Tommy gets sick during the night.

His coughing wakes Techno up several times, curling up tighter under his blankets and pulling them over his head. Phil is always awake too, rubbing Tommy's back and wrapping him in his wings, cooing over Tommy while he lets out soft, comforting chirps. Tommy sniffles and pushes his face into his father's chest. Miserably, the child whines as he clings to Phil and tries to answer with similar warbles.

Elytrians make very strange noises. But Techno guesses it's not too different from how rabbits will rub their chin against littermates they care about. It brings them comfort, it makes them feel safe.

Techno rolls over and tries to get back to sleep, feeling the noises clench painfully at his heart and hating himself for it.

He knows Tommy got sick because of him.

Or more accurately: Tommy got sick because he fell into the river and then they walked home while Tommy was soaked to the bone. The wind was pretty chilly. It was already dusk, the temperature in the valley dropping with the approaching nighttime. By the time they got to the nest, Tommy's feathers had been all ruffled and his clothes only half-dried.

So Tommy got sick because he walked home in the cold after falling into the river. And Tommy fell into the river because of Techno.

And they know it's his fault.

That's the worst part. When they got home yesterday, Tommy had excitedly recounted the day's events to Phil while the older man preened his feathers and got them nice and smoothed down again. Wilbur had been there too. And the moment Tommy had gotten to the part about him accidentally being pushed into the river, Techno felt Wilbur glare at him. Phil had laughed though, taking it to be a funny story. But now Tommy is sick and Techno doesn't know if that changes things.

In the warren, it was really important to look out for each other. The survival of them all depended on the cleverness of one. The black rabbit of inlé lurked around every corner, waiting to claim them for its own burrow. Techno had wanted to help, but what if he only made it worse?

By sunrise, Tommy had stopped coughing and finally fell asleep. But his breathing is very wheezy and for once even Phil is frowning. He has taken a cloth and soaked it in a bucket, laying it on Tommy's forehead in the hopes it will bring his fever down. Tommy looks very pale, but his cheeks and the tip of his nose are red. Techno doesn't know what that means but he's pretty sure it's a bad thing.

"I don't like the look of this," Phil says to himself. Techno doesn't think he was meant to overhear that either, but he shudders.

(He remembers one time when sickness came to the warren. It was a harsh winter with not a lot of food to go around. Techno was still young - young enough to not remember too much about that year - so he was spared the worst of it.

But suddenly he felt like he was in that burrow all over again.)

"Wilbur." The teenager practically jumps up at having his name called, rushing over to Phil. He doesn't look at Techno - not even to scowl at him, so maybe that's an improvement.

He kneels down at Phil's side, looking at Tommy worriedly. "Tell me what to do."

"Go to the Captain, ask him for a draught of warmth. We don't want the illness to spread to his lungs. Tell him it's for Tommy, so he adjusts the dosage."

Wilbur nods, face tense as he glances at Tommy again. Techno can't really read that expression. But then Wilbur raises his head and looks at him and he can definitely read that one.

Wilbur must hate his very guts to look at him like that.

While he's gone getting the potion that should hopefully fix Tommy, Techno dares scoot a little closer to the boy's side. He didn't want to when Wilbur was there, hovering protectively. Going anywhere near Tommy might have cost him an eye. But when it's just Phil, Techno thinks he can stand it. Even if Phil is mad at him for getting Tommy sick.

Techno looks down at the boy, ears twitching to catch every little sound. His inhales have evened out - that's probably a good sign too, right? Techno doesn't know. But Tommy looks so small covered in blankets and he keeps shivering and Techno's worry is not easy to dismiss. Phil is adjusting the wet rag.

"Is Tommy going to die?" Techno hears himself ask without thinking twice about it.

Phil's eyebrows shoot up a bit. "No, he's… he's not going to die, Techno. He's just a little sick right now, and I'd rather it doesn't develop into pneumonia. But he'll be okay."

"How do you know?" Techno presses.

"Was it common for sickness to claim young lives where you're from?" Phil asks him in turn.

Techno pulls his knees up to his chest and wraps his arms around them. "Some seasons."

Cold seasons were worse than warm ones, for sure. And it's a pretty warm season, the flowers blossoming and trees still hanging heavily with leaves on every branch. But when illness came upon them, there was little they could do to prevent it. Like writing and reading, potion brewing is not a very common practice among rabbit hybrids. And warrens are small and close-knit, meaning sickness can spread quicker there.

"I know because I have been alive for a very long time and have seen many cases like this. I trust I have a fair judgment about these things," Phil tells him. He sounds serious.

