Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ranboo was anxious, mouth dry and hands shaking in little quivers, he repeatedly had to fix the hat on his head so it wouldn’t fall off and leave him scrambling to chase it as the wind took it away.

Ranboo’s ceremonial robe ruffles in the breeze, the cold sending shivers down his spine and limbs, but what was worse than that was the stabbing cold from the bumpy ground on his bare feet. He chose to focus on that instead of the events leading up to this moment, and the ones that will soon come after.

It was easier to believe the cold was the least of Ranboo’s worries.

“You’ll do fine.” Looking to the left, Techno stands facing forward, eyes stuck on the path ahead of them. Singing could be heard from miles out, magic curling around the wind from the many witches' voices.

Ranboo wasn’t worried about the voices however. “What if nothing happens? What if nothing choses me?” Ranboo asks, biting his lower lip.

His nineteenth birthday started out like any other, with Techno waking him up with the promise of cake and a present hidden away underneath the older witches mattress, with excitement pumping in the young witchlings veins and a smile on his tiered face.

Ranboo expected the coven to act like they always did, ignoring him and sending his dad death glares if he does anything to piss them off, but the moment he left his room, with a new magic infused bracket around his wrist, Ranboo was bombarded with affection from the others. Witches congratulating him on turning nineteen, wishing him luck with his bonding ritual and sending Techno even deadlier looks.

It was worrying, because he was forced to remember his and Techno’s future relies on Ranboo making a bond with a familiar, after decades of generations before him coming out with none.

It was an impossible task, one Ranboo was sure he was going to fail.

“Then no one chooses you.” Techno shrugs, hand settling on his lower back. “Never stopped me from becoming a powerful witch, did it?”

“No…” Sighing, Ranboo thinks back on his dad. Techno was one of the strongest witches out there, nicknamed the Blood God for his magic over blood and his survival tactics. Yet everyone hated him, spat at Ranboo’s dad’s feet because he didn’t have a familiar bond. Techno didn’t seem to care, only showing emotions when it came to people disrespecting Ranboo over the fact he comes from a long line of witches without a bond.

And now it was time to find out if Ranboo was going to follow the family trend. “Now come on, I’m sure the faster we get this done the faster you have your answers.” Techno pushes him forward, the two walking down the path, the singing in the small clearing getting louder as they get closer towards it.

Coming off of the path Ranboo’s met with the whole coven surrounding a small pool of water, dug into the ground and lined with stones. The elders were front and center, eyes snap over towards him the moment he emerges from the forest.

Ranboo shudders, quickly looking away as he stops at the edge of the pool. Familiars stare, either hidden behind their masters legs or stood on their shoulders, all in animal forms.

Being the youngest in the coven ment he was the only one without a familiar, well, him and Techno, but they already know why.

“Ranboo Blade.” One of the elders announced, the singing dying down. “May your journey into the realm of magic bring back a familiar.” She gestures towards the pool, clipped. “I wouldn’t be empty handed, if I were you.”

Ranboo sucks in a breath, hand reaching up to take his hat off his head, holding it between both hands. Techno guides him into the water, immediately his limbs feeling live ice cubes as he steps into the water.

Once he was fully in, water up to his waist, Ranboo hands his hat off to Techno, who sets it on a table to the side. The table had a lot of different things on it, none of which he understood, but knew it was important either way.

“I Techno Blade, father of Ranboo Blade, bless thy child to find safety within the realm of magic.” Techno drawls, sounding bored. Ranboo stifles a laugh, ignoring the way the cover brittle at the tone his dad takes. Techno dips his fingers into a bowl on the table, squatting down to paint sigils across his face. “Let our family sigil guide you, and protect you from the evil that lurks, hunts, and devours the lost.” Techno adds more seriously.

Techno then runs whatever coats his fingers down Ranboo’s throat, closing his eyes, Techno’s hands glow as Ranboo feels his very blood turn ice cold. “Let my magic be a warning to those who think to take you away from me, and a promise to those who see you as potential, that I’ll stick down the unworthy, no matter who they are.” Standing back up, Techno puts the bowl back down on the table.

