Summary: Tubbo ends up making Tommy fall asleep before the guards come back, Tommy hides Tubbo, like before, but they learn that they are here for Tommy this time.

Tubbo learns what happens to humans that are kept captive.

Oh and this chapter is less happy.

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Tommy's brainstorming for how to get out of here, he's been here for god knows how long, and he's tried everything, believe him. He doesn't want to be stuck in this stupid cell anymore, but the cell has nothing.

The only things are the rags, sorry excuse of a bed, the flowers, the packets of water and Tubbo. He doesn't need to worry about feeding Tubbo that much, those flowers are big and there are quite a few more.

It's been... he actually doesn't know how long it's been, he knows more than 2 days at least since Tubbo joined him in the cell. Both he and Tubbo have fallen asleep to rest and it felt like a full night's sleep. So surely it's been at least a day or 2.

Tubbo did not seem to agree with the sleeping arrangements, When it was time to sleep he'd flee from Tommy's hands that reached out to him. Tommy thought he was back to being scared, but turns out he just didn't want to be coddled by Tommy,

That brought out a laugh from Tommy and let Tubbo be. Knowing it won't be long until Tubbo comes in to sleep next to him thanks to his warmth. Now that he knows Tubbo isn't scared of him anymore, he takes to having near constant contact with Tubbo.

He read somewhere in biology and health that it's important for human kids to have contact, preferably human, when growing up. Lack of contact can develop health problems in the future... he thinks anyways, he doesn't know how true that plays with him, being a teenager. But he's definitely felt longing to have contact with someone. Yearning for affection? Approval? Anything really.

So when Tubbo came in and he touched him? Kept him warm? It's like a part of him relaxes after so long in space, alone and cold. No longer as tense as he used to be. So he guesses those health concerns were right to some degree, contact felt great, even if Tubbo isn't a human.

This may or may not have led to Tommy being a bit... much (Clingy) for Tubbo to handle, because after the first day he would not give Tubbo space. It was hard, okay? Tubbo stung him and that shit HURT. Seriously! It stung and shit, felt like a wasp sting.

His hands have these weird sharp 'knuckles' if he can call them that. That have small holes in them with a needle like rod that comes out to stab shit.

He should have guessed that something small and adorable looking would have at least one sort of defense going on. Evolution and all. Shit stung for awhile, he was laying in bed and Tubbo looked so panicked. He was able to convince the little guy that he's fine, he stung him and the pain only lasted for a couple of minutes, maybe an hour max.

He doesn't know how much went through, but he has given Tubbo more space. (Even if it is hard to not be in contact) he refuses to acknowledge that he's touch-starved, because he isn't! He's a big man, he can handle being separated from Tubbo.

No you can't, he's the only friendly face you've seen since being caught

As long as he can see his friend is safe, that's all that matters. He's been sleeping more thanks to finally relaxing with another person in the cell. And Tubbo has definitely realized this. He seems to purposely be close to Tommy when he wants to and looks annoyed when he's the one initiating contact, like he knows Tommy wants (needs) it.

Whatever may be Tubbos' reason for allowing Tommy to be so close to him, he's grateful. His nightmares and unease are fading away thanks to the near constant buzz coming from Tubbo. The constant small noise helps fight away the quietness of the cell, something he's been far too used to.

At first it was annoying, he constantly kept thinking a fly was near, before he welcomed the noise.

Now he's lying down after eating the food the guards brought in for his 'breakfast'. Tubbo still had some of that flower left from last time so he didn't need to yeet Tubbo. That was fun, though, afterwards Tubbo tackled Tommy and hit him on the chest a lot.

Kid may be small but he packs one hell of a punch, probably 'cause his hands are hooved compared to Tommy's squishy flesh.

But now Tubbo has calmed down and he's discovered Tommy's weakness. He's running his hands curiously through Tommy's hair, the gentle ruffling and movement relaxing him until he is on the edge of sleep.

Tommy hums, one that he hears Tubbo repeat back to him and he chuckles sleepily, Tubbo repeats any humming sounds he hears from Tommy. It's cute, it also makes sense considering that bees make the same sounds.

But he's an alien... so how come he has so many similarities...?

