Chapter Text
Tommy doesn't like their newest foster home. It's not that the family were bad, if they were he'd tell his older brother Techno and they'd be out by the week's end, but Tommy just… doesn't gel well there. Doesn't fit in or enjoy his time with his new foster brother and foster dad.
He knew he wasn't going to have a good time at the newest foster family the second they entered the car and it drove further and further and further away from their care home. Their social worker, Captain Puffy as they called her, was talking about the newest family and how they were a family that had experience with hybrids, so they had a real chance with them. Tommy wasn't fully paying attention, his eyes welling up with tears the longer they were in the car. Techno was paying attention to Puffy's speech, but more importantly he was paying attention to Tommy, watching him with concerned eyes (his older brother was so cool and could multitask like a billion tasks at once).
"You alright, Toms?" Techno asked and Puffy instantly quietened down, always letting the brothers take control of the conversation when they wanted to.
"No," Tommy admits, his voice all watery. "We're so far away from home, how am I meant to go to school?"
How was he meant to see Tubbo and Ranboo, his bestest friends in the entire world?
(The only one who could even hope to match up to them was Techno, but that was Techno. Techno was always number one. The eternal winner!)
"The family we're living with probably have a car, right Captain?" Techno tries to reassure, fingers gently running along Tommy's shoulder.
"They do," Puffy admits, but there's a grimace on her face that promises not such good news. "But they live outside of your old school's district and after the fight you got into with Dream, Techno, it was decided you'd both benefit from a new school environment. Your new school is a ten-minute walk from your foster family's home, though I'm sure Phil will have no problem driving you to and from school if that's what you want."
"But Tubbo and Ranboo," Tommy whined and Techno is undoing both of their seatbelts so he can pull them together tightly. So, he can comfort his baby brother.
"Techno! Seatbelts, we've discussed this!" Puffy says, desperately trying to keep them safe on the road. When all Techno does is grunt threateningly at her, she pulls the car over to help with Techno's protective instincts (or to wait them out, you never really knew how it was going to go with Techno). "Tommy, we need you to articulate what's the matter. Remember what we discussed about only using Piglin distress noises? We can't help you or your brother if you don't articulate what you're feeling."
Tommy tries to explain, but it's hard. It's hard to think over the fear of never seeing Tubbo and Ranboo again. It's hard to stop the tears when he thinks about his best friends forgetting about him, because he's no longer there. It's hard to think-
He whines again and Techno's hands wrap around him tighter. There's a threatening growl from Techno and all Tommy feels is safe. Protected. He's alright. He'll be alright as long as he's in Techno's arms.
"I…" he manages after a few false starts. "I didn't get to say goodbye to Tubbo and Ranboo…"
The tears fall indiscriminately, broadcasting his sadness for everyone to see. Techno rubs their foreheads together as Puffy shoots him a sympathetic smile.
"You don't need to say 'goodbye', you'll be able to visit them frequently, you'll accompany him, right Techno?" Puffy directs the question at Techno, trying to make his brother direct his thoughts on solutions to the problem instead of defending Tommy against a problem that doesn't need defence.
"Every day," Techno promises and Puffy fondly sighs.
"What did we discuss about promises like that?" She questions and Tommy can feel Techno's arms tighten around him.
"It's not an impossible promise. Ranboo and Tubbo only live on the other side of town, hardly that much of a trip," Techno argues, and Tommy felt hope build up (if Techno said it was possible, then it was possible).
"You don't know the new house's rules, you haven't discussed with Ranboo, Tubbo or their parents if they're ok meeting that frequently and you don't know how taxing a journey that is, yet. Settle in, discuss it with the people involved and then make promises over how frequently you meet up," Puffy reasons.
"Fine," Techno glared, not satisfied with the logic even as he understood it.
"I'm glad you understand. Now, seat belts back on," she demands.