Ranboo waits, keeping his eyes on the older man as the coven gets louder in their singing. Techno kneels at the edge of the pool, hands resting on his chest, and in a hushed voice whispers, “It’s not too late to say you don’t want to do this.”

But it was, Ranboo thinks distantly. If he doesn’t do this, if he fails, the coven would be the worst of their problems. They have put up enough, if Ranboo doesn’t come out of this with a familiar, he’d be better off lost in the realm of magic. “I know.” Ranboo lies, smiling. “I can do this.”

Techno smiles back softly, concern lacing his features, with one swift push, Ranboo was shoved underneath the water. Ranboo doesn’t fight, staring up past his dad to the moon above, setting his dads magic sink into the water around him and covering his mind. Ranboo closes his eyes, hoping that he’ll fix generations of failures.

Opening his eyes, Ranboo was met with darkness.

Ranboo stood in a void, solid ground underneath him, rippling with liquid darkness. Whispers from the distant drove him to whipping around, trying to search for the owner of the voice. Ranboo opens his mouth to call out, but no sound exists, leaving him gaping like a fish to whoever crawls by, watching him.

The realm of magic was different for everyone, depending on the kind of witch you are, Ranboo didn’t know what his ment.

Techno’s realm of magic was a battlefield, bloodied and covered with skeletons, the sounds of hounds and howls ringing out in his ears. Ranboo hated how it was depicted, but his dad assured him he only felt safety while there. 

Here, though, Ranboo felt freezing and unserved. He couldn’t see anything, and the whispers felt so far away one second then too close the next. It felt like hours until something caught his attention.

A bright light in the distance, glowing a blinding white, forces Ranboo to close his eyes, hands moving up to block the brightness from hurting. The whispers turn into shouting, causing Ranboo to flinch against the sudden noise.

A loud shriek shuts the now shouting up, somehow Ranboo could sense the light move closer, and with it a wave of magic washes over him, threatening him to tumble over.

Ranboo’s knees almost give out, until a sudden warmth overtakes the freezing chill that had stuck itself to his skin. “Oh, you're strong.” A smooth voice sounds out from behind him, Ranboo jolting in surprise.

What was that?

A clawed hand runs down his back, lava blooming down his spine, Ranboo jumps, trying to move away from whatever had found him, but his feet felt rooted in place. “Yet so young.” The voice continues, cooing. “Fragile, breakable.”

Ranboo grits his teeth, was this the demons the coven liked to scare him with? The evil that lurked in the shadows of the realm of magic? The whole realm to him was darkness, had something gone wrong?

Was Ranboo going to die here?

Fear takes root in his heart, and he tries to run, but his feet feel like they were glued to the ground. The creature chuckles, hand moving to lift his chin up. “No need to panic, I’m only a familiar.”

A familiar? Oh crap, that’s even worse, Ranboo thinks. He’s made a terrible first impression! What do you even say to a familiar? Hi, my name is Ranboo, please bond with me or else my coven is going to throw me and my dad out on the streets?

The familiar tilts his head up, his hand on Ranboo’s chin, making all of his thoughts sizzle out, the hand on his chin was warm, burning, the cold eradicating from Ranboo’s bones in a swift woosh of flames that beat against his skin, yet didn’t pain him.

The familiar stinks of powerful magic, more than the elders own familiars, and Ranboo finds himself relaxing in the others' hold. He knew in the back of his mind to not let his guard down, this was a dangerous place, no matter how calming it could feel to you, but the strength coming from the other blocks out everything else that could possibly find its way to bother him.

Ranboo struggles to try and open his eyes, to catch sight of the familiar that held him there, but a tutting sound stops him. “You’ll burn your eyes out, mate, keep them closed.” The familiar guides, his other hand moving up to move his bangs away from his face, it felt like he was being checked out, examined, but it didn’t feel wrong nor uncomfortable.

