Chapter Text
My hands were shaking as I looked into the mirror placed in front of me. The mirror had different words shakily written on it in all capitals in some sort of red ink. The words read various creative synonyms for the word monster or disgrace. I looked at the person staring back at me. It’s me for sure, but I’m positive it isn’t present me.
From the looks of it, It looked to be me from about 6th grade. He had bruises on his neck and face. I turned to the side to get a better view of his back. Small, weak little newly formed wings drooped from beneath his shoulder blades.
They were coated with dried blood.
The boy looked scared. Terrified even . He was attempting to wash the crispy blood off of his wings via a damp washcloth, ultimately failing. Tears tracked down the boy’s face as he raised a hand, trailing the surfaces of his new feathers with wide eyes.
I reached out to help the scared, exhausted boy in front of me, forgetting that I was looking through a mirror. As I did, I heard a loud crack . The mirror in front of me had shattered as I heard the beginning of my phone’s alarm.
---
To say that Ranboo was slightly confused the next morning was an understatement.
He always believed that hybrids were monsters, he believed that he, himself, was the only “sane” one. He believed he was because his mom told him so, she told him he was- what was the word she used- domestic . Like a "trained puppy" , as she liked to often compare.
But if Ranboo was being honest, he didn't know what he believed anymore as he watched Tommy, Tubbo, and the others file into the bus. If they grew up with and around hybrids, why weren't they monsters like everyone suggested? His thoughts were suddenly cut off by Tommy as he asked, "Hey Ranboo, do you know of any other hybrids at school?"
Ranboo's heart stopped beating for a second, "Wh-what?" was all Ranboo said. Had Ranboo been found out this quick? He thought he'd be better at this by now. Did Derrik and Mary know, were they just waiting until they could kick him out at the right moment?
"I mean other than me, Tubbo, Wilbur, and Techno," Tommy added.
"Yeah, Tommy found this huge ass feather yesterday and we’re wondering if you knew anyone else at the school who had wings!" Tubbo butted in as enthusiastically as ever.
"I-I mean, probably not, wh-where’d you find it?" Ranboo asked, internally cursing himself for how much he stammered. Maybe there really was another avian in the school who had larger than average feathers. Oh, how he hoped this was the case.
"Found it in the tech room, wait I have it in my backpack." Maybe it was a coincidence?
But of course, the gods would never be this sparring to dear old Ranboo. Seriously, what did he do to anger the gods to such an extent?
Ranboo's heart almost flatlined as Tommy pulled out the feather. It was a Rusty Black shade with dusty white tips. Definitely one of his poor, disheveled feathers. Ranboo realized it probably from his hoodie when he hastily pulled it on yesterday in 6th.
"Yeah, cool huh? Phil said that the person it came from definitely doesn't take care of their wings like, at all, but it’s fuckin' huge isn’t it?"
"Yea-Yeah. It’s Fucking huge." Ranboo added while trying to make it look like he was observing the feather in between Tommy’s fingers. Ranboo didn’t need to observe it though, he looks at those feathers with anger behind his eyes every morning.
---
"Okay so, as I said yesterday, today I’ve picked your groups for your book project on the book Divergent today.” Ms. Puffy announced as the late bell rang. Ranboo heard a groan come from the two boys in front and to the side of him.
Ranboo was questioning if his memory has gotten worse when it was apparent that he forgot about the group project through all the chaos yesterday. Yaaaaaay.
All Ranboo was glad about was 1) The fact that his back felt worlds better having taken ibuprofen that morning, 2) The detail that he didn’t have to pick the group he was in and, 3) The book choice. It was one of his favorite book series and had already read the whole series countless times over.
"Last time I let you pick groups didn't work out so well," Ms. Puffy explained, side-eyeing a group of boys in the back, "So I'm picking them for you, and since we got a new student, they'll be 8 groups of 3," the projector flashed to a google slides image with all the names of his classmates grouped into pairs of three. Ranboo immediately searched to find his name. He practically sunk into himself when he found his name.
Group four:
- Tommy
- Tubbo
- Ranboo
Well Shit.
