Part of my collection of SBI-centric flufftober oneshots. These can all be read as standalone.

Flufftober Eleven: Hiding a pet from a parent with bedrockbros

"You know bunnies can't be pink, right?"

Tommy turned his head to glare at Ranboo. "Are you calling me a liar, bitch?"

Tubbo started to laugh so hard he had to double over and hold onto his knees, something which made Tommy grin and even Ranboo cracked a little smile before shaking his head.

"No, I'm just saying, like… maybe you didn't see an alive rabbit." He grimaced at the thought.

"What does that mean?" Tubbo asked, pushing aside some branches.

"You know, it could be-" Ranboo hesitated, then gave a little shrug. "Dead or something?"

Tubbo laughed again. "Bunnies become pink when they're dead?"

"I've seen some pretty pinkish roadkill in my life," Ranboo answered grimly.

"It was definitely moving," Tommy said. He frowned a bit, continuing after a moment, "You don't have to be here if you don't want to." He only told his friends about what he saw because he couldn't tell Phil or Wilbur. The last thing he needed was their complaining.

"No, no, I do," Ranboo assured. "As long as you don't expect my help catching it. With my luck, I'll twist my ankle."

"Then why are you here?" Tommy asked pointedly, stepping through the undergrowth into the bushes. Yesterday, while walking home from school, he saw a bunny. A pink bunny. He'd swear his life on it. And it looked hurt. It fled and disappeared into the bushes before Tommy could catch it, because he wasn't prepared for rabbit catching at the time. But that wouldn't happen again. He had a blanket and a box. He wasn't going to let the poor thing spend another day out in the cold, especially because it rained yesterday.

"Emotional support," Tubbo answered.

Kneeling down, Tommy tried to peer between the leaves for something pinkish. He wasn't going to admit it out loud, but he really only caught a glimpse of the bunny. Maybe it was white, and the pink was dried blood? Though that thought only made him more determined to catch it. Blood could attract predators. So it could be in danger out in the open.

Tommy couldn't stand the thought of an animal dying, sue him!

"How did it get hurt, you think?" Tubbo asked, being very unhelpful while Tommy crawled through the dirt.

"Could be a fox. Or a wolf. Or maybe an eagle," Tommy guessed. If it was a pet rabbit, a lot of things could have harmed it.

"Could be a car," Ranboo hummed lightly.

"It wasn't dead," Tommy insisted again.

"Over there!"

Tubbo's sudden shout made them all snap their heads up. A little hollow was dug out against a nearby tree, but it wasn't deep enough to completely hide the small wisp of pinkish fur that stuck out against the brown earth. An ear swiveled in their direction and before any of the kids could blink, a distinctly pink rabbit tried to bolt out of the hole away from them.

"Holy shit, that's a pink rabbit," Tubbo said with clear amazement.

"I fucking told you so!" Tommy yelled, victory fleeting as he realized he'd have to act fast if he didn't want the bunny to slip away again. Despite it clearly dragging one of its hind legs, Tommy had to run to catch up and throw the blanket over it. It struggled and made a high-pitched noise of anger that Tommy had never heard a bunny make before.

Then again, he hadn't really been around bunnies much except for the rare visit to the petting zoo back when his parents were alive. Phil never took him, Tommy was way too old for petting zoos now. He was already eight.

"Bring the box! It's going to bite me!" he urged.

Thankfully, Ranboo blinked out of his surprise to come and help. He threw the box they'd brought at Tommy, who used one arm to hold the blanket closed and the other to turn the box around. With some effort, and a lot of kicking from the bunny, he managed to manhandle it into the box before folding the lids.

"Don't you think it can gnaw its way out of there?" Tubbo asked. "Rabbits have big teeth."

"Maybe?" Tommy wasn't entirely sure, he hadn't thought this far ahead.

Ranboo seemed equally concerned about it being a possibility. "What are you going to do with it?"

"I don't know." Tommy definitely hadn't thought that far ahead either.