It sort of felt like he was being praised, in a weird way, like if he didn’t do something right the warmth would disappear and leave him freezing in the abyss.

Ranboo didn’t want to be cold again, it reminded him too much of sleeping in the drafty room his coven made Ranboo and Techno stay in, and reminded him too much of the fact the fireplace never warmed up their room, leaving them to huddle against each other late into the night.

Ranboo could feel things shift in the abyss, what he now knew was familiars drawing away from him and back into the inky void, his heart sinking to his stomach with the action’s. Had he done something wrong? Where were they going? Ranboo frowns, moving his head away from the familiar in front of him, he goes to call out, yet again when he opens his mouth no sound comes out.

The familiar must see the confusion and hurt on his face, because he quickly pulls Ranboo back to face him. “Don’t mind them.” The familiar says, a long trill leaving his throat. “They dare not touch what’s mine.”

“Yours?” Finally, Ranboo pushes out a word, tongue heavy in his mouth as the word hardly creates any sound.

The familiar chuckles, hands moving to settle on Ranboo’s shoulders. “Well of course, little witch.” Ranboo’s bones suddenly become heavy, turning to weights as he struggles to xstand, the hands on his shoulders turning to support as he falls forward, clutching onto the familiar. “You’ve given me everything, the least I can do is claim what’s mine.”

The words only confuse him, Ranboo had given the other nothing, what could he possibly mean—

Snapping his eyes open, Ranboo awakens underwater, struggling for oxygen as his lungs throb with pain, his mind screaming at him to breathe. The hands on his chest felt like iron chains, it takes an embarrassingly long few seconds to realize that Ranboo was going to drown.

Ranboo scratches at the hands, the grip on him lessening immediately as they switch to grabbing at his shoulders instead, dragging him up with a force that sends Ranboo’s head spinning in circles.

Air floods into his lungs, singing filling his eyes as Ranboo stares wide eyed at the water around him, having turned a bloody red while he was under. It stuck to his robes, staining them red. “Wa-what—“

“Breath, then talk.” Techno orders, grabbing a towel from a table to the side, looking like he wanted to know everything and nothing at the same time.

Ranboo listens to his dad, taking deep breaths in and out, shivering as he curls up into a ball, pulling his knees up to sit underneath his chin. After a few minutes Techno grabs his arm, helping him step out of the pool of water and onto solid ground, wrapping a towel around his shoulders.

Catching a glimpse of the coven, Ranboo flinches, they were all staring at him with an intense look in their eyes, bordering glares. Techno follows his eyes, huffing in annoyance. “Ignore them.” Techno whispers, rubbing the towel harshly over Ranboo’s head, practically manhandling him. “They're impatient.”

It dawns on Ranboo then, that he has completed his familiar journey, the coven was waiting on the results. They were waiting to see if he has failed, like Techno has failed all those years ago, if his family was cursed.

The phantom feeling of warm hands on his face perks Ranboo up, head whipping to the pool of blood, he looks for the face of whatever, whoever, has chosen him. “Ranboo?” Techno questions, his dads own gaze moving towards the pool. “What is it?”

“I’m looking for—“ Ranboo’s cut off by a loud screech, the coven around them covering their ears, Techno shoves him backwards as he clutched on the pendant around his neck, magic fizzling to life, but Ranboo felt no fear as he gazed upon what started to climb out of the pool.

The pool bubbles, blood boiling as smoke rose towards the night sky, an ash covered claw came out of the water, then another, and soon enough the cold wind was snapping away and being replaced by a burning warmth as what could only be described as a creature of death crawled up from the depths.

It was an amalgamation of feathers, bone and the void itself, wrapped up in a slender monstrous frame.

The singing around them turns to chanting as the elders rise, everyone ready to fight off this beast, Techno’s words to run fading to the back of Ranboo’s head as he looks upon the beast, and smiles.

