Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The golden-furred cat pranced through the roads. It weaved and swerved up and down, eventually making its way up to the top of the wall where a potato farm was located. The cat that was much too large to be a house cat climbed atop one of the avocado trees. It got to the very tippy top before it started jumping from tree to tree as if passing the time by entertaining itself. The golden cat’s eyes seemed a reddish brown, fixed on every little thing it noticed.

The cat paused to stretch on top of one of the trees. It arched its back and yawned, going into a pose that is commonly used in human toga. The cat shook his fur slightly before preparing for the next leap, planting its paws into the leaves and getting into the pouncing stance for a further jump. It pushed off with its hind legs, leaping off of the leaves. It flew through the air, catching its front claws onto the next tree’s branch but the momentum wasn’t enough and the jump just fell short of the tree. The golden cat dug its claws into the branch, shaking the entire tree as it held on to not fall. The cat slowly dragged further down the branch until there was no branch lower and he plummeted down onto the rock floor of the wall.

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The blonde-haired crow stretched his black feathers as he yawned. He looked over to the beds of his children. Both seemed to still be asleep for now. He stretched his neck side to side. He’ll make them breakfast before they get up. He got off of the chair he fell asleep on yesterday after reading the stories to the little ones and made his way towards the kitchen. He opened the door into an almost empty kitchen. Only one corner of it was actually the kitchen but he hadn’t come to decorating it yet. He grabbed his apron from the hook next to the fridge and put it over his head, tying it around his waist with a bow in the back. He tucked his hair into his large hat that somehow stayed on his head as he slept.

Phil admired the fridge door that was covered with photos. The photos from Festa Junina of all the members that attended. Photos of Chayanne, Tallulah, and him during Festa Junina. A photo of Chayanne with a raccoon. A photo of Will and Tallulah together on the wall… how long ago that was now. He smiled bitterly looking over the images. A photo of Chayanne building the potato farm. A more recent photo of the remembrance Tallulah made for Techno. A happy reminiscing tingle crept over his body as he continued staring at the photos. His eyes traveled further to the drawings his kids made, pinned up on the fridge with handmade magnets. He traced a finger over the badly made potato magnet and the poppy magnet. He’d made the magnets to mark who made what drawing but it was quite obvious who made what.

Phil smiled to himself, finally opening the fridge, being careful not to smack his hat with it. Most of what made up the plant were fruit and vegetables, all of the meat being stored in the freezer. There were some nuts, eggs, berries, and even some cat food. With Wilbur who previously lived in the house with them, the cat food held its place in the fridge, ‘for the crunch’ as he put it. Over time Phil sometimes found himself trying out a chip or two. It didn’t taste bad surprisingly, like crackers with an aftertaste of meat. That was only when he felt like really reminiscing. He opened the other door of the fridge, revealing the avocado heaven.

That side of the fridge was strictly the avocado and avocado toast side. His latest count of avocado toasts was approximately reaching two thousand so he hypothesized that they’d need a second fridge. For now, he grabbed four avocado toasts and placed two on each plate. The plates he placed them on were special too. Chayanne and Tallulah had both painted each other and exchanged them as gifts. Those kids. His, kids. It was the best thing that happened to him. Of course, Wilbur was too but he was grown now, he even had a job. A musician, currently on tour. It saddened Phil to see his son leave for so long but he knew he would be back. That fluffy brown cat could never stay away for too long. He will be crawling back onto his favorite place on the couch, groaning and mewling for Phil to scratch his ears.

He chuckled at the memory, positioning the plates on the table. He grabbed two eggs out of the fridge. He prepared the stove, turning the flame on and placing a pan on top. He spread some olive oil in it, letting it warm up before cracking the egg with a knife and pouring it into the pan. He repeated with the other egg, pouring it into the same pan.

After a few minutes, he turned the heat off and scrapped an egg onto each of the children’s plates, next to the avocado toast. He placed the cooking equipment into the sink to wash later, washing his hands. He ruffled his feathers and listened for a second to the equal breathing from the other room. Both kids still seemed to be asleep. He went back into the fridge fetching some walnuts, popping them into his mouth like candy, pouring them into a bowl, and placing it towards the center of the table.

He turned to go and wake up the kids but not before checking the allotted tasks for the day. As the responsible parent of dragon(oids) that he is, Phil has made an allotted task schedule for each week. Just to make sure that they are getting everything required for a fulfilling life despite having no dragon parents.

His tasks for this week were, to take a ride with the kids on bikes. He could definitely do that after breakfast. He decided to leave the other tasks for later in the week. Maybe he would go out and find more turtles for Tallulah (even if she was causing turtle overpopulation) or some raccoons or axolotls for Chayanne.

He walked through the door back into the bedroom. He walked between the beds and chose to wake Chayanne up first. He knelt down on one knee and gently placed his hand on his son’s. “Chayanne, it’s time to wake up.” his voice was sweet as ever, never aggressive towards his children. He saw the dragon; still in humanoid form;’s face twitch as he groaned and stirred. Phil chuckled and ruffled his fingers through the blonde hair identical to his, although with the dyed roots to match his sister's. Chayanne blinked his blue eyes as he woke up, vision still blurry as he sat up and rubbed his eyes with his hands. The young boy stretched his arms out high as he yawned, his black feathery draconic wings stretching along. As he untensed his still asleep joints he looked up at Phil with clearer eyes. “Morning Dad!” wasn’t this upbeat child just the sweetest.

Phil chuckled again, regarding his son with a smile. “Now wake up your sister, I made breakfast, and don’t forget your items and backpack!” He could see Chayanne visibly pout at the mention of him making breakfast. “I’ll wake you up to help me cook next time, promise.” His son visibly brightened at that and hopped out of his bed, still in potato pjs. Phil stood up from the floor and made his way back into the kitchen.

