Archive of Our Own ^beta

     Ranboo and Tubbo showed up at three in the morning, holding a crying kid and looking absolutely miserable.

     Glancing over at Techno, Phil turned back to the kids. “Are you two alright?” He asked softly. Tubbo was holding Michael, swaying slightly on his feet with dark circles under his eyes. Apparently, they’d been up for a while. Their kid, meanwhile, had buried his face in Tubbo’s neck, tear tracks running down reddened cheeks as his little fingers curled in Tubbo’s shirt and scarf.

     “Hey…Phil.” Ranboo said, yawning in the middle of his sentence. Much like Tubbo, he looked like he hadn’t slept for the better part of three…months. Thankfully, he didn’t seem about to topple like Tubbo did, because if he fell no one would be able to handle all of the gangly teenager on their own. Especially not with a small child as well.

     “Alright, what’s going on?” Phil asked, reaching out and delicately taking Michael from Tubbo. The young man was a bit hesitant to let his baby go, but after a moment he did seem to think it was the best option. “Both of you come inside, you need to sit down. And sleep.” Turning, he made a gesture to Techno, who darted off to the kitchen and immediately began making tea and food. Meanwhile, Phil closed the door behind Tubbo and Ranboo, led the pair over to the couch quietly. Sitting them down, Phil settled right across from them in a chair, slowly began rocking Michael back and forth in an effort to soothe him. “What’s wrong?”

     Tubbo and Ranboo both looked at one another, and Ranboo started explaining but seemed almost…hesitant.

     “I think he’s sick?” Nodding, Phil pressed his hand against Michael’s cheek. Definitely a fever. Glancing at the calender, he mused, well, it is cold and flu season. Probably not that much more than that, but…

     “Techno?”

     The piglin poked his head out of the kitchen with a “heh?”

     Nodding his head in a beckoning gesture, Phil asked, “Do you mind coming over here so I can get a second opinion?” Techno grunted, then strode over to look Michael over. Lowering his voice, Phil reminded, “Be gentle, Techno.”

     “I know that. I’m not as aloof as the show makes me out to be.” Techno fired back, touching Michael’s face. Crouching down, he looked at the kid, checking his eyes and looking in his ears and mouth. “What did you think it is?”

     “Probably just the flu. Just wanted an opinion from someone who probably knows piglins better, that’s all.” Nodding, Techno ducked into the kitchen and returned with something. “Are you giving him an ice pop?”

     Looking at Phil oddly, Techno handed the snack—a purple one, probably grape—to Michael and then glanced to the side. “Yes? Low odor, easy on the stomach, soothes sore throats, good tasting, and also an easy source of hydration.” Ruffling the kid’s ears, Techno stood up and added, “Besides, the flavour might help with medicine later. I just have the grape medicine and trust me, the pop tastes about the same.”

     “Huh.” Still rocking Michael, who was now busying himself with eating the ice pop over crying, Phil glanced at Tubbo and Ranboo. “If you two want to stay here, it’s perfectly alright. We can get the guest room set up for the two of you. Oh, also, Techno?” He returned from the kitchen, holding two mugs of tea for the tired parents. “Thank you—do you mind writing a list for them to check off symptoms? I think it’d be easier than trying to explain it—and they need some rest.”

     “We’re perf—perfectly—” Tubbo kept cutting off with yawns, clearly trying to fight off sleeping. “Fine, thank you very much. We can stay up…all night.”

     “Tubbo, he’ll be fine.” Phil reassured, and Ranboo nudged his platonic husband gently. Glancing over at him, Tubbo frowned, and they had a wordless conversation before Tubbo let out a long sigh and yawned again, eyes closing part of the way as he started drinking the tea.

     “Okay.” He quietly whispered, and Techno threw a blanket onto the couch beside him. Taking it with a grateful nod, Tubbo wrapped it around himself. Ranboo’s tail flicked up, and both of them settled into the couch.

     “Phil, you stay here with the little trog. I’m setting up the guest room.” Techno replied, striding off into the hallway and shuffling around. Eventually, Phil got up and walked into the room, carrying Michael in his arms. Ranboo and Tubbo were having a quiet conversation, filling out the little checklist Techno had made. “What’s up, Phil?”