Running past Techno, ignoring the fear lacing his dads voice, Ranboo sprints towards the creature as it fully crawls out of the pool, bloody water sliding off his feathers like it was oil to water. The creature snaps its head towards him, and with a burst of energy meets Ranboo half away, human-like hands finding their way around him as Rannoo’s head is tucked into the crook of his neck.

Looking up, Ranboo’s met with bright blue eyes and a somewhat human face, the whites of the man’s eyes being void as two giant black wings sat on the other's back. “Hello, little witch.” Ranboo’s familiar coos, a clawed hand scraping gently against his scalp.

“Stand down!” Techno’s voice booms, catching the attention of the familiar, who's now frowning, eyes narrowed as the others wings move to cover Ranboo.

The coven looks between Techno, Ranboo and the familiar, before they slowly stand down and back away. “And who are you?” The familiar asks, hands tightening around him.

Techno scoffs, letting go of his pendant as he takes a step forward, the feathers on Rannoo’s familiar brittling in warning. “Calm your feathers, that’s my witchling you have there.” Techno states, crossing his arms, all the worry seeming to leave him as Techno realizes what this was. “The names Techno.”

That Ranboo hadn’t accidentally summoned a demon, which he’s heard had happened too many times in the past.

“Philza.” Ranboo’s familiar, Philza, repelis, calming his rising feathers, yet not letting go of him. “And the annoying audience?” Philza spits, causing some people to jolt, shuffling even more backwards.

No one dares to speak in the presence of a familiar reeking of wild magic, enough to cause the chill to slip away into burns.

Techno looks at the coven, then back over towards them. “Our coven.” Techno answers smoothly.

“It’s my nineteenth birthday.” Ranboo adds, feeling the need to be part of this conversation. “The day I become a full witch.”

Philza cocks his head to the side, surveying the people before turning to look at him. “Happy birthday.” Philza grins, wings pressing Ranboo more towards the other, but then the grin slips from his face as he glares at the people around them. “But your dad is lying.” Philza growls. “I do not feel any bond between you and them, they have ignored you, you are no more than a stranger to these people.”

“That’s not true!” An elder cuts in, stepping forward. Ranboo doesn’t remember his name, but he does remember the older man bad mouthing Ranboo’s bloodline to the others. It’s why today was so important, if Ranboo couldn’t bond with a familiar, Techno and him were never going to be a part of the coven.

And witches without a coven don’t end up in good places.

The elder gestures to Philza himself, a smile on his face. “Ranboo has bonded with you, that means him and his family are aloud to join us—“

“So you force a child and his dad to be covenless because they are without a familiar?” Philza cuts in, sounding cold. “That’s no coven.” A clawed hand rubs his back in circles, giving Ranboo the implication Philza wanted to make sure he wasn’t upset, but Ranboo had already known this.

The coven never really cared about him and Techno.

“It’s fine, Philza.” Techno speaks up, walking closer. Philza growls underneath his breath, the other familiars in the crowd growling back. “We’re not covenless anymore.” Techno makes eye contact with Ranboo, a soft look in his eyes, like the weight of the world was taken off his shoulders.

Having a familiar ment they weren’t going to be thrown out and burned at the stake by humans, this meant Ranboo didn’t have to have nightmares of the day they got sick of us. Philza was strong, his magic like nothing he’s ever felt, with Philza as Ranboo’s familiar they don’t have to worry anymore.

“You shouldn’t have been.” Philza scoffs, one of his wings stretching out towards Techno, the tip of his feathers brushing against his dads arm. “They will not be joining your pathetic coven.” Philza announces, and Ranboo immediately goes rigid.

Even the elders look surprised, the coven starting their protest, but Philza’s chest starts to rattle, the grass underneath his feet turning to ash. “Shut it! You ignorant excuses for a coven, if you cared I’d be happy to let my witches—“ Did Philza just say witches, as in multiple? “—join you, but clearly you only wanted my powers as a familiar. If you had any knowledge of wild magic you’d know a line of witches without a familiar tend to have blood familiars, handed down from generation to generation.”

