Chapter Text
Tommy was nervous.
Well that was an understatement.
It was his first day as a housekeeper, after he got fired from his last job it almost ruined his plan so he really needed this job, he could not mess this up.
What is that plan you ask? Save up enough to get out of his fucking peice of shit foster “parents” house before he turns seventeen, find a tiny peice of crap apartment in a most likely horrible neighborhood, and carve a little life for himself.
He was lucky Niki was so nice to him.
He wouldn’t have gotten the job otherwise, it was the lovely mermaid hybrid was the one to direct him to the little cork board in the corner of her cafe that had a piece of paper that read “looking for a housekeeper” “just don’t be a murder” and a phone number, Niki was the one to put in a good word for him and assure him that they were good people (anyone that’s friends with Niki is probably a good person but it’s always good to know)
He hadn’t even met people he was cleaning for before, they did a phone interview so he kinda knew what he was getting into, it was three of them in a house, a man and his two sons, the man's name was Phil, he seemed nice, they had a quick interview on the phone, he also said he had two son’s, one named Wilbur and the other named Techno, from the way Phil talked about them on the phone Tommy could tell he cared for them, he could almost hear the smile as he talked about them.
As Tommy rounded a corner he double checked the address on his phone (not wanting to deal with a awkward encounter if he knocked on a random persons door) and also checking if any villain attacks were happening in the area, Time Turner was spotted in the area on patrol but he was more like a vigilant that worked with the villains than an actual villain.
Walking up to the front door (he had triple checked the address by then so he was sure it was correct)
No time like the present , Tommy thinks after a brief moment of hesitation, knocking on the door.
The house seemed fairly large, it was to be expected, this was in a really nice part of town, but it’s still surprising, it made Tommy wonder why did they put an ad for a housekeeper down in a lower middle district?
He had no time to ponder that as a quite frazzled looking man threw open the door.
He clearly had just gotten out of bed, his shoulder length blond hair that was quite similar in color to Tommy’s is a tangled mess, He also is wearing pj pants with little crow’s on them and a T-shirt, not to mention the giant crow wings on his back,
it took all of Tommy’s willpower not to chirp at the man in surprise.
He looked at Tommy for a minute like he was trying to figure out why there was a teenager on his front porch, his face turned to surprise when it must have clicked that he was the housekeeper they hired. Niki had probably mentioned he was young but he probably assumed he was eighteen instead of a scrawny sixteen year old.
“Tommy?” He said with some hesitance
“Yup, that's me!” Tommy said happily, remembering Phil’s voice
“Aren't you a bit early?” Phil said confused
“Not sure if you realize this big man, but it’s noon.” Tommy said taking out his phone to prove it,
Phil stood confused for a moment, Tommy could practically see the realization on Phil’s face.
“Sorry I just woke up,” Phil said sheepishly.
“I can tell.” Tommy said, motioning at Phil up and down.
Then there was an awkward silence…
“Soooooo…. As much as I love the outdoors I would rather not freeze to death.” Tommy said, trying to break the ice.
“Oh yeah, Sorry about that mate!” Phil said apologetically, opening the door letting the Tommy inside.
The house was warm, something Tommy rather enjoyed, it wasn’t regular to have heating in the foster parents houses he was placed in sadly, so he was glad they had it, besides it being warm physically the house felt warm in the inviting sense.
Following the still frazzled man into the house they walked into the kitchen, Phil making some coffee with a machine that looked more expensive than ten of the paychecks he got from his last job combined,
Fuck them for firing him anyway, “You upset too many customers, MEHMEHMEH” , the only thing he did was upset the asshole Karens that hung around the restaurant like vultures.
He got the last laugh though, he stole ten boxes of hair nets from the storage closet and made a giant net out of them with tubbo, then trapped Ranboo in it (he teleported out of it but his reaction was priceless).
Tommy zoned back in to Phil sitting down with a cup of coffee, and another man walking into the room, the first thing Tommy noticed about him was his bubblegum pink hair, the next is that he was built like a fucking tank,
The man looked between Phil and Tommy for a moment.
