it had been a rough day. he'd gotten a B on a spelling test at school, and had been in a sour mood ever since he'd gotten home. phil was trying his best to cheer him up, but he was definitely not great at it. it was only when techno threw the homework that was having a hard time on onto the ground when phil realized. this was a bit deeper than a B on some stupid test.
techno didn't throw tantrums like most other seven year olds that phil knew. when he was angry or upset or something, he just went eerily quiet. it was almost scary- he was like some weird ass victorian ghost kid in the way that he silently sulked throughout the house. it was easier to handle, sure, but phil wasn't sure if it was exactly the healthiest way for a seven year old to be coping with his emotions.
"woah, buddy," phil looked up from the paperwork he'd been filling out. he was lucky enough to bring his work home with him when he needed to. "what's up?" he asked techno crossed his arms.
"it's stupid. makes no sense," he explained. phil raised an eyebrow. techno rarely struggled with his homework, and when he did, he didn't go about throwing his shit on the ground, he asked phil for help.
"that's it?" phil asked. techno responded with a nod. "you're sure?" another nod. "i can help you with your homework if you need it," phil offered, skeptical, but not wanting to push too much.
"okay," techno responded quietly, getting up and retrieving the papers that were scattered on the floor as phil stood up and walked to the other side of the table beside techno. once they were all settled, phil looked at the paper.
"alright, which one of these was giving you trouble?" he asked. techno pointed at the problem. it was seven times three. now phil knew that something was wrong. techno knew his time tables all the way up to nine basically by heart. still, he bit his tongue. "oh, right, well you know this one, tech, just count up on your fingers," he said. techno made no attempt to do this, so phil held up his own fingers- seven of them. "why don't we just both do it together?"
"okay," techno agreed, then began counting out loud. after the first seven, they started at the first finger once again, techno's tiny fingers tapping each of phil's considerably bigger ones each time he said a number. at eight, techno seemed considerably less enthusiastic before, which was saying something considering he had been incredibly unenthusiastic. by the time they were at sixteen, he had a tear rolling down his cheek.
"woah, woah, woah, mate, we can take a break if you want to," phil offered, putting his fingers down and crouching so that he was more at eye level. techno sniffled and wiped a tear from his eyes, shaking his head.
"no it's n- it's not the math," techno explains himself, finding more tears rolling down his cheeks as did so. phil sat on his knees so that he was looking up at techno. he'd learned that this was a way to make whoever was looking down at hin feel as if they were more in control. sounded weird, but human brains tend to work in peculiar ways.
"okay, that's fine, buddy," phil placed his hands gently in techno's lap, where he carefully gripped one of his hands. techno allowed this. "do you want to tell me what's really wrong then?" he asked cautiously. techno shook his head, taking a shuttering breath and wiping his eyes with his free hand. "that's okay too. we can sit here and relax instead," he reassured. only a few seconds later, techno spoke in a meek and shaky voice.
"i-i just don't get it," he explained, looking straight ahead instead of down at phil.
"don't get what, bud?" phil asked.
"why didn't daddy want me?" techno looked down at phil, locking eyes. it was fucking heartbreaking to see. like literally- phil could feel his heart shattering into about seven billion little tiny pieces. the young boys chocolate brown eyed were shimmering with tears, and they were pouring down like they were fucking sink faucets or something. he almost barely could get himself to speak.
"oh, no, baby, it's not that he didn't want you," phil explained, gulping down the lump in his throat. "he just couldn't take care of you. he wanted you in the best possible place you could be, and right now, it just isn't with him," he supposed he fucking should've expected that at some point he'd have to explain why any kid he took in was being fostered or adopted, but he really hadn't seen it coming and had no idea how to explain it. plus he hadn't expected it to be so god damn hard.
"b-but why not?" techno wailed, pulling his hand from where phil held it and using it to aggressively wipe the tears away. it was doing basically nothing, because they were coming down by the bucket, but he kept at it nonetheless. it made him feel better-ish. "he's been taking ca-care of me fo-for five years, why can't he anymore? i-i just wanna see him again- and mommy," it felt unnatural to hear techno call anyone mommy or daddy, because he was always so weirdly formal for a youngin, but-
wait- mommy? phil gulped once again. oh shit. why the fuck was this kid wanting to see his mom? his mom was dead- surely he knew this, right?? surely phil was not about to have to explain to this kid that he had been fostering for only about five months that his mom was dead. oh come on- this was fucked. mother fucker. if phil actually knew techno's dad, he may have put a fucking hand through his teeth.
