Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There was a time where Tommy used to love watching the sky. With its brilliant sunsets, and spiraling blanket of countless stars that he could never remember the names of. He remembered trips, walks, and hikes where he would travel far from the bright lights of the city so that he could stare up at those shimmering star lights without the pollution clouding his vision.

Even now he wished he could see them, not the strange twists of foreign light he saw so infrequently now, no he wanted to see that familiar night sky from earth. With his feet solidly on the ground.

While he’d always loved to SEE the night sky, and watch films involving its vast expanse, he had never actually wanted to GO to space. He had been more than content on the solid surface of his home world, where everything was familiar. The sprawling forest near his home city, the alleys, stores, shops, and that one old lady in the bakery named Clementine. Clem who always gave him free pastries when he dropped by. Those woods with their familiar scent of sticky sap, and the thick scent of the earth beneath his feet. The smell of his home. All of that was gone now, his whole world light years away, just because he wanted to look at the stars he’d been staring at for 15 years. Replaced by a new set of stars for another series of years, but not by choice.

Yea that's right, looking at the stars had given him new ones to look at, because Big Man Tommyinnit? Yea, looking at the stars had gotten him kidnapped, and not by some creeps in the woods no. Tommyinnit would never be taken down by such normal means, no Tommy had gotten kidnapped by aliens.

And so at the wondrously mature age of 17 while watching the stars, Tommyinnit the Biggest of all Men got himself kidnapped by aliens. Brilliant, truly.

Still he will admit this latest cell is kinda cool. Well it was bland like most cells obviously, but it also wasn’t white or gray like human jails cells. It was a sort of cream peach color lit by a warm dull orangish light, a warm light that kept the only other interesting thing in the cell alive. Flowers hung in a strange sort of lattice across the ceiling, they were a deep almost red pink, and every once in a while they’d release a yellowish spore like dust into the room. Which, while the stuff seemed to make him sneeze a lot and smells slightly of how he imagined chloroform would smell, were more annoying than anything else. He had the oddest feeling though that they were probably supposed to do more than that, mostly based on what the weird aliens who’d kidnapped him had done when they’d first checked on him after they’d thrown him in here. Cause when he’d woken up after that encounter and nearly broken the door down, the aliens who’d been on the other side of the glass door watching him had seemed both extremely surprised and downright terrified.

It was especially funny for him when a pair of the stupid aliens had come in with cattle prod looking things in hand (Which rude! He isn’t a cow, besides even if he was, cows deserve better than that honestly), only to immediately pass out. Apparently that's what the flower things were for and unlike him they weren’t immune. Hah! Take that wimps another win for big man Tommyinnit!

Like seriously. A flower knocked them out? He’s heard of flowers on earth being used as herbs and teas n’ shit. But to knock people effectively out? Weak!

A few other alien’s dragged their bodies out minutes later just when Tommy was getting bored enough to start poking the unconscious ones, but these other alien’s were apparently smarter and were wearing some weird gas mask so as to not immediately drop dead. Actually did the spores kill them? He hadn’t really been able to tell if they had been breathing or not. They look so… weird. Freakishly tall and bony, with skin a porcelain white, perfectly smooth round heads, with different numbers and styles of horns, no faces, deadly looking claws, and joints that aren’t actually connected and just sorta….float. Basically over all they were some pretty eldritch looking things.

H-he hates looking at them. After all they are the reason he’s here on this latest ship. The ones that prodded a-and tested him before they’d shoved him into this….well admittedly this pretty ok cell, all things considered. For such tall twerps, they have such brittle legs and arms. In his first round of testing before they figured out how to properly restrain him he’d managed to take four of them down before they got a needle in him. Admittedly the rest after that point was pretty hazy, but he’s pretty sure he also took another one's arm on his way down. Serves them right. Fuckers.

After that they’d always taken extra precautions with him before taking him in for testing, but the gas only worked once before he started getting used to it, much to the things panic, and their armor was largely ineffective against him, so he generally managed to always get in at least one hit before they could drag him off for testing.

Since he can't really tell the stupid things apart, he is also unsure if he’s ever…killed any of them. He has tried to tell them apart by the horns and colored markings, but as far as he’s been able to tell all the ones he’s attacked have never come back. Maybe they just take longer than humans to heal? Like he’s never actually broken a bone before but surely it can't take that long to heal?

Well actually scratch that, he remembers having a teacher- his name was Sam, he’s an awesome dude- and he broke his arm. Needed a cast for at least 2 months. So maybe they are still healing.

He doesn’t know how much time passed so he’ll give them the benefit of doubt. Maybe it’s only been a week? Maybe a month? He honestly doesn’t know anymore and it’s starting to unnerve him, this endless passing of time that he can’t track properly.

Luckily they seemed to have mostly gotten tired of trying to test him, or maybe they were just running out of people. Eh. Either way, he’s recently discovered he isn’t the only prisoner on this ship, since last round the drugs had worn off enough that he could see and move his head a little as they dragged him back to his cell. He’s apparently in a massive cell block that goes on for at least three halls of cells nearly identical to his, just varying in size, all with the same flowers in them, and all seemingly unconscious.

So yea maybe it was odd that he was the only one conscious, but honestly he was probably just that big of a man. The fools must have expected him to pass out like the other aliens hence their extreme reactions to him being awake, and sure granted that at first the smell of the things had given him a massive headache and the strongest urge to sleep. But after a nap he’d found that the flowers no longer bothered him and honestly just smelled kinda nice.

Anyways here he was, sitting in this stupid cell, staring at the flowers and trying not to breathe in the spores. Sure they don’t put him to sleep, but they do make him sneeze and he isn’t exactly a fan of that, ok and sure he could put his blanket over his face so he doesn’t have to sort of dance around them, but well……it's something to focus on while…..while he waits…..

Ok so maybe he’s a little on edge from the past few days (he thinks) since the testing has petered out. He doesn’t know what the aliens plan to do with and he’s nervous ok! After the first day (maybe) He had started shouting, yelling, and cursing with all the curse words he’d ever learned at them. He gets fed at least twice every……’cycle’, and he doesn't really know what it is, other than well meat. Cause it's definitely meat. The first time they had tried to feed it to him raw, the blue flesh sitting in a stinking pool of purple blood on his plate, and the unmistakably sweet smell of rotten flesh came from a blackened part of it. He flat out refused to put it anywhere near his mouth, and kept refusing until he was at the brink of starvation, only then did the aliens give it to him in a different form. Still nasty but he could tell by the slight char that it was cooked. So yea nasty mystery meat, his only form of sustenance, truly he lived like a king in this cell.

Well not only he supposes, cause he is also given one weird bag of water a ‘day’. It’s the size of his forearm so it’s a decent amount honestly. But still not enough to completely satisfy him. Like sure he’d live, it's not gonna kill him, but it's still not ideal. So because he’s the great Tommyinnit, he stores at least half of them, hidden in his blankets, in the event that even this meager blessing will be taken from him.

Overall, his situation could be SO much worse. It’s still not a great situation, but he’s not being tortured or poked anymore, and he’s scared the aliens pretty damn well. If he does say so himself.

He’s already tried breaking out, and only once had he gotten close. It involved a whole lot of adrenaline, brute strength, and surprise. At the beginning during his first few days in this cell, he’d managed to work up enough adrenaline to charge at the glass in between himself and the aliens, when they’d come with more weapons than usual and their body language murderous. They’d looked ready to kill him, and well Tommy had always been more of a fight person, so in his panic and rage he'd thoughtlessly charged the glass that let them see into his cell.

The sheer force of his momentum, and his sudden inability to feel pain or fear (blessed adrenaline his beloved), allowed him to ram into the glass a grand total of three times before the constant shocking of their stun guns had finally managed to subdue him. They’d ended up changing his glass to something thicker while he was knocked out and he had a suspicion it had something to do with the crunching sound and spider webbing of cracks he’d seen in the glass before he’d passed out.

Honestly he didn’t think the thicker glass would be much of a problem with how fast the first stuff had begun to break down, not with how little pain he felt when high on fear. Still, so far nothing has scared him enough to get his adrenaline pumping enough for another attempt. So maybe that's a moot point.

Lost in his thoughts he hadn't really been paying attention to his pacing and now found himself feeling rather tired. Sighing, he lays back down on the blankets, if he can even call them that. They're more like rags, old, torn and smell faintly of some type of oil? He knows it’s clean (As he could get it with spare water) but the smell clings to the fabric.

His boredom is slowly bleeding into sleepiness, and he abruptly finds his eyes shooting open with a strange sound, he honestly doesn’t know when he fell asleep. Maybe he hadn’t it honestly could have been more of a trance really, half asleep, half awake. Anyway, he’s feeling sleepy, he’s just gonna close his eyes again, mhmmm…..He was rudely interrupted from trying to return to sleep by a resounding echo of some clangs and clings. The guards must be back.

That’s odd, they’ve already given him his food and water earlier, are they going to try getting him out for tests? Ha! He’d like to see them try, maybe he could be entertained with this. Maybe even get the surprise attack if he stays still. Make them think he’s sleeping.

With this foolproof plan he just thought of, he stays still, pretending to be asleep. Course, there’s also the chance this has nothing to do with him, and they are just grabbing one of his neighbors, but hey, he’s bored, he can hope.

He can hear them walking closer, along with muffled talking? Though not muffled in the sense of through a wall. But muffled like if he were to put the rags over his mouth and try talking.

He hears a thud, no wait, it’s kinda like a struggling thud, like someone kicked the floor kinda thud. Oh, did they bring in another alien? Now he just feels bad. It didn't seem nice to be stuck in a room and instantly get knocked out because of some flowers.

He’s internally debating the merits of just abandoning his great surprise attack, when he hears his door open. More alien talk that he has no hopes of understanding. Some weird crackling sounds, those are the guards.

Then a warped…. croon?? It’s the best way he can describe, honestly reminds him of those enderman sounds from minecraft.

And some weird humming/buzzing sound? Okay screw the surprise attack plan, he needs to know what the hell is going on.

He shifts and begins to try getting up only to realize he’s managed to tangle his legs in the rags. See, they gave him decently long rags because of his height, which sure might make calling them rags inaccurate, but really it's the only word he can think of to describe the long strips of fabric.

But that's a thought for later, since his movements hadn’t exactly gone unnoticed, and while he can’t turn around to see just yet, he can hear them frantically toss something into his cell. Something that lands with a thud and a more panicked sounding buzz. Before the door closes with a slam, cutting off a trailing screech as whatever made the crooning noise from before protests. Though what exactly it was protesting remains to be seen.

After a solid half minute or so he manages to untangle himself from his own prison and FINALLY see what the hell was tossed in here with him.

As he begins to turn around, he really doesn’t know what he was expecting, maybe new food? Some toy? Hell, some bomb that’ll finally knock him out, but whatever he was expecting it certainly wasn’t this.

“IS THAT A FUCKING BABY ALIEN!?!? ”

He truly was not expecting some alien that looks like a bee, goat, and deer in one gene pool, especially not one this tiny! What even was his life?!

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Chapter Text

“Let go of My WING YOU STUPID MUTATION OF A SPLEEN!”

Tubbo struggled as much as he could against the stupid Dreamons hold but because of his… admittedly small size, he’s not really putting much of a fight. That, and they have a painful hold on his translucent wings.

He kicks, pulls and pushes as much as he can before eventually just tiring himself out as they continue to drag him and Ranboo off to what he assumes are the cells.

Ranboo screeches and tries widening his mouth to bite them but they quickly shoved a muzzle on him and tied his freakishly long arms to his back. Everytime he twitched too much in any of their directions he was roughly poked and shoved.

Tubbo buzzes angrily at them. “You can’t keep us here forever! The second I break out I’m crashing this whole ship!” He received a disgusting rag over his mouth. He tried using his hands to y'know, take it off, but they started tying him in ropes.

“Do we put him in one of the cells?” One of the guards asked the other.

The other shook their head. “No, we only wanted the Enderian, the Anthocapradae is just extra waste. Chuck it in the human's cell, should get rid of the insect” Tubbo froze.

Human? They have a human? How in the galaxy did they get a HUMAN? Humans are way up in the danger ranks of deathworlders. Destructive, vicious, and very adaptive. So much more he can add to that but he kinda wants to focus on one thing they mentioned.

They're going to chuck him in with the human?! His panicked energy comes back and he thrashes to the best he can, with determination to not get ripped to shreds thanks. Ranboo also shrieks and tries escaping their hold.

2 of the guards hold firmly on Ranboo while the one holding him squeezes him where he struggles to breath. He stopped squirming and they stopped squeezing. He coughed into the rag and glared at the one holding him the best he can while being held.

Said guard quickly starts opening a cell and he realizes this is the human's cell.

He peers inside and sees that the room is pretty empty and yknow, a cell. He sees spore flowers at the very top like every other cell they’ve passed by. Luckily (Or maybe unluckily) his species were known to be resistant towards the effects of the hanging flowers, even munching on them occasionally.

He sees a nest of ragged blankets with a lump underneath them, he quickly realizes the lump is breathing.

Fuck, maybe humans aren’t resistant to the spore flowers, maybe they’ll stay knocked out. Yea, surely humans aren’t that adaptive or resistant, he knows they eat poisons and stuff, but maybe they're sleeping and won’t eat him.

The lump shifts upwards.

Shit! The guards noticed it moving and frantically tossed him in the cell. He hits the cold ground roughly, he buzzes in pain. OH fucking perfect! He lands faced away from the human and towards the cell door that’s now closed with a hiss.

“TUBBO!!!!”

Before it closes he hears Ranboos shriek of panic and worry.

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NO!! No No No NO! Dammit he has to get in there, he has to protect Tubbo! Tubbo doesn't stand a chance against a human, especially tied up. If he wasn’t tied up he might be able to sting them and poison them but in his position, he’s vulnerable.

He shrieks, cries, howls. Everything to try and get loose from the stupid dreamon guards. He almost succeeds too before they opened his cell from across the humans and shoved him quickly before shutting the cell tight.

He tries to quickly get up but he quickly falls to the floor. The spore flowers quickly do their work on making him succumb to sleep. He fights it for as long as he can. Looking up to see Tubbo and the human in the cell.

His vision slowly goes black as he sees the human cautiously walking towards Tubbos body. Vulnerable and tied up. It sparks a deep rage inside Ranboo, but even that spark quickly dies out and before he knows it, he blacks out.

Last he sees is the human laying a gentle hand on Tubbos side.

—---------------------------------------------------------------

Fuck fuck fuck FUCK FUUUUUCK!

What does he do?! He’s tied up, faced away from the human with his wings exposed and cold.

He hears the human roar something. sounding sharp and loud. It hurt being that close to its shout.

This is it for him isn’t it? He’s going to get torn apart and eaten. Or maybe it won’t eat him, but he definitely won’t live this encounter. Maybe he should play dead, will it bother him if he’s dead? Plenty of animals play dead and it works, right?

He hears soft footsteps. He starts trembling, his wings making a soft buzzing sound. Fuck, he doesn’t want to die.

He squirms a little, hoping the ropes can get loosened. No such luck. The footsteps get slightly closer, slow and steady. Like a predator creeping up on unsuspecting prey.

Maybe not completely like that but his brain isn’t helping in the slightest, he trembles more and more as the human gets closer.

He can practically feel the heat from how close the human is to his back. He quickly shuts his eyes and can only pray that his death is quick. That it won’t play with him like some predators are known to do.

He feels something warm touch his side and he flinches hard. The feeling is gone. A couple tense seconds go by and it’s back, very hesitant. But gentle, warm.

He feels the lightest of touches on his wing, the wing flings itself away from the touch, trembling and continues making the light buzz sound. He feels a small tug on the ropes. Slowly he opens his eyes, taking a peek at the human that is now in front of him.

It’s scrawny looking, long skinny arms, golden hair on it’s head. His eyes widen more, taking in the human that seems to be curiously looking at Tubbos body.

The human, feeling eyes on it, makes direct eye contact with Tubbo and Tubbo holds his breath and freezes in place. Terrified that the slightest movement will make the human lash out. It has the clearest blue eyes he’s ever seen, intense and bright.

It barks something at him, though not loudly it still makes him flinch at the sound. It spoke again, softer. Making gestures at him, or more accurately, at the ropes. It makes a move to touch him and he lets out a pathetic hum of fear, breathing quite heavily from holding his breath.

It stops, then slowly reaches out again. Not like Tubbo could stop the human, he expects pain, a sharp tug, maybe even a scratch. But instead he felt the ropes loosen. Slowly but surely, the human starts untying the ropes keeping Tubbo in place.

Excuse me, Wot?

Sure enough, after a couple more seconds, with the occasional tug here and weird human language, the ropes are off. He goes to remove the gag on him but the human beats him to it and he tries hard not to instinctively sting the human then and there as it gently gets the gag off his mouth.

And now he’s free from rope, and face to face with a human that he desperately wants to scramble and fly away from if it didn't mean possibly setting the human off.

Stars, what did he get himself into?

Chapter Text

The damn thing was trembling so hard he got worried it was going to break its wings.

He tried his best to be as gentle as he humanly could. Gently laying a hand on the weird alien to let him know he won’t get hurt. Hoping the warmth from his hand would calm him.

He thinks it's a him. He'd rather not call an alien ‘it’ y'know? Treating them as an object. Even if some aliens see Tommy as an animal, he won’t go on that same level.

The alien stays still as he works on untying the rope. He honestly thought they’d use something more advanced than ropes. They have a whole damn spaceship but continue using rope? Then again, he did see the alien under him have some discoloration on his skin. So maybe it’s to make his experience uncomfortable.

Now after helping remove the gag from the alien, they're kinda just… sitting there.

Well, he’s acquired a roommate now.

A small, adorable roommate.

Actually what the fuck is he?

“What the fuck are you?”

No response, he wasn’t really expecting it anyways. It only looks at him, it’s kinda the same look those damn guards give him, he’s scared.

At least he’s not buzzing or trembling anymore, he doesn’t like the idea of this guy being that scared of him.

He’s so weird looking. He has bee wings, yellow tuft/fur around his neck. Deer legs with white spots, all hooved and it kinda reaches to his back and stomach, his stomach staying white while the back is brown. And little horns poking out of his head, barely being seen over his soft brown hair. Black eyes like a bee’s but oddly has a pupil like a goat, all sideways and small. Very faint. And to top it off, small little goat ears, they look very floppy and cute. Actually the more he looks at him the more adorable he gets.

God it’s been forever since he’s had any friendly company that doesn’t try stabbing him with needles and electrifying him. 

He stood up, slowly when he noticed the little thing flinch. He makes a gesture for him to stand as well.

He walks towards his sorry excuse of a bed and hears hooved feet touching ground. He looks over and nearly aww’s. 

He’s so tiny! He barely reaches his hips, 3 feet max! This has to be a kid or something, baby goat horns? Deer legs? The deer legs have spots on them like fucking Bambi.

He lights up at the idea. “Bambi, that’s your name now kid” Bambi. Perfect name. Damn he’s the best.

Bambi looks at him, tilting his head and then tentatively steps forward one foot. When he saw Tommy not making any moves towards him he stepped another foot closer. His little hooves make a soft ‘pat’ sound on the ground.

Tommy gives a smile of encouragement but apparently that was the wrong thing to do because Bambi fucking jumped and stepped 4 steps back, frantically trying to make space between them. Tommy frowns, saddened before quickly shaking those feelings out. Is he seriously this desperate for company that he’s ready to emotionally drop dead because some bee boy doesn’t want to get close to him?

He looks over and he briefly wonders how soft his fur would be.

Yes he is.

He crouches down, hoping that being smaller will ease Bambi. “I’m not going to hurt ya. I woulda done that while you were tied up” Bambi buzzes at him, and doesn’t step forward. Tommy sighs and stands up to walk towards the door again. Let it be known that Tommy isn’t really the most patient human. 

He wonders if anything managed to get stuck and hold the door off.

He bends to check all sides of the door. It’s one of those sliding doors, he knows they are shut tight to prevent the damn spores from those flowers escaping. He fruitlessly tries to see if his nails will hook on something but proves to fail, like every other time. But he ain’t given up. Not yet.

Letting out a loud groan he gets up and takes a glance at Bambi, who has inched closer to his bed before quickly backing away when he sees Tommy coming back to it. 

He’s really skittish huh? Tommy can’t blame him, if he was chucked in a cell with a creature he’s never seen he might be just as scared.

Though he’d never show it, he's a big man, Tommyinnit. The biggest of men. He doesn't get scared, he’d make everyone scared of him! 

He glances at Bambi.

Maybe not everyone.

He sits on the bed again and quickly grabs one of the better blankets and tosses it towards Bambi. He knows bambi won’t come close to him, but he can at least give him something to keep him warm. He knows the cell isn't the warmest.

Turning away from Bambi, not bothering to see if he actually picked up the blanket or not, he decided to rest. There’s not much to do in the cell and he doesn’t want his new roommate to panic. From his experience with animals, you want them to get accustomed to you. Granted Bambi isn’t really an animal, but the same rule applies.

Get Bambi to trust him by letting him know that Tommy isn’t going to attack him, that Bambis presence isn’t a threat to Tommy and therefore Tommy isn’t a threat to Bambi.

He hears light hooved footsteps, they get slightly quieter and stop. Some shuffling then a soft ‘thud’. Curiously, he looks over and sees that the little alien went to one of the corners and laid down with the blanket over him. 

His heart briefly aches at seeing the little guy in the cold corner alone, he really wants to grab him and heat him up with his body heat, he knows insects don’t really do well in the cold. Maybe Bambi is the same, his fur doesn't look too thick besides his neck which has a soft looking tuft.

Bambi looks up and another moment of eye contact before he rips his eyesight away from Tommy and looks down, like he offended Tommy by looking him in the eyes.

Tommy turns away, adjusting until his back is facing Bambi. 

He thinks over the new events and his new roommate. 

Clearly they tossed him in here for some reason, did they want to give Tommy a companion? He would’ve liked to assume so if Bambi wasn’t tied up like some lamb to the slaughter.

His eyes widened as he thought about it. Did they…

Did they purposely toss Bambi in here thinking Tommy would hurt him? They tied him up pretty good, enough that Bambi was completely helpless to defend himself if Tommy really did want to do something to him.

The rope was clearly meant to be uncomfortable, the guards had frantically tossed him in here, roughly might he add, and booked it the second the door closed. Bambi looked and acted scared– no, terrified, of him. Trembling when he tried to get the ropes off him.

Did they want Tommy to kill Bambi? Or at least hurt him? Why the hell would they want to kill something so… so… ADORABLE? And why do they think he’d do anything in the first place? He’s just a kid! He’s never killed anyone before!

Yea he’s fought, bit, screamed and attacked the other aliens, but that’s in defense! They brought that on themselves for trying to hurt him in the first place! He’s 100% in the right and he will fucking SCREAM it at them.

Suddenly his blood boiled, those fucking bastards are trying to use him as some weapon to try and get rid of whoever they want. AND TO A KID! WELL! He’s got news for those fuckers. He isn’t going to be some bloodthirsty wolf on a chain. He isn’t going to hurt Bambi, in fact, to spite them, He’s going to take care of Bambi. If they want him back, TOO BAD! Bambi will learn that Tommy means the best and he’s the biggest man.

The rage turns to determination to show Bambi that he isn’t some feral (okay maybe a little feral) animal that’s going to kill him if he so much as breathes wrong. He’s going to befriend that bee bitch and show those alien fucks who’s boss.

He slowly starts to breathe slower and eyes grow heavier.

And maybe, he can get a friend in Bambi, if he just shows him that he’s a person too.

His eyes shut and he curls up more into the rags to give more heat off.

And maybe they can bust out of this stupid prison and get the hell out of here.

Chapter Text

Trying to tighten the small, ragged blanket around him to preserve any heat is proving to be difficult. At least there’s an upside to being small, compared to the human, these rags fit perfectly around him.

Doesn’t mean they store much warmth though.

His species don’t really have much to make or preserve heat, his home planet is near completely vegetation, Warm thanks to lack of clouds and hundreds of flowers and fruits everywhere. His species thrived on that planet and never needed a reason to try finding things to preserve or heat themselves up.

Unfortunately that means he can’t produce enough heat to keep his body in check, especially if he falls asleep like this. He might hibernate, and stars know if he’ll die in his sleep.

He looks over and finds that the human had turned on its side away from him. Sleeping away in its nest. 

Briefly he wonders if the human is warm. He did notice when being thrown in this cell that it’s slightly warmer than it is outside the cell. Is the human the source of that small percentage of heat?

He tilts his head thoughtfully, his ears flicking once.

Actually, now that he thinks about it, when the human touched his side to untie him, he felt how warm its hand was. Soft, warm and gentle. Maybe if he gets close enough he could leech some warmth from the human to keep himself stable.

Before he can convince himself that this is a terrible idea and it will lead to his untimely death, he’s already gotten up and is slowly and quietly making his way to the sleeping human. Going painstakingly slow but he knows better than to rush this. His hooves make any quick stealth near impossible.

He also doesn't know if the human is a light sleeper but better to assume and not die than not assume and die.

After a couple of slow minutes he finally made it towards the human without waking them up. 

….fuck, now what does he do? He honestly didn’t think he’d make it this far.

He won’t join the human in its nest, he’s not got that much of a death wish. But even from this distance he can feel the warmth the human is emitting. Maybe if he just sits next to the nest and leans on it.

And that’s what he does. He sits on the cold ground, puts the blanket around his front, and gingerly leans against the nest. His back and wings feel the heat radiating from the human and he nearly melts. He leans a bit further back to feel more of the heat.

He’s read about humans. About their biology (As illegal as they were discovered through cruel methods that he’s never and will never agree to) and how they are one of the strongest pack-bonders known. Course it’s also been recorded how some humans will betray their own kind for survival. And when that happens well… he’s seen the recordings. Humans don’t take well to betrayals.

But what’s also discovered was that humans, while lacking fur or anything to preserve heat besides what they create, emit mass amounts of heat that not a lot of aliens produce. The only other aliens that are known to produce more heat than the humans are creatures from colder planets and evolved to survive the frigid temperatures.

As well as the hotter species from hot core planets that are filled with blistering suns and lava. Those species have tough scales and rough skin. Some emit lots of heat but less to preserve and more cause they were just literally born in fire.

It doesn’t make sense! Why do they make so much heat that nearly matches other sentient species when their planet doesn’t even have a massive cold or hot ass biome? big ones sure, but not ones that cover half their globe. They have cold spots and hot spots, but they never evolved any extra fur or scales. Just keep putting more skins on them and invent inventions to warm their homes instead or wearing less skin and make ways to cool themselves off.

And why do they let so much heat escape them? The other warmer species have big feathers or thick fur that traps the heat inside them to keep them warm. But no, humans don’t have anything but the literal skins they wear for themselves and from other animals.

They are so fascinating and so terrifying, and so fucking warm.

He didn’t mean to, but he starts to doze off, comforted by the warm presence behind him that he slowly falls asleep with a light buzz-like purr coming from his throat.

A couple mites (minutes) couldn't hurt right?

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What the fuck is that noise?

Tommy was resting, peacefully, all in his dreamland dreaming about picking some flower in a field back on earth when he was woken by some buzzing sound. At first he thought a fly flew close to his ear. He goes to swat it away from him but it still persists.

He swats again, this time further away and hits something soft and definitely not fly sized.

His eyes shoot open and adrenaline shoots through his veins, ready to fight whatever is this fucking close to him–

Oh my god he’s right there.

There, leaning against the bed is Bambi. 

He’s clutching the blanket he gave him and he’s making this weird buzz sound. He– is he purring? Oh he’s way too deep in now. There’s no going back. 

He sees his hand is still on his head so he gently moves his hand through his hair, gently scratching, being mindful of the small goat horns on his head. Bambi starts leaning more into his hand and he shoves the urge to pick the bee up. He knew it was too cold for the little guy and he doesn’t think the little guy would like it if he did that.

So now he’s faced with a dilemma, keep staying the way he is, get up and let the alien guy take his bed, or grab him and warm the both of them up.

He really wants to do that last one. He knows it would be rushing things and he might give Bambi a heart attack, but he’s gone so long without contact from anything or anyone. He’d even take a pet squid. Anything to stimulate being with someone. 

There's a reason one of the most inhumane actions to do to a human is putting them in solitary confinement for long periods of time. With only hostile contact too.

And he’s just a kid, not even 18, can anyone really blame him if he just wants to speed the process up and hug the small alien? And he  is still sleepy, he’ll use this as punishment for waking him up.

He quickly goes and moves the extra packages of water he has to the side so they don’t spill over and arranges himself so there’s enough space. Not like he needs to move much, Bambi is very small.

Gently, he slowly wraps his arms around Bambis small waist and picks him up, hoping that he stays asleep. All he did was lean into Tommy’s arms, desperately leeching his warmth. He feels cold to the touch.

“Damn you really are cold, good thing big man Tommyinnit is a damn good heater” He mumbles and finally plops the little guy next to him and quickly covers them both with the rags, they barely fit him but he’s more than happy to make sure they cover Bambi up. Being extremely mindful of the wings.

Before covering him he noticed a small deer tail, how did he not notice? He’s a big man, but even the biggest of men would fall under a kittens gaze, in this case, whatever the fuck Bambi is.

He lays down and is startled when Bambi moves closer to him and curls up against him, making those sleepy buzzing sounds again. No longer feeling the need to restrain himself, he puts an arm around them and holds them close, feeling tension that he had long since been accustomed to fade and relax now that he has someone to be with.

Warmth spreads through Tommy and some part of Tommys brain clicks and he tears up slightly, feeling so content and just– at ease really, to know he’s not alone anymore, and he has this small kid that he knows he’d fight every single damn alien in this hellscape of a ship.

God, when was the last time he hugged someone? When was the last time he was hugged?

With all the tension that drains out of his limbs, he falls right back to sleep, holding Bambi against him protectively like he’d lose him if he so much as loosens up.

—----------------------------------------------------------

Tubbo is so incredibly warm, he’s the warmest he’d been since traveling to space. Not even when Ranboo did his best to adjust the ship to a moderate temperature that would suit them both.

He buzzes louder and sinks into the warmth surrounding him. Something shifts next to him and he feels himself pulled closer to the warmth. He feels like honey goop, there's a light weight on him that feels grounding and safe.

Slowly his brain catches up to his surroundings. Last he checked he was in a cell with a human… and.. didn’t he fall asleep on the ground leaned against the nest? 

Wait...

He tenses and opens his eyes, looking up and hoping he’s not– yup, he’s pressed flush against the human with its arm around him and the humans’ head in his hair. The hold on him isn’t strong, he could worm his way out of its grasp, but he doesn’t want to risk waking up the human.

That and he… doesn’t really want to move. Fight him, the human is very warm.

So he just kinda… lays there. He’s starting to get comfortable with the human, it– he should stop calling the human an it shouldn’t he? Clearly it– he? He doesn’t know human genders but he’s going to assume he is until he can get a correction.

Anyways, clearly he’s more than some feral animal those dreamons were hyping him out to be. Tubbo knows the human has killed some of the aliens on board, though he thinks they deserved it. They were most likely trying to experiment on the human.

He’s starting to get comfortable with the human since he’s never shown any aggression to him. If what he’s been seeing is going by anything, the human likes him. He’s read that humans are pack-bonders, maybe being alone for so long made him desperate to pack-bond with the first friendly being? 

That makes sense, and the human has enough sense to not bond with their captors. Does that mean Tubbo became part of this humans’ pack? That’s… both scary and cool! Scary ‘cause doesn't that mean if he so much as does the wrong thing it could be considered betrayal? Last thing he wants is to piss off his– the human.

And cool cause he’s heard of stories of how protective humans are with their packs and whoever manages to befriend a human. A lot of aliens who have captured humans have tried to forcefully befriend them. All of them result in a crashed ship and a dead crew.

His thoughts are interrupted when he hears footsteps coming closer to the cells. Shit the guards! They’ll be expecting him dead! 

He looks at the sleeping human and decides he’d rather risk it with the, so far friendly human, than get spotted by the guards. He starts to roughly shake the human.

“Wake up wake up wake up! The guards are coming and they want to see me dead! Or eaten!” His talking gets rewarded with a huff and groan from the human, who sits up and towers over Tubbo even when they are both sitting up on the nest.

The human says something, face looking confused. (what he thinks is confusion anyways, he’s going off of context clues really) “The guards are coming and they want me gone, cause I'm useless to them! You know this cell, is there anywhere I can hide?” He starts getting desperate when he hears talking getting closer and closer.

The human seems to finally hear them too, ‘cause he lets out a low hiss and his arms go around Tubbo protectively. It reminds him of a protective mother. But this isn’t going to solve anything!

He pushes away and the human lets him. He gestures frantically at the door and the human gets this determined look and– WOAH hey! Hey!

“H–Hey! Don’t just– Don’t just pick me up so suddenly– Watch the wings!” The human picked him up and held him close while getting up quickly. The human looks around, searching around the cell and holding Tubbo like a child, having one arm under his legs and his hand holding Tubbos back– wait.

The offended gasp that erupted from him startled Tommy “You think I'm a fucking child don’t you!? That’s why you’re acting so weird towards me! Trying to keep me close and warm. Am I a fucking infant to you or something!?” You’re fucking kidding him. The human must have thought of him as some toddler thanks to his size and awoken some parental instinct in the damn human. 

Before he can say anything else the human gives him a blanket and puts him in the corner on the same wall as the door. From this angle, it should be hard for the guards to see him unless they are looking for him. The blankets are also for a good cover up.

After being put in the corner and human fussing over him for a quick second, putting the blanket over his head, he quickly puts one of his fingers against his mouth.

Tubbo glares angrily for being manhandled but stays put “Fucking human… treating me like a kid” He angrily mumbles to himself before hearing a sharp sound from the human and shutting up. 

Honestly he should feel lucky for having confirmation that the human doesn't plan to hurt him because of him seeing Tubbo as a child, but he can‘t help but be slightly offended, is it because he’s small? He’s not an adult yet, but he’s pretty damn close! He’s not a child! Or a toddler! Or a fucking infant! He’s naturally this tiny!

He would complain more on this matter but he hears the guards much closer and the human lets out an angry bark and talks rapidly in his language. Tubbo huddles under the blankets, staying as still as possible.

If he ever manages to communicate with the human in the future, he’s going to curse and yell at him for confusing him for a fucking kid.

Chapter Text

“The damn thing really killed him huh? There’s nothing left of him. It’s spotless!” One of the guards pointed out an obvious flaw in the humans' idea. There’s no struggle, no blood, nothing to indicate that Tubbo is gone.

The other looks around the room from the window, out of reach and safe from the human that’s glaring at them. “Too spotless” They don’t get to elaborate or think more on it when the human snarls and lunges at the window, no crack but it scares the hell out of the guards if their yells were anything to go by.

“Damn freak. Just give it its meat then head out of here” The other guard growls out. “How about you being useful and opening the slot?” They seem to argue and a slot underneath the door opens, the human looks like they are preparing to leap for it before the plate of food gets slid in and the slot shuts again before he could do anything.

“Where do they even plan to send this thing?” One of the guards asked. “Some lab far off in the tundra planets, don’t care. Maybe they can find some use to it” The conversation gets quieter and quieter until they are fully gone.

Tubbo waits a couple extra mites more before taking off the cover. He looks at the food that they slid in and flinches back a bit. It’s blue cooked meat from an aquatic species. He can’t really tell what species cause y’know… he doesn’t eat meat. But the blue color gives away to an aquatic planet.

The human doesn’t seem to care and brings the plate closer to his nest. He sets the plate down but doesn't make a move to eat, looking at Tubbo instead. They stare at each other for a couple of Sects (Seconds). Is he waiting for something?

The human mimes eating the meat.

Oh.

How does he tell him that Tubbo doesn’t eat meat?

Humans shake their heads to mean things right?

Tubbo shakes his head and points at the meat, then shakes his head again, hoping it means no. “I don’t eat meat big guy”

The human tilts his head slightly, looking adorably illegal. Then he looks down at the meat, up at Tubbo again, meat, Tubbo, meat, Tubbo. For a split second Tubbo thinks the human wants to eat him but he sees the realization that Tubbo doesn’t eat meat. (It’s also cause Tubbo has like, 2 animal species that eat plants and the ⅓ of a bee)

The human rummages through his nest and brings out a half packet of water. Tubbo perks up, It’s been awhile since he’s had water, his body doesn’t rely on it much but still needs it. He tentatively gets closer to the human and grabs the packet.

He’s rewarded with a mouth full of teeth flashing at him. He startles and nearly drops the packet. The teeth are gone and replaced with a saddened look from the human. Is… is showing his teeth a sign of encouragement?

Experimentally, he flashes his teeth back at the human, hoping he didn’t do something to offend them. The human flings their head back with a loud bark sound that sounds like he’s very sick in the throat. Before he gets too concerned, his hair gets ruffled gently and he sees a softer look on the human, who flashes his teeth again, but smaller.

His wings buzz happily. Before he scowls, his hair being ruffled like if he was back as a larva. He fixes his hair and glares at the human. Said human doesn’t pay him any mind and instead eats.

Tubbo takes a small sip from the water, he is feeling a little hungry, but the only edible thing he can eat within the cell are the spore flowers but his wings are too cold that he wouldn’t get very high off the ground.

Looking up he tries to see which flower is the closest. He hears a curious hum from the human, who also looks at the flowers, then back to Tubbo.

Tubbo points to the flowers and gestures to his mouth. Hoping the human understood that while he can’t eat the meat, he can still eat the flowers. The human lights up, his eyes the brightest he’s fucking seen. Is that normal?

He abruptly stands up and starts looking at the flowers more. He looks down at Tubbo and his wings, he points to them and tilts his head, saying something.

Tubbo shakes his head. “It’s too cold big man, I can try flying but I won't get very far” To demonstrate, he did try flying up, he only got half way to the lowest hanging flower before getting tired and falling back to the ground. The human steps towards him worriedly.

“See? Can’t make it” He sighed, just his luck. His only source of food is too high up for him to fly to in the cell. At least he has water thanks to the human.

The human takes a moment to look up at him, then takes a confident stance, and GRABS HIM.

“U–Uh What are you doing.. Can you– can you let me do–AHHH WHAT THE FUCK!” He fucking chucks him at the lowest flower and Tubbo desperately grabs the vine that hangs the flower down.

The human cheers victoriously. Tubbo hisses and buzzes angrily at him. “WHAT THE FUCK! DON’T JUST TOSS ME LIKE THAT! I THOUGHT HUMANS TOOK CARE OF KIDS!” He clings on the vine for dear life.

While he was hissing and buzzing at the human, the vine was slowly starting to snap. He heard the final ‘snip’ noise before he plummets to the ground. He screeches before hitting something soft and warm.

The human caught him and the hanging flower that Tubbo dragged with him. Both let out pained sounds.

“I got it!” Tubbo proudly holds out the flower and the human warbles happily at him before carrying him back to the bed and sets him down on it.

Tubbo points at the human (He really needs to get a name for him) angrily. “I’ll get you back for tossing me without warning me, dick move man…” He did get him something to eat though, so he can’t be too angry.

They both eat together, content and happy. Tubbo munches on the petals of the flower before deciding to try something, humans are sentient, and good mimickers. Maybe he can introduce himself.

He turns to face the human and the human turns to him, a curious glint in his sky blue eyes.

“Tubbo” he hums and points to himself. The human tilts his head. “Tub-bo” He repeats again.

The human takes a moment to process before pointing at him. “TuBbo” It was pitched weirdly, had an accent, but a damn close mimicry of Tubbos name. He gets excited, the situation finally settling into him, his wings flapping quickly. A human just said his name!

The human points to himself. “Tommy” Now it’s Tubbos turn to try to mimic and say his name. “Tom-my” He says it again.

“Choo-mi” He tries, he really does, but his mouth just can’t form the correct way to say it or to say the ‘T’ sound. At some point he said something that sounded like “Mommy”, whatever that means. It certainly triggered something in the human. They made a face at him and rapidly shook their head at him.

That gives Tubbo an idea for revenge, he might not know what the word means in human tongue, but it seems harmless, and Tommy sure doesn't seem to want him to keep saying it, is it a curse word in human?

So against his better judgment, he now deems ‘Tommy’ as ‘Mommy’, they sound pretty similar anyways, can’t mean too much of a difference right?

Tommy looks at him in a face that could only be described as horror.

He thinks this is off to a beautiful friendship.

—--------------------------------------------------------------

Fuck this Bambi looking ass bee for calling Tommy FUCKING MOMMY, IF HE WASN’T SO CUTE HE’D KICK HIM ACROSS THE FUCKING GALAXY!

He can only hope to escape this stupid fucking cell then find some way to communicate with Tubbo and beg the kid to not call him that… even if it made his heart squeeze.

Don’t look at him like that, he’s not flustered, you're flustered, you should get a therapist.

He continues eating his food while Tubbo munches on his flower. The flowers are way bigger than he thought they were. The size of Tommys’ torso and the vine the length of his lower body. The ceiling wasn’t too high and the hanging flowers didn’t look big until Tubbo grabbed it.

Then again, everything looked big compared to Tubbo.

He likes the name. ‘Tubbo’. it’s fun. While Bambi was fitting, he’ll make sure to address Bambi as Tubbo from now on. (He will call him Bambi occasionally though, it’s a cute nickname)

He really hopes that there's some way to get off this ship in the future, maybe someone will rescue them. For now though, instead of hoping for someone to rescue them, he will break them out of here.

Now to think of a plan that won’t end with him dead… preferably.

—-------------------------------------------------------------------

“Where did you say his comm was last active?” A 4 winged alien asked one of his co-pilots, steering the ship and setting a course for the crew.

“In the Folestrome Sector, near that one market surrounded by those red trees that have the red vines” A tall blue skinned alien with a near translucent tail answered.