"Phil won't let you keep a pet," Tubbo pointed out. He knew, because Tommy had lamented the fact that his foster parent wouldn't let him get a dog loudly and frequently. Phil was really fucking lame for wanting to keep his couches in 'prime condition' or whatever.

"Yeah…" Tommy held the box closer to his chest, cautious of the rabbit making a fuss inside. "How about you take it?"

"Me?" Tubbo's eyebrows rose until they disappeared beneath his bangs. "Nah, big man. My parents would kill me if I brought an animal home."

Tommy looked at Ranboo, but he quickly held up his hands. "Nope. You know I live in a tiny apartment."

"Ugh, fine." Tommy couldn't leave the rabbit out to die. That would make him a horrible person. "But you better help me look up how to take care of it."

They walked all the way to the street lights. That's where Tubbo went left and Ranboo crossed the street. Tommy went right, heaving the box a little more firmly in his arms. The bunny had stopped making noises, but he could still feel it move around. That was good, since Tommy forgot to poke any holes in the lid for air. He just hoped Phil wouldn't see it and ask him about it.

He skipped the last little bit home, looked around, then decided he should take the backdoor to avoid his family. Or, well, that was the plan. A plan Phil had to ruin by doing his stupid laundry in the middle of the afternoon on a Thursday. Very 'middle-aged man who got one day off work' of him.

"Oh, Tommy." Phil smiled at him. "How was school?"

"Terrible. Didn't learn anything, got detention next week. Good talk, Phil." He tried to scoot by the older man but Phil stepped back and inadvertently blocked the door.

"You got detention? Why?"

"I threw a water balloon at Ranboo in class," Tommy said plainly. No point lying about it, the teachers would call him anyway.

Phil sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He looked very silly when he did that. "Why did you throw a water balloon at Ranboo?"

Tommy shrugged. "I dunno."

"Jesus fucking Christ-"

The box shifted in Tommy's grip when he felt the bunny thump against it a couple of times. Phil's eyes shot up and Tommy tried to hide it by tapping his foot on the ground. "Can I go up now?"

"Sure, we can talk about that detention later," Phil said. Tommy frowned. He really didn't want to talk about the detention. "What's the big box all about?"

"Tubbo let me borrow some of his comics and video games," Tommy said. Sometimes, his therapist said it was concerning that Tommy could lie so smoothly. Not like it was Tommy's fault he learned to lie good in all the shitty foster families he had before. He felt a little guilty about lying to Phil, who was always nice to him. But it was for a good cause!

Phil nodded, returning to his laundry none the wiser. Tommy hurried up the stairs.

Once he closed the door behind him, he locked it. Tommy remembered how surprised he was that the door had a lock when he moved in. None of his previous foster parents would ever allow him to lock the door, they'd majorly freak out if he so much as closed it half the time. He kneeled and tipped the box on its side, allowing the blanket to spill out with the bunny all tangled up in it.

Being dropped seemed to return some of its energy and Tommy watched as the blanket started to shift and tug in all directions. After a few seconds, he figured helping it get free would be better. He picked up one corner and carefully lifted it, until the bunny tumbled out and onto the ground.

Then it immediately jumped at him.

"Fuck!" Tommy stumbled back, falling onto his ass. The bunny kicked at him, but thankfully it was injured so it didn't accomplish anything and fell onto its side. It got back up and scooted away a bit, sitting still with its ears pinned back.

Tommy blinked, watching it.

Weirdly aggressive behavior aside, the strangest thing about this rabbit was that it truly was pink. Tommy didn't know how that was possible. It wasn't the brightest pink color, more of a soft pastel hue, yet it seemed abnormal in every way. Maybe it had some kind of gene disorder? Because its eyes were also deep red, like an albino.

It was also not shaped like most pet bunnies. More lean and with very short fur. The tips of its ears were slightly darker. Narrow eyes kept their sight on him at all times. Combined with how it acted, the odds of it being a wild rabbit rather than a pet were pretty high. Though Tommy still thought he did the right thing by bringing it inside of it was injured.

