Archive of Our Own ^beta

Tommy was cold. 

Incredibly cold. The universe decided to make it rain the day Tommy had to go out in search of food, the task now completely abandoned in favor of seeking shelter from the heavy rain that soaked his fur, making his body heavier, which made moving even more difficult. 

Tommy was cold, hungry and tired. 

His petite body barely had energy to move, let alone warm itself. 

But that was alright, he was used to it by now. He was just used to the hunger cramps that made his body tremble, he was used to the cold streets, he was used to barely being alive. 

He hid underneath a park bench, trying to shelter himself from the cold droplets of water. The wood was old, cracked, and it leaked. Not a good shelter. He had tried hiding underneath the outside tables of a caffe, but the humans hushed him away, saying mean things to him.

Dumb humans. 

So he rested there. Trying to fall asleep to keep his energy for tomorrow. 

Bark, Bark, Bark!!

The sound woke him up immediately, and his tiny paws scrambled in an attempt to get away from the massive dog that was running his way. 

He ran, as fast as he could, finding cover underneath the roots of a tree since he was too weak to climb. 

It wasn't enough, the dog started digging, trying to reach him. Oh god, it wouldn't take much for the canine to shred him to pieces. 

Unwillingly, he let out a meow, a small cry that kittens used to call for their mother. But he was not a kitten, nor did he have a mother. His mind seemed to care less about that fact as it made him let out a string of pleas of help. 

He was going to die. 

He wanted to rest, he wanted to live. He hadn't asked to live as a stray cat, abandoned by his clowder. Only because he was strange, he hadn't asked to be born different. But that didn't stop them, and now he was five and about to die. 

He cried and cried as loudly as he could. Letting the universe know that if he had to die it wasn't going to be a quiet death. 

He scratched the muzzle that broke through the dirt, earning a yelp and a growl. A paw almost reached him and he tried to cower deeper into the tree roots. 

He could see the flashing sharp teeth almost reach him and then-

"Hey! Get out!" A deep voice yelled, apparently trying to make the feral dog go away. 

Suddenly he could hear heavy footsteps and droplets hitting into plastic. He panted heavily as the dog finally left.

"Geez, who's dog was that?" The voice whispered. 

Tommy tried to keep himself quiet, even as his body trembled and his paws wanted to give out. He couldn’t help the sound of his harsh breathing and the tiny meows that escaped him.

He saw the person kneel in front of his hiding place.

"Where is.." Tommy jumped at seeing two blue eyes staring back at him "Oh! Hullo." 

Tommy meowed, pathetically trying to scramble back.

"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you." the man said in a low voice. 

Tommy hissed in response. 

"Oh, you're a feral one, aren't you?" He chuckled to himself "It's okay kitten, I'm not going to hurt you." 

Liar. Humans were only liars. They were evil, pulling at his tail and throwing things at him for him to go away. 

Tommy hissed, clawing weakly at the air. 

"Come on kitten, standing underneath roots can't be that comfortable."

It wasn't. But it was much better than whichever place the man wanted to dump him at. 

"Come here, I don't like standing out in the rain." 

Then leave. Tommy wanted to say. 

There was a sigh. And then- a hand was reaching inside the small burrow.

Tommy meowed, hissed and cried. Trying to get away.

"Shh, shh It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you" 

The hand got closer. And Tommy bit.

"Ow!" The man grumbled, putting his hand away. 

Tommy, was fucked.

Don't bite humans. That's one of the first things he had learnt on the streets. Humans will not bite you back, they will kick and scream and throw rocks at you. They will throw you away and try to kill you. 

He shouldn't have bitten. 

But it was too late. He was going to- 

"You got those needle teeth still, huh?" The man chuckled "My bad, I shouldn't have tried to reach you, but I do need to take you away from the rain." 

Tommy meowed, high pitch and waverly, scared . 

"You'll like my place, it's warm, and I'll buy food for you on the way back." 

Tommy didn't want to go anywhere. He wanted to be left alone. He didn't want to go back into a cage, nor be fed food that made him throw up, leaving him feeling bad for days. 

The man sighed. 

"You can have a warm bath, and you can sleep in my bed, I bet you'll like the pillows."

Sleep sounded really nice … That's what he wanted, to sleep so he could search for food. 

The hand hesitated in reaching out again. But this time they just stopped, hand hovering in front of Tommy. 

"Let's go home, yes?" 

Tommy didn't have a home… 

He wanted a home, even if it was fake and temporary. 

Slowly, he reached out to the man, bopping his nose in his fingers.

The man smiled, a small thing.

"Can I reach for you now?" 

Tommy responded by leaning his head on the hand.

The man slowly shifted his hand. Grabbing Tommy by the scruff.