Techno frowns, still unable to pull himself away from Tommy's shaking form. He wants to reach out, he wants physical contact to soothe them both. But he doesn't know if he's allowed. Tommy isn't even his littermate, and it's Techno's fault he got sick.

When an arm reaches out to wrap around his shoulder, Techno almost jumps out of his skin and bolts. He goes perfectly still instead, muscles locking up uncomfortably and unable to move when Phil pulls him against his side. A hand trails up to run long claws through his hair.

And it's a bit awkward because Techno does not have wings, but he would recognize those touches anywhere. The particular way with which Phil works his fingers through the strands is so akin to them smoothing down feathers. Techno has seen them during every preening session.

Phil chirps softly at him and Techno wants to cry.

"It's my fault," Techno says, crossing his arms atop his knees and pushing his face into them. He manages to barely suppress a sob.

The chirping stops. "What?"

Techno swallows. Despite everything, he's scared. He's scared Phil will hate him and throw him out, just when Techno was starting to enjoy being here. He really wants to consider the commune his home. But if he doesn't say anything surely Wilbur will advocate for kicking him to the curb later and Techno would rather get it over with while he can.

"Tommy got sick because of me. I made him fall into the river."

Every inch of him is tensed up, waiting for the other shoe to fall.

But when Phil finally opens his mouth again, it's to laugh. Techno ducks his head, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment a bit. "Techno, you know that's a myth, right?" Phil says.

Techno doesn't know what to say. He would very much like to sink into the earth on the spot.

"People don't get sick from being cold, that's an old wive's tale." Phil's petting picks up again, Techno leans into it. "Tommy must have already had the virus in his system. He was going to get sick either way. And even if walking around while looking like a drowned chicken made it worse - which it didn't - then it still isn't your fault because you didn't push him in on purpose. It was an accident."

Techno nods. It's stupid, but he trusts Phil not to lie to him. As silly as it sounds, he really needed to hear that.

"I got the potion," Wilbur comes back in with beating wings, knocking into some of the branches in his hurried landing. "Dad, I got it."

"Great. Thanks, Wil." Phil takes the bottle from him with a smile. It's glass, the liquid inside dark orange with flecks of lighter, almost gold floating in it. Techno has never seen anything quite like it before.

Wilbur sits down on Tommy's other side, the worry lines on his face not lessened at all. Techno kinda knows how he feels. No matter what Phil said, seeing a kid as small as Tommy so sick is a bit scary. Tommy's chest rises and falls with every rattling inhale. When Phil speaks to him, his eyes open and blink up slowly. The blue irises are clouded with discomfort.

"Tommy, can you sit up and take some of this for me? After that, you can go back to sleep." Phil is already getting some smaller bottles and also a spoon to measure out the potion.

"Do I need to keep him upright?" Techno offers. He can probably brace against Tommy's back so it's easier for the kid to push up on his arms.

Unexpectedly, that makes Wilbur snap at him. "I can do it!" He tries reaching out, but Tommy squirms under his touch. With the fever, it's probably not nice for him to be touched by anyone right now.

"I'm just trying to help," Techno says back. Thanks to Phil, he feels a bit better about what happened. And the last thing he needs is for Wilbur to start acting like a jerk for no reason again. Frankly, Techno is getting kind of sick of his attitude.

Compared to Phil and Tommy, Wilbur has never even given him a chance to be friends. It's incredibly frustrating.

"Haven't you done enough?" Wilbur sneers at him, wings flaring out in anger. Tommy cringes at the loudness of his voice.

"It wasn't my fault," Techno says, claws digging into his own palms. "It was an accident, we were just having fun."

"You still should have known better!"

Techno feels something grab the back of his shirt. Before he can react, he's lifted up. Wilbur is in a similar position, Phil holding both of them up as if they weigh nothing. He looks a little angry, and a little amused, but mostly he looks very tired. "Okay, out. Both of you."

Phil glides from the nest and deposits them on the ground beneath the tree. Techno lands on his butt with a small oomph. Wilbur is already opening his mouth to complain, but a stern glare from Phil stops him.

"Tommy will be better soon with a bit of care. But not when you two are having a yelling match while he tries to rest. So don't come back until you've stopped being little shits and have learned to play nice."

Before either of them can formulate a response, the Crowfather is off again, disappearing into the foliage surrounding his nest. Techno blinks up at the leaves dumbly, feeling very, very stupid. Wilbur gets up with a huff and - after sending another poisonous scowl in Techno's direction - sets off down the mountain. Not wanting to stick around the nest but also not yet confident enough to go wandering the valley on his own, Techno follows him.

