I'm a Healer, But...

5

Phil waits outside the house, ignoring the crashing noise coming from within. Normally he'd be more concerned, but it's just Techno moving things around and Tommy getting underfoot- as much as Techno is complaining about the addition to the house, he's being very helpful.Normally, Phil would be inside helping- or at least he would be distracting Tommy from bothering Techno- but Wilbur will be home any minute, and he's excited to tell him the news. His wings flutter, betraying his urge to fly up and search the road for Wilbur's car, but no, he'll be here soon, and flying out to his car doesn't mean he'd be able to tell him any faster.It's not long before Wilbur's car appears, and an even shorter time for him to get to the house and park. "Philza!""Wilbur!" Phil opens his arms wide, and Wilbur crashes into them, hugging him tightly. He's only been gone a few weeks, which is nothing in the grand scheme of things, but that's a cold comfort when he's been missing his son. "How was the drive? How has Fundy been?""Drive was fine, Fundy wants to come home- and Phil, listen to this, he wants to talk about eternity. "Oh. Wilbur's been praying for this for years. "Oh, that's wonderful. When is he coming to stay? We're about to do some construction on the house, but if he doesn't mind it-""No, no, he's got finals soon-" Wilbur suddenly lets go of him and steps back. " Construction. ""Oh, yes- I have some great news-""Tech already told me some of it," Wilbur cuts him off. "You're rebuilding the house because we're getting a healer?"He told Techno not to spoil it... he's a little disappointed, but it's fine. "I'm adding to the house because we're getting a healer. Though it'll be good to have more room if Fundy is moving back in, too! I've already talked to Foolish, we'll be getting more bedrooms and some office space as well, perfect for Fundy to work on that game of his-"Wilbur raises a hand, cutting him off. "Okay, hang on, old man. This is exciting and all and I'm really looking forward to meeting the healer, but I've been on the road for hours and I want to get inside.""Oh, right, right." Phil steps aside, letting Wilbur step onto the porch and through the front door."I SAID IT WAS THERE-""NO, YOU SAID THERE WAS A COUCH, YOU DIDN'T SAY I WAS ABOUT TO SLAM MY FOOT AGAINST IT-""WELL MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE ASKED, HUH, BLADE?"Looks like they're getting along well. Wilbur glances at Phil before heading towards the yelling, ducking his head into the living room.Tommy and Techno are bickering- loudly, yes, but it's just bickering. In only a day, Techno seems to have turned around on their temporary resident. He even made breakfast for all three of them this morning, rather than just for him and Phil."So, this is the healer?" Wilbur asks, loud enough to be heard over Techno's hollering. Tommy turns to look at them, eyes wide when he spots Wilbur."Oh, no, mate," Phil corrects him immediately. "This is their liaison. Tommy is here for, uh, immunity? Just until we've paid our part. Anyway, Tommy, this is my son-""Wilbur Soot," Tommy finished for him, although that definitely wasn't how Phil was going to end that sentence.Without missing a beat, Wilbur turns to Phil. "Phillll , who told this gremlin my name?" As he speaks, Phil feels a sudden sense of anxiety and... reverence?Wilbur's powers have always been interesting. The public only knows about half of it- how he can push feelings and thoughts into people's minds, coerce them into believing their actions are their own even as he puppeteers them. They don't know that he can also sense emotions. As long as someone is speaking, he can feel their emotions behind those words.Right now, he's reflecting Tommy's feelings- sensing whatever Tommy is feeling, and then using the other half of his powers to push the same emotions into Phil's mind- something they often use in interrogations or espionage. It's incredibly useful, letting Phil instantly know when something is working, or if the person is lying, though it feels a bit overkill to use on a teenager like this.But.... Anxiety Phil understands. Of course Tommy's anxious- Techno and Phil are violent, but Wilbur is a whole other breed of dangerous, comparatively. Reverence? He can't understand where that would come from."We didn't," Techno says gruffly, breaking Phil out of his thoughts. "Tommy. How do you know his name?""I'm from L'manburg," Tommy says. When they look at him blankly, he elaborates. "There are lessons on the founders of L'manburg. There's paintings, king, it's not hard to pick out the one that's literally identical to you. Plus, you've got kind of a paper trail.""A... paper trail?" Wilbur questions."Yeah. Like, these two are too old for there to be records of 'em, but not you. Born in the Antarctic Empire to Kristin and Phillip Soot, big ol' mass murder spree when the Empire fell, ran off to get some land, named it L'manburg, left when people started calling you a demon, and then-" Tommy wrinkles his nose. "Why the hell do I know your whole life story? Anyway, you can find some stuff past that, too. Will Gold the druglord- great work on that one, very cool- Sootings the musician, Blade mentioned you did theater but I haven't looked