Archive of Our Own ^beta

Phil watched with a smile at the scene that was unfolding before him. Quackity had come to pick Wilbur up for their date and the kids had bolted towards the man with stern steps and furrowed brows. He looked at how Wilbur tried to hold in laughter as the pair of siblings were signing to Quackity. If Phil knew his younger son at all, he was certain it was 95% threats against Quackity's well-being if he so much as made his brother cry once, he wouldn't hesitate to pull his gun out. Tallulah's sweet smile hid a similar silent threat, Phil had seen it firsthand when the sweet girl had teetered a bit too close to the edge of the potato crate plank if Phil didn’t give her her bed back. Though intimidating, the girl especially was happy to see them going on a date, she's loved Quackity from (almost) the very beginning and the way he makes her papa smile wide is enough for Tallulah. 

Quackity was nodding and making noises in understanding before the siblings shared a look and nodded, giving their approval. Phil watched as Tallulah jumped into Wilbur's arms and pressed a kiss on his cheek that he repeated on hers, and she wished them a happy date day. Wilbur turned to wave at Phil and wordlessly thanked him for looking after his petal. "You kids go and have fun. Don't be out too late!" It took everything in Phil to resist the urge to add on a cliché "I'm expecting him at home by twelve!" And he knew from the look on Wilbur's face that the young man knew exactly what his father had thought of. After a quick shaking of his head, the couple had wandered off into their plans and it was just the three of them downstairs, staring at the door that swung closed, followed by them climbing the ladders. 

“Alright,” Phil started before stopping when he noticed a whisper from Forever asking for him. “Seems that Mr. President wants to see me.” He chuckled and opened his backpack to organize it before closing it and kneeling in front of the kids.

“I’ll drop by the Favela really quickly, so you two behave okay?”

Tallulah pulled out a notepad and showed it to Phil, smiling. “Can i work on a gift for papa?”

“Yeah, of course you can Tallulah. Do you need anything from me?”

She shook her head and erased her cursive words while Chayanne was pacing back and forth, arms itching to do something, feet aching to run and jump around. Phil looked at the kids and smiled, they were like mirrors of him and Wilbur, with the fighter spirit of Techno in Chayanne.

He ruffled their hair before signing ‘ goodbye ’ and typed in the keycode, climbing the ladders into the warm and fresh summer air. The siblings shared a look before Chayanne raised his hand, pointing towards the warp stone.

“I’m going to go visit Ramón. Wanna come?”

“No, I want to do something for papa, didn’t you read?”

Chayanne blew a raspberry at her but ended up following her into the storage room downstairs where she kept opening and closing chests in search of something. Tallulah made a sound of happiness when her clawed hand touched the neck of a guitar she had been looking for. It was the one her papa had carried with him when he came to the island. The light brown instrument was old in Tallulah’s eyes, the coat of polish (which was applied two days ago) shining in the dim lights. She ran her finger across the side of the guitar, gently tracing the lines in the wood, making sure her claws didn’t scratch it accidentally.

Her eyes flickered between the stickers that detailed her papa’s travels across the world and she remembered all the stories he told her as bedtime stories. From silly backstage mishaps to the loud crowds chanting so loud his ears rang for three days straight afterward. Tallulah’s favorite one was a sticker that read ‘Paris' and had a gorgeous sunset behind the Eiffel Tower. She could hear his soft voice in her head the night he'd returned from his longest tour and sang her to sleep in their own home.

Chayanne poked her cheek and pointed at the guitar, running his own finger against the wood, disturbing her thoughts. Tallulah was happy to see he, too, was careful not to scratch it.

"What are you gonna do?"

Tallulah took the guitar fully out of the chest and sat down on the raised floor. She positioned the guitar on her lap and blew the stray curls away from her eyes as she looked at her brother.

"I want to surprise papa."

"You’re not answering my question."

She just huffed and watched as Chayanne walked next to her and plopped on the floor, opening his backpack and digging through its contents. He pulled out a couple of avocado toasts and leaned back, nodding towards the guitar.

