Swallow Your Affection

Hey Birdy

You weren't sure when you fully woke up.

But you did know that when you did, something was different.

The fleece blankets were as plush as always. The pelts were achingly soft as usual.

The fire was blazing from downstairs- and the sun was just peaking in through the stuffy attic window.

Ah.

That means Techno's finished with Carl by now, and was probably getting supplies for whatever day trip he wants to head off on.

Why were you up so early?

And why could you just tell that today was different.

You never woke up early enough that Techno was still here.

Was he?

You still your breath as best you could, listening for any noises below, and what a surprise-

Instead of footsteps, and the white noise of Techno puttering around- or no noise at all-

You hear voices.

More notably, you hear Techno's raspy growl of a voice- sounding very upbeat- which was unusual.

Him talking to himself wasn't- you'd catch snippets of him talking to, 'the voices,' but never so carefree sounding.

Until of course- you hear a second voice give a response to him.

You...

You knew that voice-

Screw sleep-

The moment you heard a familiar trill of cackles, you roll out of bed, lunging for the ladder-

Proper climbing? Never heard of it.

You slid down the ladder by the edges of the pole, all but rug burning yourself on the wood. As soon as your feet hit the floor, you flourished around to take in two familiar sets of figures.

Techno, polishing armor near the anvil- and Phil, kneeling by the fire, letting his wings sprawl out behind him in a fluffed up state that only came if he was relaxed.

Both of them went quiet with your arrival.

A stare off that only ended when a grin stretched from one end of your face to the other-

Immediately, Phil shuffles to stand, barely getting properly situated before you barrel into him, hugging him with a happy noise and grin only growing when he cackled and returned the hug.

"Haha- jeez- warn me next time- my wings still feel achy."

You just snort air and hug him a little tighter before releasing with a, "Back problems? Already...???"

"Oh-" he gives an offended huff, "You little shit- I'm not that old." He smacks the back of your head, but you just laugh at his still smiling face.

Phil was the best, and only accurate way to wake up.

Nothing could convince you otherwise.

Phil looks you up and down, smile remaining, but he winces as he scans over you, "Jeez- you look worse for wear. Better, but still terrible."

"Well gee, thanks." You deapan.

To which he cackles again.

As soon as his laugh subsides he sends another worried expression your way, "But really mate, you look beat up."

Idly, you glance at Techno, who looks unreasonably sweaty-

Like a child who got their hand stuck in a cookie jar.