"oh- techno- honey-" phil cleared his throat. "i'm sorry, but i don't think you're going to be seeing daddy anymore- or mommy," he sounded as cool and collected as he possibly could, even though he wasn't sure exactly how he was alive due to the fact that his heart was in like a million little tiny bits.
"but- but why not?? i-i miss them," techno's words are barely words at this point- they're basically just noises shoved together into what phil made an inference to be a sentence.
"well- dad just isn't capable of taking care of you anymore and i don't think he will be any time soon, honey-"
"BUT WHAT ABOUT MOMMY," techno raised his voice this time, and it actually almost scared the shit out of phil, because this kid never raised his voice, he was a soft spoken and generally sweet kid, and honestly, raising his voice felt wrong in phil's opinion. not as wrong as having to explain to this fucker that his mom was dead though. that was fucked.
"techno, mommy is gone," phil said softly. this seemed to genuinely piss techno off.
"that's what daddy said," techno was hyperventilating at this point. "wher-where did she go??? i do- i don't get it- i just want her! where did she go??" phil grimaced. how was he supposed to explain?? he didn't fucking know- his best guess was six feet under somewhere, but he couldn't very well say this to a kid.
he didn't wanna push some weird religious shit on him, because fuck dude, he didn't even think he believed in any weird as religion. he could give him that weird spiel when pets died where parents were like oh they went to the farm in the sky, but that felt wrong. he was a lot less prepared for this parenting this than he thought.
"honestly, techno, i don't know," he spoke quietly, gently rubbing the kids thighs. "she- well- she passed away. i can't really tell you where she is, cause i don't know. i've never experienced it. i'm sorry, honey," techno took this surprisingly well. he sort of understood this- he watched bambi before, he knew what happened kinda.
"like bambi's mom?" techno asked, giving a few pathetic sniffles.
phil nodded with a sad smile. "yeah, like bambi's mom," he opened his arms to techno and after only a few moments of hesitation, techno threw himself into the man's open arms. phil wrapped his arms around the boy tightly.
for a while, they sat there on the dining room floor. techno doing his best to collect himself, and phil rubbing his back gently, a couple tears dripping down his own cheeks. this parenting shit was hard, dude. he wanted to be the best dad that he could, but he hadn't been prepared for all this. feeling prepared or not, he knew right then and there that he was going to protect him with his life.
techno pressed his face into phil's chest, very slowly doing his best to relax. it was hard, and his head and his chest were hurting, but phil being there was helping it feel better. for the first time since his mom was home, techno felt like he was home. not just some random house. home.
"techno, honey," phil spoke up after a bit. the light from the day had made it so that they didn't need a light on before, but at this point, they'd been sitting here for a decent half hour and it was starting to get dark.
"mmm..?" he was tired. all this crying was starting to drain his energy.
"why don't we go up to your room? maybe we can take a nap?" he offered. techno gave a sleepy nod, and went to move, but phil just stood up, holding his kid tightly enough so that he wouldn't actually fall, but loose enough that it didn't actually hurt. techno allowed this and shifted so that his head was resting on phil's shoulder. he watched as his math homework faded out of view as they went up the stairs and to his bedroom.
"mm, won't have my homework done for tomorrow," techno pointed out. phil gave a soft chuckle, nodding in agreement as he carefully opened the bedroom door with one hand, keeping techno secure with the other.
"that's alright. i was thinking maybe we skip school tomorrow. maybe we go for breakfast and then watch movies at home all day tomorrow?" he offered. techno thought on this for a moment.
"that's allowed?" he asked. phil laughed again as he set techno on the bed gently.
"yeah, buddy, that's allowed. what do you think? wanna do it?" he crouched down and plugged in the little nightlight that was sat on the ground by the door. it was shaped like a crown.
"yeah, that sounds good," techno agreed, kicking his shoes off before pulling his blanket over him.
"alright. come downstairs whenever you wake up- get to sleep as late as you want," phil says, leaning in the doorway as he watched techno get comfortable. "sound good?"
techno nodded. "yeah." he could feel his eyes drooping until they eventually closed.
"alright," phil smiled as he clicks off the light. "good night, techno," he said softly.