He set up the forks and the tableware as he heard the other little dragon wake up as well. He finished setting up and grabbed another avocado toast from the fridge for himself, sitting down and waiting for his kids to come into the kitchen.

After a while, the door to the kitchen finally opened. First stepped in Chayanne, the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, black-feathered dragon in his dragonoid form, already wearing his skull mask that sat perfectly on his feathery horns, black feathery tail behind him, his duck floaty was in his hands but not yet on. Chayanne held the door as another little dragon stepped in. This little dragon had brown hair and was significantly shorter than Chayanne. She had brown eyes, a darker shade than her hair. Her fluffy horns, wings, and tail all matched the brown fur coat of the father, almost blending into her hair color but slightly lighter. Her red beanie was already on top of her head, slightly drooping to one side.

Phil watched as they instinctively came to sit at the table at their designated spots. Phil reached over the table to Tallulah, carefully adjusting the beanie and tucking a hair strand behind her ear. Though still asleep Tallulah gave him a big happy smile.

“Now, eat up kiddos.” Phil dug into his own food, glancing up to see Tallulah munching on the avocado toast first while Chayanne nibbled the egg. He really loved these peaceful moments. A moment of pure understanding, a moment where they didn’t have to say anything to understand each other, they ate in peaceful silence until all three were done with their food. Phil got off his chair and collected the dirty plates and cutlery. He placed it into the sink, turning to see Tallulah helping Chayanne fasten the floaty around his waist. Chayanne in return tied the wooden flute necklace around her neck for quick and easy access.

He walked back over to the kids, placing a hand on both of their heads and shuffling their hair slightly. “Today, we are starting the day productively with a bike ride!” Phil saw both kids light up as they laughed in their wholesome voices and began sprinting out of the house. He sighed which was followed by a chuckle before following the kids out and to where they kept to bikes.

When Phil got up to the bike parking, both Chayanne and Tallulah were fastening their helmets (Well, Chayanne was fastening his own and Tallulah’s). He picked his bike up from the ground where it lay, shaking some dust off of it. He realized how long ago they had taken a ride, they needed to do this more often. He grabbed his own helmet, he needed to set a good example regardless of whether the children were already doing the right thing. He fastened it around his head, hopping onto his bike. He watched as Chayanne helped Tallulah onto hers and as Chayanne got onto his own.

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Phil drove slightly in front of the children, glancing behind him to make sure no one was going to end up tumbling into the potato farm or that no one was going to take a free dive off of the wall. It was a peaceful morning, no rain, warm sun, and it was very pretty. He heard Tallulah and Chayanne talking behind him and decided to let them have their time, driving slightly ahead. He glanced over the automated farm. The amount of potatoes they had was plenty but getting them was less for the actual potatoes and more for the concept of the potatoes, if that makes any sense. Phil continued pedaling, checking the leaves above for any ready avocado though he didn’t see any.

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Phil turns his gaze back onto the road. He noticed a large creature lying in the road. He slowed his pedalling and stuck a hand out back telling the kids to stop. They saw the signal immediately and broke. Phil soon stopped his bike completely as well. “Stay back,” he whispered to the children as he slowly inched towards the animal. As he got closer to it the more it looked like a lynx or a bobcat, although it had a unique golden fur coat.

Finally, Phil was towering just above it, examining the seemingly asleep or unconscious animal. It didn’t look like a bobcat or a lynx up close. More like a house cat sextupled in size. He crouched down next to the cat and stared at it before bringing up a thumbs up to let the kids know it was okay to come near.

Chayanne is walking in front of Tallulah, still cautious. They circle around to where Phil is crouching next to the animal. Tallulah’s breath hitches. “Can we keep it?” she practically mewled out as she was on the verge of happily bouncing up and down at the new furry friend. “It has such pretty fur!” Tallulah looked over the cat.

Phil sighed, there was no getting out of this one since it was already up on the wall. He took his backpack off of his back and dug through it, bringing out a special mob trap. He placed it on the ground. Walking closer to the animal didn’t seem to wake it up, alert it, or even stir it. Phil continued testing the waters. Running a hand into the silky fur. It felt heavenly like actual silk or peacock feathers stacked row after row and shining a bright golden hue. Finally, after experimenting enough, he hoisted the large cat by its body carefully picked it up, and placed it in the trap.

To Phil’s confusion, the trap didn’t activate. He glanced at Tallulah and Chayanne who also seemed confused. Phil turned back to the golden cat. He looked over it more closely this time. His eyes scanned its body until they landed on its front left paw. Compared to all other paws, it looked slightly bent out of shape to an extent and extended further. Inspecting the cat even further he noticed the amount of dust in its fur and the build-up of oil. Maybe it hadn’t bathed in a bit. Phil glanced at Tallulah again who was giving him puppy dog eyes with those deep brown eyes.

He sighed. Never could he be defeated by anything but a child’s pleading look. He looked over the cat for the best way to carry it back home. He carefully knelt down, back to the animal, and dragged it onto his own back. His wings wrapped around the cat as best as they could. He caught his breath as he stood up. He didn’t expect this animal; even though it was larger than him; to be this heavy. “Chayanne please grab my bike and walk it back with yours, Tallulah you walk yours.” Both kids nodded, Tallulah a lot more excited. He chuckled and huffed at the same time as they began walking.

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Phil drew a breath in, he panted another breath out. This was like lifting two sets of 40 in a row. Maybe worse. But this cat was incredibly heavy. They finally managed to get it inside the house through much struggle with the door frame. Phil immediately headed for the bathroom, assuming that Chayanne and Tallulah would park the bikes and follow behind. He opened the bathroom door with a struggle and managed to get inside somehow. Walking into the large shower area, he placed the cat down on the floor. It was lucky they had a large bathroom with a tub and a shower area. It was better to wash this kitten (definitely not a kitten) before looking at the wounds.