into that one. Bunch of stuff.""Tell me more," Wilbur breathes, looking delighted. Of course he is, he loves attention, and the idea that someone's researched him like this must be incredibly flattering.Tommy's eye roll is evident even through his sunglasses. "It's literally your life, I'm pretty sure you'd know more than me.""Yeah, but I want to know what else you know! It's important, for- security reasons!"He groans, crossing his arms. "Um... you created Blue, I guess? Which is what started the whole druglord thing. You right fucked up Newfoundland and Business Bay with it, which led to them being absorbed into Essempi. Will Gold disappeared during the riots, but then like two decades later Blade Records showed up and started promoting Your City Gave Me Asthma , which- big fan, king, actually used to have a vinyl of it-"Techno starts. "You had a vinyl of Your City Gave Me Asthma? I owned the company and I haven't been able to get my hands on them since the studio was raided.""Yeah, that and Maybe I Was Boring. Loved those things.""Why don't you still have them?" Techno demands to know.Tommy's mouth twitches before he smiles bitterly. "They got stolen. Dunno where they are now."Wilbur just looks at Tommy, dumbfounded, before looking at Phil. "Where the fuck did you find this child?" With the question comes more of Tommy's emotions- remorse, longing, deeply stifled rage."I didn't find him!" Phil protests, despite how his heart hurts at Tommy's sadness and anger. "He broke into our house!""And I'm not a child, dickhead."Wilbur ignores both of their responses. "Because he's weird and I love him.""Oh, absolutely not," Techno says, looking frustrated. "We're not keepin' him. Especially if the healer is a kid, too."" Still sixteen, you fuckers-""Aw, but that just means they won't take up much room! Especially if Phil is already building onto the house..." Wilbur looks back at Tommy. "Do you want to stay? We can offer, like-"" Nothing," Techno interrupts. "We offer nothing because you're not staying-""Oh, you just wait, Tech-"" Tech?" Tommy questions quietly."Don't say my name in front of the strange kid in our house-""-this kid will be our little brother by the time that hero is dead.""In your dreams," Tommy borderline snarls, apparently fed up with being spoken over.....if Phil was anyone else, he wouldn't have noticed how Wilbur tensed ever so slightly. It'd be imperceptible to anyone who hadn't spent decades, centuries with him. But Phil has."Phillll," Wilbur whines, but if any words come after that, Phil doesn't hear them- they're drowned out by the overwhelming wave of fear behind them.A perfect reflection of Tommy's own emotions.It almost knocks him to his knees. It's beyond fear, it's terror, the type that would make even Wilbur shudder during torture. Wilbur doesn't normally reflect something this bad to Phil, but he completely understands why he's doing it- something is wrong....the idea of staying here must be awful for Tommy. Phil doesn't know why- he seemed to be enjoying it here- but he doesn't want to stay. Which is fine! Techno doesn't want him to stay, even if he's been warming up to him, and Phil... doesn't want to deal with the mockery that will come his way if he picks up yet another stray child. If Tommy doesn't want to stay, they won't make him.A small, traitorous part of Phil's brain speaks up. Even if they won't make him, they could convince him. A bed to sleep on, homemade meals, gems and gifts, they can protect and provide for him, give him anything he wants to keep him in the nest-He immediately tries to shove those feelings back. Even Wilbur and Techno don't know quite how far those 'mother hen' instincts go. Still, he already has two other children he's taking care of to try to satiate that part of his brain, he doesn't need even more teenagers to keep an eye on, especially not one whose greatest fear is staying, especially when he barely knows Tommy.Maybe... maybe agreeing to protect and kill for Tommy in exchange for the healer was a bit too much for his instincts. Phil takes a deep breath, trying to settle down. "No more bickering. It's about dinnertime- why don't we just order pizza? I'll have Ace send someone to deliver it."(The only unpleasant part of living so far from civilization is how hard it is to get modern conveniences. Phil so did love delivery when he last lived in a city.)Tommy frowns a little, but before Phil can offer other suggestions, Techno speaks up. "Only if it's from Royale , they've got a vegan pizza right?""Uh... I think so? Going on a vegan kick then, mate?" Phil asks, already turning towards the dresser drawer full of takeout menus."Nah.""...right." He feels like he's missed something, but Tommy isn't frowning anymore, so it's fine. "Well, I'll order the usual and a vegan pizza, then.""Oh, yeah, leave me 'n Techno with the child-" Wilbur teases."Stop usin' my name-"Tommy snickers before protesting his age yet again, and the knot in Phil's stomach loosens up. It can't be all bad for him, if just a little joking eases him up again. Maybe he'll grow to like it here. Maybe he'll stay. Him and the healer, two new fledglings in their nest-Phil unruffles his feathers and goes to hunt down a phone. Pizza first. Everything else can come later.