Ranboo could practically feel both Tommy and Tubbos' shit-eating grins radiating from them before they even turned to Ranboo.
During the rest of class, they (of course) just rambled on and on about the ‘mystery feather’ Tommy found in class yesterday. Listing off suspects on who’s it could be, discussing what kind of breed it could be from, while also sharing their views on how disheveled the feather looked.
“When we find out who’s feather it is, the first thing we’re doing is teach them basic feather care because fuckin’ hell,” Tommy imputed simply. Twisting the feather in his hand.
“ If we find out who’s it is,” Tubbo pointed out.
“Are we sure it wasn’t just a bird’s feather brought from outside?” Ranboo asked. He made sure to input his 2 cents when he could so he at least looked like he didn’t obviously know the feather’s origins.
“Nah, too fuckin big to be a birds’, I mean there’s a chance it’s a hawk or vulture feather-”
“But hawks don't live in this area, and vultures’ wings don't have that coloration, even with how washed out the colors are.”
“Oh, okay then,”
“Alright, so we’ve marked off Purpled, Ponk, and-”
He decided to tune out the rest of the conversation. Ranboo shouldn't have really expected them to fall for that, they probably knew everything to be known about the topic of birds. But he didn't really care about them investigating the origins of his “mysterious feather” they were so wrapped up in right now. It seemed that they didn't even think of Ranboo as a suspect and that's all Ranboo really cared about.
---
“I d’know man, I’m kinda busy today.”
“You can just do it there! See problem solved!”
“Ugh”
---
“Please, it'll be fuuuuun~”
“No.”
---
“Pleeeeaaaase, c’mon bossman, y’know you want to deep down.”
“Pretty sure that's just completely false actually.”
---
For some reason, since they found out that they were in a group together, Tommy and Tubbo were intent on trying to convince Ranboo to come over to Tommy’s house to “work on the project.” Ranboo denied every offer almost immediately. He shuddered even at the thought of a house full of other creatures .
But it was only lunchtime and Ranboo was starting to get a migraine from all the chatter . He didn't know if he could take this much longer. He started rubbing the bridge of his nose at the lunch table. He’d decided he was too dizzy to eat right now.
He jolted up as he felt a limb covered in feathers brush up against his back.
“C’mon Ranboob, just for like 2 hours,” Tommy complained while sitting next to him. Ranboo let out a loud groan.
“What are you goin’ on about?” The butterfly- uh- Wilbur asked Tommy.
“We’re trying to convince him to go to your house to work on our project!” Tubbo chimed. Ranboo made an annoyed grunt as he put his head in his hands.
“Obviously failing,” Techno added, not looking up from the book in his hand.
Tommy stuck his tongue out at him while techno scoffed.
“How ‘bout you just come over for like 30 minutes Ranboo, You ride the same bus yes?” Wilbur asked Ranboo, Oh god, not the Butterfly too.
“I mean yeah but-”
“Then it’s settled! Yay, problem solved, now eat.” Wilbur didn’t really give any room for any arguments. Ranboo could barely hear Tommy and Tubbo’s amused chuckles through his own groan. Wilbur hadn’t said it in a mean or offensive tone, but it was clear that Ranboo’'s fate was already settled for him. He decided he would nap for the rest of lunch, preserving the peaceful energy that he hasn’t had since 1st period.
---
Before Ranboo knew it, he called Derrick to inform him where he would be for the afternoon and was dragged onto the bus by Tommy and Tubbo. He did, in fact, “forget” to inform Derrick who, and what they were. What they don't know won’t hurt them. Right?
---
He guessed the bus ride was normal enough, not that he had been on the bus enough times to consider stuff ‘normal’ or not. A wave of anxiety went through him as he started to doubt himself. He even started to question if they knew that he was one of them or if Tommy and Tubbo were leading him to a trap. Stupid right, But can you blame him? No one had ever wanted him to spend time with him before. It didn't make any sense to him.
And it’s not like the history books put them in the best light okay.
He was shaken out of thought when a lanky arm tapped him. “Hey, this is our stop. C’mon big man!” Tommy yelled as he turned to walk in the aisle to exit the bus. Ranboo blew raspberries as Tommy’s wings slapped his face. Ranboo begrudgingly stood up to follow the duo out the bus.