Ranboo watches as Techno’s eyes go wide, the other seeming to understand what Philza was talking about, yet Ranboo had no clue, being kept in the dark. All the elders go pale, they also seem to understand the implications. “Blood familiars?” Ranboo whispers, the hand on his back stilling.

Philza hums, a sadistic grin crossing his face. “Familiars that are born into a specific bloodline of very powerful witches, little one. In turn for your ancestors having no familiars of their own for centuries, you're gifted with me. I served one of the most powerful witches in the world, one of your ancestors, and now I serve you two, my witches.”

Shadows descend from the forest, the familiars growls as crow caws are heard from the woods darkness. “Come now, Techno, unless you want your son to watch what happens to people that disrespect my family?”

Techno jolts from his surprise, turning to Ranboo with a look on his face Ranboo couldn’t place. “Ranboo, we’re going home.” Techno quickly says, walking over and grabbing his hand, Philza lets him be whisked away into Techno’s hold. 

“Wait! What’s going on, what does Philza mean we are his witches!?” Techno tugs him away from the coven, forcing him to look away as the sounds of hundreds of pounding bird wings get closer.

“Some things you don’t want to know, Ranboo.” Techno replies, looking over at him. Ranboo holds the towel over his shoulders more securely as he struggles to not trip over his two feet, he still felt weak after meeting Phil in the void.

Ranboo glades once back quickly, only to see cows and ravens descending upon the coven and their familiars, Philza turned away from them as he watched them leave down the path.

Ranboo didn’t know what was worse, the fact Philza was looking at him and Techno with such familiar love as the crows pecked and teared, or the fact Ranboo had no problem with it happening.

The coven never loved them, but from the moment Philza saw him, he did.

Chapter Text

Ranboo didn’t know how to feel about Philza, the familiar was confusing to him, magic hard to ignore, like a potion having exploded right in your face as the smell sticks to your clothes.

He had a lot of time to think about it, as Techno had left him alone in a room not his own, Techno had said it didn’t matter, because the coven wouldn’t be back to kick Ranboo out of it. Now Ranboo lay awake, staring up at the ceiling in a tiered haze, the sun had started to rise but he was far too tired to wake up with it, having gotten no sleep throughout the night.

The sounds of bird wings and caws were too loud to ignore.

So instead Ranboo thinks about his new familiar, Philza was weird, even for a familiar, none Ranboo’s seen had human forms, always staying as a sort of animal for a hybrid of multiple animals mixed together, but Phil had hugged him and shielded him with what looked like black angel wings.

Ranboo didn’t know familiars could look so mortal. 

Then again Ranboo didn’t really study familiars, Techno thought it pointless to waste so much time with his nose down in books speaking about hypotheticals, so instead Techno would lead him out of the coven house and into the woods, teaching him about nature and how to survive in the wild.

It was very likely Ranboo’s dad was getting him ready for when the coven kicked them out, but he never minded it, so Ranboo grew up learning how to forage and navigate using only the moss and wind. It was fun to spend hours away from the eyes of judgmental adults.

The sound of the window sliding open snaps Ranboo out of his thoughts, he shoots upwards from under the covers, hands gripping the sheets as he snaps his gaze across the room.

Ranboo didn’t know what he expected, but his familiar should have been the first. Philza tilts his head to the side, having shifted to his creature form while dealing with Ranboo’s coven, Philza was larger liek this then he was in his human form, and he should be terrified, Philza looked like he was ripped out of Ranboo’s darkest nightmares.

But the bond between them, forged from a witches and familiars magic meeting and interlocking, keeps Ranboo from screaming out in fear.

Philza slides the rest of the window open, bones creaking awfully as he climbs through the window, wings tucked closely to his back as the other climbs on all fours, Philza’s large beak clicks, the sound scathing against Ranboo’s eardrums. Philza stands, having to hunch down in the room, Ranboo’s neck straining upwards to keep his eyes on the bloned.

