I'm a Healer, But...

36

Tommy pauses in front of Wilbur's door. It's cracked open, just enough for him to hear the music coming from inside."One day, I know that you will be there, one day, I'll focus on the future, maybe one day, oh baby isn't life so fucking inconsistant?"Tommy hasn't heard this one before. He wants to stand out here and listen to the whole thing through- or go inside, sit on Wilbur's floor and listen to it up close. Wilbur would let him, he knows. He'd fucking soak up Tommy's attention while he played.Instead, he knocks on the door, sudden and loud enough to make the music stop instantly. There's shuffling inside, and within a few moments Wilbur is opening the door. "Tommy!" He sounds way too happy to see him.Which, sure. Tommy hasn't exactly been hanging out with him, even since they became flock. "Hi, Wil," he says before elbowing his way into Wilbur's bedroom.Wilbur's quick to get out of his way to let him in. If he was a dog hybrid, his tail would be wagging. "What's up? Did you hear me playing?""Uh- yeah. I wanna hear that song later," he admits easily, and Wilbur lights up. "But I wanted to ask you something.""Sure, what is it?" he asks as he shuts the door behind them."Wil... what would you do for me to accept eternity?"Wilbur whips his head around to stare at him. "I... I wouldn't force you," he says, sounding almost in pain from the promise. "I swear I wouldn't. I-"Tommy rolls his eyes. "No, bitch, I mean like a bribe.""Oh. Oh!" He perks right back up. "Literally anything! You're considering it?""Yeah. Drink this." Tommy pulls out the Weakness potion, holding it out to him.Wilbur takes it without hesitation, but he does look it over. "Uh, what exactly-?""I didn't say ask questions, Wil. I said drink it." Wilbur glances between him and the bottle before uncorking it. "Wait- shit, hang on. Sit down first, I think." Wilbur pauses, but goes to take a seat on the bed. As soon as he's seated, he downs the whole bottle. As soon as it's empty, the bottle drops from his hand, and he slumps over, his head smacking against his bed's headboard. "...maybe I should have told you to lie down instead. But I think you would have choked? Which is worse, actually. Don't think my healing could fix that. Well, maybe? I've never tried it. I should talk to Techno about that.""Whht..?" Wilbur slurs, his eyes lazily drifting over to fix on Tommy. One of his fingers twitches, but it seems like that's all he's capable of. Weakness potions seem kinda fucked, now that he thinks about it.Still, he only has so long- four minutes, the label on the cabinet said- so Tommy quickly takes a seat next to him. "Look, I- I was going to do this for the holiday," he tries to explain himself. "I just kind of panicked and made those ugly little bookmarks instead. But I- I've been fucking, you know, trying to convince myself that you guys aren't going to turn around and suddenly- suddenly hate me or act like Dream as soon as I'm stuck with you for all of- of eternity-" Wilbur lets out a weak noise of protest, and Tommy nods. "Yeah, I know, okay? Like I get it, logically, and mentally, and shit, but emotionally my brain will just not fucking let it rest."He reaches over, turning Wilbur on his side. He's going to need room for this, or it'll probably get kind of fucked up, healing powers or no healing powers. The shirt's gonna get in the way, too... but probably not too badly, and he's not about to strip the guy when he can't move. Or ever. Ew."So anyway, Techno suggested I make a deal, right? Something to make me feel safe, like- like a business deal, like when I first came here. Because that's when I felt safe, because I had something to offer you and you wouldn't hurt me as long as I could give it." Another mangled protest comes from Wilbur, and Tommy just nods. "Yeah, king, I know, but- I needed that, right? I needed that. So it was a good idea from Techno, yeah? If I could come up with a deal that would keep me safe for the rest of eternity, I wouldn't have anything to be worried about."Wilbur hums questioningly, and Tommy takes it as encouragement to go on. "But I don't think there's a deal that'll actually work. I mean, what would work for literally forever, right? Eventually whatever novelty of the deal would wear off and it wouldn't work anymore. But... a debt would work forever, right? If I did something so good that you'd owe me- that you'd all owe me- then you couldn't hurt me. Not ever."Wilbur doesn't respond to that. Tommy isn't sure why, but he doesn't have the time to think about it- he probably just wasted a minute rambling. He has to get it done now. He grabs Wilbur by the arm, takes a deep breath-And he feels the missing limbs on Wilbur's back. The skin is scarred