He breathed, disbelief and pure joy seeped into his voice. “Darling, oh my baby,” 

Tallulah let out a tiny sound, pushing herself up on wobbly, tiny arms. She looked up at him with big, round, purple eyes, and smiled so happily upon seeing him. “Ah!” She chirped, dragging herself closer to the door.

Wilbur sniffled, wiping tears off his cheeks. She hadn’t even rolled over before. Now she was practically crawling . God, what had he missed? But more than anything, he was just so, so happy that she was alive . How was she here? Where was her brother? Though he wanted them answered, they were pushed aside in favor of basking in her presence as she made it to the door and put a little hand on the barrier between them.

She grunted, brow furrowed in frustration. “Ah, ah!” She babbled, patting her hand against it. She wanted to get through, but couldn’t understand what was stopping her.

Wilbur laughed sympathetically, holding his hand against the barrier to copy her. Oh, how he missed her. He missed them both, so much.

“Tallulah, where did you come from?” He wondered, trying to glance down the hall. He couldn’t see far. “Is Tommy here too? I heard the winged alien say his name, he must be!”

“T–tah!” Tallulah agreed, smacking her hands against the floor and nearly toppling over. Wilbur instinctively reached out to help catch her, only to bump his hand against the door. He frowned. How could he get out?

He stood, feeling along the wall for any crease between the unseeable door and the rest of the wall. There was nothing. He groaned. Stupid alien technology. But there had to be a way out from inside. Realistically speaking they’d want a way free if they somehow ended up trapped inside without anyone to get them out, right? A hidden control panel or something ?

He felt along the wall, searching for anything hidden in the white paneling. But a few moments later he heard footsteps, cut off and followed by the sound of rushing feathers.

Tallulah whined, and Wilbur practically threw himself back to the floor in front of the doorway. “Hey, shh, it’s okay.” He assured, craning to see who was coming. It didn’t take long for the bird alien to burst into view, screeching to a stop and rushing for Tallulah.

“HEY!” Wilbur shrieked, jumping to his feet. “Don’t touch her!” He shouted, banging his hands against the barrier.

The bird scooped her up in his arms, looking startled. Tallulah started to cry, wailing and making the bird wince.

Wilbur was nearly used to it now. It only broke his heart. “PUT HER DOWN!” He snarled, teeth bared. “She’s mine– Don’t you take my baby away! Let me out of here right fucking now!”

The alien chirruped anxiously, wrapping his middle set of wings around himself and hiding Tallulah from view, before hurrying off down the hallway, her wails echoing off the walls.

“No no no no no no NO! COME BACK!” Wilbur screamed, heart hammering in his chest. “DON’T TAKE HER!”

But he didn’t turn around, and Tallulah’s cries grew distant. Wilbur couldn’t breathe. 

—

Ranboo looked up as Phil came racing out of the hall and into the common space. He moved the crates back in front of the entrance more securely than before. He had Tallulah in his arms.

“Don’t– Do not let them near that human– Wilbur,” Phil panted, looking anxious. “He went ballistic, I’m not even kidding. He was trying to find a way through the door to get to her and just started screaming with I showed up to take her back,”

“Wait wait wait wait,” Niki butted in. “Didn’t you say there was a rumor back on that planet that the human had taken a child hostage or something?” She reminded, tail curling in worry.

Phil’s eyes widened. “Oh my void. You don’t think–?” He cut off, looking down at the baby in his arms. “No. Noo ,” He denied, holding her tightly. “How would they even be alive?”

“Well humans are sentient and stuff y’know,” Techno pointed out, “Maybe he was holding em hostage, in case he needed leverage or somethin’.”

Ranboo frowned. He didn’t like this at all. Sure, Wilbur was a human, but he wouldn’t do that, right? But Tommy and Tallulah were both endarnen’s like him, and he was the only one Wilbur would be around peacefully. Did that mean something?

Either way, he needed to go check on him. Phil said he’d been freaking out, so he was hoping he could help calm him down.

So, while everyone else was busy discussing what to do, Ranboo concentrated on projecting into the cell hall, before his body quickly followed, teleporting him. Due to a slight miscalculation however, he ended up inside the cell. 

Wilbur shrieked at his sudden appearance, jumping back. Ranboo backed away, ears pinned back in apology and slight fear. “Sorry,” He muttered, tail curled around his leg.

After calming from the sudden shock, Wilbur settled down on the floor. But he didn’t exactly seem happy to see him. Ranboo shrunk back under his glares, avoiding his gaze and instead moving to watch the human flex his hands shakily, clawing at his own arms.

Ranboo frowned. “Don’t do that,” He whispered, watching him scratch lines into his skin. “Why are you so… upset?” He asked, tilting his head. It was somewhat frightening.

He inhaled deeply, turning to the side. “Is this something to do with those kids?.. Do you,” He paused, wringing his hands as he glanced back at Wilbur. “Did you kidnap Tommy and Tallulah?”

The human’s response was instant. He rushed to his feet, in front of Ranboo in seconds. The endarnen flinched back, eyes wide. Wilbur was saying things, practically yelling at him, and the only things Ranboo was picking up were Tommy and Tallulah’s names. His stomach dropped and he swallowed hard. He did know them. Oh void.

“Wilbur, please calm down– You, you can’t have them I’m sorry,” He said, panicking. The human grabbed him by the front of his tunic. Ranboo shrieked, willing himself outside the cell. He teleported outside in a puff of purple particles, panting on the floor. “Wilbur–”

The human shouted at him, banging on the clear door of the cell. Ranboo stared at him in fear, unblinking. But what scared him even more, Wilbur didn’t stop when meeting his eyes. His stare did nothing to the human.

Chapter Text

Phil’s ship was a mess. The human in his cell hall had kidnapped two children. Said children also somehow stowed away on his ship and were constantly trying to wander off. The human had now realized that these children were also on the ship, and was shrieking and yelling at anyone who got near, trying to get out of his cell.

Phil was tired. He was beginning to regret taking the human extermination job in the first place. Techno was right. This was supposed to be their vacation time.

He sighed, holding his face in his hands. What had his life come to?

Tallulah was crying, and like before, but much more adamantly now, Tommy wouldn’t let anyone else near her. He actually bit Techno when he tried. This was the second time now.

“He’s escapin’, Phil.” Techno grumbled, peeling his eye open as Tommy began walking off again.

Ranboo sighed. “I’ll get him,” He volunteered, teleporting over to the boy and bringing him back just as quick. Tommy stared at him in shock for a moment, before returning to his recent state of glaring and ignoring them all.

Chirruping worriedly, Phil glanced to the hall he’d been trying to go down. Blocked with crates, still. And as far as he knew the boy couldn’t teleport. They’d yet to see him do it. But, how old was Tommy? He looked to be about nine or so, but he couldn’t be sure.

“Hey, maybe we should bring them down to the medbay and make sure they’re healthy. They might be lacking a lot of nutrients if they were… with the human, for a while.” He suggested, trailing off.

Techno hummed in agreement. “Yeah. They might be sick or something.” He grumbled, looking mildly disturbed at the thought. Techno hated illness.

Phil sighed, walking over and picking Tommy and Tallulah up. The boy whined and struggled, but couldn’t manage to get away. The others followed him down to the medbay, where he placed the children down on the cot.

“Now, stay there.” He said sternly, pulling the primary medical machine over to scan them. 

Tommy screamed. Tallulah screamed because Tommy screamed. Ranboo screamed because there was screaming.

Phil had to hold the Tommy down so he wouldn’t run away, thrashing and kicking. “GRAB TALLULAH,” He shrieked, wings flaring out as he tried to hold his arms and legs at the same time and avoid being hit.

Techno hurried over and scooped the baby up, holding her at arms length while Phil handled Tommy. “Ranboo– Ack ! Ranboo, turn on the scanner!” He shouted, wheezing when Tommy kicked him in the gut.

“Ah– Okay!” The endarnen replied, teleporting over and starting up the machine. Phil stayed out of the way as much as he could as it processed the child beneath it, whirring and glowing. It hadn’t lasted more than two seconds before Tommy’s screams shuddered and he started wailing .

Phil shrieked, instantly releasing him in favor of slapping his hands over his ears. Tommy’s eyes glowed bright purple as he kicked his way out of the cot and tumbled to the floor, running out of the medbay without even grabbing Tallulah. Phil could only imagine how distressed he had to be to leave her behind. But they got a scan at least, and they could go grab him in a minute. 

Phil inhaled deeply, lowering his hands. He glanced to Techno, who also had his hands on his head, and blinked. “I’ll… start up her scan,” The maiabel said with a weary sigh, walking over to the baby with a strained look, carefully letting his hands down.

He gave him a thankful nod, turning back to look at Tommy’s scan. He really didn’t like what it said.

“Void…” He muttered, skimming through the readings. It was awful. “His growth is severely stunted.” He informed, “Ranboo, Tommy’s only a year younger or two than you.”

“What?!” Ranboo exclaimed, hurrying over beside him to see. 

Phil let him. “Yeah. He’s lacking all kinds of nutrients required for his growth, his feathers haven't transitioned yet, he’s so small for his age and acts so young . I just– Oh void , what has he gone through? I can’t believe this.”

Ranboo frowned. “His vocal cords and throat are extremely irritated too.” He pointed out. “And his feet are covered in old healed over burns.”

Phil turned to Techno and the crying Tallulah. “Please tell me her scan says something better.”

Techno huffed. “It’s better. But it’s not great . She’s malnutritioned, and small for her age. Though not nearly as bad compared to Tommy. She seems mostly okay aside from that, but also has a couple burns healed up on her arms and legs.” He explained, setting the machine aside and bringing Tallulah back over to Phil. “You think it’s because of Wilbur?” He asked, glaring down the hall towards the cells.

The hall, to the cells. The hall Tommy ran down. Phil’s stomach dropped. “ Fuuuck .”

—

Tommy was screaming. Tommy was screaming . Wilbur heard it, not far down the hall. It tore his heart apart, but he couldn’t do anything. He’d scratched his nails down to practically nothing trying to find a seam or anything to get him out, but to no avail. And now his baby was crying and he was standing there useless.

It made him feel sick. What were they doing to him? And what about Tallulah? Was she alright? Were they hurting her too? Wilbur yelled in frustration, hitting his hand against the wall. What could he even do?

Then the screaming stopped, and he heard footsteps rushing down the hall. Light, quick footsteps. Wilbur lunged for the door, straining to look down the hall. “Who’s there?!” He called, tense. Maybe, just maybe…

“WILBY!”

Wilbur inhaled sharply, heart pounding in his chest. “Oh my god, Tommy .” He breathed, letting out a joyous laugh. “Tommy, Tommy Tommy Tommy. Sunshine, my baby,”

Tommy sobbed tearlessly, putting his hands against the barrier between them. “Wilby–!” He called again, cutting off to sign over and over, “ Dad. Dad, dad, dad, ” hands shaking. “ I missed you. I was so scared ”

“I know,” He nodded, “It’s okay, I’m here. It’s okay, Toms.”

“ I left Tallulah. They brought out a machine and I got scared. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, ” He apologized, shaking his head fearfully.

“Hey, we’ll get her, don’t worry.” Wilbur assured, wiping tears from his eyes. “But Tommy, do you think you can get me out? Do you see a panel, or some sort of controls on the wall?” He urged, gesturing beside the invisible door.

Tommy looked around, then nodded. “Yeah. Why? ”

“Do you have any idea how to open it?”

Tommy stared beside the door for a moment, before nodding again. “ Yes .”

Wilbur watched apprehensively as the boy stretched his arms up to reach whatever controls he could see, face screwed up in concentration. But moments later he heard footsteps and wings rushing down the hall. He didn’t have time .

“Come on, come on Toms. You’ve got this,” He encouraged, heart pounding in his chest. “ Come on ,”

Something whooshed loudly, followed by some alert in alien language. Wilbur reached out, and the barrier was gone. He wasted no time.

He grabbed Tommy and bolted down the hall. 

The boy clung to him tightly, face buried in his shoulder as he mumbled to himself over and over. Wilbur glanced down at him briefly, wondering what he was saying. His fingers began to tingle, and he quickly grew lightheaded. “Tommy–” He muttered, nearly stumbling. “ What are you doing –”

POP !

Wilbur yelped, stumbling forward and crashing into a chair. His ears hurt, popped from some sort of pressure change, and his entire body buzzed and ached. He groaned, carefully turning around and resituating himself in the chair, head spinning. “Tommy, what the hell–” He mumbled, shaking his head. “Are– Are you alright?”

The boy whined, nodding against his chest. And Wilbur realized, they were in the cockpit. Complex controls laid out before him, stars whizzing past beyond the viewing window. He gasped, looking down at the boy in his arms. “Tommy, did you do this?”

“Mhm,” Was his response, and he moved to look up at Wilbur with pained eyes. “I have suher’owes,”

Wilbur laughed. “You have super powers?” He repeated. Tommy nodded. 

He shook his head in shock, but didn’t want to waste anymore time. He adjusted his hold on Tommy and reached out, tapping on the screen in front of him. A map popped up, with various planets spread out and labeled with weird alien letters and words. There was a tiny ship marker too, and he assumed that’s where they were.

The closest one to the ship was a big, mostly orange and sand colored planet with deep blue oceans. He tapped it, and a little notification popped up. Running out of options, Wilbur pressed the button that came with it, and the next one that popped up after that. Then all of the sudden the ship lurched, nearly flinging them out of the seat, and they were changing course.

As soon as the ship leveled out a bit, Wilbur looked down to Tommy again, tilting the boy’s head to look at him. “Tommy, Big Man. I know you just got to me, but I have a really important job for you, okay?”

The boy sniffled, and nodded his head. “Okay.”

Wilbur smiled. “I need you to go get your sister. We don’t want these guys to do anything mean to her. She needs to be safe here with us. Understand? See if you can use your superpowers and bring her to this room with us.”

Tommy looked worried, but nodded nonetheless. He slipped down from Wilbur’s lap, and padded over to the exit to the cockpit. He gave Wilbur a long fearful look before rushing out into the rest of the ship, and Wilbur sat waiting anxiously for his return.

Chapter Text

The human had escaped and was now hiding somewhere in the ship. Probably the control room considering the fact that the ship was now headed completely off course. And to make matters worse, he had Tommy and Tallulah with him. Phil says Tommy and Tallulah because about thirty minutes ago the young boy had teleported right in front of them, snatched her out of his hands, then disappeared again with her.

But she stopped crying shortly after, the sound no longer echoing throughout the ship, making everything eerily quiet. Phil could only hope the human hadn’t done something to her.

And despite the fact that Phil had complete override when it came to his ship’s systems, being captain and all, he wasn’t confident that they could just barge in there, safely retrieve the children and get Wilbur back in his cell. 

Techno glanced out the nearest window, face screwed up in worried thought. “Can you tell where we’re going?” He asked.

Phil blinked, remembering the tablet in his pocket. He slipped it out, and opened the ship’s course. He couldn’t change the route from it though. He needed the control room.

“Uhm, we’re headed to Nevadus.” Phil informed, frowning. That wasn’t good. A lot of the planet was covered in deserts. And if that was where they landed, assuming they didn’t crash , it could be bad.

He paced back and forth, bringing up the ship’s direct trajectory as they got closer to the planet. The screen slowly zoomed in on where the ship would land, coming to a painfully empty spot right in the middle of a desert. They’d be lucky if they didn’t land in a sinkhole.

“ Ughh ,” Phil groaned, raking his claws down his face “What do we do !?”

“I’d say send Ranboo, but I think he’s out right now,” Techno muttered, glancing over to the young endarnen curled on the floor and warbling to himself. Techno sighed. “And Niki’s still trying to make sure there weren’t any problems we missed in the scanners, so she’s out too.”

“Yeah,” Phil agreed. “And even if she weren’t, I doubt they left her canal to the control room open. And besides, she’d be covered in water, and that would only make things worse.”

“Not if she splashed water resistance on them,” Tubbo suggested, buzzing up beside Phil.

The captain ruffled his wings, eyes narrowed. “No, I don't think that’d work. We don’t have a lot left, and what we do have isn’t splash potions. She’d be risking a lot to try and get it on either of them,” He pointed out hopelessly. “We’re stuck at a standstill.”

The ship suddenly lurched, sending them all flying to the ground.

Techno was the first to get up, rushing down the hall as soon as he was on his feet. “We’ve entered the atmosphere! We’ll be landing, hopefully not crashing, in minutes!” He shouted back at them as they recovered.

Phil’s wings shifted to something more insectoid, buzzing and holding him stagnant in the air. “You alright, Tubbo, Ranboo?”

The two gave him signs of affirmation, a buzz from Tubbo and a head wobble from Ranboo, who then just laid back down on the floor and curled in a ball.

Phil hissed through his teeth. “You might want to find something to hold onto, guys. I doubt this landing will be smoo- OOTH –!” He shrieked, getting thrown against the wall as the ship assumedly flew right into a massive dune of sand, shaking everything and tilting the ship to the side.

Tubbo, miraculously, managed to stay unharmed and unthrown in the air, wings buzzing. While Ranboo had just teleported fifteen times in the span of six seconds in order to not get hurt. Phil, well, he’d be fine. Just some rumpled feathers and a headache.

He groaned, rubbing his head. “ Great . We’re here,”

—

Wilbur ditched that ship as soon as they landed. He took the baby wrap from Tommy and fastened Tallulah to his back, and they were off. Somehow, Tommy had his backpack, which he recovered from somewhere while he went to get Tallulah. As they fled, he pulled out Wilbur’s beanie from inside and held it up to him.

“He’,” He said, giving him a smile. “I b’ought it fo’ you.”

Wilbur smiled in return, taking it from the boy and placing it on his head. “Thanks, Toms. Now, c’mon. We can’t let them catch us.” He urged, scooping him up in his arms and rushing across the sands. He had no doubt that if that winged alien got out, he’d be able to catch up with them in no time. And if Tommy’s new superpowers were a species wide thing, which would explain how Ranboo suddenly appeared in his cell, then they might have to worry about him too.

He ran for a while, anywhere from twelve to sixty minutes. It was hard to tell out here. But it was hot, and he was so tired. Apparently starving yourself for days and nearly dying wasn’t the best way to save energy for escaping. But at least he started eating when he did, otherwise he wouldn’t even be out here right now.

“Wilby!” Tommy shrieked, pointing ahead. “ Look ,”

Wilbur slowed to a stop, narrowing his eyes at what Tommy was pointing at. He didn’t see anything. “Toms, what do you see?” He asked, confused.

Tommy pointed more adamantly. “Mm! Look! Something shiny ”

Wilbur tilted his head, glancing from the boy to ahead of them. It took a moment, but he began to pick up on what he was seeing. Something strange about the air some ways away from them. It was warped, like the rest of the heated air, but it also had an almost iridescent sheen to it when you looked at the right angle.

Wilbur cautiously approached, holding his hand out when he got near. His hand passed through the strange air, and disappeared. 

“AHH!” Tommy screamed, pointing at where his wrist was frantically. 

Wilbur pulled his hand back, and it reappeared. Tommy calmed, watching with interest now. “Huh?” He muttered, sticking his own hands in the strangeness and watching them disappear.

Taking a deep breath, Wilbur stepped forward, eyes closed as he passed through the strange shiny air. When he opened them again, there were only a few feet between him and an absolutely MASSIVE hole in the sand. It spanned miles, and down in the depths was a whole city . Sand rained down around the perimeter, like some sort of weird, alien, desert niagara falls. He could see small ships and other vehicles flying around the city below, and tall buildings reaching up high past where the sand began. The aliens on the streets were little more than ants from where he was, and the entire place shone of wealth.

Wilbur exhaled in shock. “Woah…” 

Tommy mimicked him.

Then, the sand beneath his feet was falling, pulling him forward as the grains tumbled down around the city. “Hey– wait no– fuck–!” He exclaimed, stumbling back in his efforts to stay on steady ground. But it was useless, and soon they were falling.

Tommy screamed, Wilbur screamed, Tallulah cried. 

“Shit shit shit shit shit!” Wilbur shouted, struggling to right himself and keep from spinning. Tommy was out of his hold, only grasped onto his hand beside him, and Wilbur managed to resituate himself enough to be facing down, arms spread out to try and slow the fall. 

“Okay. What do we do, what do we do,” He mumbled, heart pounding frantically in his chest. There wasn’t anything even remotely soft beneath them. Only sand and scattered buildings. 

They rapidly began nearing the bottom, and Wilbur tugged Tommy close to his side. “Close your eyes, Toms.” He ordered softly, pressing a kiss to his forehead. 

Tommy sniffled and obeyed, hiding his face in Wilbur’s side. The man squeezed his own eyes shut, nothing to do but wait for impact, then–

They hit the ground with hardly enough force to make him yelp. 

He got a mouthful of sand, and Tommy was practically buried in it. 

The boy wiggled around, blowing grains away from his face. “Eh?” He mumbled, blinking rapidly. He wiggled his hands up from within the sand, “ What happened ?”

Wilbur shook his head, spitting out sand. “I don’t know,” He admitted. “Maybe the gravity changed, or some sort of force to keep people from falling to their deaths?”

“Sma’t,” Tommy noted, nodding seriously. “So we won’t conk out.”

Wilbur snickered. “I can’t believe I taught you that. Sucks that you can’t say die, or even perish like some medieval knight,” He said with a smile, shaking his head.

Tommy grinned widely. “‘Ie, eh’ish.” He said, doing his best to pronounce the words.

Wilbur laughed at him. “L.”

Tommy stuck his tongue out, making an L over his forehead with his hand.

Wilbur sighed, shaking his head, and scooped the boy up out of the sand. He dusted him off, then glanced back over his shoulder at Tallulah. Her downy feathers were a little sandy, but otherwise she seemed alright, too shocked from the fall to keep crying.

“Well,” Wilbur began, glancing up at where they came from and then down towards the city. “We should find someplace to hide.”

Tommy nodded, sticking his hand out to point at the tallest building that reached up high past the sand above. “Let’s hi’e the’e.”

The brunet turned to glare at him. “We’re not hiding in the biggest, most important looking building in this entire city. That’s just asking to get caught. We’ll find something smaller, don’t worry.”

Tommy huffed, crossing his arms. “O kay .” He grumbled, trudging on ahead through the sand and onto the path. Wilbur followed.

Chapter Text

There were strangers in Quackity’s city. They flew in on a scratched up, sand covered ship, and came straight to him with their urgent matters. 

They said they’d been out in the dunes for about a day, trying to find someone. They claimed that two children from their ship had been kidnapped by a very dangerous individual, and that said individual may very well have found a way into the city, considering that they couldn’t find him in the dunes.

Quackity laughed, and assured them that if there was anyone of the sort he’d have them found in no time. Hesitantly, they left, saying that they would keep an eye out themselves while they were here. It didn’t worry Quackity. This wouldn’t be the first time someone had run off to his hidden oasis to hide from a crime. And despite the fact that his streets were crawling with criminals, he was very strict about what he’d let pass and what he wouldn’t. Kidnapping was not something he was okay with. Least of all kidnapping children.

He sent out people to search with the vague description the crew had given him: Short brown hair on top of their head, dark eyes, light skin, no tail. This person was supposedly around six feet tall, and had two endarnen children with him. One older boy, and a baby girl.

The lack of information made him skeptical, but nonetheless he sent out the search. After that, there was nothing more for him to do than sit back and continue with his day. So he left the needle and headed down to his casino, checking up on it’s business and assuring there was no cheating going on.

“Quackity,” One of the guards greeted. “What brings you down here so early in the day?”

“Just checking up, friend. Don’t worry. How are things here?” He asked, glancing around.

The guard hummed, holding his head up. “No trouble so far today. The closest we’ve come to it was a minor scuffle between card players.”

“That’s good,” Quackity replied, wings flicking absently. “Keep an eye out for anyone suspicious, would you? Someone with brown hair and light skin, likely to be seen with two endarnen children.” He informed.

The guard frowned. “What for?”

“Some people came in and gave a report on two missing children and the person who took them. Supposedly this person is highly dangerous, and I don’t want them causing trouble in my city.” Quackity huffed.

The guard bowed in affirmation. “Of course. I’ll tell the others to be on the lookout as well.”

“Great,” Quackity said with an emotionless grin, before turning and making his way upstairs to his personal levels. It was always nice to get away from the needle, because as seen earlier today, it was where people knew to find him. Which meant he got a lot of not-so-wanted visitors. But his suite above the casino was less known, and that was how he liked it.

He made it up to the top floor and into his suite, sighing contently. A warm breeze blew in from the open balcony doors, and Quackity walked over to close them. He normally didn’t leave them open. Must have been the cleaners. He’d have to remember to tell them that he likes them shut. 

Quackity moved over to his wardrobe, pulling the doors open in search of more comfortable wear. His wings flicked. Frowning in mild distaste, he flipped through his options. Nothing in particular was catching his eye. He needed to have more clothes brought here. The majority of them were still at the needle.

His ear twitched, picking up on a small sound to his right. He glanced around the wardrobe door into the kitchen, scanning the area. There didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary. Until of course he spotted something standing beside his cooler, eyes blinking in the shadows.

“What the fuck–!” He exclaimed, jumping back from the wardrobe and glaring at the intruder. “Who the fuck do you think you are?! How’d you get in here?!” He shouted, “I can have you arrested you– you… know…” He trailed off as the figure moved out from the shadows, holding their hands out for him.

It was a fucking human .

Quackity’s eyes went wide and he stumbled back, wings flapping fearfully at his sides. Oh gods. A human. He was going to die.

He bared his teeth and hissed, wings flaring out. He inhaled deeply and shouted, “ GUARDS ! HELP, THERE’S A HU– MPH!” Quackity let out a muffled scream and bit the human’s hand which had been over his mouth to silence him. He turned on his heel and rushed away, wings flapping uselessly. “HELP!”

The human barked out words he didn’t understand, running after him.

Quackity shrieked, and the human grabbed him by the ankle. He kicked at them fervently. He was actually going to die here. He was going to be brutally murdered by a vicious human. 

Fueled by a very strong urge to not be killed, he thrashed around until he got free, vaulting forward and climbing over the bench in front of his bed. But then he felt hands grab at his wings and his heart dropped. “ No !” He screamed, practically falling limp and dropping down, curled in on himself. He squeezed his eyes shut, heart pounding rapidly in his chest. Anything but his wings.

Then the human let go. But he could still hear them behind him, feel their presence in his miniscule feathers. His wings trembled, wrapping around his waist.

There was a questioning voice behind him, and a poke to his shoulder.

Quackity flinched, whirling around to hiss at the human.

They backed away, holding their hands up. Quackity frowned slightly, confused. “Yeah. Back off, fucker.” He mumbled, still shaking. Once they were a few feet away, he quickly turned and climbed onto his bed, huddling up against the headboard to watch them from a safe distance. “You stay back there.” He ordered, reaching for the tablet beside his bed to call for help.

Then it was whacked away from his hand by a shoe. 

Quackity whipped his head in the direction it came from, finding the human holding an arm up suspiciously. They smiled, lowering it and hiding it behind their back. Quackity glared. “You’re trying to strand me without help.” He accused.

The human, for the record, did nothing. They stood there for a moment, before walking back to his kitchen where they had come from. Quackity watched, but all they did was crouch down behind the counters and disappear from sight.

Quackity slowly reached over to his nightstand and pulled the drawer open. Inside was a gun, that held darts with poison strong enough to kill most races. His fingers curled around the grip and slid off the bed.

Chapter Text

Wilbur really didn’t want this guy to find his kids. But they weren’t all that hidden behind the kitchen’s little island. And it sounded like he was coming closer now.

In hindsight, climbing into the very rich looking building that they had chosen to hide in was maybe not the best idea. But there had been a lot of not-so-nice looking guards people after him, so he was in a hurry.

Wilbur gently shushed Tallulah and Tommy, before moving out from behind the island so the alien wouldn’t find them while coming for him. He got to his feet, and looked up, and it had a fucking gun !

He yelped, holding his hands up. “Don’t shoot!” He pleaded, watching it fearfully.

The alien glared at him, wings flicking at his side. It opened his mouth to speak, and to make matters worse it was speaking spanish . Like, actual spanish. And he couldn’t understand any of it.

Wilbur groaned in pain, nearly falling back down to his knees. “Oh what the fuuuuck ?” He whined. “I meet someone who actually speaks a human language and it’s not even fucking english .” He exclaimed, cursing his terrible luck. He shouldn’t have skipped out on his spanish class in highschool. But how was he supposed to know it would ever actually be useful?!

He sighed, glancing back to the alien still holding a gun up at him. “Uhm, english?” He tried. Because yeah, maybe this alien just so happened to know his alien language, spanish, and english.

The alien glared at him, saying something else. And even if he couldn’t understand it, it was somewhat comforting. There used to be a girl back in the academy who spoke spanish, and it made him nostalgic.