He grabbed the shower head, still fully clothed, and turned it on pointed at the ground, away from the animal. He switched it on. Steaming hot water poured out but soon evened out. He turned the shower head towards the cat, but there was still no reaction even as the water dripped onto the feline except for the rising and falling of the cat’s chest. Phil crouched next to the animal, making sure every bit of fur ended up wet, covering its ears as he went over that area making sure no water made it inside somehow. The cat’s golden fur was soon soaking wet and turned a darker and duller shade of gold.

Finally, Chayanne and Tallulah came into the bathroom. “Tallulah mind bringing the soap?” Phil asked, to which Tallulah responded by immediately placing the soap into his hands, except it wasn’t soap. It was the shampoo that Wilbur used, a special cat fur one. “Oh- that's actually better, thank you Tallulah.” he gave her a reassuring smile before turning back to the cat. He placed the shower hose down letting it continue running as he spread the shampoo onto his hands and rubbed them together until it bubbled. He carefully applied the shampoo to the fur of the cat, rubbing it in carefully. The way his hands glided along the wet fur was almost satisfying, a very nice experience overall. He shampooed the entire cat, making sure he missed no spots, putting more on the spots that were more dirty. He grabbed the shower again, rinsing the cat off. The shampoo flooded off of the fur and down into the shower drain. Phil who has been having to hold onto the cat to be able to turn him to all sides, is very soaked. He’d have to wash all of his clothes too. “Chayanne.” he turned to his son. “Mind getting two towels?” Chaynne just nodded, grabbing Tallulah’s hand and leading her to come with him too.

Phil flipped the water off and Chayanned came back with towels, he used one to wrap himself along with his soggy clothes that he would pull off later. The other he wrapped the large cat in. Again he hoisted it onto his back with the help of his kids now that the cat was safe to touch. He carried it all the way to his own bedroom, where the medkit was located. Phil placed the cat onto his warm bed/nest and took out the med kit under his nightstand. Due to Wilbur, being a quite chaotic, and expressive child, he would get hurt. A lot. He would often get hurt in his cat form as well. Phil took the pain-numbing medicine out of the medkit along with an ice pack.

He stared at the cat contemplating for a moment before carefully opening its mouth with one hand and placing the pill onto his pointer finger carefully placing it towards the back of its tongue. He closed the cat's mouth again and gently rubbed it under its chin and neck. Usually, Wilbur would swallow if Phil did that. A soft purr exuded from the cat. Phil smiled, placing the ice pack onto the cat’s paw. A job well done, now all they needed to do was heal the cat up and welcome it into the family as with all other animals of Tallulah's.

Chapter Text

He savored the sweet dream. The soft warmness on his fur. The gentle massaging of his head. He almost felt like it was entirely real. He blinked open his eyes, realizing he was out on some field. He looked up only to find his vision revealing a blurry figure above him. He nuzzled into the touch, looking up at the figure.

His nose twitched slightly, he felt a feather tickle him. It was a quite soft feather, almost like someone was trying to tickle him awake. He realized his eyes were still shut tightly. He carefully squinted one eye open. The last thing he recalled before the dream was missing that tree by a smidgen.

In front of his nose, he saw a black feather, which was connected to a pair of wings. These wings belonged to the figure on the edge of the bed, facing away from him. He opened his eyes now fully, inspecting the figure. It was a blonde-haired man, what he assumed from the make-up. The figure seemed to be tugging off his clothes that looked sogged with water. He shifted his gaze away from the man instead onto his own fur. It was also damp as if recently washed.

His gaze traveled lower through his damp golden fur, falling onto the ice pack lying on his paw. He realized his leg was numb there. He tried lightly shifting it without alarming the bird. Immediately he was struck with the pain in his foot, he immediately gave up on trying to move it for now. His gaze traveled back to the figure changing. The man had already replaced the wet clothing with a new set of almost identical fabric.

He saw the figure starting to slowly turn. He shut his eyes quickly, leveling his breathing to appear asleep. He felt a warm hand brush his fur before the weight lifted off of the side of the bed the man was on. Where was he? He heard the man call out to someone else in the house before promptly leaving and shutting the front door. Immediately his eyes shot open and he sat up in bed. He stretched across the bed, shifting to get the numbness of relaxation out of his paws. His hind paw still hurt a lot but it's not like he couldn’t use his other three. He realized he was still in his cat form... In a strange house. Did some human,–no scratch that–did some hybrid find him wherever he landed and take him home?

He should definitely be doing his presidential duties but that can wait. He needed to assess the situation first. So he knows there is an older man with black feathers, some bird hybrid perhaps. There must be another person in the house at least judging by the man speaking to someone else. He carefully waddled to the very edge of the bed–it was a huge bed, could fit at least 4 of him on it–and jumped down carefully, making sure to land only on his healthy legs while tucking the sprained one in. He heard a thunk on the wood behind him, he turned his head, spotting the icepack that dropped to the floor. He sighed and grabbed the icepack into his maw, he’d find some way to attach it securely along the way.

He sniffed the air, smelling a mix of different smells. A smell of avocado mixed with the odor of a crow appears that the man was a crow hybrid. He also smelled some other cat scent mixed with another unknown. How many tenants occupied this house? He carefully adjusted the ice pack in his mouth that was numbing his gums making sure his sharp teeth wouldn’t pierce the pack.

He limped his way to the door of the room, turning a final time to look over the entire bedroom. From the door, he stared around. He realized the bed was more like a nest of sorts, the round stick frame gave it the feeling of a real bird nest. There was a lot of greenery around, as well as many habitats with bugs. In the corner a box out of which shiny things spilled out of, it fit a crow. Next to the nest bed was a Nintendo Switch in its charging port, turned off and completely drained of charge. An armor stand stood to the other side of the bed, closer to the large window. On the stand hung up was an armor that looked an obsidian color with a green cloak and a staff. It looked important and royal. Why was there battle armor in such a... cottage-like house? Especially in times of peace, he made sure of that.