Tommy meowed on instinct, scrambling at being lifted up and shaking his entire body.

"Shh, shh it's alright, it's okay … You're okay now." 

The man took him out of the hole, placing him in his arms, pressing him close to a warm chest.

Tommy couldn't even remember the last time he was warm, he didn't remember it felt so good, embracing his freezing form in a pleasant way. He curled closer and the man chuckled.

"That's right, it's okay now, I got you." 

I got you . Huh, something soothing scratched at the back of his mind.

"You're so small." the man whispered "And you're soaking wet, we should hurry before you get sick, that wouldn't be good."

The man petted his wet fur softly. Tommy melted, letting the warm hands envelope him. He quickly fell asleep, ignoring his hunger cramps in favor of keeping himself close to the man's chest, lulled by the sounds of droplets hitting into plastic.

…

"Wake up kitty, you have to take a bath."

Tommy woke up to a light bouncing. 

He meowed. 

"A bath sounds nice, right?" 

The small tabby looked around, they were in a small apartment. Memories of being picked up slowly coming back to him.

He trembled, scared, meowing and clawing weakly at the man.

"It's alright, the bath is going to be nice, with warm water and everything." 

The man petted his fur, scratching up Tommy's neck, and behind his back, and the kitten completely melted.

"Oh? You like that? Is that your itchy spot?" The man laughed.

It was nice, soft, low and deep, it made the man bounce Tommy in his arms. 

"That's good to know." 

Tommy meowed in response, realizing now that they were still moving. Towards a room. It was small, with white walls and some sort of small fountain. 

The man set a metallic piece in the middle and then turned on the faucet. Tommy was really thirsty, he could use some water. 

After a few moments the water filled the sink, and Tommy was lowered into the water.

No, no! He didn’t want that!

He didn't want to be put in the water! He meowed and scratched at the air, trying to get away in fear of being drowned.

"It's alright, I promise it's okay, I made sure the water was warm but not burning hot." 

Tommy attached himself to the man's arm, using his tiny claws to stay there.

"Ow, ow, ow, that hurts." he said as he tried to pull him back from his arm. 

Tommy held on, completely terrified. 

“Alright, alright, we’ll give you a bath some other way.” he sighed.

And then he pressed Tommy back into his chest again, searching in the sink’s cabinets and taking a couple of towels. Soaking one of them, and placing him down on another one, gently bringing the soaked one and trying as best as he could to clean his matted fur. 

It reminded him of the one time his mother had groomed him, before she found out he wasn't fully a cat, that he was different. 

He let out a sad meow. 

"Aw… it's okay, we'll be over with this soon and then you can have some food. Does that sound good?" 

Food did sound good. He was starving. 

And just as promised, it wasn't long before the bath was over. He wasn't fully clean, but that was on him, the man did as he could without dunking him in the water. 

He dried him up with another towel, it was fluffy and it kept him warm. Then the man moved rooms into what he guessed was a kitchen. 

Then a small plate with flavorless canned tuna was placed on top of the corner, and the man gently dropped him next to it.

"There you go, it's all yours." 

It was so much food, all for himself! 

He didn't waste a second in digging himself into the meal, devouring bites as big as he could take them.

Tha man grabbed him by the scruff and he meowed angrily. 

"Relax, nobody is going to take it, but I worry you might choke on it, can't you eat a bit slower?" 

No! He couldn't eat a bit slower! He was hungry! He was-

Well… he wasn't that hungry anymore, the dull ache he was familiar with now gone, replaced instead with a tummy ache. Huh. He never thought he would eat so much for that to happen. 

He stopped struggling, and after that the man gave him some milk, leaving his tummy more than full. 

He meowed, letting out a small yawn. 

"You're tired?" He chuckled "You can take a little nap." 

The man cradled him again in his chest, petting his fur and scratching behind his ears.

Tommy let out a soft purr, a sound he thought he had forgotten how to make. 

"You're adorable." 

He didn't have the energy to argue back, too exhausted from the long day. 

The man took him in what he could only assume was their own room, kneeling on the mattress to take one of the pillows on the bed, placing him down on it. 

“There you go, all nice and cozy.”

He knew he shouldn’t fall asleep, he knew that would just make him impossibly vulnerable, but as he felt the hand pat at his back he found he didn’t care much, letting out a little yawn before finally closing his eyes. 

…

It was midnight when he woke up, he was cold and lonely, just as always, the only difference was that he was comfortable … which was a plus. 

Blinking his tiny eyes open he stretched, looking around, finding himself in the same bed he suddenly remembered the man putting him on. 

Speaking of the man, he was sleeping beside him, curled up in the corner of the mattress, far away from him. 

He whined.

Why was he far away? Didn’t he know Tommy was lonely?.