“You probably don’t understand this, but you’re making me very reminiscent,” He said with a small chuckle, smiling.

The alien faltered. “What of?”

Wilbur’s mouth dropped open in shock. “What the fuck?! You speak english?!”

The alien tensed, holding the gun up again. “Yeah I do. My mother was mexican. She knew english and spanish.” He explained.

Wilbur blinked, processing. Then, “You had a human mother and STILL THREATENED TO SHOOT ME?!”

The alien’s ears twitched, and he narrowed his eyes in irritation. “Shut up, will you? You’re so damn loud. And don’t get the wrong idea or anything. It’s not like I’m half human. She just looked after me after my parents died, but she died too when I was thirteen. Anyway, what do you want?”

Wilbur frowned. “She died? What happened?”

The alien gave him a dead stare, annoyed. “Stop changing the subject. It shouldn’t be a surprise that she died. People aren’t too fond of humans. Now, why are you here ?” He repeated, raising the gun and stepping forward.

Wilbur held his hands up higher. “Just, uh, hiding. Wow, you like actually understand everything I’m saying.”

The alien groaned, slumping back in frustration before marching forward, holding the gun up to Wilbur’s chin. “Oh my lord , stopppp. Please . Why. Are. You. In. My. Fucking home?”

Wilbur swallowed, head tilted up away from the gun. “I told you. I’m hiding. People aren’t too fond of humans, y’know.” He said, relaying the alien’s earlier words.

“That’s cuz you’re a human , dumbass.”

The brunet scoffed in offense. “But your mother–”

“My mother was absolutely batshit crazy at first, too. She tried to kill me when I first met her and I was only like, eight maybe. In my experience, it doesn’t take much to get you guys to stop actively trying to murder everyone, but you’re still perfectly capable of doing so should you change your mind.” The alien said with a hiss, baring sharp teeth.

Wilbur blinked. “Uhm… You speak english really good, you know that?”

The alien stared at him again. “Wow. You’re a fucking asshole.”

Wilbur laughed anxiously. “Can I stay here?” He blurted out, knowing he’d probably get caught if he left.

The alien instantly went to decline, visibly upset by the idea. But Wilbur dramatically fell to his knees, hands clasped together. “ Please ! I’ll do whatever you want! I’ll be the best houseguest ever, I swear .”

“Oh my god, get away from me. Fine. Just shut up,” The alien huffed, finally lowering the gun and stepping back a ways.

Wilbur grinned, jumping back up to his feet. “Great!” He exclaimed. He turned back to the island and mimicked the alien warble that he used to call Tommy and Tallulah. The older of the two poked his head out from around the countertop.

“What is that?” The alien beside him asked, voice raised.

Tommy slowly came out of hiding, bringing Tallulah with.

“What is that ?!” The alien repeated, more shocked than before.

“These are my children,” Wilbur explained, placing a hand on Tommy’s head. “Tommy, and little baby Tallulah. And I’m Wilbur, by the way.”

The alien stared at him, wings twitching. “Oh. Ohhh my god, fucking dumbasses.” He muttered, holding a hand over his eyes. He sighed, and pointed swiftly up at the brunet. “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do if you expect me to let you stay.”

Wilbur grinned. “Of course.”

“And my name is Quackity. It’s better if you know. But don’t go letting anyone know that you know me, got it?”

“Yes sir.”

Chapter Text

Quackity regretted everything. He had failed to take so many things into account. A lot of things that he thought were normal for humans, seemed to only be the case with his mother, and then a lot of things that he thought were just her or motherly things, were just human things in general. He was very mixed up. And this resulted in him almost having a fucking heart attack when the human and his ‘kids’ crawled into his bed with him in the middle of the night.

There was way too much touching going on. The older kid, Tommy, was completely attached to his leg at this point. Spindly arms and legs wrapped around tightly. And Tallulah, the baby – Quackity had mixed feelings about babies – had somehow managed to get all the way over onto the opposite side of the bed where she’d been and was now snuggled against his chest. And Wilbur, who might have been the worst, was straight up hugging him in his sleep, with Quackity’s head tucked beneath his chin. He was trapped. It was one of the worst moments of his life.

Tommy and Tallulah weren’t even human though! Endarnens were like, FAMOUS for their aversion to touch, with very very few exceptions. Quackity had to believe they were Wilbur’s kids. They had to have been with him for a long period of time to pick up such behaviors.

His ear twitched, and his wings ached from being folded awkwardly at his side for so long. He sighed. This was the dangerous individual that captain Philza and his crew were looking for, huh? And Tommy and Tallulah were supposedly kidnapped. He wondered how long ago that would have had to have been then, considering all things.

Quackity shifted, just trying to get more comfortable at least, and at most maybe be able to wiggle his way out of this predicament. But instead, his movement caused Wilbur to yawn and pull him closer, resting his head on top of Quackity’s, who was now squished much worse than before. He was going to scream.

And now he was fucking snoring. Great. 

It took some time, but he did eventually begin to doze off, only to wake up a few hours later with a baby on his head and a human draped over his middle. The sun had begun to rise at that point, so he completely gave up.

“I’M DONE!” He shrieked, pushing himself up and letting Tallulah fall onto a pillow, then straight up shoving Wilbur off the bed. “It’s morning. Rise and fucking shine, bitches.”

Wilbur whined, rubbing his head as he looked up over the bed. “Wha–?”

Quackity stared at him, eye twitching. “I hope you’re not too tired ,”

The human yawned. “I am kind of, if I’m being honest. It’s so early–”

“OH WELL!” Quackity cut him off loudly, throwing his arms out. “Such a sad story. Time to get on with the day!” He exclaimed, jumping out of bed and finally stretching his wings out. He sighed in relief, before moving into the kitchen to get a drink. Today was gonna be rough .

— 

Philza was suspicious. It had been a few days since they’d asked for a search to be put out for Wilbur, and all of a sudden it was completely canceled. The aviar they’d spoken to, Quackity was his name, had indeed stayed true to his word and had people searching. There were wanted signs popping up on screens across the city, and enforcers and guards patrolling the less populated areas, but now they were just gone.

It was strange. He couldn’t think of any reason Quackity would just, get rid of it all. Not unless he considered it a lack of resources and only sent them out temporarily to ease Phil’s mind. That seemed plausible. This place was filled with people like that. But still.

They couldn’t stay here forever.

“Uhm, Phil ?” Ranboo called from behind, voice tainted with concern.

The eletryan siged, turning around. “Yes, Ranboo?”

“Tubbo got into the candy,” The endarnen informed, glancing to the cooler that had previously been locked. Tubbo was now on top of it, vibrating so violently that he was hardly more than a blur.

“SSSSSSUUUUUUGGGGGGAAAAARRRRRRR!” He buzzed, smiling freakishly wide.

Phil’s eyes widened, somewhat afraid. “Okay then…” He muttered, glancing over to the others. Techno was asleep on the small bed in the corner, and Niki was curled up in her mobile tank, sunk down nearly all the way into the water. It was a few inches shallower than before. This planet was too hot for her.

Fueled by his curiosity, suspicions, and need to get off this sweltering planet, Phil planned to go out and find Quackity. He walked out onto the small balcony that came with the room, and informed; “I’m going out. Stay here. Techno, don’t let Tubbo get out of control.” 

Techno grunted groggily in reply, and Phil flicked his wings into large feathered ones and took off from the balcony.

It didn’t take him long to find the Needle where he met with Quackity initially. But the slime that he found on the ground floor informed him that “Quackity of Lost Nevadus” was not around at the moment, and pretty much kicked him out. Though very politely.

That left Phil without any idea where to find Quackity. So he had to start from scratch. First, he’d head to every major building that he knew the aviar owned. The biggest and wealthiest of the list being his casino. So that was where he headed next.

Now, not that anyone in his crew would know, but this wouldn’t be his first time in a place like this. Sure, their entire career choice wasn’t the prettiest or most legal. But they tried to stay away from the really dirty or immoral places. Techno especially was not a fan of casinos. They were really high up there on the maiabel’s list of immoral and/or unappealing places. The entire idea of casinos seemed stupid to him.

Phil got in with ease, with a minor bribe to the jumper. Over the course of an hour, he managed to skim through the entire first three floors. All the others were private, and most likely where he’d find Quackity.

But these would be harder to sneak around on.

He managed, of course. He wasn’t the notorious Philza, Angel of Death, Captain of the Syndicate for nothing.

Chapter Text

Quackity was losing his fucking mind. Wilbur was actually just so fucking clingy. He somehow decided that Quackity was not a threat and apparently that meant long physical and psychological torture because the damn human always had to be touching him. Either hold his hand, or unnecessarily close when they sat down, or straight up on top of him when he was trying to sleep. Quackity was pretty sure that if he had to take this any longer he’d end up killing someone.

Were humans naturally this touchy or was he like, sick or something?

“Wilbur,” He spoke sternly, staring ahead with tired, irritated eyes. “Wilbur, Wilbur, Wilbur, Wilbur.”

“Yes?” The human replied, sitting beside him and messing with Quackity’s hair.

“Stop touching me please. I’m a big fan of my own personal space, just so you know.”

Wilbur hummed, and backed off like two and a half inches. Lovely.

Quackity shuddered, and took a deep breath. “Hey, Wilbur. Why don’t you go take a nap? I bet you need it. You seem really tired.” He urged, pushing the human’s hands away from him.

Wilbur frowned. “But I’m not–”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll watch your lovely children. You go rest, go on.” The aviar insisted, standing up from the sofa and pulling Wilbur with him. “I doubt you’ve had a moment of peace recently,”

Wilbur shrugged. “I guess . Are you sure? They can be a lot to handle–”

“ Positive ,” Quackity assured, giving a wide grin that didn’t reach his eyes. “Go ahead, lay down. I’ve got things covered here.” He shoved Wilbur down on the bed and threw a pillow at his face before walking over and closing the curtains that separated his sleeping space from the rest of the room.

He bid Wilbur a swift and kindless goodnight before walking out into the living space and collapsing on the sofa. “Oh my gooooodddd ,” He breathed. This was ridiculous. 

A few seconds later, Tommy was over and tugging on his arm. He did a lot of weird gestures with his hands, and Quackity just stared at him. “What?”

Tommy sighed. “I’m not ha’ing fun.” He informed mournfully.

“Oh,” Quackity muttered. “You’re bored?”

The boy nodded.

“Alright then, here.” He huffed, grabbing his spare tablet off the side table and pulling up some documentary about life on Irrentis, and chose endoran as the language. He wasn’t sure if the kid knew any, but if he spoke anything before learning english from Wilbur, that was probably it. “There, knock yourself out, kiddo.”

Tommy grinned, taking the table and scurrying back over to Tallulah to let her watch too.

Lovely. Peace and quiet.

Quackity ended up dozing off for awhile, tired from not getting any sleep in recent days. He was still aware enough to hear the audio from the tablet and feel the wind from his balcony, but aside from that he was pretty much out.

Until of course, y’know, Wilbur started screaming.

Quackity shrieked, jumping so hard at the shock that he fell off the sofa. He gathered himself and rushed up into the closed off space, pushing past the curtains. Wilbur was pressed up against the headboard, eyes wide and hands clawing at his arms.

“What the fuck?” Quackity snapped. “Can’t you ever shut u–?”

Wilbur flinched. “Sorry– Sorry, I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”

Quackity frowned, confused. “What? What’s your fault? What’re you talking about,” He asked, walking over beside the bed.

The human flinched again, raising a hand half way to protect his face before stopping, just frozen. “I’m sorry,” He repeated. “I didn’t mean to!”

“Mean to what?! I’m kinda lost here, man.” Quackity exclaimed, throwing his arms out.

Wilbur screamed again, ducking his head and hiding his face in his hands.

Quackity swallowed, carefully pulling himself up on the bed and crawling closer to Wilbur. “Hey, can you hear me?” He asked quietly, somewhat concerned now.

The human only twitched slightly, moving his hands to twist and tug at his hair. He was muttering under his breath, fast and fearful. And he was crying.

Hesitantly, Quackity placed his hand on one of Wilbur’s, trying to pull it away from his hair. Wilbur jolted at the action, snapping out to grab him by the wrist.

Quackity’s heart jumped, pounding in his chest. The human’s hold was strong, and his bones were hollow. He felt like that any small amount of pressure would snap it clean off.

“W-Wilbur, let go–” He demanded shakily, trying to pull away. He hated this. He looked so small in comparison to the human. He hated that feeling. Hate hate hated it.

Wilbur exhaled shakily, lessening his grip momentarily, before tightening it again. Quackity let out a pained noise, actually afraid for a split second, and Wilbur dropped his hand like it was hot coals, cowering away. 

“Don’t– I– Stop, stop– I can’t– I didn’t–” He choked out, breathing fast.

Quackity swallowed, holding his aching wrist close. He wasn’t really sure what to do. “Okay, okay. Uhm,” He muttered, trying to think. In all honesty, this wasn’t the first time he’d seen this. A long time ago, his mother, his human mother, had an episode like this. If he remembered correctly, she’d been freaking out about something in the past, something that wasn’t actually happening anymore, but to her it felt like it was. He could relate to that now, in truth.

At the time, the only thing he thought to do to help was to be close to her, and it worked.

So, very reluctantly, he inched himself forward, careful to be obvious about his movements. “Hey, it’s okay,” He soothed, gently grabbing Wilbur’s hands. He flinched harshly, gasping, but didn’t pull away. Quackity cooed softly, and tucked himself under the human’s chin, only to instantly be wrapped in a near bone crushing hold. “Ah– Wilbur –”

Wilbur shuddered, hiding his face in Quackity’s chest. He curled in on himself, making him seem smaller, hands curled tightly in the back of Quackity’s shirt to tether him. “Don’t– I didn’t mean to!” He pleaded, shaking his head.

Quackity frowned. He was completely out of his depth here. “Okay, uhm… It’s alright,” He mumbled, placing a hand on Wilbur’s head. “I know you… didn’t mean to?”

“I didn’t !” Wilbur assured desperately. “I’m sorry I’m sorry,”

The aviar hummed, raking claws through the human’s greasy hair. He should make him take a shower after this. “It’s okay. I forgive you,” He promised, unsure what he was even forgiving. “I doubt it was your fault.”

Wilbur sucked in an unsteady breath, and paused for a moment, doing nothing but breathing. “I– I’m sorry…” He muttered after some time, sounding different than before. His breaths were heavy, but they were coming out a lot more even. “You don’t want me here, do you?”

Quackity sighed, glancing to the side. “Don’t worry about it, man. I’m guessing you’ve had shit pretty rough for a while. I shouldn’t act like it’s the end of the world just cuz I’ve had to deal with you for a few days. You’re fine,” He replied, messing with the human’s hair. “You need to calm down. You’re going grey up here, y’know. Too much stress.” He teased.

Wilbur laughed weakly, pulling away and straightening up slightly. His cheeks were wet with tears and his eyes were red and bloodshot. “Thanks. I, I’m actually sorry though. I keep overreacting like that, and I don’t even know why.” He admitted.

Quackity furrowed his brow, “You don’t? I thought you were having like, ptsd attack or something. I think that’s what it’s called. Hmm.”

Wilbur wiped at his eyes and shrugged. “I dunno. I don’t think I have ptsd. I’ve been through some shit, don’t get me wrong. But it’s mostly just a lot of the same stuff, being thrown around from ship to ship, occasionally used as a lab rat. Nothing too bad happened. If anything, I’d just say I have quite the aversion to hospitals and the likes now,” He explained, glancing absently to the side. “Can’t remember much about my time out here, actually. My clearest memories are all after Tommy and Tallulah came into my life.”

“Sounds like a serious issue, man.” Quackity commented, giving him an awkward pat on the arm before scooting back, putting space between them. 

Wilbur shot him a glare. “Yeah well, I don’t know how I’d go about fixing that so, hm. Yeah. Just a bit blank if I look back that far. Not a big deal.”

“How far back is that far back?” Quackity asked, tilting his head. “Like, can you remember your parents?”

Wilbur went silent, a distant look in his eyes, before he sighed. “Yeah.” He nodded, sliding off the bed and fixing his clothes. “I remember my mum. But that’s about it.” 

And that was the end of it.

He walked out into the living space, pushing the curtains open as he went. He greeted Tommy and Tallulah cheerfully, as if nothing had happened at all. But it left Quackity thinking about what happened to Wilbur before that he couldn’t remember.

Chapter Text

Something was wrong. Wilbur had been uneasy nearly all morning. It was that type of feeling when you just knew something wasn’t right. He informed Quackity of his unease, and the alien frowned, stating, “You humans and your voodoo senses. Freaks me out.” But he did stay more alert after that, just to be safe.

It didn’t go away as hours passed, either. Wilbur just grew more and more tense, waiting for something to happen. He stayed close to Tommy and Tallulah, keeping them on the quieter side, and constantly watched the door.

Quackity returned from whatever it was he did for work, bringing snacks for the kids. Wilbur was beginning to think that he was lying when he said he hated children.

“You need to relax,” The alien said, setting the little box down in front of Tommy to reveal round donut-like sweets. The boy gasped in delight, and instantly grabbed one, breaking it in half and giving some to Tallulah. “I have guards all over the place. If anything was wrong, I’d already know.” He assured.

Wilbur sighed, bouncing his leg against the floor. “I know but– It just doesn’t feel good. Something’s off, I know it.” He muttered, glancing back at the window.

Quackity shook his head, rolling his eyes. God, Wilbur didn’t realize how much he missed human expressions. He tried to focus on Quackity instead of worrying, taking in his details. Dark hair, slit pupils and sharp teeth. His wings resembled a butterfly’s, but were covered in tiny feathers instead of whatever butterflies were actually made off. They still seemed somewhat easy to tear though, if he tried hard enough. He wondered if that was why Quackity freaked out so much before when he grabbed him.

“You’re staring at me.” The alien noted, raising a brow.

Wilbur huffed sheepishly, looking away. “Sorry. Just trying to think about other things.”

“I think you’re paranoid,” Quackity said with a shrug, settling down on the sofa near the balcony doors. “Nothing gets past my guards. There literally isn’t a single thing to be worried about.”

Then, as the universe decided to spite Quackity and make all their lives worse, the winged alien that took Wilbur from his crashed ship flew in through the balcony’s open doors, flipping the sofa and pinning Quackity to the ground beneath his talons.

Quackity shrieked, and Tommy jumped up, pointing at the alien. “PHIL!”

Wilbur’s stomach dropped. “Oh fuck –”

The winged alien tilted his head up, face shrouded in darkness. The six giant wings on his back hardly held any form, swirling voids of darkness. A few times he saw a claw or a feather, before they were swallowed by the void.

Quackity was saying something, pleading maybe, to the alien. Wilbur could no longer understand what he was saying. Even if it was english he doubted he’d be able to hear.

Breathing heavily, he slowly backed in front of Tommy and Tallulah, crouching down to hide them from view. They weren’t going to take them. He wouldn’t let them. He’d fight tooth and nail for his kids. They were not taking them away from him again.

—

Quackity was freaking out. It was for a mix of reasons though. On one hand, he was pinned down by the fucking angel of death, captain of the syndicate, yada yada whatever other names he probably had, and he was not pleased. But on the other hand, Wilbur. Wilbur was here. Wilbur was scared and desperate and probably traumatized beyond his knowledge if Quackity had picked up on anything recently. And even if he had spared him, he had no fucking doubt in his mind that he would go absolutely feral on Philza if the eletryan tried to take his kids.

“Philz– Philza listen, listen!” He began, laughing nervously beneath the angel’s talons. “You don’t wanna do this, trust me man!”

Philza glared at him, eyes dark. “You’ve been harboring a dangerous human, Quackity Lost,” The aviar winced at his full name, “You called off your searches and thought I wouldn’t notice. Those children are in danger. What. Is. Wrong with you?!” He shrieked, making Quackity’s wings tremble and itch to fly away. Not that he could, even if he wasn’t trapped.

Breaths coming out rapidly, heart pounding, Quackity swallowed and tried to negotiate. “Hey, listen– You gotta hear me out on this one. I know english– Eh, human , I can understand him. If you just let me explain–”

The look in Philza’s eye told him he’d made a mistake.

“You understand him?” He asked, voice dark.

Quackity chirped fearfully, eyes wide. “Uh, no?”

The angel grabbed him by the front of his shirt and lifted him off the ground. “We’re taking you with us for language support.”

“NO!” Quackity screamed, kicking his legs. “You can’t! That– This is kidnapping! Let me go! GUARDS!” He cried desperately, straining to look back at Wilbur. “ HELP ME !”

And he tried. Wilbur really, really tried to fight. He was so close to winning too. After he’d gotten Quackity out of Philza’s grasp, the aviar rushed away, hiding with and protecting Tallulah and Tommy. He tried to shield them away from any violence. It was somewhat reminiscent to how he’d seen his mother fight years ago. Only she never lost, because she never had to fight an angry angel of death.

“ Quackity ,” He spoke, voice threatening. “Tell him that if he doesn’t stop fighting, I’ll kill him. I’d like to hear whatever excuse he has for taking these children though, so I’d rather that didn’t happen.”

Quackity swallowed. “Ah– Wilbur. He says he’ll kill you if you don’t stop. ” He translated shakily, watching the human look between him and the eletryan. 

He exhaled deeply, and spit out blood. “Tell him I’d rather die than let him take my kids.” He hissed, snarling at the angel.

Blinking once, Quackity translated the response over, and Philza sighed, seeming disappointed. “A shame. I was hoping not to resort to this.”

Quackity’s eyes widened when the eletryan pulled out a high level stun gun and aimed it at Wilbur. The human tensed, but for some reason he didn’t seem to think it would do much, which led to his quick defeat.

Despite everything, Quackity found himself screaming when he went down, slumped against the floor. “WHAT THE FUCK?! Do you have any idea how painful those things are?!” The aviar shrieked, teeth bared at the angel.

Phil sighed. “I’ve reached a point where I really don’t care anymore,” He admitted, turning the stun level down that wouldn’t instantly kill him before hitting Quackity with it as well, sending a painful spark through his body before his body fell limp and the world went dark.

Chapter Text

Phil finally returned to the hotel room about a day and a half after leaving. Which admittedly pissed Techno off. He had no idea how long he’d be gone, and had been worrying that the old bird had managed to get himself killed. But it seemed to have been for nothing, because he landed back on the balcony in a flurry of darkness, grim look on his face and two bodies dropped from his talons.

He hopped down from the railing, ducking inside, and– “Hello! I’m back!” He greeted cheerfully, smiling wide.

Ranboo, eyes wide in concern, leaned hard to the right to glance around him, eyeing the unconscious bodies left on the balcony. 

Techno took note of the two rather upset endarnen children in the captain’s arms, wriggling around and on the verge of crying. “I take it you found the human then?” He asked, ear twitching.

Phil hummed affirmative. “Yep! And someone to translate for us,” He added, flicking the aviar at his feet with a talon.

“Uh, that’s Quackity. He owns like half this city,” Ranboo pointed out anxiously. “We can’t just take him, can we?”

“We certainly can,” Phil huffed. “He was harboring Wilbur in his casino suite. I think he deserves a bit of punishment for that. And besides, now we can get to the bottom of things. Assuming Wilbur is truthful of course, and that Quackity translates correctly. Otherwise I might just throw him out the airlock once we leave,” He said casually, settling down on the edge of the bed.

“Well,” Ranboo began, clearly not at all understanding what was going on, “If we’re leaving we should go soon. Tubbo crashed out from all the sugar and has been passed out for like, thirteen hours, and Niki is running low on water,” He informed, gesturing to the kiokec asleep in her tank, which was nearly half empty now from evaporating in the hot climate.

Phil hummed. “Right. Yes, we should get going. I don’t want them waking up. Quackity I’m not worried about, but Wilbur is seeming more and more to be the biggest pain in the wings ever .” He chuckled. “Alrighty, let’s go!” He exclaimed, marching out of the room with a smile.

Techno frowned, mildly unsettled. “I think they broke Phil,” He muttered, glancing at Ranboo. The endarnen sighed, shaking his head unknowingly. Techno huffed. “Well, you think you can carry the aviar? I’ll get Niki and Wilbur. You wake up Tubbo,”

Ranboo hummed, moving to do as he was told. “Okay.”

And after a few minutes, they were all out of the hotel and on their way back to their ship, one human in tow and a new prisoner to add to the pile. When they arrived, Techno debated over whether throwing the two in the same cell was a good idea, but Phil just brushed him off.

“It’s fine! He wants to defend and hide the human from us, he gets to risk dying to him by sharing a cell. Not a big deal,” The eletryan replied cheerfully, “Besides, he was alive when I found him wasn’t he? Just get them in there before they wake up. We have some children to consol,”

Techno sighed, “Alright…” And put them both in the cell.

—

Quackity woke up aching, body still buzzing with mild pain from the stun gun. He pushed himself up, blearily taking in his surroundings. He was currently stuck in the most basic, lame ass, blindingly white cell that ever existed.

He stumbled up on his feet, hand against the wall for balance, and made his way over to the clear door. Finding nobody outside, he let out a low hiss, banging his fist against the wall. “HEYY! LET ME OUT!” He shouted. “You have no IDEA how important I am! There WILL be people looking for me!”

Muffled noises came from behind him, and he glanced back to find Wilbur on the opposite side of the room, slowly waking up. He yawned, stretching out, and sat up, wobbling slightly.

Quackity’s heart dropped. He turned back to the door, pounding his fists against it more desperately. “PLEASE! LET ME OUT! MY PERSONAL SPACE! HE VIOLATES IT SO MUCH YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW!” He shrieked, wings flapping. “It’s like he doesn’t even understand what boundaries are! He’s so touchy-clingy, PLEASE HELP !”

“Quackity?” Wilbur asked tiredly, confused.

He screamed. “NOOOOO! SAVE ME!”

“Quackity, what’s going on? Are we– Oh fuck , those bastards! I’m back at square fucking one!”

The aviar sighed, rubbing his eyes before turning to Wilbur. “Yeah and you brought me with you,” He huffed, switching back to english. 

Wilbur smiled weakly. “Sorry. But it is nice to have company. I don’t think they’ll be sending Ranboo back in here anymore.” He muttered, trailing off. He exhaled, scratching the back of his head and making a mournful sound. “I should have taken a shower while I had the chance.”

Quackity rolled his eyes. “That I can agree on.” He sneered, plopping down on the floor with an angry chirrup.

Wilbur moved over and sat beside him, wasting no time in getting all up in his personal space. “What’re we gonna do?” He asked hopelessly. “Last time I only got out because Tommy managed to get down here and open the cell. But I’m willing to bet that they won’t let him do that again.”

Quackity shrugged, shoulders tense as the human absentmindedly began to braid his hair. “Maybe we’ll get lucky. Who knows,” He tried, glancing over to him. “What happened to your fight, anyway? Giving up already?”

Wilbur shook his head. “No. I’m fucking pissed, you have no idea. But I know from experience that yelling and trying to get out doesn’t really do much. If anything, I probably need them to let down their guard. Think I’m too weak or tired or just plain done.”

Quackity shuddered, uneased by the idea. It was a decent plan, really. But the thought that it was such a basic strategy, to trick your enemy into thinking you were out of the fight. It was awful to think about being said enemy.

“You alright?” Wilbur asked, noticing him tremble.

He nodded. “Uh, yeah. Fine. It’s just, uhm, cold in here.” It wasn’t a lie. It was definitely colder than he was used to. Nevadus was a very hot planet, even down in his city. He was built for surviving the heat. So he got cold pretty easily.

Wilbur hummed in response, tugging the aviar close to his side. “I’m guessing you’re not used to it, are you? It’s honestly not that cold, so I think it’s just you.”

Quackity frowned, body tense at the close proximity. Always with the touching. Why? He sighed. “Yup. Just me.”

Chapter Text

Everything was terrible. It had been roughly two days since they got the kids back, and Wilbur. Plus they now had Quackity in their hold. Not that they’d had a chance to actually talk to him about anything. Everyone had been more focussed on the two screaming children in the ship.

“Oh my godddssss ,” Techno groaned, tugging on his long ears. “Make it STOP!”

Niki was sunk down in her canal, also trying to drown out the sound. And Tubbo had taken to his room immediately after they returned and had hardly left since. The loud noises bothered his sensitive ears, and somehow even through his soundproof walls , Phil was getting messages on his tablet from the boy complaining about it.

Philza and Ranboo were the only ones who seemed actively capable of getting near the children to handle it.

“Please stop crying,” The young endarnen tried to sooth for the fifth time today. “It’s alright, you’re safe now,” He assured.

Tommy shrieked at them, blurring Phil’s mind. He’d never seen an endarnen do that without completely opening their mouth, which was a scary sight to behold, but at least a warning! No, Tommy and Tallulah continued to be unique.

“No no no, shhh,” Ranboo hushed. “That’s not good, you’ll mess up his head.” He scolded. Well, as close to scolding as Ranboo could get.