Then Ranboo blinks and nothing was there, looking down Ranboo meets blue eyes, Philza once again in his more human form. “You should be sleeping.” Is the first words out of Philza’s mouth, the older man closing the window behind him, then shutting the blinds, bathing the room in shadows.

“What happened to my coven?” Ranboo says instead of stating the obvious, that he couldn’t sleep, not after all that.

Philza turns to face him, nose scrunching up in distaste. “They were never your coven.”

“That’s not up to you to decide.” Ranboo replies, crossing his arms over his chest. “I was born in this house, I think that qualifies them as my coven.”

Philza looks taken aback by his words, frown fading off his face as the familiar's eyes widen, like he didn’t expect Ranboo to talk back so quickly. “It doesn’t matter now, they're gone.” Ranboo goes to speak up, but Philza raises a finger, shutting him up. “And none of the details will be said to you, now then…” Philza looks around the room, his aura growing more and more bothered as he goes.

Ranboo shivers, rubbing at his arms, he had never felt a familiars aura before, but if he had to describe it he’d have to say it felt like looking into a murky pond and trying to guess the stones at the bottom. At least that’s what Philza’s felt like. “…What are you looking for?” Ranboo asks hesitantly, watching as Philza begins to walk around the room.

“Your things.” Phil replies, gesturing to the room around him, looking very not pleased with whatever he’s found. “This room hardly looks lived in.” Philza complains, wings shifting uneasily on his back. 

Ranboo shrugs, of course it wasn’t lived in, it wasn’t even his room. “This isn’t my normal room, Dad just said to sleep here tonight because no one was coming back for it.” That should have really been enough explanation for what happened to his coven, but Ranboo had a little bit of hope that they weren’t just gone, and are somehow out there living in fear of crows and ravens for the rest of their lives.

That sounds horrific, now that Ranboo’s thinking about it.

Philza chirps, the sound piercing and annoyed. “Why couldn’t you sleep in your room?” Philza questions, claws scraping against the walls, leaving a few dents in the wood.

“It’s in the basement, Dad says we don’t need to sleep down there anymore. It got too cold at night.” Ranboo explains easily, the coven house was big, but they didn’t like Techno and him sleeping in the upper floor bedrooms, saying that they haven’t earned luxurious things yet.

Techno tried his best to make the basement a home, using his magic to contort stones into little figurines and the walls into sprawling paintings that told stories of wars and hysterical battles between witches and humans.

Philza huffs. “Let me guess, it’s as bare as this room is?”

Well that’s one way to describe it. “It’s not easy to keep things to yourself when you're the youngest witch in a cover, Philza.” Ranboo sasses back, leaning forward off of the bed backing. “You try having personal belongings.”

“I’ll get you things to fill this room up then.” Philza doesn’t engage in his sas, moving past like he hadn’t even heard Ranboo’s last words.

The obscurity of the sentence Philza just said sends Ranboo spiraling into confusion. “Wait what?” What did he mean he’s going to get Ranboo things? What things?

It wasn’t out of the ordinary for familiars to give gifts to their witches, but this early on? Ranboo has shown Philza nothing of his abilities, shown the other nothing of talents or strength, they just ment!

Philza, not hearing Ranboo’s inner turmoil, keeps talking. “I’m going to get you a gift, think of it as a token to our bond. A promise that I’ll be here for the rest of your life.” Philza says easily, like that promise wasn’t everything Ranboo ever wanted handed on a gold jewel embedded plate.

His heart constricts on itself, his lungs not corpoperating. Ranboo has never been given gold, even imaginary, Techno tried his best to not make promises to him, because when they fell through it hurt more than knowing already that there was a chance something will never happen. 

A promise that I’ll be here for the rest of your life.

“You can’t promise something like that.” Ranboo snaps, Philza flinching at the tone as he turns his attention away from the room and over to him, eyes narrowing.

“Why not?” Philza asks, taking a step back, wings spreading wide across the room. 