He groans quietly, startling Tubbo. "..'m too tired for this brain shit" Tubbo hums at him and continues messing with his hair, He seems to be greatly enjoying that. He needs to wash his hair.. Or just a wash in general, but with the amount of water he has it won't be enough, maybe just a quick wash for his hair, but that's about it.

And without his permission, he was lured to sleep thanks to Tubbos humming and gentle touch.

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Tommy just fell asleep.

Tubbo has never felt more triumphant than he is now.

He made a human fall asleep! Maybe not made, but messing with Tommys hair definitely was part of it. Does his hair feel? That would be weird, but not odd, other species have that too.

He's definitely.. Warmed up to Tommy, he guesses the human isn't really that bad, or scary.

He continues to gently scratch the human's head, Tubbo does not possess any nails or claws, but his attempts were rewarded with another hum and the human leaning into his touch.

He studies Tommy more, he looks... young. Is Tommy an adult? What does an adult human look like? From what he remembers, they look big, Tommy's tall but not big. He lacks the mass he's seen from the videos.

Could be a result from possible malnutrition, but he seems to be fed decently in this cell, meaning they want him healthy.

Maybe he's not getting the proper nutrition? Humans were seen to eat meat and plant matter. So omnivores. Maybe the fact it's all meat is affecting his growth? He tried giving Tommy some of the flower, the off chance humans also eat flowers but that proved him wrong when he accidentally squeezed out spores from the flower and caused Tommy to go into a sneezing fit.

It's possible that Tommy is young. Maybe even around his age. But then that begs the question of why would this young human feel responsible, or if not responsible, would WANT to bother taking care of another species that they see as a kid. Wouldn't that be harder for them?

A lot of species don't like seeing the young of others. They find them useless, or disgusting. Many species would rather see their own species, so when it comes to young species that aren't their own, they give them one glance then never acknowledge them. Huffing and looking like someone just tossed a dead carcass at them.

There are rare species that seek young, whether it's their own or outside species. That's why he idols Philza, his captain. Philza's species is 'Ivory'. They are part of the feathered species that live in tundra planets.

They were one of the early sentient species that first did space exploration a millennia ago. So when they moved to other planets, they evolved to fit those planets better.

This led to Philza becoming what is nicknamed 'Black Angel' thanks to his 4 (yes, 4) wings, painted black with diamond symbols on the tips. 2 big wings connected to his back and the other 2, while smaller, are just as massive, and are hidden underneath his bigger wings.

And because he's part of the Ivory species, he has adapted to wanting a flock, strength in numbers, young, old, does not matter. Including other species. So it was no shock when Philza scooped them up from that wasteland planet they were left to die on.

Thanks to Philza, he and Ranboo got another shot at living.

Idly, he looks down at Tommys relaxed face.

Maybe Philza is willing to take a human in too?

He can only hope everything goes well.

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Time passes on, and Tubbo gets tired of playing with Tommy's hair. So he's been walking around the cell in boredom.

Stars, if he's miserable now, he wonders how Tommy must have felt, being in here for much longer.

He hears footsteps again, faint, but growing.

Dammit, again? He doesn't think it's dinner time yet for Tommy.

He goes to quickly wake Tommy up.

"Mommy, get up, the guards are coming!" he whispers aggressively, calling him that nickname he seems to hate. Tommy groans but hardly budgets, seemingly in a deep sleep.

Tubbo debates stinging him but the guards would question Tommy's shout of pain. So he resorts to what he does to Ranboo sometimes.

He shoved him right off the bed.

He may be tiny, but he's strong to make up for it.

The human yells and barks out in surprise. Possibly cursing Tubbo out from how aggressive he speaks.

Tubbo grabs his hands, trying to get him up. "The guards are back, I don't know what they want, but it's not for dinner"

Tommy peers at him, confused before flinching when he hears how close the guards are. Not having enough time, he quickly grabs Tubbo and tosses him over the bed to the other side, so the bed blocks him from view.

Just in time too, the guards– oh that's... that's a lot more guards than usual...

"Make sure it doesn't get a chance to run out here" One of the bigger guards, probably the leader, who has 4 arms, says. They have all of staffs ready, the staffs bright with electricity.

Tommy stands to face them, taking a fighting stance, ready to fight or hold them back. Snarling and glaring, yelling Queen knows what at them.

They rush into the room the second the door opens, jumping in and out when they get close to Tommy and he lunges forward to get them to back off. Tubbo notices Tommy's stance changing. From offensive to defensive the second they tried swarming the room.

