Accidental Adoption

Things come to a head, and family is both made and broke.

A/N: aaaaaaggh

Tw:  Child abuse, negligence, Techno gets locked out.  he also gets punched in the face by a kid.

Phil had gone through the whole rigmarole of getting a foster license. He was at least 10 years older than Techno, so he could even legally adopt him. That was only if something bad happened, however. That was too depressing to be focusing on anyway. It was Techno's birthday today, after all.

Phil would be arriving at the library later than usual. He'd stopped by the store to get some cake. They couldn't eat in a library, so Phil had asked Techno to meet him outside, on some benches. It wasn't much, not a party or a big celebration. Techno had never really been into parties, anyway.

Phil arrived at the car park around the time they set to meet up. He was walking towards the library when he finally caught sight of Techno. Phil's breath caught in his chest at the scene.

Techno was slouching forward with his hands in his lap. His backpack was underneath the bench, and his legs were swinging lazily and aimlessly. That wasn't what scared Phil. There was a messily swiped away trail of blood underneath Techno's nose, and his signature pink shirt had a large bloodstain on the top.

Phil faltered slightly in his stride. The scene was painful to see, the kid he'd long since begun to care for with his head hung defeatedly. The scene was heart-wrenchingly lonely, a kid who seemed to be abandoned by the world. Phil took another step, and his footsteps echoed uncomfortably loudly in the parking lot. Techno looked up and saw him. Techno attempted to smile, but it fell flat, and he grimaced instead.

Phil walked over to the bench and sat a respectable distance from Techno. The back of Techno's right hand had a big smear of blood on it, and Phil deduced that Techno must've wiped the blood off his face, and then had forgotten to wash his hand. Or he had been otherwise occupied.

"Techno," Phil broke the silence. "I brought you some cake." Phil gently set the cake in the space between them.

"Thanks," Techno said dully. Phil stuck a candle in the cake. The candle was large and made of wax. It spelled '10'.

"Say, Techno, how good are you at fire safety?" Phil asked casually.

"Arson," Techno muttered. Phil debated for a second whether or not to slide Techno the matchbox after that. Phil gave in and handed Techno the matchbox and a loose match. Techno let a small smile crawl over his face.

Techno dragged the match over the strip on the side of the matchbox, lighting it aflame. Techno lit the candle. Then he tossed the, still burning, match to the concrete beneath him. Phil jerked slightly, but Techno calmly squashed the match underfoot, putting it out.

"Don't do that," Phil scolded Techno. Techno simply shrugged. Phil started humming the happy birthday song, then began singing it. Techno looked at him disbelievingly throughout the entire song.

"Go on," Phil urged. "Blow out the candles and make a wish." Techno leveled an unimpressed look at Phil.

"Don't patronize me." Techno raised one eyebrow, and wow, Phil didn't think that he could feel scolded by a ten-year-old. Phil was twenty-one. Phil gave Techno a pleading glance.

Techno sighed, screwed up his face, and blew out the candles. Phil handed Techno a plastic knife. Techno cut two slices out of the cake.

"Phil, we don't have any plates," Techno said.

"I actually brought some with me," Phil pulled out two paper plates, putting a slice of cake on each.

"I didn't bring any utensils with me, so you'll just have to eat with your hands," Phil said. Techno shrugged and started eating the cake. It was cherry-chip cake and had cherry frosting, so the frosting was pink.