Ink Stains (MCYT Oneshots)

[R] Nook and Nookling (Sam & Tommy)

(A/N: request as a pic. uhhh I did two smaller shots bc I couldn't really decide so aha-)

Winged AU
"No."

Tommy frowned, crossing his arms.

"Why not?" he whined petulantly. "Quackity's going. Why can't I go?"

Sam resisted the urge to sigh. He had thought that growing his wings would give him pseudo-son a better sense of common sense, but as it turned out, he was wrong.

"Tommy," he explained patiently. "Your wings just grew in."

"Yeah, and?"

Tommy's wings spread out behind him. Gold and red feathers stretched out, fading into a light yellow near the tips, making it look like a gorgeous sunrise was painted onto his wings. Little marks of purple and green dotted the tips too, and Quackity would always complain about how Tommy's wings looked so much better to his, although Sam was always quick to reassure him that his wings were fine as they were.

"Number one, they're new," Sam said. "Number two, you know wings like yours will get their feathers plucked out. And since they're new, you won't be able to hide or control them easily. So no, you cannot go ."

Tommy huffed angrily. "Well, then I guess I just have to bind them-"

"No!" Sam shouted, and regretted it as soon as Tommy flinched at the volume, his wings slanting downwards. "Sorry, Toms. It's just... no. You can't bind your wings like that. It's too dangerous for you."

"Why?" Tommy blinked up at him. "I've read the stuff online. They say it's okay as long as you don't do it for too long, which I'm not planning to. What's wrong with it?"

Because your wings are still new. Because you aren't ready for the pain and discomfort that comes with it yet. Because you're still a chick. Because it won't end good for you. Because Quackity did the same thing, and kept on doing it, and before either of us knew what was happening, his wings became deformed, and look what happened. He can't fly anymore.

There were so many things Sam wanted to say, but he couldn't tell Tommy about it yet. That would be breaking Quackity's trust in him, and Sam wasn't the type of father who would betray his children so easily, unlike a certain someone he knew.

"Your wings will hurt," he settled on saying. "They've only developed a few days ago, and they still feel itchy, don't they?"

Tommy grimaced, one hand reaching back before halting himself. "You just had to remind me, didn't you?" he griped.

Sam chuckled, body relaxing as he stepped forwards to ruffle Tommy's hair. "You can deal with it, chickadee."

"Sam!"

Canon AU
"Hey, Tommy?"

"What is it, Tubbo?"

Tubbo glanced towards the forest nervously, where he could see a hint of lighter green that stood out against the darker leaves and bushes. "Did... did you tell Sam Nook to do something today?"

"Huh? Of course not," Tommy said, plucking out another yellow flower off the ground. "I can't. Sam's the one who gives Sam Nook orders, not me."

"Right..." Tubbo agreed slowly, glancing at the bear ears peeking out of a bush. "Well... did Sam tell Sam Nook to do anything... different today?"

Tommy's brows furrowed. "Not that I know of. Why are you asking all this?"

"No reason," Tubbo replied quickly. "Anyways, how many yellow flowers have you got? We need to, like, follow the grid and stuff."

The two boys chattered on as they continued picking flowers for one of their projects. Every now and then, Tubbo would spot Sam Nook hiding in the forestry, though he tried to ignore the staring as much as possible.

Although, there were some things that couldn't be ignored.

"Hey, weren't Niki and Jack supposed to come with us today?" Tommy wondered out loud. "You know what happened to them, Tubbo?"

"No clue," Tubbo responded, trying to ignore the fact that he had just heard some screaming from a few blocks away, far enough that Tommy couldn't hear but Tubbo's ears could. "Maybe they were busy."

"Still, they promised," Tommy frowned. "They don't usually break promises."

"Yeah," Tubbo agreed, shifting a little closer to Tommy when he spotted Sam Nook again, but this time the robot had blood splattered all over his body, from what Tubbo was able to see before Sam Nook ducked into a bush again. "But things come up sometimes, y'know?"

"I guess you're right," Tommy shrugged. "I think we're done here, aren't we?"

"Yup, we are," Tubbo absolutely did not squeak when Sam Nook's eyes landed on him. "We're done."