"Gonna play?"

Tallulah nodded and tried to find a good way to position her clawed fingers on the strings without snapping them. She'd have to ask abuelito if he had any stray guitars stored in his plenty of backpacks.

She took a deep breath and played the first shaky note.

* * *

The sun was shining brightly in the sky and Phil had to shield his eyes from it while he waved goodbye to Forever who was left at the door, scolding Richas. Phil opened his backpack and sorted it through, making sure all the materials he’d gotten were in order and where they were supposed to be, the signed book gleaming in his inventory, heavy with its contents. He finally closed the backpack, happy with it, and looked around the Favela. The conversation already fading to the back of his head, Phil started walking towards the closest warp stone, wanting to enjoy the warmth of the day for a bit more.

[FitMC whispered to you: Phil, my friend, are you busy?]

[You whispered to FitMC: hi m8]

[You whispered to FitMC: just left the Favela, what's up?]

Phil finished typing and reached the warp stone. The humming filled his ears and the purple glow of the stone reflected on the surrounding stone and ground. Phil placed his hand on the stone, selected his wanted location and soon felt the familiar twist in the pit of his stomach and the hot and cold waves before his feet touched the grass above the wall where his and Missa's home was. Fit still hadn't responded to him so Phil pressed the button and descended the ladder, expecting the kids to be in the garden or kitchen but instead he heard scuffling in the storage basement. Frowning he made his way down choosing his scythe just in case from his hotbar.

When Phil's feet thumped on the ground, the siblings turned to face him, eyes wide and… Were there tears in Tallulah's eyes?

"Hey, what's going on? Are you okay Tallulah, have you been crying?"

They looked at each other and then Chayanne made the critical mistake of glancing behind them and Phil quickly walked over to the chest where Wilbur's guitar was stored. Except now all of the strings had snapped. He turned around to see both Tallulah and Chayanne holding their notebooks with the same thing written on them hastily:

"It was like that when i got here!"

"it was like that when i got here"

Phil looked between the kids and the guitar before he knelt at their height pulling them closer.

"The guitar was just broken when you opened the chest?"

Both of them nodded, but Phil could see through them and the tears on Tallulah's cheeks were an easy giveaway.

"No one's in trouble okay? Who broke it? You can tell me," Chayanne played with his fingers and Tallulah rocked on her feet, neither saying a word. "Accidents happen, I know it must have been an accident, just need to know what happened."

Tallulah slowly erased her previous words and wrote new ones with shaky hands. She was blinking way more than usual, clearly trying not to cry again. 

"i wanted to surprise papa with a song but my nails are too sharp :("

Phil pulled Tallulah into a hug and brushed her hair. The sweet sweet girl. She cried into his shoulder and even Chayanne looked guilty and upset. It didn't take more than one look in his direction that Phil had both kids crying in his arms. After a moment they calmed down and Phil looked at them both and grabbed the guitar. 

"We can probably fix this, find new strings for it. Dapper might have some, that kid has everything. Want me to message Bad?"

Both nodded so Phil opened his chat where something had been going on, Roier had been bleeding, Cellbit had fallen and Foolish was having a moment. But no reply from Fit. 

[You whispered to BadBoyHalo: hey bad are you busy right now?]

[BadBoyHalo whispered to you: not right now, no. come over, welcome welcome ^_^]

"Okay, let's go over to Bad's and see what we can do. If we go now we'll get this done before Wil comes back okay? Let's use the warp stone to go over there."

Tallulah nodded and picked up the guitar from Phil's hands, trembling as she put it back in the chest. Chayanne ran to her and grabbed her arm, guiding them up the ladder. He heard the whooshing sound and knew the kids had arrived at Bad's place. Phil decided to check up on how much time they had by messaging Wilbur. 

[You whispered to WilburSoot: how's the date going?]

