Chapter Text
Tommy had been in the Warlords hold for three days now and had honestly been asleep for most of it, between his broken hand, the travel and the general terror of thinking you’re gonna be murdered by a warlord he’d been unable to resist the urge to pass out for a few days.
He’d expected to be put to work immediately but everyone seemed satisfied to give him a few days rest. Meals were eaten either in his room or in the kitchen with Sam and on occasion Wilbur would sneak into his room for a few hours to regale him with stories and play songs on his guitar.
The break was nice but on the morning of the fourth day he began to feel a nervous itch under his skin, maybe this was a test, maybe they wanted to see if he would take the prerogative to pay back his debt without having to be forced. His hand had healed enough that he could move around without burning pain slicing up his arm so he took that as a good sign that he could go back to work.
Seeing as he’d left Manburg in a, let’s say rush, he didn’t have any of his work clothes but he had been given a few outfits by Sam so he picked out whatever seemed closest to his uniform and tried to tidy his hair. Once he felt presentable he slipped out of his room and headed down towards the kitchens.
He was hoping they’d soon give him a proper room in the staff quarters because climbing up and down 4 flights of stairs was going to get old extremely quickly.
The kitchen was bustling with life by the time he got there and Tommy couldn’t help but freeze for a moment unsure what to do alone in a new environment. Luckily someone saw him dallying in the door and came over. The boy was probably close to his age but towered over him like an asshole. He hurried over, awkwardly ringing his hands together a bit, not looking Tommy in the eye.
“Uh hello, can I help you? Or are you hungry?” He asked, tripping over his words.
“I just need to speak to whoever’s in charge I guess,” the boy stared for a minute before nodding and hurrying off.
After a moment he came back, trailing behind a stern looking woman who was most likely the kitchen head, it was Tommy’s turn to shift nervously. Once her eyes laid on him she gave him an appraising look, Tommy was quick to jump into explaining.
“Sorry if I came at a bad time, I haven’t been told what my role is but I worked in the kitchen before so I thought it would be the best place to start, so yea” he trailed off when her brow furrowed, maybe he had fucked up?
She stared at him for a moment longer before gesturing at the table he usually sat with Sam at.
“We don’t need extra hands, sit, Ranboo will get you food,” she flicked her eyes at the tall boy and disappeared into the bustle of the kitchen. Tommy wasn’t sure how to react, were they not told about him? Maybe he was supposed to wait until someone came to get him, maybe he had a different job here that the kitchen head didn't know about.
He couldn’t see how the Warlord would want him in any serving role after the wine fiasco, but maybe they thought they would give him another chance. He ate quickly and went back to his room, the uncertainty was eating at his mind but there wasn’t much he could do about it at the moment.
He spent the rest of the morning flipping between worrying lines into the wood floors of his room and trying in vain to read one of the books Wilbur had left on his desk yesterday. He can read, just not boring giant books with boring giant words is all. He ate dinner in his room, he was still feeling unsure and vaguely guilty and couldn't handle the bustle and noise of the kitchen or Sam’s gentle prodding.
That night he lay awake for much too long trying to calm the rising fears in his mind, if this was a test he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to pass if he wasn’t allowed to work. Maybe he just picked the wrong place to ask? They might not want him in the kitchen, it was the more privileged role behind being a personal valet, he was being presumptuous that they would just allow him back into such a role after everything he’d done. That must be it!
Feeling slightly better Tommy decided the next day he would go to the laundry first and see if there was work there and if not he’d check the stables and maybe the barracks. He’d prove himself to be useful, who knows maybe one day he could work his way back to cup bearer, or maybe one of Wilbur’s valets, he liked Wilbur though he would never admit it to the pretentious bastard.
The next morning felt an exact replica of the last as he got up early and dressed as presentable as he could, this time though he only stopped in the kitchen for a moment to eat before making his way down to the laundry rooms, weaving through the rooms of steaming tubs and lye barrels he found the head laundress and gave the same spiel.
He gave him an extraordinary odd look before offering to have someone escort him back to his quarters like he was a lost duckling, he even called Tommy sir which was weird. Ignoring the rising panic in his chest Tommy turned him down and made a quick escape.
He let himself have one minute to panic in the hallway before he gathered himself and headed out to the stables. The air outside the keep is brisk, fall having settled in much earlier than Tommy was used to down in Essempii. The stables were warm to his relief though.
There were a few different buildings, one housing stalls of horses and a paddock of cows and a few smaller ones housing a variety of other animals. Tommy stopped briefly to pet a goat that was nosing at the fence and headed towards the main barn. He located one of the stable boys and asked if the stable master was around. He wasn’t, Tommy wasn’t sure what to do in that case. The boy looked him over and turned to pick up a shovel.
