I'm Not Tired (Please Let Me Sleep)

Chapter twenty

Tubbo and Ranboo had noticed how he froze up, of course. Despite what many people (mainly their patrons) may think, these two were incredibly aware of their surroundings, Ranboo especially. The end hybrid constantly side-eyed everyone, to a degree where it was probably not considered healthy paranoia anymore. Rather it looked like they awaited someone to jump on them any second now.

Tommy still hadn't moved from where he'd pushed himself back up to his feet after falling. His head was strangely quiet, none of the almost permanent whispering of the instincts that made him act like a baby bird from time to time. No. Just silence. An eerie kind of silence.

Almost like impending doom.

"Tommy?" Tubbo asked carefully, none of the usual chaoticness and playfulness in his voice, "Are you okay?"

"I-" he swallowed the frightened chirp that wanted to claw its way out of his throat, "Can you get my phone from the break room?"

"Sure thing, boss man," and then the hybrid was gone, leaving Ranboo and Tommy alone in the shop.

The end hybrid was looking at him strangely and then, for some reason, their eyes softened when Tommy checked his hands. It was real, of course. Unfortunately, in a way. He'd much rather it was a sick dream, especially now that Phil, Wilbur and Techno were out doing...something important. Something to do with their project.

He hadn't gotten any kind of explanation about his wing growth, the two men too busy freaking out. It was a rather serious issue at that exact moment. Especially since he didn't know if the shifting under his skin meant that the wings might come in within the next couple of days or the next couple of seconds.

Tubbo returned with his phone at a rather concerning speed, pressing it into his hand and then taking a step back. Tommy knew he must look like he'd seen a ghost, was probably deathly pale as well. The phone was unlocked quickly and then he'd pressed on Phil's contact info before bothering to check for anything else.

It felt like it was ringing forever, every passing second that the avian hadn't picked up made dread pool in his stomach. Ranboo was looking at him still, heterochromatic eyes switching between the live footage of the fight and him trying to call his pseudo-dad. Tommy was staring at the screen of their phone mindlessly, then called Phil again when the mailbox cut in.

Zephyrus was fighting one of these weird new heroes now, none of them he'd ever heard of. The phone rang, the avian got distracted for a split second and Tommy grimaced at the way the hero's fist collided with the villain's face.

It was a mistake from their side as the avian grew agitated immediately, his wings twitching in irritation which, weirdly enough, made his instincts start whispering again. The same demands to hide in his wings as they had a few weeks ago. The same thing they'd demanded him to do whenever they saw Phil.

The phone was still ringing, though it had become a kind of background noise. Tommy watched as the villain flexed his wings and then threw himself at the hero, blocking all the further attempts from the dude in the costume at getting to him. Some news lady was talking about how bad it looked for that specific hero and then she cut herself off with a loud gasp, the camera zooming in on Zephyrus who had pinned the hero to the ground. Tommy just knew that the talons had probably broken the skin on the hero's shoulders. His wings were bristling now and despite the news reporter's desperate attempt to somehow talk over it, the death rattle was loud enough to be picked up by the camera's microphone.

And then there was a quick motion, a single movement with his taloned hands and the hero went limp. Unconscious? Dead? He genuinely didn't know (and strangely enough didn't care). The news reporter stayed silent, stunned at what they'd seen. Probably dead then. Well, that's awkward.