Ranboo had to squint his eyes at the sudden change of lighting when he exited the bus into the sunlight.
He almost stumbled back when a certain blond put his hand on ranboo’s shoulder, going on and on about where his house was, how big it is, and even informing him that the color of his room was a baby blue. He also felt the need to tell Ranboo that it was not his choice and that he preferred red better.
“I’m sure Phil won’t mind you coming over,” Tommy mentioned through his babbling. “I mean, he never minds Tubbo.”
Who’s Phil?
“I-I’m sorry .. who?”
“Oh, Phil’s my dad,” Ranboo knew he would have parents, he didn’t care about that.
“Is he-”
“Yes he’s a hybrid,” Wilbur continued. Ah , he should have expected it.
“OH YEAH, he has these huge ass crow wings, they’re sick as fuck,” Tommy went on.
“Oh, cool cool cool,” Ranboo responded, voice fading into nothing. The thought of a fully grown hybrid scared him. It was rare to see people like them grow to adulthood, let alone be known as one , and not be hidden from society like a scared puppy with their tails between their legs.
---
The walk to their house wasn’t very long, only a few houses, but it was long enough for Ranboo to become stressed as Techno pulled a key out from his pocket and unlocked the door in one swift motion like he’s done this countless times.
Of course he’s done this before, this is his house dumbass.
A cool breeze went through his bones when he walked into the house. He could tell Tommy did too because he shivered, wings ruffling with him. Ranboo couldn’t help but stare at how the different colors of his feathers moved. The tropical colors complimented the bright red of his baseball tee shirt. He wondered why he was wearing a t-shirt in this weather. Did his feathers make him warmer? Ranboo got shot out of his daze by a fatherly voice.
“Oh, hey how was- who’s that?” A voice came from the dining room. Ranboo looked around the front room.
The difference between his house and this one is weirdly comforting. The different hues of yellows and oranges of the fading sun shining through the curtains of the window made the house look warm in the autumn chill. The couch was a striking emerald green, with a dark brown coffee table. There was no real theme to the design Ranboo guessed by all the mismatched colors and patterns of the furniture and throw pillows. But he noticed there wasn't any grey in sight, even the walls being a warm tone of off-white, rather than a cold grey.
"Oh, It's Ranboo. Y'know the human I told you about yesterday." Tommy replied, voice booming. "Him, me, and Tubbo got assigned into a group for an English project and we're going to be working on it."
"Oh "working on it" uh? And, why didn't I know about this project sooner?" The man raised an eyebrow. Ranboo flinched at the wording, but surprisingly, his tone didn't seem accusing or ill-intended at all.
"Kinda, just, y'know... forgot about it until today."
"They came into the classroom after the teacher explained the project," Ranboo interjected, all eyes suddenly on him, causing Ranboo to look to his feet. He wanted to make sure Tommy didn't get in trouble because of him.
"Ah, that makes sense. I wasn't really mad anyways mate, it's nice to meet you. I'm Phil" Phil greeted. Ranboo's breath hitched as he looked up. The man had a warm smile, sure, but Ranboo was more concerned about the fucking mammoth-sized wings coming from his back. They looked just as big as Ranboo's if not bigger .
"Oh um.. hello."
Ranboo shifted a little bit when Phil raised an eye suddenly while he was standing from the kitchen table. Ranboo could tell that he was more than 5 inches taller than Phil but by gods, was Phil a scary, scary man.
Well, then he heard Phil chuckle.
"My Gods, how fuckin' tall are you," another chuckle came near the end of him.
"I am 6'6 ft."
"Shit, that's fuckin’ taller than Will!"
"I've been told," okay so, Ranboo did not intend for that to come out in a mean way, but by the way his face looked, yeah , it came out that way.
An awkward silence fell over the room.
Tommy broke the silence, "Well then, we'll be going to my room now. Lots of work, ladies to woo, y’know how it is. Bye, Phil!" He stretched out the Phil while pulling Ranboo and Tubbo with him, leaving no room to argue.