“If you’re gonna just loiter around, mind lending a hand? I have to get all the livestock fed before noon.” Tommy gave him a grateful nod and was immediately handed a pitchfork and was directed to break up a bale of hay and distribute it to the cows. He set to work and ignored the burn in his probably still broken hand as he shovelled scoops of hay over the fence to the waiting cows. As soon as he finished he returned to the boy who gave him a few buckets of feed to go and give to the chickens and ducks milling around the stables courtyards. The work wasn’t straining or anything but it settled some of the guilt in Tommy’s mind and he couldn’t help but grin as he sprinkled the feed in a line and dodged the flutter of hens that came to eat it. The other boy had just finished up with the horses when Tommy came back.
“Done?” Tommy nodded, “awesome, thanks for helping, name’s Tubbo.”
“Tommy , it’s no problem.”
“You’re new then? I haven’t seen you before, Ranboo mentioned some new kid though, thought you were a noble though cause you’re always with the guard captain.” he flopped down on a pile of straw and Tommy tentatively joined him.
“Uh yea I’m new I guess, I hurt my hand so I haven't been able to do much.”
“Ah, that sucks. Where are you stationed?” Tommy shrugged.
“No idea, I’ve checked the kitchen and laundry but I’ve been turned down so I came here.
“Shouldn’t they just tell you? Seems weird they’d make you run around and figure it out.”
“I - yea I don’t know.” He bit his lip, suddenly unsure again, he didn’t want to tell Tubbo about how he got here, he was still embarrassed. They sat in silence for a while before they heard a voice yell for Tubbo from the courtyard. Both boys jumped up and headed out of the barn where a gruff man was standing next to Sam. Sam seemed startled to see Tommy there.
“Oh there you are, I was wondering where you ran off to, come, Phil wants to see you.” He nodded to the gruff man and spun on his heels. Tommy smiled at Tubbo before running after him.
“Why were you down in the stables?” Sam asked as they ascended the stairs back towards where Tommy’s room was, unsure how to explain himself and a little afraid he’d messed up Tommy just shrugged.
“Just exploring, Tubbo let me help feed the animals.” Sam frowned a little bit.
“That’s nice kid, you really should be taking it easy, your hand is still broken.”
“I know, I just… I know, sorry.” he tucked his head feeling another wash of guilt, even when he tried to do the right thing he was still messing up. Sam ruffles his hair with a small smile and leads him down a hallway. Tommy looked around confused, he thought maybe he was going back to his room but this was a new space entirely. They turn down another hallway and Sam stops at a rather imposing door and knocks, a voice calls out to enter and they head into the room.
It is cosy and warm, the walls lined with shelves of books and trinkets and a fire crackling in a massive fireplace. In front of them is a big desk stacked with parchment and books and tucked behind it is the Warlord. Tommy’s heart dropped into his stomach, he must have messed up if he had been brought to Philza. He looks up after a moment and gives Tommy a soft smile when he sees him tucked behind Sam.
“Ah there you are, thank you Sam you can take your leave.” Sam bowed slightly and left and Tommy tried not to panic, this was the first time he had been alone with the Warlord and he had no idea what to expect. Tommy stays frozen by the door, unsure what to do. Philza gives him a sad smile.
“Why don’t you come sit mate, I just wanted to check up on how you’re doing.” He gestured to the chairs in front of his desk. Tommy approaches slowly, his wings tucked tight to his back. He sits down and tries to not look like he wants to immediately leave. Phil looks away for a moment to shuffle some stuff around on his desk.
“How is your hand? Niki says it’s healed fairly well.” Ah, Tommy understood, this was when he would be given his position, told where he would fall in the castle, obviously the Warlord was just being over cautious about Tommy’s injury.
“It’s better, it barely hurts anymore and I can use my hand pretty well.” he reports dutifully, the relief in finally being given a place making his hands jitter in his lap. Philza gave him an assessing look and another gentle smile.
“I’m glad to hear that, I’d hate for you to be in any more pain over something like that.” Tommy winces at the reminder of his mistake, no matter what he said Tommy couldn’t help but continue to believe he was still at least a little mad about the wine incident. “Now that that's settled I should let you know our harvest festival is next week, nothing crazy but the keep gets fairly busy”
That made sense, it can be difficult training new servants during busy times but Tommy was well experienced and caught on very quickly,
“That’s… exciting, where- uh where did you want me then?” Philza gave him a slightly confused look.
