It didn't take long for Techno to start walking again after that morning. He still coughed or felt dizzy sometimes and had to take quite a few breaks to catch his breath, but most of his strength had started to return. Phil was more than happy that it did, since it meant that even with his limited medical knowledge, Techno had gotten better and was on the way to fully recover. His voice got better as well, but Phil still made him respond only by nodding or small gestures whenever he could. Techno had given him the endearing title of 'Mother bird' whenever he started to baby him again about using his voice too much or when he climbed around in the tree branches on his own.

Not that he blamed him in any way, since Techno definitely almost seriously injured himself multiple times. Tree branches are very hard to climb... and now Phil refuses to let him stay by himself in the nest unless he's trying to sleep. Every other time the angel carried him up and down the tree, just to make sure he doesn't hurt himself. He didn't even allow Techno to argue about climbing up himself once he's fully recovered.

A protective mother bird indeed.

Now the two were busy going through some old chests in the city to find fitting clothes or at least fabric they can use to make clothes for the new citizen of Sky City. His old clothes are rather... trashed now with all the holes and blood on it, so making new ones was really necessary, at least from Phil's perspective.

Techno hadn't made any attempt to correct or stop him when Phil built a second nest for him, or more like make his current bed part of his nest much bigger so it comfortably fit them both. Not that he ever planned on leaving again anyways. There isn't anything he would have to go back for, especially if the airship he worked on went down in the hurricane.

"What about this?" The angel pulled a dark red fabric from one of the chests. It could definitely use a good wash and he would have to patch up some holes, but it could work as a base layer of clothing. Techno had learned that Phil knows how to sew quite early when he muttered something about 'too much effort' in fixing his old clothes. Obviously he asked the angel what he meant by that and that's how he learned that Phil fixes and makes all of his clothes himself.

Makes sense, since he lives all by himself. He doubts that any kind of clothing could last centuries, no matter how well you take care of it.

"I like the color." Techno took the fabric from his friend, who immediately went back to search for more. "Red was a pretty common color, so I should be able to find more of it. Maybe some different shades of it..." The other hummed in agreement and watched as Brian hopped around on the wall of the half collapsed house.

"How long did you have your bird?" Phil looked up to where his crow was sitting, who trilled back at him as soon as their eyes locked. "I think it's been five years now... I'm not sure. Time flies when you're immortal and it just doesn't make a difference to you anymore." The crow hopped off the wall and perched himself on top of Phil's shoulder instead, who reached up to stroke over black feathers. "He's definitely one of the more chaotic ones. His energy is only matched by my old crow Ian. Little shit didn't stop screaming random phrases at me."

"So you just have a bunch of crows around you?" "Yup! Though I mostly only have one specific one that stays around me at all times. It was their idea actually... to keep me company and all that." "Why not all of them?" Phil's eyes darkened and he turned back to the chest. "Because I already get sad enough when I have to bury one crow that got old and passed away... I don't know if I could handle an entire murder to get attached to."

Techno nodded, even with Phil not looking at him. A crow lifespan is like... 15 to 20 years. It must hurt a lot to have a companion for so long and then bury them once they passed. Especially if they are your only friend...

"I'm sorry I brought it up..." "It's fine. You're just curious. This is all pretty new for someone like you, born on the ground and all." Techno knelt down next to Phil and carefully took the hand resting on the side of the chest into his own. "If it helps... probably not... I know how it feels. My family had a dog, a small white one. We named it Floof. I absolutely adored that little guy... but he passed away shortly before I left."

Phil squeezed his hand back, taking a deep breath to try and calm down again. "Sorry to hear..." "We knew it was coming... but it always hurts no matter what happened or how old they are." The angel nodded and after a small pause, went back to searching through the chest.

"Would you like some gold details on your clothes? Like the ones I have?" "That feels like a lot of work... I don't need it if-" Phil didn't even let him finish before he turned to him with a big grin, the pain from a moment ago vanished. "Nonsense! I'm a bird at heart! I love shiny things and attach it to almost everything, so I would have done it anyways." The man had to laugh at that. Of course he does... should have been obvious by all the gold jewelry and details on his clothes.

"Alright. I'll let you go crazy with it then." "Oh you're gonna love it! I already have an idea for your clothes! I'll make them match mine too! And I have a bunch of jewelry that we can add and-"

The rest of the search went on like that, with Phil rambling about all his ideas and Techno nodding along, giving his own opinion here and there. He has no experience with fashion in any way, but he liked Phil's outfit, so he's not too worried about how he will look once it's all done.

They collected a bunch of different shaded fabric, all red, and went back to their nest. It still felt weird to call it 'their's', but Phil had insisted on Techno at least staying in the tree, where it's safe and quiet. Not that the man is suprised in any way that the winged man living with birds thinks that a tree is the safest place to sleep.

Once the fabric had been washed and the small holes had been fixed, Phil went to work. Techno tried to help as best as he could, though he mostly just had to stand still so the bird could get the measurements he needed while also immediately seeing if it looked good on him or not.

It was a long day...

While Phil was busy sewing he told Techno all kinds of stories about his life, of his childhood and time as a guardian to tales of his crows or legends of gods they used to worship along with him. He could easily tell that his friend was enjoying himself, smiling and laughing when telling said stories, as if he had waited forever to finally tell them to someone. He probably has...