At some point, Tallulah had actually begun to cry tears . That was something that their species was supposed to have evolved out of, considering that their tears burned them, albeit less so than other water. Ranboo explained that it was probably because of immense distress, saying that he’d done it once before too. But that wasn’t really helpful information in the long run.

Phil managed to get Tallulah away from Tommy, with a bite to the hand for his efforts. He cooed at her, patting her back and trying to calm her down, but nothing worked . He was going to lose his mind at this point.

Tommy screamed out words nobody knew, only occasionally picking out human and something like Wilby , which they knew had to be referring to the human down the hall. He clawed and bit at Phil’s leg, trying to retrieve his sister, and Ranboo had to physically hold him back by the ankles.

“What do we do ?” The endarnen asked helplessly, struggling to pull Tommy back.

Phil let out a breath, eyes tired and distant. “I honestly have no fucking idea. Why are they acting like this? What did Wilbur do to them?!”

Tommy screamed at the mention of the human’s name, thrashing out of Ranboo’s grip and running back at Phil, fists flying.

Now Techno decided to intervene, tackling the boy to the ground before he could attack. “Stop, stop !” He pleaded, holding the child down under his arm. “You’re ridiculous! I’m gonna go deaf I swear,”

Tommy snarled and bit angrily at the maiabel’s arm, sinking the few teeth he had into his skin. Techno didn’t do much more than flinch, glancing up to Phil desperately. “What do we do, Phil? They’re gonna kill us. We’re gonna go deaf and lose our minds or just, die of starvation from looking after them or something!”

Phil let out a strained warble. “They’ve been at this for nearly two days,” He noted, voice filled with disbelief. “They’ve gotta crash out at some point, right?”

Ranboo’s eyes widened hopefully, “Yeah!” He butted in. “Whenever I start being really insomniac and can’t sleep I normally just pass out randomly after a few days.” He informed.

Phil sighed in relief. “And these are so much younger than you– Well, not Tommy I suppose,” He added, somewhat upset, “But they shouldn’t be able to last as long.”

As if on cue, Tallulah’s cries started to die down to hiccups and sniffles. She yawned, and butted her head against Phil’s shoulder, trembling from her screams and cries.

Tommy looked up at her worriedly, showing no such signs of weariness, but Phil could see in his eyes that he was tired. And not just physically. He expected the boy to give up, along with his sister.

But Phil was stupid. Tommy would probably rather die than give up. He was just that stubborn of a kid. So, an unwavering glare crossed his face as he looked up at Phil, and in a puff of burgundy particles, he was gone.

Phil swallowed hard, turning to Techno who was now holding down nothing but air. “Where do you think he went….?” He asked, already knowing the answer.

Techno sighed, and turned to look down the blocked off hall, towards the cell. “Pretty sure you already know where, Phil.”

—

They were at a standstill.

After Tommy somehow teleported into Wilbur and Quackity’s cell, the other aliens immediately came looking for him.

Wilbur held him tightly in his arms, glaring at the aliens outside. The boy had fallen asleep shortly after arriving, which was understandable. His and Tallulah’s screams had gone on for two days . They needed rest. 

But he had one child, and they had the other. As he said, a standstill.

The bird, who he had come to learn was called Philza, twittered something to Quackity, a cold look on his face.

Quackity’s brow furrowed, also unhappy with the current situation, and he turned to Wilbur. “He wants you to give Tommy back. I’m pretty sure he knows you’re not gonna do it, but he wants to try the easy route before anything else,”

Wilbur scoffed. “Yeah, no. Tell him to fuck off, please.”

“I’m not saying that, but I’ll get your point across.”

Quackity and Philza spoke some more, exchanging words clearly filled with anger and distaste, but they kept their calm.

“He wants to know what you want with the kids,” Quackity translated, looking a little less full of rage. He gave Wilbur this sympathetic look, and he supposed that he was the only one who could really come close to understanding his situation, given who he was raised by.

Wilbur sighed. “Okay. Tell him that these are my kids. I found them orphaned and trapped on the same ship I was on, and took them in. I couldn’t care less what they are or where they come from. They’re my kids.” He stated, voice unwavering as he held his son close.

Quackity nodded, turning back to Philza to relay the message.

Wilbur could tell when he got to the part about him finding them, because every stern and hateful expression out there turned to some variety of shock. Philza warbled out more questions for Quackity after sparring Wilbur a look of disbelief, and the winged alien turned back to him to translate again.

“I don’t think he fully believes you. He has no proof, and all he’s seen of humans thus far have shown you to be brutal, heartless beings.” He explained grimmly. “I gave him my own words at that, for the record. Brutal, yeah, but not heartless.” He sighed.

Wilbur gave him a small smile. “Yeah. But proof? What proof do you want? I don’t have any proof that I got them off that ship, but I have proof that I was there. To be honest I can’t even remember much of that day,” He admitted.

Quackity huffed. “That’s not doing you any good here, Mr. Repressed Memories.”

Wilbur turned to him with a scowl. “I’m not repressing anything. I’ve just got head trauma or something. Memory loss. Anyway , ask him what he expects me to give him as proof. Their fucking birth certificates?”

Quackity snorted, and repeated back to the aliens on the other side of the door.

Philza sighed, using his free hand to rub his eyes, the other one still cradling Tallulah, Wilbur’s baby, close to his chest. He spoke again, sounding tired. Waving his hand around, he was clearly trying to come up with an answer.

“He wants you to tell them about how parenting them has gone,” Quackity said with a grimace. “Like– He thinks if you seem genuine and truthful enough, and it makes enough sense or something, then he might believe you.”

Wilbur sighed deeply, lowering his head. “Where do I even begin with that?” He muttered, a small smile on his face. He ran his hand through Tommy’s feather hair, always immaculately soft, unlike his own hair currently was. “Alright, hmm. While I don’t remember much of the day I found them, I do remember that they were so scared. It’s understandable. There were probably all sorts of people running around, trying to find a way to get me back in containment. Very loud, very overwhelming for them. Tommy was a lot smaller back then, Tallulah too. She was so little, actually. I could fit her in my hands. And he was defending her fiercely . I was just shocked by the fact that there were children there at all,” He trailed off with a reminiscent chuckle, Quackity translating at his side.

The brunet turned to look at him retelling his story. “I took them with me, of course. Not that they were very happy about it. I still have scars on my arms from Tommy’s fighting to get away. But the ship was going down, so I had to get them off. We crashed, and I’m pretty sure we were the only ones who survived. Humans are just hardier than a lot of others I guess. But I ran out onto this new planet, feeling lost and confused and now I had children with me. I’ll be honest, I originally planned to give them up. Maybe leave them somewhere for somebody to find,”

He paused to take a breath, and spared a glance up at Philza who was watching intently, seeming more interested now than ever.

Wilbur continued. “I never did that, obviously. Never found an opportunity to, and eventually just stopped looking for one. And let me tell you, it was not easy.” He said, exhaling and shaking his head. “I didn’t know anything about these guys. Figuring out what they eat, how they act, that water burns them . It was all a scary pattern of trial and error. I kept worrying that I was going to kill them just by trying to keep them alive. And don’t even get me started on the first time it rained. I fucking screamed,” He admitted, rubbing his thumb over one of the healed burn scars on Tommy’s arm. “Scared the crap out of me, really.”

Quackity finished translating what he was saying and took a moment of pause, catching his breath. He gave Wilbur a look, of pity maybe. “That sounds rough,” He whispered.

Wilbur nodded. “Yeah, it was. But, tell him that no matter what, these kids are mine. I’d rather die than let them take them again.” He stated confidently, watching Philza unblinking.

Quackity relayed what he said, and the aliens outside all looked surprised. The pink one moved around beside Philza, saying something to Quackity. Then Ranboo too. Philza just watched Wilbur for a moment, before adding his own questions to Quackity’s list.

The alien sighed, and turned back to Wilbur. “Okay, uhm. They have some things to say.”

Wilbur frowned. “I’m sure.”

“Yeah. So first of all, you see Ranboo?” He asked, pointing to the tall alien in question. 

Wilbur nodded. “Yeah. Why?”

“Uhm, he’s only like a year older than Tommy.” He informed, making Wilbur’s eyes widen in shock. “Tommy should be a lot taller than he is, and his feathers should all be full adult feathers like Ranboo’s. His eyes are a key sign of his age, since they’re starting to lose the purple. That happens near the end of childhood, when they’re getting into the mid to late teens.”

Wilbur's heart dropped to his stomach. “What–? Tommy’s not– Why’s he so small? Is something wrong with him?” He asked fearfully, holding his boy close.

Quackity made a face. “Ehh, kind of? He’s just, lacking a lot of nutrition and necessary vitamins and stuff. He hasn’t been able to grow right.”

“Oh my god.” Wilbur whispered, eyes full of horror. “My baby…” He looked down at Tommy, resting his head on top of the boy’s. “Oh this is my fault, isn’t it?”

“You couldn’t have known. Anyone else in your situation would hardly have done better,”

Wilbur turned to him with a sharp glare. “Anyone else wouldn’t have had to be afraid of asking for help. Wouldn’t have had to hide, or be physically unable of asking for help.” He snapped.

Quackity tensed, and Wilbur sighed. “I’m sorry…” He muttered. “I’m so sorry,” he said again, running a hand over Tommy’s head.

Letting out a breath, Quackity continued. “They also want you to know that, obviously, you’re not raising them like any endarnen.”

“Any what?” Wilbur repeated, confused.

Quackity backtracked, “Sorry, it’s their species. Tommy, Tallulah, and Ranboo are all endarnens. Anyway, they mean that you’re raising them distinctly human, and it’s not completely bad , but it’s not good in a lot of ways either.”

Wilbur frowned. “I know that trying to talk like me can hurt Tommy’s throat… That’s why I taught him sign language,” He mumbled, gazing off absently. “I took to mimicking a lot of the sounds that I could after I first found them, and that worked I suppose. It definitely made them calmer at times. But eventually Tommy just started to drop whatever language he used to have and started mimicking me .”

“Mhm,” Quackity nodded understandingly. “If it helps, they say that Tallulah is pretty healthy overall. She’s lacking some nutrients too, but she’s not stunted or anything.”

Wilbur smiled weakly. “That’s good.”

Twitters and questioning chirps came from behind the door, and Quackity turned back to Philza. Then, to Wilbur. “They have one more question.” He stated seriously.

Wilbur swallowed, and nodded. “What is it?”

“It’s more of a deal, really, but if they let you out, do you swear not to attack or hurt anyone, and , to work towards learning how to raise Tommy and Tallulah in a way that doesn’t harm them?”

Wilbur’s eyes widened, and he quickly glanced over to the invisible door. The aliens behind looked nervous, aside from Philza, who had a sure look on his face. He turned back to Quackity. “Of course. As long as they don’t give me a reason to attack, why would I? And I want my babies to be healthy.” He agreed confidently.

Quackity grinned, and repeated to Philza. “Great.” He said, wings flicking. “We’ll be joining them for dinner. My first request is that you take a fucking shower as soon as we’re out of here.” The alien laughed, teeth showing in a wide smile.

Wilbur returned it. “Hell yeah I will.”

Chapter Text

Phil was, well, he wasn’t a hundred percent sure how he was feeling. Nervous, tense, sorry, confused. A lot of things. Assuming Wilbur was telling the truth about everything, which, he seemed to be? Then Phil had terribly misjudged him.

He was fairly confident that Wilbur wasn’t a direct threat. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t still dangerous. Especially given the fact that he very clearly viewed Tommy and Tallulah as his own children, and everyone knew that you NEVER get between a human and their kid. Phil was honestly lucky to be alive at this point.

The first thing Wilbur did after getting released from his cell was immediately have Quackity help him find the showers. Phil washed his clothes while he was in there, so he wouldn’t have to get clean just to put back on an outfit that was more grime than cloth. And afterwards, everyone on the ship was shocked speechless at how different he looked. Even Quackity and the kids.

His hair looked so much softer, and had way more volume than before. His clean skin made it possible to see the many scars he had littered across his body, at least in the places that weren’t covered by his clothes. Even his eyes seemed to shine more now that he was clean.

He walked up to Tommy and Tallulah, crouching down beside them and pulling them close. Tallulah made a little sound and began to gnaw on Wilbur’s sleeve, while Tommy was in awe at how soft his hair was, running his hands through it. Wilbur laughed.

Phil couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

He gave them a minute, before turning to Quackity who was staring at Wilbur in disbelief. “Quackity, I hope you don’t mind, but I’d like to get to breaking down this language barrier as soon as possible. After all that’s the main reason you’re here,”

The aviar gave him an unamused look. “Yeah. I know. You kidnapped me.”

Phil chuckled drying, flicking his wings. “ Yeah … Sorry about that,”

Quackity sighed. “Whatever. But I’ve kind of got a lot of important things to do, so hopefully we can get this done quickly enough.” He muttered, shaking his head. “First of all, I’m sure you’ve come to a point where you realize that Wilbur’s just as much of a person as any of us, and shouldn’t be locked in a blank white cell.”

Phil hummed, brows furrowed. “Yes, I’ve realized that.” He replied.

“Good. So Wilbur and his children need their own room on this ship. Not a cell . I’m sure you have one to spare, considering the size of this place.” He noted, glancing around. “Anyway, once that’s done, you need to work on their diet. I know you know what endarnens eat, given that you have one in your crew, but you should figure out what Wilbur needs to eat and what he wants to eat.”

“Right,” Phil blinked, tilting his head. “Preferences. I know a little about human diet.” He informed, thinking back to what he’d asked Karl. “Wilbur actually stopped eating completely before, so I think we should work on getting him healthy again.”

Quackity’s eyes widened slightly. “He wouldn’t eat?” He questioned, turning to look at the human. He barked out something in human, or whatever their language was called, and Wilbur’s face started turning red . He tried to hide this fact by looking away and holding a hand over his face.

Phil chirruped worriedly, moving closer and crouching down to look at him. “Is he okay?” He asked, watching the human for any signs of illness.

Quackity scoffed. “Mostly, yeah. He’s just embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed?” Phil repeated, looking up at the aviar. “Why? Is that why his face is red?”

Quackity chuckled, bobbing his head. “Yeah. Humans do that when they feel shame or embarrassment, and maybe for other feelings too, but I’m not sure. He’s just not exactly proud of the fact that he’d been trying to starve himself.”

“Is that what that was?!” Phil shrieked, turning back to the human. “Don’t, do, that!” He urged, adamantly pronouncing each word as if it would get the point across the language barrier.

“He wouldn’t do it on purpose again, don’t worry.” Quackity assured. “He thought he’d never get to see his kids again so in his eyes, there was nothing to stay alive for.”

Phil cooed mournfully, reaching out and pulling the human close. “ No , don’t die. It’s okay.”

Quackity laughed. Hands on his stomach, eyes pinched tight, full hearty laughter. “Oh my gods, you should see his face right now!” He shrieked. “He’s so confused!”

Phil shushed Wilbur, patting his head. “No dying. That’s bad.”

“Uh, Phil?” Techno asked, somewhat concerned. “I was gonna come tell you it’s time to eat, but maybe I should just pay my respects and send you out the airlock. I think you’re done.”

Phil shot him a glare. “Oh shut up, you.” He huffed, letting go of Wilbur and getting to his feet. “Come on, food’s done.” He informed, turning to Quackity.

The aviar sighed, laughter dying down. “I hope it's good. I have a very specific diet, you know.”

Phil sighed. “We’ll be sure to find something that meets your taste, Lost.”

“Do not call me that,” Quackity hissed, turning to Wilbur and tugging him to his feet. He must have relayed the message of food because he and Tommy were now much more eager to follow. 

When they arrived they found that Techno had extended the table and brought out more chairs, making it big enough for all of them. Niki brought over multiple dishes of food, and Phil was pretty sure there were cookies in the oven based on the smell. He nodded to her in thanks, and sat down at his chair. Techno sat on one side, and Niki on the other. Then Ranboo beside Techno, Tubbo beside Niki, and Wilbur, Quackity, and Tommy and Tallulah on the other end of the table.

Everyone was silent, not sure who should act first.

But Tubbo was Tubbo so he of course broke that silence. “I’m HUNGRY!” He exclaimed, reaching out and pulling forward his plate of flowers and fruits. “Let’s eat!”

Phil chuckled, watching the young xizzendor with amusement, before waving his hand at everyone else. “Go ahead, eat.”

After a short moment, everyone else brought forward or dished up their own plates too. Phil helped guide Quackity on what Tommy and Tallulah should eat, so he could pass the information onto Wilbur. The human nodded his head slowly, cautiously bringing forward some fruit and breaking it into chunks, dividing it between the children’s plates. But when he got to the subject of insects, he just looked at the pan of cooked spider and beetles with distaste.

Phil watched him talk with Quackity, likely trying to clarify. The aviar nodded his head, which Phil was beginning to think was some sort of sign of affirmation for humans. 

Sighing, Wilbur brought forward a few pieces of spider meat and a beetle for each kid. Tommy’s face instantly screwed up in disgust. “ Eeeww ,”

Phil chuckled. Eww at least was something he understood.

“Go on, see if you can just get him to try it.” Phil suggested with a smile, catching Wilbur’s attention. The human nudged at Tommy, then gestured to Tallulah who was gnawing on her spider leg quite viciously for a baby. Actually, this sight didn’t help Tommy or Wilbur. They both narrowed their eyes her, somewhat unsettled.

Techno scoffed, reaching over the table and snapping Tommy’s beetle in half for him.

The child flinched, watching his arm retreat, before glancing at his plate. He poked the insect, and sighed dramatically, before picking up half of it with a sour expression, and forcing himself to take a bite.

Wilbur watched with a similar look on his face, eyes narrowed and nose scrunched up. But after a few seconds, Tommy’s eyes lit up with shock, and he made a long “ Ooooh ” sound.

The human seemed overall happy that his son was enjoying the meal, but had to look away, clearly put off by the fact that his meal was partially bugs. Quackity snickered. “He thinks it’s gross.” He stated obviously.

Tubbo laughed. “I do too! Insects are so similar to me! Whenever I see Ranboo eating them it’s so unsettling! Like he might rip my arm off and eat it while I’m sleeping!” He exclaimed cheerfully, making Phil somewhat worried. “Tell him that!” He demanded with a grin, looking at Quackity.

Ranboo just stared at Tubbo in horror while the aviar translated. “Tubbo, I wouldn’t eat you– What ?”

Tubbo narrowed his eyes at him. “You never know.”

Wilbur suddenly burst out in laughter, Quackity grinning stupidly after translating Tubbo’s words. The human barked out a reply to him, tears in his eyes, and Quackity turned away, ear twitching. “He’s very amused.” He deadpanned. “Also, he says you look like a bee? I’m not sure what that is.”

Tubbo tilted his head, antennae twitching. “A bee? That sounds cute, what is it?”

Phil watched his crew and their guests talk around their dinner. Ranboo brought out a tablet for Wilbur to use to try and show what a bee looked like. He had a drawing app open on one side of the screen, and some images of certain pollinator insects pulled up on the other. Techno helped him link it to the screen over the table, so everyone could see easier as he did his best to draw whatever a bee, was, having Quackity translate as he compared it to the other bugs they saw.

Tubbo was awed, completely in love with the fact that he looked like such a cute tiny earth creature. 

From there, things continued. With Quackity’s help, Wilbur discussed food with Niki and Techno, and shared stories of his time with Tommy and Tallulah, admitting that the reason he was so drawn to Ranboo was because he reminded him of them. He talked about what earth was like, and discussed survival tactics, and anything else the conversation could take him to.

But eventually, Quackity’s voice started getting worn out. Though he could clearly speak Wilbur’s language much easier than Tommy could, he still wasn’t built for long term use of it. Letting out a strained whistle, he held up a hand, admitting that he was done for now. Wilbur didn’t seem too disappointed, more worried about the aviar’s health than anything.

But dinner was done, and Phil now had to arrange where they’d be sleeping. 

Ranboo was helping Tubbo save Wilbur’s drawing of a bee and sending it to the xizzendor’s own screen in his room, and he noticed Niki and Techno slipping a cookie to each of the children. Phil smiled. 

The table was cleared, and everyone dispersed out into the halls. Niki, Ranboo, and Tubbo went straight to their rooms, bidding them all goodnight, while Techno stayed behind to help Phil set things up for their guests. But apparently, Quackity was not too pleased about the fact that he would not be getting his own room.

Admittedly, Phil thought this was because he came from such wealth and always got everything he wanted because of who he was. But he found out pretty quickly it was in fact because Quackity had some minor issues with his personal space, and Wilbur was a very big fan of said personal space.

The eletryan sighed, “I’m sorry, Quackity. But all of our other spare rooms aren’t set up for sleeping in. Most of them have been repurposed into other things, or are just plain storage.” He informed. “I assumed you’d be alright with sharing the space with them considering we found you with them, and there was only one bedroom in your suite.”

Quackity sighed. “That wasn’t exactly my choice . You have no idea how fucking clingy these guys are! I’ve had boundaries pushed that I didn’t even know I had! He was practically drooling on my forehead one night!” He hissed, wings flicking.

Techno, who was tired from the events of the day, carefully pushed his captain out of the way and took his place, speaking to Quackity at the door. “We’re being hospitable here. You’re welcome to go back to the cell, or just sleep on the floor if you’re that unsatisfied. But we’d like to get some sleep, so goodnight.” He huffed, closing the door and completely cutting off his previous offers.

Phil stared at him in disbelief. “ Really ?”

“What? Someone had to shut him up. And I’m tired. Hopefully there won’t be any screaming endarnen cries tonight and I’ll actually get some peaceful sleep.

Phil scoffed. “With a human you don’t trust, two children, and a famous con artist on board? I doubt it.”

“Don’t crush my dreams, Phil. I’m so sleep deprived.”

Chapter Text

Wilbur couldn’t believe it. They were actually trusting him. Ish. He had a meal with them like an actual person, treated more like a threatening foreigner than the monster he was used to being. He had a room, he had a way to communicate, even if it was through Quackity, and he had a full stomach and clean hair. That was more than he’d had in so so long.

Tallulah and Tommy slept contently at his side, and while they had their own little beds on one side of the room, they chose to ignore them completely. Quackity was on the other side of the bed, practically hanging off the edge. Wilbur wondered how he was even sleeping like that.

The brunet sighed, staring at the ceiling. It seemed to be made of some sort of wood paneling, which was infinitely better than the white metal and tile he was used to. God, it looked like an actual room in a house. It was amazing. The bed was plush with thick red blankets, there was a screen that came out of one wall like a TV, a half-dresser half-wardrobe, even a desk. A desk . Wilbur couldn’t imagine what he would use it for.

But even so, with his clean clothes and hair and soft bed and full belly, he couldn’t sleep. With so much stress lifted off his shoulders – not all of it by any means, but a lot – it left his mind to wander to places it hadn’t been in a long time. He thought about his mother, far far away in the humans’ solar system. He wondered if she was still on mars, or if she’d moved. Was she still in the military? Were there any more wars or had the one he’d fought in been the last? Was she okay?

He sniffled, wiping his nose. He hadn’t thought about her in so long. It felt terrible, but he almost wished he wasn’t thinking about her now. It brought so much untended pain back up. He still remembered the look in her eyes when he left. When– When he was forced to leave?

Quackity could be right about that repressed memories thing. He might have to work on that.

He rolled over, careful not to bother Tommy or Tallulah at his back, and buried his face into one of the overly soft pillows. He imagined they’d be blissfully comfortable if he wasn’t so unused to them.

It was really starting to bother him how little he could remember. When he thought about it, so much was a blur, or just plain blank. He remembered earth, and he remembered having to leave for some reason. Overpopulation, he was pretty sure. That’s when they moved to mars. Some sort of conflict arose between the colonization on mars and the one on… he wanted to say Venus? He couldn’t remember why. He didn’t know if he ever knew, honestly.

But once that happened, so many were pulled into war. A lot of people went willingly, others were pressured or just plain forced into it. Wilbur was pretty sure he went willingly? Mostly ? He didn’t remember being a very good soldier though.

He sighed again, wrapping his arms around himself and closing his eyes tight.

Who even won that war? Was it them? He was pretty sure it was mars. But why would he have left? Why would he have been forced to? He couldn’t remember .

Wilbur sucked in a shuddering breath, raising one hand to hold it to his head. What a helpless feeling, to not be able to remember things that happened to you. And after that it only got worse. From mars to Tommy and Tallulah, it was hardly more than flashes and snippets of ships and planets he was passed around on. The clearest memory he had was being strapped down to a table, with needles and knives pressed to his skin without even the mercy of an anesthetic.

 He gasped, and couldn’t restrain the pained noise that left his lips.

Quackity’s ear twitched, and the winged alien glanced back over his shoulder. “Wilbur?” He whispered, muttering something in spanish that Wilbur couldn’t understand.

He held his breath, pressing a hand over his mouth and mumbling. “Sorry,”

Quackity sighed and shook his head, wings flicking as he moved to sit up. “No, don’t apologize, hombre.”

Wilbur choked out a laugh. “Hey I actually understand that word. I at least stuck around for the basic introductions to spanish,” He whispered, rubbing his eyes.

Quackity smiled slightly. “That’s no good. How will I call you names behind your back, pendejo?”

The brunet snorted, “That one didn’t sound very nice,” He muttered trailing off.

The alien sighed, resituating himself to face Wilbur better. “What’s the matter, hm?” He asked, tilting his head just slightly.

Wilbur swallowed hard. “I don’t know,” He choked, giving half a shrug. “I’m just– I can’t remember ,” He broke off with a humorless laugh, keeping it quiet as he could. “ Anything . The moment I got out here and beyond is all blank . I only remember after I found the kids, but I feel like there’s even pieces missing from that too –” He gasped, curling in on himself and digging his nails into his side. “What– Why can’t I?”

He looked to Quackity with a hopelessly desperate expression. It felt like he was literally losing pieces of his life. Like they were taken from him. But the reality of the situation wasn’t likely so. If anything, he’d hid them from himself. But why ?

“It’s alright. You wanna know what my mama always used to say?” Quackity began, scooting over closer to him.

Wilbur nodded weakly. “Sure.”

“She used to say; What year is this bread fucking from? ” He quoted seriously, making Wilbur choke.

“ What? ” He asked with a broken smile.

Quackity grinned. “It’s true.” He nodded. “She used to eat a lot of extremely expired shit. I swear if she wasn’t killed that’s what would have done her in.” He said with an exasperated sigh, “ But ,” He continued, “She also used to say this : When you forget yourself, you can become lost. Without knowing yourself it’s painfully easy to lose connection to the world, and the people on it. Now, Q, remember that knowing yourself doesn’t necessarily mean knowing who you want to be, or who you are in the sense of the world. But knowing that you are alive, that you are present, and that you don’t need to keep searching . You are here . And so am I.” The alien recited, a fond, reminiscent look on his face. 

He sighed, glancing over to Wilbur with a small smile. “When I was younger, not long after my parents died, I had a lot going on mentally. Very depressed, very lost. I constantly felt disconnected from my body and the world, like I was– An empty body, looking for something to give me a soul.” He explained, looking down at his hands. “After mama found me, tried to kill me, then basically adopted me, it didn’t take her long to pick up on my poor mental state. The language barrier was quite a problem for a while, but we got past it, and one of the first things I talked about when I could form full sentences was that lost feeling . And that’s when she said that to me, the first time at least. She used to say it a lot. It became a sort of comforting reassurance.”

He blinked, and turned back to Wilbur, who had been so focussed on the alien’s story that he hardly remembered his own issues. “Oh… Wow, Quackity, I– That’s rough,” He muttered awkwardly, rubbing his eyes. “Are you doing alright now?”

Quackity scoffed and punched him in the shoulder. “I’m sharing my stories to make you feel better, stupid! Don’t worry about me, it was a long time ago.” He huffed. “My point is, her words took a while for me to comprehend, but when I did they really changed my view on life. For so long I was searching and waiting for something to come to me and make me feel okay again. But I needed to stop searching like that. I sat myself down, breathed in some fresh air, and just let myself be for a while. What I took from it, was that knowing myself meant understanding that I am living . Bad things happen, and they can’t be undone,” He spoke wisely, wings twitching. Wilbur looked to them, frowning at the uneven shape they had. “But you cannot let that take you away from yourself and your life.”

Wilbur frowned. He didn’t think that of all the things he’d be confused about out here, it would be life lessons from a mexican alien. He didn’t know if bad things happened. That was the point. He didn’t know what was wrong. And he definitely didn’t feel disconnected from his body. “Quackity, I don’t understand,” He admitted with a sigh.

The alien groaned in frustration and grabbed him by the face. “Wilbur, listen. Forgetting yourself means distancing yourself from the fact that you’re alive, and what that means. It means forgetting peace and joy, and chasing an endless goal, always after something. To know yourself you have to ground yourself, and let those worries and burdens of society go .”