where they used to be, and he rips the scars open, making room for him to grow. There's no response from Wilbur- hopefully the Weakness potion is strong enough he can't feel it at all, even as blood stains the back of his shirt and drips through to the bed. Tommy closes his eyes, focusing. He's looked into bone structure and the muscles of avian wings, and between that and his natural intuition, he's fucking sure he can pull this off. Or... kind of sure, but he doesn't have the time to doubt himself.Like he learned when he grew back someone's leg, it's hard to create bone marrow from nothing. Flesh is easy- it's just like when he heals a cut, pulling skin and muscles together and making new flesh to sew it together, but now he just has to grow it outward, in the right shape- but bones . He has to reach his powers into Wilbur's back, pulling out just a sliver of his shoulder blade, to give him a starter base. From there he can expand it like fixing a broken bone but, you know, worse, because he's creating multiple fucking bones from a shard .It's weird, trying to create wings. It was easier with fixing a leg- Tommy has legs, he knows how they work, how they walk, how the ankles bend and how each toe moves. Wings, though? That's so unfamiliar. He can kind of imagine how they work- he's seen it on Phil, he's had... little daydreams about if he had wings himself, but is that enough to base the real thing on?Slowly, the base of the wings starts to grow out from Wilbur's back under his shirt, bone and muscles and flesh forming. Tommy prays to the prime gods that he's shaping them right as he pushes more power into it, trying to make it faster, before the Weakness can wear off and Wilbur will start to feel it. Wilbur's started making quiet, confused noises, as well as an attempt to move, but it's easy to hold him still with just the hand on his arm. He doesn't want Wilbur to break his wings before they're done, that'll take too much time to fix....he doesn't know how long they're supposed to be. Fuck. Tommy makes an educated guess, based on Phil's wings, which were just wrapped around him, and he takes a deep breath as they grow, trying to stave off panic.Worst case scenario, what, they cut them off and try again? But he can get this. He swears he can do this right. He squeezes his eyes shut and imagines how the wings would feel on his own back, how the muscles would move and the wings could stretch. He uses that mental image as he keeps pressing waves of power into Wilbur's back, hoping it's enough to make them right.The half-grown wings lay limp under Wilbur's shirt as they take shape, and Tommy- he doesn't like that. He knows it's because of the Weakness potion, because Wilbur can't move them the same way he can't move anything else, but he feels like he's fucking this up, like he's going to fucking horribly ruin Wilbur's wings and even trying again will never make up for this fuck up-He's tired. He's only halfway through and he's tired.Maybe he wants to be panicking. That will push him through the exhaustion.This is worse than the leg, he thinks, but he doesn't stop. He has what, one minute? Maybe a little more? He pushes more, harder, and lilacs spill from his hands, enough that they're spilling off the bed and onto the floor. Tommy blinks, woozy like he's the one covered in his own blood instead of Wilbur, but it's working. The wings are large enough to rip through the back of Wilbur's shirt, too big to fit under them, and he stares as the tips solidify, the base shape finished.He almost drops his hand, almost stops there- they're grown, he could be done- but they're bare. Wilbur can't fly without feathers. He's... he's not sure how to grow those, but he grew the wings in part because Wilbur is meant to have them, and he's meant to have feathers as well, so maybe he can just- try even more? Put even more power into it, just without focus this time?Tommy slumps forward, unable to keep himself upright as he uses even more power to try to force Wilbur's wings into growing feathers. He can barely even keep his hand wrapped around Wilbur's arm at this point, but he's got... seconds?No. He's out of time. "Tommy?" Wilbur asks, his voice still slightly slurred, but that's enough-Joy and wonder, like he's rarely felt before. Like when he was little and Tubbo loved him enough to give him the only things he had of his father. Like when Wilbur first cut his arm open to fix Tommy's need to heal. His head spins with it, he would laugh or cry of happiness if he had the energy to do anything besides breathe. Heaven, this is Heaven, he wants to feel this for the rest of time or nothing else will ever, ever match up-Tommy can vaguely hear Wilbur calling his name, can faintly feel as arms wrap