With a huff Techno gently pushes Tommy into the seat beside him and although Tommy could buckle himself in, he lets his older brother do it for him. It makes him happy to be cared for and it makes Techno happy to care for him. They're sounder, they're pack, and they'd do anything for each other. Which is why Techno gives him one last hug and mutters a promise into his ear before buckling himself back in.
"I'll make sure you get to go back as frequently as possible. You won't ever need to say goodbye to your friends. You'll visit each other so much; you won't have a chance to miss them."
And Techno manages to keep that promise for a month. For a month the constant feeling of dread is brushed off, because his brother talked to their foster dad and their foster dad called Tubbo and Ranboo's parents and they made plans to meet up numerous times a week, and it's good. They meet up in a park after school a couple times, spend whole weekends together. It's great until Techno just… stops taking him and their foster dad stops making calls. All he has after that is text messages they manage to send, but even that is limited. He's too young for a smartphone apparently, so he has an old beat-up flip phone that has 12 keys to represent the entire alphabet and £10 credit that he has to request is topped up. There's the internet, of course, but again he's considered too young to just use it unsupervised and when he is being supervised, he's usually made to do his homework (he does manage to get an hour or two of Minecraft with his best friends, but it's not the same and he feels like they're drifting apart even when none of them want to, he misses their care home. At least there he had his best friends).
The next reason he knows this foster home isn't going to work out for him is his foster family. As he said, his foster family isn't bad. They don't hit him or ignore him or belittle him or anything. He gets fed, they listen to him when he talks and they even take him out on little trips, but… it's never enough. It's never what Tommy wants (needs).
He remembers walking into their house the first time, Techno holding his hand right beside him, seeing a smiling Avian with wings that didn't quite fit in the hallway and an amused Phantom behind him and thinking maybe Puffy is right. Maybe he's worrying over nothing. Maybe this had the potential to be a home (the home). Maybe they could be fully understood for once. Maybe Techno could be happy at a foster home for once.
And he’s kinda right. He’s… half right.
Phil, their foster dad, and Wilbur, their foster brother… they do understand what it’s like to be hybrids with the rest of the world ignorant to their needs…
Phil shows them how he has to preen his feathers, and how he has a nest that’s only allowed for family (Techno gets invited to preen Phil’s feathers in the nest one time, Tommy hadn’t been allowed to join, because he was apparently too young. Tommy would have called bullshit, because surely there are Avians younger than him who need their wings groomed, but Techno had seemed so eager to brush Phil’s feathers that Tommy had just quietly shuffled away).
Wilbur explains how due to his Phantom nature he can’t stand people not getting enough sleep (this conflicts with Techno’s insomniac need to guard and protect Tommy. After three nights straight of Techno guarding and patrolling the outside of Tommy’s new room, a room separated and far away from Techno, Tommy wakes up to no protective brother guarding his door. Instead, he finds Techno asleep on the couch downstairs with Wilbur wrapped around him, both snoring).
Their foster family… understand what being a hybrid entails and they respect the differences between hybrids and work on compromising, so all of their needs are met. Or… well… they compromise so Phil, Wilbur and Techno’s needs are met.
Tommy… Tommy is a Big Man, the Biggest Man, but… he… he is only a shoat and… technically the runt of their sounder, he… he needs to be close to his brother, to his sounder… they… they had always shared a room, so his brother was right there, right where he needed him and… now Techno is all the way down the hall.
Tommy had tried to sneak out a few times, but Phil’s room was between theirs and their foster dad would always catch him before he could find Techno (he shouldn’t need to find Techno, his brother was always beside him and was always guarding and protecting him from nightmares). Phil would always take him back to his room with this sympathetic (pitying) smile.
“I know this must be very different for you, it must be difficult dealing with such a change, but this is for your brother’s health, ok?” Phil would say as he tucked in a displeased Tommy. “He can’t stay up all night like he has been. It’s not healthy for a growing Piglin hybrid. He needs sleep, which means he needs you to be a big boy, alright?”
“I am a Big Man,” Tommy would whine, and Phil would shush him with this indulgent (fake) smile.