"Are you done being a bitch?" Tommy asked it.

The bunny tilted its head slightly. Almost as if it understood him.

"Stay here and I can get you some food." Before leaving, Tommy checked the window to make sure it was properly latched. It didn't make much sense, but somehow he felt as if this particular rabbit would be able to escape through it if it really wanted to.

The bunny didn't try to bolt out the door though. It seemed to have understood the situation perfectly, using the blanket as a nest it could curl up on while watching everything Tommy did with suspicious, beady eyes.

Tommy skipped the stairs two steps at a time before running into the kitchen. His bad luck persisted because since he had finished with laundry, Phil had started to work on dinner. He was standing at the stove as Tommy entered, while Wilbur was sitting at the cooking island working on his homework.

Trying to be subtle, Tommy very quietly opened the fridge.

"We're having dinner in less than half an hour," Phil said immediately. Dang Tommy's terrible sneaking skill. He used to be better at this.

Or maybe it was because the fridge was in plain sight.

"I know," he said.

"So don't eat any snacks," Phil added, as if Tommy didn't get that's why he'd brought it up.

"Do carrots count as a snack?" Tommy asked. He was looking for the orange treats.

"Maybe?" Phil said. "You don't like vegetables though."

"Doesn't that mean you should encourage it?" Wilbur asked from the cooking island.

"Why do you only agree with him when it's to contradict me?" Phil shot at his eldest with some expiration.

"Because it's hilarious."

Using the distraction, Tommy lifted a head of lettuce out of the fridge and ran from the kitchen. Hah, fooled once again!

Back in his room, the bunny was exactly where Tommy had left it. He put the lettuce on the floor in front of it, getting only an unimpressed stare in return. After that, he hurried to the bathroom and looked around for something to hold the water. Phil had an old soap dish sitting in the cupboard beneath the sink, so Tommy quickly cleaned it up, filled it, and brought it to the bunny as well. By that point, it had moved forward to nibble on some of the lettuce leaves. Though it still seemed to glare at Tommy when he knelt in front of it.

"A little gratitude would be nice," Tommy said. The bunny flicked its ear at him.

How the hell was it this good at making Tommy feel judged?

"Look, you don't have to stick around, okay? Just long enough for your leg to get better so you're not fucking killed out there," he said. The bunny flicked its ear again, turning its nose up. Tommy frowned. "Yes, I know you already spent all night out there alone. You might not be that lucky a second time."

Right as Tommy finished that sentence, he heard somebody come up the stairs. Panicking, he picked up the blanket and threw it over the bunny again, bunching up the whole thing and shoving it into his closet before the door could open.

"Stay in there, be quiet," he hissed, hoping the bunny would understand. It definitely looked extra annoyed.

"Who are you talking to?" Wilbur asked as he opened the door. Tommy hadn't remembered to lock it when returning with the water. He turned around, pushing his back to the closet door.

"Nobody."

"Hm," Wilbur hummed but didn't press him. "Can you come down, dad wants help setting the table."

"I'll be right there," Tommy said. Wilbur squinted at him.

"Is that a lettuce?" Wilbur asked suddenly, seeing the vegetable lying in the middle of Tommy's bedroom floor.

"Yes," Tommy answered. "I got hungry."

Wilbur scoffed. "You're acting weird," he decided after a moment.

"You're acting dumb," Tommy replied.

Being a teenager, obviously that would offend Wilbur. His foster brother gasped and turned around, loudly going down the stairs again. Tommy waited a bit before exhaling and opening the closet. The bunny squinted at him from where it was peeking out of the blanket heap, looking very disgruntled.

"Be good. I can bring you some more food when I'm done." He put the lettuce next to it.

The bunny did not give much of an indication that it understood him this time. It just stared at him. So Tommy shook his head, closed the closet door again, and went downstairs.

He was going to make Tubbo do so much research into bunny care after dinner.

Techno had gotten himself into a situation.

