a series of sbi oneshots

I'm not tired

The mooshroom calf glares at him, arms crossed, head tilted down, breathing in heavy, snorting exhales. Techno is sure it will be an intimidating sight when he’s older, when his horns spread over his brow and he’s got the weight of a full grown bull to back him up.

For now, its just sort of cute.

Not that Techno is going to tell him that.

The calf’s tail flicks. “I’m not tired,” he says, slowly and clearly, his voice as deep as he can make it. His stubby horns glint from among his golden curls. He’s hit Techno with them before and he had a couple of little bruises on his flank for a few days.

“I don’t care,” Techno says, carefully folding his legs and lowering himself to the ground. His forehooves stretch out in front of him and he sighs happily to himself. “I’m not chasing you all over the facility. I have work to do and I need quiet to do it, so lay down and either sleep, or find something to do that isn’t loud.”

Tommy snorts again, stomping one hoof with a sharp tap against the floor. His right back hoof is still wrapped in layers of red bandage, it had been a job and a half to get the calf to allow them to even see it, much less treat it.

At least he’s less temperamental now that he’s not in pain.

Of course, less temperamental doesn’t mean that he’s some docile angel.

“Make me,” Tommy challenges.

Techno blinks at him slowly, his tail swishing with annoyance. He turns back to his work. “Very well, go find something to do somewhere else then. Phil and Wilbur will be back in a few hours, I’m sure they’ll be happy to see you.”

He keeps his eyes on his work, but he can see in his peripheral vision as Tommy tenses. He takes a tiny, anxious step closer to Techno’s side. As much as he claims to be a “Strong, independent Big man,” at the end of the day, he is as much a herd animal as Techno. And he’s a young one at that, already separated and isolated far too much for his short life. 

The silence drags on.

Techno sighs softly. “Come on,” he gestures for the kid to come closer. After a moment more of being stubborn, Tommy slowly walks to his side and folds himself down, his flank touching Techno’s.

Techno gently ruffles his hair, Tommy’s little button horns smooth on his palm. Tommy snorts at him and shoves his hand away. “Ass.”

Techno laughs softly. “Here, you can play with this. It’ll only be thirty, forty minutes tops, and then we’ll go for a run and you can let off all that energy.”

Tommy takes the phone and cautiously taps at it. He’s still not very used to technology, but he’s getting more fluent with it. Techno nods to himself, sure that the kid will be occupied for a bit and turns back to his work.

Ten minutes later, Tommy is leaning against his side, his forearms folded against Techno’s ribs, propping himself up as he sleeps. He snores softly, his hooves twitching and tail flicking in his dreams.

Techno allows himself a moment to simply watch him. His fur is growing in, bright red and pure white, not the dingy, dull colors that he’d come in with. The mushrooms along his back are growing well, the symbiotic fungus will boost his immune system and hopefully Tommy won’t get sick as easily anymore.

Tommy snuffles in his sleep and burrows his face into Techno’s fur. Techno gently pets the shoulder of his foreleg, soothing him until he relaxes and returns to snoring softly.