A/N: Have a little fluff for the soul, featuring Phil's Chat! - Minty
TW: Crying? (Lmk if I need to tag anything else!)
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Sunrise bled through the white curtains, slowly melting away the peaceful starry night into a new day. Creatures stirred out of their slumber, and monsters retreating back to the darkness from whence they came, a few slowly turning to ash and bust. The smell of burning flesh ran potent through the forest, a smell that meant safety to those living within, a smell they were more than used to, blind to. The ground began to warm under the sun's gaze, the cool breeze of night turning to warmth. A warm hug mother nature gave to her children, easing them away from dreamland.
Beside a window, a crib rocked slightly back and forth as a breeze blew through the room. A messy brown-haired tyke held a teddy bear protectively to his chest, sleeping soundly. The light growing brighter behind his eyes, he shifted uncomfortably. Finding no relief, a noise of annoyance rose from his throat as he buried his face into the stuffed animal.
Swiftly, hearing the distress, a few black crows landed on the windowsill overlooking the three-year-old. Some brandished shiny necklaces they wore as a badge of honor. Some were simply bare. A crow to the left of the other two put down a shiny glimmering rock from its beak down by its feet, putting the gift aside for now. Looking to the side, the left crow could see the one on the far right putting down a large chunk of a diamond before the one in the middle met its gaze. Together, all three stared down at the toddler in concern for a moment as the small human squirmed, his chest heaving in breath like he was about to cry.
The two crows looked to the right one with the badge, wondering what they should do. The right one hopped over toward the headboard of the crib, taking in the child. Then, they let out a loud call. "Caw!" The loud noises made the small human's eyes snap open to see a black crow staring down at him, cawing. "Caw! Caw!"
The other two chimed in occasionally, adding to the caw-rus. That was, until the toddler in both annoyance and a little fear clutched his teddy closer and began to cry. The two on the windowsill looked at each other in panic - something was wrong with the small human, it was crying! - and began to caw louder to draw the attention of their owner.
As the door creaked open, all crows silenced, watching their owner as he entered. Watching for any sign of what he wanted them to do. The blonde locks fell a little past his shoulders, with kind blue eyes. He approached the child, reaching his hand down and gently brushing any hair out of his son's face. "Shh, it's okay mate, everything's okay..." When the child's eyes met his father's he silenced, simply looking up at him. Phil smiled as he moved to pick him up, holding the toddler against his hip. Wilbur's grip failed on the teddy during the transition, dropping on the ground as the left-sided crow flew down to try and grab it, flapping its wings wildly to get the surprisingly heavy stuffed animal in the air. Phil let out a warm chuckle as he kneeled down to take it, the crow backing off. After the small child got settled in his arms, he raised a finger to his lips and kissed it, pressing it to his son's nose as he giggled. "There's the Wilbur I know." Phil cooed.
Turning toward the window, his crows looked on silently, wanting to help but unsure as of how. "He's okay, Chat. Wilbur's okay." The caws returned in relief at the statement, breaking the somewhat silence. The crow with the necklace flew over toward Wilbur, trying to land on Phil's shoulder before the tyke waved his arms in protest and annoyance.
"Caw!"
"Caw!" Wilbur mimicked. "Caw!"
Phil chuckled at his son's outburst, trying his best to sound stern. "Now Wil, we don't wanna try to hurt Chat, do we?"
As Wilbur turned to face his father as he talked, the crow in question changed course, landing on top of Wilbur's head with a "caw". Phil tried to hold back his laughter at it all as the door creaked once more, someone else entering the room. Their voice was warm like Phil's but soft, comforting. "So I'm guessing Wilbur's okay?"
"Yeah, just a little grumpy this morning," Phil answered.
"Mumza!" A crow chanted.
She walked further into the room, behind her husband, giving him a small peck on the cheek. "Hm, I wonder where he gets it from..." She teased. Phil turned to face his wife with a smirk, leaning over to give her a proper kiss on the lips. As Wilbur moved closer, he could see a silver glint around her neck.
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"Uhm, Wilbur..." Ranboo began as he looked up from the crafting table and out the window of their van. "Wilbur they're here again."
Wilbur sighed from his spot on the hammock, arm over his eyes. "You've gotta be joking. I told him to stop sending them!"
"Honestly? I don't think he has any control over them, they just kinda... do what they want." Ranboo shrugged.
Grumbling, frustrated, Wilbur marched out of the door of his burger van and toward the thousands of black crows lining the trees of the surrounding forest. A few brandishing those unmistakable necklaces, he knew exactly whose crows these were. He told Phil multiple times he was fine. He told Phil multiple times he didn't need a babysitter and that he wanted to change. Phil told him multiple times that he trusted him.
Ha, 'Trusted him'. He was sending in his fucking bird surveillance!
If scaring them didn't work, talking to them didn't work...
He pulled out a water bucket from his inventory, the murder of crows staring down at him as he stared up at them. "This is your final fucking warning, go away!"
Spinning he launched the water into the air as it came splashing down on top of the tree. Caws rang out amongst the forest as a few gave up and flew away, but the rest simply flapped their wings and flew a little higher, soaking wet... and mad.
"Oh Shit."
Wilbur's eyes widened as a murder of crows flew toward him as full speed, knocking him over onto the grass. Their talons caught on his skin and clothes, scratching and leaving him sore. Blinded by a sea of feathers and black, Wilbur struggled to his feet, coughing out a few feathers that landed in his mouth before finally getting his bearings, the murder traveling to settling on top of the van. After shaking himself free of feathers, guilt weighed on his heart - they were only following their owner, after all.
