Through Potions and Books it's still, you isn't it?

Chapter sixteen

A sudden sense of deja vu hit Tommy when he opened his eyes, his entire body ached, especially his left side and as he tried to move he found that something was stopping him from doing so. For a second, he began to panic as the memories from yesterday's event kept rushing back in, his breathing had picked up and he immediately started coughing as his lungs felt like they were on fire. Had-had the time with instinct-high SBI been a dream? Had he never left the Mall? Was he still trapped underneath literal concrete? Had the heroes left him to his demise?

His heart was racing again, no no no this couldn't be happening, not when he had finally felt safe, this couldn't have been a dream. Not when he had finally found people who would protect him, who he had felt safe with, a family, it couldn't be-

Soft clicking noises filled his ears, followed by a loud purr as something wrapped more tightly around his chest. A nice gesture, if it wasn't for the fact that something pressed directly on the stitched-up wound. Gasping for air with tears springing from his eyes he immediately grabbed for the thing pressing on his left side, finding it to be the arms of the phantom hybrid who had gone into full cuddle mode and literally curled around the teen. Prying the arms away from his side without waking any of the heroes present while holding back cries of pain had been a task, but eventually, he managed to do it, opting to instead scoot away from the hero a little.

Blinking away the tears, the teen slowly looked around, finding that he was still in the nest, still covered in golden necklaces and two weighted blankets. They must've added one while he was asleep, the creeps. Sun flowed through a partly by curtains-covered window, painting the scene in front of him a soft orange light.

Phantom was sprawled out in the middle of the nest, Angel to his left, one large black wing covering the former like a blanket. His mouth hung open and soft breathing from both heroes could be heard. Blade was nowhere to be seen.

Tommy took a deep breath in, as deep as his still-burning lungs allowed him. Right, he was here, in the SBI's personal house. He was not trapped underneath concrete. None of it had been a dream. This was real, fortunately and unfortunately. Wiping the tears away, he slowly sat up, surprised to find that the Elytrian's wing had also somehow covered him, now twitching and retracting a little. A sad warble sounded to his left and the teen watched as Angel carefully blinked open his eyes before shooting up and frantically looking around the room. That had unfortunately also woken the phantom hybrid, the man copying his father and looking around as well, gaze then locking on the blonde teen.

Clicking noises and warbles rang through the room again as both heroes had their eyes deadlocked on the teen, Phantom already getting up.

"You guys good?"

No response, at least not with words, but Phantom inched closer again, clicking and warbling away. Tommy sighed.

"So you as well, huh?"

More clicking. Then the hero dashed forwards, wrapping his arms around the teen's neck and lower back and dragging him closer to his own chest, cradling him like a baby, purring away. Tommy had let out a shriek, trying to pry the arms away as they quite literally pressed uncomfortably on the bruises he was still actively hiding from the heroes present to no avail. Every wiggle and struggle only made the hero tighten his grip, and the teen was sure that it wouldn't have nearly been as uncomfortable if it weren't for the damn bruises and cuts spread over his torso.

"Phantom, we can-" loud echoey purring cut him off, "Come on, man, we can talk about this. Personal space. At least a little bit, take your arms off me!"

The hero did not listen, happily purring away. Angel had stopped cooing and chirping, wings now folded behind his back as he took in the scene in front of him. His pupils were still dilated, but considerably less so compared to hours prior, Tommy was even able to see some of the blue iris. A snort from the door made all three whip their heads towards that direction, finding the Blade leaning against the door. He no longer wore his custom, instead having changed into a simple dark shirt and dark sweatpants, red plush slippers, a steaming coffee mug in his hand. He still wore the skull mask and the crown, the hair pushed back in a low ponytail, revealing a plethora of golden earrings dangling from pointed ears. It was an oddly domestic sight.