At first he thought it was because they were trying to surround him. But he quickly realized it's because Tommy's keeping them from going behind him, near the bed. Where Tubbo is hidden.

He's trying to keep Tubbo from being spotted.

When that was slowly failing and they closed in on Tommy, he does everything he can to keep their attention on him, kicking the closest one to him and staying defensive.

He accidentally kicks one of the guards close to the bed, nearly landing on it. And Tommy fucking freaks.

He starts lunging at them, and they rush him, trying to keep him still long enough for another alien to plunge a syringe into his neck. But Tommy is going through one hell of a rough time, biting, kicking, scratching. Anything and everything to make it difficult for everybody

He ducks down, to avoid being spotted but honestly, it's gruesome seeing this happening to Tommy right in front of him, he's trying to keep his anger in check. But it's hard, extremely hard when he's seeing how Tommy is fighting this many guards alone.

He hears thuds and his heart drops, thinking it was Tommy before more thuds happen and realizes that it's the guards being taken down.

He looks over and that's when Tommy collapses. One of the guards finally gets close enough to stick the needle on Tommy and he collapses, surrounded by injured and possibly dead guards.

The remaining guards breath heavily, exhausted and hurt. "Couldn't have just killed the damn thing?" One of the shorter guards asked? Looking more than ready to stab Tommy.

The leader, who is nursing an injured arm, looks down at the shorter "No, we need them for one final testing then to ship some of the animals to that tundra planet, don't know what they want with this specimen. More trouble than it's worth" He commands the remaining guards to pick up the human and transport them out.

Soon enough, they get everyone out and shut the cell behind them. Leaving Tubbo in the cell to think of the aftermath.

Tommy was trying to keep the attention on him in case they spotted Tubbo or got too close to the bed. He saw Tommy get punched, kicked, hit with the electric sticks. And yet he still did everything in his power to fight and struggle back.

If that's what he'd do to keep them from seeing Tubbo, what would he do to protect him?

He doesn't really want to think about it. Before, he was ecstatic at the idea of a human defending him, but now? Seeing how Tommy was getting overwhelmed but still fought? He'd do anything to never see Tommy that desperate again.

Time passes, he's not sure how much, but he's positive it's been a cycle. Where's Tommy? He's been waiting on the bed, expecting to see Tommy come back to the cell, but instead he sits alone.

He starts to get worried. Did they kill Tommy? He doesn't think so, they said they needed to ship him off. And that means they need him alive. Not dead.

He eats the remains of another hanging flower that he and Tommy got down yesterday. Finishing it without realizing he had zoned out in worry.

He just has to wait, there's literally nothing he can do and he hates it. Nothing for Ranboo and nothing for Tommy. He's useless.

Curling up on the bed with the covers on, he shivers, alone.

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He doesn't know how long he's been sleeping, but he wakes up when something slumps into the cell and the cell door closes with a hiss. He stays still, in case the guards are still lingering. Once he deems it safe, he quickly rips off the covers.

"Choo-mi!"

There on the ground was Tommy, looking like he went through hell and back. He was black and blue with dried blood on his hair and skin. His clothes ripped, torn and burned. Tubbo falls down next to him, checking on his face, praying that he's alive.

"Choo-mi wake up! C'mon big man... wake up... please.." His face was bruised, the area around his left eye was dark.

Fuck, he quickly checks Tommy's chest. He doesn't know much about human biology, but all recorded sentient species breathe, not always being indicated from movement of their chest, but breathing nonetheless. Only one species doesn't breathe but that's not important right now.

What's important is Tubbo feeling and seeing Tommy's chest moving up and down slowly. Stuttering in it's movements, but breathing.

The sigh of relief that came from him was immense.

His racing heart pounds in his chest, scared at the thought of losing Tommy. He rests his head on Tommy's chest, needing to feel his chest moving, so he knows Tommy is alive, injured, but alive. He also manages to hear a slow, but strong heartbeat.

He hugs Tommy's arm, desperately trying to calm himself, squeezing impossibly close to Tommy without injuring him further.

They need to get out of here, and fast.

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Notes: Stuffs not going so well for them huh? Although it's a good thing they feed Tommy a bunch of meat if this is the case. Meat = Protein. with the amount he's eaten his healing should speed up.