“Bu’h Qua’idy, y’re li’herally theh ow’er of’a mash’ive secre’h cidy,” The brunet mumbled through his squished face, and Quackity let go. “I mean, if anyone’s had ambitions and goals it’s you .”

“But I didn’t let them control me,” The alien corrected, holding up a hand. “All throughout the creation of Lost Nevadus, the thing I focussed on most was keeping that feeling of stability and peace. But it was hard . I had a lot going on at the time,”

Wilbur frowned again , worried. “Are you alrigh–?”

“Silenciar! You hush,” Quackity cut him off, flicking his forehead. “You. Need. To. Find. A way. To. Relax ,” He insisted, poking him repeatedly. “Find a way to ground yourself. Retether yourself to life. Do you get what I’m saying?”

Wilbur sighed, rubbing his forehead. “No,” He admitted, “Not really.”

Quackity sighed in exasperation, collapsing into a pillow. “Why do I try?” He muttered, staring ahead at the wall.

The brunet huffed, “Hell if I know. I probably don’t deserve it anyway.” 

“Shush,” Quackity grumbled, whacking him with his wing. Wilbur watched as it folded back in at his side, taking note of the form around the edges, and the misaligned feathers in places. He’d noted before how fragile they looked, and how the alien had reacted to him grabbing them. He wondered what might have happened.

“Stop,” He scolded, glaring at Wilbur. “You’re the one laying in bed, awake all on his own, crying about your sad little issues. I don’t want you worrying about me and my past.”

“You make it so easy to care, though.” Wilbur said through a smile.

Quackity rolled his eyes. “Tell me something about your life. Your mother, maybe?”

Wilbur’s smile turned somber. “Yeah, my mum. I can do that.”

The two talked for a long time, staying up much later than was probably good for them. But eventually, Wilbur finally managed to fall asleep. And Quackity only made minor, quiet complaints about the brunet’s subconscious cuddling.

Chapter Text

The crew was adjusting to Wilbur. Phil hadn’t expected things to go so smoothly, really. But he was pleasantly surprised.

He took to learning common with startling ease once he picked up the basics. And once he had the basics down, he started teaching Tommy too, and even let Phil start helping after a while.

Wilbur befriended every crew member quickly, even before he started getting the hang of common. Ranboo was already somewhat friendly with him, so that didn’t take long, and Tubbo and Ranboo were a package deal, so he came next. Then it was Niki, who taught Wilbur about how the appliances in the kitchen worked, and the two spent time bonding over food.

Phil himself was next. He hadn’t expected to grow very close at all with the human, but he couldn’t help it. He’d gone to find Wilbur to bring him to dinner, only to discover the human curled up inside his room, crying and clawing at his hair. It only felt natural to comfort him. And while his growing bond with the human came later than the others’, Niki and Tubbo teased him, saying he’d fallen hardest and had basically claimed him as his son. He denied this, of course. Lies and slander, he said.

He needed at least another week before any sort of adoption would be considered. But that wasn’t exactly up to him. Moreso his brain, the part he lacked control over. Hindbrain, Tubbo called it.

But then there was Techno, who surprised Phil the most. Wilbur spent a lot of time just sitting near him, since Techno didn’t like to leave him unsupervised if he could help it, but also wasn’t big on talking to people he wasn’t close to. Nothing really changed until a very small, and seemingly insignificant incident where Techno sneezed, sending his crown flying off his head, and Wilbur caught it, handing it back to him.

Techno would now do nearly anything for the human’s safety. Even put up with the shenanigans of his adopted children, who were strangely fond of him.

But there were still issues. Quackity was still kidnapped. Wilbur was still dangerous and technically illegal to be harboring. Tommy’s growth was still way behind. And there was so much they still didn’t know. Like why Wilbur would hide away and cry to himself, for example. That worried Phil quite a lot. He’d asked Quackity about it, but the aviar had said he didn’t know the reason, and Wilbur probably didn’t either. Something about repressed memories and forgotten trauma.

That didn’t ease Phil’s worries in the slightest.

—

It had been a month. An entire month . Wilbur could speak the alien’s language “common” fairly well, and he even dared to say nobody on the ship hated him anymore. Quackity had to make multiple calls to make sure things were still running smoothly back in his city, but even he was doing okay despite the whole taken-against-his-will thing. 

Tommy and Tallulah were looking much healthier, and Ranboo had been teaching him about endarnen culture and stuff. Tommy’s teleporting ability was getting to a healthier point where he wouldn’t hurt himself whenever he did it, and even Tallulah was starting to pop around the ship a few feet at a time, which could really cause some scares if you weren’t paying attention.

Wilbur… liked, this crew. Even after everything, he’d grown fond of them. And he’d reached a point where he was at least sixty percent certain they weren’t planning on getting rid of him or anything like that anymore.

He was currently settled against Phil’s side, listening to the eletryan ramble on about items they’d need to stock up on and find on their next time planet-side. Wilbur wouldn’t admit it outloud, but he was kind of really attached to Phil. He’d never really known his father, so he supposed there was a part of him yearning for that sort of figure in his life. 

And someone had taught Tommy the word for grandpa, both in common and in english (so Wilbur was pretty sure he knew who), which made him practically die on the spot from embarrassment when he addressed Phil with it. The captain himself however only warbled adoringly at the title, picking Tommy up and looking to Wilbur with a fond smile while the brunet hid his red face in his hands.

And being so content as he was, that was when things started to go wrong.

It began with Quackity leaving. There was just something he couldn’t afford to miss happening back at his city, and there were plenty of things he needed to clear up and damage control to do. So, reluctantly, Phil let him take one of the smaller shuttles and make his way back to Nevadus.

Then, it was Techno. He was the strongest one on the ship next to Wilbur, with Phil coming in at third place because of the strength his wings gave him (and whatever the fuck went on when he got really mad). And he must have picked up something because he got sick shortly after Quackity’s departure. 

Wilbur was urged not to show his concern because, as Phil informed him, Techno hated illness. It was one of the things that scared the maiabel most, especially when it put him to bed rest like it did now. It wasn’t anything terrible, but he’d be confined to the medbay while he was contagious, and somewhat weaker for a while afterwards as he healed. So any little thing could put him on edge because he wasn’t able to fully protect the ship while ill.

And that was fine. Sicknesses weren’t foreign territory to Wilbur by any means. But the amount of change and happenings were stressing him out, if only subconsciously.

After that, things only went downhill.

Phil came to dinner one night claiming that they were low on fuel, and a lot of supplies. They’d been putting off a trip to any planet because of Wilbur, but now it was a necessity. They’d have to cut through what was basically a space version of the bermuda triangle, based on how Phil described it, to get to the nearest planet with the things they needed. And while Techno had healed up in the past few days, he was definitely still out of it and weaker than he could be.

Wilbur wasn’t exactly thrilled at the idea of flying through space where almost every ship that entered went missing. But because of him, it was needed. 

“Hullo Wilbur,” Techno greeted gruffly, voice rough from his illness. 

“Hello Techno,” The brunet greeted in response, not looking up from where he was watching the wall, thinking.

“Y’re eatin’ yur hands,” The tall pink alien noted, gesturing to where Wilbur was gnawing at his nails.

He sighed, pulling his hand away. “Sorry, I’m just worried.” He admitted.

Techno raised a brow. “Bout what?”

Wilbur blinked, staring at him before turning to look out the nearest window. “I dunno, the fucking spaceship graveyard we’re about to fly through?” He deadpanned.

Techno rubbed at his nose, ears twitching. “Yeah, I ‘spose it’s a little nerve wracking, seein’ as maybe one outta ten ships ever actually get outta here alive,”

Wilbur wheezed, curling in on himself.

“Okay, uh,” Techno began, moving to sit down beside him. “Don’t worry. We’ll be alright. Phil can fly a ship faster and better than anyone. And even if there was a problem, I’m not completely down for the count. I could still fight if I had to,” He tried to assure.

Wilbur sucked in a shuddering breath, turning to look at him. “How do you know we won’t–”

“Did you know my ears aren’t naturally ‘sposed to be down like they are?” He interrupted, changing the subject.

Wilbur blinked, brow furrowed in confusion. “Your ears?” He repeated, glancing down to the maiabel’s long, droopy ears that were half hidden in his hair. They reminded him of domestic rabbit ears.

“Mhm. I trained em that way after a long habit of keepin’ em down. Shows less emotion.”

“Really?” The brunet questioned, head tilted. “They’re so long though, how are they supposed to be naturally?”

Techno sighed, grimacing a little, but he somehow managed to lift his ears up, and they drooped comically at about half way up, bent over like bunnies in cartoons. “ Technically I can hear better like this, but I’d rather have a slight impairment on my already amazin’ hearin’ than have people be able to know what I’m thinkin’,” He explained, his ears flicking.

Wilbur hummed curiously. “Like how? Does the flicking mean something?” He asked, pointing up to them.

Techno huffed. “ No . Just, something on them is all. S’not like I’m embarrassed. How dare you assume,” He grumbled, looking away.

Wilbur chuckled. “Somehow you look more alert now, but also more hilarious, like a character from a kids show. Before when your ears were all droopy you just kinda looked like a grumpy, lazy bunny,” He pointed out, smiling widely.

Techno’s ears fell limp again, “Ah come on man, my reputation, what is this?” He complained, “Phil, I’m bein’ bullied. By a human. Oh, my entire reputation is down the drain, out the airlock. My goodness,”

The brunet keeled over in laughter, eyes scrunched shut and grinning wide. “You’re ridiculous,” He choked out, looking up to him with tears in his eyes.

Techno blinked slowly, only exaggerating that lazy rabbit look. “Wow. Not even bein’ taken seriously. Does the role of guard hold no authority anymore?” He sighed mournfully.

Then, the ship lurched harshly, making them both fly off their seats. They both recovered quickly, jumping up to their feet. Techno took off down the hall, looking back over his shoulder. “Find yur kids, then find a place to stay! And don’t move from there once you do!” He commanded, before skirting around the corner and disappearing.

Wilbur’s heart dropped. Oh god, they were going to die.

Chapter Text

Phil’s ship was being boarded. Without his permission. Intruders could be entering his home at this very moment and he wasn’t acting quick enough!

His controls were down, electrics were on the fritz. They’d been straight up hacked, and were stuck.

He rapidly turned on the emergency security measures before taking off out of the control room, locking the entrance as he went. He switched his wings into something smaller, to easier fly through the hall. He wished they were bigger, so he could be faster with larger wings, but he couldn’t do much about it.

Where would they be? 

Phil shrieked, hurtled to the side as his ship shook again. The first time was because of the power loss, but now he was certain that someone had docked their ship to his. So his first stop was the airlock.

He pushed himself off with the wall, flying as fast as he could. He was beginning to regret the size of his ship. But how else was he supposed to show off who he was? And it gave his crew more space to live comfortably.

Phil hissed, ducking around and scrambling down another hall towards his destination. Quick turns were hard with these wings.

He did his best, sometimes skimming the ground and running to fix his trajectory, until he reached what he was looking for. He skidded to his feet, racing down the hall to the entrance of the airlock, only to have something shoot out from around the corner, and hit him square in the head. And hit hard .

He went down without much fight, the world going black.

—

Phil was down. He couldn’t contact him. It might have been the fact that their devices were all messed up from whoever was hacking them, but Techno had a terrible gut feeling that his captain wouldn’t respond even if they were still working.

His senses were still fucked up, and it was disorienting him. He couldn’t smell, and his ears felt full of cotton. He blinked, looking down each hall, trying to decide where to go. He groaned in frustration, hands twitching at his side, and raised his ears to try and hear better. There were sounds, to the right.

Techno coughed, trying to clear his throat, and took off down the hall. He was met with a small group of three or four intruders. They seemed to be spreading out from the airlock where they must have latched their ship on. He really hoped that wasn’t where Phil was.

He slowed to a stop, pulling out his blaster. He didn’t have his sword, which was a disadvantage. And he was still recovering from his sickness, which made things even worse. Then, the intruders pulled back their hoods, revealing pale skin and unmistakably human eyes, and frankly, Techno wasn’t sure if it could get any worse.

“Oh bloody babies we’re so screwed,” He hissed, not even caring that he used the phrase that Phil despised so much. He sighed, and brandished his weapon. “Come at me, freaks!”

The humans snarled at him. Techno huffed, holding his head high. Then he shot at them, which was always less satisfying than charging in with a blade. One of the humans got hit in the shoulder, going down surprisingly easy. They cried out loudly, holding the wound. Techno couldn’t understand what they were saying, repeating the same string of words twice, before looking up at him with a manic grin and barking out something else.

Oh fuck.

The humans laughed and ran at him, shooting wildly down the corridor. Now he really wished he had his sword. These fucking shots did nothing against them, and he didn’t know whether it was a matter of hidden armor, or if they were just built different.

He hid around the corner, trying to think of what to do when Niki swam up silently in the canal nearby. “Techno,” She whispered, “What’s going on?”

“There’s humans on the ship,” Techno explained, making her gasp. He wasn’t nearly as afraid of them as he used to be, after living with Wilbur for some time, but they were still highly dangerous. “I can’t get ahold of Phil, I don’t know where Tubbo or Ranboo are, and Wilbur was supposed to find his kids and hide,”

Niki frowned. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Just– Find anyone who isn’t already safe, and get them hidden. Then, if you think you can handle it, maybe I could use some help,” He admitted, glancing back around the corner. The humans were gone. That couldn’t be good.

“AH!”

He snapped his head back in time to see Niki dive down into the water, a human reaching after her with a shout, arm plunging uselessly down into the water. They pulled it back up, shaking their arm free of excess water and letting out a string of what had to be curses, glaring down the canal as Niki swam away.

Then they turned to Techno.

This human had long pink hair, similar to his own, with the front pulled back and tied out of their face. He didn’t know humans could have hair that color. Their eyes were a light blue, and a long scar spread over their face, from one cheek, across the nose, and to the other. They wore some sort of communication device over their head like a headband, with two earpieces on either side. They were decorated to look similar to the ears of some subspecies of kiokec.

Techno tried shooting at them, but they just crouched down quickly and avoided it, crawling over to him and pulling out a smaller but somehow deadlier looking gun and holding it to his chest.

They grinned, all sharp and pointed teeth that Techno KNEW was not a human trait. “I’m going to die, aren’t I?” He said with a sigh, dropping his gun.

The human hummed, “Nah. Not unless you get real crazy.”

Techno’s mouth fell open in shock. The human smiled.

—

Ranboo was scared. Like, terrified. The ship was being invaded. By humans . Like, Wilbur was okay, BUT HUMANS!

He held Tubbo close, squeezed into a little closet to hide. He could hardly breathe. It only made sense. This part of space was known for being a death trap, and the few who had survived coming through had mixed stories to tell. Stories of monsters, cloaked beings. Some claimed it was humans, but those stories were far and few between, and little believed.

But he’d caught a glimpse of one, before managing to teleport away. Now he was hiding, holding his breath because he didn’t want to be heard, and if he did try to breathe, he worried he wouldn’t be able to.

“Ranboo,” Tubbo whispered, holding two of his hands up to the endarnen’s face, the other two on his shoulders. “It’s okay, deep breaths.” He tried to soothe, but it didn’t work well when Ranboo could see the panic on his own face.

They both went silent when footsteps approached their hiding place. A shadow was cast over the closet, light no longer shining in through the cracks in the doors. Slow, heavy, intimidating steps.

Ranboo wanted to cry.

The doors were thrown open, revealing a threatening human dressed in dark clothes and a mask over their lower face. Ranboo wheezed, falling limp on top of Tubbo before everything went dark. Maybe he should have been breathing a little more.

—

Wilbur couldn’t find them . He had no idea where Tommy or Tallulah were. He couldn’t find anyone . Not Phil or Ranboo or Tubbo or even Niki. He was panicking. He was panicking so much . Heart hammering in his chest, his vision was blurring. He ran around desperately, down one hall and then the next, turning back around to check every room, every possible place.

Nowhere. Nowhere nowhere nowhere, they were nowhere they weren’t anywhere he couldn’t think he couldn’t breathe –!

His eyes were welling with tears now. What was on the ship? Had Techno found it? Were they going to be okay? Had he already been killed? Why were the lights so dim and flickering? Was the power out? Would that affect the air supply? Were they going to die ? Were Tommy and Tallulah dead ?

Wilbur screamed, taking off running again. He had to find them. 

He was headed to the control room, he registered distantly. It was the most logical place to start if he wanted to find Phil, or any help. At least in his mind. Realistically, it was unlikely that the captain would have stuck around instead of heading out to fight. But even the thought worried him. What if Phil got himself killed trying to protect them?

Wilbur rubbed uselessly at his eyes, trying to clear his vision as he skid around the corner, nearing his destination. Only to crash straight into someone already standing in front of the control room, trying to pry the locked doors open.

The brunet grit his teeth, ignoring the pain of falling back and rushing back to his feet. Panting, he gave his eyes a second to focus, blinking a few times at what he saw. It took him a minute to register. A vaguely familiar figure with long dark hair and dark eyes. A mask covered half her face, but it was quickly removed after seeing him.

Wilbur’s eyes welled with all new tears as the intruder stepped forward, a look of disbelief and blind hope in her eyes. “ Wilbur ?”

Chapter Text

Wilbur was crying. “Mum…?”

Not possible. Not out here. Not so far out in space. Why would she even be here? She was back on mars, living safely. This had to be some sick twisted alien siren, taking on a form that would make him vulnerable, to mess with his head.

“Wilbur,” She– The alien? Breathed, surging out to hug him.

Wilbur flinched, confused, eyes darting around. “No. You’re not– It can’t– No, it doesn’t make sense. This is a trick,” He stammered, breathing picking up again as she wrapped her arms around him.

Her hugs felt like how he remembered, but, were they real? How could he know?

“It’s not a trick baby,” She hushed, running frantic hands through his hair and down to rest on his face. “My baby, oh my god. Wilbur , you’re really here. You're alive,” She said with a wet laugh, tears gathering in her eyes.

Wilbur made a wounded sound, reaching out to wipe them away. “You’re not real, are you mum?” He asked, sounding painfully lost. He couldn’t afford false hope. There were probably really dangerous people in the ship right now. Everyone might be in danger.

“I’m real, Wil, honey. It’s okay, I’m real.” She promised, pulling him close and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

Sobs built up in Wilbur’s chest before spilling out as he collapsed into her arms. “ Mum !” He cried, clutching her shirt tightly. It was dark, and there wasn’t much to hold onto. It wasn’t anything like the soft dresses or sweaters she used to wear, or even her military uniform. But he cried into it just as he would have back then.

“Wilbur, what are you doing here?” She questioned breathlessly, rubbing circles over his back.

“I– I don’t know,” He choked out, eyes squeezed shut. “I got taken, and there were so many different ships and cells, and– and the tests. But then I got away, and I found them, but I got taken again . And I was so done but then things got better then they got worse again and now I think I’m okay but I’m really not –” He sobbed, words tumbling out of his mouth before he could make them make sense.

Mum hushed him soothingly, holding him tightly. She ran a hand through his hair, commenting tearfully on how long it’d gotten. “Oh I missed you, baby. I missed you so, so much. I thought I’d never see you again,” She whispered, so much relief in her voice.

But then there was commotion down the hall, bringing them back to the present. Mum snapped her head in the direction of the noise, hold tightening around him protectively. “Alright, come on honey, we gotta get outta here.” She urged, voice now serious. 

She tugged him to his feet and pulled him along down the hall. He couldn’t even think to argue. His mind was too much of a mess for anything but following.

She led him quickly down the hall to the airlock, where a few other humans were waiting. Some he recognized, some he didn’t. But they were humans . People . Wilbur nearly broke down again at the mere sight.

“Oh my god, WILBUR!” Foolish all but screamed, chucking his gun at someone else and rushing the brunet.

Wilbur squeaked, lifted up and spun around in a tight hug. “Hey Foolish,” He wheezed, smiling slightly. The blond put him down, staring down at him through a bright green visor. Wilbur glanced at his arms, noting how easily he was picked up. “When the fuck did you get so buff?” He asked with a laugh.

Foolish grinned, baring teeth much pointer than he remembered. “When’d you go and get so scruffy, eh?” He shot back, flicking a stray curl out of Wilbur’s face.

“Hey listen, the only thing I’ve had to cut my hair with was a scrap piece of metal. You see these scars,” He stated humorously, gesturing to the small, scattered scars on his face. “You try shaving with a dull piece of alien side paneling!”

Foolish barked out a laugh, looking to Wilbur’s mum. “How the hell did you find him in all this mess?”

She smiled, so so fondly, looking to Wilbur with so much joy in her eyes. “He just ran into me. Guess fate was smiling on us today, boys.”

The rest of the humans nearby cheered loudly at the phrase. Wilbur recognized it. She used to say it sometimes during her time in the military.

“Come on, come on,” She urged excitedly, guiding him over to the others. “I want you to meet everyone,”

Wilbur went along easily, walking over to everyone else. First up was– “Callahan?” Wilbur asked in disbelief. The brunet had dark blue markings around his eyes, and his nose was tinged red. But that was normal for Callahan. Wilbur wondered if it had something to do with allergies or if he was just naturally akin to Rudolph.

“ Hello Wilbur ,” Callahan greeted with a smile. “ Long time no see, ”

“It’s good to see you again,” Wilbur returned, signing along.

Callahan’s eyes widened slightly. “ You’ve gotten better. At signing. A lot faster .”

Wilbur smiled and just shrugged, and Mum led him over to the next person. “This is Gem,” She introduced, gesturing to the woman with curly ginger hair, glasses, and a purple cloak over her shoulders.

“Hi,” She said with a grin, not sporting any sharpened teeth like Foolish. “I’ve heard so much about you from Kris.” She informed, making Wilbur flush red. “She loves you a lot,”

Wilbur chuckled, rubbing his neck, and Mum led him to the last person in the area. “And this,” She began, gesturing to the shortest member, “Is Fundy.”

The boy before him couldn’t be any older than fifteen. He had messy orange hair, and deep brown eyes similar to Wilbur’s own. His nose was tinged dark from what Wilbur guessed was soot, making him look like an animal, and his dark orange beanie with fox ears wasn’t helping that appearance. 

He looked up to Wilbur with something of a scowl. “Hi,” He muttered, not seeming pleased to meet him in the slightest.

Kris gave half a smile, clearly a little disappointed by his greeting. Wilbur tried to keep the cheer up though, introducing himself. “Hello. I’m Wilbur,”

The boy frowned. “I know.”

Wilbur frowned too, but more out of confusion.

Mum sighed. “Don’t mind him. I’ll have to explain some things about him before you try that again,” She laughed weakly, pulling him into another hug. “But I’m just so glad you’re back. I’ll have to call the others back and we can get back onto the ship,”

Wilbur blinked, pulling back. “Wait, mum– You can’t hurt anyone on this ship, okay? They–”

“ Who the fuck is on my SHIP? ”

Wilbur tensed, spinning around to see Phil standing in the hallway, wings spread wide and threatening. He tried not to worry about the massive bruise on the side of the captain’s forehead, deep green blood dripping down the side of his head. Wilbur didn’t like that look in his eyes. It was the same as when he found him with Quackity in Lost Nevadus.

Wilbur moved to step forward, to try and calm Phil down, but was pulled back by Foolish, held behind him without a say in the matter. Phil looked ready to kill, and Wilbur couldn’t do anything about it.

Chapter Text

Phil’s vision was a little skewed, if he was being honest. He was seeing red. He wasn’t sure who or what managed to knock him out earlier, but when he got up the first thing his sensitive hearing picked up on was Wilbur . It wasn’t his fault he reacted so rashly. He had only recently bonded with the poor human, which meant he was naturally going to be a lot more protective of him until things settled down in his head.

So he hardly even registered flying down the halls and ending up back in front of the airlock. He wasn’t even sure how he got away from it in the first place. His only guess was that these intruders, these humans had dragged him away and left him elsewhere, deeming him no longer a threat. A mistake on their part. They obviously didn’t know who he was.

He blinked at the room in front of him, the airlock connected to another ship across from him. Wilbur was being held behind a tall human with blond hair. His head pounded and he was pretty sure he was bleeding, and he would feel like absolute SHIT if he managed to survive this because he was running off of pure adrenaline right now, which he wasn’t nearly as good at handling as humans. But it was what he needed for the time being.

He stepped forward, wings twitching. He distantly felt claws form on the edges of them, warping into strong, dangerous leathery wings like the dragons that used to roam old planets. “You,” He began, breathing heavily, though it had no effect on his threatening display, “Will get off my ship, leave me and my crew alone , and pray to whatever gods you believe in that I don’t hunt you all back down and kill you while you sleep ,” He hissed, head tilting tiredly to the side, but by their reaction, it was more intimidating than anything.

All the humans exchanged looks of worry and fright, except one, who stepped forward. She marched forward, head held high with a dangerous look in her eyes. She pulled out a plasma blade, which were pretty obsolete these days but still perfectly capable of doing harm, and flicked it to active. In hardly a blink, the sword was under Phil’s chin, with its holder glaring at him with a dark, hard stare. “ No .” She said simply, leaving no room for argument.

Phil– Phil was going to try and argue, opening his mouth to say something, because this was his ship and his crew– his family! But, he found himself short of breath, wings falling back into a simpler shape, and he just– collapsed, right there on the floor, with the sword still held to his neck. It was too soon for him to be crashing from adrenaline. He didn’t– What was going on?

The human raised a brow, staring at him as if equally as confused by his sudden stop. She lifted her blade, and Phil raised his head with it, not eager to have it slice through his skin. He looked up at her, meeting her eyes, and let out a strained warble, grimacing at the sound.

She glanced back at the others, barking out some question. Most of them shrugged, a gesture he’d picked up from Wilbur, and she turned back to him, asking in heavily accented common. “What’s wrong with you, hm bird?”

Phil felt like he was going to die. “I– I don’t know,” He admitted quietly, ducking his head. She lowered her blade just enough that it wouldn’t cut him with the movement.

He didn’t fight when she restrained him, moving him over against the wall and mostly out of sight from the rest of the hallway. Phil caught Wilbur watching him, a confused look on the human’s face.

“What happened?” He muttered quietly, not daring to get close to the eletryan with everything going on.

Phil shrugged, hiding his face in his shoulder. His wings moved to curl around him without his permission. “I dunno,” He mumbled in reply. It was like all his energy to fight was just gone .

It was frightening.

—

The rest of the crew was apprehended shortly after their captain. Kristin stood tall, overseeing as her men as they brought all the crew members to her. First came a pigish alien, one she was pretty sure she’d seen the kind of before. Golden horns around their head, like a mock crown, long colorful hair, pigish features and large rabbit-esque ears. This one was a little shorter than ones she’d seen before, but with more bulk. It also didn’t dress near as elegantly.

Then came an aquatic female. She highly resembled a sea dragon, but with a lot more pink-orange-purple coloration. Kristin had never seen one of her kind before, but she assumed they weren’t the type to travel often, considering that they had to confine her to a part of the built in canal out in the hall so she wouldn’t dry up and die.

After her, two younger members. A bee-like species she’d seen quite a few of, and a much rarer, taller one with dark skin and feathers. The bee one was a mix of yellow and green rather than the yellow to blue she was used to, and the taller one who they were clinged to looked on the verge of tears. 

Her men were a lot easier on them, recognizing their young age. They seemed so afraid, but their mere presence meant that she wouldn’t do anything too bad to this crew. She wouldn’t do that to kids.

But that was the end of it. A rather small crew for such a big ship, which made her suspicious, but there didn’t seem to be any others. She sent Callahan out just to be sure.

She sighed, turning to face her captives. The pink one had stopped snarling at her, instead turning to their captain, a completely dumbfounded expression on their face. The aquatic one acted similarly, poking her head out of the canal with confusion.

The younger two however were not so focussed on him, with the taller one having passed out and the bee now trying to wake them.

Kristin tsked, tapping her foot against the ground. What to do, what to do. Her men had already determined that these guys were seriously lacking in supplies or anything worthwhile to take, which was probably why they were headed through this territory anyway. She was pretty sure they’d built themselves quite the reputation, because there were fewer and fewer ships passing by these days. And that along with the younger two meant she couldn’t really do them any massive harm. But, they had Wilbur. 

She had no idea how they found him. They could have picked him up off some planet, or he snuck onto their ship, or maybe they bought him from someone else–

Augh, the idea made her blood boil. Her little boy, her baby, passed around and treated like some animal. She hadn’t missed the scars. She hadn’t missed that worn down look in his eyes. The pain. He’d been through so much and she wasn’t there to help.

She crouched down in front of the captain, hoping to get an actually decent response out of him this time.

“Hey,” She said with a huff, tapping his wings that were wrapped around him.

He jumped slightly, pulling them away so he could see. She sighed, rolling her eyes, and speaking in their stupid alien language. “ Where did you get him? ” She asked, not looking away as she pointed to Wilbur.