around him and hold him close, but he can't do anything but stare blankly into the distance. His limbs are trapped, not just by Wilbur holding him, but by his own exhaustion. Black spots fade in and out of his vision before he's just... gone.When Tommy stirs, he hurts. Not like he hasn't used his powers in a while, but physically sore, like he's overextended his elbow, but it's in his entire body. He tries to fix it, but his head swims the moment he pulls on his powers- it's too soon, like his reserves are empty . He huffs, the only noise he has the energy to make, and then-He wakes again. The soreness is still present, but a little less. It's duller, and he can live with it. He's a little less tired now, enough for him to force an eye open. For a moment, he doesn't recognize where he is- he was in Wilbur's room, right? But this isn't it. He's lying facedown, so all he sees is the blanket under him, but if it's familiar he can't place it. He tries to roll over, tries to turn his head, even just tries to open his other eye, but it's too much of a strain. He's too exhausted.He wakes again. This time it doesn't take Tommy too long to realize where he is- letting his head fall to the side lets him realize that he's been tucked into Phil's nest. He also realizes that Tubbo is pressed up against him, curled into Tommy's side. He can just barely see Tubbo's horns at this angle, when they're this close but he can't move his head. He can also feel someone on his other side- taller, feels kind of cold, it's probably Ranboo- but he can't bring himself to turn his head the other way. He's comfortable pressed between them, and-He wakes again. Techno is burning hot as he holds Tommy tight, but Tommy can't bring himself to give a shit. He tries to shift closer, but he can only slightly lift his arm to drape it over Techno's side. He's lying down wrong, though, his arms numb under him from lying on them, and he just barely manages to get them free. He doesn't realize there's a contradiction there.He wakes again. He can feel hands... somewhere behind him, fixing... something. It's unfamiliar and confusing, and his brain just can't process whatever it is right now. Still, it's comfortable, and he drifts back asleep while Phil coos something he isn't listening to.He wakes again. Tommy blinks slowly- he's been moved, sitting up now, and someone's in the doorway. He forces his eyes open more to try to get a good look, and the person- Fundy, definitely- yelps and drops something on the ground. Tommy's quick to decide that's too much excitement for him and-He wakes again."Tommy?" Wilbur asks quietly from the edge of Phil's nest. Tommy looks at him, though he can't quite make his eyes focus. There's large, dark blue shapes over his shoulders. "Are you awake, sunflower?" Tommy hums. He's not really sure. Wilbur laughs quietly. "Do you need to sleep more? You really wiped yourself out.""F'k off..." Even that little bit of talking exhausts him more, but he doesn't want to prove Wilbur right."Sorry, sunflower," he says before coming closer, joining him in the nest. One of the big, blue things drapes over Tommy, almost like a blanket, and despite himself he closes his eyes-Wait. No. No.He forces his eyes open and blinks a few times, trying to clear his vision before looking down. It's a wing. It's Wilbur's wing.They're almost black at the base, fading in a gradient to a deep, royal blue halfway through, and he doesn't think the feathers are all grown in all the way, but they clearly are growing. He has wings and feathers and- Tommy did it. He fucking did it. Even if it meant he fell asleep for... who knows how long, he fucking did it!"Your... th' wings," he mumbles.Wilbur coos, I love you so much. "You were right. I'll owe you forever, Toms." He stretches the wing out further, showing off. "It's perfect- as soon as my flight feathers finish growing in, I'll... I'll be able to fly again. Thank you, sunflower."His joy spills over again, or maybe it's actually Tommy being happy for him, he can't tell. He raises a shaking hand, trying to grab Wilbur's wings- if he just heals it a bit more, he can probably finish growing the feathers for him-Before he can so much as brush a finger against it, Wilbur pulls it back, tucking his wing behind him. "No, Tommy," he says quietly. "Don't use your powers, it's fine, they'll grow back at their own pace.""But I c'n..." he tries to offer, but Wilbur shakes his head."Tommy, you... you've been asleep for weeks. You can't push yourself right now."