“Oh well you’ll probably be with Wilbur during the festival, Techno and Sam are usually busy with security and I will be quite busy myself but I’m sure Wilbur will keep you suitably entertained.” He gave Tommy a wink before turning back to his paper.
That was… not very helpful, was he implying he would be some sort of valet for Wilbur? It made some sense if you ignored how crazy it was but did very little to explain what Tommy’s actual duties were.
“I see, so this week I’d be?” he trailed off, unsure how to ask without seeming incompetent, Philza was a Warlord, he didn’t give random servants their list of duties but nobody else was doing it either. Philza smiled at him agian, this dude was really cheerful for a Warlord, it was vaguely unsettling.
“Just rest mate, maybe if you ask nicely Wilbur will give you a proper tour of the keep, we also have a library and I’m sure Techno would be delighted to have someone to teach how to whittle, apparently me and Wilbur are awful students.” He chuckles and before Tommy can voice his mounting confusion he stands up. “I’ll give you back to Sam now, I’d like to spend more time with you but I have much to do at the moment, we will talk again soon though.”
He opens the door and ushers Tommy out towards Sam who was waiting in the hallway. They walk back to Tommy’s room and he fights down the confused panic welling in his chest. Was he given a job? Was this a test? It sounded like his job was somehow related to Wilbur but he wasn’t sure how to go about asking and it seemed like Philza wanted him to rest longer. Maybe they were worried he wasn’t trustworthy yet?
That would make sense, he was still an outsider, if he was patient maybe he would be given his job at the festival. He just had to hold out, he could do that! Sam left him in his room and promised to retrieve him for lunch in a few hours and Tommy went to lay down. He would prove himself and Wilbur would give him a job and everything would be fine!
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The rest of the week passed with a bustle of activity and excitement, Tommy made a habit of going down to the stables to help Tubbo just to feel useful and did end up getting a tour from Wilbur. He hadn’t seen much of the Warlord or Techno and in the last few days before the festival he didn’t see much of anyone, it was nice to be able to just rest for a few days so he didn’t question it too much. The day of the festival came with a haze of energy over the keep and Tommy couldn’t help but smile at the excitement on everyone's faces. He helped Tubbo feed the animals and marvelled at the decor that had been splayed across the front of the keep, adorning its grey walls with bright oranges and yellow. When he returned to his room after lunch Wilbur came to meet him, a maid scurrying behind him with a garment bag and a pair of shoes.
“I have been sent to make sure you are presentable” Wilbur announced, he dismissed the maid and gestured at the bag. “Get dressed, I’ll have to help you with the vest it laces up super crazy.”
He wandered away to give Tommy some privacy and he quickly opened the bag and laid out the clothes. They looked… royal almost, black breeches, a puffy white shirt and a shimmering vest of ice blue. There was a thin blue cloak and a clasp that had the same sigil on it as Tommy had seen on all the banners.
It didn't feel like a valet outfit, in fact it was almost identical to what Wilbur was wearing. He didn’t want to seem ungrateful though so he quickly dressed in the shirt and breeches before telling Wilbur he was good.
The vest was sorta strange to wear, the holes for his wings were open at the bottom and once the vest was on Wilbur had to carefully weave the slits closed like a corset under each wing, the rest was fairly straight forward and soon Tommy was standing in front of a mirror while Wilbur fixed the cape over one shoulder with the clasp. He gave Tommy a bright smile and ruffled his hair before leading him out the door.
Despite the outfit he had been expecting to act as a servant or valet to Wilbur for the duration of the evening but yet again he had been baffled when he was not only allowed to sit and eat he was sat directly beside Wilbur meaning he was only a seat away from the Warlord and he was served and greeted as though he were a prince.
He didn’t understand why he was allowed so close to the royal family after so many weeks of just loitering around the castle, he was a random servant they had taken from enemy territory, if anything he should be kept as far away from the royals as possible.
Either way, as soon as the meal had finished and dancing had commenced Tommy had been dragged along by Wilbur to chat with people and to meet anyone he hadn’t yet met. He’d been glancing around idly while listening to Wilbur’s passionate tale with half an ear when he noticed a man tucked behind a pillar looking around the room with a twitchy nervousness.
He kept glancing over to where Philza stood before he would duck back whenever someone walked too close to him. Tommy felt his wings prickle at the strange behaviour.
Looking around for Sam Tommy found him standing beside Techno on the other side of the room and none of the other guards seemed aware of the suspicious figure who was now inching down the wall closer to the Warlord. Wilbur was still engrossed in whatever story he was telling the gathered audience so Tommy ducked away from his side to go warn Philza.