The captain followed her hand, eyes widening slightly. “ Wilbur ?” He choked, tilting his head. “ We found him on a merchant planet ,” He spoke quietly, avoiding her eyes.

Kristin narrowed her eyes. “ I don’t think I believe you, ” She admitted lowly.

The captain jumped. “ No– No really! We found him and then Tommy and Tallulah followed us on board! ” He insisted.

Krisitin blinked. “Who,” She began, inhaling deeply. “ Are Tommy and Tallulah ?”

The captain blinked too, somewhat confused. “ Wilbur’s children? ”

Kristin paused, slowly processing what the alien had said. There couldn’t have been a mistranslation there, right? That was too specific of a word. She slowly stood back up and looked to Wilbur. “Children?” She repeated, brows furrowed.

Wilbur’s face went red, and that was an answer in itself.

Kristin’s expression broke into a wide grin and she rushed over to her boy, pulling him into a tight hug before letting go, holding his arms. “I have GRANDBABIES?!” She shrieked.

Wilbur laughed, shaking his head. “I mean– Yeah?” He replied, chuckling somewhat in confusion.

Krisitin pulled him into another hug. “ Ughh ! Are they cute?! How old are they?! What are they like?!” She broke off with a gasp, pulling back again. “Are they here !?”

Wilbur nodded just as Callahan came around the corner, holding two young aliens in his arms. And not young like the bee and the tall one, though they were obviously the same species as the latter, but young young. Like, a baby and a seven year old, maybe. And they weren’t thrashing around and fighting him like she’d expect. No, in fact, they were held in one of his arms, staring up at him with something akin to awe as he signed to them the best he could with one free hand.

To Kristin’s surprise, the older one sighed back, really enthusiastically.

She snapped her head back to Wilbur, giving a confused look. He chuckled awkwardly and shrugged. “ Yeah… ”

Well, in that case.

She slowly walked over to Callahan, and the children stopped, turning to look at her with big, round eyes. She looked the two of them over with an unwavering stare, only for it to break into an adoring smile when the baby sneezed. “Oh my GOD!” She nearly screamed, scooping them up out of Callahan’s hold.

“They’re so CUTE!” She exclaimed, hugging them closely. The baby cooed, gnawing on her shoulder, while the older one thrashed around, more out of confusion than anything. She lessened her hold a little, resituating them so they could look up at her. “Hiii,” She crooned, brushing a finger against the baby’s cheek. “You must be Tallulah,” She guessed, having already assumed the older one was the boy. And she turned to him. “And you’re Tommy , right?”

The young alien stared at her for a moment, before nodding swiftly. “Mhm. Who ah’ you?”

Kristin gasped. She’d been somewhat expecting them to speak the alien language. But they really were Wil’s kids, weren’t they? “I’m Kristin, Wilbur’s mum.” She explained, smiling widely.

Tommy’s eyes went wide. “Ah’ you my g’andma?” He asked, suddenly smiling.

Kristin felt tears come to life in her eyes, and she nodded. “Yeah baby, I am.”

Tommy looked up at her, mouth open in awe, before he glanced back at Wilbur. He wiggled out of her hold, scampering over to him and tugging on his sleeve, pointing back to her and muttering frantically, switching to sign language to get the point across better. The sight warmed her soul. 

She looked back down at the baby in her arms, reaching out little six fingered hands. Her head was covered in dark downy feathers instead of hair, and her skin was dark and her eyes were wide and swirling purple. But, she wouldn’t trade it for anything.

She offered Tallulah her hand, which the child eagerly took and started gnawing on. She didn’t seem to have any teeth, but she didn’t know if that was because of how young she was, or because of her species.

Kristin looked back up to her men and crew. “Alright. Let’s go,” She informed, moving to head back into her ship. But Wilbur stopped her.

“NO!” He exclaimed, holding his hands out. He paused, and swallowed. “I mean,” He sighed, scratching his neck awkwardly. “We can’t leave them. Uhm, I kinda… They’re family…” He whispered, lowering his gaze in what seemed to be shame.

Kris blinked, surprised by his words, and turned to see the alien crew, tied up around them. The pink one was watching her, seemingly with nothing but a glare, but if she focussed, there was concern there, and his eyes kept glancing to the child in her arms.

The younger two were scared, with the dark one having just come back to consciousness and the bee settled near him, watching them all anxiously.

Back in the hall, the aquatic one was leaning out of her canal as much as she could with her guards nearby, trying to peer around everyone and see inside, worry clear on her face.

Kristin’s mouth fell open in a small ‘o’ shape. “Oh…” She muttered. “I– Okay,”

She sighed, closing her eyes for a moment, before gesturing for her men to release their bindings. The tall dark one shrieked at first before realizing that the knife was to free them, and the pink one was up on his feet in a second, arms crossed and glaring at her defensively. When her men got to the captain however, he was unconscious. Alive, they checked, but completely out.

“Well,” She huffed, one hand on her hip. “I suppose we’ve got some things to clear up, don’t we?”

Wilbur nodded, giving half a smile.

Chapter Text

Things were very tense within the walls of The Angel of Death. The ship had never been so full of awkward, glaring, confused strangers. Most of them sat in the common space. Wilbur, his kids, and the human captain were in a different room, talking. Phil had crashed from his burst of adrenaline and Niki was in the medbay treating him. But Techno, Ranboo, and Tubbo were all forced to sit and watch, and even worse, try to socialize with the gang of humans in their home.

There were five of them here. The shortest one out of the group, with bright hair and an ever present scowl on his face, had gone with Niki to supervise and make sure she wasn’t plotting to kill them. Techno didn’t like the idea of any of his crew being without protection, but he couldn’t do much about it now.

He was somewhat grateful that Wilbur magically happened to know the human captain. That just seemed like a twisted fate of luck, really. And now they didn’t have to worry about being robbed or killed. But he would almost take that to the current situation.

“So,” One of them began, the one he’d seen earlier, trying to catch Niki. The same one that knocked him out and brought him to the airlock with the rest of them. He scowled. She laughed awkwardly. “I’d say we started out on the wrong foot. I’m Lizzie,” She introduced.

Techno chuffed. “TechnoBlade. Most call me Techno,” He returned. She smiled, and nudged the human beside her.

They startled, and cleared their throat. “I uh, I’m Joel,” He said plainly, giving a little wave of his hand before glancing to the next human. 

This one smiled kindly, lifting up the bright green visor over their eyes. “Foolish. But don’t let the name fool you, I’d say I’m one of the more logical out of this group.”

The one beside him, Joel, elbowed him in the side. “Hey!”

Then the next one, another female with orangish hair and glasses. “I’m Gemini Tay. But you can call me Gem,” She said with a little nod of her head, before turning to the last human in this group. “And this is Callahan. He doesn’t speak.” She informed.

Callahan smiled, waving before moving his hands around in a similar way that he’d seen Tommy do. 

“Is he speaking with his hands?” Tubbo asked, growing less and less timid. “I’ve seen Tommy and Wilbur do that,”

Callahan nodded, smile growing. Gem smiled too. “Yeah, it’s called sign language. A lot of people on earth who can’t hear or talk, or just have trouble doing so, use it so they can still communicate with others.”

“Wow,” Tubbo awed, eyes wide as he began buzzing off his seat. “That does make sense. Tommy can’t seem to pronounce some of the sounds in Wilbur’s language, and even when he does, it starts to bother his throat after a while. That’s really smart!”

Lizzie grinned. “I like this kid. What’s your name?”

Tubbo blinked, lowering himself back down beside Ranboo. “I’m Tubbo. And this is Ranboo,” He said, gesturing to the endarnen beside him. “You also won’t see him talking much, but that’s mostly due to crippling social anxiety. Give him some time and he’ll probably warm up to you.” The xizzendor said with a wide grin.

The humans laughed. “That’s fine,” Lizzie assured. “Take your time Ranboo. This is all a bit new for us all I think,”

Techno huffed. “Yes. But can you tell me exactly why you broke onto our ship?”

Most of the humans made expressions that told him they did NOT wanna be the one to start that conversation up. But the tall blond one with the visor had no problem. “Given humans’ reputation out here, we’re not exactly welcome at most places, you know? So we have to resort to other means of getting supplies so we don’t, y’know, die .” Foolish informed, shrugging. “But Kristin has a very strict moral code. She won’t kill unless necessary, will leave crews with younger members mostly alone, and we only take what we need.”

Techno glared at him. “But almost every ship that’s come through this area has gone down or been found without a single living soul in it,” He pointed out.

Foolish hissed through his teeth, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah. Uh, things were really tough at first, since we didn’t know what we were doing. And there were a lot of unnecessary casualties, back then especially. Normally, when we leave a ship empty, it’s because our stealth mission turned not-so stealthy and the ship FREAKED OUT. It really tends to be them getting themselves killed if I’m honest. You guys probably handled our boarding better than anyone else.”

Techno sighed. He could maybe believe that. But they were very hostile and cocky when he ran into them. It didn’t make sense. He blinked, looking back up at them. “Weren’t you the one I shot in the hall?”

Foolish’s face went red, and he brought both hands up to the back of his neck. “Uh, yeah, sorry about that. I got a little overconfident there.”

“Dude, you were practically mocking him,” Joel said with a grin.

Foolish lowered his head. “Quoting an old tiktok isn’t mocking.” He mumbled.

Gem and Lizzie laughed, “Oh yeah! Saying ‘ Call an ambulance, call an ambulance, but not for me.’ And then charging at him is totally not over cocky or anything.” The latter teased.

Foolish sighed, looking back up at Techno. “I apologize for my actions. Recent years have changed us all,”

Techno nodded slowly, a gesture he was picking up from Wilbur. “And you won’t hurt Wilbur, will you? Or the rest of our crew?”

They all shook their heads. That was a no. “Of course not.” Foolish replied. “A human alone would have been enough to turn Kris away from this, but add in two teenage crew members, two children , and the fact that that human is her fucking son who’s been gone for years. Yeah, if anything, you guys have our absolute protection. You got really fucking lucky.”

Techno hummed, tilting his head. “Son?”

—

Wilbur didn’t think he’d ever been so happy in his entire life. His mom was here, he actually liked and got along with the crew, his kids were safe with him. What more could he need in his life?

Mum was sitting on the edge of his bed, looking around his room with mild distaste.

Wilbur sighed, “Mum, I told you. I haven’t had the room that long. I haven’t had time to make it very personal.”

She tsked, shaking her head. “Well they could have at least put in a little effort. And Tommy should have his own room. He’s what, eight, nine maybe? A growing boy, I’m sure he wants his own space.”

He winced, “Uhm, actually, Tommy’s about fourteen, maybe fifteen?” He corrected. Then, much more reluctantly, “ Maaaybe sixteen?”

Mum turned to him with a gasp, eyes darting down to the little boy playing with her hair. “Sixt–?” She broke off, dumbfounded. “Wilbur, what ? Do they like, age slower…?”

“Maybe a little,” Wilbur admitted. “But not that much. His growth is stunted. I wasn’t feeding him or taking care of him right. I didn’t know what I was doing, I thought he was so much younger than he was and now he has to pay for it,” He explained, words coming out in rambles. “I feel awful . He acts like such a little kid, but he’s only like, a year younger than Ranboo, the other endarnen you saw. He’s tall, dark, you know.”

Mum nodded solemnly, “It’s not your fault, honey. You couldn’t have  known,”

Wilbur rubbed at his eyes. “I know. But it still feels pretty shitty.”

“Of course,” She agreed, running a hand over Tommy’s head.

“But what have you been up to?” He asked, trying to change the  subject. “How did you get all the way out here? What happened with mars?”

Mum sighed deeply, looking away. “Well, it started shortly after you were… exiled.”

Wilbur frowned. He– He didn’t remember that.

“After you were gone I didn’t really have much left to fight for, aside from getting away to try and find you of course. The military– I began to notice it wasn’t very good. Neither side. We each had our reasons but they were both stupid. I didn’t care whether Mars or Venus won. People were still dying. Children were still left parentless on both sides. So, me and a few others started rebelling. It was in secret of course, but that didn’t last long. Once what we were doing was discovered, my position was stripped from me and we were all expelled, charged with treason and threatened with exile.”

Wilbur breathed, listening tensely. He held Tallulah in his arms, shakily running his hand through her downy feathers as he listened.

Mum looked back up at him with a sad smile, continuing. “Me and the others just decided to leave. We still tried to fight back against everything that was happening, but it was harder when we weren’t allowed on either planet anymore. Eventually, we were found by an officer ship, and chased out to the borders. They shot out our thrusters and we were left to spin out farther and farther from the solar system.” She paused, picking at her nails. “That’s when we had our first run in with aliens.”

He held his breath, waiting for her to continue. “And?” He asked, concerned.

Mum smiled. “They couldn’t take us, of course. I don’t think they expected there to be so many of us. Especially as well trained as we were. And we found out fairly quickly that not only are we a lot stronger and more durable than a lot of these alien races, but we’ve also got quite the reputation as a species. So we put it to good use. We hijacked their ship, and crashed it of course, since we had no fucking idea how to work it. But we did land on quite the opportunistic planet. Whole fuck ton of useful shit there, let me tell you. We skulked around for a couple of weeks, stealing food, trying to get a handle on our situation. Eventually, we managed to steal another ship, a much simpler one that allowed us to slowly learn the controls.

“After that, things progressed about as well as you might guess. We clashed with a lot more aliens, and came out on top every time. I wish I could say that the amount of probably innocent aliens I killed bothers me, but it doesn’t. I’ve killed so many, Wil. So many innocents. Alien and human,” She spoke mournfully, gazing down at her hands. “The blood under my nails never comes out. It’s always there.”

Wilbur inched closer to her, butting his head against her shoulder. She smiled weakly, and kept going. “But, it allowed us to stay alive. We managed to get food and supplies from these ships while we were still learning how to do things. Over time, we started picking up the language. And with that, a few disguises, and some a bit of learning on social behaviors, we were able to actually go down to planets and buy things. Legally , can you believe it?” She laughed. “But, we always got found out eventually. So we took to staying in the stars when we could. We hopped around a few planets, eventually finding one where we could build up our own, human personalized ship. Wilbur, it’s amazing. It’s practically a house with massive engines and thrusters slapped on the back, and a few extra rooms for good measure.”

He smiled. She seemed so fond of her ship. “Does it have a name?” He asked.

She smiled. “Of course it does. Symphony .”

Wilbur choked, turning away to hide the tears that suddenly burst to life in his eyes. Mum gently turned his head to face her. “Named it for you, love. It’s all been for you.”

He laughed wetly. “I wasn’t even there, though.” He pointed out.

“Well yeah,” She huffed, rolling her eyes. “But I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let my baby’s honor and legacy as Mars’ biggest pain in the ass fizzle out like a dynamite stick in the rain. No. You had too much left to do in this world, and all the others beyond,” She said proudly, gesturing around as if they were out in space and not in his basic little bedroom. “And by god, look how far you’ve gotten. What a mess you must have been through,”

“You have no idea,” He muttered, shaking his head. “So much has happened.”

“I’m sure. But look at you! Two grandbabies. I’ll admit, when I first heard that oversized bird say you had kids I was a bit concerned about what random alien chick you’d shacked up with. I mean, I’d like to think we Soot’s have some standards,”

“ Mum !” Wilbur exclaimed, face red. “Come on, I’m not that stupid. I’ve just been trying to survive!”

She laughed, making Tommy smile with her. She turned to him, pulling the boy into her laugh. “Either way though, I am glad. Just look at these little cuties! So precious !” She crooned, tickling Tommy’s sides and making him burst out with warbly alien laughter.

Wilbur sighed, somewhat content. “Yeah. They are amazing, aren’t they?” He said breathlessly, staring down at Tallulah sleeping peacefully in his arms.

“But what about you? What’s happened with you?” Mum asked, pulling him out of his adoring gaze. “I need to know everything, so I can hunt down anyone who’s hurt my baby, or grandbabies.” She threatened caringly.

Wilbur chuckled, and shrugged. “I don’t… know? I can’t really remember.” He admitted, biting back the concern in his mind. “Quackity says I might be repressing memories or something. I don’t really know. I just thought I got a little too crazy and managed to hit my head hard enough to knock the memories out of me,”

Mum smiled, snorting in amusement. “Yeah, you were always a wild card, weren’t you? Back in L’manburg you were practically king of whoever you were put with. You had this way of speaking that made anyone want to follow you into the pits of hell, even if it meant they’d never come back.” She laughed fondly at the memories. Memories Wilbur didn’t remember at all . “Always a violent one, the generals would say. I think they were scared of you, really. Too bad I never got to be teamed up with you. But it all worked out in the end,”

Wilbur’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. What ? Scared of him? He couldn’t recall a single thing she was talking about.

“But,” She continued, sounding a bit more somber. “You did tend to push back anything that you didn’t like. You very rarely could remember what happened after coming back from battle. You once had to be carried back unconscious after you passed out on the field, and you actually screamed upon seeing all the blood on your clothes. That’s what I heard, at least.” She explained, turning to him. But her expression fell into concern after seeing him. “Wil? Honey, what’s wrong?”

“I– I don’t remember any of that,” He said, voice quavering. “I– I’ve always done that? What did I do?”

“Hey, it’s okay hun.” She assured, shushing him to try and calm him. “It’s perfectly normal. I’ve seen tons of soldiers do it. Sometimes the memories are just too hard to bear–”

“But– But I can’t– I can’t remember anything that bad! A lot of my memories suck, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a lot of good too!” He was spiraling. He had to convince himself that nothing bad happened. “I remember talking to a nice cellmate I had. They couldn’t understand me, but they were kinder than the others! We were friends– They were my Friend ! And– There was one time I saw the sunrise on a planet I landed– No, crashed, I crashed on !” He choked out, heart rate speeding up. “I can’t– Why would I not want to remember? I can’t even remember what happened when I found Tommy and Tallulah!” He screamed, eyes wide. “ Why would that be bad ?!”

“Wilbur,” Mum said, sounding worried. She’d moved Tommy to the side now and was reaching for him. He looked scared too. “It’s okay, deep breaths–”

Why was he freaking out so much over this? It was just a little memory loss. It was– It wasn’t anything. He just didn’t want to remember being alone and scared on all those ships. He just didn’t want to remember– 

Wilbur gasped, tears streaming down his cheeks. Tallulah whined, slipping off his lap as he shuddered and backed away. His hands felt sticky. Covered in red, then yellow, and deep orange, and burning green, and blue. The blue was worst because he knew that was familiar. Tallulah and Tommy had blue blood. He’d seen it before when it rained for the first time. No, the first time since he found them. He’d been in rain before. Why didn’t he remember that? It washed the blood away.

Wilbur couldn’t breathe . He was choking on every gasp of air, clutching at his chest. Why weren’t his lungs working?

“ Wilbur – Wilbur baby, breathe! ” Mum shouted. She sounded scared. Was she scared of him?

Everything was blurring. It might have been from his tears. Or maybe he was blacking out. He didn’t want to pass out. He didn’t want to be alone in the dark. It was the worst place to be.

Chapter Text

Wilbur Watson Soot, captain of L’manburg’s finest troops. Throughout the course of the war between Mars and Venus he’d led his side to several victories, but casualties were not kept minor.

He was well known for his ruthlessness on the battlefield. Lives meant little to him in the face of victory.

Today he stood over a tall hill overlooking the land below. Venus wasn’t all that astonishing. Mars was much better. The people. The land. The art. The military. There was a reason they were winning this war.

He turned back to face his soldiers. His men. Today was a day of greatness. They were nearing the end of this bloody warfare. With each planet so bathed in blood and gore, it was past the time for it to end. But after today there shouldn’t be anyone left to fight.

“Soldiers of L’manburg!” He called out, smiling and spreading his arms wide. Something was twisted in his grin. “ My men, my friends . You’re all here today with me, and we surely know the reason!”

The men below shouted loudly in unison, so enthusiastic, ready to be over with this pain and fighting.

“Our enemy resides in their encampment of Manburg ,” He sneered, not even turning his gaze as he pointed far out in the distance to where the enemies were hidden, silhouetted against the rising sun, so much larger here than on mars. “They couldn’t even be bothered to come up with their own NAME! They had to steal that from us too!”

His soldiers cried out in anger. 

“But we are the winners in this history,” He continued, voice much lower, softer. But his eyes still held the same malice. He turned to face the rising sun, and their distant enemies. “ We , are the ones to be remembered.”

He spun back around, grinning wildly to his troops. “MY L’MANBURG! MY ARMY! MY SYMPHONY !”

His army cheered, loud and strong and so so faithful. They knew they would win just as much as Wilbur knew they would. They’d follow him into death like obedient dogs.

“TODAY!” He shouted, voice loud and unsteady. “ WE ARE THE VICTORS! WE WILL BRING MANBURG TO ITS KNEES !”

—

“Come on Wil,” Jack laughed, tossing a pillow at the brunet. “You’re gonna get us all in trouble.”

Wilbur laughed too, smiling widely, eyes scrunched up. “Oh c’mon, you don’t think that stuck up asshole deserves a little karma? Maybe it’ll knock his ego off that high high ledge it sits on,”

Eret rolled his eyes. “He’s right, Wilbur. You’re already on thin ice with all the lieutenants. Even Cara has it out for you, and she’s the nicest captain we’ve had. You don’t wanna piss them off.”

Wilbur scoffed, “Oh don’t be a stick in the mud, Eret. Clay’s a fuckin’ prick. I don’t care who he is, he needs to be knocked down a peg or two. He thinks he’s so high and mighty, but who’s the one actually bringing in the wins here? Me!” He exclaimed, grinning wide.

Nobody else really seemed to agree with him, all shaking heads and worried glances. Wilbur sighed. “You guys are no fun.”

—

“You,” The general said, ripping Wilbur’s coat off. The young man held his head high, tears streaming down his face despite the scowl he wore. “Are hereby charged with treason , multiple cases,”

The wind blew dust across the planet’s surface, mingling with enemy bodies far far away.

“And murder .”

Captain Cara was crying.

“You are stripped of your title ,” 

Wilbur’s remaining men stood lined up behind him.

“You are stripped of your rank ,”

None of them pity him.

“You are stripped of your citizenship !”

His mother was screaming.

“You have committed horrible acts against your nation. You are a traitor . You sent your own men into unnecessary deaths, you blew up miles of valuable land, you have been caught sharing information with the enemy, and you have murdered one of your fellow soldiers!” The general snapped. “Captain Cara’s own son, Clay Taken, dead at your hands. Do you feel proud, soldier? Is it a good feeling, knowing that the men who looked up to you, who held you on such high stature, are dead because of you? Can you hold your head high and say with pride that you killed one of your comrades? One of your own?”

Wilbur snapped, “HE DESERVED IT!” He shouted, having to be held back. “He was a fucking asshole, you don’t know! He DESERVED IT !”

“And you are sentenced to exile !” The general all but spat, glaring him in the eyes. “You are to leave Mars, provided with a ship and enough supplies for three weeks. You will never come back, or be threatened with death.”

Wilbur breathed through gritted teeth, looking up through his hair, eyes filled with hate.

“This is the punishment you rightfully receive. You can never come back. You can never make amends.”

Wilbur didn’t care .

—

Fire burns around him. Wilbur’s coat is tattered and singed black at the edges, blowing in the wind. His face stings from the heat of the flames, but he can hardly feel it. His hands are numb.

Men cry out from the crater below, from either side of the battle. Dead or dying. He wipes blood off his face, tinging his cheek with soot. A fitting name now, isn’t it?

Blood drips from his hands to the ground, collecting in a small pool. The land smells of death and gunpowder. Explosives are still going off in the distance.

Wilbur turns, a captain, a leader, a friend, and there is no one in the room to greet him. The walls are lined with frantic writings, on signs and scratched into stone with nothing but fingernails. Some words are spattered with blood. No one is there with him. Wilbur wishes he could die. But instead, he takes a step forward, the bottom of his boot dipped in the blood off his hands as he walks, leaving bloody, fading footprints behind.

Chapter Text

Wilbur is crying. Phil stands anxiously beside his cot, montering his vitals. He’s unconscious, but crying and muttering and flinching around. The human captain, who he had learned was Wilbur’s mother, was sitting beside him, holding his hand tightly, expression pinched tight with worry.

Phil didn’t know what to do. Even the humans informed him that there wasn’t really much to be done here. He wasn’t ill. He was just, experiencing something. Bad memories, most likely. Things he didn’t want to think about. And his mother had accidentally brought them to light while they were talking.

But it was a terrible feeling, being unable to do anything to help. Wilbur was family, a part of Phil’s flock. The newest member. He needed ample care to know he was a part of it, to know that he was loved here. But Phil couldn’t do anything.

He keened in the back of his throat, sinking down beside the bed and grabbing Wilbur’s other hand, watching him with eyes wide with concern. “Come on, Wilbur. Please be okay,” He whispered, wings flicking behind him. His upper set were puffed up with feathers, while the lower two kept switching between fight and protect, constantly warping from clawed leathery wings to more sets of strong, soft feathered ones. He was drawing the eyes of the humans in the room, but he didn’t care.

Tommy and Tallulah were on the verge of crying, whimpering and pawing at their father’s leg, trying to get him to wake up. Ranboo was doing his best to console them, assuring them that he was just sleeping, having a bad dream.

Wilbur shot upright with a tearful gasp, eyes wide and unseeing. He screamed after feeling his hands restrained by the worried captain and mother, pulling away frantically. He was screaming in human language, with common words slipping into his sentences. He was begging. He was angry and scared and sorry and guilty and so lost.

Phil cooed worriedly, wings flicking back as he released the human’s hand. Wilbur scrambled back, hitting the wall behind the cot and flinching hard. “Let me go!” He screamed, all common this time. “LET ME GO LET ME GO! I– I’ll– I’LL KILL YOU!”

Everyone flinched back, some more startled than others. 

“Wilbur–” His mother began, trying to calm him. But the sound of her voice only seemed to send him into more of a frenzy.

He started sobbing, moving desperately to get away. He fell off the cot with a yelp and pushed clumsily back up to his feet. “Do-don’t– Mum – I’m so sorry–” He choked out, running across the room and crashing into a cart full of bandages and a plastic bowl.

He fell to the ground, eyes squeezed tight and arms over his head. Phil rushed over to him, unbeknownst to the fact that he was accompanied by Wilbur’s mother. He’d curled up on the floor, trying to hide away, but there was nowhere he could go.

“Leave me alone!” He sobbed, chucking a roll of bandages out which Phil easily avoided. He crouched down in front of the human, reaching out a hand to pull him close, and brushing his own against Wilbur’s mother’s. 

He pulled his hand back, feeling bad for taking her place. She should console him. It wasn’t his place. She was his mother after all. Phil had only seemed to have done him harm.

She pulled Wilbur into her arms, tucking his head beneath her chin. “Shh, shh shhh sh shh, baby, it’s alright,” She whispered. “Deep breathes, come on,”

Wilbur shook his head, tears still streaming from his eyes. He was breathing, but it was coming in in desperate, shaky gasps that hardly gathered anything before he choked it all back out. “I– I can’t ! Let me go! I don– I don’t deserve–!”

“No, no, Wilbur, shh. It’s okay. You’re okay,” She promised, voice steady and sure.

Phil shrank back. He wanted to help but he felt more intruding now than anything.

He stood back while she comforted her son, watching on with worry but keeping his distance. Wilbur kept trying to get away, insisting that he didn’t deserve the comfort he was being given, that he didn’t deserve the love. It broke Phil’s heart . What had he gone through? What had him believing such things? Phil would watch that human commit atrocities beyond comprehension and still find a way to care.

Eventually, Wilbur began to quiet down, tears slowing. But his eyes hadn’t come back yet. Still distant, unseeing. His mother brought him back to his room to try and give him rest, and to keep trying to help him, while Phil, his crew, and the rest of the humans, were left on their own to worry.

Tommy and Tallulah passed out shortly after, sleeping on the couch in the living space, and Techno came up to Phil, approaching his pacing captain with a concerned look.

“Phil,” He began, something in his voice that told the eletryan that this couldn’t be good. It was almost scolding.

“What?” He asked, not stopping. One foot in front of the other. His talons scraped the floor in his haste.

“What did you do?”

Phil stopped, turning to look at him in confusion. “What do you mean? I didn’t do anything,” He huffed, somewhat insulted.

Techno gave him a dead stare. “No. What did you do ? That’s not normal Phil behavior that I just saw. Except it is. For us . What did you do ?”

Phil’s wings raised defensively, “Nothing!” He hissed. “Stop accusing me of things! I’m worried, can’t you see that?”

“ Overly worried,” Techno ‘corrected’. “Don’t tell me you’ve imprinted on the damn human, have you?”

