CHAOS

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Trigger Warnings:
~Swearing
~Odd/potentially uncomfortable texture (sand)
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It was a beautiful morning - the sun peeked over the horizon, casting a gentle glow atop Tommy's bed. He stirred as a sudden beam of light hit his eyes, causing him to wake up from his rather peaceful sleep.
The teen sighed, turning to his alarm clock that read '6:30'.
"Oh fuck off." He whispered, carelessly placing the clock back on the table. He shut his eyes once again, yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get back to sleep. So, he decided he was going to go downstairs for a drink.

As soon as the blonde made it into the kitchen, he froze. Phil was already sat down, enjoying the tranquility of the beautiful dawn, occasionally sipping a steaming mug of coffee.
"Oh, hiya mate." Phil smiled, softly greeting the other as he placed down his mug.
"Hi Phil." Tommy replied plainly. He was too tired to keep up any sort of energetic act. The two sat in silence for a moment, until the older sighed.
"Don't think I've seen you this quiet before, I'm not used to it." He commented, yawning as he spoke. Tommy looked at him with emotionless eyes. This unsettled the bird man slightly, but he let that slip his mind as the pair began their usual conversations. And again, as per usual, the conversation topic went weird. Fast.

"What do you mean Wilbur eats sand?" Tommy raised a brow, holding back a giggle. Phil stared at him with the most 'I'm so done' look the teen had ever seen. This time, there was no effort to stifle this laugh.
"It's fucking ridiculous, I know!" Phil spoke, utter confusion plaguing his tone. He looked to the teen, who was wiping away tears from his eyes.
"You should have seen him at the beach last June-"
"BHAHAHAHAHA-" Tommy wheezed, sending the immortal into a similar laughing fit.

Their laughter was short lived, as soon enough, the man himself, Wilbur, trudged down the stairs.
"Could you two shut the hell up? It's twenty to fucking seven in the morning, Jesus!"
"Alright Sand Boy." Tommy folded his arms, sticking his nose up in the air as he did so. The brunette stood, confused by his new nickname. Suddenly, his eyes shot open with realisation, and stared at Phil.
"You told him about-"
"Yep." He interjected, smirking slightly as his son turned beet red.
"I shouldn't be embarrassed I mean- it's a good crunch you know?"
Wilbur was met with silence.
"Tough crowd." He sighed dramatically, storming off (presumably back to bed).
Phil and Tommy made eye contact, and were once again wheezing.

[ ~ ]

"He literally said 'a good crunch'-" Tommy laughed, tears of laughter rolling down his now bright red cheeks. The teen was chatting away to Techno, who had been left once again on babysitting duty. The pair were currently sat in the living room, the distant echo of something on the TV being heard every so often.
"Uh huh." The pinkette spoke plainly, trying to hide his amusement. Techno knew about Wilbur's habit of eating sand, they'd lived together for most of their lives, so of course they'd gone to the beach plenty of times together.
That was always interesting.
"Like who the fuck eats sand?!!" Tommy yelled through his laughter. At this, the older gently placed the book he had been holding, but definitely not reading, onto the table. As gentle as he was, it still made a thud as he set it down - it was a pretty huge book. He took his little reading glasses from his head and placed them on top of the book, then pushed them aside so him and Tommy had nothing in between them.
"Oh Tommy, such an innocent boy," Techno began dramatically, wiping a fake tear from his eyes as he spoke. "You don't know the half of it."
This intrigued the teen. He propped himself up with his elbows and leaned in, eyes widening with curiosity. "What do you mean?"
Techno sighed loudly before continuing. "How much sand do you think Wilbur eats at the beach?"
Tommys eyebrows furrowed. "Dunno. Like I imagined him sitting on the sand, grabbing a handful of it."
"You're right," Techno nodded. "Mostly."
"'Mostly'?"
"You see, Wilbur has a whole system to it-"
"A SYSTEM OF EATING SAND?! WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT GUY-"
"Calm down Tommy." Techno interrupted. "It gets worse."
"Oh fuck-"
"As I said, he has a system."