He shook the idea off for now and lightly shoved the large rounded wooden door aside with his head. The wooden planks in the bedroom melted into the grass. As he stepped onto the dirt-covered floor he almost had to double check he was still in a house. It looked more like a garden of sorts. His paws felt calmer on the cooling soil, he brushed his tail across the door to shut it again.

There were two beds in the middle of the room, placed very symmetrically along the room. Next to the beds were chests that still stood open, someone must’ve recently removed something from them. Around the room were various work benches and many drawings that looked to be made by children. He strutted up to one of the drawings, tilting his head causing the ice inside the pack to tilt with him.

He heard a light chirp behind him, his ears raised to alert. He jumped back carefully twisting his gaze on the thing that made the noise. It was… a turtle? Inside a house… How interesting. It didn’t smell like a Proteus or a Theria. It was just a normal turtle. He lightly tapped the turtle’s shell with his paw, its limb retracted back into the shell leaving only the tail pocking out. His ears relaxed but stayed up on his head. Guess this family has a bunch of pets. Wait- was he? No, they must've just taken him in to treat him. He left the turtle be, prancing over to a set of chests. He walked past the large globe on the wooden stump center of the room, what a unique accessory.

He placed his paw onto the latch and raised the lid of the chest. Inside were a bunch of other images, all featuring at least one of two dragonoids. There was also a lot of arts and crafts. He grabbed some tape from the chest. He somehow managed to hook it out of the chest with a paw even while standing on one hind leg.

He stared down at the scotch tape. Ugh. He dropped the icepack from his mouth, letting it drop to the floor. Using his teeth he unwrapped a piece of tape and stuck it onto the icepack, trying hard not to touch the sticky side with his fur (which was proven difficult from the length of his fur). He moved the icepack as close to his leg as he could before wrapping the tape around his leg twice. He realized what a horribly uncomfortable position he was standing in while doing this, the faster he tapped it, the better. He clutched onto the tape with his teeth and ripped the remainder off.

This was some shit DIY but now he didn’t need to somehow keep the icepack attached to the skin differently. He shook his leg lightly, he’d have to step on it now with the new weight. Oh well. He continued gazing around the room. Yet again like in the bedroom, plants were everywhere and mostly on the ceiling. Explained why everything smelt so nice.

He trotted over to the armor stand, glancing behind it, into the corner. How odd. There was a..? Trap door? Interesting. Maybe it was a secret. Or just a basement. Or just storage. Who knows? But his interest was piqued.

He jumped onto the trapdoor. It didn’t fly open though and stayed shut. Hm. He glanced around and spotted a button. Ooo! He pressed the button with his paw. The trapdoor flew open from under him and he was sent tumbling down the stairs. To add more injury to injury.

Finally, to the bottom of the stairs, he just lay there for a second, huffing. God, why was he this clumsy? He got up. Nothing felt broken or sprained- well more sprained than before. He stared around the basement.

It had no plants here at all. Just a lot of wood, workbenches thrown around, and a lot of backpacks lining the shelves. What a… secure room just for storage. He was about to consider it as unneeded until he remembered his own vault. He disregarded that and instead sniffed the air.

The air smelled of the crow yet again along with the two other similar-ish scents, he assumed by now they were the draganoids in the photos. Richarlys would probably like more friends. Maybe he could introduce him- only after getting to know them of course. His nose scrunched up when he smelled a faint scent. It was like the smell of death, not in a bad way like rotting but just the smell of something undead. Did someone else live in this house? Hm. It was very stale though, the owner of this smell must be away from this house for a while. Maybe a one-time resident? But the faint scent was still prominent, couldn’t be one time. He shook his fluffy head, the golden fur spreading around him. He’d consider all of this later.

First, he needed to get out of this place and get back to the coziness of that garden bedroom, or maybe the crow’s fluffy room. It’s not like he would stay here long anyway. His recovery would take utmost a month. They probably wouldn’t want an injured animal to deal with for a solid month.

He went back to the staircase and away from the rows of backpacks (even though he smelt food in some of them). Traversing the staircase was easier than falling down it. He made it to the top with the trap door. There was no second button on the inside. He just blinked his reddish eyes, staring around confused. He tried pushing on it with a paw. Huh. The door unlocked slightly before locking down again when he stopped pushing. He got up as close to it as he could and placed both front paws on it, clenching his jaw from the pain in his hind leg that held all of his weight. He pushed on the trapdoor as hard as he could, which with his size would be likely stronger than a few humans.

The trapdoor came open and he quickly rushed through it before it shut under him. He sighed. Finally, he was outta there. For some reason that smell of death was… disturbing him. Maybe even worrying. The crow that helped him- what if he didn’t know about this other person? He’d let him know when he came back… somehow.

But right now his joints were feeling stiff. Especially his human form. It was about time he needed to switch back (being a cool feline also needed some downtime). By now, it was like second nature. Like moving a joint, except it is the rearranging of all the joints and bones and other things in your body. He shut his eyes. It wasn’t painful at all either. Regardless when he opened his eyes again he was back in the human form of the president of Quesedilla Island, Forever. He stretched out his muscles and bones. His golden blonde hair in a loose braid cascaded down his back. His eyes were a brighter red than in cat form. His human ears are ever so slightly pointier.

He continued stretching. How long was he out? It couldn’t have been too long. He wondered when the inhabitants of the house would be back. When he got to stretching his leg, he realized the icepack was still taped onto it. He did register the slight ache in his leg still. Human sprains were different in a way from cat ones. He didn’t know exactly how but oh well.

And then Forever looked down at himself. He wasn’t exactly clothed. As he remembered the after-effects of shifting, the cold finally caught up to him. He needed to get clothes stat. Carefully making sure not to put too much weight onto his leg, he made his way to the crow’s room again. He couldn’t exactly put on the clothes of the dragonoids since they seemed young. He opened the large door, walking into the well-decorated room again.