Letting himself be caught by a human was already bad enough. Somehow he had been caught by some random kid, somebody who clearly knew next to nothing about rabbits and kept shoving him into closets. At least those other boys had sent Tommy a pet care article or two, and he hadn't tried to feed Techno any carrots.

But more than anything Techno wanted to get out of there. He couldn't shift back as long as his leg wasn't better. How did biology come up with the idea that shifters couldn't change forms when they were hurt, anyway? Cringe genes. All the previous times when Techno got injured it happened when he was human, a much more convenient shape to be stuck in.

"Stop that." Tommy picked him up suddenly, making Techno squeak in surprise. He liked it better back when the other boy was more weary of him and didn't touch him. But it was like Tommy had decided somewhere in the past three days that Techno was harmless. No matter how often Techno kicked at him. He had tried everything short of biting. And only because you shouldn't bite the hand that feeds, or whatever.

Techno read that in a book somewhere. He was starting to question the credibility of the statement.

"Were you chewing on my desk?" Tommy asked, holding Techno up to eye level. Techno stared at him.

Not his fault he was bored beyond comprehension.

"Bad, Henry. Very bad."

Techno stared harder. Being unable to talk was up there with the lack of opposable thumbs in the ranking of things he missed when in this shape. He really wished he could give Tommy a piece of his mind about the name he chose for him.

Henry was such a nerd name.

After a moment of scrutinizing him, Tommy put him down and Techno hopped back to the little nest Tommy had made for him in his closet. Every jump made him limp a bit, moving very slow not to aggravate his twisted leg. It actually hurt pretty badly. The blanket was joined by a few pillows and one of Tommy's stuffed animals. Techno decided not to chew on that one. It felt a little mean.

Despite his irritation at the situation, he did understand Tommy was trying to help him in his weird, dumb kid way. Tommy couldn't know that Techno didn't need help. He'd been surviving in the wild alone since he ran away from his foster home, which was at least four months ago.

Tommy left a water dish and a little plate with whatever food he could sneak upstairs next to the nest. Mostly veggies and fruit. Techno missed grass, but he couldn't tell Tommy that. When they were alone, Tommy locked the door and left the closet open so Techno could move around the room. Sometimes he would jump on Tommy's desk chair. It had little wheels under it, so Techno could zoom around.

One time he had managed to ride the chair into Tommy and knock him onto his ass. That was Techno's proudest achievement.

Other times, Techno would be locked in the closet and he would hear voices. Techno didn't like that. The closet was dark but not in the way his burrow was. Burrows were nice and enclosed.

"Did you figure out what to do yet?" The machine on Tommy's desk made a weird staticky noise. It had spooked Techno at first, but he had since figured out Tommy was using it to talk to his friends. The one who had just spoken was called Tubbo.

"Nope." Tommy walked over and plopped down in the chair, spinning on his axis once. "I guess I'll just set it free when it doesn't limp anymore."

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Another person asked. Ranboo.

"Why not?" Tommy asked.

"Since you've already domesticated it, its survival chances have tanked. It's used to your care now. That's how it works with wild animals."

Techno huffed and hopped back over. Tommy didn't see him because he was typing away at the machine. "You think so?"

Annoyed, Techno jumped up and into the boy's lap. He would show him a thing or two about being domesticated.

Tommy grunted when a full four pounds of rabbit hit him in the stomach. The chair rolled back and he stretched his legs on instinct, bringing up his arms to catch Techno on his lap.

"You good?" Tubbo asked from the speaker.

"Yeah," Tommy wheezed. He made a motion with his hands as if he was going to push Techno off. Techno braced himself for hitting the ground. Except, then Tommy's fingers just stayed there to stroke his fur. "I think he's already attached to me, actually. Maybe you're right and he is domesticated."

Ah, Techno was ensnared by his own hubris.

But since it was quite cozy in Tommy's lap, he decided not to move.