Techno continued to explain how Wilbur ate sand, in excruciating detail, even explaining the loud crunches that would occasionally be heard from the brunette. Tommy was absolutely horrified at this revelation. His eyes were wide, mouth slightly agape.
"Okay okay, you've made your point, he eats literal bucketloads," his voice shook as he spoke, Techno stifling a laugh at the poor teen's face. "But seriously, that guy needs psychiatric attention."
This time it was Techno's turn to laugh. It was a small chuckle, but nonetheless it took Tommy by surprise.
"I've never heard you laugh before..." he uttered quietly, smiling the first genuine smile he'd given to Techno.
"It's not a big deal, don't turn this into anything dramatic-"
"TECHNO LAUGHED!!!!!" The younger yelled, quickly jumping up from the sofa and sprinting around the room, chanting 'Techno laughed!' as he did so. Just as fast as Tommy had gotten up, Techno did too, chasing him around.
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO TURN IT INTO ANYTHING YOU MORON!" Techno yelled in return to Tommy's chanting. Tommy looked behind him, only now noticing that the older was indeed chasing him. He screamed, and ran faster than he ever had before. Both were laughing, though.

It certainly was a beautiful morning.

[ ~ ]

That evening, the family decided on a movie night. Tommy and Wilbur were arguing, as per usual, over which movie to watch. Phil decided to not interfere, instead sitting comfortably on the sofa, a warm bucket of popcorn placed neatly in his lap. Techno was occasionally stealing a handful, watching the argument intently. Neither showed any sign of helping the two out.

"This is more entertaining than a movie-" Phil chuckled, grabbing another handful of popcorn. Suddenly, Techno's eyes lit up.
"Hey Phil," he began, a chaotic gleam shimmering through his eyes, and Phil swore they had just been tinted red. "What if we have a fight to the death?"
At the mention of a fight, the arguing pair stopped immediately. They were expectant, their silence ushering the pinkette to continue.
"As I said, a fight to the death. It would be entertaining for us, and-"
"NO. THERE IS TO BE NO FIGHTING TO THE DEATH."
"But Philllllllll..." Tommy whined, crossing his arms in a particularly dramatic way.
"I'm not having my new sofas covered in blood! Jesus fucking Christ, they were expensive you know?!"
There was a brief pause. You could hear the metaphorical cogs turning in Techno, Wilbur and Tommy's minds.
"...outside?" Wilbur suggested. To be truthful, Wilbur had been awfully quiet during all this (bar the arguing). But the thought of having Tommy gone filled his exhausted body with adrenaline.
"Phil?" Techno pleaded.
"Not at all." His voice was stern - the trio decided against pushing their case. Instead, they decide to scroll through the various streaming services available to them.

The family was quiet. Uncharacteristically so, causing Phil a great deal of concern.
"What's gotten into everyone?" He spoke rather sharply, raising a brow at the others.
"...tired." Wilbur mumbled, head buried deep into a cushion. Techno nodded in agreement.
"Alright then," Phil sighed. "You two, off to bed. Tommy?"
"Yeah?" The teen said, shuffling around to make himself comfy once again.
"You want to stay down here?"
To be truthful, Tommy hadn't been paying attention to the conversation. He was partly annoyed that his daydream had been ruined.
"I think I'll go." He nodded.
"You three owe me a movie night then, but if you're not up to it, goodnight." Phil smiled tiredly. Without even a second glance, Techno and Wilbur raced upstairs, supposedly being filled with a newfound energy. However, Tommy at least had the heart to utter a quiet 'good night' with a small smile to his new father figure. Tommy didn't know how much that meant to Phil.

|| Hello!

Sorry for a shorter chapter this time, but I really want to get working on the Christmassy chapter for you all!

I have been so busy lately - so many extracurricular activities T-T
Plus I've found a really good fic on here, so I've mainly spent my free time just reading that lmaoooooo

Also finally, going to try to update during the holidays, but I am absolutely awful at stuff like daily / weekly chapters, so you just gotta stick with me, I promise I'm trying 😭😭😭

Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you in the next one!

PS remember to look after yourself, you deserve happiness as much as everyone else :]

Word Count: 1499 ||