The crowd was thick and Tommy lost track of the man as he shoved his way closer to Phil. By the time he located him again he was almost within reach of the Warlord and Tommy felt his heart jump into his throat when he saw the glint of a knife in his hand and the look in his eye went from nervous to steely and determined.
Tommy yelled to Phil but he couldn’t be heard of the din of the room so he began shoving closer again desperate and afraid. He made it to Philza just as the man did and watched in horror as he lunged forward with the knife raised.
The guards idling near the Warlord jolted forward but they were too slow and Tommy didn’t give a second thought to throwing himself at Phil.
The world seemed to slow as he felt his fingers clutch into Phil’s green robes and the huff of his startled breath a mere moment before a knife was stuck through his wing into his back. He shrieked, high and avian at the pain and felt Phil gasp as he wretched Tommy away from the man who had been tackled to the ground.
The world when staticky and blurred as shock settled over Tommy like a wet blanket. The ground swayed under him as he was shuffled a few steps and he couldn’t gather himself enough to release his death grip on Philza’s robes. He was settled onto a chair as someone held his face in their hands trying to talk to him.
It took a few tries to focus on the face in front of him but he managed after a moment and let out a chirp when he saw it was Phil. Phil was so nice, and his wings were huge , Tommy was jealous.
He was talking, he seemed very stressed which was confusing, unless he did get stabbed too which didn’t make sense because the knife was still in Tommy's shoulder. Huh. He should deal with that.
His feeble attempt at reaching for the blade was stopped and he grumbled at Phil in annoyance. He wanted it out, it hurt, dickhead.
Phil was replaced with Wilbur and Tommy was suddenly urged out of the chair and was being herded out of the dining hall and back towards the private quarters where his room was. He was taken into what looked like a bedroom but it definitely wasn’t his, there was a big fireplace and lots of books and a massive nest on the floor filled with blankets and pillows and surrounded by piles of shining trinkets. Tommy wanted to go there. It seemed great but he was redirected to once again sit in a chair while Wilbur and Niki fussed over him.
He continued to stare at the shiny glass tied in long strands that hung from the roof as people moved around him and ignored Wilburs attempts to talk to him. He didn’t want to talk, it was much too hard.
Suddenly he was being clutched tight to Wilburs chest, an arm holding his head tight and the other pressing his good wing to his back. He let out another annoyed grumble that immediately heightened into a pained shriek when the knife was pulled from his back with a quick tug and his injured wing was folded away from his back so pressure could be held to the two injuries separately.
The pain jarred Tommy from his hazy mindset and he immediately was flooded by pain pain pain . He couldn’t help the trills of flock calls pouring from his mouth, calling for help, a flock mate to fix the pain and the noise and the fear flooding his system. Wilbur held him tight and a shaky purr rolled out of his chest as he attempted to comfort Tommy through the pain. He had only a moment to appreciate the pleasant vibrations before he slipped into unconsciousness.
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Waking up was slow and blurry, Tommy was almost unpleasantly warm, trying to shift around brought both a bolt of pain and the knowledge that both his arm and one of his wings were tightly bound to his body. He grumbled at the variety of unwanted sensations and shoved his face into his pillow hoping to go back to sleep.
“Tommy? You awake bud?” a voice came somewhere from his left, he groaned in lieu of answering, he was tired and sore and they can fuck right off. “Are you in pain? I have a potion and some food for you if you wanna wake up for a few minutes.”
Tommy cracked his eyes open to glare at whoever was bothering and realised very quickly he was definitely not in his room. He was buried in a pile of blankets in the middle of an absolutely massive nest and after a moment of confusion he finally remembers where he is and why he was currently in pain and wrapped up like a mummy. Resisting the urge to flex his damaged wing he turned to locate whoever was sitting with him and found Wilbur watching him carefully with a vial and a bowl in his hands, he looked antsy.
“Food?” he prompted once he got Tommy’s attention and Tommy gave him a nod and levered himself up, hissing at the pain it caused in his back. A pink vial was pushed into his hands which he drank quickly wincing at the over sweet flavour before gratefully accepting a bowl of soup. It was quiet for a few minutes while he ate and Tommy couldn’t think of a time since he met Wilbur that he had been this quiet for this long.
“So.. great weather we're having,” he starts and immediately winces, great job Tommy, Wilbur cracks a smile.
“It's actually super gross outside, snowstorm…” the silence returns, Tommy isn’t sure what to do.
“Is uh-is Lord Philza okay? I can’t really, or I guess everything is a little blurry after the… stabbing thing.”