There’s a huff from the corner of the room, surveying the status on their engines. “You really need to learn your planets” an alien with a small pink curly tail, pink fur with bunny ears spoke from his tusked mouth.

“Oh, i'm sorry Techno, Let me just memorize every damn planet this side of the solar system. I’m SO incredibly sorry for not reading up on their history too!” The alien snarks towards Techno, the now named tusked alien.

“It’s basic knowledge and needed if you're a Co-pilot, Wilbur! How do you plan to be a pilot if you can’t remember the names of the planets? Philza, Phil help me out here” Techno pleaded to Philza who seemed to be the official captain. Techno ignores Wilburs squawk of “I’m the fucking scientist you wanker!”

Phil only sighed. “Boys, please focus. We've lost connection with Tubbo and Ranboo and it’s been 4 cycles. They could be in serious danger, so focus boys” That got their attention again.

They quickly get serious (Thank prime) and start focusing back on the task. Tubbo and Ranboo, while not officially part of the crew, stayed over and traveled with them so much they might as well be considered as part of the crew.

They found those 2 together, deserted on a barren planet named simply ‘Barren’. It’s exactly as its name states, barren of anything and everything. They were clearly left to die on that planet. Philza, being unable to turn away children, especially stranded children, offered to care for them or to at least drop them off somewhere else besides the wasteland.

After that, the 2 were seen often around the crew, traveling and doing small errands for the crew. Tubbo being a menace and Ranboo being an apprentice of sorts for Techno. They were a lovely addition to the crew and all of them were fond of the young adults.

So to hear that Tubbo and Ranboos comms deactivate with no warning? Something is wrong. Tubbo was understandable, he damages his comm more often than not with the stunts he’s been known to pull. But Ranboos too? That set off red flags. Kid takes care of his comm no matter what.

Captain Philza sets the ship's course to the last known location of Ranboo and Tubbo, all of them determined to hunt down and find out what happened to their fellow crewmates.

And gods help those who dare stop them.

Chapter Text

Who the fuck decided he needed to deal with the medicines?

Wilbur Ignores the fact that he’s literally the scientist of the ship and instead makes sure they have potions and equipment for medical procedures in case they have an accident on the ship, which happens more often than not. Stars know how many times they’ve made pit stops just for more herbs and ingredients.

He’d just like to point out, it's not his fault, he sits in one place to work and works. He doesn’t move a whole lot when working, zones in on his work until it’s complete. Which is understandable y'know? He works as a scientist and keeps inventory of everything. (There was too many ‘work’ words in that sentence)

They didn’t need to use a lot of their ingredients until the 2 gremlins moved in with the crew. Tubbo the menace and Ranboo just trying to keep his friend from blowing the ship up, which Wilbur greatly appreciates.

He should get him something. Ranboo likes those chorus fruits right? Enderians love those things… is that speciest to assume?

He hopes not, Ranboo loves being gifted things, he’d hold them for nearly a cycle. He’s seen him do it. Although, concerning when Tubbo gives him something that could potentially hurt someone, but Ranboo is always careful with everything he holds.

Which is why it’s extremely concerning that Ranboos communicator is down. It’s never down, kid keeps that thing locked tight in his grip and keeps it in damn good condition too so it wouldn’t fail on him. Better state than both Techno and Wilbur have.

Phil is speeding the ship to its limit and Techno keeps having to remind him to slow the ship down so he doesn’t overheat the nuclear engine. We wouldn’t be much use to Ranboo and Tubbo if we blew up before we even got to them.

The engineer of the ship and top security (Their only security really) falls right in the responsible lap of Technoblade, previously worked in some sketchy shit until Phil took one look at him and said “You look sad, I can fix that!” and now he’s been given security and a family, which he refuses to acknowledge!

He will get you to admit it one day Techno, you may be capable of putting a dreamon to sleep with a single punch but he will win this.

Aaaanyhow, back to drugs.

The ship lurches forward, nearly dragging Wilbur down as he tries to keep everything from falling and breaking. A pen that he’s been using to keep notes on inventory on his digital pad falls to the ground. Once he makes sure nothing is going to fall over he quickly bends down and picks the pen up and sets it next to his pad again

The hook on the side broke off, bummer.

“CAN YOU NOT LURCH THIS SHIP?? I’M TRYING TO TAKE INVENTORY!” shouting out the door, he hears his pen fall again. “Don’t come looking at me, I don't touch the wheel. There’s something wrong with one of the engines and steering, Phil has been speeding this ship past it’s limit a few times and I think something came off” he hears techno shoat back at him, his voice coming closer.

Pen gets picked up again.

Sighing he quickly checks his digital pad, scanning through the items and ingredients, “As much as I also want to hurry and check on the kids, we’ll be dead before we reach them at this rate” he goes to grab the pen to write something down, the ship tilts slightly to the left and the pen falls again.

He grumbles out in annoyance and bends to pick it up again, “Okay this is starting to piss me off” Techno rounds the corner, checking the room. “Make sure to close everything tight and secured, with how Phil is driving you don’t wanna risk any of this stuff breaking-”

The ship practically lunges and both Techno and Wilbur desperately hold everything that nearly tips over, delicate jars, containers you name it. Wilbur also hears a small ‘tink’ and groans, knowing it’s the damn pen again.

Once they check to make sure there will at least be a minute of stillness, they quickly start securing inventory. Wilbur picks up the pen again and this time puts it behind his digi pad, so it doesn't roll off again.

“Usually Phil is more responsible than this” Techno comments, nearly in disbelief. Wilbur scoffs, amused. “Oh please, second he so much as thinks those 2 are in danger you know damn well he will dance with the fucking void to get to them” Techno snorts at Wilburs reply. He wasn't wrong.

Wilbur remembers what Techno said earlier “You said something came loose in the engines? It’s not outside is it? Don’t think Phil would even allow us to do outside repairs at the moment” He feels the ship lean to the right slowly, him and techno adjust so they don’t lose balance.

Same can’t be said about the pen, it just slid off the counter.

Wilbur screeches. “WHY DOESN'T IT JUST STAY STILL??”

“It’s a pen Wilbur, forget about it we have more pressing matters here. And no, it’s not outside the ship luckily.” He grumbles but agrees. They both quickly go around the med-bay, securing all products and herbs.

Wilbur also quickly grabs the pen and shoves it in an empty jar, feeling triumphant when he sets the jar down with the other containers.

After Techno ensures that everything is secured and huffed, looking amused at Wilbur shoving the pen in a jar. “I’m gonna need your assistance with the engine, while you're not an engineer in the slightest and I wouldn't trust you to fix something on your own, you're the only one decently skinny enough” Wilbur looks mischievously at Techno.

“Aww, does techie need my help? Course I’ll help my little brother–”

''Nevermind, I take it back, I never knew you” Techno rapidly walks off, ignoring Wilbur as he follows Techno, teasing along the way.

A couple seconds later there was a strong jump in the ship and the sound of a jar breaking rings out.

Seconds later Wilbur is frantically fighting Techno, who’s trying to restrain him, to get back to the med-bay with only rage in his mind.

“Wilbur! Wilbur it’s just a–”

“IT’S THE FUCKING PEN, I KNOW IT IS! IT WAS IN A FUCKING JAR! HOW DID IT GET OUT!?”

“WIL!!!”

—---------------------------------------------------------

Outside the engine room, Techno is staring disapprovingly and disappointingly at Wilbur, who is sporting an injured eye.

It was silent, the only thing ringing out was the engine room and the oppressing feeling of judgment.

Nobody said anything.

“I–”

“How did you lose to a pen–”

“THE SHIP MOVED AND IT HIT ME IN THE EYE!”

“YOU LOST TO A PEN!”

“CAN WE PLEASE FOCUS ON THE ENGINE!?”

Wilbur sulks to the best of his species abilities as Techno cackles, like the pig bastard that he is and finally focuses on the engine. Chuckling as he gets the door pad opened and they both step through.

Techno then gives a quick explanation on the engine, not going too into detail since it’s not some lesson he’s giving. “One of these wires connects to a circuit board near the cockpit, that it’s come loose, not completely, if it was completely loose then Phil wouldn’t be flying the damn thing, much less steering. But it’s fault and needs adjusting”

Wilbur scrunches his face, thinking about it. “Why wires? isn’t everything normally wireless?” Techno doesn’t look annoyed, it’s a fair question for someone who mainly works in the med-bay and greengarden.

“Some of the newer models do that, but that's been known to have problems sometimes, both wires and wireless have problems, but I wouldn't trust some company brand to do wireless for me. They purposely make it so they have a higher chance of disconnecting easily and you have to go to them and pay them to fix their mistake, then reprogram it so after a specific amount of time it disconnects again. Not enough to make them want to change ships, but enough that it feels like the crew did something”

Wilbur looks at Techno and Techno stares back. “I’ve had a lot of time to study ships, and companies.” Well that answers that.

Wilbur sighed, “So.. what? Do I have to follow the trail or something? I still don’t see why you can’t do it” Techno disagrees and grabs Wilburs arm to show him where he needs to go. They walk past a couple hallways and see a vent on the ceiling that’s connected to the main network to the cockpit.

“You’re the only one decently skinny enough to fit in that vent, luckily you don’t have to travel far, you just need this lighting staff–” He gives him what is the human equivalent of a glow stick. “And find a blue wire, there’s not a lot of wires luckily so you shouldn’t get tangled in anything”

“You–... I– you want me to climb up that? I’ll still be able to hear you, right?”

“You’re not going that far Wilbur, it’s just a couple of steps– err, crawls away”

Wilbur huffs and stands under the vent. Lifting his hands at Techno in a grabbing motion. “Lift me” Techno lifts him up and he pops open the vent, crawls inside and regrets it.

“IT’S SO DUSTY! I COULD SUFFOCATE IN HERE!” Techno shouts back, amusement in his voice. “Then hurry and be quick if you want to get out so badly”

“You’re a dick Techno! When I get down from here I’m hiding all your gold”

“If you can even find them” Techno cackles quietly after hearing Wilburs yell of frustration being echoed.

After a couple minutes Wilbur manages to crawl to the panel with wires. “Which one was it again?”

“The blue wire” Wilbur looks for it and sees it, it’s at an odd angle thanks to the other wires being in the way, so he carefully goes to reach in. “And what? This’ll fix the engine? This little wire?” That seems way too simple.

“Nah, but the wire will help make sure the connection from the control systems in the cockpit don’t go halfway into the engines and die on the way, being jostled so much. Phil could try turning right to avoid an asteroid and it won’t turn right” that makes more sense.

“Boys? Are you fixing the connection?” Phil calls out to them, after hearing small talk down the open door of the cockpit. He’s been having a rough time trying to make the ship move accordingly, his instincts demanding him to hurry up and get to the location.

“In the process of it, just waiting for Wil to–'' The power went out.

The only lights being the windows viewing the stars and even then that’s hardly any light. The stars are light years away.

“...Wilbur what the f–”

“Give me a second! The other wires were in the way, I think I moved them, one of my eyes are injured, remember? Damn pen…” Wilbur's voice echoes from the vents. There’s a ‘tink’ sound. Then a screech from Wilbur.

“WHY IS THE PEN WITH ME–”

“WILBUR THE WIRES!”

“HOW DID THE PEN GET HERE!?”

“WILBUR!”

Philza sighs, feeling all the years catching up on him. His wings felt heavier from the headache coming in. listening to Wilbur screech about a pen and Techno yelling back to get the damn wires fixed.

He looks into the void that stares back at him, if the void could feel emotions, it would be feeling extremely entertained. “This is why Techno is the favorite…”

“I FUCKING HEARD THAT PHILZA MINECRAFT!”

“WILBUR SOOT GET THOSE WIRES FIXED OR SO HELP ME I WILL CHUCK YOU OUT THE AIRLOCK!”

“I WILL GLADLY WELCOME THE VOID TO CONSUME ME AT THIS RATE!”

Stars help him. How has he survived this long?

He just hopes desperately that Tubbo and Ranboo are alright, stars know what’s happening to those 2. Tubbo becomes a target the majority of the time, teased and ridiculed for his species' small size. His only defense being a powerful sting but many species still mock them.

Tubbo must be struggling wherever he is.

—--------------------------------------------------------------

Tubbo is struggling to not strangle this human.

He likes Tommy, he really does, he helped him get food, gave him some of his stored water, kept him warm and hidden from the guards whenever they came to feed Tommy.

BUT NOBODY TOLD HIM HUMANS WERE THIS CUDDLY.

Now that he and the Hu- Tommy, are on name terms, Tommy has taken this as permission to hold Tubbo often. Holding or at least being in constant contact with Tubbo.

Ranboo is going to fucking freak when he tells him about this.

…

…

…

SHIT, RANBOO!

Chapter Text

Tommy’s brainstorming for how to get out of here, he’s been here for god knows how long, and he’s tried everything, believe him. He doesn’t want to be stuck in this stupid cell anymore, but the cell has nothing.

The only things are the rags, sorry excuse of a bed, the flowers, the packets of water and Tubbo. He doesn't need to worry about feeding Tubbo that much, those flowers are big and there are quite a few more.

It's been… he actually doesn’t know how long it’s been, he knows more than 2 days at least since Tubbo joined him in the cell. Both he and Tubbo have fallen asleep to rest and it felt like a full night's sleep. So surely it's been at least a day or 2.

Tubbo did not seem to agree with the sleeping arrangements, When it was time to sleep he’d flee from Tommy’s hands that reached out to him. Tommy thought he was back to being scared, but turns out he just didn't want to be coddled by Tommy,

That brought out a laugh from Tommy and let Tubbo be. Knowing it won’t be long until Tubbo comes in to sleep next to him thanks to his warmth. Now that he knows Tubbo isn't scared of him anymore, he takes to having near constant contact with Tubbo.

He read somewhere in biology and health that it’s important for human kids to have contact, preferably human, when growing up. Lack of contact can develop health problems in the future… he thinks anyways, he doesn’t know how true that plays with him, being a teenager. But he’s definitely felt longing to have contact with someone. Yearning for affection? Approval? Anything really.

So when Tubbo came in and he touched him? Kept him warm? It’s like a part of him relaxes after so long in space, alone and cold. No longer as tense as he used to be. So he guesses those health concerns were right to some degree, contact felt great, even if Tubbo isn’t a human.

This may or may not have led to Tommy being a bit… much (Clingy) for Tubbo to handle, because after the first day he would not give Tubbo space. It was hard, okay? Tubbo stung him and that shit HURT. Seriously! It stung and shit, felt like a wasp sting.

His hands have these weird sharp ‘knuckles’ if he can call them that. That have small holes in them with a needle like rod that comes out to stab shit.

He should have guessed that something small and adorable looking would have at least one sort of defense going on. Evolution and all. Shit stung for awhile, he was laying in bed and Tubbo looked so panicked. He was able to convince the little guy that he’s fine, he stung him and the pain only lasted for a couple of minutes, maybe an hour max.

He doesn’t know how much went through, but he has given Tubbo more space. (Even if it is hard to not be in contact) he refuses to acknowledge that he’s touch-starved, because he isn’t! He’s a big man, he can handle being separated from Tubbo.

No you can’t, he’s the only friendly face you’ve seen since being caught

As long as he can see his friend is safe, that’s all that matters. He’s been sleeping more thanks to finally relaxing with another person in the cell. And Tubbo has definitely realized this. He seems to purposely be close to Tommy when he wants to and looks annoyed when he’s the one initiating contact, like he knows Tommy wants (needs) it.

Whatever may be Tubbos' reason for allowing Tommy to be so close to him, he’s grateful. His nightmares and unease are fading away thanks to the near constant buzz coming from Tubbo. The constant small noise helps fight away the quietness of the cell, something he’s been far too used to.

At first it was annoying, he constantly kept thinking a fly was near, before he welcomed the noise.

Now he’s lying down after eating the food the guards brought in for his ‘breakfast’. Tubbo still had some of that flower left from last time so he didn’t need to yeet Tubbo. That was fun, though, afterwards Tubbo tackled Tommy and hit him on the chest a lot.

Kid may be small but he packs one hell of a punch, probably ‘cause his hands are hooved compared to Tommy's squishy flesh.

But now Tubbo has calmed down and he's discovered Tommy’s weakness. He’s running his hands curiously through Tommy’s hair, the gentle ruffling and movement relaxing him until he is on the edge of sleep.

Tommy hums, one that he hears Tubbo repeat back to him and he chuckles sleepily, Tubbo repeats any humming sounds he hears from Tommy. It’s cute, it also makes sense considering that bees make the same sounds.

But he’s an alien… so how come he has so many similarities…?

He groans quietly, startling Tubbo. “..’m too tired for this brain shit” Tubbo hums at him and continues messing with his hair, He seems to be greatly enjoying that. He needs to wash his hair.. Or just a wash in general, but with the amount of water he has it won’t be enough, maybe just a quick wash for his hair, but that's about it.

And without his permission, he was lured to sleep thanks to Tubbos humming and gentle touch.

—------------------------------------------------

Tommy just fell asleep.

Tubbo has never felt more triumphant than he is now.

He made a human fall asleep! Maybe not made, but messing with Tommys hair definitely was part of it. Does his hair feel? That would be weird, but not odd, other species have that too.

He’s definitely.. Warmed up to Tommy, he guesses the human isn’t really that bad, or scary.

He continues to gently scratch the human's head, Tubbo does not possess any nails or claws, but his attempts were rewarded with another hum and the human leaning into his touch.

He studies Tommy more, he looks… young. Is Tommy an adult? What does an adult human look like? From what he remembers, they look big, Tommy’s tall but not big. He lacks the mass he’s seen from the videos.

Could be a result from possible malnutrition, but he seems to be fed decently in this cell, meaning they want him healthy.

Maybe he’s not getting the proper nutrition? Humans were seen to eat meat and plant matter. So omnivores. Maybe the fact it’s all meat is affecting his growth? He tried giving Tommy some of the flower, the off chance humans also eat flowers but that proved him wrong when he accidentally squeezed out spores from the flower and caused Tommy to go into a sneezing fit.

It’s possible that Tommy is young. Maybe even around his age. But then that begs the question of why would this young human feel responsible, or if not responsible, would WANT to bother taking care of another species that they see as a kid. Wouldn’t that be harder for them?

A lot of species don’t like seeing the young of others. They find them useless, or disgusting. Many species would rather see their own species, so when it comes to young species that aren’t their own, they give them one glance then never acknowledge them. Huffing and looking like someone just tossed a dead carcass at them.

There are rare species that seek young, whether it’s their own or outside species. That’s why he idols Philza, his captain. Philza’s species is ‘Ivory’. They are part of the feathered species that live in tundra planets.

They were one of the early sentient species that first did space exploration a millennia ago. So when they moved to other planets, they evolved to fit those planets better.

This led to Philza becoming what is nicknamed ‘Black Angel’ thanks to his 4 (yes, 4) wings, painted black with diamond symbols on the tips. 2 big wings connected to his back and the other 2, while smaller, are just as massive, and are hidden underneath his bigger wings.

And because he’s part of the Ivory species, he has adapted to wanting a flock, strength in numbers, young, old, does not matter. Including other species. So it was no shock when Philza scooped them up from that wasteland planet they were left to die on.

Thanks to Philza, he and Ranboo got another shot at living.

Idly, he looks down at Tommys relaxed face.

Maybe Philza is willing to take a human in too?

He can only hope everything goes well.

—----------------------------------------------

Time passes on, and Tubbo gets tired of playing with Tommy’s hair. So he's been walking around the cell in boredom.

Stars, if he’s miserable now, he wonders how Tommy must have felt, being in here for much longer.

He hears footsteps again, faint, but growing.

Dammit, again? He doesn’t think it’s dinner time yet for Tommy.

He goes to quickly wake Tommy up.

“Mommy, get up, the guards are coming!” he whispers aggressively, calling him that nickname he seems to hate. Tommy groans but hardly budgets, seemingly in a deep sleep.

Tubbo debates stinging him but the guards would question Tommy’s shout of pain. So he resorts to what he does to Ranboo sometimes.

He shoved him right off the bed.

He may be tiny, but he’s strong to make up for it.

The human yells and barks out in surprise. Possibly cursing Tubbo out from how aggressive he speaks.

Tubbo grabs his hands, trying to get him up. “The guards are back, I don’t know what they want, but it’s not for dinner”

Tommy peers at him, confused before flinching when he hears how close the guards are. Not having enough time, he quickly grabs Tubbo and tosses him over the bed to the other side, so the bed blocks him from view.

Just in time too, the guards– oh that’s… that’s a lot more guards than usual…

“Make sure it doesn’t get a chance to run out here” One of the bigger guards, probably the leader, who has 4 arms, says. They have all of staffs ready, the staffs bright with electricity.

Tommy stands to face them, taking a fighting stance, ready to fight or hold them back. Snarling and glaring, yelling Queen knows what at them.

They rush into the room the second the door opens, jumping in and out when they get close to Tommy and he lunges forward to get them to back off. Tubbo notices Tommy’s stance changing. From offensive to defensive the second they tried swarming the room.

At first he thought it was because they were trying to surround him. But he quickly realized it’s because Tommy’s keeping them from going behind him, near the bed. Where Tubbo is hidden.

He’s trying to keep Tubbo from being spotted.

When that was slowly failing and they closed in on Tommy, he does everything he can to keep their attention on him, kicking the closest one to him and staying defensive.

He accidentally kicks one of the guards close to the bed, nearly landing on it. And Tommy fucking freaks.

He starts lunging at them, and they rush him, trying to keep him still long enough for another alien to plunge a syringe into his neck. But Tommy is going through one hell of a rough time, biting, kicking, scratching. Anything and everything to make it difficult for everybody

He ducks down, to avoid being spotted but honestly, it’s gruesome seeing this happening to Tommy right in front of him, he's trying to keep his anger in check. But it’s hard, extremely hard when he’s seeing how Tommy is fighting this many guards alone.

He hears thuds and his heart drops, thinking it was Tommy before more thuds happen and realizes that it's the guards being taken down.

He looks over and that’s when Tommy collapses. One of the guards finally gets close enough to stick the needle on Tommy and he collapses, surrounded by injured and possibly dead guards.

The remaining guards breath heavily, exhausted and hurt. “Couldn’t have just killed the damn thing?” One of the shorter guards asked? Looking more than ready to stab Tommy.

The leader, who is nursing an injured arm, looks down at the shorter “No, we need them for one final testing then to ship some of the animals to that tundra planet, don’t know what they want with this specimen. More trouble than it’s worth” He commands the remaining guards to pick up the human and transport them out.

Soon enough, they get everyone out and shut the cell behind them. Leaving Tubbo in the cell to think of the aftermath.

Tommy was trying to keep the attention on him in case they spotted Tubbo or got too close to the bed. He saw Tommy get punched, kicked, hit with the electric sticks. And yet he still did everything in his power to fight and struggle back.

If that’s what he’d do to keep them from seeing Tubbo, what would he do to protect him?

He doesn’t really want to think about it. Before, he was ecstatic at the idea of a human defending him, but now? Seeing how Tommy was getting overwhelmed but still fought? He’d do anything to never see Tommy that desperate again.

Time passes, he’s not sure how much, but he’s positive it’s been a cycle. Where’s Tommy? He’s been waiting on the bed, expecting to see Tommy come back to the cell, but instead he sits alone.

He starts to get worried. Did they kill Tommy? He doesn’t think so, they said they needed to ship him off. And that means they need him alive. Not dead.

He eats the remains of another hanging flower that he and Tommy got down yesterday. Finishing it without realizing he had zoned out in worry.

He just has to wait, there’s literally nothing he can do and he hates it. Nothing for Ranboo and nothing for Tommy. He’s useless.

Curling up on the bed with the covers on, he shivers, alone.

—----------------------------------------------------

He doesn't know how long he’s been sleeping, but he wakes up when something slumps into the cell and the cell door closes with a hiss. He stays still, in case the guards are still lingering. Once he deems it safe, he quickly rips off the covers.

“Choo-mi!”

There on the ground was Tommy, looking like he went through hell and back. He was black and blue with dried blood on his hair and skin. His clothes ripped, torn and burned. Tubbo falls down next to him, checking on his face, praying that he’s alive.

“Choo-mi wake up! C’mon big man… wake up… please..” His face was bruised, the area around his left eye was dark.

Fuck, he quickly checks Tommy’s chest. He doesn't know much about human biology, but all recorded sentient species breathe, not always being indicated from movement of their chest, but breathing nonetheless. Only one species doesn’t breathe but that’s not important right now.

What’s important is Tubbo feeling and seeing Tommy’s chest moving up and down slowly. Stuttering in it’s movements, but breathing.

The sigh of relief that came from him was immense.

His racing heart pounds in his chest, scared at the thought of losing Tommy. He rests his head on Tommy’s chest, needing to feel his chest moving, so he knows Tommy is alive, injured, but alive. He also manages to hear a slow, but strong heartbeat.

He hugs Tommy’s arm, desperately trying to calm himself, squeezing impossibly close to Tommy without injuring him further.

They need to get out of here, and fast.

Chapter Text

Tommy only feels pain.

It’s everywhere, his arms, hands, legs, chest. Not a spot left un-aching, he groans from the floor, not wanting to move an inch.

He feels a light weight near his left side, leaning on his possibly broken ribs.

He slowly sits up, propping his elbows slowly. He sees a head of familiar brown hair and bee wings.

“Oh… Tubbo..” Leaning up more, he gently rakes his less bloodied hand through Tubbos hair, gently scratching around his horns, earning him a pleased hum. Tubbo starts waking up.

He hums words he doesn't understand, then, “Mommy?” That.. stupid nickname… normally he’d try to put up a little show, make the kid laugh for daring to use that nickname. But he’s all out of energy, even with that rest.

He hums back. “Yea.. it’s me Tubbo, I’m al–” he shouldn’t lie, even if he can’t understand him. “I’ll be alright, just some need some rest”

He tries getting up, his limbs shaking and struggling to put force into his movements. Tubbo tries his best to help, he’s strong, but small. But he’s grateful anyways.

Together, they slowly move Tommy to the bed, slowly laying himself down on it. He goes to grab the water that’s a bit aways from him, but Tubbo beats him, grabbing 2 packets and brings them to him. He learned that whatever species Tubbo is, they don’t need a lot of water, so he doesn't drink a lot from Tommys stash. Which is useful information, he doesn't have to worry about water shortage.

Tommy grabs one of the smallest rags (Which happens to be the one the guards gagged Tubbo with) and dips it into one of the water bags, he tries to clean the dry blood on his face but his limbs ache, making it a struggle to clean himself.

Tubbo stops him and grabs the rag so he can clean Tommy. Slowly and gently, Tubbo starts washing away the blood caked on Tommy’s face, humming softly every time Tommy winces in pain.

Tubbo would sometimes use his other hand to gently rub at Tommys knuckles, grounding him and easing him when he flinched from the rag. It also hurts slightly in the position he’s in, Tubbo is small, even if he’s sitting down. So he’s leaned slightly down for Tubbo. Luckily he doesn’t have to be bent for long, Tubbo cleans what he could from his face and proceeds with the rest of him. Poking sorrowfully at his torn clothing.

He hums at Tubbo, trying to ease his concern, “It’s alright, when we get out, I can just get new ones. Some new alien clothes! Do you think they have any my size?” he smiles at him, leaning his head to gently bonk Tubbo on the head. Goats do that right?

Tubbo buzzes at him and gently, so gently, like he’s scared he’ll hurt Tommy more, he gently bonks his chest.

His face flushes, looking away, the scene being far too wholesome for his own eyes to handle, and his heart. Tubbo looks concerned at his pink face, bringing the rag closer, thinking it’s more blood.

“I– nono, I’m– heh– I’m fine.. Pfft ok–okay stop it” Tubbo was pushing himself onto Tommy, trying to see why his face is red, is he injured? Was bonking him too much?

Tommy manages to convince Tubbo that no, he’s not injured from the bonk and to continue cleaning the blood. Tubbo continues but glances at Tommy’s face, glaring at him suspiciously. It makes him giggle almost.

Soon, his skin clears, and the rag’s redder than it first was. His injuries are now easily seen.

He has a still bleeding cut on his left arm, nearly on his shoulders. Bruises nearly everywhere, cuts and scrapes littering his body. The only parts of him that don't seem cut are his legs, but even then, his legs are aching and tired.

The rest of the cuts seem to have clotted now, he has no hope of disinfecting them, only with the water he has left.

He’s so tired, while Tubbo was cleaning his cuts he would nod off, jerking his head when he felt it fall to the side. He didn’t sleep, couldn't sleep, they wouldn't let him. Apparently those aliens… they don’t sleep as often as him or Tubbo do. Adding the fact that they kept testing on him? He wasn’t given a break.

He feels Tubbo gently tugging his arm, looking worried. “Wha’s ‘rong?” his words slur and he lets out a small yawn. Tubbo glares at him before tossing the rag near the remaining water bags and gently pushes Tommy down on the bed.

Tommy protests weakly before admitting defeat and letting Tubbo cover him with the clean rags. Feeling weird being tucked in by a child much smaller than him. Though he can’t think much on it, the second Tubbo rubs his hair he’s out like a light.

—-------------------------------------------------------

Tubbo still gets surprised at how lenient Tommy is with him. Pushing him down (albeit gently) on the bed? Most species would take that as lack of control, or authority, they’d never let another alien, much less a child try to take reigns.

Either Tommy is incredibly weak at the moment, or he doesn’t mind. Letting Tubbo to take care of him.

Heh, the roles are reversed now bitch!

He is glad though, whatever happened to Tommy exhausted him greatly. He could barely stay awake, he patted his head and he was out! With some rest, Tommy should be good when he wakes up, not cured, but hopefully better. He really scared Tubbo back there. What the hell were they doing to him for him to come back all fucked up?

Dreamons were one of the more.. Looked down upon species, not out of spite or hatred or jealousy, no no. They were looked down upon for their lack of emotional care for other species. They want to learn everything.

Knowledge is everything to them, and they must know it, must have it. They’ve been known for capturing species who were unfortunate enough to cross paths with them.

They struck luck when this ship was not a scientist ship, they were illegal animal smugglers. Though they would sometimes take other sentient species if they are able.

But because Tommy is a human they couldn’t resist to try and experiment on him, to test on him. Though he’s proven to be difficult for them to handle. They still took delight in their attempts, he knows they do. And it’s disgusting.

His thoughts are interrupted by Tommy mumbling in his sleep looking in pain. He quickly hops over Tommy to the other side of the bed and attempts to hold him. It’s the thought that counts right?

It works, Tommy leans into his hold. Tubbo is only able to hold his head really, but it’s something!

He does his best to ease Tommy back into restful sleep, he thinks he was able to prevent a nightmare. Do humans dream? What would they dream about? Probably about home in Tommy’s case.

He hopes Tommy has good dreams.

—------------------------------------------------

Time passes. Tubbo would fall asleep then wake up minutes later, keeping watch over Tommy. He knows it’s close to feeding Tommy, the guards keep to their schedules. So if he were to doze off like Tommy he’d be caught and seen.

Besides, he’s more than happy to stay awake. Humans are funny when they sleep. They move way more than the norm is for species in their sleep.

Slowly rubbing his head, he thinks over multiple plans for escape.

One way he could get out is through the slot that the guards use to slip in food. He’d be seen however if he got close to it. But if he stuck low to the ground, they shouldn’t be able to see him, they think Tommy killed Tubbo.

So that would mean they would have no reason to look down. If he plays his cards right, he should be able to sneak something in the slot so it stops the flap from closing completely right as it shuts.

He could have Tommy act as a distraction, keeping the guards attention on him, maybe scaring him into hurrying up, rash and careless actions would make it easier for Tubbo to act.

He actually thinks it’s a solid plan, after all, the slot is big enough for Tubbo to escape. One of the rare times he’s actually thankful for his small size. And Tommy is perfect distraction wise.

His only main concern really is to not be spotted, he needs to find a way to get Tommy and Ranboo out.

Actually… if he can find the control panel for the cells… then cut the powers…

Slowly a plan was forming together.

He looks up at the hanging flowers, spores falling from them every minute or so. He’s never been happier than to have been forced to learn about plants during his schooling years.

If he first warms up the rooms then… he should be able to…

He smirks. (or… the equivalent of a smirk for his species) He is going to cause so much fucking chaos and he’s going to thrive in the commotion.

But first, trying to inform Tommy of his mastermind plan. …And hope he actually lets Tubbo do it, knowing how Tommy seems to dislike having Tubbo leaving his sights for long periods of time, (which doesn't make sense, this is a fucking cell. Where the hell is he going to go?) this will be hard to convince him about.

But Tubbo is a stubborn little shit, he’ll get through to Tommy and bust them all out of here.

So he starts nudging Tommy, accidentally jostling his injuries and making Tommy whine in pain.

“Sorry sorry, big man, I need you up, I got a plan” Tommy peeks one eye open, stares Tubbo down, then shuts it again, burrowing into the sorry excuse of blankets.

“Mommy, wake the fuck up” That earns him a hiss, he moved back from an attempted swipe to his head. Tommy sits up and glares at Tubbo, barking something at him as he rubs his arms. They still seem to ache for him.

Slowly, Tommy swings his leg to the side of the bed and stares down at Tubbo, looking grumpy from his sleep being rudely interrupted. Plus everything hurts for him, so he can see why Tommy is upset.

Now to do the part he’s been dreading.

How the hell is he going to explain his plan to Tommy?

—-------------------------------------------------

What the fuck is Tubbo doing?

“So let me get this straight… You want.. To crawl out the food slot by sticking something to stop it, have me keep the guards attention… then what?”

That’s all he got honestly. He was able to understand that Tubbo is indeed small enough to fit in the food slot, and that he wants Tommy to scare or distract the guard. But any further attempts at communicating to Tommy what the rest of the plan is is lost.

While it’s a great plan for Tubbo to escape and possibly let Tommy out too, he really doesn’t want Tubbo to be out on his own. He knows what those tall fuckers can do to the kid. They think he’s dead, which gives him more cover.

But the thought that they could grab him and do god knows what to him? They wanted him dead when they tossed him in Tommy’s cell. They won’t hesitate to kill him themselves. And that scares Tommy.

He can’t DO anything once Tubbo leaves the cell. He can’t protect him, defend him, his best bet is to use his small size to his advantage. But even then, his hooved feet make noise if he’s not careful.

Tommy hates that this is their best bet, that he won’t know if Tubbo makes it or if he gets caught before it’s way too late.

Tubbo detects this and sits next to Tommy, hugging his arm in an attempt to console him.

Tommy took this as an okay sign to lift Tubbo up, move him to his chest and just– hugged him close, seeking comfort from the only person he has bonded with since being stuck in space.

“You’ll be careful right? Safe?” He asks, mumbling into his hair. Tubbo looks up at him, squinting his eyes at Tommy before humming one word.

“S–sage… sssss–afe” Tubbo seemed more built for humming sounds honestly. But his attempt was appreciated. Tommy nods at the words. “Safe, yea. You better be safe, or so help me I WILL break out of here and attack every alien on this ship” and that was a promise.

They both look up, hearing a quiet pair footsteps. Looks like the guard is right on time.

They both look at each other, determined to put this plan to work.

Tubbo quickly grabs one of the covers and goes to the same corner that Tommy first hid him in, making sure that he’s in a crawl position near the slot. With him, he holds one of the empty water containers, Tommy thinks it’s a type of alien version of plastic.

The guard looks new, his legs shaking. Huh, this’ll be easier than he thought. He starts this by roaring at the guard, just making loud noises really. He throws in a couple of curse words to add some flavor.

The guard nearly drops his food, he’d complain, but he could care less if it’s dropped and has some floor in it at the moment.

The guard quickly opens the slot and right as he slides the food in he charges at the guard, ramming into the window and banging it a few times for good measure.

The guard fucking freaks and books it, the plate of food halfway in the slot. The slot automatically attempts to close but with the food in the way it’s stopped. Guess they didn't need the plastic water bag.

Tubbo stands up, dusting himself off, then goes to the slot. Tommy grabs him before he could touch it. He brings Tubbo close and right as Tubbo buzzes angrily, he hugs him close. Wishing him all the luck in the galaxy that he can pull this off.

“You better be careful…” His grip tightens slightly at the thought of those guards putting their filthy claws on Tubbo. “cause if you're not, I will Kill every single forsaken guard on this ship” He practically growls out. He’s not a killer, not by heart. But it didn’t feel like a lie when he said it.

Tubbos wings droop. he felt him shiver slightly. Maybe his tone was too much, but it felt like the truth. He doesn’t take it back.

He lets him go and Tommy watches as Tubbo carefully puts his hand under the slot, lifts it up and slips past the food. He’s out of the cell. Tubbo goes right, he seems to already have a sense of direction on where to go.

He can only hope that Tubbo stays safe and knows what he’s doing.

Chapter Text

He kinda has an idea of what he’s doing.

He’s sneaking down the halls to where he thinks the control room was. The labeling around the ship is written in old galactic, to prevent outsiders from knowing their way around the ship. Jokes on them, Tubbo studied that shit!

So finding his way to the control room was not hard. Wanna know what was hard? Trying to be QUIET. His feet aren’t really the quietest of feet. Especially if he was in a hurry.

The metal floors don’t help in the slightest either. He’s had to duck back around corners because of his fucking hooved feet. Also, why are the halls and corridors so massive? Actually scratch that thought, when running past the cells he’s seen some big ass animals. That’d explain the corridors.

If he could fly this would be easier, but the whole ship is moderated to be a cooler temperature for the dreamons. So this renders Tubbo flightless. At least, until he can warm up the ship.

The progress is slow and painful, having to wait for guards to look away or to turn the corner before he can slowly dash through them. He was hoping to open a vent but their vents are too high up for him.

Why are vents commonly put on the roof of hallways? This is really stressing him out man.

He waits in another corner, peeking over as some guards walk by, talking about a planet they were planning to land on for supplies. Oh this is perfect. If he can pull this off he can get an emergency escape pod and get him and his friends off this ship and to the planet surface.

Unfortunately he needed to follow those guards, they were headed to the control room. So sneaking again he goes. Walking quietly behind them, checking behind him in case any other dreamons happen to sneak up on him.

This goes for a couple more mites. He finally found a vent that’s on the ground. He dashes to it and opens it up. Looking into the dusty ventilation, he just hopes he doesn’t sneeze and alert them of his presence.

So down he goes, making sure the vent is propped up again before heading off. His wings are going to come out very dusty after this, but sacrifices must be made. In this case, it’s his clean wings.

Crawling further into the vents, he does his best to avoid tripping any wires or setting off alarms in the vents. Luckily he doesn't need to be wary about wires, it seems like this ship is one of the newer models.

Techno would be disappointed.

So crawling he goes. Resisting urges to sneeze out the dust. They should install some vent cleaning. You’d think with newer models they’d already have something like that. But nope!

He reaches another vent, checking inside, it seems to be just a storage. While tempting, he has a mission to complete. He continues onward.

Even if he’s in a vent that only he can fit, he’d rather not risk having any of the dreamons aware of something crawling in their vents. For his safety and theirs. He doesn't know what Tommy said when he hugged him close, but if his tone and growl of words were any indication, he'd kill them all.

This is why it’s kinda scary being in a humans pack, Tommy doesn't look like an adult but he’d believe it if Tommy threatened anyone. Briefly he wonders if Tommy would accept Ranboo into his pack. He thinks Tommy would let him, after all maybe he’d see Ranboo as Tubbos… original guardian..

He hates that thought but it could work if he becomes hostile to Ranboo.

He had zoned out in his mind, thinking of how Tommy would react to Ranboo when he crawled face first into the control room vent. Perfect.

Popping open the vent after checking for any dreamons, he hops down, the ventilation being on the roof of the room. He quickly goes to the controls.

Bruh, what is he looking at? He has no idea what he’s looking at. There’s buttons of all shapes and sizes and colors. Is there a manual somewhere?

Some have symbols but can he really go on a bunch of symbols?

Yes he fucking can.

So, he stares at a lever that has old galactic on it. His eyes have always had issues when it comes to reading words. But he thinks it means temperature, it’s currently on mid low.

So he cranks that one up to mid high, he’s not gonna leave it on that but if he wants to do this quickly then mid high it is. He hopes humans can resist this amount of heat, it’s not a lot, but you never know.

—-------------------------------------------

Is it just him, or did the cell get warmer?

He was waiting, sitting on his bed and folding the rags ‘cause he had nothing better to do than wait and try to distract himself from thinking about Tubbo being caught– and nope, he started thinking about it again. No no, Tubbo is fine, Tubbo is smart and small. Kid can do it.

But it was definitely getting warmer, not enough to make him uncomfortable, if anything it’s welcomed. The goosebumps that have been nearly constant on his arms were finally gone. It felt very nice.

Was this Tubbos doing? Why is he raising the temperatures in the cells?

Something fell in the corner of his eye. He looks over and sees… a hanging flower petal? A petal had fallen. It looks.. Dry.. wrinkled even. It’s wilted. In his time in the cells, he’s never seen anything but the spores fall from the ceiling.

Wait–

Another petal falls, then another. An entire flower head fell to the ground.

The flowers are sensitive! He’s raising the heat so the flowers wilt and die, no flowers means no spores, no spores means no more sleep!

Wait.

No more sleep…

Oh shit wait.

—---------------------------------

Tubbo hears knocking on the control room door, then shouts, angry shouts. He’s running out of time. He quickly opens up a panel underneath the controls and buttons. He grabs the biggest wire he can see and even a couple others. And he starts pulling with all his might. Sparks started to fly from his pulling.

He sees the door start to open and he gives the wires a good kick with his feet before falling backwards, ripping the wires clean out of the panel right as the door opens.