Techno had been doing fine out in the wild, really. He dug his own burrow, and scavenged for food. During the day he would change into a human and visit the library or the park, and at night he'd turn into a bunny to hide away and sleep. He didn't think his old foster family was searching for them (honestly, they were probably glad he had run away since all they did was scream at him constantly for doing stuff wrong anyway) and Techno stayed out of trouble except for the one time an adult asked him why he wasn't in school when it was the middle of the day.

But he'd felt strangely jumpy with nobody else around.

Techno didn't have a warren. And his social worker's attempts to place him in group homes or big families all turned out badly. He didn't get along with people, which was a little ironic considering it was the one thing a bunny shifter was supposed to be good at. He wasn't clingy or cuddly or cute the way a bunny shifter was supposed to be. Whatever family he was placed in, they always ended up disappointed when he wasn't what they'd hoped for signing up to take care of him.

Techno didn't mind having Tommy around as much as he expected. Maybe he did become a bit lonely all alone in the woods without realizing it. Cringe.

When he started to wiggle to be let down, Tommy pulled his hands away immediately. Techno landed on the ground and stretched his leg out, pleased to find it didn't hurt as much anymore. He'd probably be able to transform back in a day or two.

Techno wondered if he should do it before Tommy 'released' him.

Tommy did go through some trouble to keep him fed and stuff. The least Techno could do was reveal the truth and thank him. Maybe Tommy and he could still hang out sometime, at the playground or something. Yeah, that wouldn't be too bad. And Techno wouldn't need to be alone constantly anymore.

"I need to hit the bathroom." Tommy got up from his chair. Techno knew he was talking to his friends but he looked up anyway, watching as Tommy left the room. He didn't close the door behind him.

Techno nudged into the side of the chair, trying to get it to move. Just for fun.

Except something fell off and hit him on the head.

Techno squealed and recoiled, hind leg thumping the ground a few times. Then he heard somebody come down the hall. Faster than Tommy ever walked, with heavier footfalls too. Panicked, Techno bolted to hide beneath the bed.

"Tommy?" Wilbur opened the door wider, looking around. His brow furrowed at finding the room seemingly empty. He walked over to the desk.

Then he knelt down. Techno pinned his ears back, sitting as motionless as his small, quivering body could manage. If Wilbur saw him-

But all the teenager did was pick up the thing that had fallen on Techno's head. A pair of headphones.

"I knew that little fucker stole them," Wilbur sighed.

"Get out of my room, Wilbur!" Tommy walked back in and immediately pinned his brother with a glare.

"I was coming to check if you'd dropped out of your chair, actually." At Tommy's confused expression, Wilbur shook his head. "Never mind. You stole my headphones."

"Borrowed," Tommy corrected.

"Without asking."

Tommy shrugged, dropping down in the chair. "Yeah, maybe. Please don't tell Phil."

"I'm not- Tommy, why would I tell Phil?" Wilbur asked.

"I don't know, to fuck me over?" Tommy crossed his arms, looking down at his own legs. "It's just a pain to move."

"Phil is not going to kick you out over something that stupid," Wilbur said. "And besides, I wasn't planning to tell him anyway." He reached out to ruffle Tommy's hair. Tommy leaned into it, much like Techno had done with the petting before. "You're going to get to stay here until you grow sick of us."

Tommy cracked a small smile. "Sap."

"You started it," Wilbur accused. He headed for the door. "But seriously, don't steal my headphones again."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

After Wilbur had left, Techno crept from beneath the bed. Tommy must really like Phil and Wilbur, if he was so concerned about getting kicked out. Techno never had that with any of his foster families before. Then again, none of them had ever been anything like this one either. Maybe if they had been, he wouldn't have run away.

And Tommy would be in big trouble if Phil realized he was hiding Techno in his room.

He'd overheard Tommy say something about Phil not allowing pets while talking to his friends before. Every second he stayed, he was making things more difficult for Tommy.

"Ah, there you are!" Tommy stood up and walked over, but moved very slowly when he actually went to scoop Techno into his arms, giving the bunny a chance to refuse the affection if he wanted to. Techno allowed himself to be picked up. "Did mean ol' Wilbur scare you? Don't mind him, he's a big nerd."

