Gold and dragon feathers

Single gold coin (short Christmas special i guess)

(hey, I know you're waiting for the next upload and I'm really sorry about that because It's harder to write important chapters because they feel like they need to be perfect but I feel worse about the wait because its big but I wanted to write a christmas special to celebrate at least so Happy holidays! If you want to you can skip this ep. Its canonity is questionable.)

When Tommy woke up on the first christmas eve in his new home it was bitter cold. The one mattress the house had was full of tears that sucked away any semblance of warmth the desperate pile of worn blankets,rugs and towels would have gathered.

He remembers the temptation pulling at his gut to give up his secret then and there just for the insulation his feathers would give and the wings the two he could hear trying to get the stove to work could have pressed between their skin and the old mattress.

The only thing that stopped him was the relatively still fresh memory of curved horns framing a face and the warning given by a voice he couldn't really remember yet.

Instead of giving in and shifting he had slid out from under the bedding onto cold wood that had stung his feet through the hole in his sock in the way it had for weeks now.

He pulled the hood of the ratty blue coat over his ears and practically ran to where cheers signaled the stovetop finally roaring to life. Both of the other boys had turned to him with grins almost masking the slight tremble they never seemed to be able to shake lately.

"Good morning Tommy!"

"Morning tubzo,boo "

"We've been trying to make hot chocolate "

Tommy smiled in understanding, they had scavenged a whole box of coco and a few chipped mugs a few days prior that they had been super excited to make using the first thing they purchased, a kettle to allow them to make drinkable water and cheap food like instant soups. The three times they had managed to get the stove to turn on since they were much warmer than before the discovery.

Warmed water may have been just as easy to make and similarly effective in combating the bone-deep chill but hot coco tasted much better and actually gave them some calories. The discovery was one of the only reasons they survived the first winter on their own  (If years later when they finally weren't stubbornly convinced adults just wanted to hurt them niki confessed to leaving it out after catching them looking through her trash Ranboo  wouldn't tell ).

Luckily it seemed the day wouldn't stay so cold after all as the kettle began to whistle. In minutes three cups of cocoa and a bowl of broccoli cheese soup meant for camping warmed Tommy from the inside out. In all honesty Tommy had hated the soup but he wasn't going to complain when he knew Tubbo had snuck into a general market in his secondary form to steal it and just had to get whatever he could before it opened and someone noticed the loose vent grate.

Speaking of Tubbo the older boy was trying to figure out if they had enough money for another blanket, or at least some socks. Earning money had been much harder back before they were old enough and brave enough to ask for help from adults.

In the end Tommy ended up going out to try and get five more dollars and buy a blanket or socks (whichever where seemed warmest for the money). He tended to do the shopping as the self-proclaimed bravest one after the other two found enough money.

The town had been much smaller back then yet less tight-knit so most people didn't pay him any mind as he walked a familiar path, past the library and inn still in construction and to the general store that would eventually close without notice. Snow was layered over the ground and clouds warned of more to come. The town had felt much scarier in the cold winter, looming figures and buildings threatening to a little kid who claimed to be so big.

He remembers feeling eyes on his clothes as strangers whispered about him. He remembers stopping in front of the door and hesitating because the window display he used to identify the place had changed. He remembers walking in without a plan because the snow prevented him from looking for loose change outside.

The main thing he remembers though is overhearing someone say it was christmas eve and that the store would close early.

He hadn't known it was christmas until he heard it, he hadn't had a way to tell what day it was.

Before Christmas had meant having to spend time in a room  full of children passing through before another orphanage would take them with a single candy cane, ham that was way too salty and some present some pitying adult had been willing to give away. Christmas ment older children being forced to care for you while you were forced to cafe for anyone younger than you. Christmas also meant taking one of the bakery's free gingerbread men and splitting it between three boys and bathing in each other's company.

He wasn't sure what Christmas would mean then but he couldn't help but long for the ability to play with his brothers with a brand new toy like a normal family might. Couldn't help but long for music to dance to like the parents in one of the orphanages' few books.

He was so busy thinking about a universe where Tubbo and Ranboo were his blood brothers with parents to spoil them that he ran right into someone. With the sound of Tommy running into them and their surprised exclamation there was also the sound of a coin hitting wood. Tommy had immediately shook his head before swiping the golden coin with wide eyes and begun to inspect it. It was basically worth ten dollars alone and he had never held one before and the hybrid part of his mind purred at the color before he was reminded by movement in the corner of his eye that he bumped into someone. He looked up at the young man with narrow eyes as he took in the appearance of the boy at his feet, pressing the coin to his chest protectively.

To his surprise he wasn't cursed out or hit, he didn't even have to give the coin back. Instead the man had smiled and opened the bag strapped to his side, pouring the three smaller coins still in his hand before pulling out a black box with a green ribbon around it and a crank.

" Here, take this as an apology for running into you"

Immediately the blond was suspicious of the apparent crow hybrid, Tommy had run into him not the other way around and surely he had seen the boy take his coin. The box was offered to him and for a while he did not move until the man just frowned, placing the box on the ground before leaving as if cautious blue eyes weren't following his every movement.

Once the man had fully disappeared beyond the store's glass door Tommy carefully picked up the box and found that while it couldn't open the bottom was indented with the word cat and a crank of sorts and to his shock when he turned it the chime of music played in his palm. He listened two it a few more times before jumping to his feet with a toothy grin and tail curling pleasantly. He trots over to the blankets in the back with joy in his steps and a single coin and black box give him some of what he had wished for for so long. He buys a thick red blanket AND a pack of black socks with almost all of his money before letting himself sprint home.

He threw open the door to the surprise of the two hybrids snuggled under the pile that was on the bed minus the two rugs. He had shoved the two requested items into their laps with an excited sound he'd never heard before, bouncing on his toes as sounds of amazement and confusion filled the room

"How did you ever pay for this?!"   

"I ran into a man at the store and he dropped a gold coin! He let me keep it and left this amazing box behind!"

"What box? Why would he do that?"

"I HAVE NO IDEA BUT WATCH!"

The two were entranced by the music, staring with open mouths and words of suspicion dying in their throats just like Tommy had moments before.

With socks, blankets, hot chocolate and music filling the next hour and seeping into the next day Tommy decided without a doubt he liked Christmas on his own much better, even if it's harder.

He never asked but he knew  the others felt the same/

(oop sorry this is the way it is but hopefully you still like the content? :> Either way thanks for being so patient about the next chapter I'm going to try extra hard to post it soon)