Power to half the ship shuts down, lights going out, doors releasing their power and opening up doors everywhere. For newer models, they are shit, Techno really was right.

“You filthy pathetic excuse of an insect!” one of the guards dove for him. He quickly moves and uses the guards body as a launch pad and flies himself back into the vent, crawling as quickly as fast as he can back through the vents.

Luckily he doesn’t have to be quiet, why?

*CRASH*

Well, the flowers are gone now.

So that means–

—---------------------------------------------

“–AHHHH WHAT THE FUUUUCK!?”

THERE ARE SO MANY FUCKING ANIMALS.

The minute those doors opened he peeked out the hall to look, then ducked back in, a horde and stampede of different alien animals went zooming by, crashing into each other and stomping on the ground.

The animals were panicked and any guards that dared to enter were immediately crushed by the animals, Tommy made the smart decision by waiting in the cell.

The animals cared not for anything other than getting out. Running rampant around the ship now that half the ship's doors are wide open, letting the animals roam everywhere.

While Tommy wasn’t worried for himself, he was panicking about Tubbo being out there, he could get crushed in a second. And that image is doing nothing to calm him. He needs to find him, but he can’t until the big animals leave the corridor for him to no longer be in risk of becoming a pancake.

Once the biggest animal has left he steps out of the cell, not all of the animals woke up but the bigger guys did. One even looked like a rhino.

He hears shouts and more crashing. He backs into his cell again, let them think he ran with the animals and all. The shouting gets louder and so does a familiar buzzing sound. Tubbo?

He sees Tubbo flying– he’s flying now! And he prepares to walk out the cell to greet him, but stops when one of those aliens– the fucker has 4 arms– runs for him and manages to catch him in its claws and pin him down. The claws nick Tubbo on his side and he buzzes painfully.

Tommy’s eyes narrow down on the blue tipped claws and Tubbos blue injury, his blood is blue…

He’s bleeding…

That fucking bastard HURT TUBBO.

Adrenaline floods through his veins as he tunnel visions on the guard.

He lunges for the bastard.

—---------------------------------------

“GOT YOU NOW YOU USELESS FUR COAT!” The dreamon had a painful grip on Tubbo, pinning him with his weight he was nearly crushing Tubbo. This dreamon was some Elite species of dreamon, he had 4 arms, long and sharp claws. And one of them dipped blue from digging into Tubbos' side.

The dreamon leers above him, claws poised ready to tear his head off, “How are you even alive? We tossed you in with the human!” it spat out at him, Tubbo can barely reply, he can’t breathe.

Then, out of fucking NOWHERE. Something crashed into the Dreamon, ripping him off of Tubbo and colliding with the window cell that held a slowly waking Ranboo.

It was Tommy. Tommy had the dreamon held against the window, a crack formed behind the elite, green blood seeping into the cracks from the force Tommy had collided into him.

If Tubbo thought Tommy was scary before, it was nothing to how he looked now, Tommy still sporting his bruises and injuries stood proudly against the dreamon, his hand around the aliens neck. He can’t see Tommys eyes, but he can imagine the look of death in them.

Tommy snarls something, growling lowly in words that no other alien can understand before tossing the alien to the side, bloodied neck and all.

Tubbo sees in the corner of his eyes Ranboo waking up, opening his eyes before widening when he sees Tommy standing in front of Tubbo. He doesn’t get to see what his expression meant when the guard gets up and pulls out a blaster. Attempting to aim at the human.

Tommy doesn't even give the man a chance before he lunges again and pins the guard down, taking the gun and smashing the alien in the face. Before Tubbo could call for Tommy he feels a hand on his arm, he looks up and sees that it’s Ranboo up and awake, he managed to take off the muzzle and ropes.

He’s staring at the human in horror and open fear.

More guards come through, all looking injured and hurt thanks to the rampaging animals running everywhere. Tommy lifts up the gun and starts shooting them, charging at them. He imagines that Tommy wants to eliminate the closest threats and these guards are them.

Or maybe to get his anger out, honestly it could be either.

He feels a tug and then arms sweeping him up and running the other way.

What the fuck is Ranboo doing?

“Wait– Ranboo stop! He’s–” Ranboo cuts Tubbo off, speaking urgently.

“We have to get out of here fast Tubbo, I don’t know how your alive but thank the void you are, with the dreamons distracted we can escape unnoticed”

“Yea I know, but Ranboo– I’m not leaving him”

Ranboo glances down at him at his defensive tone, but doesn’t stop running, dodging a horned animal that came charging the other way. “Who Tubbo? Was there another prisoner? Did they save you from the human?”

Tubbo buzzes and hisses angrily trying to get out of his friend's grip. “Yea, that friend was Choo-mi! He’s the human–”

“That human that’s currently going on a killing frenzy? Tubbo he’ll kill us–” disbelief was clear in his voice

Tubbo shouts at him, tired of being cut off. “You’re not fucking listening to me! He was trying to–!”

A yell filled with so much fucking rage he shivered in fear. He also heard a tone of fear and worry if he lingered on the voice. He knows exactly who that voice belongs to, and he thinks Ranboo just fucked up really badly.

—----------------------------------------------------

He goes to get rid of the crowd of aliens, killing them, he knows he did. He’ll feel horrified by his actions later, right now he has to keep these guys from laying another fucking claw on Tubbo. He takes a couple of hits but he can’t feel a damn thing.

Adrenaline is one hell of a drug.

He shoots until his gun can’t shoot anymore, by that time, the majority of the guards are dead or have fled. He stands there for a second, taking in deep breaths. He goes to inspect a corpse and finds a weird futuristic and fancy knife. He inspects it before pocketing it, could be useful in the future. Calming down from his rush of energy, he turns around, ready to grab Tubbo and head to an escape pod that they always show in movies.

But he stares at where Tubbo should be– he– where is he?

Where is he?!

Tubbo wouldn't leave him, he knows he wouldn’t, unless…

His eyes spot a trail of blue blood, leading to the other side of the corridor. His eyes narrowing, the adrenaline flowing through him still.

“TUBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

He doesn’t think he’s ever been this fucking angry in his life.

Chapter Text

Shit shit shit shit shit!

Ranboo is dead.

Ranboo is so unbelievably dead.

Tubbo is panicking, trying to desperately tell Ranboo that no, Tommy did not kill or hurt him, that he’s very gentle, warm and nice– yes that yell of rage was Tommy too yes– no please don’t panic!

Ranboo is running even faster than he was before, dodging animals left and right, luckily none of them bother with him, too panicked to give a shit.

“I’m telling you Ranboo! He’s really not some feral human! He protected me! And now he probably thinks you're kidnapping me!” Tubbo has been trying to get through Ranboos' scared mind that he’s only making it worse if Tommy finds Tubbo in his grasp, especially if he’s running away.

“How can you be so confident in what you're saying when a human has Adrenaline shooting through its veins! You know what happens to people that get a dose of that stuff in them!”

Adrenaline is one of the many chemicals Illegal throughout the galactic galaxy. They’ve banned that stuff pretty much everywhere. The results and reports of what they do to aliens in the thousands. Makes aliens lose themselves in the craze of being powerful and indestructible.

Humans have been known to naturally produce the chemical. Nobody has really seen a human with adrenaline and live to tell the tale. The results were only recorded through security footage of their destruction.

Aliens who inject themselves with the illegal substance have been known to lose all rationality, overtaken by the drug, they become dangerous, reckless until it makes its way to their hearts and kills them.

Humans on the other hand, produce it but have a far better control on it, cause y'know, natural production. They can still think rationally and calm themselves without dying. Although they still strike fear through the galactic government thanks to the fact they can survive it.

So it's a little understandable that Ranboo believes he’s going to die.

Tubbo also thinks so too, but less because Tommy has adrenaline running through him and more like Tommy will think Ranboo is kidnapping him and that’s honestly even worse. Cause Tommy will beat the living shit out of Ranboo like he did to that guard.

Ranboo keeps running like his life depends on it– which it does honestly. But Tubbo makes that much harder, determined to not leave his cellmate. Tommy did all he could to make Tubbo comfortable in that cell. He’d even go to say ‘adopting’ him, but he refuses to abandon him.

“You don’t get it Ranboo! Choo-mi took care of me, fed me and kept me warm!”

“Well maybe he kept you around for a snack! Livestock, humans have livestocks!”

“HE THOUGHT I WAS A CHILD FOR FUCKS SAKE! I THINK HE ADOPTED ME”

A strangled sound escapes Ranboo, “Adopted you!? Wait.. wait hold on so him attacking that dreamon–” FINALLY!

“Yes you tall shit! Tommy was protecting me! He got angry! And you basically kidnapped me from him! Are you understanding the situation now!?”

By the look Ranboo had in his eyes, Tubbo could see realization in his eyes.

But he didn't say what he wanted him to say.

“We have to get out of here fast!” He ran faster, the shit.

“DAMMIT RANBOO, IM SAYING LET ME GO TO TOMMY AND CALM HIM DOWN!”

No manner of screaming seemed to calm Ranboo, he was running on instinct and fear. He had finally reached the section for escape pods, it appears quite a few others had abandoned the ship already.

He hops into the closest one and tries shutting the door to the pod. Nothing worked.

“Why isn’t it–”

Tubbo finally managed to escape Ranboos' fearful grasp. “I pulled a bunch of wires that cut off the power to half the ship, guess it meant the doors to the pods too” Tubbo peers out the pod, hoping to see a familiar head of golden hair.

“So we can’t get off the ship?” He means if the pods will even close when they shoot out.

“Course we can! Every pod has their own power source, generators and shit” he answers idly, not really paying attention, only focused on seeing Tommy. Maybe he should try calling for him? His nickname will have to do.

“MOMMY!!” Crying out as loud as he could, he hears Ranboo screech in surprise and panic.

“PFDUSHFA– WAAAAH WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” Ranboo quickly grabs Tubbo and moves him inside the pod, it’s a decent size, a medium room size, little bit smaller than the cell. Tubbo winces in pain and Ranboo mumbles an apology for jostling his injury.

“I’M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT MOMMY!” He can’t leave without him, it’s betrayal! 2 reasons, Tommy could totally hunt him down from this act of betrayal and 2, he really likes Tommy, he doesn't deserve to be left here with those damn dreamons.

“What are you even saying!? Is this another person?” Ranboo dreads the idea of another person, they could be dangerous too, he just wants to get them both out of here, it’s way too hectic at the moment, animals and dreamons running around with a feral, adrenaline filled human on the loose too.

“It’s hard saying the humans name, especially shouting, so I gave him a nickname” sorta, Tommy doesn’t seem to enjoy it so it gives Tubbo a laugh.

Then he hears it. Loud thundering noises coming from down the hall to the left. Exactly where they came from. That’s when Tubbo also notices a small trail of his blood, and if his species could pale, he’d be a ghost.

Swallowing his slightly growing fear, he steps out of the entrance to the pod. “Ranboo, whatever happens in the next minute, you need to stay behind me and don’t antagonize him” Ranboo pauses in his search for the launch sequence and stares at Tubbo in growing concern.

“Tubbo what does that mean? Antagonize who? The human? Why–” Tubbo should be filling Ranboo in on what’s been going on during his sleep. But he really can’t at the moment, it’s a stressful and frustrating situation for all of them.

He hears rapid running and a calling of his name. Tommy really isn’t bothering with stealth huh? Then again, feral human.

“TubBbbooooo!!!!” He’s really trying with his name, guess the yelling and panic isn’t doing Tommy any good with how wobbly his name was shouted.

“Mommy!” He shouts and then he sees Tommy in all his human glory– oh shit he is PISSED. That’s an angry human, a VERY angry human, he thinks him and Ranboo are both fucking dead.

When Tommy’s eyes laid on him as he turned the corner, his breath hitches, not really knowing what to expect from Tommy, it’s one thing to be in a cell with him and have no activities. It’s another to actually know Tommy was basically hunting him down with his blood trail.

His dormant primal instincts emerging for a second at the way Tommy’s eyes land on him, it’s instincts okay? He really can’t help it. Especially since his species evolved from prey species.

And especially with the look in Tommy’s eyes, holding promise to bring pain. But when he sees recognition in his eyes he sighs in relief, feeling tension that was building in his shoulders and wings relax.

Then they spike up again when Tommy looks over Tubbos shoulder and sees Ranboo.

Shit.

—--------------------------

Oh this motherfucker is dead.

Tall horned black canvas with white paint spilled on it. Fucking maleficent cosplayer that’s what he is. And from just seeing Tubbos side injured, realizes now that Tubbo would not have been able to run off on his own and get this far without risk of being trampled.

Tubbo was holding his side, his injury would have halted his attempts at leaving Tommy.

Meaning this fucker took him.

He shouts, “You bitch! You better not have laid another hand on Tubbo!” and he starts running, his vision tunneling in on the tall creature that’s exposing a large sharp mouth, hissing from afar.

He would rather not have to get in another fight, he had to fight some horse with blue flaming hair earlier. But if it’s to get Tubbo away from that thing then he’d gladly fight more. Tubbo shouting and calling for him did NOTHING to stop intense need to get to Tubbo!

He goes to lunge for the damn thing before forcing himself to a complete halt, nearly falling on his face. Tubbo jumps in front of him, arms spread wide and his eyes shut, like he expects Tommy to simply run him over.

His complete stop makes him falter and nearly topples over Tubbo. Luckily he rights himself at the last second but now he’s staring at Tubbo, confused. Isn’t the tall bitch a threat?

In any other angle from an outside perspective, he imagines this scene incredibly hilarious. Tiny small bee boy defending giant ass alien and being the only barrier to a charging human simply because said human finds little guy cute and said ‘Mine’.

“Tubbo, please move, I’m gonna fight a bitch” he tries going around Tubbo, but he keeps being blocked. Left, right, left, right, wherever he goes Tubbo blocks him, even flying a bit to get in Tommy’s face. He could literally like, walk over Tubbo if he wanted to, but it wouldn’t really be fair and Tubbo has gotta be doing this for a reason.

He glares, frustrated and tired. “What? Is he your fucking friend or something?” He points to the… cowering alien? Why’s he cowering? The bitch has claws, sharp teeth, and it is way taller than Tommy, he’d be capable of putting up a fight.

Tubbo points to the tall alien, humming and gesturing to both of them, then hugs the aliens' tall legs.

He.. thinks he gets it.

Growling and glaring at the other alien, he walks inside the pod, settling down on one of the corners furthest from the tall bitch.

Said tall bitch stares at him, eyes wide and his body frozen, like if he so much as blinks it’s enough to kill him. Tommy glares back, if humans could growl he’d be growling one hell of a storm that would scare even wolves back home.

His glaring is interrupted with a rough jab at his arm by Tubbo. He flinches hard and yelps in pain. The adrenaline is dying down, he starts to feel the cuts and new bruises littering his body. His body starts freezing up, trying its best to be still so he doesn’t hurt as much.

Tubbo starts buzzing loudly, panicking and ‘talking’ rapidly at Maleficent over there, who finally snapped out of it.

They both start talking loudly, Maleficent then pointing at Tommy. Are they arguing about him? If he’s saying to kick Tommy out then he will bite the fucker, he’s bitten a good amount of aliens recently and he will add another to the list.

Tubbo seems to be defending him, coming over to even pat Tommy on the head. He’d take offense to that if he didn’t feel like an elephant trampled him. Which was almost accurate, there were some massive creatures running around man.

Maleficent makes a wide gesture, with a weird screech in his speech and stepped forwards one step towards Tommy and Tubbo. He doesn't know what tall fucker is saying, but that stance and his height is threatening enough and he is not standing for this.

So Tommy does the only thing he’s really able to do in this moment, with his aching body and all.

He lunges for the fucker, not in an attack pose. He literally just kinda, used the remaining energy he had left and flung himself at enderman boy.

They both collide against the controls and the doors shut and the whole pod turned on. Before any of them could understand what the fuck is going on and how Tubbo could separate Tommy and his alien friend, they were launched. Flying away from the ship and to the nearest planet the programming could find.

Tommy is fucking hissing on the ground and enderman guy is screeching loud enough to deafen Tommys ears. All while Tubbo is buzzing loudly trying to get them off of each other.

Exhaustion is pulling him down hard. With a harsh shove from Maleficent he stays laying down on the ground, Tubbo attempting to drag him to the corner he was originally. He seems to be buzzing at Tommy, patting his head as if to comfort him.

All Tommy can do is hum back at him, in an attempt to calm his worries before laying his head down, giving one last glare at the other alien across the pod before exhaustion wins over.

--------------------------------

“Look at what you did!”

“HE ATTACKED ME FIRST!”

“CAUSE YOU LOOKED THREATENING!”

Tubbo had frantically checked on Tommy’s breathing, and then later found out how to check for a heart beat. Apparently the human body has the heartbeat felt and heard throughout the body. That explains the thump noises he heard when resting against Tommy.

He sits next to Tommy's unconscious body, petting his hair in hopes to be a soothing presence. Ranboo stares at him in confusion and apprehension.

“What? So you tamed it-” Tubbo cuts him off sharply. “Him, or- at least I think he’s a him.. I’ll find out one day, but he’s sentient Ranboo. And I didn’t tame him, stars no. I literally said earlier that I think he adopted me”

Ranboo looks at him with tired eyes. “You’re hardly a toddler Tubbo” Tubbo is really not liking Ranboos attitude here.

“It’s basically the same thing that Phil did with us, what’s so different from what Philza did with us than what Tommy did with me?” He sees Ranboo opening his mouth and quickly cuts him off. “Philza took care of us and took us away from that wasteland of a planet, fed us, sheltered us, protected us to the best of his abilities. What’s different with what Tommy did? You weren’t awake! Tommy fed me, gave me water, kept me warm! And yea I kinda hate that fact he thought I was a kid, but it’s the fact he bothered to even take care of me to begin with Ranboo!”

He was shouting at this rate, nearly waking Tommy up and he quietly buzzes. Easing Tommy back into his much needed rest. Tommy gained a bunch of new injuries during that breakout.

It was quiet after his rant. Ranboos eyes softening a bit. Looking at how protective Tubbo had gotten. But surely Tubbo understands why he acted the way he did. Humans don’t really have a friendly reputation in space.

Tubbo seems to trust the human… ‘Choo-mi’ he thinks he called the human, or was it that other weird name? ‘mommy’? Either way, if Tubbo trusts the human then… Ranboo guesses he can try to trust the human too.

If it doesn’t decide to rip his limbs apart.

This is gonna be a long ride.

Ranboo sighs “We should get you patched up, can’t leave an open wound like that.” Tubbo glares at him and gestures to the human, who is honestly worse off than Tubbo. “We can patch both of you up, there should be a first aid kit around here, pods have them right?”

“I’d sure hope so, it’s standard safety protocol”

They do indeed find the first aid.

Chapter Text

Time passes on, Ranboo refusing to rest due to 2 reasons. 1: He had already been forced asleep for void knows how long, and 2: he’s not comfortable with the idea of sleeping and being at his most vulnerable with a human in the same space as him.

He trusts Tubbo, he really does. But he didn’t have to lock eyes with an angry human. Enderians like him are instinctively aggressive if they were to make eye contact for long periods of time with someone else. Luckily some can suppress the urges to attack with enough practice and training.

Ranboo was one of those lucky few, but he can still feel the urges. Only in certain circumstances does the urge not appear, like with family or loved ones that he cherishes.

Or, on the other side of the spectrum from family and friends, enemies that our instincts know they can’t surpass in strength and the urges don’t appear, in an attempt to keep the enemy calm by not attacking.

That's what happened when he locked eyes with the human. Those intense eyes that held promise of pain were enough to make him cower away and lower his eyes instinctively. Even his own instincts told him to submit. That if he picked a fight with the already on edge human he will come out more injured than the human would.

So he does not sleep, he has enough energy to keep watch on the pod and for any possible malfunctions. Tubbo has no problem sleeping near the human, even going as far as to cuddle up next to them.

At least he knew the human wasn’t a threat to Tubbo, with how they both seem to latch on to each other in their sleep. It’s kinda adorable. And concerning. How attached is the human exactly?

It’s one thing having a true good friend, and another to have an incredibly loyal companion that would willingly kill for you. That’s scary, having that much power. He wonders if Tubbo understands that.

The human shuffles a bit, pulling Tubbo closer and humming, which Tubbo sleepily responds back to.

How much time have they had together to even respond while asleep? It’s definitely cute.

There’s not much else to do in the small pod, he’ll just keep an eye on how close they are to the planet. He thinks it’s a trading planet. He’ll have to wake Tubbo up and see if he can direct the pod outside the populated areas, it would be terrible for them to be in a town and reveal they have a human on board.

With that plan in mind, he stares out into the great dark abyss that is space, and hopes they make it there with no troubles.

--------------------------------------

The pod lurches, having a mild malfunction thanks to Tubbo attempting to reroute the pod to not go to the coordinates it’s been designated with. Last thing he seriously wants is Tommy to be caught and taken away to a similar place like those Dreamons.

Humans are not looked upon in space. Which is confusing. Why are those galactic groups so scared of a species that don’t even travel far out in space to begin with? The literal ONLY reason they get all scared and cowering is when somebody illegally takes a human and get the consequences.

Cause, if you think about it. It’s the other species faults for taking a human to begin with, it’s illegal and very cruel. Cause all they want to do is discover and they don’t want to communicate with humans. No! They decide ‘Let’s experiment with this possible sentient species’, and then get all scared and confused when it backfires.

Tubbo fucking despises poachers and illegal traffickers, of species and animals. All for the name of knowledge of science or just fucking money. Fucking bullshit, cowards are what they are. They want to attempt the easy way. Which makes no sense.

What’s easier? Gaining trust on a human by attempting communication and treating them like a person? OR, treat them like some lowly animal and let them associate you with harm and pain. And when they do get out, the other bastards are all ‘Holy shit the human is out and is killing people’ yea no SHIT, THEY WANT OUT.

He always felt like that, even more so now that he’s bonded and befriended Tommy. Tubbo has first hand experience now that all it takes is to not be a threat, that humans can be capable of being gentle and protective.

It also helps to be small apparently.

He looks over at Tommy, knowing that the human will be out for a long while, with how exhausted he must be. Injuries and all. He hopes humans don't take like, a year to heal. While there is research on humans, he knows those types of research were acquired in… less than ideal ways.

He looks over at the sleeping Ranboo, he doesn’t know how long it’s been before waking up, but Ranboo was asleep by then. Must have kept watch, whether it was for the controls or because of Tommy he didn’t know. Probably both honestly.

He hums sadly, looking at Ranboo who is in the furthest corner from Tommy. He hopes they can get along. He likes Tommy, and he knows Tommy just means well. Stars knows what he’s been through, to latch on the 1^st friendly alien and hold onto them like they’re his lifeline.

He shuts his eyes and just, rests in silence. He doesn't fall asleep, nah, he’s too rested for that. But he doesn’t want to do anything in case it wakes either of the other 2. Ranboo, while he did sleep for a long while, was forced asleep.

He’s never fallen asleep to spore flowers before, what does that feel like? Is it painful? Do they wake up hungry?

His eyes widen in worry. Is Ranboo hungry? He never understood how people can go into a coma for days on end and wake up alive. It’s like hibernation, but not natural. Ranboo isn’t made for hibernation, a lot of species aren’t. Would you die to it? Do you wake up when your on the brink of starvation? How does it work?

He goes to quietly check on an emergency panel that should hopefully contain emergency packs of water and food. It creaks quietly as he pulls it open, flinching when Ranboos ears flicked his way but remained asleep.

Oh hey! There was food! Not any of the good stuff but it’s food, plant variants, omnivore and carnivore food packets. Meant to be open to all types- oh hey look even minerals. At least the escape pods aren't speciests.

He puts the minerals back, takes out 1 each of the other packets. Plant for himself, meat for Ranboo, and omnivore for Tommy. Hopefully the nutrients will be enough for Tommy to start healing better.

He lays each packet near the other 2 and opens his carefully. He starts munching away slowly at his ration. Just idly watching out the window, gazing at the many thousands of stars. There’s a galaxy there in the left corner, a blue comet that’s zooming by, the closest sun, a planet they seem to be approaching, some pretty space dust- wait.

He looks back and sees a planet increasing in size, the planet had a pink tinge of color to it, white clouds and some spots of water.

That’s the trading planet! Planet For’estrx, popular for it’s many local faunas and plantation. But also quite populated in a lot of areas, meaning landing the pod without raising awareness is gonna be difficult. They’ll have to ditch the pod the second they land in a forest.

He looks over at Ranboo and starts nudging him awake, he doesn’t want to wake Tommy up, he really does need that rest, at least until they can get some shelter when they get on planet.

“mm… hmm? ‘whut do you ‘ant?” Ranboo was slowly waking up, more relaxed than he was way before.

Tubbo gets to the controls “We’re heading to the trading planet now, I can see it. I’m going to try and land in one of the bigger forests and when we land we have to get Tommy and ditch the pod quickly” He sees Ranboos eyes quickly widen, seemingly to have forgotten about Tommy.

He jolts up, and Tubbo rolls his eyes, something he picked up from Tommy. He’d do that whenever Tubbo said ‘Mommy’. Roll his eyes. Feels weird, but actually fitting. He likes it.

“Calm down Mommy is still sleeping and he wouldn't do anything” Hard claim really, he doesn’t know if Tommy would behave around Ranboo, but he thinks so, their all in the same boat really.

“Just.. forgot is all..” understandable, memory issues and all. He takes control of the pod and does his best to avoid any possible transmissions that could detect the pod. But that's basically impossible to measure within the pod and the fact that those transmissions are planet wide. They’ll be sensed the second they hit the atmosphere.

But it’s not like they have a choice honestly, they have literally no choice, he doesn't want to risk it by going to another planet that’s stars know how far! He doesn't know how much fuel this thing has. They are programmed to the nearest planet and that’s it.

So they are going to have to dive for the planet, and just do everything as quickly as they can. And that means planning.

He turns to Ranboo, being as serious as his tiny body could get and look. “Ranboo, when we land, we need to grab the rations of water and food and I need you to pick up Mommy and carry him out-”

Ranboo swiftly looks at him, startled and a little panicky. “Me?! He could tear my arms off! And why do you call him that?”

“It’s just easier to call him that okay!” Tubbo huffs. “but I’m serious, the police force on the planet will know our pod lands and where, we need to ditch it before they find out about the fucking human on board and stars knows what they will do with him”

Ranboo looks hesitant at first, looking over at the sleeping human. His hesitance fades away however, once he gets a good look at Tommy. He’s littered with injuries and bruises. Cuts that have stopped bleeding and he just- looks exhausted even in his sleep.

A pang of sympathy is felt. Ranboo is still scared of the human, but he looks like a total mess, and very hurt. Tubbo cares about him so… Ranboo could at least make sure they all get to shelter quickly.

Looking back at Tubbo, he nods, feeling confident in his strength to carry the human. “I’ll try, he’s not heavy is he?”

“I have no fucking clue, he was always the one picking me up”

“wh-what?”

“I think it’s a human thing to do with kids, picking them up often”

Ranboo looks over at Tommy curiously, a new light in his eyes as he peers down at the injured human. Then he looks over at Tubbo, eyes softened and more curious, with some shyness sprinkled in.

“As you’re landing… want to tell me about Tommy? I feel like a 2^nd perspective on him could help..?”

He received an eager smile, Tubbos wings flapping excitably.

“Oh Ranboo! It was SO COOL! Did you know that humans-” Ranboo doesn't regret asking that question, maybe the human really is alright.

---------------

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE MISSED THEM!?”

The voice shouted, the words echoing throughout the entire ship, which has finally gone down and calmed from the chaotic release of it’s animals.

“We- ack! W-we mean they left the ship! Used an escape pod! And left with our damn cargo-” the grip Techno had on the Elite dreamon was enough to cut them off.

“We don’t care about your cargo! What did you do with those 2!” Wilbur was losing his patience.

So far all they got was that Ranboo had been unconscious but Tubbo was shoved in a cell with a fucking HUMAN of all creatures. The dreamons didn’t know what had happened, if Tubbo escaped the cell before the human got to them or if Tubbo had to paralyze the human with a sting. They don’t know anything!

The crew were already feeling on edge at the thought of Tubbo being left to die with a human, but now that they escaped? And with the human missing from the ship as well? The human is with them for some reason, the other pods are accounted for, an extra pod for the human was not released, and especially not with the other dreamons who did escape. The human is gone, whether it followed Tubbo and Ranboo or they took it with them was unknown.

Wilbur looks over at Philza. “We have to get to the nearest habitable planet, that’s what all escape pods are programmed to do”

Philza nods and gestures for Techno to release the dreamon. Techno huffs and releases the dreamon, but not before knocking them out. He walks to the 2.

“We are going to report this ship correct?” Phil nods. “Of course mate, we are not just going to leave these bastards here to continue their work, make sure to aim for their engines”

The crew head out immediately, with Wilbur destroying the controls of the ship, and techno sabotages the engines so they are unable to escape galactic forces. Once they were reported they didn’t bother tying the dreamons up, they were in a hurry and they wouldn’t be able to call for backup or for repairs quick enough before Forces come to arrest them.

Now, they head to the closest planet nearby.

Planet For’estrx.

Chapter Text

Imagine being a simple animal on planet For’estrx. Just grazing on the plants or having a nice quiet nap, the air filled with the sounds of nature, birds, and insects.

Now imagine all that, ruined. By the loudest fucking boom these poor animals ever heard, it shook the ground and startled the peacefully sleeping animals and they all flee, not knowing what the hell made the noise but they don’t ask questions! They can’t talk!

The area clears out, not a single animal willing to risk their lives for curiosity. All except for one, making them a witness to seeing a small alien running from a crashed escape pod, carrying some form of rations, a tall black alien who’s carrying a tall, golden haired oddity with him.

Those 2 fleeing from the crashed site, with only the plants (and creature) as witnesses and a smoking pile of metal.

The little (big) creature stares at there retreating figures curiously from atop it’s tree.

----------

“Gah I hate forests”

“Hey! Watch it! My whole planet is a jungle! Bigger than a forest- better than one too. Besides, you only say that because you’re too tall and you keep hitting the branches with your horns”

“Okay and? Not my fault I’m tall.”

“Debatable”

Ranboo gives a warbled huff while Tubbo snickers as he flies ahead, giving small heads up for Ranboo for a particularly big low branch.

They landed on the planet and in the more denser forests on the planet. With luck they should be able to get far enough away, and with better luck, find shelter. The forest itself is dense, the branches providing shelter on their own against strong wind and rain. But it would still be good to find more solid shelter.

Tubbo doesn’t know how long it’s been but his wings get tired and Ranboo starts slowing down, he’s pretty sure they got pretty far from the crash. Now to actually focus on shelter, preferably near water. Him and Tommy could use a wash and from what he’s observed, Tommy needs a lot of water. Far more than him.

Luckily they didn’t need to travel far, they found a cave opening that reaches a little ways inside, not too small too, and it’s in the direction away from the wind. So it’ll be less cold for him and Tommy.

And! He can hear a nearby rush of water, there’s a creek nearby that they can use. So this spot is going to be there hideout for now, until they can get a new comm and hopefully call for Phil and the crew.

Hopefully.

Heading straight for the cave, they ‘set up camp’. Which really, he just lays the rations in one corner and Ranboo goes to lay Tommy down before Tubbo stops him, instead, telling him to be placed where moss and dirt is. Softer than the cold rock of the cave.

Ranboo warbles worriedly “Y’know, I think we should have taken those survival lessons from Techno seriously….” Tubbo feels inclined to agree. He didn’t think he would need those lessons. Ranboo always had contact on him and Tubbo just eats basically any type of fruit or flower. Compared to Ranboo, he’s more likely to survive nearly any planet.

But this puts Ranboo and Tommy at a risk, Tommy is injured and he doesn’t know when he would wake up and Ranboo eats meat, Tubbo doesn’t hunt and Ranboo doesn’t know how to hunt.

“This is… going to be a problem..”

Yea no shit.

Shouldn’t be that hard though right?

What’s the first step when surviving? Shelter, check!

What’s next? Find water, also check! There’s a creek nearby.

Food? Well they have some rations but with no idea how they long they will last on the planet they can’t rely on the rations, so they have to find food, preferably for Ranboo and Tommy. That’s going to be harder to find- hunt really.

And also warmth, depending on the species. Ranboo is resistant to cold temperatures, his planet being furthest away from their sun while Tubbo can’t regulate his heat well, so warmth is a priority for himself and Tommy. He doesn't think Tommy’s body heat will be enough in such an open cave.

Surely it can’t be that hard to find food and warmth for them?

----------------

Tommy wakes up to the sound of alien warbling and humming talking a few feet away from him.

He feels better after that rest. Sore as hell, but better. He’s actually really glad those aliens have been feeding him a shit ton of that weird space meat. It had a lot of protein packed into it, allowing his body to heal much quicker thanks to it.

If he plays it safe and careful, his body should be healed enough to not worry about his injuries or be sore anymore. But that was then, this is now.

Slowly sitting up, ignoring his aching muscles he looks over and realizes that they are in a cave, a big cave with an opening to a good view of the sky, which is… tinged pink? Like a pastel pink color.

It’s pretty.

A familiar buzz grabs his attention and he’s locked eyes with familiar black eyes with hints of brown in them and a goat pupil.

He perks up, smiling, “Tubbo!”

He hears a warble and then he spots tall bitch

He frowns, glaring. “Tall bitch”

Tubbo buzzes at him, shaking his head. Great, Tubbo seems to either be friends with this guy or he’s…. he’s… wait…

He peers at how close Tubbo and Maleficent are. They are side by side, Tubbo looking comfortable and relaxed along side the giant alien, who is peering at him nervously. Glancing between him and Tubbo.

Either he’s Tubbos friend… or…

He’s his parental figure or guardian.

Something about that rubs him wrong, he doesn't like it. He thinks he’d rather have the tall alien as Tubbos friend than a parent. After all, he was the one that was asleep, not Tommy, no sir! Tommy was wide awake, taking care of Tubbo.

Fucker was asleep the entire time, get good! He can’t possibly be his parent, he looks like he could fold from Tommy’s glare alone! What kind of good parent wouldn’t tear down a planet just to get to their kid? Shouldn’t the ‘mother’s adrenaline’ be kicking in?

Granted, neither he or this tall guy are females, but it still stands! He got that adrenaline rush when Tubbo got hurt back on the ship! So why can’t this guy be the same! If he sees Tommy as a threat to Tubbo why hasn’t he at least done anything?

His eyes widened. What was he thinking?

Oh god.

His head lays in his hands in agony. “I’ve become a fucking mother”

Only now did it occur to him that he didn’t want the idea of the alien being Tubbos parent or guardian simply because of the fact he’s gotten attached in taking care of him.

Fuck.

He lifts his head up to stare at Tubbo. “I was joking about being your mother, but I think your nickname got to me brain little guy” He receives nothing more than a confused stare.

Well, he doesn’t know about them, but they need to get to surviving. He doesn’t know what tall alien can eat or do, but he’d rather get a fire started.

(he also wants to be distracted from the fact he’s 100% in fucking denial)

He gets up, ignoring Tubbo trying to get him to sit back down. He doesn’t know how long he’s been resting, but it was hours, and it doesn't seem like the other 2 have even started a fire, nor gotten materials for one.

Did they not know how to start one?

Guess he knows what he’s doing.

He tries to gently push Tubbo away, succeeding only because of his strength. “I’m fine Bambi, I need to get firewood and shit ‘cause none of you guys got anything for a fire, or to start one! Honestly”

Tubbo tilts his head, confused at hearing the nickname, not understanding it.

Tommy only laughs and starts walking out of the cave, slowly though, he notices that he’s limping and favoring his right leg. That’s gonna be an issue. “I’ll be back in a few, gonna get some wood, and dry grass… hopefully..” He knows nothing of this planet, but he knows he’s in a forest, and you can find everything you need in a forest as dense as this one.

Before Tubbo could even attempt to stop him he’s already walked out the cave and gone to search. Trying to ignore his pain for a little while, he’ll rest once he gets a fire going.

Time to put that knife he stole from that alien to use.

---------------

“There goes your human”

Tubbo stays put, feeling confident that Tommy will come back once he’s… done with whatever he’s going to do. He really wants to follow him, but he can’t. Mainly because Ranboo won’t let him. Claims that he’s not letting him out of his sight.

“Oh my Queen! You’re nearly as bad as Mommy!”

Ranboo looks down at him in a tired way a responsible friend would look at their chaotic friend. “Is that seriously his name?”

Tubbo buzzes, amused. “No, I just can’t pronounce it, and I think it means something else in human tongue” Ranboo looks unimpressed.

“So a word that could possibly mean anything like an insult or a swear word and you’re still saying it?” Tubbo was worried about that at first, but Tommy never made a truly angry move at him, only in annoyance.

“Well he never seemed angry, he gets annoyed and looked at me in horror the first time, but never tried to force me to stop, I think he secretly likes it” Tubbo looks quite proud at that.

Ranboo took awhile to comprehend everything that Tubbo had told him on the pod about

their human friend, the things he’s found out about.

He’s still processing some stuff, like how the human is resistant to Tubbos paralyzing sting!? Tubbo admitted to stinging the human on accident and fearing the worst before becoming shocked that Tommy was better in only a few minutes!

Although it still hurt the human, Tubbo explains while recalling how Tommy was laying on the bed, whining and groaning in pain.

Scary.

After a short while of talking, Tubbo went to clean himself at the creek, so it was just Ranboo in the cave. He doesn’t know how long it’s been, but he’s been munching on the meat rations, it’s a form of dried meat. Doesn’t taste familiar but that's to be expected, it’s pretty bland.

Soon he hears footsteps, he looks out the cave, expecting to see Tubbo but instead he sees the human carrying- or rather, dragging a bunch of stuff.

He has a bunch of stuff on top of a massive leaf that he must have tore from a tree, when he says massive, he means like, nearly his height. It’s big and wide, and he seems to have used it to carry a bunch of materials for… something.

He has Sticks, Wood, some… vines? A blue flower that’s cone shaped (think of a Lily, but with nothing inside) some small leaves, more sticks, and some rocks. A bunch of stuff that seem.. pointless really.

He warbles curiously at the human. The human only glances at him before taking some of the rocks out, sticks, pieces of wood, and a shinier rock off. He also notices the human is limping slightly. He knew the human was still hurt, no way he could have healed that quick.

The human makes a small circle with the rocks, places 3 small ‘logs’ on them, then surrounded the logs by stacking sticks in a tent-like shape, sprinkled some leaves on it- oh, the leaves are dried. What is he doing?

He.. formed something, it does look familiar, like something he’s probably seen in a history book for some species maybe? He’s unfamiliar with what ‘Mommy’ is doing.

Once he was satisfied with his.. creation… he grabs another spare rock and the more shinier black rock and started banging them together.

Ranboo looks on in confusion as he stares at the human banging 2 rocks together. Is this a human thing? Some form of activity to escape boredom? He wishes Tubbo was here, Tubbo knew more about Humans and their customs than Ranboo could hope to know.

He hears him yell out in a cheer, he glances over and chokes on a surprised screech. The human made fire, he made fire! None of the galactic forces or councils of any species really go out of there way to make fire! The classic way to create heat and light was through using minerals dug up from the ground to create long lasting flames, using said materials from underground to create them.

What the human did was a primitive way of creating that, and yet, was far more effective and quicker (probably safer too) of creating that. Enderians never bothered, they are resistance to the cold and don’t mind eating raw meat (they’ve become more civil, but raw meat is still on the table for them)

Tubbos home was almost always the same temperature, they eat flowers and fruits, no reason to start a fire to risk burning down the forest.

Many species had reasons for never bothering with fire, some lived in planets where fire is everywhere, some lived where fire couldn’t form due to lack of oxygen, some underwater, some too cold for fire to even be thunk of. The list goes on!

So to have seen first hand how the human used materials from the area around him from a completely different planet to create fire? It was impressive, extremely so. So impressive he couldn’t help but let out a warbled noise in awe, staring at the fire.

The human puffs his chest out, barked out something at him but with a twinkling light in his eyes. The human must be proud of themselves.

He hears buzzing. “I’m back! That water was freezing- THERE’S A FIRE! HOLY SHIT! Did mommy make it?!” Tubbo came in to see the human proudly next to his fire and buzzes rapidly in excitement.

He chuckles when the pride in Tommy dropped to shout at Tubbo for the use of nickname, who then marvels at the fire a little too close for his liking, luckily the human seemed to agree and was holding Tubbo back from getting too close to the fire, shouting at him.

He thinks this will go better than he expected.

-------------------

None of them notice eyes looking at them from the corner mouth of the cave. Peering curiously at the aliens and at the golden oddity that was the human.

They stay for a little longer, marveling at the yellow flames of the fire before turning around and disappearing into the forest.

Tommy looks over, having felt eyes watching him, but sees nothing. Tubbo pulls his attention back to him but Tommy still steals glances at the cave entrance, wondering if it was just his paranoia getting to him.

Chapter Text

He feels like he’s acquired a new child, a child in the form of a tall Maleficent cosplayer. He’s so… awkward. In a weird way, he’s so timid. At first he purposely was making the guy scared of him. But now it’s getting tiring of seeing the guy look at him all timid and apprehensive, like he doesn’t know if Tommy will lash at him for getting close to him or for being near Tubbo.

Yea he’s gotten attached and protective of Tubbo, but if this guy is his guardian of sorts, then he’s not gonna kill him! Hell even if he was just a friend Tommy wouldn’t touch him. Tubbo clearly cares for him.

But once more the lack of communication complicates things. Not only does he want to talk to Tubbo and possibly curse at him for STILL CALLING HIM FUCKING MOMMY! But to also talk with the big guy, maybe get some answers out of him too.