“ Phillllll what did I say about picking children up off the streets”
Tommy was about to open his mouth, most likely to call him a bitch but Phil started talking first.
“I know, I know, “look but don’t touch” but Techno this is Tommy our new housekeeper. ”
Techno looks Tommy up and down for a moment.
“Chat likes him” he says offhandedly, now moving to pour himself a cup of coffee, as Tommy looks to Phil as if to ask, ‘is he mentally stable?’
“It’s a side effect of his power, imagine a group of people talking to you every moment you're awake.”
Tommy nodded understandingly.
Tommy has heard that some people that got negative side effects from their powers/hybridity, he had heard the story of a mermaid hybrid (not Niki thankfully) that had to be in a body water at all times or they would suffocate, they luckily had water powers (still not Niki) so they could live in a bubble of water but they most definitely has a hard time in their everyday life.
“Soooooo, lovely weather we’re having?” Tommy said, trying to fill the comfortable silence.
Phil snoted while techno looked at him in the most unimpressed way, but Tommy could see from the way his eyes crinkled a tiny bit that he was suppressing a smile.
“ ANYWAY ” Tommy said, hopefully redirecting the conversation to the point of him being there.
“I’m not here to make awkward small talk, I'm here to clean! I can start whenever you want me to but I was wondering if there's anywhere I can’t go, or anything I shouldn’t touch?”
“Sure mate! Would you like a tour of the house? It would probably be easier to show you what to not touch physically rather than describe it.” Phil said, with a smile you could practically hear in his voice.
“Techno want to come along?”
“Sure, gotta make sure he doesn't break anything, kid gives off raccoon vibes”
“Pfffffff, your one to talk bitch, you look like a piece of hubba bubba”
A snicker from a third person now entering the room alerted them to the trio's presence, a tall lanky looking bastard, lanking his way over to the coffee machine.
“You look like a bastard.” Tommy said out loud, immediately cringing, he needs to learn to hold his tongue like his foster “father” says.
Phil just doubles over laughing, almost banging his head on the table, techno cracks a brief smile, the lanky man stops in his tracks just looks stunned for a moment before laughing brightly, Tommy exhales a breath he doesn’t remember holding, relieved that he still has a job.
“Nice to meet you too child, I’m Wilbur” the lanky man said smiling, Tommy wondered when that smile would fade, when they realized Tommy was a troublemaker and they’d fire him, when they would frown when looking at him, when they’d throw him away like the trash he is.
“Tommy? Are you ok?”
Huh? Someone was talking to him? Where is he? He knows he’s in a house, no one at “home” talks to him, especially if he’s starting to spiral so he’s not at “home”, and if he’s not at “home” then where is he? Didn’t he have his first day at work today? Wait he’s at the people's house, Phil’s house, Phil with the nice smile and the warm home, Phil with the hand on his shoulder, wait Phil’s hand is on his shoulder?
Breaking from his spiral he now sees Phil, Techno and the lanky bastard looking at him worriedly, when was the last time someone looked at him like that? Probably when that nice child protective services lady he met when he was six? Or seven? Whatever age, came in to take him away from that family with the two dogs, Putty? Fussy? Eh, whatever her name was, she was lovely, she gave him a hug and some caramel candies, oh shit he’s spacing out again.
“Tommy, you ok bud?” Oh, Phil’s talking to him again?.
“Yup! I'm fine big man! just spaced out, happens sometimes, sorry, please don’t fire me big man it won’t happen again!” Tommy furiously trying to do damage control, not wanting to get yelled at like the other times he’s spaced out in front of people.
“Tommy we aren’t going to fire you for dissociating, we just need to know your ok kid.” Techno asked, still looking worried.
“You aren’t gonna yell at me?” He said meekly.
“Of course not Tommy.” Wilbur butted in, eyebrows now knitted together.
“Yeah we are never going to yell at you, I promise Tommy” Phil said eyebrows also knitted together.
Tommy just nodded and turned away, suddenly not being able to look Phil in the eyes.
“Soooooo, you said something about a tour?” Tommy said trying to put on that “Tommy charm TM ” (and failing)
“Sure Tommy” Phil said, a subdued smile appearing on his face.