Phil keened, hardly even processing what was said. He clawed at his chest, eyes darting around at the floor anxiously. “Is he okay , Techno? What if he can’t recover from this? Quackity said before that he had repressed memories, and I suppose he’s remembering them now? How bad are they to make him react this way?” He trailed off in a string of panicked warbles, returning to his pacing.

Techno stopped him, grabbing him firmly by the shoulders and staring down into his eyes. “ Phil . He’s not yours. His freaking mother is in there with him right now.”

Phil blinked, tugging himself free of Techno’s grasp with a hiss. “Fuck off.” Was all he gave in response. Overly agitated. Unable to sit still. He needed to know Wilbur was alright. But he couldn’t go in there, could he? He didn’t have any right. And besides, there was something about his mother that really threw him off. It was hard to go against her, and he doubted she’d want him there so he couldn’t .

But AGH! It was eating away at him, like some nauseating little parasitic caterpillar munching away at a leaf. Disgusting. He wanted to rip it out and cook it just so it could see what it was like to be treated like that. 

“Phil?”

Now it was Ranboo, sounding more worried than Techno had. “Phil, you’re acting weird.” He said shakily, voice warbling. 

Phil turned to him with a halfhearted glare. “How so?”

“Well your wings haven’t faded down in a while and the feathers are all puffed up and weird and your pupils are really small and kinda scary and uh, your kind of cutting into your tunic with your talons,” He explained, gesturing to his chest.

Phil blinked, looking down. True enough, his talons were tangled in the front of his tunic, long tears down the front. He tugged his hand free, shaking it loose of any stray fabric pieces. “Right,” He muttered, running a hand through his hair. It was floating out more than it usually did too.

Ranboo swallowed, making a small uhm sound before speaking again. “Phil, are you okay? I’ve only seen you act like this once before and that was a while after I first got here, and that was a long time ago.”

The eletryan turned to look back into the room. His entire crew was watching him with a strange expression. (Not his entire crew, Wilbur was in his room.) Even the humans were staring at him, somewhat concerned. 

Conflicted, Phil hissed again. “You all suck! Just leave me alone,” And turned down the hall, stalking off towards his room. Or, that was where he meant to go at least. Where he ended up was Wilbur’s room, feathers flattened down as soon as the door opened.

Wilbur’s mother snapped her attention up to him when it did, confusion in her eyes. Phil resisted the urge to shrink back and hide in his wings. He was beginning to think that she had something akin to endarnen stares.

He cleared his throat, tugging at a stray strand of hair. “I came to check on him,” He said quietly, eyes darting over to Wilbur’s unconscious body. “Is he alright?”

His mother sighed and stood from the bed, walking over towards the door. “The war was not kind to Wilbur. And he was not kind to it. I think he pushed all that back, but now has to deal with relearning what he’s done, and come to live with it,” She explained, looking to the side. “We’ve all done things that we regret to survive.”

Phil nodded smally. “That’s true.” He agreed, knowing he’d done plenty of things he regretted. He wasn’t known so far across the galaxy for his home cooked meals, after all.

She looked up at him, meeting his eyes and making him jump. Maybe she really did have some sort of endarnen stare, but for humans. “I’m Kristin, by the way.”

“Uh, Phil. Philza,” He coughed out.

She blinked. “I know.”

“Right,” He faltered, scratching his shoulder awkwardly.

She narrowed her eyes at him, stepping out into the hall. “I’ve been meaning to ask; have you been kind to my son here?”

Phil was suddenly feeling cornered, despite still having plenty of space on either side to run. “Uhm– Well, uh–” He stammered, words not forming.

Kristin took another step forward. “You seem kind enough, but how am I to say that’s not an act? My crew told me about the cells they passed while looking around. How long has Wilbur had this room, hm? Not long, I’d guess?”

He swallowed, shaking his head. “Well, n-no. Not long , but–”

“But what, huh Bird? How have you been treating my baby? Don’t think I haven’t seen how you all act. Humans are dangerous . Humans are monsters . But sometimes, humans should be studied . A hair sample here, a quick blood test there. What do they eat? What do they drink? How do they act?” She was still moving closer. “And of course everyone knows you don’t want to upset a mother human. I’m sure you know that, Philza. What was going on on this ship before we showed up?”

Phil was actually cornered now, virtually trapped up against the wall. “I– I swear , he’s had that room for around a month now, maybe. We’re taking care of him–”

Now there was a knife to his throat.

Phil fucking collapsed, falling to the floor, heart pumping adrenaline throughout his body. Why he had no idea. He was in no means a near death experience, and certainly nobody in his crew was immediately threatened. But he was kind of… freaking out.

“I don’t– Really, we aren’t– I swear we–” He stammered out, heart pounding. Kristin didn’t seem impressed, crouching down and pressing her knife closer.

Phil tried to back away, butting his head up against the wall. “ Listen –! I– I’m telling the truth! He eats meals with us and– and he’s allowed to wander the halls as long as he’s quiet at night, and– Oh void, you make me feel so strange,” He admitted, holding a hand over his eyes, feathers fluffed up significantly. He was breathing heavily, trying to calm his racing heart.

Through his talons he could see her pause, opening her mouth then closing it, a look of confusion crossing her face. “Hey, are you sick or something?”

Phil choked out a strangled laugh, no humor in it at all. “ Maybe ,”

Chapter Text

Wilbur woke up tired . His head was pounding and he was really thirsty. He laid in bed for a moment, doing nothing but sitting in his pain and staring at the wood paneled ceiling. Previous events came flooding back into his mind like a tidal wave, or a bag of bricks to the face in his opinion.

An all new ache came to life in his gut and he rolled over, curling in on himself. What an awful person he was. Every time he blinked there was blood on his hands. And he still couldn’t even remember it all. Only mars, and slightly beyond. He had a feeling that was hardly scratching the surface.

He felt numb and tortured simultaneously. Silent tears slipped down his face while his mind and heart raged within. There was no way his mum knew the extent of what went on during the war. There was no way in hell that she would still see him the way she does if she knew.

“Wilby…?”

Wilbur blinked, eyes moving to the small figure in the doorway. Tommy was scared. He could see it in his purple-blue eyes. He padded over to the bed, hoisting himself up with a quiet grunt. “Dad?” He whispered, switching to common, and poking him in the arm. 

The brunet sighed, tilting his head to look at him. “You shouldn’t be near me, Toms. I’m dangerous. I’m scary ,” He said, last part breaking off in a whisper.

Tommy sniffled, pressing his face against Wilbur’s side and shaking his head. “No,” He whined, upset by the mere idea. “You’re not, you’re not scary,” He insisted, wrapping his arms around Wilbur’s. “You’re nice .”

Wilbur closed his eyes, tears dripping down his cheeks. “No, Tommy, I’m not.”

“You’re nice to me ,” He said surely, wiggling up into his arms. “ I love you, ” He whispered.

Wilbur wrapped his arms tightly around the boy, gasping as tears began to roll down his face. “I love you too, sunshine.” He promised, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “But I’m not safe . You gotta- You gotta get away,”

“ Noo ,” Tommy whined. “I don’t wanna,”

“Wilbur!”

He looked to the doorway again, only to instantly have his vision obscured by a ripped green tunic. Phil was… hugging him. Quite tightly, too. Wilbur blinked, trying to pull back, but Phil just pulled him closer, one hand on the back of his head.

Tommy let out a squeak, popping out of the hug and reappearing on the bed in a puff of reddish particles. Phil only held him closer with Tommy now gone from between them. “I was so worried about you,” He muttered frantically, and Wilbur could feel talons picking over his head, looking for injury? 

“Phil what are you doing?” He asked, thoroughly confused.

“Making sure you're okay,” The eletryan huffed, as if it was obvious. He lessened his grip on Wilbur slightly, pulling back to look over his arms, twittering scoldingly at the marks from his nails digging in. “You were crying a lot earlier, are you thirsty? Hungry? You haven’t eaten in a while. I bet your head hurts though,” He rambled, eyes darting all over him.

Wilbur opened his mouth to speak, but couldn’t find words. He could only stand there, too confused for anything but the simple acts of breathing and blinking.

Phil made a chirpy tutting sound, fixing Wilbur’s shirt from how it had been messed up and somewhat twisted by his sleeping. “We need to get you some breakfast,” He huffed, “But if you have a headache I can dim the lights throughout the ship for you,”

“I– I’ll be alright,” Wilbur managed, blinking a few times. “But, Phil, what’s going on?”

“Going on with who?” Phil hummed, hardly processing the question.

Someone cleared their throat in the doorway, and Wilbur had to lean to look around Phil’s wings and see. There was Mum, arms crossed and brows raised in bafflement. “Really thought I’d be the one to comfort my own son when he woke up,”

Phil let out a huff, frowning slightly and pulling Wilbur back into a hug. “I’m just faster.” He grumbled, holding him protectively.

Mum glared. “Phil, move.”

“Okay,”

Wilbur watched dumbfounded as Phil just instantly let go and moved to the other side of the room, sitting down on the bed with Tommy and Tallulah. His feathers were all fluffed up, and his hair was floating up around his head much more than Wilbur normally saw. Weirdo.

“C’mere, Wil,” Mum said, sounding worried. She too pulled him into a hug, and rested her head on his. “Are you okay?”

Wilbur snorted, wiping tears from his cheeks. “No, not really,”

She sighed, shaking her head. “I wouldn’t think so after that,” She muttered, pulling back slightly. “You know, you’ll be okay . The war fucked us all over, I–”

“ Mum , you weren’t there . You didn’t see what I did,” He insisted, trying to push her away.

She leveled with him, giving him a sad look. “Wilbur, honey. I could say the same thing about myself. We Soots can go a little overboard, and the violence of war fucks with everyone’s head, trust me. You have no idea how vastly different every single one of my crew is now than when we first got out here,”

Wilbur frowned. “I know, but still, I shouldn’t– I’m a bad person–”

“If you believe that, then you have to accept that I am a bad person too. Maybe even worse,” She shot right back, unwavering. “You have more yet to come, Wil. You can’t let yourself go and decide that you’re not worthy of life when they’re a people here that still care and want you to get better,”

He inhaled deeply, thinking back to what Quackity said before. “I need to… know myself? Uh, ground myself to life…”

“Huh, yeah. That works,” She nodded. “You got a therapist out here or something? Cuz let me tell you, if you do, we could all use a talk with them,” She said with a teasing smile.

Wilbur chuckled. “I’ll try, I guess. But I don’t know how much I can take,”

“That’s enough for now. If it’s too much, we’ll be there to lighten the load, alright?”

Wilbur nodded.

Mum grinned. “Alright! Now, first thing’s first, breakfast. On my ship this time. I want to take the time to thoroughly introduce you to my crew,” She stated, tugging him along out the door.

He stopped her, glancing back. “Wait. Will Phil and the others come with?” He asked, watching the captain stare after him with a strange sort of pained look in his eyes.

Mum sighed, “Of course. I’ve had my suspicions, but it’s hard to think they don’t care about you after whatever… that was,” She muttered, gesturing vaguely to Phil, who hid his face in his wings. Wilbur also wasn’t sure why he’d been so worried about him. “But come on, tell me what you like. We’ll make you some bonafide human breakfast,”

Wilbur smiled longingly, “Oh god, yes please.”

Chapter Text

Breakfast was amazing . It was pancakes, PANCAKES! He couldn’t remember the last time he had actual human food, even if so many of the ingredients were substituted with alien equivalents. But that just meant it was more safe for the aliens in his crew to eat too, and most of them found the meal very pleasant. Especially Techno, but he was much more interested in his side of hashbrowns.

How they managed to get actual potatoes out here, he might never know.

After that the table was cleared, and Gem and Foolish moved to wash the dishes. Everyone else was ushered into a large living room where they’d be staying while Mum showed Wilbur around the ship and introduced everyone. But he could hardly even think about that when he was so busy taking in the details of the room. 

In the middle was a big dipped space in the floor, a circle with couches going all the way around and with so many pillows and blankets. A good old fashioned conversation pit. And on the wall nearest to it was a large screen that was hardly any different from a flatscreen TV.

The floor was wood, and half the room was carpeted with dark gray shag carpeting, and the walls were purple with flowers and black trim along the floor and ceiling, which was wood paneling similar to the bedrooms in Phil’s ship.

All the aliens from Phil’s crew were looking around with varied expressions of interest and confusion, taking it all in. Phil in particular seemed very inraptured by everything, eyes wide every time he saw something knew. The clock on the wall, the jukebox in the corner – with ACTUAL RECORDS? – the shelves and bookshelves and the knicknacks and books on them, the little carpet in front of a small table near the wall. All of it was fascinating to him. Wilbur hoped he’d take some inspiration and maybe cozy up his own ship, which was definitely a lot better than ships he’d been on before, but could still improve.

“Well,” Mum said, clapping her hands together. “Why don’t I set you all up with something to keep you occupied, and then I’ll get to showing Wil around,”

Most of them nodded or shrugged rather than giving verbal confirmation, which was actually kind of endearing to see. Those were all traits they had to have picked up from him and his kids. Speaking of,

Mum set Tommy and Tallulah down in the center of the conversation pit, before moving over to a dusty old chest beside a bookshelf. She blew the top layer of dust off before opening it and pulling out some of Wilbur’s own childhood toys, an incredibly fond, reminiscent look on her face.

He smiled at her, somewhat shocked, as she brought them over to the kids, explaining to them that these were his when he was younger. His worn stuffed sheep which had turned blue somehow after getting put in with a very bright, blue blanket which bled into all the other clothes, an hourglass which he always used to love watching, some toy soldiers where were so well loved that they were missing most of their old details, and a whole bunch of wooden blocks. 

They took to them like, well, kids to toys he supposed. And while Mum was busy setting up the screen to play something for everyone to watch, Ranboo and Tubbo made their way over to the pit, crouched down beside the children with interest. Even with how much older they were something as simple as basic toys, and an hourglass, had them fascinated. He guessed that alien toys probably weren’t anything like human ones.

“There we go,” Mum said, setting down the makeshift remote beside where Phil was sitting. “Here, this should keep you occupied. This is an old movie from earth that I think should go over just fine.”

Wilbur narrowed his eyes. “Mom, that’s the Lion King.” He pointed out obviously. “Are you sure that’s the best thing to start them off with? What if they think lions talk? Or actually have this kind of dynamic? And besides, it’s in english–”

The movie started playing, and while the intro with the sun was in the original language, there was a little notification in the corner saying that subtitles were turned on as “galactic common”.

Wilbur turned to stare at Mum in shock. She grinned. “I have a guy who’s good at this type of stuff,” She informed mysteriously. “Now come on,”

She led him down the first hall, just as homey and humany as the living room. Wilbur was honestly surprised she was fine with letting them stay back there unsupervised. Even Wilbur was almost always accompanied by someone during his first week or so free on their ship.

“First off we have Gem,” Mum began, leading him off through a door near one side of the ship. It led into a massive room filled with plants of all kinds, even trees. One wall was entirely a window, showing passing stars and planets and their suns. Warm lights hung overhead of a lot of things, but there were other more nocturnal looking plants growing back in a darker space, along with mushrooms.

Gem was across the room tending to something that looked like carrots. She sat up, wiping her brow and smiling. “Hello Kris, Wilbur.”

“Gem is one of our best gardeners, along with Joel,” Mum explained, gesturing around. “She’s also our head alchemist and is in charge of most medicine.”

“Wow,” Wilbur muttered, awed at the idea of having someone who actually knew about human health and medicine out here.

“She can do check ups, but most of the time when it comes to treating, or even surgery which we once had to do to fix Foolish’s leg after me managed to really fuck it up in a fight, we have to leave that stuff to Callahan, who can handle it more,” She continued, walking down the rows and rows of plants and flowers and vegetables, showing Wilbur around. This at least explained how they had potatoes.

After that, they bid goodbye to Gem and continued on. She next took him down to the training hall, which resembled a high tech dojo more than anything. Lizzie and someone he didn’t know were sparing.

“Hey,” Mum greeted, catching their attention and waving. “This is Lizzie, which you know,” She began gesturing to the woman with pink hair tied back and pointed teeth. Wilbur would have to ask about that. “She’s mostly in charge of weapons and energy sources for said weapons. But she can translate that skill into stuff like making remotes for our alien TV,” She chuckled, turning to the man beside her. “And this is Sausage. He’s head of security.”

Wilbur waited for more, but that was it for him apparently, so he quickly cleared his throat and waved. “Hi,”

He waved back, and the two of them continued on.

They found Joel and Callahan in the medbay. They stepped inside, and Wilbur was somewhat pleased to find it wasn’t all stark whites, but a mix of pale blue walls and pastel sheets on the medical cots. There were a few big alien machines but most of it was simple stuff on counters like stethoscopes and flashlights.

Callahan was signing to Joel, who sat on the edge of a cot, his pant leg rolled up revealing a healing scratch. Wilbur picked up on the conversation. Don’t strain it. Rest. Change bandages. All that good stuff. 

“Callahan’s our doctor,” Mum informed, which Wilbur had already guessed. “While Gem’s all for medicine, she’s not all that good with actual medical procedures, like I said. So Callahan covers most of that,”

Wilbur waved, and the two in the room did as well. “I’m Joel,” The brunet introduced again. “I’m Lizzie’s husband, and I, well, don’t really have a specific job? I help Gem with farming and also occasionally fix up electric stuff, but aside from that I’m mostly miscellaneous.” He said with a shrug, flinching when Callahan poked at his leg.

“Moving on!” Mum exclaimed with a wide smile, surprising everyone.

“Alright, see you,” Joel called with a wave, before yelping as Callahan poked him again.

They met Foolish on their way down the hall, who cheerfully told Wilbur about his own role on the ship. Mostly, he was just more security, patrolling the halls and keeping things safe. But he also liked to build. So if anything got messed up that wasn’t technical or anything, he was the one to fix it and make it pretty.

Next, Mum brought him down to the lab. Or, workshop? A mix of the two. She said it was where Gem could mix up medicines, and also where Joel could get stuff to fix electrics. But mostly, she said, it was where Fwip spent his time.

They entered the massive room, tall ceilings and, while it had windows, almost all of them were hidden behind piles of junk . There was a designated area just to the left of the door, taking up maybe a fifth or a sixth of the room’s total space, just for Gem’s alchemy. There was a much messier alchemy table not far from it, because apparently whoever this Fwip was also liked to mess around with the stuff. 

On the far left of the wall in front of them, there was a window, the only one still uncovered, with a table and bench where Joel clearly fixed up electrical. But everything got worse from there.

The rest of the lab/workshop was almost entirely miscellaneous. There were random pieces of architecture in the back corner, stairs and pillars and a piece of a fucking wall. Benches and tables and every possible surface covered in trinkets and scraps of metal and strange red electrical workings that Wilbur would have said might have been stolen from Joel if they didn’t look so alien. Half repaired objects were hung on the wall, either on hooks or literally just tied up to a nail, and there was a whole, battered up ship (albeit a smaller one) hanging from the ceiling. And almost every surface had at least some piece of gold on it.

Mum picked her way through the room, walking over to what looked very similar to a barrel, but made out of alien wood and metal. She kicked it lightly with her foot. “Fwhip, I have someone very important I want you to meet,”

Wilbur tensed as the barrel trembled, something shifting inside of it, before a small body popped out and into his vision, held up on the edge of the barrel rim. “Well hellooooo !” A small, cattish green alien greeted with a wide grin. 

Wilbur stepped back slightly, startled. “Ah, hello,” He greeted in return, taking in his details. Large, somewhat tattered ears absolutely covered in golden earrings, cattish paw-hands holding him up on the rim, fading to a darker color and with claws digging into the wood. His eyes were large but slim, big bright blue with slit pupils, and his teeth were sharp. Messy ginger hair fell around his face, parts of which were stained with grease, and his slim, flicking tail sported a similar tuft of color on the end of it.

The alien, probably Fwhip, was looking him over with rapidly darting eyes. “Hm, you’re Wilbur aren’t you?” He questioned, gaze narrowing.

The brunet nodded, still somewhat startled to see an alien on his mother’s previously assumed all human ship.

“Right,” Fwhip huffed, hopping out of the barrel and landing on paw-like feet. “I suppose you want an introduction. I’m Fwhip, which you probably guessed, and I basically keep this entire ship running,” He stated seriously, hands on his hips.

Wilbur blinked down at him. He was like four feet tall.

Fwhip glared at his expression, before scampering over to a workbench on all fours and jumping up, dusting away tiny pieces of dust and metal. “ I keep nearly all the technical stuff in this ship running. And anyone else who resides in my workshop claiming to have a job here, I can do that too. They just want to feel important,”

Wilbur nearly laughed, glancing to Mum and seeing her just smiling and giving him a shrug.

“I can do architecture, building, metalwork, stonework, redstone, which if you’re human and unaware is a very complicated system similar to electricity,” He explained, not even looking up from what he’d begun working on, “Regular electric, alchemy, biology, etc. I’m especially good at haggling shady merchants and getting what I want. Oh, and I’m also the ship’s janitor,” He finished with a huff, turning to Wilbur and holding out a modified communicator, similar to the ones he’d seen his crew use.

“This for me?” he asked, confused.

Fwhip nodded. “Yep. You didn’t seem to have one, and I happened to have a spare. I just fixed it, cause I’m that great y’know. Always come to me if you want anything done. But if you want it done a little faster,” He trailed off with a sly grin, nudging a chunk of gold on his desk. “Well, I’m always partial to a good bribe.”

And with that he was gone, dropping the comm in Wilbur’s hands and darting off into a vent in the wall. Wilbur stared after him, left baffled.

Mum laughed. “Yeah, he’s a little much. We picked him up off an alien ship. Apparently, they were planning to take him to some sketchy market and sell him off as a slave to help ships. He’s a Golnin. And no, he doesn’t take offense if you compare him to a goblin. He likes it,”

Wilbur let out a breath, “Phew, ‘cause I was thinking that pretty much the entire time. The big ears and green skin aren’t doing him any favors.”

Mum laughed again, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and leading him out of the workshop. “C’mon, we don’t have many left to meet now.”

He hummed thoughtfully, pocketing his new comm and making a mental note to ask Phil how to use it later.

The next room they stopped at was a bedroom. He knew not only because it was in the long curving hall with multiple bedrooms, but also because of the many stickers and paper taped to the door reading in big messy bubble letters “ Hermes ”

Wilbur glanced at his mother out the corner of his eyes, somewhat confused.

She chuckled, and gave a quick knock on the door before she was greeted with a little “ Come in !”

The two walked inside, and Wilbur was immediately taken by surprise at the fact that it was very clearly a child’s room. The room was littered with toys, most of which of alien makings. A little purple loft bed was situated against the wall to the left, with various soft blankets hanging off the edge. The ceiling sported climbing rock-like attachments and monkey bars, and a large rug took up most of the floor, made to look like a childish version of some solar system.

Under the bed was a small desk and an alien bean bag chair, with papers strewn across the surface and a soft purplish globe lamp providing light. In the bean bag chair was a young boy. Wilbur would compare him to Tommy’s age, but knowing his own son had quite the stunted growth, he’d guess he was a bit younger.

He turned to look at them, peering over the back of the squishy chair which was nearly too big for him. From what Wilbur could see, his skin was a very light, pastel yellow, and parts of it were covered in thick purple plates. Curiously, the boy moved up from his chair, walking over in front of them, and Wilbur could take in the details of big dark eyes, light blond fluffy hair and little winged ears. There were wings on his ankles too, and more purple plates on his legs and cheeks.

“This, is Hermes,” Mum introduced, gesturing to the alien boy. “He’s, well, he’s Joel and Sausage’s adopted son, is the easiest way to put it.”

Wilbur looked to her, confused. “I thought Joel said he was Lizzie’s husband?” He asked.

She sighed, shrugging. “Yeah, he is. But Hermes like, hatched, out of whatever shulkers are born from, and the two of them were there so his little brain went BOOM. Parents.” She explained, ruffling the kid’s head. He giggled. “I think he’d get along with your kids, don’t you?” She suggested, giving Wilbur a smile.

The thought warmed his heart, and he smiled too. “Yeah, I think so.”

Mum ushered Hermes off to the living room, insisting there would be someone there that he would want to meet. He went without a fuss, whizzing down the hall with the wings on his ankles fluttering. Then, Mum sighed. “Only one left. And he’s not all that friendly,” She admitted with a weak chuckle.

Wilbur frowned, thinking back to his first introductions. A particular grumpy kid came to mind. “Fundy, right?” He tried. She nodded, leading him a few doors down.

“Yep. This might be tough,” She muttered, knocking twice on the door.

“ Go away ,” A young, displeased voice shouted from inside.

She shook her head and sighed again. “Fundy, we’re coming in,” She called out, opening the door.

Wilbur wanted to turn around and leave as soon as he saw the inside. It was dark, and there weren’t many lights on. Only some dimmed strip lights around the desk on the right where Fundy was sitting. He was giving them both terrifying death glares. Wilbur shuddered, taking a moment to examine the room instead.

It was dark, but from what he could see there was a bed up against the left wall, near the window across from him, looking out into open space. The headboard curved around one side, giving plenty of space for the boy to store books and random items. There was a large jar with greyish dirt on the corner of the headboard, and Wilbur was pretty sure there was a fish skeleton in it. He moved on.

Against the other wall, not far down from the desk, was some sort of animal bed, hiding whatever creature might be dwelling there inside. 

The walls were lined with posters, some of human things like snowboarding and emo bands, while others were alien, with diagrams of weird foxish creatures and alien geography. Tacked to the ceiling was a large map of stars, and hanging near the closet was a Venus flag. He frowned at first, before catching himself. He wasn’t doing that anymore.

He dared to glance back down at Fundy, who now had his hateful stare focussed on him alone. Wilbur jumped, waving nervously. “Uhm, hi.” He greeted.

Fundy scoffed at him, pulling the cover of his desk down to hide whatever he was working on. He got out of his swiveling chair and walked over to his bed, chucking his beanie off onto a busted up rocking chair in the corner and making a clicking sound which called out whatever pet he had. It jumped up onto the bed, hardly giving Wilbur a chance to look at it before curling up at Fundy’s side, hidden from view.

Mum sighed again, tilting her head. “C’mon Fundy. Don’t you wanna say anything to my long lost son?” She tried, amping up the dramatics a little to try and get him to react. Fundy just turned slightly, glaring over his shoulder. She let out a breath, “Well, I tried,” She muttered, leading Wilbur back out of the room.

“Don’t mind him. He’s thirteen. Really into that teen angst and shit.” She said with a somewhat sad look. “I’d say don’t take it personally, but…”

Wilbur frowned, “But what?”

Mum gave him a look, before leading him back down the hall. “Do you by any chance remember Sally?” She tried, wincing slightly.

Wilbur let out a long breath, grimacing. “Kind of, yeah? I got a charge for treason for her, I think.”

“Yep. Sharing information with the enemy,” Mum added absently. “Well, I obviously don’t know the whole of the situation, but I’m guessing you guys were close?” She tried, sounding pained by the conversation.

Wilbur almost felt embarrassed, but if anything he felt guilty. “Kind of.” He shrugged, looking to the side. “I don’t think I was in a very good place at the time. Like, at all. Maybe we were both looking for a distraction, or an outlet for energy. Someone to talk to? A mix of things I suppose.” He explained, sighing. “Looking back, I don’t think either of us actually really loved the other,” He admitted, turning back to Mum, who stopped walking, staring at him.

He didn’t like her expression. “What?” He questioned, frowning. “I get it, I suck. Don’t need to remind me,”

“No, it’s not that,” She assured, shaking her head. “But– Well, Fundy was dropped off on our ship when he was about six. Sally wasn’t in a good place. I don’t know for sure what happened to her, but I heard she killed herself…” She paused, giving Wilbur a moment to process.

He let out a breath, somewhat sad. Not over her, but for her. “Oh.” He muttered, unsure what to say.

Mum nodded. “Yeah. Hit the kid hard, and it took him a long time to warm up to us criminals . But I wouldn’t trade the kid for anything. He’s so smart. He’s our main navigator. Knows more about that stuff than any of us. He likes geography and geology. He’s also a big fan of animals, and the stars. One of the reasons he’s so good at navigating them.” She laughed fondly. “But once he warmed up to us we were his, and he went pretty fucking vicious the first time some aliens actually managed to capture us. He was the only one to slip away, and it really came back to bite them all in the ass. He can be brutal when he wants to be. I suppose he gets that from you.”

Wilbur stopped dead in his tracks, staring at her. He blinked. “What?”

Mum smiled sympathetically. “Wil,” She began. “Fundy’s yours. We didn’t believe Sally when she first brought him in, but we did a test and everything.”

No fucking way. Nuh uh. No. Wilbur shook his head. “No, that can’t be,” He stated, probably in denial.

She sighed. “It’s true, and he’s really not your biggest fan by any means. When it comes to you, he’s always on the other side. He says the war killed his mother, and by association, so did you.”

Wilbur sunk to the floor, head in his hands. Why did fate keep having to screw him over like this?