He’s observed the guy at this point, he’s tall, taller than Tommy which he finds extremely fucking rude and will not hesitate to chop off his legs.

Tall, black with white splashes that look like a paint bucket was dumped on the left (Ranboos left) side of his body. He has horns that remind him of Maleficent and a pair of red and green eyes, which is both cool and interesting. Wicked claws, right hand was all black, black claws and all with what looks like a light blue ring on one of his 'fingers', other hand was pure while and also clawed, no ring however.

Is this bitch married? Cringe.

He has this tail that swishes behind him, it’s a thin tail with only fur at the end, split like his hair, black and white. To top it all off, he has this odd suit? Nothing extremely fancy. It’s all torn and ruined now, but it’s odd seeing that on an alien. He thinks it’s a suit anyways, with how ruined it is he can’t tell anymore.

He looks cool, But he’d NEVER say that. Bastard would have to choke it out of him.

But, from what’s he’s learned and observed, this guy is a carnivore. He’s only nibbling from the dried meat rations. Tommy’s taking a break from the only meat option. But still, he knows this stuff won’t last long, Tubbos food supply he doesn't have to worry, being a herbivore and all.

But Tommy needs fruits and meat, Maleficent over there needs just meat. He knows the basics of survival, but he doesn’t know if he can hunt bigger food or animals to support himself and Tubbos guardian.

For that night they ate their respective rations, Tommy lies down at the spot of dirt they had first placed him on, finding it better than the cold stone. Tubbo does not hesitate to get nice and close to Tommy, practically leeching off his warmth even with the fire burning. Small goat boy, what will he do, Tommy looks up at the taller alien, who merely sits on the other side of the fire. Good. He doesn't quite feel comfortable around Maleficent yet. He lays down, wrapping an arm around Tubbo and tucking tucking him under his chin.

Thankfully, he manages to fall asleep, at first restless thank to being in a whole new environment and for another alien being in the same vicinity as him. He waits until both TUbbo and tall bitch fall asleep. Only then does he let his heavy eyes shut.

-------

They all fell asleep for the night, he was the first to wake up. He did his best to not wake the others, Tubbo was clingy and had gotten closer to him during the night when the fire started to die. If you can believe it, he indeed somehow get closer.

It was tempting to stay there but he needed to scout the area, see if there’s anything else nearby. When he went out for materials he found a tree with some weird fruit, like dragon fruit but yellow and had weird ring designs on it.

He couldn’t reach it during that time however, it was way too high up, he’ll need vines. But he has a plan!

Quietly gathering the makeshift leaf sled, he took his trusty new knife and the vines he brought and took them out of the cave and tries his best to not lean on his injured leg for too long.

Hopefully they don’t wake up and panic.

That’s a concern for later Tommy, now however, is hunting Tommy.

“This shouldn’t be that hard right? Just find a small animal and kill it!”

-----------

“WHY ARE YOU SO CUTE!? AWWW NO! I CAN'T KILL YOU!”

Tommy was defeated, by the adorable eyes of what looks like a purple bunny with red spots on it’s fur. It doesn't sound that interesting but when you look at it’s eyes, he swears to god they are *sparkling*.

He’s looks like a small version of fucking Bonnie from Fnaf he’s not fucking joking.

He didn’t nearly cry when he scared the bunny away, no he fucking didn’t you have no goddamn proof stop spreading SLANDER!

Hunting was harder to do, for one, he doesn’t have the proper tools for ranged hunting, like a gun or bow. Even if he had or made a bow he doesn’t know how to use one nor has the proper skill for it.

All he has is his knife, he could make traps, but traps require bait to attract prey. And he does not have bait. He attempted to try catching smaller animals from their burrows and holes in the ground, but they are fast and too adorable.

Seriously! The one time he actually catches something and it looks like fucking Bonnie! It’s too adorable.

He just couldn’t do it.

So now he sits, on a log, trying to figure out what’s next.

He growls low in frustration “Fucking fantastic, even wild alien animals can be cute”

There is one other option left, however, he’s gonna need to find a large enough body of water.

And he’s gonna have to hope this planet knows the concept of fish.

---------

Tommy gets up and goes to search for a body of water, oblivious to the eyes that follow him as it sees him struggling to catch even the easiest of preys. After all, he literally had that bunny in his line of sight! Should have been easy prey! Maybe this weird oddity doesn't like that prey? Or maybe it’s too weak to properly hunt, it’s injured after all.

The creature tilts it’s head curiously, expertly navigating the trees to continue to pursuit this strange and interesting being.

---------

“FUCKING FINALLY!”

He found a body of water! 2 of them actually! One he had found earlier in a cave with stalagmites… or was it Stalactites? The ones on the ceiling were dripping water to a giant clear pool of water.

No fish in said water, but that's common, even back on earth you’d rarely find fish in cave water. But it looked like clean water! He just hopes there's… nothing toxic in it, maybe he should bring Tubbo here in case it is. See if Tubbo can tell him.

But on the other hand, he found an open pond? Lake? It’s a large body of water, the water had a weird pink hue, but he saw some fish swim in it- and let him tell you, those fuckers were weird looking.

It feels weird knowing he’s going to have to eat these guys, they don’t look like normal fish, not completely at least. But all in the name of survival. So how does he go about fishing these guys?

He doesn’t have bait or a fishing rod, but he still does have some sticks, rope and a knife. He can try making spears… maybe.

Only one way to find out if he’s shit at survival.

He struggles with attempting to sharpen a rock, chipping it like those history channels showed people back then would do. Did he succeed in sharpening the rock like the biggest of manly mans?

Fuck no, not on the first try at least.

Shouting and cursing at the fish as he finally chips the rock in a decently pointy shape, and uses the vine (which is sturdy might he add, like damn, what the hell kinda shit these plants are made of?) and ties the pointed rock to the end of the stick.

Once he finishes tying the rock to the stick, holding them together with only rope, hopes and prayers, he picks it up, swinging it a bit to see if it stays together. It does, this is great. Fantastic. He’s such a big fucking man. Go him.

Now for the hard part.

-------

“GOD FUCKING DAMMIT! STAY FUCKING STILL YOU PIECES OF SHIT! I WILL JUMP IN THERE AND DROWN YOU! IN AIR! PETA CAN’T DO SHIT UP HERE! WITH THEIR RECORD THEY MIGHT EVEN HELP ME!”

Screaming in frustration he plops his ass back down next to his ‘basket’ he made. He only managed to catch 1 fish, and it was small, it was yellow and had blue dots all over it. But every other fish just swam too fast and evaded him too well.

The fishing wasn’t going well and he was starting to get tired and hungry.

Him and Ranboo are going to have to share the one fish he caught…

No, he’s going to keep trying, Maybe tomorrow he can get Ranboo to help him fish, but for now, he’s going to keep trying!

Picking up the spear once more, he walks carefully to another spot where he can see the fish lazily swimming.

--------

This oddity is terrible at catching prey. And just as terrible at catching fish!

How has it lived this long? It’s tall, looks nimble and fast. Yet it fails to catch fish!

The creature was watching him the entire day and it had left earlier to get itself some food, comes back, still sees the golden haired oddity struggling. It caught 1 fish, but it’s a minuscule thing.

It debated leaving before finally seeing the oddity stabbing a bigger fish with it’s strange stick, finally catching something more worthy of a meal.

It’s body language suggested tiredness, dropping the bigger fish in it’s leaf sack, it begins to walk away, most likely back to the cave with its pack members.

The creature looks back at the pond, staring at the fish swimming in it.

--------------

Tommy makes it back to the cave, he managed to get at least 1 other fish, bigger too! It’s not much, but hopefully it’s enough for both him and tall bitch.

Entering the cave, he’s immediately greeted by Tubbo, who goes to tackle him but is grabbed and stopped. He notices that Tubbo now has a better covering on his side, where his injury used to be. Guess big guy patched him up again while he was gone.

Good.

He gets a confused warble and a hum from Tubbo, both of them curiously looking at his makeshift container. Tubbo backing up once he sees that it’s fish, tall alien on the other hand, steps forward curiously, peering at the fish.

“Yea, never had this either, had fish back home but these things are weird looking, the big one’s like a catfish.. but with an extra pair of fins” He comments, relighting the fire and he lets it rise up, feeling the heat from it.

Waiting a minute or 2 before he’s satisfied with it’s stability, he turns around and grabs the small fish. Plopping it on a rock as Tubbo shuffled closer from behind, curious on what he’s doing to the fish.

Normally he likes fish filleted, nice and easy Y'know? However he can’t really do that, doesn't have the luxury. So he simply just descales the fish with his knife. The small fish has similar scales like back home, so it’s easy enough.

Once he’s done, he spikes the thing on one of the sticks he has, and adjusts it over the fire.

Tubbo makes a disgusted look, but Ranboo is interested in his method. Maybe even looking a little hungry.

He does the same with the bigger fish, it’s… slimier than the small one, doesn't really have scales, instead a rubber type of flesh, he doesn’t know how to clean fish like a professional and he’s not really picky honestly.

Once he’s dealt with the majority of the slime, he repeats the same thing he did with the smaller fish and they both cook over the fire.

Tubbo buzzing around him, talking to him to just fill in the quiet, and then he does something familiar. He gestures to the tall alien.

“Ranboo” How the fuck is he supposed to say that?

“R… R-Rioanboo” he has to make a weird warbled sound, gather saliva at the back of his throat or something. ’Ranboo’ seems to perk up at this, his tail wagging. Curling around itself and swishing side to side rapidly.

It’s… kinda cute.

Oh don’t tell him he’s gonna end up getting another one?

Ranboo points to himself, “Ranboo” His throat doesn't make that sound man! “R.. Rrrr-aboo” he thinks he missed a pitch there. His throat hurts doing that, he coughed, rubbing his throat.

Ranboo makes a low croon, sounding disappointed- oh don’t tell him- noooOOOOOO HE’S MAKING A SAD LOOK! STOP LOOKING SAD DAMMIT!!!

Tommy huffs, before sighing and deciding to make this easier on himself. “Boo” It was the last sound of his name that he used, maybe he can call him that instead?

Ranboo perked up so fast, his tail wagging and he lets out a happy screech. His hands coming together looking like a kitten that got praised.

He smiles at Ranboo, “You like Boo? Boo you shall be then, makes it easier on my throat anyways” Ranboo looked hesitant when he smiles, but returned the smile back. And suddenly he doesn't look like Maleficent with that smile, wanna know what he looks like? Toothless the fucking dragon. An awkward smile that doesn't fit his face.

He feels himself internally awe.

Goddammit he did it again didn’t he?

Groaning and startling Ranboo, he turns back to the fishes and checked on them.

It was quiet for a few seconds.

…

…

…

Guess who ruined it?

“Mommy!” Fucking Tubbo.

Tommy spins on his heel, whirling on Tubbo with a glare. “What the fuck man! I told you not to keep calling me that!” he near hisses at Tubbo, who only seems to enjoy his reaction and was pointing at him, saying something to Ranboo. Who looks back at him.

Don’t you dARE-

“M-...Mommy…”

oh you’ve gotta be fucking kidding him, NOT HIM TOO!!

“BOO HOW COULD YOU!?!”

--------

Tommy munched on the smaller fish, giving the bigger one to Ranboo, who stared at him in shock, like he didn’t believe one of the fish was for him and started crooning at him. Tommy doesn’t know if he stepped on some alien culture thing with Ranboo and just, tried to get him to eat his damn fish. Ranboo finally calms down after giving a serious of warbles and small croons, and happily eaten the whole thing. Bones and all…

Yea, bones and all.

Clearly Ranboo eats more than Tommy, that’s gonna raise an issue, he’s not great at fishing. Tubbo is looking at Tommy’s fish, disgusted. He teased him by pointing the stick at Tubbo, he did the equivalent of a shriek and flew away.

At least that means no parts will be wasted. Tommy munches on his fish, eating a decent amount, not yet being full. He sees Ranboo looking at his fish. Normally he’d refuse to even offer it, but… he can just eat a ration, so could Ranboo. But they don’t know how long those will last.

So he makes a show of being full, even though he really wasn’t, and gestures to Ranboo with the stick. “Do you want the rest of it big man?” Ranboo hesitated, as if not believing Tommy was really full (or maybe just wary of taking food from the human) but he accepts the stick cautiously, giving him long looks to check if it’s really okay to eat it. Tommy does nothing, only looking back at the fire and only then does Ranboo eat the rest of it.

Tommy can last until maybe morning to fish again, maybe bringing the other 2 as well.

Tubbo buzzes, startled and alert, grabbing Tommy and Ranboos attentions quickly. He gestures outside of the cave and Tommy jumps forward, looking around, scanning for any possible threats.

He walks out carefully, looking around into the forest, searching for anything that could be staring back or any noise of a creature retreating. Crouching, he slowly scans the area, doing the best of his abilities to hear even the slightest crunch from leaves. As he walks closer, his foot hits something soft as he steps out. Looking down, he sees 3 fish, plopped right on the ground. just right there, 2 small ones and a medium fish.

Ranboo and Tubbo join him, staring at the fish in confusion. There was no other nearby body of water besides the creek, and the fish sure as hell didn’t come here on their own. They look around, finding no culprit. Tommy wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth, he grabs the fishes, and takes them inside, Ranboo looking happier knowing they had more fish.

He goes to clean the first fish. “Guess we have extra to eat, fucking random though…” he mumbles to himself. He sees something on the fish however, white semi sticky strands on the fish. He goes to remove it and it falls off the fish easily. Shrugging he goes to work prepping the fish. He should probably be a little worried about who the hell gave them said fish, but as far as he can tell (which isn't much really, these are alien fish) the fish haven't been tampered with, they seem fine. and if the person wanted to report them or kill them then they would not have helped feed them.

He refuses to think on how they might have seen him and his failure of an attempt to get fish. He's the biggest man, he can take care of these guys! ....he just needs some practice on catching those fish!

He turns around to prep the second fish and yells in shock when he sees Ranboo swallow the fucking fish whole. UNCOOKED.

“WHAT THE FUCK MAN!?!?!”

Chapter Text

“I think he likes me now”

Ranboo feels much better after both he and Tommy were on much better terms. Occasionally he gets a hiss from Tommy or a glare, but he’s noticed that it’s not out of frustration or anger, or spite even. It’s more light-hearted. Playful even.

He also thinks Tommy is willing to care for him as well, considering that he brought them fish so he could also eat. Which is…. That’s saying something. That’s a big thing in Enderian Culture, to give food to another person is something done for 2 reasons, first is a family member, feeding family to care for them and protect them. Second is… well.. courting, but he doesn't think Tommy knows that in the slightest. But does that mean Ranboo is now part of Tommy’s pack? His family even?

Ranboo has never eaten aquatic meat before, it was always meat from land animals and the occasional bird animal. Enderians and water don’t mix well, and there was no water on his home planet, so they never really experienced water until space exploration.

Imagine the first Enderian explorers first finding out about rain. They retreated and the species as a whole deemed space too dangerous with deadly liquids falling from the sky.

Centuries later, they took space exploration once again, although many still stay, not wishing to explore space. So not many Enderians are out in space, and this lead to Illegal traffickers catching any Enderians they manage to track down.

He doesn’t really know why. Is it because they are rare to find? Is it because of their ability to teleport? Do they want to take their pearls? It could be any or all of these options. It doesn’t help that Ranboo himself has white splotches all over himself, young Enderians don’t go to space, not until they have fully fledged into their black skins. And he has a rare mutation that makes him keep his side white, He was… not really looked at normal on his planet. An outsider, too young to do anything because of his white splotches.

His haunting has left him when none of his white faded as he grew up, while the other young enderians slowly grew into their black scaled skins. He was left with his white splotches still.

So he left, and he doesn’t regret it in the slightest, he got to meet the best crew he could ever imagine, all of them looking out for eachother.

He hopes Phil and the others find them soon.

One way to possibly speed up the process is to find a Communicator, possibly from one of the locals. They might have to steal it honestly, they don't have any cash on them. Ranboo could steal from a village, with encouragement from Tubbo, or maybe Ranboo could distract while Tubbo stole it? He wouldn’t feel good knowing he was stealing it from someone else.

Kinda.

Tubbo runs back into the cave, chewing on a flower he had brought with him. “Wanna come and help me find some fruits for Tommy? I know he’s able to eat fruits, he’s an omnivore, and he might like it!”

Ranboo warbles, “Yea, it’s only fair, he did go out of his way to find some fish for me and him” He also knows damn well that Tommy gave him his fish when he wasn’t finished. He knows he wasn’t full but still gave his remains to Ranboo.

Ignoring the fact they got 3 more fish from… someone. Those fish didn’t appear out of air, someone hunted the fish, most likely after Tommy left wherever he had fished and gave the fish to them.

So it’s only fair to return the favor with finding more food for Tommy. If they are quick about it, they can find enough fruit to bring back to the cave and surprise Tommy with it!

With their plan in motion, they quickly head out, carrying the leaf basket that Tommy had made so they can store fruit in it. Ranboo follows Tubbo, who is quickly zooming around and weaving through trees, searching for any possible fruits.

Ranboo teleports ahead, peering at some trees, then at some bushes, searching for berries. “Do you think some of the stuff we get could be poisonous to Tommy?”

Another thing, Ranboo is able to correctly say Tommy’s name, Which seemed to relieve said human greatly. Although Tubbo still tries to get Ranboo to call Tommy Mommy.

Tubbo stops in mid air, thinking. “I don’t think so? Humans are known to eat all kinds of poisons, but they aren’t indestructible. But it’s not like we’ll know until we experiment- with the fruits! Not with Tommy” Tubbo quickly adds on when he noticed Ranboo quickly looking over at him.

Last thing they want to do was even suggest or imply on testing or experimenting things with Tommy, even if the intentions are good. Not without his consent and communication.

Ranboo looks at Tubbo, wondering what the plan is, “So how do we go about doing this? Grab every fruit we see or what?” Tubbo gives him a look, like the answer is obvious. “We don’t know what’s good or bad for him, so we grab one of everything! If he takes a bite out of one fruit and doesn’t like it or senses something in it, then he still has other options!”

“So a guessing game for him? And what makes you think we’’ll find so many fruits and berries to begin with?” Ranboo understands that they are in the densest part of the forest, but to find edible ripe fruits near them? That’s unlikely.

Tubbo makes a dramatic gasp, “You doubt me too much!” Tubbo does his version of cackling when Ranboo gives him a deadpanned look. “Did you forget what planet we’re on? This place is filled with tons of animals and plants, fruitful plants might I add! We’ll definitely find some stuff for Tommy, humans can eat just about anything that’s edible and has nutrients”

“What’s considered edible for them exactly?” Tubbo rolls his eyes, knowing that Ranboo is talking about the fact humans eat and recreate poisons, as well as eating things that you wouldn’t think would be edible at a glance. (urchins but they don’t know that and that shit is good, don’t @ me)

“We’ll figure it out on the way!” Tubbo gasps in excitement as he finally spots a tree with possible fruits. Zooming towards it he spots said fruit. It’s a yellow circle fruit with a gaping hole in the middle. (think of a doughnut, it’s literally doughnut shaped. Also A/N: who tf was gonna tell me Donut is apparently spelt as ‘doughnut’ tf is this!? Im not kidding, I stared at that for 5 MINUTES)

Ranboo stared at the fruit, confused by it’s… unique shape. “That’s a fruit?”

Tubbo happily grabs the fruit after checking to see if it’s rip and instead of putting it in the bag he fucking chomps on it. “Are you kidding?! These are fantastic! I’ve had these before! They are called Babonas! They have a weird shape yea but they are honestly really good, very sweet too! They remind me of the honey the queen back home would make for all the young larvas”

Tubbo was so excited he was flying higher without meaning to, his wings flapping excitably and he munches on the sweet fruit. Ranboo clears his through and Tubbo tosses another fruit from the tree at Ranboo, who catches it and stuffs it in the basket.

As they continue to search for more items, he notices Tubbo hovering near him, taking glances at him. Ranboo tries to catch his eyes, but fails to. Tubbo keeps turning his eyes away when he makes eye contact for a second. He huffs and sits next to a berry bush, the berries were a bright pink color.

“What is it? You keep taking glances at me” Ranboo pokes at Tubbo, wanting an answer.

Tubbo buzzes, like he didn’t think Ranboo had fricking eyes to see him clearly taking glances at him. “W-well… how are you? I.. didn’t really have time to ask during the whole… escape thing, and then there was the fact you were in shock from being so close to a human and you just recently woke up not even 2 days ago from a forced hibernation that your species don’t do… are you okay?” oh. He wasn’t really.. expecting that.

How was he? He didn’t really have time to… sit down and take in what happened really. So much stuff happened as he woke up that he was shocked from it, numb if you will. How was he?

His ears sag down, as if a weight was placed on them. “I-I… Could be better…” he sighs out instead, suddenly feeling exhausted even if he’s rested far more than he would have wanted, forcefully and willingly.

“Do you… want to talk about it?” Tubbo buzzes nervously, knowing it’s been one hell of a week for them. First having gone off on their own for an errand, heading their way to planet Jub’line. They had planned to visit an old friend of Wilbur, they were a song writer just like him, although better considering her species are capable of copying and learning languages at an amazing rate, better mimickers than humans. (remember this)

But on their way to said planet they were intercepted by those Dreamons, the second they found out Ranboo was a Enderian they hauled ass and captured them. Leading to the events that took place, they wanted Tubbo dead, tossed him at a human, said human decided Tubbo was his and… well you know the rest.

Ranboo was asleep the entire time, knowing the Enderian, he’s probably blaming himself for being unable to protect Tubbo.

“It’s just… frustrating… I couldn’t protect you! I couldn’t even teleport” Ranboo growled in frustration at himself. “You couldn’t do anything about that, they had injected you with that weird serum that prevents you from teleporting, cause I guarantee you would have been able to get us out of there if they haven’t had that shit. So don’t go blaming yourself because of those fucks” Tubbo refuses to let Ranboo get in a bad head space because of some bad aliens.

Ranboo said nothing to refute, just stared at the berry bush.

It was silent for a while, Ranboo lost in his thoughts while Tubbo thought of what to say.

He decided to be honest.

“I’m actually… if I’m gonna be honest-” He pauses, seeing Ranboos ears perk up, indicating he’s listening. “I’m… sorta glad we got caught” That got Ranboos attention.

He turned around, looking at him confused. “What do you mean? They wanted to kill you, calling you… useless ‘n all…” Tubbo winces at those words, he hates feeling and being called useless.

He powers on, “Well… if they hadn’t tossed me in that cell specifically, I wouldn’t have met Tommy, wouldn’t have been able to help him escape- escape in general. I would have starved in a normal cell, unable to fly or keep myself warm” and it’s true, the acts of kindness from Tommy were what literally kept him alive.

The Dreamons had tossed him in that cell with the intent of having Tommy kill him. But instead, Tubbo had gained a fierce friend and protector in the human. A human who was too young to be shipped to some lab to be experimented on, to be treated as an animal.

A human that went though things in space no young individual should have, he doesn't know what has lead the human to where they were, stuck in some cell intended to force him asleep. He doesn't know his story, but he wants to know more about Tommy, talk to him, show him how grateful he was for Tommy.

Not because he was a human that had terrifying strength to kill aliens, but because Tommy still had kindness in him to decide that he will take care of Tubbo (Who was not a child mind you) and bond with him.

It feels like an honor really.

“You’re… glad to have met Tommy?” Ranboo didn’t look at him in confusion, disbelief, or even exasperation, curious instead. “Was he really that good to you or.. what exactly? You seem to be all for Tommy”

Tubbo smiles, startling Ranboo, who had not gotten used to the human smile. Tubbo seemed to have picked that up from Tommy. “How could I not, yea sure, it was annoying with how clingy he was- Ranboo! You don’t understand, he was the clingiest motherfucker I have ever met! He wanted to have me near him at all times!” He gets a look from Ranboo. “I’m not judging him or anything! If anything I’m pissed! Cause how long has it been for him to bond with anyone to be that.. desperate… you weren’t there Ranboo, he fought guards to keep me hidden! ….I don’t know if it’s a human thing, or something conditioned him to be that desperate to protect me… and it’s sad..”

The more Tubbo talked, the more crestfallen Ranboo looked, thinking about how Tommy had reacted when first seeing Ranboo, but not out of malice intent did he attack him, but because he thought he was a threat to Tubbo.

Something Ranboo cannot hold against Tommy for in the slightest.

“Besides, I know for a fact the others are searching for us right now, Philzas Mother instincts going ballistic, without a doubt” That got a chuckle out of Ranboo, thinking about Philza rushing the ship to it’s breaking point trying to get to him and Tubbo.

Ranboo plays with one of the berries on his claws. “So… you’re not… mad at me?” His voice goes quiet at the end but Tubbo heard it, by the way he twirled around in horror. “What?! No No! Of course not bossman! Literally none of that was in your control, there’s not a thing I can blame you for even if I wanted to. You did your best and that’s what matters” Tubbo buzzed with so much confidence that Ranboo couldn’t help but let himself believe it.

Slowly they got back to what they were doing, the air much lighter than before as they go around the forest with Tubbo spotting fruits in trees and Ranboo picking up berries from nearby bushes. He really hopes at least half of these Tommy can eat.

On their way back, Ranboo decided to ask something.

“So what was it like to be adopted by a human?”

“MotherFU-”

------------------------------

“-CKER THAT IS COLD!!! COLD WATER! HE COULD HAVE FUCKING WARNED ME, THE PRICK!”

Tommy had left earlier that day to finally get himself washed up by the nearby creek. The water had a slight tint of blue but overall seemed safe to splash on himself.

He probably should have checked how cold it was first. It was FREEZING.

He had quickly washed himself and his torn clothes to the best of his abilities, without any soap it was a little difficult. He DID however find a plant he remembers seeing in a store once. It was obviously a different alien version of it, but holy shit it was practically the same, but instead of a red or yellow color it was just blue.

He used said plant as a shampoo replacement to clean his hair, back on earth there was a flower, called ‘Bitter Ginger’ or something along that line, when you squeezed the flower, a soapy water gets squeezed from the ‘cone’ and the smell is very flowery and sweet. People grow and harvest them because of it. (A/N: It’s true! I grow some! Very sweet smelling! Just… don’t make inappropriate jokes.. it’s very easy to make them)

He’s never seen one but this might as well be it! It’s almost an exact replica, only difference? It’s blue and it smells like vanilla. Perfect shampoo.

Washing out all the ‘soap’ off he checks in on his shirt, drier but not enough. No towels to dry himself off either. Unless he took a nap in the sun.

...actually that doesn't sound too bad, who doesn’t like a good nap in the sun? It’s… been a long time since he’s bothered to enjoy the small things in life, it may not be earth, but he can pretend. If only for a few minutes.

The grass feels uncomfortable on his back, the pinkish sky looking far too unfamiliar. It causes his stomach to unsettle, feeling anxious suddenly. Everything is so different, sure there’s some similarities. But it’s just….

Not the same.

He lays there, staring at the sky until he slowly ends up closing his eyes, resting and pretending the grass under him isn’t tinged with a pastel purple color, that the sky is blue, the trees don’t look like they came from a minecraft mod.

Pretending he was back on earth and simply taking a nap in the forest.

He doesn’t know how much time passes, he thinks he went in a trance.

You ever have those moments where you’re not asleep, but your not completely awake, but time kinda jump cuts anyways? Yea that. He had that. Basically pulled a minecraft bed really.

Why’s he thinking and comparing things to minecraft suddenly?

That’s not the point of this, what is the point is the fact that he heard something in the trees. It startled him awake and now he’s sitting up, looking around, trying to spot anything moving. He twists around, making sure nothing is behind him. He thinks he sees something in the trees, but it’s too far away.

“H-Hello? Don’t even think about attacking me! I WILL throw hands fucker!” He growls out, making a growl noise at the back of his throat. It’s choppy and fake, but it’s better than nothing.

He sits in quietness.

Rustle

There!

He spins around and chokes on a scream when he looks up at the branches and finds a massive creature looking down at him. His eyes narrow, trying to identify the big ass creature, the fucking leaves are in the way.

It… looks familiar? It starts to slowly crawl down, showing it’s true form. Holy shit, it looks like a fucking sp-

THE FUCKER HISSED AT HIM!

He hisses back out of pure spite, copying the sound. He had to do this often when other animals were chucked in his cell from previous ships. It kept them away from him.

It startles, freezing in its tracks and stares at him as if he just preached to it about the answers to life. He’s met with many pairs of red eyes staring back at him. 8 legs slowly going down until it was standing on solid ground.

Oh shit, it’s a spider.

Fucker was huge, he thinks it might even be bigger than Tubbo, it was the biggest spider he’s ever seen! Easily reaching his hips.

He tilts his head to look at it from the side, it was a dark brown color, oddly pretty and was earth-like honestly. Said creature also tilts its head at him.

“Hello there little guy” he crouches down slowly, not realizing he was talking in a higher tone like one would to a dog or cat. It looks at him and crawls closer making clicking sounds. Looking like a shy puppy, he melts.

“Awww… hello, you went all the way from there to me” he points to the tree then at himself, making his voice high pitched and not unlike one would talk to their pet. it was silent for a moment.

It gave an adorable hiss.

“AHHHAAAAAHHHAAWWWW!”

Oh it’s game over.

-------------

Ranboo and Tubbo screech high pitches of sounds that a deaf person could hear. They stare at the entrance of the cave in horror and fear when they see their human ON A FUCKING ARACHNID.

Tommy utters words that they couldn’t understand but they think it sealed their fate.

“BOYS!! I’D LIKE TO INTRODUCE YOU TO SHROUD!”

Chapter Text

Tubbo and Ranboo didn't know what to expect when they got back to the cave with the fruits. Maybe Tommy would be back. He was not back, they beat him to the cave first. Tubbo wasn’t worried, confident that Tommy was just enjoying the fact that he was out for stars knows how long from that cell, or just from captivity in general.

So they wait right? They take and sort the fruit out, Tubbo explaining on some of the fruits he was familiar with, while the others he can only hope are still good for Tommy. So when they hear footsteps (loud footsteps mind you) they thought Tommy was back.

How the fuck were they supposed to react to seeing an Arachnid approaching the entrance with multiple glowing red eyes? And that the species was familiar to them. It was a level 5 ‘Strenx’ Arachnid. Those fuckers are STRONG.

And who was on top of said fucker?

Their human, their psycho pack-bonding motherfucker. Who decided this creature will be his bestfriend. Tommy was riding on it’s back, presenting this.. ‘Shroud’ spider to them…

He kept repeating Shroud so much that they understood at this point that Tommy will not be letting them go. This Arachnid is here to stay, and there was nothing either of them could do or say to convince him otherwise.

Ranboo knew humans had strong pack-bonding instincts, and Tommy seems especially affectionate. He’s literally talking in an.. oddly weird higher tone than he normally uses to talk to Shroud. Cooing and rubbing Shrouds head.

At first Ranboo feared for Tommy’s hand, but then he looks at said spider who was clicking and hissing into the hand, as if wanting more pats and decides that this is fine. It’s completely fine, If Tommy was able to befriend a damn Strenx spider through affection then sure! Why not! Not the oddest thing to have happened all week, that’s for sure. Just another item on the checklist to mark off.

He honestly doesn't really mind as much, yea it gave him one hell of a scare when he saw him approaching the cave, but was… less scared when he saw Tommy on top of it. Don’t get him wrong, seeing a human on top of said spider was terrifying all on it’s own, but neither seemed aggressive towards each other. If anything the spider really liked Tommy’s hugs and pats.

So does he mind Shroud now? Not as much anymore, spider didn’t even bother to care about them really, only seemed to have interest in Tommy.

Tubbo didn’t like the spider.

He can think of 2 reasons really.

Tubbo was small, and a prey species that was similar to another species on planet, a species that falls prey to the arachnids species, especially the big ones. Hopefully Shroud wouldn’t look at Tubbo and see him as a meal. He doesn’t think Tommy would allow it though, Tommy did not go through wrecking an entire ship of any guards that dared cross his path to protect Tubbo only to let his pet spider eat him.

He also thinks Tubbo is jealous.

“I’m NOT fucking jealous Ranboo” Now if that wasn’t denial he doesn't know what is. He can literally see Tubbos ears flicking constantly, he does that when he’s agitated or annoyed. And he keeps stealing glances at Shroud, who still has Tommys attention on him.

Ranboo lets a smug expression grow on his face, “uh huh, right, are you just mad he hasn’t acknowledged the fact we got him some food or is it that he brought something else to fawn over?” Tommy hadn’t seen the laid out fruit, seemingly showing Shroud the cave, as if giving him a tour.

Were all humans like this?

Tubbo stutters over his answer, “Well we spent like what? A quarter of the day searching for edibles and he brings back a fucking Arachnid! Is he even hungry? I swear he was omnivore, were those notes wrong?” he mumbles to himself near the end, sending a glare at the spider. Who has now decided to follow Tommy around to the fire. Tommy seems to be relighting it.

“Tubbo, You can just say you liked it when Tommy gave you attention. He dotted on you and everything, even on the pod on our way here” Ranboo huffs, amused.

“I do not- wait what? On the pod? Wasn’t he asleep the whole time though?” fair questions, he was… for the most part.

“He’d wake up a few times, he would glare at me, even give me a hiss or weird growl, then check and see if you were still next to him, and he’d check you for injuries or scratches on you. As if I tainted you with my hands or something when I patched you up. Why do you think every time you woke up you were always in his arms? It was honestly cute, you guys would move around if the other moved” It was indeed very cute.

Tubbos wings spiked up, his ears pinned to the sides of his head and the tuft around his neck fluffed up. He’s embarrassed. How cute.

Ranboo laughed at him, ignore the glare he got from the Anthocapradae. “You miss being his main attention or something?” From what he knows about Tubbo, which wasn’t much really about his past, Tubbo didn’t like talking about it. But he knew that Tubbo was very lonely before meeting Ranboo. His species are hive based, to be without a hive was certain death. Loneliness did not bode well for Tubbo.

Is it possible that Tommy caring Tubbo like a child made Tubbo yearn it? Tommy sure didn’t treat Tubbo as a child. Tommy clearly knows Tubbo is fully capable of himself, he treats him in a way that one would when they wanted to be close to a kid, affectionately anyways. Then again Tubbo had a similar attachment to Phil when they were both rescued. This could be a similar case.

Probably doesn't help that Tommy himself was lonely before Tubbo was thrown in his cell. Ranboo was Tubbos friend, but he wasn’t a caretaker type y’know? N-Not! Not to say Tubbo needed a caretaker or anything! But he was just another teen…

He’s starting to think they need therapy.

Tubbo shrieks at him, flying up and smacking him on the face, his tuft fluffing up more when Ranboo only cackled. Neither of them realizing they caught both Tommy and Shrouds attention.

“No I fucking don’t you tall BITCH! I couldn’t give a shit if he decides to pay more attention to his pet arachnid! Besides it was all for survival anyways! So it’s perfectly logical that Tommy doesn’t feel the need to take care of some small ass alien that couldn’t do shit for him in return besides give some fucking pats to the head!” okay maybe there was a little bit of unresolved tension there, he starting to agree with the idea of getting some therapy.

Through all of Tubbos mini vent rant, he notices Tommy coming closer behind Tubbo, his expression looking worried. Ranboo tries stopping Tubbo but he keeps going, not bothering to be quiet anymore.

Before Ranboo could decide to do anything, Tommy picks Tubbo from the air and pulls him close to his chest. Tubbo freezes, stunned for a second, before trying to fight out of Tommy’s grip. Tommy doesn't seem bothered by Tubbos kicks to his knees and stomach, even when he does wince in pain he does not try to stop it.

“Fucking let me go! Let me go! Go play with your fucking pet!” Eventually Tubbo tires himself out, he stopped struggling to get out of Tommy’s grip. Tommy the entire time did nothing but hold Tubbo and gently rake his hand in his hair, muttering words Tubbo didn’t understand but got the idea of it being an attempt to calm him.

Tubbo sighed, expecting Tommy to let him go and go back to what he was doing, but instead, Tommy walks back, taking Tubbo with him and sitting both himself and Tubbo next to the fire, Shroud following and sitting down right next to Tommy.

Ranboo gets worried about Tubbos safety, being so close to the Arachnid. But he doesn’t stand, knowing Tommy would keep the spider from doing anything…. Hopefully. The arachnid seems to like him.

Tubbo tenses, not feeling comfortable at all being so close to a creature that could legitimately eat him. Shroud pokes his head too close to Tubbo and he buzzes in retaliation, feeling pretty damn scared. “Shroud!” Tommy sharply said the arachnids name, and lightly pushes his head away from Tubbo.

Shroud hissed slightly at Tubbo and walked around Tommy to sit on the other side instead. Was… was Shroud pouting? Do arachnids pout? What the fuck is this?

Tommy rubs Shrouds head and then focused on Tubbo, who he still has in a hug. It feels humiliating. But it also feels really nice. Why were humans soft and warm? Literally makes no sense, even Tubbos fur and tuft on his neck don’t make the same warmth that Tommy seems to just emit.

And then Tommy starts running his weird human fingers through his hair and he melts closer. Magic hands, that’s what humans have, magic fucking hands, they look weird and all, no sharp claws, all fleshy and shit, but maybe they are on to something if they make simple rubs and scratches feel great.

…

…

…

Is this how he got Shroud to follow his ass? Just offer really good pats and scratches? It sounds extremely plausible.

…

…

He is still going to scream at Tommy the first chance he gets when they can talk to each other.

-----------

He has Tubbo and Shroud on either sides of him. They… are they glaring at each other or having a staring contest? He thinks Shroud would win honestly, too many eyes, that’s 100% cheating.

He feels kinda trapped honestly, and concerned. Tubbo seemed to be shrieking all sorts of words at Ranboo, he didn’t know what he was saying, but he seemed angry…

just- just a little bit yknow? With the whole shrieking and all.

He’s just glad a hug was enough, he honestly thought Tubbo would sting him again and he was not looking forward to that. So here he is, sat stuck between a giant spider and the seemingly small kid he got attached to.

He’s kinda starting to think that Tubbo is not a child. Why? Well he acts differently from what a kid typically does, a kid is capable of handling themselves when they have experience, but something about Tubbo makes him think it also could be age as well. After all, he’s an alien, maybe he’s naturally this tiny?

That… kinda implies that Tommy has been treating him and thinking him as a legit child… just because he was small…

Is that offensive? Has he offended Tubbo? He doesn’t know! And he won’t know until he gets some form of communication. And even if he attempts to communicate with them Tubbo talks in the form of hums and Ranboo in warbled sounds that hurt his throat when he copies them.

That… was one of the reasons he had stopped dotting so much on the ki- on him when they landed. At first he thought that Ranboo was his parental guardian y’know? And sure Tommy didn’t like that, but who is he to decide that he wants to take Tubbo from Ranboo who has been with him longer and would know his needs better?

But now that he’s seen them interact with each other it reminds him of teens who would hangout together and mess around with each other, annoy the other. It felt human. It didn’t feel like a guardian with a kid.

It just feels different, and that’s why he’s starting to think Tubbo isn’t a kid, for all he knows, he could be around his age for crying out loud! But he doesn’t know. Hell, Maybe Ranboo is the child while Tubbo is the older one!

He’s also absolutely dreading that answer, he thinks he’d rather have Tubbo be a kid, do you have any idea how fucking embarrassing that will be? ‘Yea hey! You were tossed in my cell and you looked tiny, adorable, and I assumed you were a kid that I must keep to spite those creepy fucks’

He has a feeling he will get yelled at. Yknow what? He can live with that, cause he’s gonna yell at them back for calling him ‘Mommy’. Fair trade really. His comments never helped. It felt like having a duck that’s been following you all day look you dead in the eyes and quacked once.

He had that happen once near a lake, a baby duck quacked at him and he dead ass cried. Not that anybody was around to see. Big men cry sometimes.

He was so deep in thought he almost didn’t hear Ranboo shuffling from the other side of the cave, the noise echoing. Looking over, he sees Ranboo awkwardly getting closer to the fire, which was odd in itself. From what he’s observed, Ranboo doesn’t mind the cold, he doesn’t need warmth.

Then again, it could be the same like a person wanting something or liking something they don’t need, same principle really, maybe Ranboo likes the warmth even if he doesn’t need it. That sounds right.

He eyes Ranboo, looking at him hunched over, he doesn't know if it’s natural for him to be angled like that but it’s hurting his back just looking at him. He looks down at Shroud, the big spider just chilling on his side.

He mumbles to the spider to get on him. Shroud just looks at him like he’s stupid, not understanding a single word he spoke. Taking his hand from Tubbos head he grabs shroud, and plops him on his lap. He honestly thought Shroud would weigh more but he doesn’t. Felt like he grabbed a chihuahua. With lots of legs.

Shroud hisses for a second before realizing that this was a much better spot and sat there, all 8 legs tucked in and looking content. He’s actually impressed Shroud can make himself look that small on his lap.

He calls out to Ranboo, “Boo, get over here before I change my mind” He pats the available side next to him. Ranboo tilts his head, carefully coming closer, probably expecting Tommy to go ‘SiKE BITCH’ and push him away or something.

Nah, he just kinda feels bad for having these 2 all cuddled next to him and Ranboo being left out. And he’s not… that bad, still too tall, but he’s enjoyable company… not that he’ll EVER let the bastard know.

He sits as patiently as he can as he watches Ranboo situate himself next to Tommy, not leaning closer but just kinda, sitting there.

Okay this is awkward, what was something he could do that could possibly make Ranboo relax?

As he was thinking, his right hand scratches Shrouds head and the left hand gently ruffling Tubbos hair. Both become more content. He snaps out of his thoughts when Shroud made a pleased click… or what he thinks is a pleased click, it’s a click man, he can’t tell, but he knows Shroud liked it.