"mmm, g'night phil," techno's voice was basically a whisper as he turned his back to the door, holding his stuffed pig tightly. phil hovered there for a moment, watching as techno's breathing slowed and finally kept a normal pace. after he was sleeping, phil hovered a few moments more before closing the door all but a crack.
he headed back downstairs, turning the lights on. he looked at the homework that techno had left and picked up the pencil that had been left there, writing a 21 under the problem that techno had been struggling with and smiling to himself.
he kept quiet for the rest of the night, making himself a quick dinner of some ramen that he simply microwaved because he didn't feel up to boiling water on the stove, then watching some bullshit channel on the television. he couldn't tell you what was on, because he frankly wasn't paying attention. he was thinking about his kid- yeah, this was his kid. he knew from the beginning he was keeping this kid, and today, he really locked it in. of course, he would see how techno felt about it, but he was certain.
once it was getting late, like one in the morning- he turned the television and the lights downstairs off before heading up to bed. first, he stopped into techno's room to check in on him. he seemed asleep enough. phil stood idly for a moment before going to close the door.
"phil," techno's voice was almost silent in the quiet.
"yeah, buddy?" phil asked, surprised that the kid was awake so late.
"thank you," he whispered.
"you're welcome, buddy," he smiled. "night,"
"night," techno responded. phil figured this would be the end of the conversation, so went to close the night "dad," techno added on at the last possible second.
phil felt the heart that had shattered into a billion pieces before reconnect almost instantly. holy shit. HE PULLED THE FUCKING D CARD?? AFTER THAT WHOLE CRISIS BEFORE?? WHAT?? "night, son," was phil's quiet response. he closed the door gently behind him.
a few moments of silence rang throughout the room.
"wow," tommy said finally. "that's.. rough but also.. good?" he seemed unsure if he was phrasing his thoughts correctly, because honestly, he wasn't sure if he was. he had already been sure that techno had it rough- most kids around these parts (these parts being the foster system) did, but that felt… really rough.
"yeah," techno agreed, shifting. they were both seated so that their lanky legs were hanging off the short side of the bed, so it wasn't exactly comfortable, but neither of them really felt like moving. "but the point is, i know what it's like. having it rough around here. it seems shitty at first, and yeah, wilbur is kinda a dick, but it gets better. phil cares about you. wilbur- beneath all his huge being a dick-ness cares about you." he paused. "me too."
"aweeeee- techno cares about meee," tommy teased, looking at the cat who sat in his lap. "you hear that duchess? he cares about me," he told her. duchess could not give any less shits, looking boredly between tommy and techno before closing her eyes once again and resting her head back on tommy's lap.
"oh my god, you are such a little shit," techno rolls his eyes, going to get up.
"no- no wait- i'm joking," tommy places his hand on techno's arm, causing him to stop. he settles once again with a somewhat smug smile.
"yeah, yeah, whatever. listen, it's late. wanna watch a movie or something?" techno asked, tapping around the bed before retrieving the remote from underneath a pile of blankets.
"yeah, okay," tommy agreed, leaning so that his back was against the wall. "you can pick," he added.
"alright," techno scrolled aimlessly through netflix- ah the joy of smart t.v.'s- before landing on up. personally, he didn't care either way about the movie, but he knew that tommy quite liked it. "sound good?" he asked. tommy nodded. he pressed play, then got up and turned off the light before settling once again, sitting beside tommy. the quiet, familiar tune of the introduction music began.
when phil opened the door a while later, he heard voices first thing.
"mr. fredrickson, you're cheating," a child's voice stated. phil looked and saw the t.v. was on. it was the weird boy scout kid from up. on the bed, sat two teens, one of whom was snoring quietly, and the other was completely silent. tommy's head was rested on techno's shoulder, and drool was leaking from his mouth onto his shirt. phil was pretty sure if techno were actually awake, he'd be more than disgusted.
phil was almost grossed out himself, but he was more focused on how cute it was overall than that specific little gross bit. he smiled and took a mental picture in his mind, before whispering "good night," and closing the door behind him.
he could faintly hear a "maybe i need new glasses" from the other side of the door, and he could basically picture the ending scene of the film where the house was sat on the waterfall where it was destined to be the whole time. phil was pretty sure that this house would soon be their house as well. it was a rocky road, but they'd soon reach their own paradise falls.
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yes im aware the end is cheesey as hell i really didnt know how to end it lmao sorry anyways i hope you liked it. tell me about your day in the comments. byeee
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