Chapter Text

Phil wondered if this was an accurate representation of “lion” hierarchy and lifestyle. He remembered hearing in passing that they were a predatory feline on earth, not at all described as sapient so he was taking an educated guess that this film was exaggerated for the sake of story telling, but…

“LONG LIVE THE KING!”

“TUBBO NOOOO!” 

Tommy shrieked out giggles, tumbling back off the tower of pillows he and the other teens had built, Tubbo buzzing and hovering maliciously over it as he fell, laughing hysterically.

Despite the massive gap in mental and physical development, Tommy, Tubbo, and Ranboo got along fairly easily, and Tommy learned fast. It was good. Over the past month or so, he’d grown exponentially. He wasn’t progressing much physically, aside from the fact that he was definitely putting on some healthier weight, but Phil saw how much his mind was changing. He wanted to say he was maturing, but that gave the impression that he was mature . None of them were.

Hermes, a shulker child who apparently lived on the humans’ ship, had come out to join them a little while ago, slotting himself neatly into the dynamic the three teens had going on, even if he was much younger. But that only made him get along all the easier with Tommy.

“AGHHAGHSGDHGHGH!” Tommy screamed dramatically, writhing on the floor. Tallulah crawled over to him, crawling over his chest and only adding to the “trampled by a stampede” act. Hermes floated above him, chucking pillows from the tower onto him to assist the scene.

Ranboo laughed from where he stood beside Tubbo, having helped him build the precarious pillow tower.

“This is ridiculous,” Techno sighed, rubbing his eyes.

Niki smiled from beside him, settled back in her mobile tank. “I think it’s interesting.”

“At least it’s over,” The maiabel muttered, watching the unreadable credits roll down the screen.

“You guys want another one?” Foolish asked, suddenly walking out into the living area with two plates of human snacks.

Tommy, Tubbo, Ranboo and Hermes screeched out cheers. “YES!” Ranboo being quietest, of course.

Foolish chuckled, setting one plate down beside the younger crew members, and passing the other to Phil to distribute amongst the others. “Hmm, Fwhip has most of these translated, so really you have a lot of options,” He explained, settling down in the cushioned pit and grabbing the remote from beside Phil. “Hmm, how ‘bout Ghibli?” He suggested, as if anyone would know what that was. “I bet you’d be a Ponyo fan,” He said with a chuckle, blinking one eye at Niki.

She was confused by the gesture, but seemed intrigued.

Foolish proceeded to switch on another film that seemed to be about a tiny mix of a human and a fish, who could perform magic. He was right, though. Niki was definitely intrigued. As were all the others.

Phil sighed, excusing himself from the scene to find the bathroom. On his way back, he spotted Wilbur and his mother down the hall, the former seeming distressed.

Instantly worried, Phil made his way down towards them, pupils widened somewhat and feathers puffed up. “Wilbur?” He called, questioning. “Are you alright?” He asked worriedly, crouching down as soon as he reached them.

Wilbur looked up, tears in his eyes. He wasn’t crying this time, not yet. But his fledgling was distressed, and that was not acceptable. “Tell me, what’s the matter?” He said with a coo, tilting his head.

The human rubbed at his eyes. “I– I don’t know how to tell you?” He replied, breath stuttering. He looked up to the human beside him – His mother, right – searching for answers.

She sighed, turning to Phil, although seeming somewhat confused by him. “I just told Wil that Fundy’s his son.” She informed, voice strained but straight to the point.

Phil blinked, thinking back to who Fundy was. He was pretty sure it was the youngest human, the one with orangish hair and a scowl. “Oh,” He spoke, hardly a reply as he processed. He turned back to Wilbur. “Are you okay?”

Wilbur shrugged his shoulders. That meant uncertainty. Phil frowned, reaching forward to hold the human’s face in his hands, careful of his talons. “This is bad, then?” He questioned, not fully clued in on the situation. He knew about Tommy and Tallulah, who Wilbur loved dearly, and the rest of his crew was growing strongly fond off as well. But they were adopted, in the most literal sense. And he was supposing that Fundy was more on the opposite side of the family spectrum.

Wilbur shrugged again in response. “I don’t know. I just feel awful . Thirteen years he’s been alive and I didn’t even know . I wasn’t even there . I didn’t care for his mother, I left him even if I didn’t know it. Hell, I might have been the reason she decided to–” He broke off, inhaling shakily. “I might be the reason she’s gone,” He settled tearfully.

Phil cooed mournfully, pulling him close despite the nonverbal protests from his mother. “It’s okay,” He assured, running his talon’s through the human’s hair. “This isn’t your fault.”

If it were Phil in the situation, there’d be no question to what he’d do. If he’d had a child unknowingly, which is very nearly impossible, but still, if he had, and discovered so, he’d do anything and everything he could to be there for the child. It wouldn’t matter the age. He’d try to make up for it whether they were still a chick or a full grown adult. But he wasn’t sure how it worked for humans.

“Phil I don’t know what to do,” Wilbur cried, shoulders shaking. “Every time I think I’m starting to be okay, that maybe I’ve found a good steady place in life, everything has to turn on its head. How do I even begin to address this? Fundy obviously hates me! I can’t take back years of not being there for him. But I can’t just ignore him either,”

Phil didn’t know what to say, but this was when Kristin decided to crouch down and share her own words, placing a comforting hand on Wilbur’s back. “You don’t have to do anything right now, Wilbur. These things take time. It’ll be gradual, if he warms up to you. Just give it time,” She whispered, running a hand through his hair, dislodging Phil’s.

He resisted the urge to glare at her. He doubted he could hold it up even if he did. 

Wilbur’s sniffles quieted, and he began to relax if just slightly. Eventually, he inhaled deeply, and pushed himself back to his feet. The other two followed. “Alright,” He said, voice cracking. “Time. I’ll give it time,” He said with a nod, wiping his eyes.

Phil and Kristin both watched him, wondering what he would say or do next. He sighed, seeming slightly confused. “I’m… I’m gonna go sit with the others and try to relax,” He said, taking a deep breath. “You two can… work out whatever this is,” He muttered, gesturing between the two and walking off down the hall.

They watched him go, before turning to face each other. Kristin glared at Phil, and while he couldn’t muster the strength to do the same, he did give her an unwavering stare in return.

“What is with you?” She asked with a huff, arms crossed. “You’re trying to steal my son, aren’t you?”

Phil scoffed, offended. “He’s a part of my crew!” He defended. “We’re not stealing anyone.”

“I’m his mother ,” She snapped back. “You have no idea what it was like being without him, thinking he was dead !”

Phil faltered. “Well no, I don’t. But I care deeply for him either way. Wilbur is a part of my crew. My flock. He’s family just as much as the rest of them,” He stated surely.

They were at a standstill, both watching the other, neither happy with the situation. A thought occurred to Phil, making him momentarily lose his stature. Would she and her crew of humans take Wilbur and his children away? It seemed logical. He was her son after all. But Phil could practically say the same. Wilbur was his fledgling. His flock, just the same as Techno and Tubbo and Ranboo and Niki. Him and his children.

Kristin had grabbed his wrist, leading him away from the bedrooms. He stammered, stumbling after her, mildly put off by the contact. “Where are we going?” He questioned, agitated.

“Somewhere private,” She huffed. “Fundy’s only just down the hall, I don’t want him to hear us arguing.”

Phil appreciated that, even if Fundy wasn’t close to him. He wouldn’t want anyone his age to listen to unnecessary conflict. It wasn’t needed. So he let her lead him away with little fight, and they eventually ended up in a large, awe inspiring greenhouse. Had it not been for the circumstances, he would have voiced his amazement.

Kristin dismissed the orange haired human working inside, and she left with nothing but a nod, leaving the two in near silence, with only the running water and heater blowing wind making any sound.

“You can’t–” She began, breaking off with a frustrated look as she gathered herself. “I will not let you take my son away from me,” She stated sternly. “I’ve been away from him for years . I thought he was dead . You will not keep him away from me,”

Phil’s feathers bristled, tips of his wings flickering to claws. “Well I’m not fond of the idea of giving him up either. I’ve already said, Wilbur is family.”

They stood in silence, wind rustling their hair. Phil’s pupils were narrowed to slits in hardly concealed aggression. But Kristin let out an irritated breath, advancing forward, and Phil shrunk back, fight all but gone.

She paused, giving him a confused, mildly annoyed look. “What is it with you?” She said again, repeating her earlier statement with new circumstances.

Phil shrugged, “I don’t know. I said before.”

“You didn’t say you didn’t know. I asked and you were sick and you said maybe,” She corrected, not impressed. She paused, and stepped forward. Phil choked on a warbled chirp, sinking back against a plant bed. “Philza, are you, afraid of me?” She asked, smiling grimly.

Phil shook his head, paused, then tilted it, unsure. “I don’t know?” He repeated.

She frowned. “Clearly something’s wrong with you.” She said with a huff. “I’ve seen video footage of you. You’re somewhat famous. You’ve been less active in recent years, but you don’t exactly get intimidated. Is it something about me? I can’t see it being the fact that I’m human since you don’t seem bothered by my crew,” She said, having pulled out her knife and now twirling it absently in her hand.

Phil watched it anxiously, somewhat fascinated by how she spun it. Then it stopped, and surged forward to his chest. He chirruped fearfully, but she only poked him with it, not even enough to cut through his tunic.

“Seriously, what is your problem? You act all high and mighty, ready to put up a fight, and then you just fall back when I apply a little pressure.” She noted, looking him over.

The eletryan watched her, pupils wide and completely unthreatening. She looked up to him, meeting his eyes, and he let out a startled twitter, instantly slapping a hand over his mouth in shock.

She stared at him, eyes narrowing. Phil was horrified. He knew what was wrong. 

“You’re really fucking weird, you know that?” She muttered, pocketing her knife and standing with a sigh. “We’ll keep our ship docked to yours for a while, until you get everything situated. But at the end of all this, I’m taking my son with me when I leave.” And then she left, leaving him there to sit with his horrible realization.

Oh gods, he liked her.

Chapter Text

A few days had passed, and things were going… okay, between the Angel of Death and Symphony. There wasn’t a lot of hate or anything between the two crews. Really, friendships were forming if anything. Niki was learning human recipes from Joel and Kristin, Tubbo enjoyed spending time with Fwhip in his lab, making things explode, Ranboo got along surprisingly well with Fundy, talking to him about stars and planet geography and history, and Techno himself was finding himself interested in a lot of things; sparring with Lizzie, learning about the human plant potatoes, and how to cook it, picking up sign language with the help of Wilbur and Callahan.

Really, the only ones who weren’t all that content were Phil (and Kristin whenever she was near him) and Wilbur. Wilbur, Techno could understand. The poor guy was overwhelmed by a lot. He just got his mother back, his kids were getting healthier, more energetic, growing, he discovered he had another biological kid, who basically despised him. If Techno found out he had a kid, he’d probably cry. But even with all that, Wilbur was doing pretty well.

Phil though… Something happened a few days back, and Techno couldn’t get him to say anything, but he knew. His captain was acting very off. Pupils wide more often than not, wings almost always feathered and puffed up which was a heavy stress indicator because it gave him something to preen, and he was always pacing, never sticking around long enough to do anything other than dote over his crew for a few minutes before moving on. Very abnormal Phil behavior.

But, since he wasn’t talking about it, like at all , Techno had to resort to drastic measures. He didn’t normally like to look things up on races because, to him at least, it felt intruding. Depending on where the information came from, it might be inconsiderate of the race in question, giving away weaknesses and private stuff. It was much better and easier to get information from the person you knew. Like Wilbur telling him that humans tend to be pretty physical, instead of leaving it unsaid and having Techno think he just hated personal boundaries.

Phil wasn’t exactly giving him a choice though. He normally didn’t when it came to his own wellbeing.

So he moved back across to the Angel, still somewhat bothered by how long the ships had been latched together, and made his way to his room. Ranboo always suggested using something called c!Karl, but Techno wasn’t a fan of that kind of stuff. He’d rather just read about his information. He didn’t need a hologram telling him.

An old dusty holobook was retrieved from the drawer beside his bed. He wiped it off and swiped through the pages until he found the page on eletryans and their subraces. A lot of it he already knew, because Phil was normally really good at communicating these sorts of things. He skipped over the part saying wings were a weak point, glaring at the words for a split second before moving on. He already knew that. Phil told him.

Then he paused over a part he didn’t think would be relevant, but he’d caught something about strange behaviors. He skimmed over the information provided, expression growing more and more disturbed. “Oh gods, Phil, what the heck?” He muttered.

He sighed, zooming in on what might be important. It all matched up pretty good. Why this was in the book he had no idea, but it told him what he needed. Phil had a bad case of love. The most disgusting, deadly illness out there.

Apparently it wasn’t totally uncommon for his race to just, be completely single for like a thousand years or so and then have a cringey love-at-first-sight moment, and they might not even realize it! Imagine, soulmates are real or something, you finally meet yours, and brush your weird feelings off as being intimidated or shy or something, and then boom, they’re gone. Now you’re single forever. Not that Techno would mind that, but Phil was kind of a sap.

He groaned, leaning back in his chair and chucking the holobook back in the drawer. “Gross,” He grumbled, staring at the ceiling. “Absolutely disgusting.”

His abstain from romance was slightly uncharacteristic for his species, but he’d never been one to conform to society’s expectations. Most maiabels were tall, lean, graceful but vicious fighters. He got the vicious part alright, but everything else was basically out of the equation. He liked who he was though. And he was unfortunately rather fond of Phil too. So he supposed he had to help the poor guy, didn’t he?

—

“Phil,”

The eletryan jumped. “Oh, Techno,” He said with a sigh, settling slightly. “It’s just you.”

Techno gave him a hard stare. “You disgust me. But I’m going to help you,”

Phil blinked, confused. “I– What?”

He sighed. “You like someone, don’t you?” He accused, making Phil’s feathers fluff up more than should be possible.

“What?! No I don’t!” He denied, obviously lying.

Techno chuffed, grabbing him by the shoulders. “Y’re only lyin’ to yourself, Phil. Who is it? My list is pretty narrow, but I need clarification,”

Phil, wings still puffed up and giving away his deceit, just hissed and said, “Nobody! Fuck off! I don’t– No!”

He stared at him, and after a long moment, Phil broke. He fell to his knees, wings folding around and hiding himself from view. “The human captain…” He admitted quietly.

Techno huffed. He knew it. He wasn’t quite sure how this eletryan soulmate thing worked, but he was pretty sure it had to line up with someone Phil would actually be interested in. And given the fact that everyone around was either a dude, married, or just a bit too young, that narrowed his list down to exactly one person. Kristin. Wilbur’s mother .

“So,” He began, crouching down in front of the captain. “Whatcha gonna do?”

“I don’t know–? I can’t do anything!” Phil exclaimed hopelessly. “I– This is stupid. What is wrong with me?”

“Nothin’,” Techno replied plainly. “You’re just a sad, lonely, miserable guy and you want some company in your sad, lonely, miserable lif–”

“Shut. That’s enough,” Phil interrupted, glaring through his wings. “I just mean– I don’t know her?! She’s Wilbur’s mother. She’s got her crew, and she basically hates me! Even if anything could happen, which it WON’T, she can’t exactly go with us . She has her ship here to take care of. Her crew, her family.”

“Never heard of a long distance relationship?” Techno prompted. “You seem like the type of guy who could handle it, really. All that old patience and such,”

Phil glared at him. “Even so, there’s too many variables. Just– No. Nope nope no.”

Techno stared at him, or rather his wings, for a moment, before getting to his feet with a sigh. He began walking off towards the hall, plainly announcing. “I’m gonna tell her,”

“Oh my gods NO!” Phil shrieked, lunging after him and grabbing him by the wrist.

Techno looked down at him, raising a brow. Phil avoided his eyes, opting to stare at his hand with a pained expression on his face. “I can’t do this, Tech,” He muttered softly. “I wouldn’t even know how. And even if I did, I can’t .”

He hummed. “I think you can. Y’re worrying over nothin’. Wilbur likes you. I don’t think he’d have a problem with it. All you gotta do is have her warm up to you. Figure out what humans do for this sort of thing,”

Phil furrowed his brow in thought. “Human courtship? I didn’t think of that. I doubt anything from eletryan culture would work anyway. ‘Oh here, have a shiny rock. It means I love you’, Pft, no.” He laughed dryly.

Techno shrugged. “You could ask that Joel guy. He’s married to Lizzie, and I believe that’s about as far as human relationships can get, so he’s probably gonna have some tips,”

The eletryan perked up at the thought. “You think so? I dunno, Tech. I’m not really good at this sort of thing,” He admitted, pulling at his feathers anxiously.

Techno swatted his hand away. “Don’t. And you’ll be fine. The worst she could do is kill ya. And in that case you don’t have to worry about it anymore,”

Phil gave him a stupefied look. “Wow, thanks.”

“Yup,” Techno huffed, walking off down the hall without another word. His job was done.

Chapter Text

Wilbur was still unsure of how to go about this. There wasn’t much to be done when your son you didn’t even know you had hated you with his entire being, was there? So, Wilbur tried equal parts trying to stay away and staying close. 

Neither was working.

It kind of sucked. Everybody was busy with all the things that were happening. There was a surprising amount to keep up with when the two ships were connected together. They had to make sure everything was sealed up good, that they weren’t drifting off course. If they did have to move it had to be extremely careful, unless they wanted to disconnect the ships, which neither trusted the other enough to do. Because of Wilbur. 

And, everybody who he would normally want to spend time with was busy. Even Tommy. Tommy ! He was beyond glad that Tommy was learning and growing, and moving past the mistakes Wilbur made with raising him before, but still. It kinda sucked. He was used to it just being him, and his kids. Practically twenty-four seven. And now… 

Everything was great, but it just kind of sucked at the same time.

Wilbur laid in the living room on Mum’s ship, down in the conversation pit. He blinked tiredly at his hand, flexing his fingers in and out and breathing deeply. He didn’t want to fall asleep. He’d have nightmares, he knew. But he couldn’t think of anything to do either.

So he just laid there, just on the edge of sleep. He wasn’t sure how much time passed. He’d heard multiple people come in and out of the living room. Eventually, the lights went out, and time continued to pass.

Wilbur sighed, closing his aching eyes. He heard socked feet pad carefully down the hall and through the living room, pausing before continuing to the kitchen. He listened to the light flick on, and god he had missed light switches, and then the fridge was pulled open.

Something grabbed, the fridge closed, and cup grabbed from the cupboards, cap screwed off, liquid pouring, cap screwed on, fridge open, something returned, fridge closed.

He blinked, pushing himself up to look over into the kitchen. Fundy was halfway back towards the living room, and locked eyes with him, face quickly falling into a scowl. Wilbur glanced at the glass of juice in his hand. Actually, it looked more like tea.

Wilbur tilted his head, “Hey,” He muttered. Fundy didn’t say anything, only standing there in fox patterned pajama pants and an oversized Evanescence t-shirt. Wilbur would have chuckled if the situation were different. “Uhm, you like tea?” He tried, giving half a smile. Fundy blinked. Wilbur wasn’t doing well here. “I like tea too,” He continued, not sure what to say.

Fundy turned around, walked back over to the kitchen, and dumped his glass down the sink, filling it with water instead before making his way back down to his room, completely ignoring Wilbur on his way.

That went great.

Wilbur sighed, plopping back down on the couch and burying his face in the cushion. What a moody little shit. He reminded Wilbur of himself when he was younger. Which really only made him feel worse.

He sighed, picking at the stitching of the cushion as he thought back to the war, and what he remembered of Sally. She was a fiery woman, but he almost never saw her directly on the battlefield. He was pretty sure she was only there half the time, but for what he didn’t know. She fought for Venus, her home planet, the enemy, of course. Fundy had her hair, at least the color. The mess and wave he probably got from him. And his eyes too. Fundy’s eyes were brown. Sally’s were green.

Honestly, he couldn’t remember much, but that wasn’t new. He was pretty sure he ran into her first when he was trying to sneak into Manburg though. The rest was, eh, kind of a blur. He’s not proud of anything he did, but he’s at least confident in saying that whatever the fuck they had going on was mutual. But it didn’t last long.

He rolled over, looking up at the ceiling. War sucked. Really it did. He was fucked up beyond help. He could remember what he was like before mars. Before life decided to give him a shit deal of cards in the game. Before he even knew there was a game.

They lived in the country, not that there’s a lot of that left these days. But it was nice back then. There was a swing in the backyard, and he remembered yellow checkered curtains over the kitchen windows. The sun shone in perfectly in the morning, and mum always had something good cooking. 

It was jarring to think about how much she had changed too, since back then. He wished things could have been different.

He blinked, holding his hand up and examining it absently. If he let his mind slip enough, blinking slow, he could swear it was covered in blue blood.

—

Fundy did not like his dad. And no, he wasn’t some moody ass teenager thinking their parents had it against them when they really weren’t that bad. Fundy was in fucking space and living with aliens, after his mom had abandoned his grandma and a bunch of criminals, and his father never even met him before recently.

But he knew enough about the guy to know he hated him.

Wilbur Soot was famous for his many wins during the Venus-Mars war. Fundy hadn’t existed at this time, but it was important enough that he cared. He considered himself to be on the Venus side. His mother was Venus, his birthplace was Venus, and he really didn’t want anything to do with the brutality of Mars, so it was an easy choice. And Venus lost, eventually.

Anyway, Wilbur Soot. The guy practically killed his men himself , sending them into battles that would surely kill them, and they did . He was loud, and rash, and overdramatic as fuck. Wherever he went, people followed him like he was a freaking angel. An angel of death , maybe. Everything was always made to be about him. His army, his fight, his victory.

November sixteenth, the day both L’manburg and Manburg were blown up by the overzealous soldier, was also Fundy’s fucking birthday. Yippie. His mother was in labor when the fucking bombs were going off. She was lucky enough to stay mostly out of range of the explosions, but Fundy was still practically deaf in one ear from having a bomb go off right after he was born. Nice way to be welcomed into the world, huh?

His mom wasn’t great either. But she was a hell of a lot better than him. Sure, Wilbur didn’t know about Fundy. His mom didn’t exactly tell him anything about the situation. She had a very weird love-hate opinion of him, which only served to fuel Fundy’s distaste for the man as he grew.

But that wasn’t the worst of it. His father was a murderer, yes, that came with the area of war. But he had also killed a man in his own ranks. Someone he had trained with. Murdered him right under his mother’s nose. But Cara had been heartbroken when she found out.

Wilbur was exiled after that. 

Fundy’s timeline was a little skewed, he won’t lie. Being out in space can do that to a guy, especially when you’ve been through the shit he has. He didn’t know how much time there was between his birth, the murder, Mars’ victory, and when Grandma Kris and her friends got exiled too. But, he was six when he was dumped on her metaphorical doorstep. And afterwards…

Well, mom was gone.

And frankly he thought his dad was dead. It was easier that way, really. He didn’t have to spend any energy on hating the guy, at least. He had already probably starved to death out in space, and that was pretty shitty, so Fundy supposed that was karma. He moved on, eventually adjusted, and was living happily with Kris and the crew.

But then, oohhhh , he just had to come back to life. The universe had to chuck this piece of shit person in front of him and say ‘here, have this for your troubles’. Lovely.

Fundy admittedly hadn’t given the guy a chance to even talk to him. He was like a big baby though. Always laying around or trying to follow his mom. Fundy hadn’t heard of any new atrocities he’d committed out in space, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any. And his kids . Fundy’s “siblings”. What the actual fuck? These two random alien babies could get a decent dad but he couldn’t? How was that fair?

And he didn’t know shit about what he was doing, but according to what he heard he was getting better. Tommy and Tallulah hadn’t been the epitome of health or anything, but they were loved and cared for and for the most part, happy.

Fundy wanted to know why he couldn’t have that. Why the only version of a father he had was a blood drenched ghost of a man who he’d never even met.

So, he ignored him. It was easier than confronting whatever was going on in his head. But days passed, and Wilbur and his alien crew weren’t leaving . Neither were they, but still. He heard Grandma talking about taking him with them! Which he could understand because he was her son, and she loved him a lot and thought he was dead and yada yada yada, but what about Fundy? What about what he wanted?

But time kept passing, and apparently he couldn’t avoid him forever.

He crept back out into the kitchen one night, much more careful than he was the last time, eyes and ears alert as they could be. He managed to retrieve his nightly drink, water again, because he wouldn’t drink the tea now, at least not while he was here. But he could see that Wilbur was still in the living room.

He wasn’t awake this time, but he wasn’t silent either.

He was breathing strangely, rolling around on the sunken couch, clearly uncomfortable. Fundy rolled his eyes, depositing his empty cup in the sink and walking over to see what his fucking problem was, but he stopped when he reached him.

Wilbur was definitely asleep, but he was crying. Hands clenched tight, one clawing at his chest. He was muttering under his breath, sounding distressed.

Making an awkward face, Fundy backed up slightly, not really sure what to do. He was really planning on just heading back to bed and ignoring him, when Wilbur shot upright in a panic, choking on air and gasping desperately.

He jumped back, a little freaked out and holding his hands partially up, unsure. Wilbur didn’t look like… he was really seeing what was happening around him. His eyes looked ahead to something that wasn’t there, darting around.

Cautious, Fundy inched forwards, leaning down into his line of vision. “Uh, Wilbur?” He tried reluctantly.

The man shrieked, tumbling back off the couch and onto the floor of the pit, breath ragged. Fundy hissed through his teeth. “Oohhh, that’s not good.”

“Go away,” Wilbur snapped, glaring ahead.

Fundy scoffed, throwing his hands up. He was perfectly okay with that, and already turning to do so, but Wilbur continued.

“I– Please !” He begged, curling in on himself, trying to hide away.

Fundy’s eyes widened, horrified. Not just by whatever was happening with Wilbur, but the fact that he was the one here to deal with it. “No– No no no no no no,” He repeated, holding his hands out to try and soothe him.

Wilbur screamed .

Fundy surged forward, slapping a hand over his mouth. “No, shush! You’ll wake everyone up! Our walls aren’t fancy rich high tech soundproof shit that you got– OW!”

Wilbur bit him, scrambling back and panting fearfully, eyes wide.

He swallowed, wiping saliva off on his pants. “Okay, uhm… Please calm down,” He tried, taking deep breaths and hoping Wilbur would mimic. Somehow, though, he was getting worse.

Tugging at his hair, on the verge of hyperventilating. “I– No– Don’t, please! PLEASE!” He shouted.

Fundy was freaking out now. What if he passed out? Could he die from whatever this was? Was it a panic attack or something? He didn’t know what to do! “Wilbur, Wilbur!” He said, panicking. “Please calm down!” He pleaded.

Wilbur was shaking his head frantically. He looked sick. “Please,” He choked out, “I don’t want to do this anymore… It hurts …”

Fundy frowned. “What hurts?” He asked quietly.

The brunet looked at him, seeing him but not. “I’m tired.” He whispered. “I don’t want to do it anymore,”

Fundy’s mind jumped to the worst. “No– No, you can’t– I– Don’t say that, there’s so much to live for. What about– What about Tommy and Tallulah? Your kids? They– They would miss you!” He protested, growing fearful.

Wilbur’s eyes widened. “My kids… My–” His hands moved back to his head, pulling at his hair. “My kids ! They’re gone !” He screamed. No no no no. They were going backwards now! He was just screaming and sobbing again. Fundy wasn’t helping!

He needed to get Kristin. She’d know what to do.

Wilbur started wheezing.

Fundy turned back to him, eyes darting over him in concern. The man had a hand to his chest, sucking in desperate breaths that didn’t seem to be doing anything. “Can’t– Can’t– I can’t –!” He gasped desperately. “Stop– Stop!”

“Wilbur! Wilbur , please! Deep breaths,” Fundy urged, moving closer. It wasn’t working. Everything he did only seemed to make him spiral more. There were tears in his eyes. He was scared . What if Wilbur died because he didn’t know how to help? “ Please ,” He begged. “Wilbur, I– Dad !”

Wilbur’s breath stuttered, he quieted down just slightly. “Tommy…?” He muttered, sounding confused. Fundy’s heart clenched and he swallowed, finding himself nodding. “Uhm, yeah… Yeah, dad,” He lied, hoping it would calm him.

“Tommy, are you alright?” Wilbur choked out, suddenly pulling him into a hug.

Fundy gasped, trembling in his arms. Oh, he didn’t know what to do. “I– I’m fine,” He lied, squeezing his eyes shut tight.