Oh! There’s an idea! Maybe some form of contact Ranboo would like. Unless he’s one of those people who don’t generally like touch. He sighs out, annoyed over thinking so much about whether or not Ranboo would even like to talk to him or allow touch.

A warbled sound answers him, turning to Ranboo, he sees him looking at him, avoiding eye contact though. Curious. He copies the sound back, and smiles when Ranboo perks up. Maybe Ranboo likes to hear him?

“You’re a weird one yknow? So tall and you could totally be a menace, and yet you hunch over like someone took a bat to your back, it’s making my back hurt man. You should get that checked out, do you guys have chiropractors in space?” he decides to gently ramble, asking questions that won’t be answered, talking to Ranboo really. He hears Ranboo warbling back at him. Neither of them understanding the other, but having a sense of peace between them. It felt nice. To be listened to even if they can’t contribute in a language he can understand.

He doesn’t know how much time passed, but eventually Shroud got bored, scurried off of Tommy and made his way out of the cave. Tommy jerked slightly, not wanting Shroud to leave but with Tubbo still on him, he could only watch as Shroud left the cave. But Shroud looked back at him and hissed lightly, scurrying off into the- oh shit it’s almost nighttime.

He goes to get up but Ranboo plops a fruit on his lap, what in the fuck is that? It looks like if a banana and a donut had a baby. He picks it up, eyes the fruit and looking up at Ranboo. “I’m guessing this is for me to eat?” Ranboo pushes another fruit- where did they get all this fruit? Is that what they were doing all day?- Ranboo pushes another towards him, his tail swishing side to side, he thinks I hears a noise from Ranboos chest. He can’t tell what it is though.

This was… extremely nice of them to find fruits for him, was it to repay him back for the fish?

He carefully brings the fruit to his mouth, mentally hoping this wouldn’t taste sour or poison him and took a bite.

Holy shit it tastes like honey almost, but if it was mixed with a banana flavor. It’s weird hearing it but he swears to god it tastes really sweet. “Holy shit this is great! Thank you” he nods at Ranboo, smiling, letting him know he’s thankful for the fruit, and he starts munching away at the weird donut, there’s a couple other ones and he’s itching to try some alien foods man.

He feels Ranboo leaning on his shoulder, just a little bit, and he does his best to not notice it, letting Ranboo relax against him. He smiles into the weird honeybanana fruit. Enjoying the company of both aliens.

He hopes they aren’t stranded on the planet for long, surely there’s a way to maybe go to the locals for help?

He feels a quiet rumbling coming from Ranboo. Holy shit is he purring!? He’s not some tall ass alien, he’s just a big cat! He experimentally leans a bit into Ranboo, testing the waters if you will. Ranboo only seemed to purr louder.

It’s very relaxing, being surrounded by his 2 companions. He pulls Tubbo closer and leans into Ranboo more, who also leans into him. He can feel Ranboos tail wrapping around him carefully.

Okay, this is happening then.

---------------

Where a pod remains, crashed and damaged, was surrounded by officers of the planet, along with the Kristin Crew, who are looking for any possible signs of their crewmates.

One of the officers, the leader of the squadron, who looks like a snake with legs, walks over to them. “Are you for certain that this is the pod your members were on? We’ve received the other pods that had the escaped the ship, the dreamons in the exact spots those pods were designated to land in. Those guys are arrested but this pod is the only one that went rogue and landed somewhere not to its designated coordinates”

Philza’s wings puff slightly, frustrated. “For the last time yes! We know it’s theirs, Tubbo is fully capable of hacking and messing with simple coordinates to make the pod land wherever he wants, this was purposeful.” The officer still looks skeptical, especially when they told him that Tubbo was a Capra. Damn specie-ists.

“Very well, we will report to you if we find any leads or any of your crewmates. We can handle it” They wrote down some notes and walked over to the pod, most likely going to ask those who inspected it.

Wilbur scoffs. “Like we’d sit still while they do half an effort to find them” Techno nods in agreement. “We’d be better off finding those 2 on our own” Technos ears were twisting this way and that, listening in on all the conversations from the officers, and Wilburs skin fading in and out of opacity. They’re both stressed and worried.

Phil turns to them, smiling gently, reassuring them. “I never said we’re gonna sit and wait for them, we’re definitely going to search for them, I’m sure they are safe” In the back of his head, he’s worried, those 2 weren’t the best in survival skills, not out on a random planet.

He just hopes they are alright.

Chapter Text

“I’m gonna strangle Tubbo, I will, I swear I will” Wilbur gives an angered huff when he nearly trips over a root that uprooted itself out of the ground. It’s been what? The 5^th root? Techno gives no signs of reacting, but the way his nose twitches shows amusement.

It had to be planet For’estrx damn place was- well, a very dense forest. But Tubbo landed in the most dense part! None of the crew could figure out why Tubbo did that. The damn officer didn’t believe them and had noted down that it was simply an error in the system that made them land in a different part of the planet.

Wilbur had a few choice words to say to them but unfortunately Techno and Phil stopped him from giving them a piece of his mind. Damn officers, you mention anything about species and it’s all assumptions. Fucking pricks.

Phil stretched his wings out carefully, looking very tempted to start flying everywhere just to spot them. But there are strict rules on the planet, one such rule was do not do anything that could purposefully startle the animals living on planet. This includes flying, Phil is not a quiet flier.

The natives didn’t hunt, especially not the wild animals, If they want to trade meat they would have livestock of animals shipped to them to start. Does that imply they have never used the animals on planet as livestock? Yes. It’s almost like a religious thing with the planet, all the wild animals are sacred and only they can eat each other since they are animals.

They do however take advantage of the many fruits and herbs the planet naturally grows and offers. It’s why it’s so successful in the trade market, the planet grows all sorts of fruits in record time.

Now normally that would be great survival wise for Tubbo and Ranboo, But Ranboo eats meats strictly and neither boys know how to hunt properly, Ranboo lacks proper camouflage, unless he was skill enough to remain silent and still, and Tubbo is small, he would need to fly, but even his wings produce enough noise to upset the animal into a run.

It’s been 3 cycles since the pod had landed, if the time frame the pod gave on planet was right. Ranboo could possibly be in critical health or would have managed to grab the rations quick enough before they crashed.

Phil trills worriedly, wanting to fly at breakneck speed and find those 2. Were they injured in the crash? Do they have shelter? Is Tubbo keeping warm?

Phil feels a hand on his shoulder and he nearly fucking squawked like a newborn Ivory. Techno rumbles out a calming growl that relaxes Phil. “We’ll find them, both of them. Tubbo is smart and Ranboo is resourceful. I’m confident both of them are fine, have some faith in them”

“I do have faith in them, im just worried…” Phil let out another quiet trill, walking forwards headed to the closest town that is settled closest to the dense forest, they would be the ones best to ask about the forest and what to look out for, maybe even asking if they’ve seen the 2 teens.

Wilbur chuckles, trying to lighten the mood, “We know, you nearly killed all of us just to get to the ship and again to get to this planet” How their ship is still in one piece is astonishing really, blessed by the voids truly.

Phil laughs sheepishly, as if he wasn’t full aware he nearly rammed their asses straight into a passing asteroid on the way here.

They walk past small creeks, not heading deep into the dense forest just yet, if they headed in they would easily get lost, so instead they trek on the border… or what they can see as the border, the density increases enough on the edge to tell.

Techno walks with confidence, his stance relaxed but his ears straight up, keeping on ear out for any possible predators or the voices of their lost crewmates. Wilbur using his sharp eyesight to scan the area, looking for clues or maybe even catch a sight of the 2 teens.

Phil itches to use his wings to help, but he’d get in trouble….

At least until they can get deep into the forest enough that nobody would be able to detect them from breaking some rules.

Or maybe they upped the security, they haven't come here in a long while. Nearly hitting his wing on a tree, they finally find the stone path that leads to a medium sized village, not too big where it could effect the local forest and not too small that they don’t have business with travelers.

It’s a pretty nice setup honestly, friendly locals as well, as long as your friendly in return and respect the rules. The houses were made of wood, dirt, reeds, straws and stone, just made from the materials around them to use to their advantage.

They ask around for information, getting simple answers, there’s massive Arachnids that lie deep in the forest, although they say a brown one has been spotted lurking around the town recently, it never attacked them, but just kinda, stared at them.

Wilbur goes to ask people in the shops, Techno asking the guards positioned outside of the town to ask them if they’ve seen anything odd, Philza goes to the head of the town, whatever form of government or leader this town possess to ask questions and maybe even assistance.

They all said the best bet they had to find the teens was to find water, it’s the basic survival rule, water, even if Tubbo does not need a lot of water and especially not Ranboo, it’s a good landmark to start on, an elderly Floran pointed to a direction that she claims has a large body of water with a stream that’s connected to it, that can be their starting point.

They thank her and she wishes them luck.

“We honestly could have just asked her the entire time, literally everyone else was useless, none of them cared or bothered to say anything different than the next person. What is it with people not giving a shit these days” Wilbur was tired of walking, he was lead on a Valrin Rat chase, a shop owner claims someone would know, then that person claims someone would know, and it was a repeated cycle of going back and forth around town for him.

“Wil, it’s not like we knew she was the only one helpful, we had to ask around, and it’s just how some aliens are, we are outsiders, we are none of their concern until we break a rule or law” and wasn't that the truth, outsiders who ask around and don’t do the normal routine of the typical traveler who buys then leaves are seen as weird and odd aliens. Immediately seen as looking for trouble.

The only reason these people even bothered was due to the fact they were asking around for lost people and even asking about the deep forest, they helped but mainly just spouting the same information every damn time.

“So we head in this vague direction that the lady pointed us, and what? Find the lake and start where? We are literally starting from scratch” Techno bends a branch that was in his way and lets it go once he passes.

“We start now or we start too late, once we get further in we can break a couple rules in the form of having dadza- OW- FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK TECHNO!” The branch came back full swing and slapped Wilbur right on the face, he holds it in pain and Techno looks back at him, only slightly sorry.

Phil doesn't even pay attention to them, looking around the forest as they head deeper and deeper, the boys lagging behind slightly thanks to the branch.

Wilbur rubs his face, sore from the hit and noticed how much ahead Phil was. “Techno we gotta pick it up or bird brain dad is gonna ditch us in his search, honestly” Techno huffs and pulls Wilbur forwards “If you would have ducked we wouldn’t have lagged behind” Wilbur screeched in his ears and Techno only barely restrained strangling him.

Back with Phil, the second he saw the lake, he spread his wings, and starts flying over the trees. Confident that Wilbur and Techno can search and take care of themselves, each of them have their own communicators on and ready.

He follows the stream upstream, he tries to watch from a birds eye view, but quickly realizes that it’s literally called the dense forest for a fucking reason. So he has no choice but to fly down.

Landing, he tries to hear anything out of the ordinary, maybe talking? Buzzing from Tubbo? Maybe warbling from Ranboo. He also keeps on eye out for the potentially loose human. He believes Tubbo had a reason to have hijacked the pod to not land where authorities could have helped them.

Then there’s the case of why and what are the humans motives. He’s confident the human left with his boys, for what purpose though? If the human killed them then their… corpses would be in the pod, there would be blood, something to show struggling, there was blood but it was red. Neither Tubbo or Ranboo have red blood.

It’s possible that they might be helping the human? Or maybe even the human is helping them. He’s trying to think of all the possible options, nothing is 100%. Nobody knows a lot about humans, so this situation is a wild card, the best and worst situation could be happening and he wouldn't know it.

They could be helping the human, the human could be trying to hunt them, the human could have already killed them, the human could now be a pet- there’s really a lot of stuff that none of them will have answers to until they find the 2 teens. Best case scenario is the 2 of them are fine, and no human in sight. Worst case scenario….

Let’s just not think about that.

He stumbles near a creek when he hears a hiss from above. He readies his talons in case some predator tries to attack him. Above him he sees a brown Strenx arachnid. Said arachnid seems to be carrying some fish.

That… was an extremely strange sight to see, Strenxs don’t fish, they are capable yes, but they really don’t like water, so what in Suns is this arachnid doing with fish? It hisses at him again, then proceeds to continue crawling away, a destination in mind.

He watches it crawl away with purpose, carrying the meal it has on its back in what looks like a fish net made from spider silk. Smart.

He goes to continue searching the creek, hoping to maybe find some equipment from the boys, but something nags him in the back of his head about that arachnid. Arachnids don’t carry food with them to places, unless they are bringing a gift to their mates for courtship. But never fish, it’s considered a lowly food for them. That arachnid is bringing food to somewhere…

He really doesn’t think it’s something to search into, but he did consider it an oddity, and what harm can it to do follow the arachnid?

Feeling like he will only reach a dead end but willing to take his chances, he follows the arachnid, making sure to stay a good distance from the creature to not alert it of his presence and pursues the creature, hoping against logical odds that this spider will lead him the right way. It’s an oddity, and when in doubt, follow the unnatural.

---------------------

Ranboo thinks he has definitely crossed some form of human pack bonding ritual.

Talking with Tommy- or well, “Talking” with Tommy- has been very nice, he doesn’t know what he’s saying but to know that he’s not glaring at him and even tolerating his contact is making Ranboo very happy. He doesn’t know why he felt such a need to have Tommy like him, maybe because if it wasn’t for Tommy himself none of them would have escaped.

But it feels nice, and Tommy is nice company. Both of them leaning against each other watching the fire. Ranboo likes the warmth, he has no need for it but unlike other Enderians he’s one of the few that actually like it and seek it. It’s comforting in a way. It’s like an indication of life, compared to the coldness of his home.

The warmness of a breathing living body compared to the coldness of a corpse kinda way.

He purrs quietly, content to just listen to the crackles of the fire be the only sound around them aside from the soft breathing. They all fell asleep at some point. A small nap, surrounded by each other was bound to lead to them shutting their eyes for a couple minutes. It’s only natural.

When he woke up the fire was barely still alive, but definitely less alive- it’s dying is what he’s saying. The sky was getting brighter too. So there’s that.

The planet works weirdly, it’ll have this “resting” cycle where the planet will get slightly darker, usually an indication that it’s going to be nighttime. But then it brightens again and continues being daytime. It’s really weird and confusing for first time visitors.

He curls his tail around Tommy, not able to reach Tubbo but he thinks it won’t matter when Tommy is leaned down over Tubbo like a blanket. He doesn’t think humans should sleep like that, it doesn't seem very comfortable for him, much less for his neck.

He hears a familiar buzz, then a small groan. “The f’ck? Why can’t… why can’t I move?” Ranboo looks down and sees Tubbo awake, he’s kinda just... trapped under Tommy's head, arms, chest- he’s just trapped. Tommy mumbles and moves a bit, likely to get in a more comfortable position, releasing Tubbo from his human prison.

Tubbo quickly but carefully peels himself away from Tommy, who sleeps peacefully unaware that his favorite alien just left his side. Once Tubbo frees himself, he checks his wings and fur.

“It’s not like he squished you much, he’s pretty light honestly, is that normal for humans?” Tommy weighed lighter than he expected, not from starvation or malnutrition, from what Tubbo told him they’ve fed him cooked meat, enough that it would satisfy his hunger. But that they fed him twice a cycle. Maybe he needs to eat more? If that’s the case then they need more fish if they want him to be at full health.

Or better yet, they get the crew to give alien-care to Tommy when they find them.

“I have no idea, I did think he’d be heavier, maybe he’s just naturally that light? Or maybe I’m just that strong” He puffs himself up, making himself look bigger. Ranboo croons, amused. “I mean, you are pretty strong, so that could also be it” Tubbo nods enthusiastically.

They hear a hiss, Tubbo jumps a bit, startled. Ranboo spots a familiar Arachnid carrying some fish, he warbles happily. Shroud must have left to get food for them- well, specifically Tommy, they know who the favorite is and it hasn’t even been a full cycle.

The Arachnid crawled inside the cave, crawling rapidly towards them in an uncomfortable pace that puts them at unease until Shroud was in front of them and stops, both Ranboo and Tubbo had leaned back, not really knowing what to expect from Shroud. Shroud only stares at them, then at Tommy, nudging him with a leg.

Tubbo waved an arm towards them instinctively. “No! He’s sleeping and if you wake him I will actually fight you, he’ll never know I beat your ass” Shroud only stared at him with a challenging look. Then slowly plopped the fish down next to the fire.

“I’m actually impressed he’s bothered to get fish for us- err for Tommy, you know how Strenx spiders have a dislike for water” It’s true, something about how their “hairs” reacts with the water. Not as a violent reaction like Ranboo has with water. But still uncomfortable for the Arachnid. He thinks it has something to do with the legs being hydrophobic to water

Tubbo only looks at Shroud who has decided these 2 aliens are boring and he left the cave, climbing up the side and probably went to rest on the rocks up top. “I can’t believe he befriended that thing, normally they hiss and scurry away once they are satisfied with asserting their dominance against literally any damn creature or traveler”

“Maybe he mimicked back? Nobody really mimics or tries to copy a creature, unless it’s a reflex to a threat” Knowing how Tommy acts though, he probably also did it back to spite Shroud. He doesn't seem the type to let someone have the upper hand on him willingly.

Tubbo giggles, and gestures to Tommy’s head. He makes a scratching motion. “Speaking of Choo-mi, I learned in the cell that he fucking adores his hair being played with, but with my hooves I couldn’t really scratch it. It was more like rubbing if anything. You have claws, try it! I want to see if he reacts any differently”

That sounded like a bad idea to play with a sleeping humans hair, but Tommy has already shown that he likes Ranboo, so mmmmaaaaybe he can try it.

Slowly, he carefully brings his hand down on Tommy’s hair, gently scratching his scalp with his claws, worried briefly that he’d scratch him too hard on the head.

The reaction was instant, Tommy did a full body shudder, made a whimpering sound, and leaned impossibly close into Ranboos personal space that he was literally on Ranboos lap. Ranboo had a lap full of human. He has a deadly deathworlder on his lap simply because he gave him a head scratch. Tommys head leaning on his chest and his upper chest and arms on Ranboos lap while the rest of Tommy is just curled close but not in fetal position, half way.

What the fuck?

Tubbo was enjoying the sight, suppressing his laughter at seeing this side of Tommy interacting with Ranboo who looked clueless and all frozen up, the only thing moving was his hand still gently scratching at Tommy's head.

“Aww look at him! He was always the one doing it to me so it’s fucking hilarious seeing him like this… and a little sad… but still kinda funny”

Tubbo continues to quietly laugh and Ranboo could literally do nothing else, he was hostage, only giving a pleading look to Tubbo to help him escape being Tommy's pillow but he only cackled at him. Ranboo shut his eyes and accepted his fate as a pillow and a head scratcher.

Neither heard a set of footsteps coming closer to the cave, if they did, they thought it was Shroud until-

“Boys?”

Their heads whip over to see that at the mouth of the cave was Philza Minecraft. They all stare at each other, silent. Neither knowing how to respond, Ranboo and Tubbo frozen and having no fucking idea how to respond to Philza on why they weren’t at a local village and instead in a cave with a dying fire, some fish, and a human.

Philza didn’t know what to say or do, staring at his 2 youngest crewmates, who one of them has a sleeping fucking HUMAN snoozing away on his lap.

“I- how...- what?” Phil stuttered, he honest to gods does not know how to react. Tubbo has his mouth gaping, looking like he was having a stroke and a meltdown at the same time while trying to collect his thoughts. Mouth moving, opening, closing again, then opened again, something to finally say.

“You’ve been replaced”

“WHAT!?”

“SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHut the fuck up!!!!”

Chapter Text

“Beforeyousayanything Please listen for just a minute or two! I swear we have an explanation! We’re all good, this is the best scenario trust me, ignore the sleeping human”

Saying to ignore the sleeping human was easier said than done, as that’s all his eyes and instincts could focus on.

His instincts were screaming for him to get the two away from the human, to get them behind him, before it could wake up. But he’s also trying to think rationally, Ranboo would not by ANY MEANS have a sleeping human on his damn lap, if he didn’t feel okay with it, or safe. Tubbo doesn’t seem bothered by it as well, going as far as to get in front of them both in a protective manner.

Clearly more went on in that ship than any of them could could have anticipated or imagined.

Sure Philza speculated that the human could have been in play for their escape, the human could have helped them, he 85% believes they are sentient, but with all documented information they were always shown as rogue and beast-like, destruction following their paths and painting ships with the blood of species.

He tried his best not to rely on what others say, to see with his own eyes what humanity was like, but you can only avoid rumors and horrifying tales for so long before it’s said so many times that it begins to stick to your mind like sap.

He can maybe see the human helping the two escape and in return maybe not murdering them as they escaped together. But he’s surprised that the human stayed with them.

Unfortunately for Philza the only way to get answers to his questions was to ask the two themselves.

He slowly walks into the cave, but not too close, hesitating when the two tense up., He stops getting closer when he hears a low protective growl, begin rumbling from deep in Ranboo’s chest. Ranboo jerks his head, startled by his own reaction to Phil’s advance.

Looks like they have gotten attached to the human. Curious.

He slowly sits down, perched on a nearby small rock.

“Now”

He claps his taloned hands together, being careful to not be too loud. “Do you boys want to explain to me how you escaped the ship and obtained a human, then answer WHY you didn’t go to the designated cords?

Both Ranboo and Tubbo looked at each other, Tubbo relaxed slightly from standing in front of his captain and sat next to the human. Philza represses the urge to trill angrily, his instincts frantically telling him to stop Tubbo from sitting right next to the sleeping human .

“Well you see, it literally all started with me being chucked into Mommy’s cell”

“Who- Is that his name? ”

“I can’t pronounce it fuck off!”

“You’ll wake him, keep your voice down!”

---------

“Mommy’s been taking care of me since the moment I got chucked into his cell, He managed to get the spore flowers for me to eat by tossing me and having me grab them-”

“He tossed you!?”

“ Stop fucking interrupting me! Yes, he tossed me and before you say anything it was literally the only way I could eat and not starve”

Tubbo starts from the beginning, explaining how Tommy did not, in fact, do anything to hurt Tubbo. The opposite really. Tubbo told Phil how Tommy seemed to have confused Tubbo for a child due to his small size and took responsibility for him.

“He- Mate are you telling me he took one look at you and said ‘Ah yes! This is mine now, this is my Capra’ You know I find that hard to believe right?”

Phil has never heard of a human willingly taking in another alien to care for them. There have only been two records of two humans who have befriended some aliens but leading to those friendships was a path of shredded blood and dead corpses. And a concern was that those humans were never heard from again. Nobody knows what happened, they were often told the story as a haunting of sorts, to be wary or else you will find a ship haunted by the humans who will also strand you and your crew.

But aside from the unknown humans, those possibly real bonds were mainly for survival, many knew humans were protective of their pack and their young. But to also accept another young from a completely separate species? That’s… you’re telling him that less than 8% of all Galactic Sentient aliens that have space exploration and travel, have instincts to care for other young aliens includes humans?

What does that say about how aliens have always treated each other if the ‘feared and dangerous humans’ are capable of caring for another being far more easily than the majority of the Galactic Galaxy?

Tubbo glares, “Well it’s true! He gave me his rationed water, kept me warm, he’s clingy, very clingy, Ranboo is starting to get a taste of it too”

Ranboo mumbled

“Oh really? I couldn't tell”

Tommy has not moved from his spot on Ranboo, and Ranboo doesn’t want to rudely wake him up or cause a scene for him to panic if he spots Phil.

Phil feels slightly less stressed, if what they say is true then this human has been helping them since the ship. “And the… fire?”

He gestures to the fire, a leaf basket and the fish. Tubbo perks up

“He made them! He started the fire when we got here, made that leaf bag thing. And! He fished- well these aren’t the fish he brought, but he fished the first time and brought them so Ranboo could eat some meat”

They were both surprised when Tommy came back and they saw him bringing fish for both himself and Ranboo, it wasn’t enough, the two fishes one for each of them, but the thought was considerate and showed Tommy wanted them to survive in his care.

Luckily they got more fish from who they now know was Shroud. The fact Shroud didn’t come bursting in the cave when Phil entered was surprising, maybe Phil had actively kept out of its sight and hearing?

Phil eyes the sleeping human, and how comfortable Ranboo is holding him. Ranboo is an anxious boy, so to see him relaxed, is the visual sign that’s convincing him honestly, and everything that Tubbo is saying is registering in his head. Processing.

“What’s his name?”

Phil tilts his head. He would like to know the name of the human that has been helping his youngest members. Ranboo answers him,

“His name is Tommy, Tubbo can’t pronounce his name correctly, as he’s already mentioned”

Tubbo sharply turns to glare at Ranboo.

“I can’t make that sound at the beginning! The ‘CH’ sound!”

“You mean the ‘T’ sound?”

“I said what I said!”

Phil muffles his laughter that’s begging to come out. Tommy huh? He gazes down at Tommy, noticing his torn clothing, his bruises and injuries. How he seems tired even in his sleep, leaned against Ranboo who has been idly scratching his head and has had his tail swishing behind him lazily and relaxed.

Something in him tightens and aches, an urge to pick the boy up and clean his wounds, heal him. That even with the lack of communication he wants to help Tommy. To protect him like he has for Tubbo and Ranboo.

“How is he? Does he have trouble eating? Is he sick? Can he walk? Does he need immediate attention?”

The words just come out of his mouth, the more he stares at Tommy the more his instincts replaced his frantic blaring of ‘Protect Tubbo and Ranboo’ to ‘Heal. protect. Fledgling Hurt. Heal’.

There’s also no way that this human is an adult, he’s lanky, not as skinny as one would think from being mistreated, but his limbs are lanky in the way a young teenager would be.

Both Ranboo Tubbo give him a look, Tubbo looking far too smug and mischievous for his liking and Ranboo just sighed, but seemed to be smiling.

Tubbo tilts his head,

“He’s… he tends to favor his right leg when he walks and stuff, eats fine, gave him some fruit earlier- oh speaking of! Did he eat some Ranboo?”

Tubbo looks over at Ranboo, who nodded and gestured to the eaten fruits, some pieces left untouched, probably inedible or doesn't taste good to Tommy.

“Are you sure he can eat any of this mate?” Phil knew that humans could basically eat just about anything as long as it’s edible, but he still felt worried for him. Foreign foods are a concern after all, there’s multiple machines meant for detecting potentially harmful foods for many species. He worries about the potential ill food the human could have eaten.

“Well, he hasn’t vomited it out or gotten sick while he ate it, and he seemed to really like the first one”

Ranboo answered. Tommy shifted around a bit, for a moment it looked like he was going to wake up but was quickly calmed when Tubbo gently ruffled his hair.

“So from what you’ve said… Tommy is basically- what? Are you in his pack now?” Nobody knows how human ‘packs’ work, just that they get easily attached to things and people, specifically things more than a person.

Either the human kills everyone in the crew and disappear, or they die in captivity. Rarely does a human attempt to bond with any alien- and for the right reasons obviously, nobody would want to be forced to bond with their captors. The many attempts that aliens have made to illegally take humans from their homes and figure out how to weaponize them have all failed in either a deadly escape or in killing the subject. Disgusting acts that he would not hesitate to teach a lesson against.

Tubbo taps his chin, thinking,

“I think so, I’m pretty sure he adopted me. He’s taken care of me as if he was my hive queen and protected me. He went fucking feral at this one Elite Dreamon that got me on the side”

Tubbo shows his side, the bandage still there, wrapped and slightly blue but not overflowing.

A deep rage made its way through his veins. His wings stretched for a second. The urge to drive back to the ship and give those dreamon fuckers a fight they won’t forget. How DARE they harm his young crew- wait what was that about being adopted? By a human? He didn’t say that specifically earlier! Just that he took responsibility for Tubbo.

“What the fuck? How did- “

Ranboo looks at Tubbo, suddenly remembering the scene that was before him when he was waking up.

“The guard that he mauled?”

“Yup, hit him hard in the face with the gun, was absolutely brutal, but he was protecting me, I think that’s also when his adrenaline kicked in and he smashed the guard so hard against the reinforced glass he cracked it”

“His WHAT!? That’s real? Not just a myth?”

“Nope! Not a myth! Choo-mi almost killed Ranboo when he thought he was kidnapping me”

“WHO THE FUCK IS CHOO-MI!?”

“ INSIDE VOICES PLEASE!”

--------------------

“Phil really just flew off without us huh?”

“Can’t blame him, he’s been on edge and making Ivory calls the whole time since we reported that ship, out of all of us he’s got the best shot at finding them. Doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try obviously”

“Obviously, I’m no quitter”

“Literally lost to a pen but go off”

“ What the fuck Techno”

“I am simply speaking the truth, and they know it too”

“Uhh… ‘they’? Who’s they?”

“Don’t worry about it”

Wilbur slows down, staring at the back of Technos bunny looking ass head in disbelief and slight concern on who the hell also saw him lose to a cursed pen. He trails behind him again, careful with roots that have been uprooted or are in prime position to trip him.

“Pen is cursed anyways, haven’t seen it since it got lost in the vents”

Techno gives a huffing sound, his form of chuckling, easily hopping over a fallen tree while Wilbur fazes through it.

“It’ll come back, if it’s really cursed as you say it is then you won’t escape”

Wilbur smacked the back of Technos head- or he would have if Techno didn’t move his head out of the way and a branch replaced his head, arched and bent. It strikes Wilbur.

“AH FUCK!”

He hisses in pain, blindly trying to move the branch.

“DAMMIT TECHNO- ow ow ow, you know my skin is sensitive! And don’t even joke about that pen coming back, don’t need the damn thing haunting me!”

Wilbur cradles his face, checking to see if he’s possibly bleeding. Luckily he’s not.

Techno looks back, looking only slightly apologetic.

“I’m gonna be honest, I really thought you would dodge it”

Wilbur gives him his best deadpanned look while in pain.

Wilbur lets out a small hiss towards Techno, baring his teeth slightly, Techno knows Wilbur means no harm from his display, ignores him entirely and he checks his comm. He’s been using it to track Philza. In Technos opinion, he would have appreciated it if Phil at least told them he was gonna start flying around.

From how Phil seems to be still on the same spot for a while on the tracker, he might have found something. Why hasn't he sent anything to them or sent a ping? Is Phil okay? Sure he’s an old man, but even Techno knows better than to assume Phil is alright, he’s got hollow bones. There’s a number of possibilities, but his job is to protect his crew, so questions come last until he makes sure everyone is safe. Then the questions can be asked.

Wilbur peeks over his shoulder, glancing at his comm. He makes a noise of confusion,

“Is he just sitting somewhere? Maybe he dropped his comm”

Techno moves a low branch again, this time making sure Wilbur passed over before letting it go,

“Phil never drops his comm, Phil is like Ranboo, keeps his comm on him at all times and in good care, checks it regularly”

They both stew in their thoughts, thinking over what could have caught Phils attention and made him not report back to them. Techno only worried for safety reasons and Wilbur out of curiosity, and maybe a little worry.

Following the tracker, they close in on a very small clearing, against a mini mountain if you can call it that, more like just a really rocky hill, it’s got a sharp rocky point at the top, surrounded by vines, grass, moss and the obvious bushes and trees. There’s an opening cave entrance.

Techno puts a hand out, stopping Wilbur from proceeding,

“This could be a den, you don’t just walk into a den”

Wilbur points to the comm

“Well either this creature stole Phils Comm or this is where Phil is”

He’s right, the tracker’s telling them that Phil is in there. Techno walks slowly and cautiously, keeping his steps light and soft, Wilbur using his ability to go invisible, following Technos steps while analyzing the possible den.

“Maybe Tubbo and Ranboo took shelter in here?”

It’s plausible, surely they remember the steps for survival. They didn’t see any possible leftovers of carcasses- oh, that’s bones, bones that look like fish? Fishbones?

“Something’s definitely living here-”

Wilbur tugs on his arm lightly pointing into the mouth of the cave and whispers.

“I see Phils wings Tech, it’s a little hard to see but look! There’s light in the cave”

His eyesight is poor, unlike Wilburs, he twitches his ears towards the cave and sure enough, he can hear voices, he hears Phil and the young crewmates!

“And I hear Tubbo ‘n Ranboo, the hell is Phil doin’ just talking? He should have reported to us”

Wasting no time and becoming less cautious they eagerly hurry towards the cave, Techno with a scolding ready in his mouth.

“Phil! You were supposed to ping or message us when you find Tubbo and Ranboo, what are you-”

Wilbur shrieks and does not shut his mouth in time to stop the shriek from escaping his mouth.

There was a fucking human on Ranboos LAP. His lap! Like if it was a PET.

And Wilburs shriek woke it up.

A pair of the brightest blue eyes he’s ever seen blink up at them with confusion and drowsiness. Then it narrows into anger and alarm. The human shoots up with energy that it should not have, having literally JUST woken up.

They hear Tubbo and Ranboo shout in alarm.

“Wait wait! Mommy it’s okay-!”

“Tommy, they’re not threats-!”

Before he could process their words or even the fact they are trying to calm the human it lunges for them with a- WHERE DID IT GET A THERMAL KNIFE!?

-------------

Fueled by one of the worst adrenaline wake ups he’s ever had, Tommy lunges for the bunny fucker with his alien knife, he doesn’t care if he looks adorable- HE’S TOO FUCKING CLOSE! WHY DIDN'T THEY WAKE HIM UP!? WHEN DID THESE FUCKS GET HERE!? HOW LONG HAVE THEY BEEN HERE!? (god he really sounds like a mother-)

AND HOW DARE THEY RUIN HIS NAP?

“GET YOUR ASS CLOSER I’LL TURN YOU INTO STIR FRY AND SPACE KFC CHICKEN YOU FEATHERED FUCK AND FURRIES!”

He hears his name and nickname called out but he was just focused on getting these strangers AWAY! He makes an animalistic sound he remembers hearing from a previous ship, a predator that looked like Griffin, but entirely black and with 4 yellow eyes. The sound felt harsh at the back of his throat but came out as a hissy roar that started as a whistle and grew louder. It startled all the aliens in the cave and he tried to use that hesitation to stab the bird.

He was pulled and stopped however. He thrashes in panic before quickly thrashing… less panicked when he realized it was Ranboo and the last thing he wants is to accidentally hurt the guy.

C’mon just let him at them! He can make them never come back!

---------------

“CHOO-MI PLEASE! THEY AREN’T THREATS!”

Tommy could either not hear him or was too panicked with the three unknown aliens in front of him. Tubbo can’t blame him in the slightest, waking up to a group of aliens in front of him after whatever the fuck happened to him when this many aliens were around on the other ship is not a good atmosphere to wake up to.

Tubbo tries flying in front of Tommy, barely succeeding when Tommy nearly stabs Philza with his knife and is picked up by Ranboo. He’s confident that if he just gets in front of Tommy and tries talking to him he’d listen, knowing that Tommy would never hurt him or Ranboo intentionally, he shouts over his wings, not taking his eyes from Tommy

“Back up, all of you! He sees you as a threat, just get out of the cave and we’ll calm him down”

Wilbur shrieks back, not taking his eyes off of Tommy as well

“Like hell we will! That’s a fucking human! There’s no way you’ll calm that thing-”

Phil shrieks back at Wilbur, spreading his wings to prevent either of them from stepping forward, making them all walk backwards, slowly and carefully out of the cave.

“Wilbur, let them handle this”

Both Techno and Wilbur stare at him in shock, which is understandable, there’s a very aggravated human, and if it were any other situation he would NOT be doing this. But he trusts Ranboo and Tubbo’s judgment, they would know Tommy the best, he knows from everything they said Tommy would not undo all his progress of protecting them by attacking them.

Techno is the one to speak this time, his instincts to protect his crew rearing their head, screaming to the point he just can’t ignore it.

“Phil, I trust your judgment I really do, but this is not some critter that you can pick up and pet, that’s a human who is definitely gaining more adrenaline as we speak-”

Techno nearly shoves Phils wings away when he sees the human break out of Ranboos hold. Phil had quickly grabbed him before he could hop away to the cave.

Phil trills, gently trying to soothe Technos nerves and instincts,

“Mate, look at them”

They all look over and see that Tubbo is staying in front of Tommy, blocking the exit- well blocking is a strong word, the mouth of the cave is big, if the human really wanted to it’s an easy trample, not even, just a swift swat and Tubbo is out of the way.

But the human makes no move or gesture to harm Tubbo or swat him away, glaring, hissing, yelling and barking sharp words at the crew from the cave, but does nothing to go past Tubbo. Well not nothing, he does try going left and right, around Tubbo, but Tubbo meets him at every turn.

Ranboo also joins, Techno is the only one who can hear what they are saying, Ranboo seems to be mumbling reassurances to ‘Tommy’. He assumes that’s the humans name. How they got it is a mystery for now, but it seems to slowly be working.

“Trust them”

Is all Phil says, looking on as the youngest members of the crew calm one of the most deadly and feared deathworlder species in the galaxy.

They all see Ranboo placing a gentle clawed hand on Tommy’s shoulder, going next to him and pressing himself against the human, Tubbo flying close to Tommy and holding his hands. Whatever words they are saying to the human, seems to be working and the contact from the two teens begins greatly calming the human. He still glares at the 3, but with less murderous intent in his eyes.

Soon enough, the human is calmed by both Tubbo and Ranboo, displaying signs of affection by leaning against Ranboo and ruffling Tubbos hair. Talking to them and gesturing his anger to the rest of the crew waiting outside, showing and displaying his displeasure about the adult aliens.

They don’t know how long they’ve been standing outside the cave, watching the teens calming a deathworlder, but they can recognize protective signs that ‘Tommy’ seems to be displaying when they start walking outside the cave, Tubbo and Ranboo walking on both sides of Tommy.

Said human glares at them the second it gets outside, saying harsh words and sounds and… lifts its hand raising its middle finger towards them. They can take a wild guess that it’s a rude gesture.

They all stand there awkwardly, none of them knowing what to say, or even where to even start.

Ranboo clears his throat, clapping his hands together. He gestures to the crew,

“Captain Philza, Wilbur, Technoblade, we’d like to introduce you to Tommy, the human who helped us escape. Tommy, this is our crew”

He gestures to Tommy, who only glares at them standing slightly in front of both Ranboo and Tubbo, in a defiant stance, daring them to get closer to the teens.

Clearly Tommy doesn't give a shit about introductions.

Ranboo only chuckles nervously, He took the lead on introducing Tommy, knowing that if Tubbo tried he wouldn’t even pronounce his name right.

They hear a loud hiss, and look up at the rocky hill to see a Strenx Arachnid rearing its legs up and hissing at them. It charges from its rocky spot, throwing a decently large boulder at them. Techno quickly shoves his crew away and takes a stance, ready to fight off the beast before the human shouts something at the arachnid, halting the spider and making… cooing sounds?

Tubbo looks back at the arachnid before dismissing the one predator that could turn him into a fucking snack.

“And that's Shroud, He’s Tommy’s pet I’m pretty sure”

Wilbur breaks first.

“ARE YOU GOING TO EXPLAIN WHAT THE FUCK HAS HAPPENED SINCE YOU LEFT!?”

Tommy snaps and hisses at Wilbur for yelling at Tubbo as the Strenx arachnid crawls down from the rocks and approaches to get behind the human, hissing quietly at the three strangers.

Phil is starting to understand what Tubbo meant by

“You’ve been replaced”.

Chapter Text

Tubbo tries his best to explain to Wilbur and Techno the same thing he and Ranboo told Phil. Telling them about Tubbo being chucked into Tommy’s cell, Tommy feeding and protecting him, keeping him warm, assisting in their escape, until he got to the part where Tommy was more survival ready than either of the 2 teens.

Techno looked at both of them, pure disappointment in his eyes, 

“You're telling me, that with all of the survival lessons that I gave you to LEARN and USE during a dire situation like this, not one of them STUCK with you? None of them?!”

Tubbo shuffled uncomfortably before muttering

“Well I mean, we remember the steps? Get shelter, water-” 

Techno cuts Tubbo off.

“That’s not even the basics! Everyone knows that! Without the human, Ranboo would be starving and you’d be freezing! Ranboo’s body does not produce any heat that could warm you up” 

Both Tubbo and Ranboo look down, guilty expressions on their faces. Good, thought Techno, they deserved it. They really should have taken those lessons seriously, they are alive solely because of Tommy!

Then Tommy let out a growl, Techno immediately picked up that the growl was mostly just warning, fake, no real anger behind it. It didn’t sound natural, but the intention to harm was there, a warning for if he went too far.. ‘Tommy’ apparently didn’t like him scolding Tubbo or Ranboo.

Techno sent a narrow eyed glare in ‘Tommy’s’ direction. Tough luck human, Those two needed to understand how this could have been a much more dire situation if they hadn’t run into  such a protective and survival ready human. They genuinely could have died.

He doesn’t linger on that thought for long, they didn’t die. Ranboo seems healthy, a little worn out, but alive. Tubbo also seems to be just fine aside from his injury, it doesn’t look fatal. In fact it doesn’t even seem to be bothering him since he’s still just as chaotic as always. Techno supposes he has the human to thank for that.

Actually… Now that he has a better look at Tubbo, who’s talking to Philza and Wilbur. Wilbur seems to be oddly quiet for the most part, and is staring at the human unbridled curiosity making his eyes glow brighter than normal. Techno can practically hear the overwhelming river of questions the phantomling is thinking. Tommy doesn’t appear to appreciate Wilbur’s curiosity and is glaring angrily back at him.

Techno shakes his head dislodging the thought. Right, Tubbo. He tilts his head slightly so he can better  see the bandage around Tubbo’s side. There doesn’t appear to be any blood leaking through, nothing stains the cloth so no infection. He sniffs the air cautiously, no sickening scent of rot, not even a trace of blood. The injury worryingly has no smell at all, that or its old enough to be mostly healed. He decides to point this out to the others, with his usual graceful and tactful way of speaking. That is to say as bluntly as possible.,

 “Tubbo, how long have you had that injury?”