"So your people worshipped Death?" "Yep! They mostly referred to her as 'Lady Death' and worshipped her for keeping the cycle of life and death going, in hopes of receiving a good afterlife or even be reborn. Of course those things never mattered to me... but I prayed to her too. I prayed for the safety of my family and for her to take good care of them, as well as every single one of my crows to have a safe passage into the next life. Sometimes... I even think that she was the one who gave me my immortality and my wings. So I thank her for that too, even though I don't really like being immortal. You should never disrespect a god's or goddess' gift, no matter what it is."

Techno nodded and handed Phil a new roll of string when he reached for it. "And they associated you with her?" "Yup. Said that she send me as their guardian to keep them safe until they are ready to pass on. And... I did believe it for a very long time. Maybe not necessarily as a guardian, but my immortality must have come from her. She decides who lives and who dies." He hummed and watched his friend work away at the fabric.

It made sense. Techno might have never been a very religious person, but the way Phil explained it and the fact that he is definitely the living proof for some sort of higher power... it just adds up for him. "I can take you with me when I go visit her statue tomorrow. It's... for all the animals that have passed away in the last week, as well as a thank you for all the born ones. You don't have to, of course. I'll let you sleep longer if you don't want to come along."

The pink haired man hummed as he thought about the idea. Even if he didn't necessarily believe in a god after all the shit things that happened, he was curious about a lot of aspects of Phil's life, including this one. "I'll come along. Anything I need to know to not... disrespect her?" Phil shook his head and cursed under his breath when he pricked his finger with the needle again. "She's very gentle... and doesn't judge easily. Unless your are a killer psychopath or something."

"You sure have a very friendly picture of her..." "How couldn't I? I see death as something good, if it's after a long life. It's the end after a long journey, the finishing of a story. When Death takes you to her realm, I think she would take care of you and welcome you with open arms. She would be like a mother holding her child, keeping them safe and warm. And... I would never wish the fate of immortality onto anyone... because I personally would rather have a last chapter, an end to my story than going on forever. But I guess I'm just very biased towards it... considering how my life has been."

Techno nodded, allowing the words to echo in his head. It's understandable that someone like Phil would think about death like that. "It's just... where I'm from death was always a bad thing. Something hated and feared. Of course you'd fear it, since you don't know what's on the other side. My people picture death as something or someone cruel that takes and takes and takes, not caring if it's a sinner or a saint, a small child or an old man."

"Now that's just uncalled for!" Techno had to take a second to even register what Phil had said, who looked close to being angry, furious even. "How could you say something like that to the goddess that takes care of you after you pass! If death was cruel then we'd all be dead and there would be nothing living in this world!" He flinched away from the angry angel, who had his wings spread out and feathers puffed up. Black wings... as if Death herself had given them to him.  Though he almost immediately tugged them away again when seeing how nervous and scared his new friend looked.

"Sorry... I... I didn't mean to..." He took a shaky breath and put the fabric away for now. Techno carefully inched closer to him again, trying to show he's not actually scared to be near him. He just got startled by the outburst. "It's fine... I can understand after hearing your version. It's just two different cultures... or religions, I don't know which one."

"And which one do you believe in?" Now that was the question. One version was what he grew up with... and the other just sounds a lot nicer. He can't exactly just say he likes Phil's version more to not make the angel sad, because it would technically be a lie. And even if it hurts, he doesn't want to lie. "That's a mean question. You know I grew up differently than you did. But... I'll be honest... I don't believe in either. A lot of shit things have happened to me and... I just stopped believing in gods or higher beings in general."

Phil nodded, relaxing a bit again. "Right... sorry... should have been obvious." "I'm not calling her a bad person. I'm just saying that it's very difficult for me to believe in her or other gods. I can understand your picture of her... and honestly... I like it a lot more than our version. If gods do exist and at some point prove me wrong... I hope I'll meet her instead of whatever monster we came up with." The angel smiled at that, even if his eyes clearly showed a sense of... sorrow, when hearing that. And Techno knew what it was about.

"Hey... I'm still young and healthy. You don't have to worry about that for quite a bit." "I hope so..." His voice was small as he picked the fabric back up and his eyes didn't meet Techno's again. It made him feel guilty of even bringing the subject up, again. So he moved to sit in front of him and carefully cupped his face in both of his hands, making the angel look back at him. "I'm not leaving you any time soon, okay? I'll stay with you. You're my friend and friends stick together."

Phil leaned into the touch and smiled. "We're friends?" "Of course we are. How could we not?" "I just... never had friends other than my birds." "You do now... and you better believe I'm staying by your side. You saved my life Phil... and I'm willing to do the same for you."

The first tear ran down his cheek... and then he threw himself into Techno's arms, hugging him as tightly as possible. Techno returned the hug just as tightly, murmuring soft declarations of loyalty and friendship as the angel cried for the second time, wings wrapped around them both, hiding them in a world only for them.

"For you Phil, the world..."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I'm really sorry about how... religious it got. It was completely on accident and I got carried away too much. I hope no one feels offended or weirded out.

Anyways, even though Techno's clothes aren't fully done, I have the design for him ready!

Pls ignore the weird proportions... I made it at like 1am

Have a great day!