Slowly he climbed down the pillow, making his way next to the man, he stretched and then let himself fall down on the man’s arm, curling closer to his chest. 

The man just stirred the tiniest bit before settling back again, deep in sleep.

Tommy could finally fall asleep, warm and with the company of his clowder, he purred as sleep brought him down. 

Technoblade knew something was different the moment he woke up, feeling a heavy weight on his arm that was now numb, rubbing his eyes open to find a mess of blond curls in front of his face. 

“Wha-” he slurred out.

Then he remembered the kitten that he brought home last night, the explanation only lasting seconds before he remembered that the tiny kitten had orange fur, not blond hair, and it wasn’t nearly as big or heavy as what was in front of him. 

He tried to lift himself from the bed but there was a needy whine, and then he could feel someone hug his arm. 

He looked down, finding a small toddler curled up against him, spooned by his own body. Awareness suddenly hit him as his eyes widened. 

“What?!” 

The loud volume of his voice woke up the toddler, making him freeze up in his arms.

They both stood in silence for a second, then the toddler looked at his hands, letting a horrified gasp, shooting himself forward, away from Techno.

“Hey! Wait!” 

Then suddenly there was no child, only a tiny little tabby kitten, hurrying to escape, stopping at the edge of the bed after noticing it would be too nasty of a fall. 

“Wait!” 

He was still not fully awake to yet process the fact that a literal human toddler had turned into a cat, launching himself to the other side of the bed to scruff the tiny kitten, who started meowing and scratching at the air. 

“Shh, shhh it’s alright buddy, it’s oka.y” 

He tried to whisper at the whimpering cat.

“You- you were a child,” he said, looking over at the tiny fur ball, wondering if his sleep deprivation had finally made him start to hallucinate things “You- … what are you?” 

The cat whined, trying to free itself. 

“No, no! It’s alright! I’m not going to hurt you!” 

The kitten stopped trashing, only whimpering as it curled in itself. 

“Shh, shh I’m not going to do anything, okay? It’s alright, you’re safe.” 

He brought the kitten to his chest, cradling them on his chest, gently scratching his ears. 

“You’re fine, see? You’re okay.” 

The kitten started to purr, and it wasn’t long before the little animal shifted again, suddenly a toddler was once more over him. He was only mildly surprised this time, choosing to not stop cradling them. 

“I-I’m okay…?” they asked with a soft and unused voice.

“Yes, you are.” 

“You’re… not hurting me?” 

“No, I’m not, I won’t.” he said as he patted circles in the child’s back, gently rocking the both of them back and forth in the mattress “You’re alright.” 

"You sure…?" 

"Yes." 

"Really, really sure?" 

Techno chuckled.

"Yes, I am really, really sure. You're okay." he hummed "So- do you have a name?" 

Baby blue eyes shyly looked up to stare at him. A hesitant look before he got the faintest-

"Tommy…"

"Tommy, that's a nice name." He said, running a hand through the boy's hair "How old are you?" 

"Um… five." 

"Five? Wow, you're pretty big already." 

The toddler lighted up, nodding fiercely. 

"Mhm! I am big!" 

"Yeah, and you can- turn into a kitten?" 

The boy pouted, looking away.

"No…?" 

"No?"

He shook his head.

"Oh that can't be right, I just saw you."

"Nu-huh!" 

"Alright, alright … where's your mum?" 

The boy pouted even harder, eyes shining with tears again. 

"She… she didn't want me." 

Techno frowned.

"Why? Do you know?" 

He watched as the boy puffed his cheeks, nodding, wiping the tears that hadn't begun to fall yet.

"'cuz I'm different." 

"Oh…" 

"I … I wasn't a cat so she left me." tears finally fell from his eyes.

"Oh … I'm sorry she did that." 

The boy pressed himself closer to him, whining and whimpering. 

"Do you- do you have a place to stay then?" 

He shook his head. 

Techno hummed for a second. He had brought the kitten with him, expecting to give it a home, and if said kitten was really a tiny toddler then well- he could accommodate. 

Now the thing was- 

"Would you like to stay with me?" 

"Huh?" 

"You don't have to, of course, but I'd take care of you if you do." 

"Take care of me?" 

"Mhm, I'd give you food for your tummy, and a nice cozy bed, and give you a proper bath this time." he chuckled. 

"You would?" 

"Of course." he caressed the toddler's cheek, wiping a fleeing tear "Would you like that?"

The child thought for a second, before nodding, clinging to his shirt, and burying his face in his chest.

He chuckled, scratching the boy's scalp gently, watching him melt under his fingertips, a faint purr starting in his tiny chest as he patted his back.

Techno hadn't thought about becoming a father, certainly not by trying to bring a tiny tabby kitten to his home, but he was quite content with how things had turned out.