[WilburSoot whispered to you: I think I'm gonna die]

[WilburSoot whispered to you: or I'm in love. I don't know which one or both]

Phil burst into laughter and with a quick " okay good luck m8 " to Wilbur, he, too, climbed the ladder and via the warp stone traveled to the familiar location with farmland and buildings. There he saw the kids and Bad in a lively conversation outside.

"That's interesting Chayanne- oh hi Philza!" 

"Hi Bad, how are you?" 

"I'm good, thank you. You said you needed something?"

Dapper had appeared and grabbed Chayanne's hand, running off to undoubtedly show him something while Tallulah stayed put, hands behind her back and hair over her brown eyes. It caught Bad's attention who crouched to her level, asking what was wrong.

"She accidentally broke the strings on Wilbur's guitar. We were wondering if you or Dapper had any replacements, you literally have every fucking thing here."

"Language. Also, I might have. Come on Tallulah, let's go look around."

She nodded and grabbed his hand, walking to his house. Phil followed and took in the man's home. They walked past the endless rows of farmland of everything imaginable. It's automated and if you strained your ears enough, you could hear the mechanical whirring underground Dapper had spent days building. Phil just shook his head, the machinery Dapper operates as easily as riding a bike was too much for Phil's bird brain. He preferred the simpler things: pressing a button or flipping a switch that didn't take weeks to build.

Bad had typed in the code and allowed them in, Chayanne running so quickly with Dapper following suit that they were only a flash of yellow and red. Tallulah moved and stood by Phil's side, watching as Bad rummaged through his chests and backpacks.

"Not here… No… Why would it-"

Phil crouched to Tallulah's level to look at the girl. The little dragon still had tracks on her cheeks from crying, and her brown eyes had a reddish outer rim. He brushed her hair and readjusted her red beanie. 

"It's gonna be okay Tallulah, Wil won't be mad. This happens," 

"I just wanted to surprise papa ," signed and looked over at Bad who was still rummaging through his stuff, his ears twitching whenever he heard a crash or a thump somewhere. His paranoia was a curse and a blessing, Phil knew it better than anyone.

"You're a good kid Tallulah. He would love anything you do, you know that right?"

"Will he forgive me, abuelito?"

Phil nodded, absolutely. 

She nodded as well and wiped her nose. A loud crash echoed across the base and Chayanne ran into Phil and hugged him from the side before climbing on his shoulders in the blink of an eye. Dapper ran behind the corner and almost tripped Bad who scolded the boy. Amidst his searching Bad had pulled out his glasses and they sat on his nose while he rearranged his hotbar. Phil watched with intrigue as the items flew by and switched around before the man was happy enough and looked up at the trio. 

He scratched the back of his neck and called for Dapper.

"Can you check your backpacks, Dapper? In case you happen to have any strings."

Everyone watched in anticipation as Dapper placed down his backpack, opened it up and moved things around. A minute or two passed and he closed the backpack with a sad shaking of his head. 

Bad patted his son's head before crossing his arms, looking at them apologetically.

"I'm afraid we have everything but guitar strings. I'm not even sure we can craft them, right Dapper?" 

"Not even with dragon magic?" Phil adjusted Chayanne on his shoulders and shifted the weight between his feet. The look on his face was hopeful, but it dropped slightly when Dapper shook his head a 'no'. 

[FitMC whispered to you: PHILZA]

[FitMC whispered to you: MY FRIEND]

"Okay, okay, it's okay. We'll see what we can do. Thank you though."

Tallulah and Chayanne signed their thank yous and the three of them were on their way home. One by one they were engulfed in purple particles and were teleported back onto the wall. He let the kids in, chuckling at the messages from Fit. After typing him a reply about their day and mission, Phil followed the kids down the ladder all the way down to the storage. Chayanne was brushing Tallulah's hair and making comforting noises next to her while she held the guitar on her lap, leaning against her brother. 

Phil pulled out his camera and snapped a picture before sitting down in front of them, rubbing circles onto Tallulah's knee.