Wilbur looks over his shoulder, noticing that Techno is going after him. With a little hop, he's airborne, probably hoping that it will create some distance between them. Sadly for him, Techno leg is pretty much all better now and thus he doesn't have a problem keeping up.

It isn't until they're all the way to the grassy plains that Wilbur comes to a sudden stop and spins around. "Why are you following me?"

Techno swallows but hardens his resolve. He stamps his leg on the ground once to release some pent-up anger before he answers. "Why do you hate me?"

And Wilbur looks taken aback, blinking rapidly. Genuine confusion crosses his face, but at the same time, he scrunches up his nose as if Techno said something distasteful. "I don't hate you."

"But you don't like me," Techno presses.

"I don't-" Wilbur stops, turning around again. "Whatever, you don't fucking get it." He tries to take off again but Techno has had enough. Bending his knees a little he pushes up and leaps straight into Wilbur, tackling him to the ground.

It's not actual fighting, more akin to play-wrestling. Techno remembers his littermates, remembers the warren. He remembers rolling around in the dirt with the other kids until he would end up on top of them and hold them down. They'd laugh until they could hardly breathe. Techno almost always won.

Wilbur tries to claw at his face but Techno grabs his wrist and pins it down.

"Explain it to me!" he demands furiously. "If you don't hate me and you don't think I understand, then explain it."

Distantly, he's aware of how funny it is that he can easily hold Wilbur down despite him being both bigger and older. And most likely physically stronger, seeing as he's an elytrian. Either Wilbur really sucks at fighting, or he's trying to avoid hurting Techno.

The fact that it's probably the latter is established a moment later when Wilbur puffs out his cheeks, annoyed. "I don't hate you. I hate change."

Techno's hold slackens because he's so dumbfounded. "Heh?"

Wilbur pushes him off easily. "I hate that things changed! I don't want… The commune is supposed to be safe. There are-" Wilbur stops and corrects himself with a frown. "There were no hunters anywhere near here before your stupid warren got attacked."

"That's not my fault," Techno says again. It sticks to his throat, bitter and painful.

(Sometimes, he does wonder if he should have stayed. Or gone back. Or done anything to help his family.)

"That doesn't make it any less dangerous! Also, Dad and Tommy are spending so much time on you and you're like, literally all they talked about for a while? You're all everybody talks about, actually." Wilbur grimaces.

Techno knows the commune has been a bit shaken up by his arrival, but he didn't know it was this bad. Wilbur stands up, towering over him.

"And now Tommy is sick because he was so damn stubborn about showing you around instead of coming with me to the pier like we always used to." Somehow Wilbur is close to pouting.

Techno finds himself smirking. Just a little.

"You're… jealous?"

"Shut up!" Wilbur pushes him back down when he tries to get up but it doesn't even hurt. Techno feels like laughing, yet tries not to. He doesn't actually want to make Wilbur upset.

"So you were being an ass to me because, what, you thought I was going to steal your family?"

"When you say it like that it sounds stupid," Wilbur complains, dragging a hand down his face. And Techno does laugh then, unable to help it.

"Yeah, because it is!" He stands up again. "I'm not trying to steal anything, I'm just trying to live my life, man." With a sigh, Techno crosses his arms. "But I can see where the jealousy comes from, I never had a family and it's kinda nice."

It was meant to be a joke, but Wilbur stares at him then. His eyes are a golden brown with purple in them - different from Phil and Tommy. Techno never noticed that before, but suddenly he can't help but feel awkward with them trained on him.

"You didn't?" Wilbur asks in a soft, fragile voice.

Techno doesn't know where the tonal shift came from. He shrugs. "Not really, it's not the same for rabbits."

Techno had a mother, who did not birth him but taught him how to read. He probably loved her. She probably loved him. But they never spent that much time together. And Techno had littermates, too many to count. He wasn't close to any of them. For most of them, he doesn't remember their names.

They're all dead.

He turns his face down and blinks rapidly to dispel the tears in his eyes. He doesn't want Wilbur to see him crying.

But then a hand enters his blurry vision.

"Truce?" Wilbur asks.

Techno reaches out to shake it. He only learned what this gesture meant yesterday. "Truce," he says, rubbing at his face with his sleeve. He's wearing Wilbur's big yellow sweater, the itchy one. Techno has his own clothes but Wilbur never asked for his sweater back, despite 'hating' him. Techno wonders why he didn't notice that before.

When they get back to the nest, Tommy has taken the medicine and is fast asleep. Phil smiles at them and Techno looks away. But he gets to lie next to Tommy that night, with Wilbur on Tommy's other side chirping at his little brother in much the same way Phil did earlier today.

And nobody says anything when Techno gently lays his chin on top of Tommy's blond hair and rubs against him softly.