Immediately going for the closet, ducking under the wide window. Inside he found pairs of clothes that looked exactly the same, except for a pair of loose green flowy pants. He tugged them off of the hanger and dragged them on. Issue averted. He turned back to the bed again and just face-planted into it. Why is this bed so soft? The golden-haired got comfortable in the bed and searched for the blanket. He didn’t see one on the bed but once he looked under one of the nightstands, he found a soft and fluffy blanket. It looked unused for a while. What does that crow use to cover up?

He got back onto the bed with the blanket now, shuffling into it and closing his eyes. This was such a comfortable bed, like a giant cloud. Finally, a bed that could fit his entire body in both forms. He’d have to get one like this or stick around for a while. With his eyes shut and in such a comfortable place, he began to dose off again. And he fell asleep again.

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The blonde crow yawned as he walked back into the house. Tallulah and Chayanne were both happy after their trip to the gallery and after tea time. He chuckled as he watched them scurry around the front yard through the windows. He let them be for now. He glanced towards the kitchen. He didn’t need to cook yet, plus Chayanne would get mad that he didn’t invite him again. He chose to just go through his photo chests. He walked over to one of the chests with an already open cover. He grabbed a few photos from the stack of hundreds and sat back on his chair behind the large globe.

He smiled as he flipped through them. Guess he was feeling extra nostalgic with Will returning soon. Phil suddenly remembered. Missa was coming back before Wilbur. Which means he’ll be back soon. He can’t wait to see that skeleton. He needed to smooth things out after the incident, but all in due time.

After a few minutes of going through the photos, Phil got up from the chair and placed the photos back into the chest, letting the lid smack down and shut.

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Forever jolted awake. He realized he had been drooling while huddled close. The loud noise startled him awake. His gaze flew to the open door into the garden-esque room. Shit. He quickly molded back into his feline form, the loose green pants covering his full body. Ooh- the pants were quite soft on his fur, it felt nice. He purred as he rubbed his head against them. He realized he wasn’t just covered by the pants but by the blanket too.

His ears perked up when he heard the footsteps turn from being on the dirt to being on the wooden boards of the bedroom. He closed his maw realising he was still purring against the soft fabric. Forever heard a giggle above him.

Suddenly the covers are pulled away from over his head and the light seeps slightly through the green pants. He can see the silhouette of the crow above him with his wings. A hand made its way through the waist opening and found the golden fur. Another hand also entered and gently held onto the cat, lightly tugging him out of the pants. Forever, now out of the fabric and in his cat form again, looked up at Phil who was holding him under his armpits.

Forever saw the Crow’s face for the first time. He swore he knew this person. He looked like his ex, Brunim, but he also looked like someone else. He looked like the biggest investor in his government, Philza Minecraft. Was he his biggest supporter? And now he saved him too. Forever realized he was still held with his lower body just hanging below. He got embarrassed and ducked his head. Another laugh sounded from Phil. Forever looked back and saw that bright smile, the black feathers on the edges of Phil's face making a perfect blend of skin to feathers. Forever swore this was the most beautiful thing he had laid his eyes on. The way he giggled was so sweet, and the way he looked at him was so soft. He felt safe. Protected.

Forever snapped out of it when the Crow fell back onto the bed, laying the large feline on top of him. Forever froze. He was now placed on top of this crow, laying on top of him. He swore he could feel his skin redden beneath the fur. Phil would be the death of him. Phil ran a hand through the cat’s fur, letting it linger in between the fluffiness. A purr coursed through Forever’s body, rumbling in his neck. He released some of the tension in his joints and relaxed, letting himself lay comfortably on Phil’s chest. Phil let out another chuckle, Forever felt it through his chest, it was a comforting feeling. He continued purring, just curled up on the Crow’s chest.

While in the warmth and embrace of the wise and rich crow, he heard the front door open and shut. The voices of young children followed and into the room, ran two little draganoids. One seemed older than the other. Phil’s head perked up at the notice of the kids. The brown-haired one stepped closer to Forever than the blonde, staring into his red eyes. Phil laughed again. “Come on Tallulah, try petting him.” he nodded lightly towards the cat still splayed on top of him.

Tallulah stepped closer, lightly placing a hand on Forever’s head. She scratched the cat, another purr. A small smile appeared on her face as she continued petting the cat before her hand caught on something. “I think its fur is knotted.” She said in a small voice, trying to find the knot with her hand again. Phil looked down at Forever.

“Guess we’ll have to give this one a groom.” The blonde crow looked up at the other child who was standing awkwardly to the side, just observing his sibling play with the cat. “Chayanne, could you fetch two brushes and some spray?” The older blonde dragonoid snapped out of his daze at his name and quickly left the room after a nod.

“I wonder how his pretty fur got this knotted” Tallulah said as she continued searching through the golden fur. Forever flinched a bit when she accidentally tugged too hard on a knot. Phil placed a hand on Tallulah’s hands. “How about we wait for the brushes and spray to make sure we brush it out properly.” He gave a comforting smile to his daughter, saying that she might hurt the cat in a better way. Tallulah nodded, instead scratching the cat under the chin.

Chayanne finally came back to the room, two brushes in hand with the spray held by his tail. He walked up to the bed where everyone was and handed the two brushes to Phil, placing the spray onto the bed. “Thank you Chayanne.” Phil smiled at him before picking up a brush and handing it to Tallulah, taking the other brush for himself. “Chayanne, would you mind being the one to spray?” The blonde dragon shook his head and took the spray in hand.