Tubbo apparently had been attempting to hide the injury from Phil. Which, needless to say, was now pointless.  Phil let out a horrified squawk and within seconds he was lunging forward to check on Tubbos injury-  or trying to, the human let out a low snarling half roar and threw himself  between Phil and Tubbo. Techno’s hair stood on end. Damn! Where the hell had they managed to find such a protective human? Seriously he’s never seen anyone more ready to go to battle than this human.

Which in itself is impressive. Especially since Techno himself is extremely protective of his crew. He would do anything to keep them safe. Heck, he’s still on edge with Tommy being so close to any of his crew even if he hasn’t actually hurt anyone yet. Honestly Tommy looked like he was a hair’s width away from going feral, and it set all of Techno’s instincts alight with panic. Techno tried to comfort himself with the thought that Tommy wouldn’t be so ready to fight a whole crew after an entire week of being stranded. Especially toward a crew he’d just met, and one that was trying to be non-threatening.

That in mind, he also will not accept the human nearly biting Philzas hand off. Tubbo quickly grabs Tommy’s hands, and slid in between Tommy and Phil before Techno could finish his half coiled spring toward the human, Techno leaned back on his haunches waiting anxiously as Tubbo tried to talk down the human,

 “Choo-mi, he’s just checking on my injury, it’s all good big man” 

Techno watched the humans reaction carefully. At first they had assumed that the human could understand and communicate with them, but they quickly learned that was not the case. Wilbur had tried to say something to Tommy, excited to see a human so close but was quickly snapped at, and Tubbo had explained that their communication relied mostly on gestures and tone of voice.

Speaking of which, Tubbo gestured to his side, pointing at the injury that’s likely old and sealed over already. Still they don’t know if it’s infected and that's what worries Techno. Tubbo’s explanation seems to click with Tommy and he reluctantly allows Phil closer, glaring at him the entire time. Techno returns the favor and keeps an equally wary eye on the human.

Wilbur speaks up after quickly going next to Phil to see Tubbos injury, 

“We should head back to the ship, we need to disinfect it thoroughly and check if it needs anything besides a basic cleaning and check up” 

He nods at Ranboo

 “Good job on the wrapping, at least you guys got something from my lessons” he sounds a bit smug.

Too smug. Techno huffs, knowing Wilbur will hold this above him for a while, not to discredit the kid on his wrapping skills, but c’mon, just Wilburs lessons? What about his? His clearly superior lessons!

Ranboo sighs in relief,

 “Yes, can we please head back to the ship? As much as I enjoy trying fish for the first time and sleeping in a cave, I’d like to go back to some normality y’know” 

Finally, yes, please, let’s all get moving so he can have everyone back inside the ship safely and forget that this all happened.

“I call dibs on rooming with Choo-mi! I’m so excited! You think I’ll be able to communicate with him with our old translators? Or maybe those drawing holograms? Do you think he’d like my snacks?”

 Wait wait wait, was Tubbo talking about? Techno raises his pawed hand

“Hold on, slow down, what do you mean rooming with the human? Tubbo, you realize what you’re saying right?” 

Sure Techno can admire the fact that the human was survival ready enough to keep the other two safe and alive, but whatever responsibility the human must have felt is now lifted, his debt paid, he shouldn’t feel inclined to continue taking care of another species. Right? Hopefully the human will understand that Tubbo and Ranboo are now with their real ‘ pack’ and they can all leave.Tubbo looks at him, affronted.

 “The fuck you mean what do I mean? We’re taking Choo-mi, I’m not leaving him here!” 

He points to Tommy, who now kinda just, stands awkwardly. He seems to have relaxed a bit, not as on edge as before, but still wary enough that if they make a wrong move he will bite them.

Well he looked like a biter to Techno at least. Wilbur looks over at them, taking a step towards Tubbo in what was supposed to be an attempt to soothe him on this decision but yelped when Tommy stepped up behind Tubbo, glaring at Wilbur. Tubbo didn’t even shift, and damn was this one hell of a sight. Tommy standing tall and proud behind Tubbo, who barely even reached his damn hips .

Not to mention the fact that Tubbo seemed completely unbothered by the literal deathworlder that could easily rip his wings apart- and doesn't that send a pang of instinctual fear and protective rage through Techno- and stands equally defiantly against them.

Tubbo gives the best glare he can manage, even raising his hands in a clear threat to sting them if they try to get to close

“We are taking him! Besides! Me and Ranboo are pack-bonded to him now, you couldn’t separate him from us if you wanted to”

 Fuck Techno forgot about that, but with how hyped up and rumored humans are, surely some of the rumors are just that? Rumors? Course, he doesn't wanna risk any of that shit….. Stars dammit, why did it have to be a human of all creatures.

Techno looks over at Phil, the final decision fell to Phil, on whether the human could come or not. But with how attached Tubbo was acting and the fact that Ranboo hasn’t jumped to Technos side (Which he usually tends to do since he’s Tubbo’s voice of reason) means this will not be won over easily.

“Phil? You get the final say anyways, but you know we can’t take a human on board, we wouldn’t know how to take care of it-” 

Tubbo cuts him off, with an aggressive snarl,

 glaring at him

 “ Him , don’t be like that Techno, you’re better than that” 

Techno looks at Tubbo, his expression not visibly changing at the indignity of being cut off, but to those that knew how to read him, it was abundantly clear that he was surprised at Tubbos aggressive cut off.

“Boys, please”

 Tubbo sighed, conceding that he’d at least listen to Phil’s decision, but he made it extremely obvious what his stance on the matter was as he sideled right up against Tommy. Tommy who had not moved from his spot and…neither had his pet Arachnid. Who seemed disturbingly content to stare them all down from his place on the ground, he’d honestly forgotten about it, arachnids were not traditionally this quiet…

Techno knows Phil, He knows that even if he held the title of Captain, he would take in any stray, even if it was a dangerous stray... A dangerous stray that had helped two of his crewmates. He’s currently banking on the fact that this is a dangerous human, and they can’t just rely on two young aliens to keep ‘Tommy’ calm and not cause any risks, to influence Phil's decision.

But the decision was already made. Techno could tell the moment he saw Phil make eye contact with Tommy. Tommy stared back into the eyes of their captain and leaned forwards slightly, like he wanted a closer look at Phil.

Phil carefully stepped forward once, and let one of his wings stretch slowly over to the human, to let Tommy feel his wing.

Tommy was fascinated. His expression was positively glowing with the sort of curiosity and eagerness only a child could truly possess, and wasn’t that a horrifying reminder. This horrifyingly large deathworlder wasn’t even fully grown! Tommy reached out a slender hand and for a second Techno feared he’d accidentally yank out feathers, after all humans were said to have mass amounts of strength hidden in their bony fleshy bodies.

But instead of yanking, Tommy gently started petting the wing, going slow and only using one hand, feeling the feathers on the wing and staring at the tips that have diamond symbols. He exposes his teeth and Techno felt a growl growing in his throat before Ranboo quickly nudged him.

Ranboo looks sheepish but does a similar gesture, not unlike what the human did, exposing his mouth, however his teeth weren’t shown.

Literally, Enderians have this weird thing where they can retract teeth, weird huh?

“Tommy does it to show he’s happy, it’s not aggressive”

 Ranboo bares his mouth again, this time his teeth showing. Why the hell was that a sign of happiness? It was literally a sign of aggression in everything else, at least now he knows, and then Ranboo continued shattering Techno’s brief moment of understanding

 “But it can still mean threatening, it’s kinda all in the eyes and facial expressions I think” 

Great, it’s both, lovely, just what Techno needed. More confusion. He keeps his eyes on Tommy, but the human doesn’t do anything. He only looked excited, and he started talking to Phil. It started as mumbling, until it grew louder, more confident and sure. Tommy even gets comfortable enough to move closer. Phil lets it happen and simply stays still to not startle the human, something in his eyes as he looks at the human that easily towers over him. Phil looks over at Wilbur and Techno, letting Tommy gently pet his wings and Techno knew he couldn’t do anything else to convince him. Dang it Phil!

“We’re taking him, we can’t just leave him here, the locals would find out about him, and maybe hunt for him or worse call galactic forces”

 Phil gently pulls his wings back, an indication to stop and Tommy lets the wing leave him, though reluctantly. He stays close to Phil, much calmer and more relaxed than before.

Tubbo buzzes excitedly behind him, Talking to Ranboo about all the things they could teach Tommy, maybe even form better communication with him.

The arachnid, ‘Shroud’ if he’s correct, climbed up on Tommy, who startled at the movement, and latched all of his 8 limbs around Tommys sides, looking like a multi-tooled backpack. It stares at Phil, with eyes far too intelligent for Techno’s liking.

Phil stares back, leaning back in bewilderment. It wasn’t everyday you saw a strenx arachnid willingly clinging to someone. Even more so when said person they are clinging to does not freak out, It’s a big predator after all. Incredibly strong too, Techno had  seen a particularly angry one in a market once, it had thrown a tree at a crowd.

“And… I guess we’re also taking the Strenx too..” 

Techno feels a headache coming on and they haven't even started walking back to the ship.

Fantastic.

------------

Is he going with them?

Tommy stands next to Tubbo and Ranboo, unsure about what's going on. Seriously he’s really out of the loop, these fuckers came outta nowhere and rudely woke him up.

Speaking of waking up, were either of the two going to wake him up when McBird over there was right within HANDS LENGTH of touching them. Were they gonna leave without him? No… no he doesn't think so, not after Ranboo had allowed him to rest on his lap and how defensive Tubbo was against the fucking bunny alien.

Speaking of the Bunny alien, it seemed like he really didn’t like Tommy.  His eyes have never left Tommy since he and ghost boy had arrived.

Tommy bares his teeth at the fucker. 

“Got something to say Bonnie?” 

Bonnie guy was pink furred, with red eyes, and big ass ears at the top of his head. The ears kept twisting and turning in certain directions, likely listening to everything all around them. His hands are a strange cross between a regular hand and a paw, and he has bunny legs. Which oddly enough, are really buff.  It's fitting, in a weird way, though Tommy doesn’t know why he feels that way.

He’s not tall, not like him or Ranboo, but he’s taller than the bird guy and the weird… ghost alien. He also has these weird tusks on his mouth? Like at the edges of his lips he has small tusks, it reminds Tommy of an elephant’s, or maybe a boar?

Moving on to Bird guy, his wings are amazing, black as night with brilliant white diamond markings that seem to be almost reflective when they catch the light. He has another smaller pair of wings hidden inside his bigger wings, which Tommy hadn’t noticed until he stretched his big wing for Tommy to touch.

It was the coolest thing ever, he could feel how strong the wings were, he wonders if he could ask to fly with him. Probably not, but it would be fucking wicked!

Man has feathers in various patches all over his body, his ‘hair’ was a weird combo of normal hair and just feathers, he has talons for feet, a lil bird tail, like the one that birds have for balance or something, and weird bird like hands. They look like human hands but instead of 5 fingers, bird man has 4, the ends pointed and curved like claws, or Tommy supposed talons..

Honestly he looked surprisingly human, like, if you take off the feathers and wings, he’d look like a middle aged human male with golden blonde hair.

But Tommy had studied him long enough, it was time to move on to the last new alien. The one he found he disliked the most. The guy looks like a cross between a human ghost and a dinosaur. He was blue skinned, with slighted webbed claw’s? Hands? Like not as webbed as, like, a frog’s, but there’s definitely tissue between those fingers. He has a tail, it’s a thin whip-like tail, simple, almost lizard-like. Brown hair which was like, the only normal thing he’s seen so far, and two nearly glowing yellow orb-like eyes, with no pupils. He’s also got scarily sharp teeth and looks like a nerd with the added glasses.

He knows this guy wears glasses cause he can see said glasses hanging from his alien shirt. Whether they are reading glasses, real glasses, sunglasses or fakes he has no idea.

It’s aliens, and this situation is unnerving him, he knows nothing about what’s going on! He just knows that they are all walking to someplace, are they going to report him and send him back to those… ships? Is he going with them? Is he a pet now? No… he doesn't think so, Tubbo and Ranboo wouldn't let them, he’s confident in that.

Anxiously, he starts to reach his hand to pet Shroud's many limbs that have tightened around his waist and sides. Basically hugging his entire rib cage. It oddly feels securing, like he has something hugging him at all times.

It’s kinda unnerving though, he literally has a big ass spider acting as a backpack. the blue dinosaur over there seems to agree, he keeps glancing back at them, but instead of the normal apprehension and fear that comes with aliens looking at him, he instead has this fascinated look, curiosity in his eyes.

Tommy hates it. It feels like the same look that the alien’s on previous ships would give him  when they would… ‘explore’ him. He shivers, he’s never been more violated and forcefully exposed in his life, to be treated like some puzzle box to be solved and opened up, for their pleasure. Body pried open like a tough walnut.

He still holds a resentment to medical rooms and anybody that so much as remotely resembled a doctor, nurse, or scientist for that very reason. Nothing good has happened to him in those places and he’ll continue to refuse to let such people come anywhere near him.

He doesn't know how long they’ve been walking, but suddenly Shroud started hissing in a direction (ah yes, very specific answer, to be fair he does not know if North, East, South, and West count on an alien planet) and he also stops. Allowing Shroud to point him in the direction of his aggression.

The others also stop, looking back to him and stopping whatever conversations they’ve been having, confused as to why exactly Tommy has stopped. Shroud hisses again, seemingly coiling on Tommy’s back, like he’s ready to pounce. Bunny alien guys' ears perk up and twist in all directions, seemingly hearing something as well.

It was quiet for a moment.

Then a voice- or well he THINKS is a voice, it spoke rapidly, foreign, and it sounded angry. Like furious if he were to guess. Bunny guy- Y'know what he’s gonna be called bugs-fucking-bunny- actually no he takes that back that doesn't sound good- THE POINT IS! Everyone is now running away.

Ranboo grabs his arm and yanks him to start running, and he tries. He really does, the issue? His leg is still mildly injured, ok it hurts a lot, and he’s still limping.. Normal walking he can do, running however? On dirt terrain? With worn out shoes? It’s not going to happen.

Ranboo doesn’t clue in fast enough and Tommy struggles to follow, this chase was not working up nearly enough adrenaline to numb the pain. 

“I-I can’t run on it dumbass! Stop!” 

He yelps when he trips over a rock, losing his hold on Ranboo, who doubles back to him, screeching something at whoever was chasing them. He glances backwards and sees a mob of people, are they the police of the planet?

Shroud hisses loudly, not letting go of him and arming his front legs and fangs.

Adrenaline slowly rushes through his veins, readying himself to fight some cops when Ranboo suddenly grabbed him and hugged him close to his chest with Shroud being pulled in too. Then suddenly the world was black, purple and EXTREMELY DIZZYING. He feels nauseous, just as quickly as it appeared he’s in a different spot and the world is spinning.

    Did they just fucking teleport? He swore those people were way closer.

He nearly falls face first onto the ground. Would have actually  if Ranboo didn’t catch him in time. He sees a structure in the distance- oh wait no that’s closer than he thought, it’s all blurred to him. He sees the others behind them, Tubbo and Bird guy are ahead of everyone else while Bugs Bunny is hopping his way a bit further back, cradling the dinosaur alien in a princess carry. 

Ranboo opens the ship door and runs in the ship, setting Tommy down as the others come barreling into the ship in various states of panic.. Tubbo comes flying to Tommy to check on him and Ranboo. Crow (new name, yay) flew in and went straight to possibly turn the ship on if the rumbling of engines was any indication. Dinosaur was, for the lack of better words, tossed on the ground. Bugs Bunny had tossed him off his back and shut the door. Tommy felt the hysterical urge to giggle. Dinosaur man got yote. Yeeted. Rejected.

Tommy sits down, trying to keep his stomach from puking out it’s seafood and whatever alien fruits he still had left.

This whole day had been one panic-inducing situation after another, huh?’

Wait where the fuck did Shroud go?

He looks around panicked for a moment.

He hears a screech from Dinosaur, quickly seeing that Shroud had latched onto his tail and refused to let go. Good, Shroud knows what to do with bitches like Dinosaur. Tommy is a proud father. Tommy shook his head, he must be going crazy. A wave of tiredness washes over him and he slumps against the wall he’s leaned against, his eyes drifting shut.

He just wants a fucking nap man.

Chapter Text

Tubbo can’t stop headbutting Tommy.

He should probably first worry about the fact that Tommy looks ready to drop dead any second. His head butting prevented Tommy from falling asleep though, and he honestly thinks that’s better, as much as he wants Tommy to rest he doesn’t think it’s a good idea. It’s most definitely his first time teleporting.

Tommy had let him for the first few times until he seemed to have gotten tired of it and held him at arm's length. Tubbo merely started using his hand to butt against. He can’t help it! He’s so excited to be BACK on the ship with Tommy! They can do so much together! He doesn’t know where to start!

“How about we start by getting him healed first before doing any… exciting activities?” 

Whoops, must’ve said that out loud. Ranboo puts a hand on his shoulder to stop him from buzzing everywhere and points to Tommy, who isn’t looking so good after that teleport Ranboo pulled. Shroud clung on again after he inspected the current room and finally got off of Wilbur, the spider now appeared to be content to stay latched on. Not that Tommy seemed to mind, reaching back to pet his head.

Tubbo nods

“Right right, shouldn’t be that hard”

He and Ranboo start leading Tommy down the halls to get him to the medbay. Tommy does not struggle or fight. Body relaxed and eyes trusting as he followed close behind them. He kept looking around curiously at the faux wood paneled walls that Phil had installed to give a homey feel to the ship. Various pictures were scattered across the walls, most of them a stunning variety of landscapes from multiple planets.

They pass one frame that contains a beautiful painting of a floating castle, surrounded by curved stone pillars rising like a gently curved rib cage from out of the the ocean around it, the castle sitting like a heart in the center of the ring of pillars. Anchored beneath the water and the castle sits a white pristine temple practically glowing despite the shadows from the island above it. Tommy paused to look at it more, fascinated. Neither Ranboo or Tubbo hurry him, letting him go at his own pace. Sure the injuries and wounds worry them, but if he really truly did have issues they would help him, he seems still capable of walking, if he wants to enjoy his walk and explore then who are they to stop him?

They want him to feel comfortable on this ship, comfortable in their home. They want to show him that it’s nothing like his previous ‘cruises’ on past ships and they only just want to help him for real this time, get him back to full health.

Tommy starts walking again, mainly just glancing briefly around until he stops again to stare at a potted golden flower. Tubbo notes how it seems to match Tommy’s golden hair, (if his hair was a little cleaner) both brilliantly bright, like Tommy’s personality. He never thought much of the golden flower when he would walk or fly by, but seeing Tommy next to it? It feels… significant, oddly enough.

Tommy slowly lifts a single finger and caresses the petals, seemingly entranced by the flower, treating it gently as he runs a finger along the soft petals. They hear footsteps and turn to see Techno walking towards them, probably to hurry them to the medbay where Wilbur is most definitely waiting. Preparing the items they need for a check up.

“Can you guys please hurry up? Phil is still trying to get the ship out of the atmosphere and he told us to check on all your injuries, especially the hu- Tommy’s injuries” 

He hasn’t looked at Tommy at all, but gestures to him and his slight limp. Tommy’s purposely lifting his injured leg slightly, hardly noticeable but it’s bent in a way to put all his weight on his good leg.

Tubbo glares, he sees Tommy’s head sharply turn in the direction of where he’d heard his name and he can immediately tell the exact moment Tommy spots Techno, because his whole body tenses tight as a livewire.

“We were just showing him around slowly, we’re still headed for the damn medbay, what’s wrong with going at his pace? We don’t want to rush him and make him panic” 

He’d rather be cautious, the last thing he wants is to make Tommy panic if they rush him or push him to hurry within a ship he’s unfamiliar with.

Techno sighs and starts corralling them in the direction of the medbay the medbay

“He can have all the time in the galaxy to start exploring later, but we really need to get you patched up- properly” 

His last word cut Tubbo off, who had been about to gesture to the wrap up Ranboo had done.

Despite their sulking faces and posture, neither complained once Techno started making them pick up the pace, though thankfully he did let Tommy take his time, the last thing Techno wanted to do was stress out the human. Who actually  is starting to look uneasy with Techno behind him. Dang it. Maybe if he-

Tubbo sees Techno moving to the front allowing Tommy to move behind him and relax now that Techno was in his eyesight. They take a turn and finally see the sign that says medbay. Techno opens the doors and sees Wilbur already setting up health kits and potions, even some gapples if something is truly wrong.

Ranboo walks in and says a quiet hello to Wilbur, Tubbo goes to follow but is abruptly held back by a firm grip on his shoulders.

Tubbo can hear Tommy’s breathing, it’s picked up, much faster than it was before, his eyes are wide, looking more scared than Tubbo has ever seen him- not even when he fought those guards off. He doesn't remember seeing Tommy scared .

He may not have known Tommy for long, but after everything he’s seen Tommy go through so far, not once did he show visible fear.

This? This is fear in a human, this is fear in Tommy.

Tommy’s feet stay planted where he stands, refusing to budge even when Tubbo tries to gently grab his hand and pull him forwards. Tommy doesn't let himself get pulled, but he doesn't snatch his hand away from Tubbo either, giving his hand a desperate squeeze as if to ground himself.

Techno looks confused, 

“What’s going on? Why isn't he moving?” Techno reaches out, to maybe get a hold on Tommy and nudge him inside. Tommy snarls something and exposes his teeth, the gesture clear as day not a friendly gesture. Shroud (Who they’d honestly forgotten about, since he was just chilling on Tommy's back) hisses. Techno does not flinch back or show signs of being disturbed, instead holding his ground and keeping eye contact with Tommy.

Tubbo can clearly see Tommy not liking the fact that Techno wasn't bothered and sees Tommy reaching for his pocket. Shit the knife!

He tries to deescalate the situation before they get into a fight and find out if Techno is strong enough to fight a human. 

“Hey hey! Woah woah c’mon- he’s- he’s just nervous about the medbay! Considering where we found him it’s not surprising, give him some space dammit!” 

Tubbo gets between the two towering people and pushes Techno back just a bit. Techno doesn’t budge at first, but moves back when he notices that Tommy is hissing and snarling, ready to lunge at him when he doesn't immediately listen to Tubbo.

Once Techno is inside and alongside Ranboo, who is looking back at them eyes wide with concern, and Wilbur who’s still nervous but still checking on everything. He starts checking up on Ranboo, as he waits on Tubbo and the human. Ranboo goes along but still warbles worriedly, wanting to comfort his new friend.

Tommy’s eyes only stare into the medbay and he takes one step back.

Tubbo quickly tries to calm him before he bolts.

“Big man! Look at me, c’mon” 

He gently grabs Tommys face and pulls it down so all he can see is Tubbo and nothing else. It seems to work a bit, Tommys eyes locked on Tubbo and he can see so many emotions swirling inside those bright blue eyes. A plasma fire burning inside Tommy, ready to burn everything and anything if it means safety.

That should worry Tubbo and it did, just a little bit. But he knew just a little bit of patience and gentle physical contact tends to calm Tommy, but with the other crew around it might not be as quick.

“Deep breathes Choo-mi I don’t think all this fast breathing is good for you” 

He mimics deep breathing, hoping Tommy will go along and that this works for humans too.

It does. Tommy watches him for a moment before beginning to copy him, his chest inhaling deep breaths, so large it reminds Tubbo of the bellows of a forge. Tommy’s shoulders slowly begin to un-tense, relaxing and his eyes slowly soften. The look in his eyes becoming slightly less panicked, as he copied Tubbo.

After a couple minutes, maybe only two or three, Tommy is much better, though he still eyes the medbay with a wary nervousness clear in the tense lines of his body. Clearly this is a possible trigger zone, unfortunately all the supplies are in the room, it has the best lights in the whole ship, so check ups can be done with clear visibility.. Well unless of course you’re one of the unfortunate species who thrive in the dark.

Tubbo talks over his shoulder, not looking away from Tommy in case he decides to bolt, 

“I’m going to bring him in slowly, and Wilbur I need you to check on me and everything, show him you’re not gonna do some freaky shit alright?”

“What counts as freaky shit?” 

That dumb bastard.

“If he looks 5 seconds from having the human equivalent of a panic attack I will sting you until you can never move again for the rest of your life”

“I wasn’t going to do anything! I promise! Geez…….. please don’t sting me”

Coward.

-----------

Wilbur was incredibly nervous.

He has a human in his medbay and he looks like he’s one hair trigger away from lashing out, whether because of fear or anger is yet to be certain.

Tubbo seems to have him relaxed for now, but with how Tommy’s glaring at Wilbur he’s not so sure. Tubbo doesn’t seem bothered or worried and he pulls himself up on the examination table, Tommy is extremely close to Tubbo, looking uncomfortable about his location.

Wilbur gulps nervously, his tail coiled around his left leg. 

“S-so… how do we do this e-exactly? He’s kinda just..” 

he gestures to Tommy, whose eyes narrow in response, challenging and daring him to do… something .

Techno huffs and comes close to Wilbur, providing support for the Orcam Alien, while also making eye contact with Tommy. Normally doing such an act would make any person or animal slowly lose their nerve and display submitting signs, like looking away, bowing their heads etc.

The human does none of these things, instead looking back with as much defiance as the human can currently muster, which is a lot. Techno does not react much, but to Wilbur that’s worrying enough, The human won’t back down, Techno may be shorter than the human but everyone knows he’s extremely strong.

HIIISSSS!

Oh shit the Arachnid!

Seriously, why do they keep forgetting the thing is there?

It hissed at them and unlatched some of the legs it had around the human and- holy shit that’s a nightmare inducing sight. The human towered over all of them (except Wilbur, he notices now he’s slightly taller than the human, Ranboo beats everyone easily) and with the added spider on his back, spreading some of its legs out to look bigger, well it was a horror inducing sight.

Ranboo makes an unknown crooning sound, one meant to relax haunting members and soothe them. He gets up from his seat and walks to Tommy calmly, taking one of his hands and nervously petting Shroud. Shroud doesn't like it but does not fuss when Tommy pets one of his legs and says something to Ranboo. Who only looked at him with a reassuring expression, even if he couldn’t understand him.

Tubbo looks over at Wilbur who tries his best to avoid staring at the human.

“Do your thing but do it carefully and make sure he can clearly see, let him know what you’re doing. If he sees me all calm and relaxed maybe he’ll let you do the same for him”

It’s a logical idea, makes sense right? Yea this is fine. Wilbur can do this.

He takes out some medical wrapping that has regeneration properties within the folds of the fabric to speed up healing and clean infections that are pressed within the skin and he starts to slowly unwrap the old first aid wrapping on Tubbo’s side. Wilbur nearly screeched when Tommy hissed at him until Tubbo quickly buzzes his wings and calmly says his name.

“ Mommy”  

Tries to say his name anyways- Tubbo taps Wilbur's arm twice, making eye contact with Tommy. Tommy does not relax but does not freak out either. Tommy huffs and stops his hissing, but he keeps a close eye on Tubbos injury.

Is that a win…? Can he proceed without getting hissed at like a newborn podling trying to intimidate him?

Granted, the human is much more intimidating than a young podling and has the bite force to back up his threats. 

Throwing away the old wrapping he cleans the wound that has started to heal thankfully, it appears to have no major issues and luckily no infections. Slowly, he replaces it with the new one. It has a blue sort of coloring to it compared to the pure white traditional first aid wrappings that have no effects. Tommy watches closely as Wilbur wraps it around Tubbos side, finding no infections or possible scarring on the wound. Luckily Dreamons don’t have any poisons or toxins in their claws, they just have really sharp hands.

Once that’s all wrapped up Wilbur carefully checks Tubbo all around, only finding small bruises and some spots that would go away after a good clean. Tubbo patiently waits while making small talk with Ranboo and Tommy. Tommy makes some sounds that Wilbur could assume was his language, he wonders briefly what the human was saying.

“Alright, I think you’re all clear Tubbo, just don’t stretch your side and you should be good-”

The second he gave the all clear Tubbo hopped off the table and tried to pull Tommy on the examination table.

Tommy didn’t appreciate being pulled and put up one hell of a hissy fit. Ranboo joined in on the struggle of getting the human to at least sit on the table.

“Guys I don’t think the human wants to-”

“ HISSSSSS”

“GET THE DAMN SPIDER OFF OF HIM!”

-----------

“Wilbur, c’mon man please”

“Get him to stop looking at me like that!”

“Like what?”

“ LIKE HE’S GONNA TEAR MY TAIL OFF!”

Wilbur was hiding behind Ranboo, who could only sigh and look down at Wilbur, contemplating how they’re going to get this whole thing to work.

Clearly Tommy does not have a good… relationship with doctors or scientists… or medical labs. Which is 100% understandable, he doesn't know what Tommy went through but it doesn’t take a genius to know none of it was good.

But if they can show him that Wilbur is nothing like those previous people (besides the fact he’s curious but in a good way) and just wants to help then they can finally get him on the right path to healing and some proper food.

Clearly Tubbo has got some influence for Tommy, maybe Ranboo can do the same?

“Tell me how to do it”

Wilbur pauses in checking his digipad and makes a questioning noise.

 “Do… what exactly?”

“Show me how to check up and patch Tommy up, if he can see me patching him up and switching with you every moment or so maybe he can get the picture?” 

It sounded like it might work  too Ranboo.

“Or I can just show Tommy I can attack Wilbur if he pulls something”

Or that.

“Wait what?”

Wilbur doesn’t get the chance to stop the screech of fear before Tubbo barrels his way and tackles Wilbur, who tries to get Tubbo off of him. They land underneath a vent with Tubbo on top of a glaring Wilbur.

“Can you please get off of me? This is very-” 

Wilbur cuts off, hearing what sounded like a form of.. coughing? But huffy, it was quiet in a way like one would try to muffle their own voice to remain quiet. Everyone turns to see Tommy’s eyes closed, his shoulders shaking, and a hand over his mouth. The noise was coming from him.

The noise keeps repeating itself, his hand falls slightly and Wilbur sees that his teeth are in full display and he has a gap between his upper jaw and lower jaw, the sound coming straight from his mouth.

He makes a quiet hiss before Tubbo and Ranboo gasp in awe, Tubbo going as far as aweing.

Is Wilbur missing something?

Tubbo doesn’t take his eyes off Tommy

 “He’s laughing! He’s actually laughing and it’s not just a huff!” 

he loudly whispers. Tommy heard the noise and clamped his mouth shut, looking down apprehensively.

Oh, okay, okay, he can work with this.

They could relax him in the form of entertainment. Normally Wilbur would be inclined to hurry and treat the injuries on an individual, especially the ones the human has exposed. But the human doesn't seem too bothered with his own injuries and he’d rather approach this carefully than risk having his arm ripped and distress the human by trying to check him.

While he was thinking about how he should go about this he was unable to hear a small sound from the vent above him. A rolling sort of sound. It was slowly getting just a bit louder and louder. Unfortunately Wilbur had better  eyesight rather than hearing. It’s why he and Techno were a good duo when they left the ship for supplies or just exploring. Techno was the ears while Wilbur was the eyes.

Now... where was this going again…?

Oh right the rolling sound! It was coming from the vents and Tommy was staring at the vent with a confused but amused look, realizing something entertaining was about to happen.

Low and behold, something did happen.

The vents have gaps to Y'know, act like a vent. Whatever was rolling slipped through the gaps. It made a familiar ‘clink’ noise that had Wilbur looking up and was met with his worst enemy.

Wilbur lets out an unholy screech as The Pen came falling down towards him.

“NOT THE EYE AGAIN PLEASE-!”

Tommy let out his loudest laugh, nearly choking on his own spit.

Maybe this blue dino alien is alright if he’s scared of a stylus looking pen .

“ REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-”

Yea this is going to be a fun crew.

Chapter Text

    After Tommy finally allowed Wilbur to check over his injuries and patch them up, they gave him a gapple. The way his eyes lit up when they saw the golden fruit, nearly made Tubbo melt. It was so adorable! Tommy had stretched out his arms and flexed his fingers in a ‘gimme gimme’ gesture, child like, and innocent.

    Wilbur found himself handing over the gapple to Tommy with almost no fear when he noticed that the human was entirely fixated on the golden fruit. Without those piercing blue orbs piercing into his soul, getting close wasn’t nearly as terrifying. Tommy began nomming on the shining flesh of the healing fruit, his arms at an awkward angle as he did his best to not jostle his newly wrapped and bandaged cuts. Tommy used only one hand to eat the fruit, and he used the other to gently pet Shroud, who had very reluctantly let go earlier to give Wilbur access to the wounds on Tommy’s side and back. Shroud is currently laying curled up atop his own legs next, and pressed against Tommy’s right side, hissing blissfully at the human and leaning into the pets.

    “Well… he’s alright? The smaller and older injuries seem to have healed. But without a proper human diagram or even simple sheets about his species health I won’t be able to tell for certain if there is something wrong. I could be missing signs that would indicate impending health issues or even minor problems that could lead to future issues, but for now he seems surprisingly alright.” 

Wilbur had done his absolute best when checking Tommy, while also making sure to not push past any boundaries Tommy seemed to have, like how he refused to take his shirt off for Wilbur to see, only lifting or moving the ripped holes on his clothes around so Wilbur can take a look in the limited spaces. Or to not wear any gloves, no sharp needles etc.

    Wilbur was more than happy to comply, anything to make sure the human did not become more stressed out. He seemed to have calmed down significantly after that… dreadful pen incident. Must do wonders for your fear of someone, to see the scientist you're scared of scream like a mere larva at a pen.

    Tubbo’s glad in any case, if it meant embarrassing Wilbur to get Tommy to relax then he is more than happy to continue doing so. It’s hard to be scared of someone when it’s clear they're an absolute idiot. A well meaning idiot, but an idiot nonetheless, and Wilbur is definitely one of the most well meaning idiots Tubbo’s ever met.

    “So who is he gonna room with?” 

Wilbur’s slightly harried tone catches Tommy’s attention, and he takes another big bite of fruit, as he curiously watches his two alien friends and Wilbur talk, does he know what they’re talking about? No, but he’s definitely calmer than he previously was, and he definitely appears to be better able to read their body language and tone of voice than before. He also appears to have grabbed the pen that had fallen from the vent earlier, and is now spinning it end over end in one hand as he watches.  If Wilbur pulls anything that angers Tommy it seems he’ll use the pen.

Tubbo almost wants to see that happen.

    “I thought we already agreed he’d stay with me!” 

Tubbo knew he was acting petulant, but he really did want Tommy to room with him.  Besides it was the only logical option really, he’s been with Tommy the longest and he knows that Tommy sleeps more comfortably in his presence. So why shouldn't he room with Tubbo?

    “You do remember how small your bed is, right?” 

ah… right… The beds are made to fit the appropriate alien. Tubbos bed is… definitely on the small side. There’s no way Tommy could comfortably sleep on his bed without contorting his body in a no doubt uncomfortable way. Still-

    “Well maybe he CAN fit!”

    “Tubbo you know damn well that he can’t fit on your bed, why are you so insistent with him on your bed? You’re not interested in him are you?” 

Oh stars Wilbur please. Tubbo blanched,

 “NO! QUEEN NO! He’s just…” 

He mumbled the last part. Ranboo already knows what he said, but Wilbur leaned forwards, struggling to hear.

 “Tubbo please, you know I don’t have the best hearing”

“Old”

“ I’M LITERALLY ONLY-”

    “It’s cause he’s really warm, okay! Plus he’s very cuddly and clingy. I’m pretty positive that humans are social beings, so he’s definitely been deprived of contact” 

That was like, one of the first things Tubbo was able to confirm about humans, or rather, about Tommy. Tommy seems to love displaying affection through contact, which is interesting, Tommy looks like the type of individual to deny the need for contact. Maybe the lack of communication gives him a cover to have contact without backlash? Can’t be teased if you can’t understand the tease.

    Wilbur rolls his eyes, Sure there were confirmed cases of humans being strong social creatures (reasons for such a strong Pack-Bonding sense) but he has seen Tubbos bed. The human wouldn’t be able to sleep and that’s exactly what he needs, long rest to finally let his wounds heal. With what they’ve seen in the cave and with how healthy the boys are they definitely owe the human a huge thank you, for being so attentive and ignoring his own injuries to keep them all stable.

    But that does not mean he doesn’t need to rest now that he’s safe.

    “Look, he needs proper rest, he’s handled impressively well with his injuries, but his leg needs healing, for all we know if it’s not addressed he could be limping for the rest of his life. The best bet is having him room with Ranboo” 

At that Ranboo warbled out a startled

 “Me?”

    Ranboo has the biggest bed aside from Philza. Phil because of his large wings and Ranboo because of his obvious height. If anybody's bed can fit the human and themselves comfortably in it, it would be Ranboos bed.

    “WHAT!? Oh cmon! But I wanted to room with him” 

Tubbo whines, he understands, he does, but c’mon man.

“He is also in desperate need of a bath, Ranboo are you alright with sparing some clothes for…. Tommy?”

    Ranboo is about to say that he’s perfectly fine with sharing his clothing with Tommy, before he is interrupted by Tommy hissing at Wilbur. They turn to look at Tommy and find him glaring warningly at Wilbur. The gapple core and all has vanished and it appears that Tommy had been ‘listening’ to their conversation very closely. He still didn’t seem to fully understand anything but he clearly hadn't liked it when Wilbur had said his name.

    Wilbur stares back, and shifts a step back nervously, eyes darting over to glance at Tubbo and Ranboo worriedly.

 “Did I say something?”

    Tubbo looks thoughtful, Ranboo also tries to think of any reasons for Tommy to hiss. Then it comes to him, there was only ever one time of day they had introduced themselves to Tommy.

“Well he doesn’t like you saying his name”

Ranboo said slowly eyeing WIlbur critiquely

“Yea I figured that, but why?”

Wilbur seemed panicked and Ranboo decides to take pity on the poor Orcam

“I think that maybe the introduction needs to be over food?” 

Ranboo says it haltingly, unsure, but well... It felt right. The only times they had used Tommy’s name at the very beginning was when they introduced themselves, and that had been over food.

    “But I- we are already introduced..? Why would doing it again matter?” 

Wilbur already knows his name, sure maybe Tommy in turn didn’t really pay attention to their names, but he didn’t think it mattered that much...

    Tubbo lights up, remembering how Tommy relaxed more after proper introductions were made with him and how he became comfortable with Ranboo after they all tried saying each other's names.

 “Maybe it’s a human culture thing?”

    “Why over food? That seems a hassle to introduce yourself only over food, or when eating for that matter”

 Wilbur looks on at Tommy in confusion. Don’t tell him all humans do such a thing. It sounds like a genuine hassle. What happens if it’s not time to eat? Do they have to wait until the appropriate time?

    Tubbo just shrugs

 “I don’t know, when I introduced myself it was in the cell when we were both eating, and Ranboo introduced himself over the fish Choo-mi caught for Ranboo and himself. Tommy became way more lenient and relaxed around Ranboo after that” 

Ranboo nodded in agreement, he could feel a shift once they all ate together. Tommy was especially happy that Ranboo could say his name, unlike Tubbo.

    Wilbur sighs, 

“Well… I guess we can plan a dinner for everyone, but that’s after he’s well rested, along with the both of you. We can try and see what we’ll do about proper introductions tomorrow, for now let’s get the human to Ranboos room and hopefully plan what we’re going to do next” 

Wilbur instinctively goes to help Tommy off the table but quickly snatched his hands away when Tommy glared and bared his teeth aggressively.

    Right… still on rocky ground.

------------

    Techno huffs from his position in the medical bay. Watching everything unfold, thankfully the human- ‘Tommy’ has been pretty docile. He’s honestly just acting like the most overprotective personal guard Techno has ever met. He could honestly see him being a mom or a particularly defensive father, much like Phil really.. Was this human a parent back on earth? He can’t see any other reason for why it- he- could potentially have taken responsibility for the teens, especially now that said teens are back with their crew.

    Aside from the pack-bonding of course. Can’t forget about that glaring piece of information.

    Wilbur had to back up a bit as Ranboo and Tubbo helped the human stand and after some weird maneuvering they finally managed to walk out of the med bay. Techno does not repeat what they did earlier, where he walked in front of the human, by protocol he had to be behind them. But for the humans' comfort he stayed a bit further back so he didn’t stress the human too much.

    He may be security and obviously he must stay firm and steady, rules, protocols and all. But he also knows if their… ‘special guest’ is overly stressed. Techno risks Tommy lashing out, or getting scared and attacking, or getting angry or just… risks in general. So the less stress, the better.

    Luckily and predictably, there is no hassle, Tommy follows his companions down the halls, passing various decor items, one was an old sword Techno used to use before he officially joined the crew. The dark purple color of the metal is still clear and it shimmers oddly in the light almost like liquid, a strange shimmering gleam that never seemed to dull no matter how many years went by.

    Tommy slows and watches with obvious fascination, as the metal seems to ripple, eyes drawn by the mesmerizing glow the blade emitted. Tommy has come to a complete stop and he’s tilting his side from side to side, birdlike. It's eerily similar to Phil, when the Ivory is particularly intrigued by something. Techno isn’t sure how to feel about the human’s obvious interest in the thing that was once the only thing that stood between him and death. Now his lifeline, his shield in all but forging and shape, is so much more than just a survival tool. He’s so lost in thought that he almost misses it.