Wilbur let out a long breath, pressing his face to Fundy’s hair. “I thought you died,” He whispered, holding tightly. “I was so scared,”

Fundy nodded shakily, “I’m sorry. I’m okay,”

“Oh Toms, I don’t wanna fight anymore.” He said, letting out a shuddering breath. “You’re so little, you can’t really understand. But I’m so tired,”

Fundy’s eyes widened again, grip tightening on Wilbur’s shirt. “No, don’t– They need– I need you here,” He tried, “Don’t go, please–”

“I’m not going anywhere, sunshine. But, I’m so tired,” He whispered, rubbing his hand slowly over Fundy’s back, swaying slightly. “So much hurt. I don’t want you two to every feel that way,”

Fundy didn’t say anything, just sitting there, being held and holding onto him. Wilbur slowly slipped back into sleep, leaning halfway against the couch. Fundy sniffled and wiped at his eyes, carefully laying Wilbur down and pulling a blanket over him.

As quietly as he could, he got up out of the conversation pit, and made his way back to his room. He closed the door silently behind him, and moved over to his bed, collapsing on top of it and curling in on himself. Tears streamed down his face, and Yogurt crawled up into the bed with a whine, worried about him. He tugged the animal close, hugging him tightly as he licked at Fundy’s tears.

He didn’t like this. He didn’t know what to feel now.

Chapter Text

Wilbur woke up tired, but blessed with the sight of little Tallulah when he first opened his eyes. She smiled widely at him, without any teeth. But Wilbur wasn’t really sure how teeth worked for them, so maybe she did have teeth and he didn’t know to recognize them. 

She crawled wobbly forwards, tumbling down into the cushioned pit with a sneeze. Wilbur caught her before she could go too far, sitting up and holding her in his lap.

Tallulah giggled and babbled out a nonsense mix of human sounds and common, grabbing onto the edge of his sleeve and pulling it forward to gnaw on. Wilbur smiled, looking around. He wondered if she came out here with someone or if she just teleported.

Phil was in the kitchen.

He yawned, stretching out his massive wings that had been feathery and bird-like for days on end now. He went to get himself a drink, before pausing and looking over to Wilbur. “Is any of this gonna kill me if I drink it?” He asked. And it was honestly a very valid question.

Wilbur nodded. “Yeah. Don’t drink the coffee or anything with chocolate in it. And if there’s orange or pineapple juice, might wanna stay away from those too,” He informed.

Phil nodded sleepily, mumbling to himself about how the fuck he was supposed to know what was what before he reached in and just pulled out a thing of cold tea. The same he’d seen Fundy get a glass of a few nights ago. “What about this?” He tried, sounding tired.

Wilbur hummed, picking up Tallulah and walking over to him. He took the jug and poured himself a quick glass, downing it quickly to get a taste. “No, I don’t think there’s anything in here that could hurt you,” He said, mostly confident.

Phil shrugged and got himself a cup, before settling down at the table, awkward in the chair due to his wings. He took small sips of his drink, giving himself time to wake up, before glancing up at Wilbur, seeing him a bit better than before. “Mate, you look like shit.” He said, sounding somewhat concerned. “Sleep okay last night?”

Wilbur chuckled, adjusting his hold on Tallulah who was now trying to bite his shoulder. “I don’t think so, no. I probably had another nightmare, ‘cause I can tell I was crying and my throat kind of hurts. But I can’t really remember,”

Phil let out a low warble, taking another long drink of his tea. “That’s no good,” He muttered. “Hm, this is really good by the way. What is it?”

“Tea,” Wilbur replied, settling down in the chair across from him. “It’s made by steeping leaves and sometimes other things in water,”

Phil hummed. “Leaf juice,” He crooned drowsily.

“Tea,”

“Uh huh,”

The two sat there in silence for a moment, waiting for the other members of each crew to wake up. Admittedly, Wilbur wondered how long this could last. And the idea of having to pick between his mom, and humans which he had missed so dearly, and his crew who he had grown to love– It was an awful thought.

He picked up on soft padded footsteps lazily coming down the hall around the corner, before they stopped. Wilbur almost got up to go see before Fundy came rushing into the kitchen, looking frightful.

“Where is–! Oh,” He stopped, spotting Wilbur. The brunet smiled awkwardly, prepared for the boy to just scowl at him and turn around. But instead he sighed, stance relaxing. “Goodmorning,” And walked over to the cupboards to get a drink, fixing himself a cup of tea, and even, surprisingly, climbing up and tugging an old sippy cup out of the back and filling it with juice.

When he walked back over, he gave it to Tallulah, then moved on back into the living room and down the hall. Wilbur sat there, watching him until he was gone. “What the fuck was that?” He choked. 

He thought Fundy hated him.

—

There were three knocks against the door.

Joel leaned back, wiping his brow. “Come in!” He called, wiping dirt off on his pants. The alien ship’s captain, Philza, walked in, looking nervous. Or, he assumed it was nervous. “Hello,” He said with a wave, confused. “Can I help you?”

Philza let out a small twittery sound, walking over near him. “Yes, uhm, hi. I was wondering if I could talk to you about something?”

Joel raised a brow, confused, but gestured for him to continue. “Sure. Go ahead.”

“Okay. So. Uh, I heard that you’re married to Lizzie, right?” Joel nodded, still not following. “Right. So, I was just wondering, what do humans do to court each other?”

Joel blinked, processing. Now he got why the guy seemed so awkward. “Ah. I see. Hmm, let me think,” He began, getting up from where he was crouched in front of a plant bed. “When me and Lizzie first started dating, I’ll be honest I had no idea what I was doing. But I really liked her, so I definitely tried my best.” He said with a laugh, remembering the past. 

“Traditionally, and I mean like, really traditionally, stuff that’s considered almost old school these days, you’d give them flowers, or take them to eat dinner, just the two of you. So like, what I did was I would just ask Lizzie to go do fun stuff. We went to watch movies together, and went biking, which I doubt you know what it is, but anyway, we just– I wanted to spend time with her. But it was kind of obvious that I liked her? She knew for a long time before I actually asked her out,” He explained, turning back to Philza who looked, confused.

Joel sighed, scratching the back of his head. “I won’t ask who, but, I’d just say you should spend time with her. Get to know her, learn about what she likes. Do nice things for her. Everyone is different, so, y’know. Learn what she likes, like I said,” He shrugged. “Sorry, but that’s about all I can offer. I’m no expert on this by any means,”

Philza hummed, letting out another birdish sound. “Thank you, Joel. I appreciate the help.” He said, before waving and walking back out of the greenhouse.

Joel watched him go, still somewhat lost. “It’s Kris isn’t it?” He muttered to the air.

—

Okay. It wasn’t a lot, but it was certainly helpful. Phil wasn’t really sure how to go about getting to know her though, since every time they were anywhere near each other she looked like she wanted to kill him. He’d probably let her if she tried. This was terrible.

He sighed, settling down in the sunken common area. He knew she didn’t like him at least. That was a start.

“Hello Philza,” Foolish greeted, sitting down some ways away from him. “Whatcha doing?”

Phil shrugged. He was beginning to use human gestures more and more these days. “Thinking, mostly.” He admitted. “Do you know what Kristin likes?”

Foolish’s eyes widened, somewhat surprised by the question. “Hmm, she likes to cook, I know that. And bake. It reminds her of her old home and helps her relax. So if she’s really stressed, it’s obvious because she’ll start baking an ungodly amount of sweets and stuff.” He stated with a smile, and Phil mentally filed that information away for later. “She also cares a lot about us. Her crew. We’re family to her. And sheeee uhhh, she likes… crows?”

Phil frowned. “Crows?”

“Yeah they’re– They’re these little black birds. They’re very intelligent actually,” He explained, using the remote to pull up a picture on the screen. They looked nearly identical to a type of bird from Phil’s home planet, but with two wings instead of four. “Yeah, crows. She likes birds in general. Thinks flying looks fun,”

That was an interesting tidbit of information that Phil could likely use later. He smiled, nodded. “I certainly think it is,”

Foolish chuckled, “Yeah I suppose you would know. Oh, she does not like lies, and she’s pretty good at catching them. So even if it’s one with good intentions, like I once said she looked amazing when she honestly kind of looked like crap, she gave me the scariest glare. So yeah, honesty. And quality time, too. She likes that,”

Phil smiled. “Wow, thank you. This is really helpful. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t like me all that much right now and I’d like to change that,” He said with a chuckle.

Foolish laughed, giving another shrug. “Yeah, she can be pretty cold when she wants to be. But don’t let that fool you. It would take some really atrocious deeds for her to actually hate someone. She just needs a little time to warm up to you is all,”

“Thank you, Foolish,” Phil said, getting to his feet.

“Not a problem, man.”

Chapter Text

Tubbo really liked Tommy. He wondered if it was partially to do with the fact that even if he didn’t really act like it, Tommy was just about his age. Plus, he was the same race as Ranboo, and Tubbo already adored him.

Plus! Phil said he was growing really fast, at least mentally. Something about play helping information to sink in easier. So that’s just what Tubbo did, he and Ranboo played with Tommy all day long. They had pillow fights, which Tommy himself introduced them to, ran around between the two ships, explored rooms they probably weren’t supposed to be in. Tommy accidentally managed to teleport into the ventilation system on the Angel at one point, and Tubbo had to crawl in to find him. And when he didn’t come out, Ranboo went in got Fwhip to hunt them down, and that guy was freakishly agile in the vents.

Tubbo taught Tommy all the swear words in common, and Tommy tried to repeat the favor for english, which was the human language Wilbur spoke, but it was a little hard since he couldn’t pronounce all the sounds. But he could get some, and to go with it, now Tubbo knew a lot of swears in the hand language Tommy used too. He had so much new power, it was amazing.

They made cookies, which Niki nearly killed them for because they almost blew up her kitchen somehow, and then ate cookies, and drew pictures on actual paper which Tommy insisted on. He wasn’t really a big fan of all the holo-stuff. Tubbo and Ranboo both were just really interested in Tommy in general. He was an endarnen, but he acted human. Which meant they could basically interact with a human their age, but without the real danger.

Sometimes the shulker kid Hermes would join them in their shenanigans. He could float or fly, whichever it was called, and shoot little star-shaped bullets out of his hands. Which weren’t as harmful as adult ones, so they made a game of having him shoot at them and trying to get away before it managed to touch them. And if it did, it was really more fun than scary to float up to the ceiling.

Tommy told them a lot about earth, which was interesting considering he’d never been there. But a lot of information got relayed through Wilbur. Tommy’s favorite animal was called a cow, which he drew lots of pictures of. Apparently it was a very basic farm animal on earth which provided milk, and meat. But Tommy didn’t really think of it as a farm animal as much as he thought of it as the best thing ever.

Tubbo wished he could have seen earth years ago, because, also according to Tommy, it wasn’t as good these days. There were too many people taking up space, so a lot of them had to move to other planets in their solar system. That’s how Wilbur got to the planet called Mars, which wasn’t nearly as nice.

They tried to drag Fundy into their play a few times too. He normally just hissed at them (which Tubbo was pretty sure humans didn’t normally do, so he was just being a prick) and retreated back to his room. But recently he didn’t seem so hateful, and had actually sat down with them to watch a movie. He played one called Robin Hood, which was based on an old human story, but adapted with intelligent animals to make it more interesting for children. Fundy said he liked it because it was about helping the people who needed it, and kicking rich assholes’ butts, but also, because he really liked foxes, which the main character was portrayed as.

From what Tubbo could tell, and Ranboo too, probably more so because he was better at picking up on these things, Fundy wasn’t the biggest fan of Wilbur. But that had improved just slightly recently. He seemed like he was trying not to resent Tommy and Tallulah, which was good. Tubbo didn’t think he could like Fundy if he was mean to them.

“I liked that movie,” Ranboo stated once it was over, curled up with his knees to his chest. “It wasn’t as sad as when the lion dad died,”

Fundy gave them an evil grin. “I can play a movie that’s not sad at all. It’s really good.”

Tubbo narrowed his eyes at him, but Ranboo, poor oblivious Ranboo, nodded. “Yes please.”

“Let’s watch The Fox and The Hound,”

—

“NOO! DON’T LEAVE HIM THERE!” Ranboo screeched. “HE’S SO SAADD!”

Even Tubbo was on the verge of tears, watching this old, animated human lady made Tod go out into the forest on his own. “THEY WERE FRIENDS! WHYY!”

Tommy threw a pillow at the screen and completely missed. “NOOOOOOO!”

Fundy was laughing, arms around his stomach, eyes scrunched shut, full belly laughing. Tubbo turned to him, tears in his eyes. “What the fuck is wrong with you?!” He choked, not really having any anger behind it.

Fundy shrugged. “I don’t know what you mean! It’s a good movie!”

“You’re evil ,” Ranboo proclaimed, looking over Tubbo’s shoulder to point at him accusingly.

Tommy just started biting Fundy’s ankle, but by the human’s reaction, he could assume it didn’t hurt that much, which meant Tommy wasn’t that upset. “It’s not even over yet!” Fundy defended, throwing his hands up. “He hasn’t even met the pretty lady fox yet!”

“Oh,” Tubbo blinked, settling back down. “You may continue.”

It went about how you might expect. Ranboo was straight up bawling, minus the tears, during the fight scene at the end, and when it was finally over Tubbo and Tommy tackled Fundy to the ground.

“THEY’LL NEVER SEE EACH OTHER AGAIN, WHO MAKES MOVIES LIKE THIS!” Tubbo screeched, making Fundy gasp with laughter.

“IT’S TOO SAD!” Tommy declared. “FUCK THIS!”

Fundy only laughed harder at the boy’s swearing. Ranboo pried the two off of them, sniffling and holding them back. “Can we watch something nice now? Please ?”

Fundy sighed, “Alright alright, we can watch Home on the Range.”

It didn’t take long for Tommy to fall in love with the movie. 

“COWS!”

Tubbo caught Fundy smiling.

Chapter Text

Phil felt like his heart was going to explode. He didn’t really need to do this, did he? Never mind the fact that this was a very rare and special moment for eletryans. It was too stressful. Phil had been just fine as he is for years and years. He has a family! He shouldn’t need more than that.

He groaned, talons twisted in his hair. He wasn’t even doing anything! All that he was freaking out over was trying to get the courage to just go in and offer to help Kristin with dinner. THAT WAS IT! Something so simple and he could hardly keep his breathing steady.

Phil inhaled deeply, hand over his chest. “Okay,” He breathed. “This is fine. You’ve kept your cool under worse situations than this before. Just– If I force myself into the room I can’t back out!” He declared to himself, walking swiftly around the corner and into the kitchen. 

His taloned feet were a dead give away of his presence, so she looked over her shoulder the second he neared the kitchen. She narrowed his eyes at him, making him tense slightly. “Hello Philza. Can I help you?” 

He smiled slightly and cleared his throat. “Just, Phil is fine. And I was wondering if you wanted help with dinner? There are quite a lot more mouths to feed with my crew here,” He said, keeping his voice casual as he could.

Her cold expression melted away, replaced by mild surprise. “Oh. Well, yeah. Okay. Thank you,”

Phil’s smile brightened, and he moved over beside her to wash his hands. “What are we making?” He asked, looking over the humans’ soap for a moment before deciding it probably wasn’t terribly corrosive and washing his hands with it.

Kristin sighed, kneading some sort of dough on the counter. “Pizza. It’s a pretty big hit where we’re from. Has a lot of variety too.” She explained. “I’ll have to make a few of em to feed everyone though,”

Phil nodded, turning the water off and drying his hands. “How can I help?”

She gave him a small smile, and proceeded to walk him through the steps of making dough. Some of the ingredients were substituted, for the health of Phil’s crew and just due to lack of options. He wasn’t very good at kneading or rolling it out, his hands weren’t exactly shaped right for it, so instead she had him cut vegetables to make the sauce.

“This will be a more traditional one, with sauce and cheese and maybe a little meat. But I’ll probably make an alfredo one too. Foolish and Lizzie really like those. So does Hermes. Joel and Gem really like veggie pizza, so I’ll make one of those as well. Does anyone in your crew have any food preferences?” She asked, looking up to him from where she’d been flattening out the dough.

Phil blinked, wings fluffing up. He coughed, and flicked them down into something smaller. They’d kind of been getting in the way anyway. “Well, I know Techno is a fan of root vegetables, and sweets. Niki too. But that doesn’t seem very helpful here,”

“I can make a dessert pizza too,” She offered. “But it means more work.”

He smiled. “I don’t mind helping. Oh, and Tubbo mostly eats plants, so if you do a vegetable one that’s probably what he’d like. And Ranboo, Tommy, and Tallulah mostly eat fruit and insects. Although I doubt you have any of those on hand,” He chuckled.

She smiled, “Yeah, no bugs. But if fruit’s what they want I can put up with making something like a, eugh, hawaiian style pizza,” She offered, setting the four or five flattened out doughs aside. 

Phil tilted his head, turning off the stove now that he was pretty sure the sauce was done. “Is something wrong with that style?” He asked, confused.

Kristin shook her head. “Not really . Maybe in my opinion. But it has pineapple on it, which is a fruit, and I personally don’t really like it. And, I guess hawaiian probably isn’t the only style that incorporates fruit, but I normally like my sweets and my savories separate, thank you,” She said with a huff, spreading sauce out on most of the doughs.

Phil laughed. “I can agree on that. Mixing flavors is a little hard to handle,”

“Right?!” She exclaimed. “God, nobody on this damn ship seems to believe me on that. And I know some of em are only saying so to piss me off.” She grumbled, glaring out into the living room at no one.

The eletryan smiled softly. “I get that. My crew’s the same, at times. Always trying to push my buttons,”

She sighed fondly. “Yeah. They’re like family, eh?”

“They are,” He agreed.

Kristin finished spreading out the sauce and moved around him to reach down into the cupboards in search of something. Phil stepped back out of the way, wings held up instinctively. “Sorry,” He muttered, even though they weren’t really in the way.

She waved a hand dismissively from where she was half hidden in the cupboards. “It’s fine,” She stated casually, pulling back and moving to stand, and hitting her head on the top of the cupboard. “Ouch–!”

Phil blinked, moving closer as she stood back up, rubbing her head. “Are you alright?” He asked, hands hovering out worriedly.

She nudged the doors closed with her foot, other hand holding a jar of white sauce with dark speckles in it. “Yeah, m’fine,” She replied.

He frowned, “You sure?”

Kristin glanced up to him, meeting his eyes. Phil shrunk back slightly, always unable to hold the human’s gaze. “Yeah, don’t worry about it,” She assured, patting him on the arm.

Phil sighed, and she moved over to pour the new sauce on the remaining circle of flattened dough. “There. That’s Foolish and Lizzie’s alfredo. Now we gotta do toppings,”

Phil watched as she pulled multiple types of cheese out of the cooler, which he had learned they called a fridge. He honestly didn’t know there could be that many different kinds. He personally had only heard of two or three among his home planet, and most foreign ones were very similar, just named different.

She sprinkled the different kinds on the sauced dough circles, using a variety for most but mostly using lighter colored cheese on the dough with the white sauce. “There we go,” She said with a huff, smiling as she dusted excess cheese off her hands. “That was the easy part,”

“There’s more?” Phil asked, somewhat surprised despite the fact that he had yet to see fruit or vegetables.

She grinned, and gave him a nod. “Yep. This first one is done, since it’s just cheese, but the others get more. Here, you put this one in the oven,” She ordered, slipping the one pizza onto a round pan and handing it to him.

Phil took it carefully, and moved over to place it in the already warmed oven. When he turned back to the human, he found her sprinkling vegetable bits over one of the pizzas. “You got an aversion to meat or anything?” She asked, not looking up from her work.

He shook his head. “No, I don’t.” He replied truthfully.

“Good,” She said, handing him a little container full of tiny chunks of meat. “Put these on that first pizza, will you?”

Phil nodded and obeyed, carefully dropping the meat pieces around similar to how she did with the vegetables. Once she was finished, she moved over beside him, leaning over his shoulder and gently adjusting his hand so he sprinkled them more spread out. “There ya go,” She smiled, continuing to her work on the next one.

Phil resisted his wings puffing out in big feathered shapes, instead forcing them to stay small. But he knew his hair was floating up around his head more than normal, which probably looked weird.

Kristin chuckled beside him. “Does your hair always do that?” She asked, raising a brow.

He swallowed, and smiled awkwardly. “No,” He replied, using his free hand to try and smooth it back down.

“Then why’s it like that?”

Phil paused, not saying anything for a moment. He knew that if he was human, his face would be almost completely red. “I– I’m nervous,” He admitted, looking away.

She sputtered, “About what? Don’t tell me the pizza intimidates you,” She asked with a grin.

He shook his head, setting the now empty container aside and holding up his hands. “No it’s not that, I just–” He paused, catching her looking at him. “I uh, don’t… wanna mess up the food,” He lied, scratching the back of his head.

She scoffed, waving a hand at him. “Don’t worry about it. It’s pretty hard to mess up pizza .” She assured, dismissing his worries. “Here, cut up these mushrooms for me. They go on the alfredo one, but only half, cuz Lizzie doesn’t like them,” She informed, hardly even paying attention to him now.

Phil sighed, and took the little thing of mushrooms and set them down on the cutting board, getting to work.

It took some time, but eventually every pizza was cooked up, with only minor burns along the edges. They even got around to making the dessert pizza.

Kristin elbowed him in the side, looking out over the pizzas set out on the table. “Didn’t do too bad, did ya bird?” She teased, giving him a grin.

Phil’s wings snapped out into large feathered ones, nearly hitting her in the head. He covered his face with his hands, instantly pulling his wings back close to him. “I’m so sorry,” He mumbled.

She chuckled, poking at his wing. “Hey don’t worry. You don’t like it when I call you bird?” She asked, sounding a little teasing.

He shrugged.

“Alright, I won’t do it anymore. Phil it is,”

That was almost worse. But he didn’t have to address it, because she continued, “I’m gonna go tell everyone food’s done. Maybe we can all watch a movie,”

“Okay,” Phil managed to choke out, lowering his hands as he watched her go. Well, that could have gone worse.

Chapter Text

A few days went by. Kristin was growing suspicious. The tensions between her and the captain of the alien ship had gone down tremendously , and they were growing closer. She’d say they were friends, even. But, she thought back to it, and nothing really prompted him to extend that first olive branch and help her with dinner.

After that, he’d found plenty of opportunities to help her out. Which, she was grateful for of course, but she knew a plot when she saw one. The question remained of how ill-willed this plot was.

It was hard to believe he was planning to kill her or anything, when he could hardly stand to look her in the eyes. Unless it was guilt. Hmm… She wasn’t sure. But he was planning to keep her company again soon. She’d finished her rounds of the ship, checking on everyone and all the rooms, making sure things were still up and running right, and she was now relaxing in the one free space in the green house, looking out into the stars.

The door opened, and she heard the tell tale sign of Phil’s talons clacking against the floor towards her. She didn’t bother looking up from where she sat. She was tired.

“I got you something,”

Okay, that piqued her interest. Kristin looked up, curious, and found the winged alien holding out a bouquet to her. A mix of purple and dark pink and black flowers, with small white ones added around the edges. She didn’t even know where he got those. They definitely weren’t something they grew here.

Hesitantly, she reached out and took it. “Thank you,” She whispered, still shocked. Why would Phil be giving her flowers? Did it mean something to his race? Maybe it was an apology, or some sort of wish for good wellbeing. She’d seen stuff like that before. 

She opened her mouth to ask about it, somewhat confused by the alien’s nervous smile, but something caught her gaze. On the far end of the room, peaking around the door, were Joel, Foolish, and Gem, all wearing similar grins as they watched. She narrowed her eyes, and they all jumped and retreated quickly, closing the door behind them.

What the heck was that about?

She blinked, looking back up to Phil who had grown quite tense. She looked back down at the flowers. Oh. Oh god. Her face practically burst into flames with how hot it got, heating up rapidly and turning red. The flowers fell to her lap and she held her hands up over her face, hiding. “Oh my goddd, ”

Phil twittered nervously, “Are you okay?!” He asked, sounding so worried. Of course he was worried.

She flinched away when he reached out for her. What the fuck was she supposed to say to that?! Did this guy actually like her? Or were her crew pranking him without him realising?

Kristin forced in a deep breath, lowering her hands slightly. “Are you aware of the… meaning, of giving a bouquet like this? The implications at least?” She asked, just to be sure.

Phil’s eyes widened slightly, and he looked away, wings fluffing up. “I– I am,” He replied quietly.

Kill her now. Let her die peacefully without continuing this conversation.

She curled in on herself, hiding her face again. “Oh my god,” She repeated. “I don’t– What– How ?!”

Phil shifted in place, letting out a bird-like warble. “I– I’m sorry– You don’t have to– If I’ve offended you, or upset you– I can go ,”

“No–!” She exclaimed, holding up a hand. “I just– You don’t have to go, I’m not insulted,” She assured, taking a deep breath and sitting up again, giving him a strained look. “I’m… processing.”

“Oh,” Phil muttered. “Okay.”

She gestured awkwardly for him to sit, and he did, keeping distance between the two of them. Kristin took a moment to calm her breathing, fanning her face and inhaling deeply. “Woo, I– Wow,” She chuckled awkwardly. “I’m not really sure what to say here,” She admitted. “I haven’t dated anyone in…” She paused, a somewhat disbelieving look on her face. “Over twenty five years…”

Phil chirruped, leaning to the side with a strained grin. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I haven’t had anything close to a relationship in maybe, a hundred and thirty years?”

Her eyes widened, “How old are you?” Phil shrunk back, grimacing. She winced. “Sorry.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” He said, holding up a hand. “It’s hard to keep track these days, but I’d say I’m well over one thousand three hundred at least.”

Well. That was a whole new thing to process. 

Kristin leaned forward, head in her hands, letting out a low whistle. “Wow… That’s… Gonna be honest here, man, you’re a little older than me,”

Phil laughed. She turned to look at him, his eyes scrunched up similar to how a human would laugh. He calmed himself down, struggling to catch his breath and looked at her with a smile. “I suppose,” He agreed with a shrug.

They were silent for a moment, and she found herself staring.

He sighed. “Look, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. It’s just– This doesn’t exactly happen for my kind every other day, so I figured, I’d give it a try, see what you say, and if nothing goes well, I  have my family at least. I won’t be miserable forever or anything,” He explained, looking away.

Kristin, frowned, face hot again. “I– I dunno,” She muttered, looking out to the stars. “But, if you’re so old– Sorry ,” She cringed, catching his pained expression, “What happens when I grow old and you hardly age at all? In the hypothetical case that we got together, I mean,”

He blinked, thinking. “Actually, that wouldn’t really be a problem,” He said, catching her interest. “Eletryans, well, we’re kind of big on interracial relations, since we can’t really control who we fall for, and it’s mostly a one time deal,”

Holy fuck if that wasn’t something to take in. Was she this guy’s fucking soulmate or something? If she turned him down would he be SINGLE FOREVER?!

She smiled, nodding slowly. Her screams were kept on the inside.

“So, like, I really don’t know how it works, if there’s biology behind it or what, but– So, let’s take my parents for example. My mother was an eletryan, and my father was a different race, something akin to Quackity. Wait, you don’t know who that is,” He faltered, waving his hands. “Uh, a different race, with smaller wings and face markings. Anyway, I’m still full blood eletryan here, and my father, who’s race normally only lives to be around two hundred at best, passed away at about seven thousand , not long before my mother.”

Kristin’s jaw dropped. If she dated this fucker she’d be damn near immortal. Holy shit. What the fuck.

Phil continued, “So, yeah. Our like, slow aging and long lifespan kind of rubs off on our spouse,” He explained, looking up from his hands. “Are you okay?”

“How old can you live?” She asked, suddenly curious. 

Phil blinked. “Uh, it depends, really. I think the oldest recorded eletryan passed away just recently at about… fifty thousand? But, he had decided to die. Technically we can live as long as we want so long as we’re healthy and don’t get stabbed to death or anything,”

Kristin nodded again, and placed her head back in her hands. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!?

Phil let her be for a moment, before reaching out and poking her. “Uhm, are you okay?” He asked once again, ever worrying.

She sat up with a long breath. “ Fine ! Just fine, thank you.” She replied, blinking a few times. “I do have a question though,”

“Go ahead,” He nodded, shoulders tense.

She sighed, hands together. “ So , is there anything I need to know before considering this? Like, no weird alien dating rituals or anything like that? Like, what are you expecting from me?”

Phil shrugged. “At best? Lifelong companionship and love,” He replied awkwardly, looking down and picking at the edge of his shirt.

Kristin couldn’t help but smile. He was kind of a sap. “So, no weirdness? Just, pretty similar to human relationships?” She asked, leaning forward.

Phil nodded, not looking up. “Yes, it’s fairly similar. Courting customs are much different, but I discussed it with Joel and what he described is hardly different from what I’d expect–” He looked up, seeing her leaned close. He blinked, leaning back slightly with an awkward smile. “Hi,”

“Hello,” She said in return. “And, what would you do if I declined your offer? Or request, whichever this is,”

He swallowed, leaning back on his arms. “No-nothing? I’d probably just stay more in my ship until we part ways or whatever. Y-you’re very close to me,” He pointed out.

She chuckled, inching closer. “What if I accept ?”