Phil pet Forever again, lightly sliding out from under him, settling him onto the bed gently. He gestured for the kids to climb onto the bed for better angles, and they climbed aboard. “There might be a lot of fur flying, so try not to breathe it in.” The kids nodded. Then the brushing commenced. Chayanne sprayed the fur, and Phil and Tallulah brushed out the knots. Forever held still, trying not to complain too much, a meow there and a hiss there.

Eventually, they bested the knots, brushing them out properly and returning his golden fur to the beauty it usually is. Phil sighed, placing the brush down and running a hand through the soft fur. He looked around, his bed was basically covered in a blanket of fur. “Nice jobs kids, you did great.”

The kids seemed exhausted after that. They placed their equipment down as well. Phil decided he would clean the bed after putting the dragons to bed.

He put the large feline on his head. “You stay here,” Phil swore he saw the cat nod. He dismissed it, noting that he was also tired. He got up, ushering the kids off into the garden-esque room.

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Chayanne took his backpack off and placed it behind his bed, Tallulah following suit. The duck floaty came off and was placed on the edge of the bed. The flute necklace was placed on the nightstand along with the beanie. The two kids settled into their beds. Phil went up to both, planting a fatherly kiss on their foreheads. “Sleep well, and remember,” he paused, “beat the nightmares asses.” That earned a chuckle from Chayanne and a giggle from Tallulah. Phil shut the lights off, giving the globe a couple of spins. “Bedtime story tomorrow kiddos, sweet dreams.” He then left the peaceful and quiet resting place of the dragons.

Phil yawned. He walked into the kitchen. He was so tired, it's been a long day. The dark room, suddenly filled with light from the fridge opening. The crow pulled the cat food out of the fridge, guess it wouldn’t need to wait for Wil to come back to resume its use. Opening a cabinet, he took a bowl out, it was quite deep but he figured the large cat could manage it. He poured the cat food into it, placing it back into the fridge.

Before leaving the kitchen he grabbed another ice pack from the freezer, deciding it was time to switch it out. He tiptoed out of the room, through the garden, and back into his bedroom. The cat was still surprisingly just on the fur-filled bed, waiting patiently. Maybe it used to be someone else’s pet that trained it? Was it actually following Phil’s command? The golden cat perked up as the crow came back into view, it sniffed the air smelling the food.

Phil settled back onto the bed beside the cat, kneeling to grab the medkit with the medicine before letting the cat eat. He took out another pill. He saw the cat already eyeing the food. He placed the pill onto his palm after putting the medkit back. “You gotta swallow this if you want to eat.” The cat's ears shifted, and he sat up from his lying position. It shifted over closer to Phil, begrudgingly licking the pill off of his hand and swallowing it down. Could this cat actually understand human language? How odd.

He gave the cat a scratch before placing the bowl of food in front of him. The cat dug into the food immediately. His gaze traveled to the sprained paw. His eyebrows knit together in confusion. The icepack was… taped? There was scotch tape wrapping the icepack to the foot. He continued just staring at it and blinking. Who- what? Nothing with this cat made sense anyway. As the cat continued munching on the food Phil carefully began peeling off the tape. Somehow not a lot of fur was stuck onto the tape, most of it placed onto the icepack itself. He did have to cut some off, to not have to tear it out.

He finally got the ice pack off along with the tape. He placed the new icepack onto the paw, the cat flinching at the cold but returning to the food. Another yawn left Phil’s mouth as he looked at the clock.

1:30 am

Not too bad of a bedtime. The kitty finished its food and Phil took the empty bowl and placed it on the floor. “Now, bedtime,” he said aloud half to himself and half to the golden cat.

Phil climbed to the center of the bed, the cat to the left of him. He settled onto his side, facing away from the cat and bringing his wings around himself as a blanket. He created a cocoon around himself, warm and cozy. He thought of what to cook with Chayanne tomorrow morning. The avocado toast was without a bargain on the menu. He chuckled to himself before closing his eyes and fading into cozy darkness.

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Forever watched the crow get comfortable and doze off. Maybe he didn’t mind staying just for a bit longer. He still needed to heal regardless. Whether they saw him as a new pet, it didn’t matter. Some more… connections couldn’t hurt. When Forever was sure that the crow was fully asleep, he tapped the big black wings with his paw gently. No reaction. He carefully pawed over to where Phil’s legs were slightly stuck out of the cocoon. The gap was just large enough. The golden cat stuck his head between the wing and Phil, making his way into the warm enclosed cocoon as well. Okay, maybe he underestimated his length because he reached Phil’s head like 2/3 ‘s in with his body. Oh well. It was warm either way. Plus tight spaces are one of the cat’s skills. He ducked his head closer to his body, rolling into a small ball and rotating until his full body was in this wing blanket of sorts.

It was quite warm, he might even fall asleep but after that nap earlier he didn’t feel like it. Right now he wanted to do some bird watching. Or crow-watching in this context. So in this darkness, the red eyes shone slightly focused on the crow, yet still very much cozily cuddled up to him.

Just a newfound favorite activity for Forever.

Chapter Text

'A Fluffy Stray' is going on an [INDEFINETE HIATUS] due to the allegations that have come out regarding Forever. As much as I would like to delude myself into believing it's false, they come from his Twitter and are hard to denounce. I do not support the alleged actions of Forever and this work will be left here either until it is disproved or proved right in which case I will be taking this work down. I thank you all for reading this fic. I will work on other fics and put all Forever related on [INDEFINETE HIATUS]. It was a pleasure getting so much traction on this fic, Thank You.

The au of 'A Fluffy Stray' may be made with a different duo in the far future but for now, it will be left on hiatus.

Chapter Text

…huh? He felt a jab to his side. He stirred from his sleep. What the hell was that? Another blow came this time with sharp claws. It felt like someone was just digging their nails into his side. His eyes flew open, trying to locate the threat.