"Look, I'm sorry Chat. I... I didn't mean to hurt you, I... uhm..." Wilbur sighed. "I just don't like being watched, okay?" As Wilbur turned to leave, he heard the fluttering of wings and saw the crows surround his feet, one perched on his head and one on each shoulder. He mustered a bit of an awkward smile - it was strange that he was literally talking to birds. His father's birds, but still. "Thanks, Chat."
Walking off deeper into the forest, Wilbur could hear the flapping of wings behind him, and found himself smiling. Maybe it had some weird psychological effect from trying to run them off his property for almost a week straight... but his father's crows were growing on him.
They settled wherever he went as he worked collecting wood and finding some cows to bring back, the flapping always a telltale sign. One always liked settling on top of his head, and after a few hours, Wilbur allowed it. Chat was a silent presence, but not an unwelcome one to Wilbur, who didn't have many friends besides Ranboo to hang around.
As the day came to a close, he walked back toward the van. "I'm guessing I'll see you all tomorrow, then?" He got a few caws in response as the murder took off into the sky and over the horizon, back towards his father's home in the artic. One crow remained - the one perched in his brown curls. "Go on then, you'll see me tomorrow after all." Wilbur gestured toward the others. "And please learn to listen to Phil, okay? You guys could've gotten yourselves lost trying to find me."
The crow landed on Wilbur's outstretched arm, and for the first time, Wilbur could see the crow had something in its beak. A grand silver necklace with a black stone pendant, that shimmer silver in the sunset's glow. Wilbur's eyes narrowed, scanning it. "Is... Is this...?" He looked up toward the crow, who let out a caw and flew away.
Wilbur ran his finger over the pendant that he'd never seen before, and yet he felt like he'd known it his whole life.
Mom.
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General Writing Tagging List (Let me know if you'd like to be added/removed!):
No no, but in all reality, Philza's chat being comprised of all sorts of birds is a really lovely thought.
That idea that any bird, of any kind, is welcome to Phil's flock is just an idea that's so 'him'. He loves all, no matter how they look or what they are.
So naturally, he welcomed all birds with open arms.
It started with common crows that started flocking to him as he fed them breadcrumbs. They began to talk to him and he, as a bird-man, spoke back. He listened to them. He gave them a voice and kind words. He fixed those with hurt wings and gave the small ones food. He cared. In return, the crows brought him trinkets and baubles - anything to show their appreciation for the immortal who cared to listen.
But then more start coming, flocking to the man who understands what the birds say...
The vultures came with Techno, they'd just learned that the warlord spelled death, and therefore a meal for the starving birds. But when Techno fell into his hibernation as usual they were drawn to the kind man who spoke to them and treated them kindly even if they were a bit ugly and strange. The kind man who didn't let them starve. They hopped around his lawn and hung around the crows, secretly loving that they were never called 'omens' or 'scavengers'. They were just as beautiful to Philza as his crows were, and for that, the vultures loved him as fiercely as Techno. It wasn't hard to see the difference between them and the man they flocked.
Other birds hung around Phil too. The nightingales especially once Wilbur was born. They taught lullabies to the immortal as he rocked the baby to sleep. They taught the boy to love music and nature, and when Wilbur left home, so did the nightingales. The air seemed so much emptier once that aspect of the flock left.
Hummingbirds and seagulls only hung around after Philza ran into Tubbo and Tommy.
The hummingbirds had always adored Tubbo's garden and after learning Philza could hear them they were always pleased to brag of their boy and how he cared for the bees and the flowers. Post-presidency, when Tubbo couldn't garden as much, the hummingbirds seemed to mourn the death of their gardener and hummed around tiredly, begging Philza to stay in L'Manburg. They were heartbroken when the man they trusted destroyed their boy's garden. Even after all of that, when the boy retired to the chill artic, they would dart up to the north now and again, reminding Philza to keep a soft spot for the ex-president.
Tommy had always cared for the seagulls, feeding them scraps and food (continuing to do so even in exile, which would result in huge flocks of them amassing on Logstedshire's beach and swarming Dream every time he came - Dream would become very enraged with the flock. The one time he tried to kill them he had to pry a furious sobbing Tommy off of him). The seagulls became very loud as soon as they learned Phil knew what they were saying and marked him as someone they could run to. If anything happened to their boy, they'd run to the only person they know would hear and understand them. They may only be seagulls, but they came in MASSES.
Ranboo was kind to a wounded magpie on his door once and now there's a flock that never leaves. They've adopted him or something, and make sure to tell Philza all about it whenever they get the chance. They spill no secret and are just about as two-faced as their adopted boy. They're quite fond of the vultures, for some reason.
AND THEN CONSIDER -
- After Philza kills Wilbur, the nightingales hang around singing the lullabies they sang to little Wilbur, now in a much somber tone.
- The nightingales never flocked to Ghostbur, almost like they couldn't see him - they wouldn't sing to him as softly either.
- The vultures and seagulls start fighting after L'Manburg's final destruction. So much so that sometimes Philza has to separate them and fix up injured birds.
- the few hummingbirds that show up post-doomsday peck Philza once and then leave him out of spite (they returned in a few days though)
- Both the magpies and crows love shiny things and bring them to Philza on the regular. The birds seem to start having some sort of competition on how much 'shiny' they can bring to Father Phil.
- It's all fun and games until a vulture drops a bag of gold at Phil's door and now the guy is just concerned.
- When Wilbur returned, the nightingales slowly start vanishing until Philza can't see anymore in his flock. He doesn't understand why they left until Ranboo tells him.
And FINALLY:
Every time a bird shows up to whine to Phil, they have to fight through the hoard of crows that are SO DAMN TIRED of these folks ruining their Crow Father's train time in the basement.