    Tommy stretches out a grimy hand, slender fingers about three five inches away from the blade before Techno notices and thumps a foot aggressively against the ground startling the human. Tubbo only giggles at Techno’s obvious discomfort and grabs Tommy’s arm and begins to drag him away. Techno does not immediately pursue or try to intervene, but he does yell out a quick warning,

    “Watch it Tubbo, he has literally just barely gotten patched up, it’ll be on you if any of his injuries get worse or his patches undo themselves”

Ranboo warbles worriedly at that, and teleports quickly to hold Tommys other arm and having the simultaneous effect of stopping Tubbo in his tracks, preventing him from pulling the human forward.

    That… that looks like the same game from his home planet that small Kits back home would play. A strong rope made of reeds would be tugged by multiple kits and whoever pulled the hardest won.

    This is literally what he’s seeing, except instead of rope it was the human, and neither are pulling all that hard, both trying to avoid hurting the human, but seeing Ranboo attempting to scold Tubbo while Tubbo himself was trying to gently pull Tommy out of Ranboos grip was quite the sight.

    All the while the human looks back and forth between the two of them. His expression slowly morphs from one of complete confusion, to one of clear amusement as Techno watches, and Techno can’t help but agree with that sentiment, who knew there would finally be something both Ranboo and Tubbo would want?

    “For the love of- both of you take him to the room, we are all going to the Same. Place” 

They both freeze, stare at each other, then at Tommy who has been more or less, just confused on what the stars is going on, then they finally start pulling Tommy in the same direction at a more calm but excited pace to Ranboo’s room. He doesn't think he’s seen Ranboo that genuinely happy with someone besides Tubbo since they’ve joined the crew.

    He doesn't follow them, not immediately anyways, he has been observing how the human acts and overall, the only times Tommy seemed to have aggression was when one of the adults got too close to him or moved too fast in the Med-bay. The fear was understandable and Techno could respect that the human wanted space until they could… stars what exactly were they planning to do with the boy? Were they going to officially have him join the crew? Communication would be difficult…

    Then again, the amount of communication the boys have already displayed with Tommy is amazing, there doesn’t seem to be much struggle aside from words. It’s all really just common sense and guess work, but it seems to be in their favor the majority of the time.

    That and a lot of trust from Tommy.

    He raises a pawed hand and gently touches the sword, his paw not even making it to the sword before an invisible barrier blocks his hand.

    The wonders of security, looks like the case chip still works. He feels around the invisible barrier and taps it twice, a glow pulses around the sword, forming a quick visual outline of the casket until it fades away again. Techno smiles slightly, the expression a little too dark to be kind, but not mean enough to be considered malicious.

    Small chips like this one could be placed on items to form a casket barrier around the object. So they could be displayed and protected. Technos is not an idiot, he's not just going to just leave one of his oldest swords undefended in the hallway for some intruder to grab, the barrier allows it to stay protected while still being displayed clearly. A memory for Techno that he can see whenever he wants, not hidden away in a dark box.

    It also would have shocked Tommy if he touched it. It would have been funny but he doesn’t think Tommy would have liked that.

    Maybe another day.

    …

    …

    …

    Wait, had they given the human a bath yet?

    Stars dammit-

    “Do NOT let the human lay on your bed! Or any of you for that matter- get yourselves cleaned first!” 

Now he rushes, he may not usually care if the beds get dirty, but he does not want to hear them complaining about getting their bed dirty then having to go through the hassle of helping them clean it.

--------------

    Phil thinks he almost blew the ship up, he thinks he genuinely almost killed them all. He hauled the ship out of that atmosphere faster than the police forces on the planet could hop on their own ships. While the ship is capable of flying extremely fast, it is an old ship that has been in need of repairs for a while. He’s been meaning to, he swears, but somethings have just… come up, and...distracted him.

    Like the fact he needed to hunt down his crewmates.

    Then hunt them down again after sabotaging an illegal animal trafficking ship with dreamons.

    Hunt them down again on the planet only to find them attached to the hips with a very protective human who nearly skewered him.

    They were lucky in escaping those officers. He can’t believe he forgot about them. He was so wrapped up in the moment, so focused on his two youngest, so focused on the human they were with, that it had slipped his mind that they weren’t the only ones searching for the teens. If it was a different situation, they wouldn’t get in trouble, maybe they would have gotten off with a warning. They could easily say they were worried for the teens and searched themselves and the cops would have believed it.

    But now they knew that the human was with them, that would change everything. Their status as ‘a crew with missing crewmates’ would become ‘A crew with an illegal human loose on the planet’. So they had to hightail it out of there.

    Where are they going? He has no idea but right now he had fueled up right before they went searching, so they have enough fuel to float in space for awhile as they plan on what to do next. 

He doesn’t know how long he’s been sitting here trying to solve this problem but he was so transfixed on making sure nothing was following them and checking the ship status for any possible trackers that he slapped Wilbur in the face with his wing when Wilbur tried to catch his attention.

    “Wil! I’m so sorry-” 

Wilbur fucking wails.

    “FUCKING DAMMIT! EVERY TIME! CAN I PLEASE JUST NOT GET SMACKED IN THE FACE!?”

    “ I’M SORRY!”

-----------------

    Phil sits at the living room counter, it was meant to be a meeting room but he prefers a homey aesthetic, especially compared to the traditional plain white ship walls and cold floors. He awkwardly sits at the  kitchen island with a cup of herb tea that he’s preparing for Wilbur, who sits sulking on a chair across from him glaring at him quietly.

    Wilbur makes a low hiss when Phil slowly pushes the tea towards him. The tea has a sweet nectar smell, exposing itself as a very popular tea named “Lectina”. A bright red flower with a yellow nectar inside the base of petals which is commonly used for teas.

    He may or may not be trying to use the tea as an apology.

    Wilbur slowly reaches over to grab the cup 

“If this is an apology I demand another cup”

    “Wilbur, my wings don’t even hurt, they are literally FEATHERS!”

    “But they are still heavy and your wings have muscles, besides you hit me with the bone! THE BONE!”

    Phil would have said more, but Techno chooses that moment to walk in, with Tubbo right behind him. Although… Tubbo was semi covered in sand? Did he rush a sand bath?

    “Tubbo you didn’t even get all the sand off of you! You’re gonna get it everywhere” 

Tubbo just sits right on the island stool, stealing a fruit from a fruit bowl and munches on it, while making direct eye contact with Phil.

 “Does it look like I care? Besides, I was not going to let you guys have a meeting concerning Tommy and possibly kick him out. I’m making sure you guys don’t just drop him off the first planet we pass”

    “We aren't going to kick him out, or drop him on a planet, or report him to the federals. Techno would have my feathers if I even thought about that last one” 

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Techno nod, Techno would rather sell his own tusks than give anything to the galactic forces or government, even if it was a human.

    Phil looks back towards the door, expecting Ranboo to also walk in. Tubbo snorts and Phil looks at him eyebrows raised. Tubbo raises his own in response and crosses his arms.

 “Ranboo won’t be here, He takes much longer to clean” 

Phil chirps amused.

 “That’s because he actually makes sure to be thorough in cleaning himself”

    Tubbo smacks a hooved hand on the counter, pointing at Phil in offense. “I sand bathe! He just has a fancy crystal that he uses that gets all the dirt off him! That is NOT fair” Tubbo hums, glaring. Wilbur laughs but then quickly shields his tea when Tubbo tosses an arm in his direction, flinging sand on Wilbur.

    He sees Techno sigh as the Dura raises the volume of his voice slightly to make himself heard, 

“So what do we do exactly? We can’t drop the human off anywhere or report him, it’s clear he’s already been through enough as it is. Are we really the only option for him?”

 Techno doesn’t really have a problem with that, but if that’s the case then they need to establish some form of communication, or to at least bond with the guy so no one gets trigger happy or stressed.

    “I thought you’d be more against having the human here, security risk and all” 

Tubbo hits Wilbur’s head after the Orcam speaks and Wilbur nearly spills his tea as he waves his arm at the Anthocapradae angrily. Phil harshly chirps at them to cut it out.

    Gods this ship is a nightmare.

    Techno quickly puts a paw on Tubbos shoulder, stopping him in his tracks, and preventing him from continuing to bother Wilbur. Phil trills in gratitude. Techno rolls his eyes before continuing

 “Yes I’m security but I’m not cruel. If you have anyone else can think of any other option then please, by all means, tell me” 

Nobody says anything. Cause there’s really no answer to that, they really are the only ones who can keep him safe- or to at least feel like a person compared to how everyone else this side of the galaxy would treat him. 

    Techno continues, making eye contact with Phil,

 “If we are deciding to keep him- and not as a pet, I know Tubbo stop glaring at me- then we need to make sure there are rules for us and Tommy”

 They all perk up, feeling better about this situation. If Techno seems calm with it and going along with the idea, then it must be safe enough for him to consider.

    Tubbo buzzed happily, leaning close

 “Like what?”

    “Proper introductions, if what you said is true Tubbo, then introductions over food would be a good start, get him to adjust to us so we don’t accidentally trigger him. This includes any curiosity over him, okay Wilbur?” 

Wilbur jolts, startled from being addressed.

 “What do you mean? This could be the perfect chance to properly see a human-”

    “Wilbur, you're not getting it. First of all, Tubbo is the best candidate for that. Second, experiments are the last thing he needs and you acting like a scientist will only make him wary of you, I don’t need you being too curious and then being body slammed into a wall”

    Tubbo nods thoughtfully eyes farway as he thinks, 

“Yea, he turned that one guard into a pulp”

    “ He what-!”

    Techno ignores Wilbur’s terrified outburst and continues as if neither of them had interrupted him.

    “We can address more possible rules later, but for now, keep him calm and as  un-stressed as we can… and to always have Ranboo or Tubbo near him at all times. He’s clearly more attached than a newborn Kit and that’s saying something” 

Phil sees Techno rubbing his face, his ears twitching and just tired overall. Phil gets up, walking around the table and tapping his shoulder 

“How about we just take a breather? It’s been a long couple hours, some rest could do us all some good, I’ll check on the ship status in the meantime and ensure that we aren't being chased”

    Techno sighed but nodded, standing up as Tubbo flew up, snatching another fruit. 

“You need to sleep too Phil, stars know what kind of reports are being sent out about us now” 

Tubbo points out, but then he sees the wince that Phil made, his feathers twitched.

    Phil feels like he’s.. not going to have a lot of fun going through those.

    Wilbur groans, also annoyed with this fact, many planets have ingredients and supplies he uses but if they end up cutting supplies then this’ll be a struggle for them all. To distract himself he goes to ask Ranboo about his jaw, because while Ranboo and Tubbo didn’t have many injuries or honestly any lasting damage, Ranboo had apparently had a suspicious soreness under his jaw, where his mouth can unhinge like all enderians. But as he turned to ask he realized Ranboo isn't… here…

    “Uhh… Does Ranboo normally take this long or did I just never know?” 

They all look around surprised, and Tubbo’s brow furrows, confused,

 “No.. he definitely does not take this long, sure he takes time but never this much… Maybe he stayed with Mommy?”

    “I thought his name was-”

    “I said that nickname to annoy him but all it’s been doing is annoying ME! FOR THE LAST TIME I CAN’T ACTUALLY SAY HIS NAME ALRIGHT!”

-----------

    Ranboo didn’t know what to expect after going back into his room to put away the crystal after cleaning, but being cuddled and hugged with a grip that could rival a serpent's coils was not it. Nor was the odd… spider nest that was made in the corner of his room. He can take a wild guess that Shroud is residing in that nest.

    He wanted to check in on Tommy, they had showed him another cleaning room, Ranboo knew he uses water to shower so he made sure to show Tommy how it worked. Being careful with his hands when the water turned on.

    But before he could knock Tommy had revealed himself just as Ranboo raised his hand startling the Enderian back a step. Tommy was wrapped up with a bathrobe not unlike Phils. He looked really sleepy and Ranboo resisted the urge to step further away, as steam escaped the room billowing out in thin trails like fog.. How hot did Tommy have that water?

Tommy looked so pale, his skin barely had any color. Was that normal for humans? In all the videos Tubbo had shown him the humans had all been a little darker than this, or at least had color variation on the face and shoulders like slightly red cheeks, but this was almost paper white.   

    He carefully grabbed the edge of Tommy’s robe, taking him to his room to clothe him properly- or to y'know, just give him some of his clothes. He made sure to grab his comfiest ones.

    Nudging the clothes into Tommy’s  hands he watches Tommy slowly grab the clothes and Ranboo politely turns around, focusing instead on the walls and door of his room. His room was naturally darker than the others, painted a dark shade of blue and purple with just barely enough light to see properly.

    He doesn't know how long he’s been looking at his own knick knacks but suddenly he feels hands around his stomach and he is abruptly, but gently, yanked backwards. He finds that he is being pulled into the bed and almost immediately Tommy wraps them both in one of the blankets with one arm before sliding it once more around Ranboo’s waist and snuggling further into Ranboo, tugging Ranboo’s head down underneath his chin, and doing his absolute best to curl around Ranboo despite the height difference.

    Ranboo warbles out in surprise and a choked sounding warble responds back, startling Ranboo, did Tommy just-? Tommy buries his face into Ranboo’s hair, tightening his grip and wrapping his arms around Ranboo’s shoulders and upper arms preventing Ranboo from moving them. Ranboo sighed and shifts one arm, pulling it gently from Tommy’s grip, and he covers them both with the rest of his weighted blankets.

    That was a couple minutes ago. Now he’s… still here, he doesn’t know what to do, this and the cave cuddling was a whole other situation.

    At least he knows the cuddles in the cave weren’t a fluke.

    The door opens.

    Tubbos head pops in and freezes, taking in the scene he stumbled upon.

    Ranboo warbles out a quiet plea.

    “ Help”

Chapter Text

‘Heh, Bitch you ain’t leaving’

Tommy had effectively trapped Ranboo in a bear hug- well as much of a bear hug he could pull off. Ranboo is way too damn tall. But he is comfy.

He knows he should rest but… he really didn’t want to rest alone. Ever since Tubbo had been thrown into his cell he hasn’t been alone, he never knew how- he doesn’t want to say how desperate he was for another person, but he was- no how much he still is.. he is desperate.

He doesn’t know how long he’s been in space, he’d believe it if it was a year at minimum. He was taken when he was 15. But keeping track of time in space was difficult to do on his own, and it wasn’t as if the aliens who’d kidnapped him were particularly inclined to tell him how long they’d held him captive.. Is he 16? 17? Is he officially an adult? He sure as hell didn’t feel like one. He just feels scared, less scared now then before, but still scared, terrified even. Everything is unfamiliar, his only saving grace is Tubbo and Ranboo. They had sparked some drive within him he hadn’t thought he had anymore.

And if Ranboo honestly thinks he’s going to leave him alone after everything they’ve been through then he really should have thought twice before letting Tommy get attached to him.

Especially if he’s going to fucking purr . Damn cat.

Wasn’t there research back home about how cats purring is therapeutic to humans or something? Does this count? Cause it’s very relaxing.

So relaxing he.. could just…

Yawning he lays more comfortably against Ranboo, tugging the covers higher up to cover them both as he feels Ranboo give up on trying to leave him and accept his fate.

Damn right you better accept being a hug pillow. Shouldn’t have purred, all on him.

-------------

Tubbo chokes back a bout of teasing laughter as he pokes his head into Ranboo’s room and comes face to face with a marvelous scene. Ranboo is being hugged like a young vwoop, Tommy is curled around Ranboo to the best of his physical ability, which is shockingly very effective. He hadn’t known the human could bend that way. How are his joints doing that? Does that not hurt? But back to the matter at hand, Ranboo is sulking defeatedly, seeming to have accepted his fate, but that changes when he spots Tubbo in the doorway. His eyes widen and he lets out a hopeful warble, his whole face pleading with Tubbo to release him from his particularly snuggly prison. Tubbo opens the door wider and Ranboo’s tail swishes excitedly, and his eyes widened even furthur with grateful hope.

Only for his whole face to fall, when Tubbo didn’t do anything but quietly laugh.

“C’mon help me out, I don’t want to hold up the meeting”

Tubbo waves his hand dismissively 

“It’s already over, we’ve decided to just keep him, make him as comfortable as we can while he lives with us. We can’t take him to earth, we’d be killed either by the Galactic forces, poachers, or humans before we’d get him to the ground” 

Tubbo walks into the room looking for the best angle to join them.

Ranboo perks up once again, purring loudly, happy to hear that Tommy will be staying with them. He hopes they will be able to provide for Tommy like he has for them. Besides maybe they can form a better method of communication, it would be nice to finally be able to talk to Tommy. Maybe Tommy can learn Common? It’s meant to be easy for many species to understand, but for some people they find it too difficult to master so instead they get translators.

It’s a lazy path but still effective. However, to get a translator they have to register the translator and to whom it belongs to, they’d be unable to get a legal one for Tommy. The only one who has a translator already is Phil and that’s mainly for the people who haven’t learned Common as fluently. So he can understand them. They’d have to get a translator illegally. But from where? They aren’t easy to make or have on the down low in the slightest.

He hopes Phil can think of some places that might have translators, even if it’s an older version it might be better and easier for Tommy.

His quickly spiraling thoughts are abruptly cut off when Tubbo, the menace, jumps right in between them, earning a growling hiss from Ranboo and a whine from Tommy, who props himself up and glares sleepily at Tubbo. Tubbo only hummed and forced himself right under Tommy chin and buzzed his wings at Ranboo, who growled, annoyed.

Ranboo, with pettiness that he didn’t think he had, teleported to the other side of the bed, his back against the wall which startled both of the other occupants of his bed. Tommy jolts and accidentally elbows Tubbo on his stomach, causing him to yelp, buzz and fall off the side of the bed.

And unsurprisingly, Tommy bolts half off the bed to catch Tubbo and check on him as if he broke his bones and wings, talking rapidly, he pressed his forehead against Tubbo’s as he clutched the Anthocapradae close, his grip firm but gentle. After about five solid minutes of the human repeating the same word over and over again, while both Ranboo and Tubbo try and reassure Tommy that everythings ok, Ranboo can confidently say he knows the human word for sorry. Because he’s pretty sure that with the guilty look in the human’s eyes and the frantic repeating of the single world there is no way that word has any other meaning. Tubbo continues to try and reassure him to the best of his abilities.

“I’m fine- hey watch it! That’s- pffft, stop it!” Tubbo playfully swats his hand, harder at the end of his sentence when he feels himself jolt and recoil at being poked on his belly. Tommy retreats reluctantly,  an expression of clear concern on his face as he looks for any injuries.

To be fair, with his strength, it’s a valid reason for Tommy to be concerned.

“Stars, he’s worse than Phil when he stepped on my foot once, I’ve never heard a louder squawk in my life” 

Ranboo agrees snickering slightly, Tommy really had just looked at the both of them and said mine, much in the same way Phil had when they’d first met. This almost felt more…secure though. Tommy treated them as if they were his own, as if they were his own blood and bone, and Ranboo…well he liked it a lot. If this is what it was like to have an older sibling then Ranboo didn’t understand why so many people complained about it. It was…nice to have someone so worried about him and Tubbo. Not that he didn’t feel the same way about Phil, Wilbur, and Techno; it just hadn’t happened as fast as it had with Tommy.   

Then they all hear a hiss and they all look up, Tubbo nearly stings Tommy when they see Shroud looking at them all upside down. Tommy, the maniac, coos and speaks softly to Shroud. Sure he had gotten used to Tommy and Shroud, the weirdness has slowly turned into a normality, but there will always be some things that make him wish he was shot out of an airlock.

Like a massive Arachnid just chilling on the ceiling.

Shroud luckily does not stay there long, and after he sends one more hissing coo at Tommy, he crawls back to the corner with his webs. Ranboo… really hopes Shroud isn’t a permanent roommate, as much as he enjoys company and Tommy being affectionate, the giant spider is a deal breaker, and he’s confident most other sane people would agree.

Tommy huffs, leaning back into Ranboo and holding Tubbo close again, the warmth coming from his skin enticing Ranboo to rest his head atop the Humans soft golden fur covered scalp. Tubbo also easily leans into Tommy, snuggling close and buzzing idly.

Tubbo opens his eyes sleepily and blinks tiredly at Ranboo, watching as the Enderian practically melts atop the human.

 “I still don’t understand how he’s so… warm” 

He mutters tiredly, and honestly neither did Ranboo but he’s not complaining, it wasn’t the same as his heated blankets, but there was something extraordinarily more enticing and comforting when the heat  was from a living being, a particularly snuggly one at that.

He purrs quietly and Tommy seems to relax even more when he does this. That made Ranboos tail wag, pleased to know he can do something to make Tommy feel nice, but purring? That’s a bit weird, do they have creatures that also purr on earth? Do they have the same relaxing effect as Ranboo?

He doesn't get to finish that thought or think more on it, both he and Tubbo are out like a light. Neither really taking notice that Tommy stays awake, his gaze sharpening and sweeping at regular intervals as they fall asleep against him, as if the human is on high alert.

--------------------

“So we’re keeping the human, what measures do we take? Clearly health will need to be a factor, obviously, he hates me and doesn’t like the med-bay, and if we don’t know how to care for him he could die in this ship and-” 

“Wilbur calm down, we can’t just rush him to like you OR the med-bay if something goes wrong. Besides, things like this take time, especially trauma” 

Phil pats Wilburs back carefully, trying to calm the scientist and ship doctor.

“Are we sure he has traum- oh who am I kidding, he’s a human, of course he does” 

Techno must be really tired if he had to correct himself.

Wilbur walks to his Digipad, looking through his notes

 “Well, long term, our plan is to have him comfortable with us, then get a scan on him or at least the basics of his health. Tubbo and Ranboo would kill me if I didn’t bother try to check the humans health” 

Techno nods in agreement

 “We also need to either teach him common or go the easy way and get him a communicator, which in itself, will not be easy in the slightest”

“I could give him mine” 

Phil suggests. Techno and Wilbur both make various noises of disagreement,  “That won’t work, it needs to be programmed with human language in order for them to work properly, and I highly doubt a normal translator would work, we need to get a custom”

Phils feathers twitch

 “And that’s just as hard, if not harder. Customs are expensive and you’d need to register them just like any other translator, and even if we find someone willing they would ask questions about why they would need to install human tongue, AND that’s not counting the fact that they need to know human tongue in order to make the translator”

 Phil can feel his stress coming back just thinking about the various complications involved in this situation.

Nobody knows proper human tongue, maybe a couple words from the records and videos that are public, but to find someone who knows the full language, knows how to make a translator, and is willing to make one for them while also not calling the galactic force? The chances are extremely low. It’s a big galaxy, a whole universe, they’ll never find someone who’s willing or capable.

Wilbur is trying to brainstorm and think, he may struggle knowing planets and star maps, but if there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s knowing people. Before joining Phil he used to be a wandering musician. He would travel planets and villages, playing songs for all to hear.

He’s gotten to know hundreds of aliens and people, varying from all sorts of species and befriending many of them. He even still keeps in touch with a few. Surely someone could point them in the right direction?

He looks through his Digipad, going through his letters and contacts, scanning through his list of friends, workers, people who he used to work with etc. He scans as quickly as his sharp eyes can scan. And he lets out a happy hiss, finding someone who could possibly help, after all, they were a musician just like him. Even better! They were from a species who could help them.

He turns to Phil and Techno, who have been talking about various places and people they could possibly ask or try. Techno hears him when he first hisses happily.

Technos ear twitches and he turns to look and Wilbur, a knowing eyebrow raising as he looks at the excited Orcam

“Got any ideas?”

Wilbur does his species equivalent of a nod 

“You guys remember the errand Tubbo and Ranboo were meant to do before they got captured? To meet my old friend so they could get new supplies from the planet and buy me a new empty disc so I could record music?”

 Phil nods cautiously, not understanding but Techno realizes where he’s going with this.

“You think she’ll help us? I know her species are capable of mimicking languages and are the best people for translators, but is she trustworthy?” 

This was a serious matter, and even if she was their best bet he would want to be at least 99% certain that she wouldn’t just toss them under the bus the second she heard they had a human on board.

But Wilbur's eyes are determined and confident 

“I swear on my life that she’s trustworthy, I’ve known her for many years and she still lives on the same planet, she’s our best and safest bet. You guys have met her, do you really think she’d toss us to the government?” 

Phil and Techno look at each other. They have met the person  Wilbur is talking about, and… she’s a very lovely person. Kind, and always willing to help so long as you were nice in return. Otherwise you’d be getting a nasty and nauseating surprise from her.

She is trustworthy, it may have been awhile since they’ve met, but even if she doesn’t agree to help them she won’t call the Forces on them, then maybe she’d point them towards someone else who’s able to help.

They nod in agreement, Phil gets up and heads to the cockpit.

 “I need to set course to Jub’line then, It’ll take at least maybe a month to get there, we are quite a ways off”

“A month?! How are we a month off? Sure we got an outdated ship but it’s fast and capable! It should be half a month!”

 Wilbur was confident they could get there in half a month, is the ship having issues because of their speeding to get to the teens?

Techno chitters quietly, laughing a bit when he notices a certain… path Phil is taking. 

“No, nothing is wrong with the ship, it’s more like we just so happen to be going near his home planet” 

Ohhh, now Wilbur gets it. He smiles at an embarrassed Phil.

“Oh c’mon Phil, you could have just said you wanted to visit your wife, No need to try and hide it” 

Wilbur lets out a full bodied laugh when Phil lets out a shy chirp, flustered at being caught so quickly and so easily. Every time they set course to a planet, if they happen to go near his home planet he will almost always stop by and visit his wife Kristin.

The only times he hasn’t is if they're on a too tight schedule, but otherwise he always visits. Not that Techno or Wilbur are complaining, they love Kristin. She treats them as family just like Phil, but even more fiercely believe it or not. She’s also bigger than Phil. Not by a lot, but if you compared their respective heights and wingspans, she beat him by a decent margin.

They’ve affectionately nicknamed her Mumza, she has birds of all shapes and sizes at her command, how? Stars only know how, but they love her and take her side on any matters. So she’ll be a treat to visit to talk and catch up with. There is a small concern about the human meeting her though.

How would Tommy react to her? How will she react to him? Are they both safe? These thoughts run through all their minds, though Phil is the most worried, he wants nothing bad to happen to his partner, but he also doesn't want Tommy cooped up in the ship as they visit. He deserves to run around and explore.

He pushes those thoughts back, that’s then, this is now.

And now it is high time they check on the teens, Ranboo didn’t come to the meeting, that’s concerning but Tubbo was confident it’s nothing to be concerned about and maybe Tommy just hadn't finished showering so Ranboo was waiting on him.

Techno can’t say he blames the human. After gods knows how long he’s been in space with no pleasant company and most definitely being treated as a caged creature, this might be the first real cleaning he’s had in a long time.

But… It has been awhile since there’s been any sign of the teens.

Techno walks off to find the boys, weaving through the halls and not taking much time to reach Tubbo‘s room, he knocks quietly. He waits a couple seconds before moving on, he doesn't hear any buzzing or breathing through the door. Continuing onward he walks past Wilbur's door, none of them have a reason to be in his room and he also doesn’t hear anything from within.

Passing the various decorations in the house, he reaches Ranboo’s room, he goes to knock but hears quiet humming and very muffled purrs. Cautiously, he opens the door, peering inside the room. He doesn't really see much, he always had trouble seeing in Ranboos room, his darker color schemed room always made it too hard for his eyes to see anything. But he can make out a lump on Ranboos bed.

He opened the door more, allowing more light into the room. What the hell Ranboo? Why is his room always so damn dark? He thinks even the light inside the room is tinted dark. Ranboo isn't even a nocturnal creature!

He feels Wilbur and Phils presence behind him. Also displaying small signs of worry and curiosity. Wilbur being the worry and Phil being the curiosity.

Before he can even step into the room he hears a quiet growl. A familiar one that sounds choked and forced. His eyes fail him but he can take a guess on who it is. A head lifts up from the bed, blue eyes catch the hallway light, making them stand out brightly in the darkness of the room. Tommy’s eyes are narrowed, he gets up, gets on his knees and leans over Tubbo, placing an arm over Tubbo to support himself and to protect Tubbo by the looks of it. All while not waking either of the boys.

Was he keeping watch over them? What the hell?! Are humans just like this?

Techno keeps eye contact, scanning over the sleeping boys, Ranboo was against the wall with Tommy’s back to him while Tubbo is curled close to Tommy, who's leaning over him in a stance ready for lunging. Wilbur peeps nervously but also fascinated.

“I… think it would be a good idea to bond with Tommy, if only to not have him choose the boys over self care” 

In a quieter voice, Wilbur mumbles to Techno

 “He really just took your job straight from you and Phil huh?”

Phil looks affronted but makes no comment, cause he’s not wrong. The human took his job very seriously it seems.

And Techno really can’t tell if he’s glad for such a protective deathworlder or dreading for the upcoming days with the deathworlder.

Chapter Text

Groggily Tommy was gently shaken from his warm slumber. He swats the presence that dares to wake him. Go away, he’s very comfy and warm right now and he has a squishy pillow to hug. It’s very fluffy. It’s probably Tubbo with the amount of times he’s hugged him in his sleep, he can recognize that tuft of fur anywhere.

He was shaken again, this time with an added buzz. He groans and tightens the hug for a second before letting go and opening his eyes.

Tubbo took the chance of freedom and bolted out of the bed, Ranboo was already up and off the bed, he was close, probably the one to shake him awake. The bitch.

He swats his hand again and finally gets up, stretching and popping his back. Letting out sighs of relief, he hasn’t slept that well in a long ass while, he’s been so used to stone floors, metals, shitty cell beds etc. so this was a really nice change of pace.

He hears a startled screech and sees Ranboo worriedly checking his back and arms, Tubbo was staring at him with wide eyes, startled about something. Tommy looks around, confused. Did something happen and he didn't see it?

Ranboo grabs his left arm and moves the arm in a circular motion. Did… did aliens help with stretching? What is he doing? Curiously, Tommy stretches his arm, the one Ranboo is holding, and it gives a quiet pop. Ranboo let go of his arm, screeching and backpedaling, knocking a couple of knickknacks and Tubbo flinched hard.

“Ohh, okay, I get it” 

Guess popping bones wasn’t the norm.

Ranboo starts talking, warbles and strange gargled sounds escaping him as Tubbo flies closer to him as if to make sure the arm didn’t just pop off.

He humors Tubbo by moving it around, tapping the fuzzy little ailen on his head which earns Tommy an amused hum. He moves it around as he gets up, calming Ranboo in the process, showing that he’s not about to collapse from popping a couple of joints.

Stretching his legs he stands up, trying to look around the room, it’s still dark in the room, if he wasn’t already adjusted to the light he’d struggle to see where the damn door is.

“Why is your room so dark? Are you an emo? Or are your favorite colors black and dark purple? I’d say you're nocturnal but you’re clearly up during daylight” 

Tommy looks around the room, tapping any interesting knickknacks he sees, there’s this weird glowing dark green chest? It has this cool looking eye symbol on it, odd. He shrugs mentally and continues on, missing the eye’s movement as it follows him.

He stops when he hears and feels a rumbling sound in his stomach. Ranboo and Tubbo tilt their heads at the sound, Ranboo warbling at Tommy as if asking a question.

He points at them 

“Where the hell is your kitchen? Do you guys have kitchens? Is that just a human thing? Please tell me it’s not just a human thing, cause that would suck.”

When Tubbo and Ranboo only respond with confusion he sighs and makes a gesture, pointing at his open mouth. He doesn't want to wander out of this room on his own trying to find the kitchen or some food, he doesn’t know this ship or its other occupants very well yet. New territory could spell trouble, especially for him.

Luckily he doesn’t need to play charades for long, as they seem to quickly understand what he’s trying to say and eagerly walk out of the room with him following them closely.

Before he leaves he glances back behind him and sees Shroud staring down at them all and busy on his… web home thing.. He waits for a second and Shroud finally seems to realize that Tommy is waiting for him to come down. He climbs down before jumping down and landing on Tommy, it startles him slightly but the only reaction he gives is a shiver. Even though he likes shroud and he’s adorable looking, it’s still a very human reaction to feel just a bit disturbed at being climbed on.

He once again walks down the nice homey halls. Honestly this ship is not at all what he expected. He was expecting the typical stereotype ship with white and gray steel metal walls and cold atmosphere that could rival hospitals with pipes or maybe a constant echo of the ship's engines.

But it’s honestly quite the opposite, and he’s grateful for it, heaven knows he’s seen enough cold steel walls to fulfill his lifetime. The floor wasn’t cold flooring but instead made of a carpet-like material. Like if someone took smooth fabric but textured it with the normal carpet you’d get in a school. How it’s smooth but still keeps a school carpet texture is beyond him but he likes it. It’s the color brown with some yellow and orange flecks here and there.

The ceiling has the occasional vent every now and then but otherwise it’s pretty smooth and is rounded slightly and it was a light gray in color. The walls felt like wood and were painted a darkened gray. It still definitely felt like a spaceship, between the low hum, and strange vibration beneath his feet, it was easy to tell that this wasn’t just a regular house. But it felt warm and cozy especially compared to the other ships. The hum of the engines was barely noticeable, and there was no echo like in previous ships, heck even his steps were strangely quiet.

He likes it.

He spots a couple more decorations as they walk, some are odd symbols, others are  pictures of animals (one kinda looked like a cow, but with mushrooms) and there are more paintings of buildings and nature scenes that look nothing like earth.

He hears clanging sounds coming from up ahead and they turn the corner into a room that has an open door that leads to other hallways and another that leads to a spacious room. The room had an orange and brown patterned carpet in the middle while the rest of the room’s floor was paneled with gray colored metal, there’s also what he could only describe as a furred couch sitting next to an open kitchen attachment with an island in the middle, separating the living room and kitchen.

He sees cool bird guy chilling in the kitchen area, a pile of what he thinks is ingredients next to him and chopping away at some stuff, Lola Bunny is also over there checking a screen with a bunch of scribbling words he can only assume is their language and Dino boy sitting at the island table.

The second they walk in, all three look up, and all eyes are on them, or well more accurately all eyes are on Tommy. Tommy instinctively freezes, his eyes darting around as he  pulls the boys partially behind him, he looks around trying to see what he could use as a weapon. As he shifts uneasily he also tries to identify who's the biggest threat, both to him and his charges. His heart is pounding a frantic tattoo in his chest, of its drumming loud in his ears , glaring intensely at the three aliens he jumped nearly a foot in the air, when Tubbo gently patted his stomach.

Right.. food… these guys are… allies. Right.

He breathes out slowly, trying to calm his racing heart. He forces himself to untense and the others also relax. Tubbo tugs him to the island and he slowly sits down, Ranboo and Tubbo take the seats next to him, acting as a barrier between him and the other aliens and he feels grateful for it. The only reason he hasn’t gone feral was thanks to Bambi and Boo so the other aliens better be damn grateful for the two younger boys.

As far as he’s observed, Boo and Tubbo are the youngest in the crew, the other three are adults. He can tell, they have a.. it’s just in the way they are and kinda hold themselves. All his previous.. owners displayed those weird adult vibes. There had been so many different aliens that had held him, those stick bastards were not the first to capture or trade him, he doesn’t remember who was the first, but they were short, taller than Tubbo though. Then there were the second aliens… then the third...and the-

God, there was always someone who wanted a piece of him-(literally) No, he’s not going to spiral down those thoughts, he’s safe. He’s safe, he can tell.

He doesn’t feel any ill intent from them, his gut hasn’t spazed out or felt like a bomb is going to go off any second. So far his gut hasn’t failed him about any of the previous aliens. They were all bad, but if Tubbo and Ranboo also vouch for these guys then surely they can’t be bad? It’s like with Ranboo. He’s a good guy. Even if the first impression was shitty, Ranboo wasn’t a bad guy.

So it could be the same, Tubbo vouched for Boo. Boo was an awkward guy that he took under his wing and fed, he’s also a big cat that purrs. So if both of them aren’t scared of these new aliens maybe… he can tolerate them.

Also it was hard to be scared when one of them had jumped at his own Pen and screamed bloody murder.

------------------

Wilbur was talking to Phil about a blue beach on a planet one of his distant friends lives on and he wants to collect the sand from when he hears them walk into the room with Tommy. Everybody tensed up when the human tensed up, his eyes quickly were darting around rapidly as he looked for exits, weapons, and more.

Tubbo pats his belly and the simple gesture was enough to calm him. Wilbur can’t get over that. The human has placed so much trust on the young teens that they can reassure and calm him with simple gestures in the presence of a complete stranger to the human. It’s fascinating, truly. If it were any of them this would not work.

They all came over to the island and waited for Tommy to sit down. He sits and the other two flank him like guards, barriers against everyone else and it further relaxes the human. Wilbur breathes out some tension and continues to sip his tea.

“How are you boys doing? Had a nice rest?” 

He doesn’t look at the boys but they can tell he’s asking about them all resting together surrounding the human. Phil grabs some plates and starts putting the assorted foods on them, each plate with a name label so none of them get confused or get the wrong plate by chance.

Tubbo buzzed happily

 “Yup! It was really nice and soft. It's been awhile since I’ve been on a nest, Ranboos is big so we could all fit comfortably”

 Phil tilts his head curiously from where he was filling the plates with food. Ranboos room is at a lower degree than Tubbos, even with a thick covering it’s not enough to keep Tubbo comfortably warm without the risk of freezing up eventually.

“How’d you stay warm? You hate staying in Ranboos room for long periods of time cause it’s too cold for you” 

Tubbos ears pinned themselves back and he fidgets, embarrassed. Ranboo chuckles and he carefully takes the plate that Phil offers him, saying a quiet 

“Thank you”

After taking a quick bite Ranboo continued speaking, answering Phil’s question.

“It’s because of Tommy” 

Tommy looks up at him after hearing his name, making a strange questioning sound, most likely asking something along the lines of ‘what’s up?’ if his facial expression is anything to go by. Alert and ready but not in a wary sense, more like curiosity. He was clearly wondering why his name was brought up.

Internally Wilbur winces, it couldn’t be fun to be surrounded by strangers you didn’t know with only two youngsters as your companions and barriers. Add on all of them talking around you and being unable to understand a single word aside from your name…well he couldn’t blame the human for being so on guard most of the time. This was a nightmare scenario for anyone, frankly he was astounded the human was as calm as he was. 

“And Tom- err.. He’s a factor to Tubbo surviving your room… how exactly?”

The words interrupt Wilbur’s musings as Techno joins them at the island. He sits next to Wilbur on the other side of the kids. He stopped himself from saying the humans name when he earned a glare, Wilbur supposed the proper introductions would be needed after all. Which was fair, again the human was already remarkably calm all things considered.

“He’s really warm, he kept Tubbo warm the entire time, he even started to heat up the covers and bed after awhile. It got all almost toasty. Nothing unbearable like Netheria heat, but it was really nice”

 Ranboo purred, it was really nice to sleep with company, he and Tubbo have tried having sleep overs in the past,but it never seemed to work right, his room was too cold for Tubbo and they couldn't change the temperature. Tubbos’ room, while a good temp, also didn’t work, the bed was too small for him and Ranboo didn’t want to sleep on the ground.

The closest they could get to having a proper sleepover was to have one in the living room, while not the worst option they couldn’t do the things they wanted when the adults could pop in any time they wanted for a snack or to do work. They wanted to just have some goofy kids time, just them.

Wilbur nods, remembering when Tubbo had mentioned that Tommy was warm in the medbay. While Wilbur didn’t hug or touch Tommy aside from checking injuries, he could feel heat radiating from his skin.

“So the fire wasn’t just to keep you warm? He was enough?” 

Techno had thought that both Tubbo and the human would freeze if Tommy hadn’t built the fire, so to hear otherwise was a shock to say the least. Phil shushes them and gives the rest of the plates out, handing an unnamed plate to Tommy, it had a mixture of items, he didn’t know what was good or bad for the human but decided to observe what the human decided to eat.

All the food ingredients on board the ship were edible to all species and sustainable, he’s hoping that at least some of said food items the human can eat safely.

“It’s rude to talk while another person can’t understand a word you’re saying, be a little polite at least”

 Phil chirps at them, Tommy looks up from his place and chirps back at him. Phil nearly coos, Wilbur can see it in his eyes and the way his wings are puffing out slightly.

They all take one bite out of their respective dishes, Tommy taking a more hesitant approach to his food but ultimately deciding to nom on a star shaped fruit.

Someone cleared their throat and all the adults look up to see Ranboo jerking his head down to Tommy while looking at them. They should try talking to him, to not ignore him and to ease him, cause Ranboo can feel the unease from Tommy. He’s eating so hesitantly, like they’ll take it if he eats too much or doesn’t eat in a certain way.

Wilbur sighs, and puts his fork utensil down. Tommy looks up from his food at the sound, on alert. Wilbur looks at the other adults, wondering how to start, neither he or Techno seem to have any idea, but Phil takes the reins and gives a small chirp. Tommy turns at the chirp and stares at Philza, still on alert but less so, especially when Wilbur notices how Phil made his wings look extra fluffy and.. did he tilt his head and coo again?

Oh, is he trying to win cute points? Huh? Wilbur is about to scold Phil for doing something so foolish, and complain about how there was no way that would work when he hears a small quiet… airy coo? It came from the human but his eyes were wide, and he was slumped forward, like he wanted to get closer to Phil.

Guess looking cute and fluffy works.

Phil stops the head tilt and straightens a bit, he takes a taloned hand and places it on his heart, in the middle of his chest.

 “Philza” 

Tommy perks up, and stutters out a reply, his voice coming out broken, but clear. 

“Phil-za” 

Tommy tries again, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration and this time he got it right, though his vocal cords were clearly not made to speak Phils language. Still aside from the airy accent, his name was repeated perfectly.

“Philza”

Phil trills in approval and it earns a small smile from the human. Nobody flinched at the smile and the tension eased. Techno huffs a quiet sound and gets the humans attention, 

“Technoblade” 

The face Tommy pulled was enough to make Tubbo and Ranboo laugh. The best Wilbur could describe it was disbelief.