“Because you’ll get sick of me.” Ranboo climbs out of his bed, pointing at the other. How could he not see that promises are only lies waiting to happen? “You’ll want to leave, but you won't be able to because we’re bonded, you’ll be forced to hang around me and hate me for it.” Ranboo takes a stuttering breath in, hand wavering in front of him. “Everyone hates me for just being around.” Ranboo states, clutching his pajama shirt harder.

The coven hated him for just being around, he knows they did, even if they pretended to act neutral towards him. Ranboo’s mother didn’t die giving birth to him for him to believe the world was a kind place.

“She was a kind woman.” Techno would whisper to him, brushing his hair before the day would start. “Strong like a boar, she’d threaten anyone in the coven, even the elders, if they mistreated me. She promised me she’d be there to take care of you.” A promise that turned into a lie, a lie that caused Techno to be even more hated by the coven.

“You better get yourself a familiar.” An elder had hissed, her voice like venom. “Or else you’re not going to be one of us.”  

Ranboo couldn’t make promises, Techno tried not to, the coven never did, Philza handed it out like candy.

Philza growls, claws seeming to darken. “Don’t say such stupid things, mate. I chose you, didn’t I?” 

“Well you made a mistake!” Ranboo wanted this, wanted a familiar, wanted Techno to be safe to live without fear of just being kicked out, but the coven was gone, so why did it even matter anymore? “The coven—“

“Are all gone, little one, no one to tell you such lies.” Ranboo blinks as the other was in front of him, hands cupping his face as his thumb rubs softly against his cheek. Ranboo feels his body relax as his hand falls to his side. “…I won’t leave you.” Philza promises, his smile sharp, eyes deadly, aura shouting of pure certainty. “I promise on my own immortal soul, that I won’t ever leave you willingly.”

“Why?” Ranboo asks, it didn’t make sense. “You literally just met me, why do you care so much?” 

“Because the moment you came into the realm of magic I felt your kindness, determination, power. I felt your deepest desire.” Philza soothes, hand moving down to rest against his lower back, howling him like Ranboo was everything.

Only Techno held him like that.

“And what was it?” Ranboo whispers, giving into the calm as he lets his head rest on Philza’s shoulder.

“To be loved by someone not because they are your blood, but because they chose you.” Philza says easily, like it was obvious. “You gave me your trust, the moment your soul let me call you my witch.” Philza pats him on the back, steering Ranboo over towards the bed. “Now it’s time to sleep, you’ve been up all night.”

“It’s morning!” Ranboo protests, looking up at the bloned. The only thing keeping the sun from getting in was a thin curtain.

Philza chirps, ignoring him as he physically picks him up and drops him onto the bed, looking like he was ready to force Ranboo to sleep if he didn’t comply. “Do you think I care? I may not be human but I know how to take care of one, get comfy or I’m rolling you up in the blankets.” Philza threatens, lifting up the edge of the blanket.

“You wouldn’t.” Ranboo challenges.

Philza spreads his wings even wider, practically cutting the room in half and cutting off Ranboo’s only escape route. “Try me.” The other grins, slowly inching his hands closer.

Ranboo huffs, staying awake while he was genuinely tired wasn’t worth getting swamped in blankets and held captive in his own room, so Ranboo quickly shuffled underneath the blankets, snatching the edge of it from Philza as he brought it up to his chin.

Philza retracts his wings, nodding once before turning towards the door. Techno always sleeps in the same room as he does, he was never left alone, being alone meant being unguarded, in danger, Ranboo panics at this and before he could think otherwise reaching out, snatching the end of the older man’s sleeve. “Can you stay here?” Ranboo pleads, heart slowly starting to race once more. “With me?”

Philza stops, looking down at his hand on his sleeve. “Of course Ranboo.” Philza agrees, walking back over, even going as far as to climb into the bed beside him. “I promise I won’t leave your side until you wake up.” Again with another promise, Ranboo didn’t trust them, at least not yet, but at least Philza was here beside him.

