Summary: Tommy has relaxed and deemed him as not a threat after seeing him get so frightened of a pen of all things.

Ranboo gets Tommy to rest in his room and the crew have this moment of peace to sit down and talk about what to do.

Ranboo does not join because Tommy is a clingy boy who wants his tall child near him.

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Notes: Me: Ha! That chapter was funny, I can't wait for the next chapter.

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Oh shit wait I have to make it. Dammit.

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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.

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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.

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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!"

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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!"

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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"

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Notes: Ranboo is trapped in a human hug and you know for a damn fact Tubbo will not help in the slightest XD

Tommy is very pasty white but that's just from the lack of being outside and seeing the sun. So he's very lacking in that Vitamin D department.

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