“Of course,” he’d say, and Tommy would feel… belittled and mocked and not so great. “You’ll be fine to sleep alone tonight?”
Tommy would never say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. He’d just huff, look away, and try again later. One time he’ll manage to get to Techno…
He never did manage to reach Techno’s room. If Phil wasn’t stopping him, then Wilbur was coming in after Tommy spent too many restless nights tossing and turning. Wilbur would sigh, play him a song on his guitar and against Tommy’s will he’d fall asleep (those nights were the worst, he’d wake up alone and cold and whines backed up in his throat. He felt abandoned. Alone. Worthless. He was the runt, but that had always meant protection before. Now being a runt meant… not being good enough, not being worth anything).
Supposedly that must be the norm for a Piglin hybrid, because Techno didn’t say anything against this treatment. He… he seemed to be pretty happy with everything actually. He smiled as Phil nudged their foreheads together every morning (Tommy never got any forehead nudges). He laughed as Wilbur wrapped their tails around each other as they ate breakfast (Tommy… Tommy’s tail hadn’t grown in yet, but… but he thought maybe he would be the first to wrap his tail around Techno’s tail). He watched with fondness as Tommy struggled to eat the food Phil had prepared him (every morning he woke up feeling like he was drowning, every breakfast felt like trying to shove food around a mouthful of salt water; eating hurt, being alone hurt).
So… his foster family were good with hybrid traits, but… it seemed only Techno was getting what he needed (maybe it was because Techno was older, maybe when Tommy grew up a little more, sleeping alone wouldn’t feel like the end of the world. Maybe sleeping without protection wouldn’t be so scary).
He… he’d just have to trust things would get better. That this was normal, because… Techno was happy. Techno never liked their previous foster families. There were always threats and growls and their foster families had always focused on Tommy, because he was ‘easier’ to deal with. He couldn’t ruin this for Techno. He was happy for once.
(Techno deserved to be happy.)
(Just… did Tommy have to be left alone for that to be true?)
(He… he’s fine. Techno wouldn’t let anything bad happen to him. This must just be a part of Piglin aging. He was a Big Man, and he was becoming a Bigger Man.)
His new school sucks, it was always going to suck without Tubbo and Ranboo, but they discipline him every time he whines. Tell him ‘people’ shouldn’t show their distress in such a way. That he was interrupting the other students’ learning every time he cried out like that. That he was faking his displeasure.
(He stops whining altogether. At the foster house, at school, if he whines, he’s just being a burden. He just needs to stop crying. Needs… needs to be a Bigger Man…)
He doesn’t like this new foster home. Wishes he was back at the care home with his brother. Usually… Usually just feeling that way was enough for Techno to agree the place wasn’t good and to move them out, but… Tommy can’t voice those feelings. He can’t, because… the worst thing this place has done is… it’s… it’s stolen his brother from him.
Techno… Techno was getting along with the foster family (which… Tommy… Tommy was happy for him, but… but… why wasn’t Tommy included in that?). Techno had never gotten along with a foster family before, but now… he stopped patrolling, because he felt safe. He started sleeping more consistently. Didn’t check if their meals were safe. Didn’t mind leaving his gold out in the open. Didn’t mind leaving Tommy with the foster family. He was happy here and Tommy couldn’t ruin that.
Which is why Tommy cried alone. Which is why Tommy struggled to eat the meals provided. Which is why Tommy lied when Puffy asked how the new house was, lied when she asked if he was getting along with the current foster family. Tommy put up with everything, but there was one thing Tommy couldn’t accept. Couldn’t deal with.
Tommy had been left with Wilbur as Techno and Phil went out and about to do… something. Everyone was being secretive, and Tommy wasn’t appreciating being left out of things again. But he pretended to enjoy Wilbur’s company (Techno always seemed happier if Tommy made it look like he was enjoying the company of the foster family).
Then Techno came home and…
Tommy’s world had shattered.