     “What medications can I give him?” Glancing over, Phil added, “I don’t want to accidentally poison him or something.”

     “Fever meds work completely normally.” Glancing over, Techno added, “And I’ll dose him, anyways.”

     “Are you sure you want to deal with the little trog?” Phil teased, and Techno shot him a look before wrangling the fitted sheet. “Alright, well I’ll make start getting the drugs out for you, then. Sound alright?” Techno huffed again instead, and Phil strode out into the hallway. On the couch, Ranboo and Tubbo were curled up, dozing off. Actually, Tubbo seemed to be completely asleep, pressed into the couch arm like a cat. Beside him, Ranboo was nodding off, head jerking up every so often as he tried to keep himself awake. Both of their tea mugs were now sitting on the table.

     “Hey, Phil.” Ranboo said, looking up and smiling tiredly. The circles under his eyes had clearly deepened, a charcoal grey in the black scales and a sort of purpled tone on the white ones. “What’s up?”

     Striding over, Phil settled down on the couch arm. Ranboo reached over and took Michael from him, cuddled him close and leaned into the couch. “How have you two been sleeping lately?”

     Yawning, Ranboo stretched and shrugged, “S’not enough, probably. Still sleeping better than Tubbo is.” Curling up around Michael, rubbing the kid’s back, he added, “Kind of worried about him. That he’s not sleeping enough.”

     “’m sleeping fine, thanks.” Tubbo mumbled, shifting on the couch arm so that he could look at the others. Chuckling lightly, Phil took Michael back. Ranboo seemed kind of lost, staring at him for a moment.

     Thankfully, Techno came in.

     “Alright, you two. Bed. Both of you.” The piglin announced, crossing over to the pair and lifting them up by the back of their shirts. “Or else I’ll carry you.”

     Ranboo started walking over. Tubbo, meanwhile, crossed his arms. “I haven’t had a forced bedtime since I was twelve. I’m fine.” Shrugging, Techno kept a hold of the young man and started walking, Ranboo trailing off with a final glance at Michael as they ducked into the hallway.

     When Techno returned, he looked at Phil. “How are they sleeping?”

     “Oh, Tubbo is out. Set him down on the bed,” making a gesture, Techno commented, “Out like a light. Ranboo might be up for a bit longer, but I think he’s settling down. Now,” he tapped Michael’s nose, “let’s get you your medicine so that you can get some rest, too.”

     Reaching up, Michael grabbed on to Techno’s fingers, and he made a face like he was trying not to smile.

     Since Phil didn’t pretend to be an emotionless Blood God all the time, though, he did smile, knowingly, as he followed Techno into the kitchen. “Sure, Techno. Sure.” There was a low growl.

     Setting Michael on the counter, Phil sat there, entertaining him with little jokes while Techno got the different items they might need. Eventually, Techno ended up standing in front of Michael, holding a little cup of grape medicine and trying to convince him to take it. Of course, Michael did take it, drinking it down in a moment and then grabbing onto Techno’s hands again. “Ah, yes. Thank you.” Making a few quiet noises, Michael yawned and let Phil pick him up and bounce him a bit. “Alright, so he should be asleep soon. I think we should just put him in with his parents, might be better for them all in the long run.”

     Smiling, Phil nodded, followed Techno back to the room where both Ranboo and Tubbo were snoring away. Alright, let’s put him down here. Settling Michael on the bed, Phil slipped back into the hallway and then glanced back with a smile as he closed the door.

     With all the excitement over for the night, Phil settled down for the night, hearing Techno do the same in another room.

+++

     It was pretty normal for him to wake up in the middle of the night, but not to someone moving around.  

     Sitting up in bed, Phil listened for a moment. His wings were a bit cramped, so he quickly stretched them out, slipped out from under the covers. Alright, Phil. Probably just one of the kids getting up to go to the bathroom. Probably nothing to worry about.

     Still, he decided to grab his sword just in case. (An old habit from his Hardcore days, one he never quite thought about getting rid of.)

     What he found in the living room certainly wasn’t what he expected. Still, it wasn’t something bad. Actually, it was…kind of a pleasant surprise.