Ranboo wanted to comment on how Tommy just called his dad by his name, but then again, Ranboo couldn't really be the one commenting on that topic.
Tommy led Ranboo through the living room, and up the stairs, talking to Tubbo about a topic that Ranboo didn't understand. From what he could pick out of it, Tommy apparently thinks that spiders are exponentially better than bees, and Wilbur has a vendetta against anteaters.
Like how was Ranboo supposed to comprehend any of that?
---
"Okay so basically Beatrice has to hide that she's Divergent from everyone, even her family, and-"
Ranboo was currently trying to simply explain the entire plot of Divergence to Tommy and Tubbo but-
"Isn't there a movie about this book? Why can't we just watch that instead?"
- They were currently trying to do any shortcut they could find. They were now on the point of the movie remake excuse, immediately after they found out there was a movie remake of it.
"I mean, I guess you could, but it would be bad for the character analysis part of the project since the character's appearances and relationships from the book are a bit different than in the movie,"
Ranboo guessed it would probably be easier to watch the movie for the basic plot. And he could just do the character part, and fill in the blanks for them.
Ranboo ends up drowning out the duo's conversation after one of them got onto a tangent on if it was plausible to make a nuke out of a TV remote. Okay, maybe in hindsight, it would have been good for everyone's safety if he listened to the details of the conversation.
But Ranboo couldn't focus. Not with the constant tug in his back. The tug wasn't a painful ache like yesterday, Mabey annoying at most, but it was almost like his wings were happy or something. Almost like they wanted to be shown in front of them and shout 'Hey look, I'm a monster like you!' Ranboo quickly dismissed this thought since wings don't have emotion, nor can they think on their own.
---
After an hour or two, it seemed to have started getting dark outside, so Ranboo took this as his time to leave. Tommy and Tubbo seemed to not like this idea, them saying it was 'too dark'.
Ranboo quickly pointed out that the sun was in full few, and that he quite enjoyed the cool autumn chill. Eventually, with much hesitation, they finally backed off.
---
POV Change to Tommy:
Tommy and Tubbo walked into the living room, where they both promptly flipped on the couch, looking for a movie to watch.
Through their conversation, they barely realized the crow on the loveseat by the window. Which explains why they jumped so much when Phil spoke.
"Hey, boys," He tried to get their attention.
"Yeah?" Tommy rumbled, drowsiness apparent through his voice. Tubbo just simply glanced as acknowledgment and went to the search bar and started to type in Moana , as of Tommy's request.
"How was the project?"
"Cool, Ranboo is apparently a huge nerd and read the whole fuckin book series."
"Oh, about Ranboo," Phil's tone changed, making the duo both look up from the TV. "He…" he hesitated, "He is a human right?"
Tommy wheezed, Tubbo chuckled.
"Yeah, I mean it would be kinda hard to hide that from us wouldn't it," Tommy made through a laugh.
"I just … You guys have never really made friends with anyone who wasn't y'know," Phil waved his hand, trying to find the words.
"One of us?" Tubbo filled in for him.
"Yeah," his voice faded.
"I know we thought it was weird too," Tommy started, gesturing to both Tubbo and him, "We can tell his views on hybrids, in general, are skewed, but doesn't say anything," Nobody buts in, so he continued, "he seems... I d'know, hesitant, like most humans, but it also seems like he's warming up to us."
"I have to admit that it is refreshing to be treated like a human, by a human for once," Tubbo added, already almost half asleep.
" Like a human ," Tommy chuckled, " yeah right, have you seen the way he looks at both of our wings?" He imitated overly dramatic wide eyes, pulling his eyes more open than they probably should have been. They both started laughing at that.
Phil did not seem so pleased at this detail.
When Tubbo realized this he also added, "It's not degrading as you would think from a human, don't worry Phil, it's like he's- oh , what's the word?"
"Dazzled by their beauty" Tommy boasted with a wide grin, playfully spreading his wings for full few.
"No, it's like he's curious in a way," Tubbo finally got out through his laughter.
All that was heard was a low "Mhm" by Phil before Tommy snatched the remote from Tubbo and pressed play on the movie, a comfortable silence filling the room.