"We can go bake something for Wil when he comes back? Or go find more flowers for your garden?"

Phil tried to joke but Tallulah only shrugged. He wasn't sure there was anything he could do or say to cheer her up so he proceeded to distract the eggs by visiting Pomme and the French until they returned home again a couple of hours before sunset. It had worked and with a smile on her face Tallulah was cutting up strawberries when they heard the familiar whoosh of the warp stone and after a couple clicks Wilbur stumbled through the door, a blushing mess. 

"Hi Wil, welcome back."

"Papa! I missed you!"

Tallulah dropped the strawberry she was holding and jumped into Wilbur's open arms. He spun her around and together they laughed brightly before Wilbur pressed a kiss atop Tallulah's braided hair.

"I missed you too mi niña , how was your day with abuelito and Chayanne?" 

The girl looked right into his eyes before looking down, remembering what had happened earlier that day. Phil watched as Wilbur let her down and Tallulah grabbed his hand, leading him toward the basement storage. She looked at Phil before descending and he followed after them with Chayanne.

Facing the floor in shame and upset, she grabbed the guitar and tried to hide it behind her, failing. The guitar was larger than Tallulah so Wilbur could see the strings poking out in every possible direction from behind her and his eyes widened. 

"Lulah? What happened to my guitar?" 

Wilbur dropped to his knees and beckoned his daughter closer, taking the guitar from her hands. Phil watched as Wilbur turned it around, checking it all around before examining the strings. He looked between all of the people in the room before Tallulah tugged Wilbur's sleeve, showing him her notepad.

"i wanted to surprise you with a song but my nails are too sharp and the strings broke :("

"Oh, Tallulah, my sweet girl. Phil I'm going to cry." 

He pulled the girl into his arms and pressed a kiss against her hair again, holding her tightly. Phil snapped another photo of them and ruffled Chayanne's hair who had stayed next to him.

[FitMC whispered to you: Philza I have a gift for you]

[You whispered to FitMC: what is it?]

[FitMC whispered to you: you mentioned troubles with a guitar? Ramón found a discarded one that's undamaged.]

He smiled and looked up at the unfolding scene, Tallulah nodding at Wilbur who was in the middle of telling a story about him and his band while wiping her tears away.

"See? It's okay, guitars break sometimes. Of course, I'm bummed, it was my favorite guitar but I can't be mad at you, my petal, never."

Wilbur had taken a hold of Tallulah's hands and rubbed his thumb over her thick-skinned knuckles. His voice is calm and soothing, Phil can hear the slight strain but it goes unnoticed by Tallulah.

"That guitar was filled with memories and has traveled with me for thousands of miles and I've played in front of so many people they wouldn't be able to even fit on this island," Wilbur exaggerated and made Tallulah chuckle before he continued, cupping her face like it was a fragile glass vase that'd break from the smallest gusts of wind. "but I now have a chance to make new memories with a new guitar or new strings. And that's bloody amazing. I get to make brand new memories with my precious daughter."

"And to add on," Phil spoke up and walked over, kneeling next to the father and daughter, looking into Tallulah's brown eyes that resembled Wilbur's so much it was almost uncanny. "I just got a message from Fit. Apparently, Ramón found a guitar we can take the strings from."

Tallulah jumped up with a happy sound and wrapped her arms around Phil, signing 'thank you thank you thank you' until everyone laughed. Wilbur reminded her she should thank Fit and Ramón next time they met, implying the next day but the girl was already running with Chayanne in her wake and both Phil and Wilbur stood still, baffled by their speed but soon chuckled and shared a look.

"They both pulled a 'it was like that when i got here' on me when I saw the guitar," Phil mentioned and Wilbur just sighed with a smile. It was then that he remembered where his older son had been and with a grin poked his side with an elbow.  

"So… How was the date with Quackity?" 

"One day he's going to smother me, Phil. I can sense it."

"Then why are you blushing?"

"Dad!"