Ranboo was safe.

“May all your nightmares be devoured by my crows, and let your dreams fly free.” Philza runs his clawed hand down the side of his face, trills leaving his lips.

Ranboo snorts, letting his eyes flutter shut.“…That’s a weird way to say sweet dreams.”

Philza laughs, fixing the blankets a little bit around the two of them. “Goodnight, little one.”

~~~

When Ranboo wakes, it’s to claw running down his scelp, a soothing weight laid beside him, something heavy thrown over his body. It was hot, sweaty even, yet Ranboo found it almost impossible to move from the comfortable position he found himself in.

Cracking an eye open, Ranboo was met with the blinding pure white eyes of Philza, the familiar has his neck craned downwards, gaze trained on him and him only. “Jesus!” Ranboo startles, the older man chuckling as he leans away from his face. Ranboo clutches his chest, breathing heavily, slowly sitting up in bed Ranboo narrows his eyes at the other. “What was that for!?”

“I was watching you.” Philza replies, voice layering over each other with his nonhuman vocal cords. “Making sure you didn’t stop breathing in your sleep.”

Sighing, Ranboo shelves that conversation for later. “Well I can breathe just fine, thank you, wait until I’m old, like in my thirties, to start worrying about my breathing.” Ranboo states, stretching, his back pops satisfyingly.

Philza trills, stretching his hind legs backwards, a loud cascading sound of bone snapping following the movement. How many bones did Philza have to sound like he’s breaking every bone in his body multiple times? And it not hurt?

“Sure, mate.” Philza shifts, feathers bristling and being replaced by skin and robes, the bed rising from the lack of crashing weight as Philza settles beside him in his human form, after which the other reaches over, claws fixing up his bed hair to Ranboo’s dismay.

“You're worse than Dad.” Ranboo grumbles, swiping at the blonde's clawed hands, his efforts coming up fruitless as Philza continues to do whatever he wants with Ranboo’s hair. “With your blacked tipped… claws?”

Was claws the right word to describe Philza’s scaringly long nails? Or was he just supposed to think of them like very long and sharp get somehow gentle fingernails?

Phil chuckles, hands stalling in his hair. “Yes there claws, Ranboo.” Philza smiles, finally setting him free. Ranboo scrambles off of his bed, the other laughing harder at the display as Ranboo smoothes out his curls. “I’m a… crow.”

Turning, Ranboo gazes upon the inhuman parts of his familiar, the man’s wings, claws, the animalistic look in the others eyes, down to the feathers that litter Philza’s collar bone. The other looked more like roadkill than anything, and Ranboo didn’t mean that negatively, it was just the first thing he thought of while gazing upon him.

“I don’t see it.” Ranboo states. Even while in his familiar form, Philza looked nothing like a crow. Philza shrugs, not seeming to care as he climbs out of the bed.

A knock on the door has Philza snapping his gaze towards it, a growl leaving his throat. “Ranboo?” Techno’s voice fills in the space, concern lacing it. Philza takes a second before his growls die down and he looks about as uninterested in the other as a helicopter parent would. “Are you okay? It’s midday.”

Walking over towards the door, Ranboo opens it, Techno’s shoulders relaxing as he meets his gaze. “Sorry, Philza forced me to sleep in.” Ranboo’s quick to blame the other, ignoring the squawk of complaint from behind him.

Techno looks past his shoulder, snorting. “Of course.” Shaking his head, his dad points down the hall. “I made brunch, if you’re up for it?”

Rannoo’s stomach takes that as it’s cue to rumble, and he nods. “I’m starved.” Ranboo waves at Philza to follow, Techno starting down the hall. “You coming?”

Philza’s features soften as he looks at Ranboo with something pure in his eyes, it was weird. “Sure.” And with that the three of them make their way down the hall, towards the delicious smelling brunch cooking in the kitchen.

As a family, surprising as it sounded, two witches and their very weird familiar.