Techno had, almost shyly, approached Tommy. Resting in one of his floppy pointed ears was a golden hoop. It shined and dangled and sparkled and-
It was a Piglin ritual. A family Piglin ritual. One Techno had promised to take Tommy to when he saved up enough for the two of them to get piercings. One that Techno had left Tommy behind to do by himself apparently.
“Looking good Dad,” Wilbur had laughed, because… standing behind Techno with a grin was Phil and-
In his ear…
A matching hoop.
That shined and dangled and sparkled and-
Wilbur nudged Tommy’s side. Tommy startled out of his reverie and looked at the older boy who was grinning.
“It looks nice, right Toms?” Tommy hated being called ‘Toms’, but Wilbur only laughed like he was joking when he mentioned it, so he had stopped trying to correct him (even when it was annoying).
Tommy… Tommy didn’t know how to reply. Honestly… yeah it looked nice, of course it was going to look nice to Tommy, it was gold, but more pressingly Techno wasn’t matching with him, which made it ugly (not as ugly as the feelings growing and festering in Tommy’s chest. Those feelings were ugly and made Tommy feel bad and made him want to shove Phil away and pull that earring out of his ear, because Phil wasn’t sounder. He’d never be sounder!).
Tommy was taking too long to reply, and Techno’s hopeful expression started faltering and Tommy… Tommy couldn’t hurt Techno (no matter how his chest burned with this rejection).
“It looks great, Big Man,” he says (and he can feel the sigh of relief from Wilbur next to him). “I always said hoops would look good on you.”
Techno collapses next to him, practically preening at the praise (preening wasn’t a Piglin thing, Piglins are physical with their affection and their joy, preening was an Avian thing).
“I was worried it was going to hurt, after what Phil said, but you hardly feel a thing. Just a small bit of pressure and then-” Tommy listens to Techno as he describes a feeling Tommy is never going to be allowed to experience. He hangs on to every word knowing this is all he’ll get from this precious family bonding experience.
Somewhen, Tommy doesn’t exactly when, but somewhen Tommy had stopped being Sounder. Maybe it was when Techno stopped watching him overnight, maybe it was when Techno stopped taking him to meet with Tubbo and Ranboo, maybe it was when Techno started to defer to Phil, like Phil was the head of their his Sounder. However it had happened, Tommy… Tommy knew he couldn’t stay here. Not anymore.
Tommy had only suffered through this foster family, but he had struggled through it because Techno was happy with them. He was happy, but he still would have left their foster family for Tommy, so Tommy hadn’t brought up how miserable he was. But now that they aren't Sounder anymore… Now that Tommy was all alone… Tommy can leave (like he’s wanted to from the beginning), and Techno can still be happy without him (he already was happy without him).
Techno doesn’t need Tommy like Tommy needs Techno. Phil and Wilbur had stolen Techno and tossed Tommy to the side. Tommy was going to leave.
He… he couldn’t make it ‘official’. Techno might feel guilty or have some misplaced feelings from being his original Sounder, but Tommy… Tommy knows how easy it would be to run away. Without the constant vigilance from Techno, it would be so easy to sneak out.
Not at night. Phil and Wilbur were still listening out for him (he never gave up on trying to reach his brother).
Not during school hours. The school would call Phil, and everyone would discover far too soon.
But there was a short period of time after school where he could easily escape. First, he had to text Techno, explaining that Phil was picking him up, so he should head home with Wilbur from school. Phil wouldn’t finish work for another two hours and it would take him another half an hour to get home, so Tommy had a few hours to run as far away as possible.
It was shockingly easy, but then… Tommy didn’t have a Sounder anymore. A Sounder would have never allowed for any of this to happen…
It’s 7pm by the time Techno discovers his brother had not been with Phil. It’s 7pm when Techno loses control of his instincts and goes charging out of the house. It’s 7pm, Tommy is still loved and cared for, but it’s too late. It’s 7pm and Tommy won’t be found that night.