Tommy carried him over to the bed and lay down. Techno settled on his chest, rubbing his chin over Tommy's shirt.

Yeah, he really was lonely. Very cringe.

"Does your leg still hurt?" Tommy asked. Techno stretched the paw behind him. He barely felt the ache. He could probably shift again quicker than expected. Maybe in just a few hours. "I'll keep you around for a couple more days to be safe," Tommy said.

More days meant a higher risk of Phil finding out.

Techno decided he should leave tonight. It'd be best for Tommy, clearly. Probably best for him too, so he didn't get any more attached.

But until then, he stayed where he was, with Tommy petting his fur and telling him about school.

Phil knew Tommy had been hiding something.

It was glaringly obvious, and in a way it was kind of adorable that Tommy thought he hadn't noticed. This wasn't Phil's first rodeo with kids. Hell, Wilbur was barely out of the annoying pre-teen 'my parents are uncool and the less they know about me the better' phase himself. Wilbur must also keep secrets, Phil knew this. As long as these secrets didn't have anything to do with criminal activity, that was fine.

Tommy was a little more complicated though.

Foster kids came with a whole set of adjusted expectations. Phil tried to do his best, to give Tommy the sort of accepting and steady environment he needed after his past experiences. To make sure Tommy didn't feel crowded or monitored all the time, but also assure Tommy knew he could come to Phil with any issues. Sometimes, Phil didn't know if he got it right.

All he did know was that Tommy couldn't be eating that many vegetables in his bedroom secretly.

He'd gone over a few possible explanations in his head, though not a lot of them seemed likely. The social worker Phil had spoken with before deciding to foster, had warned him that a foster kid might try to stockpile food, especially if a past family had withheld it from them. But there was no indication of that in Tommy's history, and out of all the things to stockpile, fruit and veggies didn't make much sense. Tommy was spending more time in his room than usual. He locked his door all the time.

Phil was mildly concerned.

After mulling it over for a while, he decided that the best course of action was to confront Tommy directly. Worst case scenario, Tommy would simply deny anything was wrong and he'd have to switch tactics. But Phil really hoped that the almost two years of staying with him had made Tommy feel safe enough to open up.

He waited until dinner. He didn't want to ambush Tommy in his room and make him anxious for no reason. Also, if Wilbur was there maybe the talk would feel less intimidating for Tommy. He'd made Tommy's favorite dish and everything, did small talk for at least ten minutes, before slowly drifting the conversation where he needed it to go.

"Tommy…" Phil put down his fork. Fuck, why was he so awkward at this sometimes. "You do know that if something is wrong, you can always tell me, right?"

Wilbur snorted a laugh at Phil's clumsy wording, helpful as ever. Tommy swallowed a mouthful of mashed potatoes. "Uh, sure?"

"And if anything important is happening in your life, good or bad, I'd like to know. So I can be there for you."

Wilbur laughed harder. Phil sighed and rubbed his face.

"I appreciate you, Phil. You're a good man." The tone of Tommy's voice indicated he was making light of it, even if it seemed sincere enough as an answer. "Your kindness is your biggest downfall though. Just thought you should know."

"Thanks," Phil said. "I know you're being a little shit but I will take the compliment."

"I'm being extremely serious," Tommy said in a very not-serious way.

"So am I," Phil answered. "And I'm not a fucking idiot, I know you are hiding something."

He definitely touched a nerve there because Tommy stopped eating, shifting around in his seat a bit. "I don't-" Tommy started then closed his mouth quickly, unsure.

"Unless it's a straight-up murder, you know I won't be mad," Phil promised. Tommy raised an eyebrow as if he didn't entirely believe him. That reaction, Phil could assume was due to past foster families.

"Told you so," Wilbur muttered and Tommy glanced at him.

"What if I broke a rule?" Tommy asked, softly.

