a series of sbi oneshots

hibernation

Tommy is unhappy, Phil can tell by the furrow of those strange little tufts of hair over his eyes, the downward pull of his lip, and a dozen other little details. Human faces are so mobile, it's strange to look there for tells of a crewmate’s mood instead of wings or fins or a tail or the set of his ears.

What, exactly. Tommy is unhappy about, Phil doesn't know. Finding out will likely be an involved process so he is content to let it wait until they've eaten. Tommy, however, has other ideas, he often does.

He points at one of the chairs around the table and says something in his strange mumbling language. He's looking to  Phil for the answer, but Phil doesn't even know what the question was.

He glances to Wilbur, he's the one who's learned the most of Tommy's language. Wilbur shakes his head, his gills fluttering with confusion.

"What is it you need mate?" Phil asks, not that Tommy can understand him any better.

Tommy blows out a great breath of air, which in merling body language would be a laugh, Phil does not think Tommy is laughing. The human points to the chair again, more insistently, and repeats whatever it was he said.

This time he enunciates a bit more carefully and Phil can pick out Techno’s name. or at least the closest Tommy can get to Techno’s name. Ah, that is the chair that Technoblade usually sits in. What is it that Tommy wants with Technoblade’s chair though? Or, more likely, Techno himself.

"You need Techno?" Phil asks, doing his best to speak clearly.

"Techno," Tommy says, bobbing his head in a way that would be elytrian confusion, but Tommy doesn't usually use the gesture that way. Then he looks around exaggeratedly, maybe it was confusion.  Phil is pretty sure that he's trying to find Techno.

Phil lets his feathers fluff up in a smile, it's kind of cute how Tommy has attached himself to Techno. He'd been scared as a fledgling on the ground for the first time at first meeting, but he's warmed up to him and now he's just as packed bonded to Techno as he is the rest of them, and Techno is certainly bonded right back.

"He's hibernating right now, he'll be awake in a few days." He knows Tommy probably understood absolutely none of that, but it's important to expose Tommy to the language. it also buys time for Phil to figure out how exactly to explain hibernation to Tommy.

He does his best with gestures, but he's pretty sure Tommy ends up confused by the end of the conversation. He must accept that Techno is away in some manner, because he quiets down and eats his food, only glancing to Techno's empty chair every once in awhile with his brows still furrowed.

Phil and Wilbur do their best to keep him occupied for the next couple of days. They both know that  a curious human who decides to go looking for answers is a recipe for disaster.

Tommy is definitely curious. He asks about Technoblade every morning that he doesn't show up for breakfast. He's accepting Phil's explanations with more and more frustration, more of the not-laugh exhales, narrowing his eyes, Crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Techno certainly is taking his sweet time with this bout of hibernation.

It doesn't come as a surprise when Tommy sneaks away from Wilbur when they're supposed to be doing chores. Tommy is small and slippery, and definitely capable of stealth. It had caused no shortage of havoc during his first weeks on the ship.

Phil ruffles his feathers and goes to Technoblade's room.

The heat is turned up as high as it will go, he can feel it as soon as he opens the door. The lights are dimmed as well, with only faint orange chips of glowstone to mimic the nether providing light. Phil is no Phantom, but feel can take out the shape of a renegade human where he’s not supposed to be.

"Tommy, come on let's go." He gestures towards the door.

Tommy stubbornly takes a step closer to Techno’s nest. Phil rattles a few pinfeathers, but Tommy doesn't so much as hesitate.

"Techno?" Tommy says, surprisingly softly for his usual volume level. It's still enough to stir Techno.

He grunts and snuffles, and Phil can catch the gleam of one eye opening. So much for letting him sleep.

"Phil?" Techno asks groggily, "everything okay?"

Phil ruffles his feathers and steps towards the nest, curling a wing around Tommy's shoulders as he goes. "Everything is fine mate, Tommy was just coming to see you."

Techno's gaze switches to Tommy, and he chuffs softly.

"What do you need, runt?"

"I think he was just worried that he hadn't seen you in a while, this is your first hibernation since he's been with us."

Techno purrs and holds out a hand toward Tommy. Tommy takes it and let's Techno tug him into his nest without a fuss.

Its a far cry from how feral and terrified he'd been when they'd first realized they had a stowaway. If any of them had so much made a move in his general direction he'd been spitting and snarling,and  backing himself into a corner.

Now he snuggles up in Technoblade's nest, not a murmur of complaint about Techno's arm wrapped around him. He lifts a hand to Techno's forehead for some reason, frowning unhappily at whatever he finds there.

He mumbles something,  his tone still oddly soft.

Techno chuffs  and presses their foreheads together. Phil can see his tail wagging under the blankets. Tommy is smiling as well, in his strange human way, his lips lifting up and his eyes squinting.

"How long are you going to keep him hostage?" he asks. There’s a reason that Phil isn't anywhere near reaching distance, Technoblade is notorious.

"I'll probably be up in a couple hours, you go do captain-y things, I'll watch the runt."

Phil should have guessed; piglin are almost as pack oriented as humans. With a fond ruffle of his feathers, he leaves Technoblade's den behind.

***

Techno’s room is almost overbearingly hot, and it's not helped by the blankets, and whatever fever Technoblade is running. whatever it is must not be contagious, like Tommy had feared since Phil is letting him stay.

They must have just wanted to let Techno rest.

Why he isn't in the medbay, Tommy doesn't know. That had been his first stop once he lost Wilbur, but it was empty.

At least Techno doesn't seem to feel too bad, he's purring which is probably a good sign. Unless it's like cats do, where they purr to make themselves feel better. Tommy frowns.

Techno pokes at his cheek, his purr stuttering. He grunts what Tommy thinks is a question.

"I'm fine, just thinking big man thoughts. Get more sleep, rest is important when you're sick and shit." Tommy nudges Techno right back, since there's definitely no way Techno has any idea what he's saying.

Techno grunts and concedes the point, laying his head back down on the pillow and pulling Tommy closer. Tommy would say that he was going to be sweating like a pig, but for one that's probably really rude, and for two, Technoblade seems to like the heat. maybe he's not even running a fever, it might just be the heat of the room and the blankets.

No matter how hot it is, Tommy can't quite motivate himself to move. He's missed Techno while he was sick, and if Techno isn't feeling good and Tommy's company can make him feel a bit better, a bit of light heat stroke is an easy price to pay.

Besides, he hasn't been sleeping well anyway, and Technoblade seems to need an example.

He snuggles his head under Techno's chin and lets his eyes shut with a satisfied sigh. Technoblade's purr kicks up a notch for a moment, but eventually it petters out as Techno falls asleep. Tommy isn't far behind.