“Tekt...Tach..”

 Techno was correcting the human to the best he could and Tommy was growing frustrated.

“Teacher”

“That’s not even close”

The table shook with how hard Wilbur hit it, laughing out loudly, Tommy seemed to smile at this display, looking around and seeing the other aliens smiling in their own ways and giving their own amused noises of laughter. He doesn't know what he said, without a doubt, but it had to be funny if everyone was laughing.

Techno sighs but snaps his paw, grabbing Tommy’s attention again, this time Tommy seems to have more energy from everyone laughing.

“Let’s try again, Tech-” 

Techno starts off again.

“Tech-”

“-No-”

“-No-”

“-Bl-”

“-B...Bl-”

“-Ade”

“-ade”

“Technoblade”

“Shish Kebab”

“No”

Tubbo and Ranboo roar in laughter, Tubbo nearly chokes on the flowers he was munching on. Wilbur makes a high pitched screech and if it wasn’t for Phils wing keeping him steady he would have fallen off the chair.

Technos ears twitched down, his face neutral but the crew can tell that he’s embarrassed. Tommy seemed to decide to give Techno some mercy and dub him 

“Techno”.

 It was shortened and everyone on the ship called him that anyways. The idea of someone walking around and calling him by the full name felt weird.

Wilbur nervously cleared his own throat, then promptly lost his courage when Tommy looked at him. His eyes were narrowed, then they softened slightly, seemingly sensing his tension, but then narrowed again though this time it was more thoughtful than anything. Like he was deciding whether or not to give Wilbur a chance to speak, or if he liked him at all.

Ranboo nudged Tommy to stop glaring and Tommy said something sharply before looking back at Wilbur and waiting. Wilbur really hopes that’s the go ahead.

“Wilbur”

 He says his name carefully, keeping his tail still and pointing to himself. To relax himself he eats a bit of his food, a mixture of meats. This set the chain reaction of the others eating their plates again, waiting for Tommy to pick up on the name.

“W.. Wol..“

 Tommy huffs, frustrated.

 “Wil…”

Wilbur nods excitedly, 

“Yea, you almost got it! Wilbur, Wil-bur”

Tommy’s face scrunches up, a concentrated expression.

“Bald”

“ That doesn’t even sound the same!”

Tommy only gave him a look that spelled too much mischief and had a smile on his lips.

 “Wilbur!” 

Tommy gave a cheer, making himself too fucking innocent for purposely screwing up the name.

Wilbur sighs, tired but content in a weird sorta way, dare he say it, fond. He’s kinda fond of the guy, maybe, he hasn’t quite figured that out yet.

They all wait for Tommy to decide whether they deserve his introduction in return. Man, do humans really do this to introduce themselves to each other? It’s so tense, waiting to be worthy of being given his name.

Tommy places his hand above where Wilbur could only assume is his heart, and smiles at them.

“Tommy”

-------------------

Philza, Techno, and Wilbur.

Faces he can now place a name to. Tommy shouldn’t feel this… this relaxed and content. Not with these adult aliens, creatures that could possibly claw and tear at him any second. Sure he’s strong as hell in space for some reason, but the bunn- Techno , Techno looks like he knows how to fight. There's a big difference between using brute human strength and an actual experienced fighter.

He looks around at them and he just can‘t see them as anything like his previous handlers, they have no armor, no weapons that are sharp or brimming with electricity, no hostile glares and tension in their bodies, ready to jump him.

They are all just sitting on this island table, eating a variety of food, they’d even given him a plate filled with an even bigger assortment of food. They are talking and laughing, poking fun at Wilbur if Tubbo pointing at him indicates anything. He doesn’t feel left out like he was at first, he… he likes this.

They are acting like one big alien mess of a family.

Is.. is he a part of it now?

No, it’s way too soon. And he doesn't want to put such hope into that thought, they could be taking him to a more suitable place to live for all he knew.

But in the meantime, he can enjoy being in their presence, without the threat of testing, and cruel aliens that want to carve his skin open.

Again.

He spots a small bright red berry on Tubbos plate, it looks so much like a cherry that he stares at it. He slowly reaches a hand out and when Tubbo was too busy talking to Wilbur (note, still taunting) he snatches the berry and tosses it in his mouth before Tubbo could even buzz.

He chews on it and stops abruptly.

It tastes exactly like a cherry.

He doesn’t get to think much on it when he is tackled off the seat with Tubbo sitting on his chest, buzzing angrily. The others get startled but the only one ‘calm’ seemed to be Ranboo, who only stares at them as he continues chewing on his assortment of meats.

Filled with much more energy than he had prior, he gently wrestled Tubbo, letting Tubbo gain the upper hand but still putting on a show, laughing when he see’s that Tubbos tail is wagging happily.

He sees Ranboo trying to keep the adults calm but at the moment he doesn't give a shit. He hasn’t been able to act like a kid in so damn long, if the alien child wants to play then he is also playing dammit. Screw the adults.

----------------------

Stolen reports have come in about the escaped ‘packages’. Sure, let’s call a living breathing sentient person a ‘package’. if you ask him, They should count themselves lucky that he isn’t dealing with them himself. He has no idea how he’s the same species as those vile slimey cretins.. He can’t believe the amount of crimes they commit on others, young or old.

He checks the ship's status, making sure the reactor is at full capacity check, water, supplies, everything that runs through the ship. He stretches himself, not unlike how a human would, though no bones pop, still it is satisfying to do.

He hears footsteps coming his way. 

“Hey, have you read the latest report we managed to nab about? It’s pretty interesting the amount of damage that was done to the ship” 

His fellow crewmate and long time friend, an Archea, a species of lava dwellers that thrived on lava filled planets.

He groans, a reaction his species would frown at him for.

 “Don’t even get me started on it, didn’t the Galactic forces arrest all of them?”

“Well yea, but they still sent a report that we caught wind of. Turns out they really want to hunt down the pack-”

“Human, they’re a human and don’t call them a package, the last thing we need is to act like them”

 He feels the overwhelming need to spit out the last word. Dreamons are, in his opinion, a disgraceful race. They can boast all they want about their knowledge and advancements, but he won’t stand for them hoarding it like financial banking aliens or companies that try to drain you of every credit you’re worth.

“So what’s the plan? We really can’t just let them take the human, you know what they will do to them. They won’t return him back home”

He gives it some thought, unlike many sane aliens, he’s actually very comfortable with the idea of being near a human in general. He was known for having vast knowledge about humans, he never tells anyone where he gets his information, only that it’s from a very reliable source.

“The plan is to find the human, they want to track them down like an animal? Fine, but we’ll beat them to it”

 Confident he turns back to his friend who is giving him a long look, as if searching for any possible sign that this is a joke and they aren't going after a wild human that went rogue on a ship.

His friend sighs, releasing a small puff of smoke before running back to the bridge. 

“Georrrrge!! get the ship ready! Dream’s getting a pet human!”

Offended, Dream chases after him

 “When the hell did I say pet!? Did you not hear a SINGLE thing I said?”

The SMP ship rumbles the docking station as it lifts off the ground, joining the star-filled sky to begin its mission to find a rogue human.

Chapter Text

Dream was considered by most to be a menace. Not because of his ‘charming’ personality, or his extraordinarily reckless behavior, but because of his species. He was born to a people known for being incapable of empathy, love, and compassion. The closest his kind came to love was their inherent and insatiable desire for knowledge and discovery. This drive for information was within every Dreamons core personalities from the moment they were conceived and brought into this universe. 

Dreamon mothers hold miniscule amounts of love for their young, but their love is conditional on the need for survival and continued discovery. They strive for their young to learn, to satiate that burning curiosity intrinsic to their kind. So from the moment of their birth they are taught to rend, and tear, pull, and push, forever learning more about what they are studying. They are taught to never be satisfied, never stop until they have squeezed every ounce of knowledge from the objects of their curiosity. 

Dreamons don’t really care for each other, more they tolerate each other. They all are seeking the same goal, their single minded drive making their species similar to a hive mind though there is no respect for their fellow ‘workers’. They learn by whatever means necessary, even if their methods are…cruel and generally considered unethical by the rest of the galaxy. Dreamons themselves aren’t exempt from their species' insatiable need for knowledge either, any Dreamon that deviates even slightly from the norm, is treated as any other test subject. They are merely something that must be delicately carved open and listened to as their body unleashes the secrets of its abnormality. After all things outside of the norm are exactly what Dreamons find most fascinating. .

Every species has a few that are born different, it happens. Some differences are physical, missing a limb, a body weaker than the rest, diminished height, extreme height etc, etc, etc. Others are harder to spot immediately, oddly placed organs, different chemical makeups, or even differences in the mind and how it develops. 

Unfortunately for Dreamon children, if you are born with such a “defect”, then it is only a matter of time before they replace the regular subjects on the lab tables. Dreamons call any member of their species that is not uniform a defect, and use these outliers as a way to study how to prevent those same changes in future generations. The lucky children are those who’s defects are internal or mental, they usually last a bit longer, though as children, it is inevitable that you will slip up eventually, and once you're caught you're dead. Simple as that. 

However there is one “defect” that Dreamon’s hate above all others, one that has caused them to cut countless Dreamons open in an effort to eradicate this “plague”. But no matter how many they cut open every now and again a Dreamon child is born with this defect.  

Dream tries to not shudder at the loss of so many Dreamons who had this ‘defect’.

The mutation, while a disgrace in the eyes of other Dreamons, is a blessing to the galaxy. This defect is Dreamons who are born capable of empathy and genuine love, they feel hurt at the idea of hurting another living person or being. Of course they don’t know why they feel these weird emotions when everyone else around them is dull and emotionless. They don’t understand the sick sort of fascination around them while their family and neighbors cut open living things. They cannot comprehend why those around them find joy in what they find horrifying, but no child is going to speak up when they're scared. When they're scared of becoming the next one on the table, the next one with a blade in their gut.

As a child Dream couldn’t even rely on his own mother or fellow ‘friends’ to not question him if he asked if they too feel wrong and disgusted when they would participate in the  ‘discoveries’ that the adults would show them. The one time he’d mentioned feeling off, the other kids had looked at him, their eyes hungry, and calculating. So desperate for more information that it had scared him witless as a child.. So he had swallowed down his fears and disgust, lest he became the next corpse for his friends to investigate.

For years he was miserable on his home planet, The adults loved teaching the children the best ways to make discoveries on their own. While there are hundreds if not thousands of records already made with knowledge no kid could even hope to discover, it was seen as a learning activity to discover and learn on their own.

Which included… experiments and specimens to ‘play with’.

Dream brushes his claws, which have been filed down dull. Feeling shivers up his spine as he navigates the halls, walking quickly to where he felt safe and in his element.

The medical bay, where all his research and items lay. It’s his safe place, where he can feel like he’s making a real difference to help, unlike his own kind.

He had fled that wretched planet the second he’d become a full fledged adult. He did not say his farewell to anybody on that planet, not his old friends nor his mother. After all, what was the point if they didn’t really care? He could give them all the love his heart could ever offer but they would only be curious if he would bring back new specimens for them.

It was a blessing from the universe that he met Sapnap and George. Sapnap had attempted to take his life many times before Dream managed to befriend him, and George was found injured on a black market, the mushrooms that grew on him ripped off for harvest.

That whole ordeal was very stressful for everyone. But Dream used what he knew he could use, all the knowledge and books that he learned and took from the dreamons. He was going to use their cruel and disgustingly earned knowledge and turn it into good knowledge to help others.

He knew the full biology of all 116 Sentient species and 420 other non sentient species ranging from Lava dwellers, Ocean dwellers, venomous, passive, small, big, it did not matter. And what he did not know he had books on.

He became known for being the only Dreamon known in history to become a traveling Doctor. Of course he’s still mistrusted and many think it’s all a scheme to get more subjects but the fact that he’s gotten this far to begin with is a blessing to him and he will not complain.

It.. It really took a lot of effort to understand himself. When you’re raised in a place with no empathy and a lack of emotions, it’s hard to figure out what you’re feeling, and don’t even get him started on socializing! He had pissed off Sapnap far too many times before the Archea finally realized that Dream wasn’t trying to piss him off on purpose.

When he had finally left that waste pool of a planet he had changed up his appearance. He’d scare children to death if they saw him roaming around planets buying from markets, assuming the markets would even sell to him. No market would sell to him, if they’d known what he was. They’d close their shops at the mere mention of a dreamon. At first he simply covered himself in a cloak meant for creatures sensitive to light, of course it was very outdated but he had no choice, after all it wasn’t like anybody would dare rip it off of him and risk a scene to be seen as a douchebag who took a cloak off someone just to watch them burn in sunlight.

Yea no, that wouldn’t fly in even the sketchiest of markets.

But now he wears what he could only describe as a baggy green hoodie with a hood and leggings that some would say almost look like humans, but customized (Which was very common, while humans are feared there are a lot of aliens who are fascinated and attempt to recreate human items or foods).

Dream had adjusted the clothes himself to hide his more…distasteful features.  Like all Dreamon’s he had a thin almost skeletal frame, sharp claws curling elegantly from spidery multi joined fingers, an almost entirely smooth face with four round marble-like black eyes positioned like a Strenx’s, and a thin mouth that vanished when it was closed, but would open in a far too wide grin full of serrated teeth when he spoke. He was also extremely tall, though aside from hunching over he hadn’t been able to conceal that particular feature like the others.

So he would crouch low, dulled his claws, put a mask over his face with a drawn smiley face. (Both his friends asked why his smile was so terribly drawn. He never drew it)

His back would ache most days, only on the main ship they operated was he able to relax his back and stretch it out. He almost wishes for his back to pop like humans can, the satisfaction he’d get would be enough for him.

A single loud knock and the medical bay door swings open. Startled, he screeches and tosses a bottle into the air, it hits a light and the light fizzes, sparks flying and then it goes out.

Sapnap stays at the door entrance, silently staring at the broken light.

Dream whips towards him.

“WHAT THE FUCK SAPNAP!?”

“I KNOCKED THIS TIME!”

“ THAT WAS FOR A LITERAL SECOND!!”

Dream breathes in and out, he picked up on the human habit to calm himself. It’s quite effective for him. He calmly collected the few shards of glass that had fallen from the light, gently placing them into a waste bin to be incinerated.

“What did you want? It had to be serious for you to knock once then swing the door open” 

Sapnap sheepishly laughs at the pointed look Dream sent him, or what Sapnap could assume was a pointed look. It took a long time to figure out Dream's body language, much less SHOW him how to express himself.

“We got this stupid request” 

Sapnap walks in and hands a letter- Who the fuck uses letters in space?- to Dream, who starts to quickly read through it.

“ WHAT!?”

--------------------

“ WHAT DO THEY MEAN ‘Capture the human and bring them to Galactic Authorities’!? WE AREN’T FOR HIRE!”

Dream stormed into the main room with a couple other aliens who had become crew on the ship after being rescued by Dream. Many of them flinched hard at the angry yell and watched him warily, as he stormed into the next room with Sapnap following behind him, with a thin trail of smoke floating behind them.

“That’s what I asked the messenger, they were waiting by our supply station when we docked and just handed me the damn letter”

Dream enters a small but spacious meeting room, George was waiting for them, sitting and looking at reports they had taken about the recent dreamon ship capture. It spoke of the rogue human that had escaped.

“I’m guessing you read the letter?” 

He didn’t even glance at them, the bastard.

“Yes I read the letter! The actual sheer AUDACITY! Did you read the end part? ‘We hope this information will help sate your quest for knowledge-’ They think I want to experiment the human or some bullshit! I-”

Sapnap places a hand on Dreams arm, his hand cooled so he wouldn’t burn him as he tried to calm his distressed friend. “We know Dream, we aren’t pleased with the message either. They didn’t even offer anything, it’s a literal demand from them as if they own the ship itself”

The SMP ship was an extremely big ship, Dream, Sapnap, George, and along with those they helped throughout the years managed to buy a large ship that’s nearly the size of Ship Malls. It was approximately the size of a large town.

Ships like these were normally ships for hire or were company/military ships displaced in different parts of the galaxy. Hell, some were even on the road factories in some cases.

They get mistaken as ‘for hire’ or ‘get on board to see potential markets’ etc. But really, all the space is for the amount of other smaller ships they have inside. (A floating, traveling ship storage if you will) And for all the medical equipment Dream carries around for all sorts of species.

While not many feel comfortable with the idea of a Dreamon being their doctor, he’s proven time and time again that he is the literal best. No other person has a vast amount of knowledge about the biology of just about every creature he can come across.

But it’s an extreme insult to them that any big enough company or even the Galactic Forces think they can demand them to do tasks for them. It’s happened before and they've been more than happy to deny those demands. They could never do anything against Dream’s denial since they are not a part of anything, they are their own moving entity in space and they are not held down by anything other than the laws put out.

George finally looks over at them after reading the most recent report they transferred. 

“So are we denying them again? The only reason they seem confident that we’ll agree is because Dream is a Dreamon and they are expecting him to fall into his instincts”

“Which I don’t have, not to that degree anyways, I’m a defect, what part of that term do they not understand?”

Both Sapnap and George scowl at him, scolding him with their eyes for describing himself as a defect. They’ve tried to break that habit from him, they don’t like hearing him describing himself as a defect or a mutation. Nobody would like to hear their friends putting themselves down for having a genetic difference. If anything they should be proud of it, he’s capable of doing so much more outside of what Dreamon’s are known to do.

Sapnap plays with a pen. 

“So we have 2 options, agree cause we were going to do that anyways, not the capture and retrieve bit but to find it. OR. We deny the demand and have them rage on us and when they find out what we already planned it’ll lead to a mess that I honestly don’t want to deal with in the future”

George nods in agreement. 

“We’ll get in trouble, they already assume Dream wants to hunt the human down himself, if we even think of bringing the ship to any locations said on the reports we will be marked as suspicious”

Dream scans the reports again before hitting himself on the head. Both George and Sapnap look at him confused and a little worried. Why did he hit himself?

“Of course! I’m stupid!” 

Dream quickly removes the reports on the screen and brings up the current and constant cargo the ship constantly holds.

SpaceShips.

“ We’ll be marked  suspicious if we bring the main ship, why don’t we take one of our ships? We’re always driving around in the big ship, there’s no way  they’ll think we’ll ‘abandon ship’ from our main transportation”

They think about it.

It’s a good idea, They can have the crew pilot the ship, they have someone in mind to be temporary captain while they are gone. The only issue both of them can think of is which ship? They can’t just pick a random one, some are to be taken to planets to be dropped off and some are owned by people.

“We’re taking one of ours right?” 

George asks, just to make sure Dream doesn't plan on swiping a crewmate's ship.

Dream scoffs. 

“Yes of course ours! I’m just… deciding who’s we should take…” Dream trails off, hesitating now in his idea.

Sapnap and George didn’t see a problem, they could take one of theirs. Dream has the biggest ship compared to the three of them. But he never lets anyone inside the ship, nobody allowed in. The odd thing is he takes the ship out frequently when they stay near a planet for a couple of days in order to drop off ship deliveries. He leaves for a two or three days then returns with some supplies but seems far happier every time he comes back.

At first they thought he found a mate, a partner. But it was every time they were at any planet for a long enough time to depart the ordered ships from them. It would be impossible for his partner to be on every planet they stop at .

So a mate was off the list, they could only think that perhaps he wishes to have alone time on the planet and explore? It seemed the most plausible answer. But Dream loves exploring with people, with his friends. As much as they always wanted to know what was in his ship or why he always flew alone, they never pried. They didn’t want to invade his privacy, Dreamon’s were known to be secretive, so maybe he still had that trait? He just wants a safe space. Perfectly fine with that! They can take one of their ships.

But Dream was hesitating when the answer should be obvious. Are they missing something?

Sapnap pipes up, wanting to comfort his friend. 

“If you’re worried about someone driving off with your ship we could always put it in the lock out vault, that way nobody but you could enter and nobody can steal it”

George puffs the mushrooms on his head in agreement, it’s the most secure spot in the ship, it’s a literal vault, surely they can hide Dream’s ship in there if he’s so worried about it.

But that didn’t work on comforting him, instead it seemed to put him more on edge. They see him take deep breaths again, calming himself before turning towards them.

“We’re taking my ship”

Sapnap coughs up smoke.

“B-HUH!? You never let anyone on it though! You don’t seem very comfortable with the idea”

“But I don’t want to leave my ship alone for so long and surrounded by a bunch of curious people” 

They see Dream tense and untense, clearly he’s still thinking about whether it’s a good idea or not.

George sighs sleepily.

 “We aren’t going to push you about the ship Dream, we can take one of ours, and nobody is going to touch it”

“It’s not about that, I’m… I’m fine with letting you two on my ship, it’s about time anyways”

Both of them turn their heads to each other, confused. About time for what?

-------------------------

Standing in front of Dreams ship felt weird, The only time they’ve done this was when Dream docked his ship and they waited for him outside it. But now it’s them waiting to go inside.

Sapnap was always curious about what was inside Dreams ship that he hid from everyone else. Even them. He trusted Dream so he knew he would never have any possible experiments or subjects in his ship. (Unlike some of the crewmates who have theories but they never dare to say them out loud)

Besides, if he wanted to have his secrets then who were they to demand them? Everyone has secrets.

Dream knocks on the door of the ship 5 times then waits. Sapnap looks at the windows of the ship, expecting that maybe someone was inside? Or maybe the ship opens with a certain knocking pattern. Some ships have that.

But no, nothing happens, Dream opens the door after a minute and looks around the entrance. Searching. George hums low, curious as to why Dreams acting like this.

Whatever he’s searching for isn’t there and he gestures for them to enter. Walking cautiously and peering curiously around the entrance as Dream shuts the door behind them, pressing a couple buttons that they notice is next to the wall. Probably extra security measures.

“Uhh dream?” 

Sapnap gets his attention as he looks over at them. He was tense, Sapnap could tell, His fingers were fidgeting and he was moving his body idly. Nervously.

“You alright bud?”

Dream hums, thinking something over before sighing and speaks loudly.

“I’m going to show you something and you HAVE to keep this between us okay? Nobody can know” 

Dreams' eyes were serious, he doesn’t lower his mask cause there’d be no point since he could only move his mouth, but his tone says it all, this is serious. Both of them nod confidently, they wouldn't dare betray his trust, especially now. But this does peak their interest.

Dream looks them over before relaxing and nodding. 

“Follow me”

He walks down the hall and they both follow him, there are pictures hanging on the wall, they look like children's drawings? There’s pictures of a closeup earth, animals they’ve never seen and colorful flowers drawn on papers and little knick knacks scattered around.

They follow Dream to a door and he gently knocks 6 times in a pattern. Before they can ask what the hell is going on the door opens. Both George and Sapnap are left gaping at what lies behind the door.

“ What the HELL DREAM!?”

-----------------------------

Click Click Click!

Pounce!

Click Click Hiss!

Pounce and Strike!

Click!

Silence.

Tommy clicks the pounce command and Shroud pounces on a little figurine he found in Ranboos room, it looked like another version of Ranboo but if he didn’t have splashes of white on him.

Tommy stumbled upon this great idea to train Shroud when he started to click and hiss at Shroud in an attempt to ‘talk’ to him. Shroud followed the clicks and hisses in a certain order and responded to them through actions or sounds of his own.

That’s how he figured out the little commands he could ask Shroud to do. 3 clicks is a pounce, to pin something down (He tested this on Wilbur, He screeched like no tomorrow). 2 clicks and a hiss is an attack pounce, the figurine has the marks to prove it. And then one click is stealth style.

He stayed playing with Shroud most days, well, it hasn’t been a week yet but he figured it’s been at least 3 days since being reintroduced to the crew. It was a little odd and rocky at first, but he started to settle with them.

He’s still wary of them, they are adults. None of the alien adults he has met have ever had good intentions. They wanted research, money, knowledge, they always wanted something from him. Maybe they want him to be a bodyguard? They’ve been letting him stay with Ranboo and Tubbo a lot since they’ve been on the ship.

See, he’d think that they’ve got to have some security system or something to keep them safe, it seems logical. And they do! He figured out quickly that Bonnie- Techno- is their security guy (hehe, see what I did there) and he seems perfectly capable. So why keep him? Maybe they want him to be a personal bodyguard? He better be fucking paid or some shit.

He hears a familiar buzz behind him and before Tubbo could do anything (Most likely attempt to jump on Tommy and scare him) Tommy leans back quickly and traps Tubbo under him, His head laid on his lap and chest, being careful to not squish him.

Tubbo buzzes in reply, shouting for Ranboo.

“ RANBOO!! RANBOO!!!”

Tommy cackles and stays on Tubbo, Ranboo teleported in the room and gives a long stare at Tubbo, who keeps calling for him. Ranboo does not help bee boy, no he does not, instead he sat down on his bed and just watched him struggle.

The rapid fire of buzzes, hissing, grunts and all sorts of noises have got to be a colorful language he’s spitting out.

Chapter Text

The marvel of being on an alien ship and outside of containment has officially worn off. Sure the paintings and various knicknacks scattered around the ship were cool and had kept his attention for a while. But while the floating crystals in Tubbo’s room, and the painting of a swirling star-like world in Ranboo’s were fascinating, there were only so many times Tommy could look at the exact same thing without getting bored with it. As if to contradict his thoughts his eye was once again caught by a strange painting in the hall that showed a planet with rings of floating crystal shards orbiting about it, pillar like structures rising from its surface of ‘too blue to be water’ liquid and its landmasses of vibrant electric green. Unlike earth the landmasses spiraled instead of remaining solid chunks giving the world a sort of ethereal fee, and the pillars sharpened to points from its surface making it seem as if the shards that orbited the world had merely broken off from them. He did have to admit that the things on the ship were still fascinating just…less so then before. He remembered the first time he’d seen this frankly stunning picture, Phil had passed him in the hall and had puffed himself up, wings floofing outward, and the feathers around his ears fluttering happily, in what could only be pride. It reminded Tommy of a bird showing off, which was…

Fitting.

Still wonderous paintings aside this ship was getting boring, true there were technically some rooms he still hadn’t fully explored yet, but that was mostly because they were locked and the crew wouldn’t let him look inside them. He’d been in all of the other rooms though, his crewmates rooms, the living room, all the main areas, everywhere really and he was BORED!

As he internally pouts he walks into the living room and immediately spots Tubbo and Ranboo talking on the couch. Tubbo is animatedly telling Ranboo something, his arms waving about as he talks, antennae twitching, wings flicking up and down, and his hooves kicking against the couch every few seconds. Tommy walks toward them and dramatically collapses atop them, careful to keep his weight from actually crushing them as he groans atop them. “Can anyone open any of the doors for me? I’m bored as hell and the high of being in an alien spaceship died down 2 days ago” 

He lets out his annoyed tyraid all in one long moaning note, but he gets in response is a curious glance from the two aliens before they return to their own conversation only this time talking over his head.

He glances up at them balefully from his position in their laps before he rolls on to the floor with an annoyed huff and then once he was spread out on the floor in a suitably dramatic position he once again glances up at them. Then though he doesn’t know what made him do it,  he ‘tch’s at them. The sound one would make to get a pet's attention, he repeats it and it immediately gets their attention, their heads swiveling to him confused.

It startles him for a moment, staring back at them quietly before taking this as a win.

“Don’t ignore me or I’ll start pspspspsing at you” 

He will, they may be sentient but if necessary he will turn them into furry children who don’t follow their parents.

He recalls one of his foster families that had a father who whistled loudly to summon his  children to him. Maybe he should do that, teach them to come to him whenever he whistles for them…. Is that ethical?

Shaking off the idea for now he jerks his head towards the hall he just came from, there’s this one room he wants to see and he doesn't have access to enter, so he’s hoping one of them could get him in. The door isn’t particularly special or anything but he’s hoping whatever is behind it is at least new, he’ll take anything at this point just so long as it isn’t a secret testing lab.

Tubbo gets up and walks over to him confused. Humming and ‘talking’ to him.

“Kid, I don’t know what the hell you’re saying, BUT! I do need your help with something so let’s fucking go” 

He grabs Tubbo and lifts him up like one would a small child and starts walking away, Ranboo gawking after them for a moment before quickly getting up to follow.

Tommy struggles with a squirming Tubbo, he’s trying really hard to not place his hand on Tubbo’s wings or to squish him accidentally, but Tubbo is not making it an easy task. He’s pretty sure Tubbo is making at least a half hearted attempt to get Tommy to let go, but he had learned early on that Tubbo is indeed very strong and if he genuinely wanted to, could wreck Tommys shit. He 100% believes Tubbo could destroy him.

So the fact he isn’t struggling harder means he doesn’t mind this. Still Tubbo’s constant squirming is making Tommy nervous so he tries to calm down his hyperactive friend by running his fingers through Tubbos hair, going super slow and careful around his horns. Tommy smiles when it earns him a pleased hum and he continues walking, ignoring the extra pair of ridiculously long legs trailing behind them.

He passes Wilbur who makes way for them to walk past but Tommy doesn’t even glance at him, with the amount of time he’s been on the ship he’s pretty much confirmed that Wilbur and the others won’t do anything to him. He figures that, much like Ranboo’s initial reaction to him, they are only wary of him, not afraid, or…cruel. He doesn’t think they're “bad aliens” at the very least. He still hasn’t decided if that makes them “decent” or “good” aliens yet, but baby steps and all that shit.

So yeah he’s not really scared of them any more, still he doesn’t exactly trust them either and after a few more steps down the hall, he does look back to make sure Ranboo is still following them.

As he turns back he ponders his feelings, he feels…uneasy around the adult aliens. Or at least the three he assumes are adults. They just give off that vibe, while Ranboo and Tubbo just feel so much younger to him. Like he knows Tubbo isn’t really a child, but he still sees him as a kid or at least someone to defend like one. Maybe it's the fact that he’s so small, but Tubbo just wakes up to something innately vicious and protective with him, a strong contrast to his dull existence prior to meeting them. He actually feels something other than, well, numb.

And honestly, he preferred this feeling to his terror and numbness. He’d rather that this be his drive forever if it means he’s actually doing something now. Tubbo is the drive that kept him going, kept him from wanting to waste away before they delivered him to whatever new experiment lab he was heading to.

At first it was just Tubbo, then later, Tall Bitch joined the picture. Tommy really didn’t know how to feel about him at first, he had kidnapped Tubbo from behind him which was a dick move, but turned out to be a friend of Tubbo.

He had realized, back on the planet, that both Tubbo and Ranboo are absolutely shit at surviving. Without him they would have genuinely died. Ranboo from lack of meat and Tubbo from lack of heat. But since Tommy is the biggest and greatest man ever, he had simply refused to let them starve. And in a way, Ranboo had helped him learn how to provide, once he got  outside of his cell he was hoping that whatever nearby planet they happen to land on he could have Tubbo just eat plants, but Ranboo joined the mix and man's only ate meat!

He hadn’t wanted to be responsible for Tubbos' friend dying in front of them, Tommy had seen enough death to last him for the rest of his life, So he did his best to get them both food. He was more of a forager back home but he needed actual meat if Ranboo was going to eat anything to live. It’s a miracle he found out really. The only reason it clicked to him was because Ranboo only ate the weird meat rations. Tommy had curiously (Threatened really) poked his mouth with a small portion of the plant ration and Ranboo had simply refused to open his mouth.

He didn’t even realize he had reached the  locked door, so lost in his thoughts that he jumped when Ranboo nudged his shoulder to jolt him back to reality. Tubbo had placed a hand on his cheek, obviously concerned about why he had stopped in front of the door and just… stared at it. Tommy lets out a tired chuckle and leans his head into the hand for a second before looking back at the door and points at the weird button scanner thing.

It looked like a hand scanner but it had buttons on it, and he sure as hell did not know how to operate that thing.

He points at the thing and makes direct eye contact with Ranboo.

“Open it” 

Ranboo tilts his head forward and says… something. Some kinda noise at the back of his throat. Tommy warbles it back, His throat getting itchy from the action. But it’s worth it to see the reaction he got, Ranboos eyes widened like a cats. His tail wagging behind him in such an adorable fashion that it makes Tommy want to punch something.

What was that called again? Cuteness aggression? Where something is too cute for a person to handle so they have the urge to squeeze, or protect the thing that's causing it with unnecessary and extreme violence.

Yea that.

Quickly looking away so he didn’t accidentally squeeze Tubbo in an attempt to satisfy his extremely unhealthy urge, he points at the door. 

“Open”

“ Open?”

Tommy tries to repeat it.

“ O-Open”

Tubbo buzzes excitedly, and while it’s great to see them always get fascinated by anything Tommy did, he really wanted to get inside that room.

He points at the door and makes an opening sign with just one hand, careful to not drop Tubbo.

“ Open! Open! ”

Tubbo beat Ranboo to the panel and punched in what he could only assume were alien numbers. Tommy made sure to memorize it, repeating it through his head multiple times as the door clicks and slides open for them.

It looks like a gym, a very extravagant and kinda small gym, but it’s got familiar looking equipment.

Tommy walks in and looks around at both familiar and unfamiliar equipment. There are things that look like a treadmill, punching bag, lifts, and a weird… is… is that a wallboard? Those things you run towards really fast then reach the top with that momentum to lift yourself up. He only says that cause it looks like something you’d run towards and jump up to climb. Ninja warrior shit.

Curiously he walks towards the treadmill. He could really use some exercise, when was the last time he was able to even do simple shit like Yoga? Sure he previously had a cell that was big enough for jumping jacks, but at the time he just wanted to fade away into oblivion, fall asleep and hope the next day he didn’t wake up.

With no drive or reason, what was the point?

But now he’s got a drive, and sure human strength is dope as fuck, but there’s always those stories about the hero that wasn’t stronger than his enemy but instead smarter than his enemy and all those other stories about being able to win without needing to be physically stronger than the big guy.

Work smarter, not harder and all that.

Imagine how much stronger he could be if he built up muscle? If he got faster, stronger. He doesn't know how to fight really, but he can be like One Punch Man! Just start super strength  punching aliens!

He sets Tubbo down and messes with the treadmill look alike. Just pressing buttons at random really until Ranboo came over and pressed a button on the side. Hidden from view. Who designed that? Bullshit.

He's never been on an actual treadmill, he’d go outside and do his walks and running, go to the park and jog a little. But here in space he doesn’t really have that luxury, and he knows he needs to gain his strength back, his real strength, not whatever strength humans have at a basic exercise deprived level.

The treadmill runs on its own, the little platform moving at a slow walking pace. Eagerly he gets on it, Ranboo and Tubbo watching him curiously as they talk to each other, pointing at the machine as he looks for a way to speed it up.

“Where the fuck are the arrows? There’s always arrows” Tommy mutters to himself as he just starts pressing some buttons at random, one raised the side arms, one beeped at him and he has no idea what the fuck it means, another said something he didn’t understand until FINALLY he found a button that speed up the machine.

Now he was at a good jogging pace. He’s not dumb to immediately start on a full sprint or to even raise it. Especially with the lack of exercise he’s done in the past god knows how long. If he even tries to push himself he will collapse before he hits the 5 minute mark.

He levels his breathing, sets his pace, and relaxes himself, he curiously looks over at the others and Tubbo’s talking to Ranboo, pointing at the treadmill and lifting up his hand as if counting something.

He shrugs and continues his run, he knows he won’t last long, maybe 10 minutes max? Probably less, but it’s a good start to know where he’s at physically. Only issue is he doesn’t have a timer.

Oh well, maybe the other two will make him stop once it’s been too long.

--------------------

“He’s been running for 8 minutes and he hasn’t even stopped for a break!”

Ranboo stares in slight concern as he watches Tommy run- well maybe not run, but he’s… walk running? Running but slowly. He assumed Tommy was curious and turned the machine on to jump on. But he hasn’t stopped since getting on and he has a worrying amount of liquid seeping from his head and hair.

The only reason he noticed was because he had moved to sit down with Tubbo and saw a strange sheen on Tommy’s forehead, and only then did he notice a small amount of water on his face, did he splash himself with water? Where did he get the water? Is it even water?

Ranboo pales. Oh void, does Tommy emit water from his skin? Could he have burned Ranboo!?

But that makes no sense! What kind of being is really warm but also can make themselves wet? Huh?!

Not even aquatic creatures or aliens can just make themselves wet! It’s why they carry around extra water with them.

But Tommy just, miraculously, seemed to have splashed water on his face and was unbothered by it as he continued to walk-run at a steady speed. Although his breathing did start to pick up, Ranboo couldn’t tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

“Does he even know how to stop that thing? Maybe we should get him off now” Ranboo goes to potentially turn the machine off when the door opens and Techno walks in, looking at some leather-like gloves on his paws before stopping and staring at Tommy, who looks back at him curiously.

Techno glances at them, confused.

“Uhh.. why is he on the runner machine?”

Tubbo shrugs, his ears flicking. 

“Dunno, he wanted to turn it on and run so we turned it on”

Techno looks back at Tommy who is still ‘running’ but looks a bit tired. Techno frowns. 

“He doesn't seem to be going very fast, I thought humans were fast?”

He receives a glare from Tubbo 

“To be fair, it’s not like he had access to proper exercising equipment while being shipped around and shoved in various cells. He’s not going to be ready to run across any planets anytime soon. But sure, let’s expect him to be in top shape”

“You know that’s not what I meant. It just… slipped my mind” 

Techno sees Tommy looking at his feet before stopping and hopping off the runner.

Ranboo checks on Tommy, who is breathing more deeply and isn’t staying still, walking around even when he seems tired. 

“Why aren’t you- oh” 

Techno was going to ask why Ranboo wasn’t willing to touch Tommy, but then he saw the faint sheen of what appears to be water on him? Some type of invisible liquid on his head.

Tubbo pats Tommy’s arm and recoils his hand away in disgust when he feels that  Tommy’s skin is all hot and sticky. Slightly wet too, not like how his head is, but it’s definitely changed from his time on the runner.

“Yea... we aren't sure what the hell happened but he seems fine, he could have stopped at any time really” 

Tommy glances at Techno, saying something at him before crossing his arms against his chest and stares him down.

Techno glances between the companions of Tommy, confused.

Ranboo gets in front of Tommy, Tilting his head curiously in a silent question.

Tommy points to Techno then around the room.

“I..”

Ranboo huffs out a confused noise before hazarding a guess. 

“I think he’s wondering why you’re in here? I could be completely wrong but it’s the only thing I can think of”

Techno looks on at them, confused.

“How would I even answer that?”

Tubbo flies up

“Easy! Just do what you came here to do!”

He dramatically flings his arms around for emphasis. A huge grin on his face, obviously seeing no problem with this. Tommy glances at Tubbo before staring back at Techno.

Techno gives out a huff at Tommy, but still walks forwards to a hitter bag and pointing at it, making sure to maintain eye contact with Tommy.

Tommy tilts his head at him, muttering a word and walks towards the hitter alongside Techno. Techno lifts a paw and hits the hitter with a moderate amount of force, the bag swings and Tommy has to dodge to the side to avoid getting hit by the bag swinging back.

Tommy talks, looks excitedly at the bag. He grabs it, forcing it to a stop and then brings back his own arm and hits it, with significantly more force than Techno had for his demonstration.

The hitter flew back and hit the ceiling with a loud BANG !

It quickly came down and Tommy yelped as it collided with him. Tommy quickly turned to his side so it hit him on his right shoulder. The bag thudded against him and was stopped.

Techno looks back at Tommy, Techno would be surprised that the human managed to hit it towards the ceiling until he looked at Tommy and saw him holding his hand in what appeared to be pain. Wincing at his arm that he cradled.

Please tell him he didn’t break his arm.

He raises a paw and beckons Tommy to give him his hand. Tommy said something and shook his head.

“Don’t give me that attitude, I just need to check on it”

While Techno knew talking to Tommy was pointless, he’s started picking up on it from the boys talking to Tommy often, they said so they do it so that he’s included even if they can’t understand each other vocally.

Heck, He’s half convinced they talked telepathically, it sure seems like it at times.

He jerks his hand again at Tommy once again for emphasis and Tommy snaps at him with a displeased look before rolling his eyes and giving him his hand.

He doesn’t know much, but basics? Sure, common sense exists. There’s no blood, there is a pink discoloration compared to the rest of his arm at the back of his hand, from the hitter most likely. Some old scars are littered across the knuckles and various bony protrusions on his oddly slender and multi jointed hand and fingers. He gently moves the hand, forcing Tommy to flex his fingers and stops when Tommy makes a grimace sort of face.

He doesn’t know if it’s broken, but he doesn't think so or Tommy would be acting in a lot more pain. He’d thought at first that humans had a high level of pain tolerance, but that went out the window when he saw Tommy walk into a room and proceed to shout to the high heavens when his leg collided against the kitchen island.

While Tommy dealt with his own injuries pretty well with plenty of rest (thanks to the two teens) he knows the human does have a higher level of pain tolerance, but it seems that in the brief moments when he initially gets an injury his pain is very obvious until it fades away from his nerves.

That’s what he thinks anyways, that’s all in Wilburs department. But Tommy has made clear his hesitancy to be anywhere near Wilbur much less let him poke at the human even if it's to help the darned brat. So neither of them has had the chance to really get comfortable with each other.

Techno releases Tommy’s hand and the human snatches it away from him, growling warningly under his breath.

“Either humans are more physically fragile than I thought, or he’s been weakened and needs to build his strength back up”

Which is probably why Tommy had gone on the Runner, in an attempt to build his speed up. Techno gives a rumble of approval, approving that Tommy saw a chance to make himself stronger and took it.

Techno has half a mind to ask Tommy himself if he would like to have Techno possibly train him.

It’s a very appealing thought, one he will have to stew and think about more, but before he can speak his thoughts out loud the intercom goes off, announcing dinner.