There wasn’t a threat though. Just the cat that has been staying with them for about a week at this point. Phil blinked, vision still drowsy. He felt another scrape of claws on his side. The cat was… pawing at him? This was certainly a different type of kneading than Wilburs. It’s probably the size. The crow blinked as the cat kept kneading, not even looking up to check if he had woken up. Phil sat up in the bed, startling the cat but as its surprise went down it practically pushed Phil over again as it pounced on top of him and began licking him. 

The blonde-haired man burst out laughing. “Okay, OKAY!” he laughed, trying to push the cat off (which proved difficult since he was smaller than it). The golden cat looked pleased, even smug as it jumped off of the crow and sat down just staring at him. 

Phil wiped the saliva off of his face. He’d gotten used to this by day 7. Around day 3 the cat became incredibly comfortable in the house and established itself head. Phil realized that he’s been calling this one ‘cat’ and ‘it’. What was its gender anyway? Didn’t look particularly female but there weren’t many ways to tell. Phil tilted his head to the side and lowered his gaze. 

He physically couldn’t tell. How many holes does either gender have- He fished his phone out of his pocket (He always has his phone, even if he’s asleep). He opened up Safari and searched wikiHow. He input some keywords like cat and gender and the article popped up. He compared the images to the golden cat.

Okay, this is a male. Well since that’s established… shouldn’t he have a name? Should he let Tallulah name him or name him himself? 

He pondered it for a while. How about just meeting in the middle? He looked out the window, sun high. He woke up quite late, oh well, it was a weekend anyway. He lightly ruffled his feathers, trying to listen closely for the sound of the children. He heard Tallulah and Chayanne splashing around outside, they’d be back in soon. 

He nodded his head to the side, the cat understanding immediately and hopping off of the bed. Phil followed in suit, getting up and stretching his wings out. He made his way into the bathroom where the cat was already seated on the closed toilet lid. Phil got to his usual routine, brushing his teeth, washing through his feathers, drying his feathers, and his usual makeup. Although, his usual routine has shifted… slightly. After washing through his feathers, he also gives the cat a rinse. The cat was slowly becoming more part of daily life.

The more reason to give him a name anyway. This cat was oddly royal-like… carrying himself with poise and confidence. Maybe a meaningful name would suffice? 

He heard the kids coming back in from outside. He glanced at the now-soaked cat next to him. Tallulah would probably have a good name, and Chayanne would pitch a meme as an idea. Oh well. He dried the cat with a towel, thoroughly scrubbing him. When he took the towel off the cat was just fluff.

He was about to pick the cat up and carry it but he remembered the weight of it from the day they brought him here. So he just opted for calling it to come with as he walked out of the room and into the garden of hope and music. 

The two dragonoids were lying on a roll-out mat next to one of the chests. They looked to be busy with something. The second that the golden cat brushed up against Tallulah’s back, she jumped up and gave him a large hug. The kids seemed to grow quickly fond of the cat, even if Chayanne was still gatekeeping his father’s love. Chayanne gave it a light pet still pouting.

Phil walked up with his kind fatherly smile and also sat down on the mat. “Mi huevos, why don’t we finally give this one a name?” Phil suggested, seeing the fire in Chayanne's eyes grow ever so bright.

“Oratrice mechanique-” Chayanne was cut off. “No.” Phil stared at his son. Chayanne sighed, dejected, and slumped back over. 

“How about Sugar?” Tallulah chimed in. Phil thought it was a sweet name but it didn’t fit the cat much. He looked back over at the cat. The golden fur is well-kept and shiny. Like gold. The reddish-brown eyes could be mistaken for rubies. He looked like a cat version of a crown. A true ruler, born leader even. 

“King. Why don’t we name him King?” Chayanne perked up at the name. He nodded approvingly. Phil looked to Tallulah who looked just as excited if not more excited than before. Finally, he looked at the one receiving the name. He swore he saw the cat repeatedly nodding. Like moving his head up and down and up and down. Like actually nodding. Do cats- He sighed, this cat was too much of a wonder.

“King it is.”

—--------------------

His ears perked up the second the name was spoken aloud. King was quite close to the President in a way. He nodded to the name, forgetting he was still a cat. He got up from where he sat and slowly walked over to Phil’s side, brushing up against him and purring. 

The crow looked happy and so did the little dragons. If he needed to stay in cat form forever just to live in this house, he would. He’d grown mighty attached to Phil, and the little ‘huevos’ (as Phil called them). Mostly attached to Phil. Sleeping in the same bed as another man, I mean, you can see how that would happen. He realized what that insinuated and shut the thought down, embarrassed. 

Still weaving circles around the crow he heard a chuckle from above as the crow lightly stroked his fur. He’d gotten far too used to the display of affection from Philza. And much too comfortable with accepting this affection. And showering Phil with cat kisses. And with calling Phil, Phil. 

He continued purring, this time trotting over to Tallulah and settling his head close to where she sat before rolling onto his back, tail wagging. The little brown-haired girl laughed as she immediately got to stroking his stomach. Well, and he got too used to the kids. Maybe he’d stay sick for a while longer. 

His ears perked up when he heard Phil speak. “How about you two go down to the turtle enclosure by your house? I’m sure King wouldn’t mind seeing some other animals.” Hearing Phil refer to him by a different name was odd for sure, but it wasn’t displeasing. Not with the way the name rolled out so sweetly. He hoped that eventually ‘Forever’ would be like that too. 

He noticed Tallulah had already gotten up. He stretched out before flipping back onto his stomach and standing up. He yawned, maybe it would be fun to chase the turtles around for a while. The young dragon was quickly grabbing her backpack and red beanie. Her flute necklace was already fastened around her neck. Tallulah trotted to the front door, turning to wait for him. Before walking over, he turned his head to see Phil waving at them. He cracked a smile to himself before slowly walking after Tallulah as she held the door for him. 