"What rule exactly?" Phil couldn't remember citing many rules when Tommy moved in, aside from the criminal activity thing. And he really hoped that wasn't the one Tommy was talking about.

"The one about no pets…"

Phil, very calmly and definitely not freaking out on the inside, put his cutlery down. "Tommy, is there an alive animal in your room right now?"

Tommy bit his lip, peeking up at Phil through his lashes to see his reaction. "Maybe."

"Show me."

Tommy sighed and pushed his chair back, allowing Phil to follow him upstairs and into his room. Phil was trying to stay calm on the inside. He wasn't angry, honestly. Phil loved animals. The no pet thing was more so because he had a sneaking suspicion that after a couple of weeks, his kids would grow bored of taking care of the pet and then Phil would be the one dealing with all of that shit. Something he couldn't do on his current work schedule. He would hate to neglect an animal by accident. Maybe in a couple of years when he cut back on hours, they could get a dog or a cat.

When Tommy opened his bedroom door, Phil was expecting to see maybe a stray or an improvised cage for a mouse or something close to that. He couldn't really think of many animals Tommy would be able to sneak inside and keep unnoticed for long.

What Phil did not expect to see was a child.

He was a year or two older than Tommy at most. And he was sitting on the windowsill, one leg swinging over as if he was in the middle of climbing out.

"Henry?!" Tommy asked.

The boy trying to escape from the house startled, banged his head on the top of the window, and then pitched over. Thankfully, he fell into the room rather than out of the window, landing on the floor where he dazedly blinked up at them.

"Ouch," he groaned, rubbing the sore spot on his forehead. "That's not my name, by the way."

"Tommy," Phil said, smoothing down his voice from the high-pitched panic it wanted to reach. "That's a person. You said pet. Please tell me you haven't kidnapped somebody."

Oh god, kidnapping was definitely a criminal activity, wasn't it?

"I swear he was a bunny half an hour ago," Tommy said, sounding equally flabbergasted.

"You're looking at me as if you'd never seen a bunny shifter before," the boy on the floor said.

That did explain a few things. The deep red eyes and pastel pink hair, obviously. But also why Tommy would think he had brought a rabbit home. Different types of animal shifters were rarely encountered, Phil had only met a handful himself, but their existence was common knowledge. Tommy would never jump to that conclusion on his own.

"You were a guy the entire time?" Tommy asked. "That's kind of weird, dude. You slept in my closet!"

"You shoved me in there," the boy responded. "And in a cardboard box."

"I was trying to help you?!"

"What's your name?" Phil asked, knowing he needed to be the responsible adult in this situation. As fucking strange as it was to suddenly have an additional child in his house that Tommy apparently picked up in the woods.

The bunny shifter blinked at him for a moment, scrunching up his nose. He hadn't gotten up yet, seeming perfectly content where he was. "Techno," he said after a moment.

"Well, Techno. It's nice to meet you, if a bit unexpected," Phil said, doing his best to smile encouragingly. "How about you come downstairs with us and we can sort this all out. We should call your parents-"

"I don't have parents," Techno said, flipping over and sitting up. "I ran away from my foster family. They were too shouty for my tastes."

"You're a foster kid without a placement?" Tommy asked.

Techno shrugged.

"Cool! You can stay with us then."

"Wha- I did not agree to this," Phil said. This was not the sort of decision Tommy should be making on a whim.

But Tommy frowned at him, a severe expression that could rival that of a school teacher scolding a wayward student. "You only said no pets, Phil. You didn't say anything about no brothers. Besides, kicking a poor bunny out onto the streets is one thing. But a child? Think of the scandal."

"You're terrible," Phil told him. Tommy grinned at him. Techno tilted his head, but he was smiling, as if the scene unfolding before him was amusing in some way.

Phil could already tell this wasn't a battle he wasn't going to win.

"Let's go downstairs and we can sort this out," he said again.

Though he already had a sneaking suspicion that 'sorting this out' was going to end in him signing a second set of adoption papers.