     Sitting on one of the old rocking chairs in the room, where he’d read to Wilbur (and Tommy and Tubbo) when he was still young enough, was Techno. Michael was curled up next to him, head on the man’s chest. Holding Phil’s gaze, Techno shushed him immediately, and Phil sighed in relief before quickly sheathing the sword as quietly as possible. Then, he made his way over.

     “Say nothing of this. Or I will destroy you.” Techno threatened, and Phil huffed and sat down on the couch. Stretching his wings forward, he began painstakingly grooming the feathers (eventually he’d have to talk to some of the others about wing care, some treated their wings atrociously and Techno had held him back from a lecture several times. Thankfully, at least he wouldn’t have to lecture Quackity, although Sapnap and Karl might be a different situation when it came to cleaning their fiancé’s wings). “Don’t scoff at me like that.”

     “I don’t think I’ll listen, thank you very much.” Phil replied, carefully smoothing out some of his coverts. They weren’t too ruffled, but he’d need to clean and coat them again soon. Although…he was due for a moult, if it was late then he’d need to go to a specialist and he really didn’t want to do that, that’d worry Kristin. “How’s he doing?”

     “He’s alright. As for Ranboo and Tubbo…” Rolling his eyes, Techno commented, “The reason I woke up? Guess who started coughing in the middle of the night?”

     “Tubbo?”

     “Tubbo.” Sighing, Techno shook his head, went back to rocking Michael quietly. “And then Ranboo didn’t seem to be sleeping well, either, but he’s at least unconscious. So, basically, we started out taking care of a little zombie piglin and now we’ve got two sick teenagers.”

     “Do you think Tommy’s going to show up? Might as well complete the set.” Phil joked, and Techno snorted softly. In his arms, Michael stirred a bit, and Techno shushed him. “You seem to be very capable as a babysitter.”

     “Shut your face before I shove feathers down your throat.” Techno replied. “I do not want people thinking they can just drop their children for me to take care of. That’s your job.”

     Moving to his primaries, Phil let out another sound and then rolled his shoulders experimentally. Alright, alright. That feels nicer. Certainly better than earlier. He kept flexing his wings. Down the hallway, there was a cough. Techno suddenly looked panicked and swiftly crossed the room, handing Michael off to Phil. Taking him, Phil shushed the kid, looked at Techno in amusement as he retreated to the kitchen.

     Tubbo emerged into the living room, rubbing at his face. “What…time is it?” He yawned again, shook his head. In the light, his horns reflected a bit of the light. The usual engagement ring was missing, probably taken off for while he slept. Walking over to Phil, he slumped down on the couch and made grabby hands, and Phil passed Michael over. We’re playing hot potato with this kid, damn.

     Michael didn’t seem to mind, so that was something.

     Settling into his shorter dad, he went back to sleep pretty much immediately. Phil checked his comm. “It’s about six in the morning. You got a couple hours of sleep.” Nodding, Tubbo laid against the couch, and Phil added, “You should sleep more, we can take care of—”

     “No.” The response didn’t leave anything open for interpretation. So Phil didn’t try to argue, shrugged and simply stood up and went to the kitchen.

     “Alright, I’ll make breakfast.” Inside, he found Techno putting together medicine for Michael’s parents and him. “You think they have what he does?”

     “I know they do. They’re not sleeping well, probably stressed.” Shrugging, Techno added, “Might as well just snip it in the bud before it strikes. In all honesty, they might be who he got it from in the first place.”

     “Right.” Going to the cabinets, Phil started pulling out pans and set them on the counter. Alright. Probably would want to do…oatmeal, probably some fruit, and…protein. Frowning, he paused, piglins shouldn’t eat bacon that’s probably cannibalism. Well…none of them have nut allergies, maybe peanut butter in the oatmeal might work? That’d be fine? “Do you mind starting up some tea?”

     “Sure. With honey?”

     “Yes, please. Ginger with honey.” Nodding, Techno went about grabbing the materials, and Phil did the same. They’d lived in the same house (for various reasons) long enough to stay out of one another’s way. In the middle of making the oatmeal, Phil had the brilliant idea to add bananas and strawberries to the oatmeal.

     When he had finished and set out the table, he glanced back to see that Ranboo had emerged from the hallway and dropped next to Tubbo and Michael on the couch. They’re definitely going to get sick.

     Turning back to the food, Phil wondered when he had become the dad to so many people on the server (not that he minded).