They walked along the side of the wall. How were they going to get down? The first time Forever got onto the wall, he hopped along the side and somehow made it up. The way down is a completely different thing though, especially in cat form. Tallulah paused, he looked down below. A well-decorated region with lots of flowers, a little cabin, and a farm or garden. This must be where Talullah and Wilbur lived. 

He’d caught wind of the stale cat smell when lounging on the couch one night. He also heard Tallulah and Phil having a semi-heated discussion about Phil’s son or Tallulah’s actual father. It turns out she was Phil’s adopted daughter and biological granddaughter. An aspiring musician, a very successful one. Considering he had heard of them he would classify him as successful. 

Forever snapped out of his thoughts when Tallulah pulled out a para-glider. He raised his cat brow. Had Phil taught them such a dangerous activity? “Climb on King!” The young kid said as she pointed to the roof of the glider. Well, this was certainly- different from how he expected to get down. He sighed and bounced onto the roof of the glider. It was surprisingly solid and didn’t give even with his weight.

He settled in and Tallulah from below strapped into it properly. Suddenly he felt the need to instead fly down on Phil’s wings rather than do this. However, the thought came too late as Tallulah pushed off of the ground and sent them soaring evenly. He yowled as he clung to the roof, the wind dragging his fur behind him and smacking into his eyes. Great. Just great. This was normal. A kid aged like- what 10? was flying a paraglider with a massive cat on top. Awesome.

Oddly enough, when he glanced over the roof and down at Tallulah she was laughing and enjoying the air time. He let a huff out, he’d deal with it for the kid. He wouldn’t allow such… fear? No. He wasn’t scared. He was Forever, the president of this island. And now he was also King.

Forever’s claws dug into the roof as the glider experienced some turbulence as Tallulah made a hard U-turn. They were just above the trees now, it was impressive how fast they got down from the top of the large wall. The roof of the cabin was now just slightly ahead. Tallulah pointed the glider up, cutting the wind and carrying them off. This also forced Forever to hook his paws around the roof, clinging with his claws. GOD THIS WAS SO DANGEROUS. If Richas got hold of this object, he would go wild. Very wild. 

However, against his fears, Tallulah just easily landed them on the roof of the cabin, the glider landing peacefully without damage to the roof or to the glider. He let out a relieved sigh. He was never doing this again (without Phil’s supervision). 

He hopped off of the roof. From one roof to another. The cabin roof was also solid. How much time did the person building this spend? He paused. Wait where did the glider come from- he didn’t see Tallulah carrying it-. He turned back to where he just jumped off the glider. Annnndd it was gone. Why even question where it-

His gaze fell onto Tallulah who was stuffing something into her backpack. He swore it looked like the corner of the glider. Why did nothing make sense in this family? He shook his head, before meowing to get the dragon's attention. After zipping up her bag, Tallulah looked up at Forever. She nodded silently understanding the cat’s impatience. She smiled before going over to the edge of the roof. Well, now they were both stumped. 

Forever thought of a stupid but genius idea. He got Tallulah’s attention again, before crouching down a bit lower. She stared at him confused. He huffed before trotting closer to her and crouching down again, jerking his head backward. She still looked confused. He felt the need to face-palm. He walked behind her before she could turn around. He lightly nudged her sideways. She seems to have finally understood. She looked worried. 

He huffed another breath through his nose. Tallulah eventually complied. Climbing onto the big golden cat and carefully hugging him to not fall off. Forever really didn’t see why she was so scared. He trotted to the edge of the roof and fearlessly hopped off and onto a nearby tree. The brown-haired fledgling dragon shut her eyes as she held on tight. Forever hopped easily from tree to tree, making sure to keep his hurt paw up and not to accidentally use it. 

Eventually, they reached the ground. Tallulah got herself off of Forever but instead of looking scared and relieved to be down, she looked happy. She looked like she could burst out giggling and just topple him over with hugs (which she exactly did). Forever purred but got out from under the dragon. Right now, he wanted to see those turtles. Maybe some of them could be like him… which was unlikely. 

Tallulah seemed to get the hint and started skipping over in a specific direction. He followed her. Forever was kind of grateful that Tallulah was more action than word person. It felt comforting. 

He spotted a wooden gate. As well as a bunch of purples outside of the gate- how the hell did they get out? Tallulah didn’t seem surprised and just picked them up in one hand, opening the gate with the other. She held the gate long enough for Forever to come in before letting it shut, locking it, and letting the turtles go. 

Forever stared at the hundreds of turtles. Were they breeding them for a purpose or- How the hell did they even get so many?! WHERE the hell did they get so many?! Forever had a lot of questions.

His question-filled thoughts however were disrupted by a turtle clamping their mouth shut on his tail. He spun around and yanked it from its mouth. He hissed at the turtle, giving it a light swat between its eyes. He heard Tallulah chuckle. She seemed to have set down on the ground and lifted the flute around her neck to her lips. She began playing a soft tune that sounded a lot like a song he heard Phil sing as a bedtime story one time. It went something like ‘Creeper, aw man!’

The turtles seemed to just like crawling in any direction. He pranced around their large underground enclosure. There wasn’t a lot of stepping room between all these turtles scurrying around. He never actually stepped on any though, just lightly tapped them before taking a step back or lifting his paw again. He would probably squash them easily if he even slightly applied pressure to them. 

He settled for going back to where Tallulah sat with turtles around. He settled next to her, shuffling onto his side so his back was to her leg. A nap definitely wouldn’t hurt. And with such soothing music, he couldn’t do anything but close his eyes and melt into rest.

He felt something or someone poking him. He stirred from his sleep. He cracked his eyes open to see Tallulah standing and lightly poking him to wake up. He stretched and yawned, rolling onto his stomach. 

“C'mon, Dad asked me to help him get some cat stuff, Chay will look after you.” Tallulah walked to the gate and opened the gate walking out before Forever and closing the gate. Forever spotted no turtles getting out but he bet the next time anyone came back to check, some would be out.