...weeks? He thought hours, maybe a day or two with how often he woke up, but- weeks? That can't be right. He's never in his life had to sleep that long after healing, not even when he was a weak little kid. No, even when he grew that guy's leg back, he just slept eight hours, and that could have been him going to sleep like normal , so why the fuck would he have slept that long-?Tommy tries to push himself to sit up, but he braces himself on something soft and when he tries to change position his back twinges with a sharp pain- ugh, maybe he's been in the nest for too long. That can't have been good for his back. When he stills from the pain, Wilbur takes him by the arm, pulling his bracing arm away and helping him sit up. "Be more careful, sunflower, you don't want to hurt yourself.""My back hurts," he complains tiredly, and tries to stretch. His arm hits Wilbur. His arms are also above his head....huh?"Yeah, I'd imagine it would," Wilbur says with a hint of amusement, not noticing Tommy's confusion. "No matter how many times we tried to move you so you wouldn't be lying on your wings, you kept trying to roll back over. You'll need to break that habit soon."Tommy blinks at him. "My what.""Your wings, sunflower." Wilbur reaches out and runs his hand through- something, over Tommy's- his not-arm, what the fuck is- He twists his head to the side and-He's very, very awake now.The wings are a bright blue, like the colors his eyes are when they glow, with light pinpricks of white, almost like Phil's. Tommy jolts and does... something, and his feathers- fully grown, unlike Wilbur's- fluff up in alarm. "What the fuck.""You... didn't mean to?""Fucking of course I didn't mean to, what the- what the fuck kind of question is that?" He can really feel them now- he doesn't know how he thought they were just arms. He can stretch them out individually and holy shit that feels so fucking weird- and so fucking cool-"They were just barely growing in when you passed out," Wilbur tells him, still running a hand through his feathers- is that what preening is supposed to be? "We think you were asleep for so long because you were constantly using your powers to keep growing them, even though you were already at your limit.""I fucking what?" he asks weakly, but glancing down he can see it- the nest is full of lilies and sunflowers. Huh. He didn't even know he could heal while unconscious. ...thank fuck Gogy never learned that, either. "I don't... I was trying to grow your feathers but I didn't know how... just kinda tried to use my powers aimlessly, maybe I...?""Either way," Wilbur says, far too easily brushing over the most important shit in the universe, "they're incredible, sunflower. I can't wait until you're ready to fly."Ready to fly.Fly.Tommy warbles, overwhelmed, and Wilbur coos, you're okay I love you. "You're okay," he repeats in words. "I know it's a lot. I was pretty overwhelmed when I realized I had my wings, too. Why don't you try to get more rest?"Tommy shakes his head, still taken in by the idea of flying, something he thought about all the time as a kid, being possible. He's also pretty distracted by the fact that he grew himself fucking wings, even though he's never had them before- can he just fucking graft hybrid parts onto anybody? Oh, he could make fucking bank off that he thinks-Ah. Power experiments. "Is Techno mad at me?"Wilbur tilts his head, looking confused. "Why would he be-? Oh, because you stole one of his potions? No, he replaced it immediately. It's not like the ingredients are especially rare or anything.""No, because he, uh... was trying to get me to stop overusing my powers, and instead..." he pushed them way beyond what he's done before. Growing multiple limbs for Wilbur and himself at basically the same time? Tommy's kind of cracked, actually. Not that he's going to tell Techno that if he's pissed.That gets a small laugh out of Wilbur. "No, sunflower. He was worried when you didn't wake up- he wouldn't leave you alone for a week - but he's not mad. He's grateful that you gave me my wings back." Tommy hums, doubting that a little. " Everyone will be glad to know you're awake. Fundy freaked out when he saw you wake up for a minute, and Ranboo had to physically hold Tubbo back from shaking you awake.""Wow. What a dick," Tommy says with a yawn.Wilbur very visibly holds back another laugh. "Go back to sleep, Toms. We'll celebrate everything when you're really awake." He returns to carding his hand through Tommy's feathers as Tommy lays back down- on his stomach, his wings really do feel pinned down when he's on his back.Tommy tilts his head to the side to watch Wilbur preen him. Wilbur's own wings catch his eye, though, and he compares their wings- Wilbur's are much darker, yeah, but the blues still look nice. Like they're related, especially since Tommy has the same spots that Phil does. "Hey, Wil," he murmurs, closing his eyes."Yeah, sunflower?""We look kind of like brothers now."