“He’s fine, pissed, I should probably let him know you’re awake, he’s been fussing like crazy since you got hurt.” That made no sense, or maybe the pissed part did.
“Oh, sorry, I can go back to my room?” Tommy broaches, the Warlord was probably annoyed about all the fuss he had caused. Wilbur gets a sour look on his face.
“What ? No don’t apologise, he’s worried cause you got hurt, we all are. Plus he probably wants to talk to you about the whole throwing yourself at a man with a knife thing.” He takes Tommy's bowl and walks over to the door, he speaks briefly to someone outside before returning to Tommy’s side. Tommy tried not to let his confusion show.
“Oh, I mean it might set me back from working for a bit but I can do menial work? I’m good at sewing.” Maybe it was the potion or the exhaustion but he couldn’t stop the insecurity from pouring out,“I know I haven't been pulling my weight but I’ve talked to the servant heads and none of them have permitted me to start working so I thought maybe you didn’t trust me yet after the whole wine thing or maybe with my hand being broken but it’s better and I can be useful, I just… I want to be useful. Lord Philza said something about helping you and I assumed you tell me what to do but you haven’t and I feel like I made a mistake and I don't know how to fix it”
It was silent for a moment as Wilbur seemed to process what he said before he spun on his heels and left the room, shouting as he went. Tommy didn’t know what to do with that but he was tired and hurt and so so confused so he decided the best course of action was to simply burst into tears.
It was only a few minutes before the door flew open and Wilbur came back in with the Warlord and Technoblade on his heels. They all seemed to freeze at the sight of Tommy crying but quickly recovered and Wilbur threw himself back into the nest beside Tommy.
“I’m sorry I shouldn’t have just left like that, but apparently there has been a massive misunderstanding.” He carefully tucked Tommy into his side and rocked back and forth until the tears slowed. It took a few minutes for Tommy to get himself under control and when he finally managed to straighten himself he saw Philza and Techno had settled in the nest and were watching him quietly. After another beat Philza spoke up.
“Tommy, what do you…” he looked at Technoblade who just shrugged so he turned back to Tommy, “when we brought you here… why do you think.” he huffed, Tommy was very confused about what he was getting at. Wilbur breathed out a laugh.
“Okay, why do you feel like you need to be useful?” he asked, Tommy was puzzled, was that not obvious?
“Because it’s my job?’ he hedged, “a servant that does not work is worth nothing, but I can work.” Philza’s face scrunched up for a moment.
“Servant? Who told you you were still a servant?”
“No one? I’m a servant, why would I stop being one?” What did they want from him if not servitude? “Or I guess if you had something else in mind? I was never trained to fight or anything but I could probably learn.”
He was wracking his brain for anything other than a servant or a guard that they could possibly want from him when he was once again crushed into Wilburs side.
“Tommy we don’t want you to be anything other than yourself, sure we rescued you to get you away from Dream but we got attached. You’re not a servant anymore, you don’t have to be useful okay?”
What.
That made less sense, that made actually zero sense.
“I don’t… what?” he whipped his head to Philza, “Is this still about the wine? I don’t have to be a cupbearer, I can go work in the barn or stay in the kitchens.” Tommy startled when Technoblade threw his head back and started laughing.
“No kid, this isn’t some punishment, these broody losers have basically adopted you, your only job is to maybe not throw yourself at people with knives okay? Dad almost had a heart attack.”
Philza frowned at him before turning back to Tommy.
“Did you-why did you jump in front of me? There were many guards around, you could have yelled.” Tommy shrugged.
“You’re important, I’m not.” Wilburs arm tightened around his shoulder and Philza’s eyes went wide before narrowing.
“I am not more important than you, than anyone, you will not sacrifice yourself for me, ever.” Tommy nodded frantically, remembering who he was talking to for the first time that day. “We want you to be happy, I'm sorry we didn’t clarify that earlier.”
Tommy nodded his assent even though he was still vastly confused but was quickly being dragged under by some weird combination of exhaustion and relief. They still hadn’t really explained what they wanted but that was okay for now. Some mushy part of his brain was cheering at the idea of being “adopted” by another avian, even if he was a terrifying bastard.
Wilbur lowered Tommy into the nest and tucked up to his side with a low rumbling purr, somebody else settled on his other side and he was immediately wrapped in a wall of feathers. His brain cooed at the comforting darkness and he slipped into sleep.
Things were better. Tommy still helped in the barn, he still ate lunch with Sam and spent time wandering vast hallways. But now he ate dinner beside Wilbur and spent evenings learning how to whittle and read from Techno and at night he was tucked in a nest of blankets and warm black feathers and for once in his life Tommy felt like he belonged.