Chapter Text
Techno has been to many different foster homes over the years. And honestly, he’s not sure if he’s ever going to be adopted. Techno isn’t a typical bunny hybrid. He’s not timid and he’s not skittish. He hates when people touch him without permission, especially his ears. He cannot understand why everyone thinks it’s okay to touch him without asking. He used to have long hair once, but people kept touching it. So, in a fit of rage and anxiety, he cut it off. His foster parents were furious after that. he got kicked out for that. They claimed that he was too “troublesome”. And that’s why he’s in the back of the car of his social care worker. Techno was heading to the Craft house, a foster family with two kids. One was biological and the other kid was a foster kid like him. He sighs and bonks his head lightly on the car window in frustration.
“We’ll be there in 30 minutes. I’m sure you’ll love it here Techno. They live in a forest area and they’re a lovely family.” Clara tells him after hearing his head hit the window.
“That’s what you said about the Richardson’s,” Techno deadpans.
“…I know kiddo. I am so sorry about that last home, I cannot stress that enough.” Clara replies in a soft voice.
“Please let me know if anything goes wrong and I will come get you. No questions asked.”
Techno grunts in response and watches the trees whiz by. His ears perked at the sight of the forest, his red eyes wide in excitement. he unzips his backpack and pulls out a book to read for the next 30 minutes. Techno hums softly as he reads Lord of the Rings, the radio becoming a soft buzz as he focuses on imagining the world that Tolkien had created many years ago. He becomes completely immersed in the book and doesn’t notice when the car pulls into a driveway.
“Techno? We’re here hun.” Clara gently nudges his knee with her fingers.
“Huh?” Techno snaps out of his reading daydream. He shakes his head to clear it from his thoughts.
“We’re here, Techno,” Clara repeats gently. He nods in response and grabs his backpack. he clutches the thick book to his chest as he opens the car door.
He stares at the two-story house in awe. Techno admires it. Not because it looks fancy or anything. It looks lived in with a baseball bat and glove lying in the yard. His white ears perk up as he walks to the car trunk to grab his duffle bag from Clara.
“I’ve got that Miss Clara.” He says while grabbing the strap.
“Okay,” she replies, knowing he prefers to handle his belongings. He walks up to the house, his tail twitching in slight excitement. He has a good feeling for this new home. Techno is glad to see the dirt on the steps of the porch. That means the foster parents don’t mind a bit of dirt. Techno waits for Clara to walk onto the porch before knocking on the door. He bounces lightly on his heels as he hears someone walking to the door. The door swings open to reveal a very tall teenager.
“Hello! My father is in the garden, I’ll take you to them.” His voice was surprisingly deep. He steps onto the porch barefoot and leads them around the house.
“My name is Wilbur, what’s your name?” The teenager asks in his soothing voice.
“It’s Techno.” was the immediate reply as they approached a wooden gate's front.
“Nice to meet you, Techno. Give me one moment, we adopted a puppy recently and she’s hyper.” He peers over the tall fence before opening the gate.
“Mom, Dad! Techno’s here.” he steps in first and allows them into the yard. Techno anxiously glances around for the puppy that Wilbur has mentioned but doesn’t see it and relaxes. His red eyes drift over to a man kneeling in the dirt pulling up weeds. He wipes the sweat off his brow, stands up, and walks in their direction.
“Welcome to our land! My name is Philza but you can call me Phil.” he extends his hand in a greeting to Techno. Techno hesitates as he slowly extends one of his hands to shake. Techno feels the dirt and callouses on his fingers.
“My name is Techno.” He replies in a polite voice. “thank you for allowing me to stay.”
“My wife is at work at the moment, but she’ll be here around 10 p.m.” He says in a calm voice. Techno’s red eyes stare into the man’s blue eyes for a brief moment before he decides to look at the flower bed.
“We can go into the house and discuss paperwork,” Phil says to Clara and the adults leave the two teens standing in the garden.
“By the way, what kind of rabbit hybrid are you?” Wilbur asks in a curious voice. Techno blinks in surprise.
“Oh, um. I’m a Flemish.” Techno says proudly. “I’m gonna be tall when I grow up.”
“That’s cool. I don’t think I’ve ever met a Flemish rabbit hybrid before.” He smiles warmly and brushes his dark brown curls out of his eyes.
“I need a haircut.” He huffs. Techno studies Wilbur, trying to see what hybrid he is. He notices faint lines on his throat and realizes there are scales on the sides of his throat. Wilbur notices this and smiles.
“I’m a siren hybrid, like my dad. We usually have our wings out since we’re out on dry land but I decided to be lazy and not have them out.” Techno’s eyes widen.
“I didn’t know sirens had wings!” Wilbur smiles at Techno’s excitement.
“Not all of them do. My dad and I got lucky in that department. You see, depending on which sirens you’re descended from, dictates if you get wings. My dad is a descendant of the sirens that chose to adapt to the land and sea.” He explains in a calm voice.
“By the way, why don’t you come inside? I can show you to your room so you can unpack.” Wilbur gestures to the glass sliding door. Techno nods and follows the teen into the house. the air conditioning felt nice and cool to Techno’s warm face.
Wilbur guides him through the house to the staircase. The steps were a dark brown wood and it creaked as they walked up them. Techno glances at the pictures on the tan wall. He saw Phil and Wilbur in a couple, along with a tall woman with long black hair. And a small kid with blonde hair and blue eyes.
“That’s Tommy. He’s a foster kid like you.” Wilbur says after noticing Techno’s stare at the family photo.
“He looks just like Philza” Techno murmurs.
“Well.. he’s my cousin. His mom was Phil’s sister. She did stupid shit and Tommy got placed into foster care. He was trapped for a while in a bad home before Dad found out Tommy was in foster care. and applied to become his foster parent.” Wilbur sighs. Techno tilts his head curiously as they climb to the top of the stairs.
“But why wasn’t Tommy placed into their care sooner? The foster system usually places the child with the next of kin before random people if that’s an option..” Techo scratches his ear and realizes he just asked a rather personal question.
“Um! I don’t mean to pry and you don’t have to tell me,” he adds nervously.
“Ah… Well, Phil’s father disowned his sister, for reasons I will not say. So she changed her name and moved out of the country. My Dad was in the military at the time. So he didn’t know anything until he came home on a break. My mom waited until my dad got home before deciding because she didn’t want to overstep any boundaries.” He explains.
“Ah, okay.” Techno was surprised that Wilbur willingly told him all that.
“I’m just telling you this now so that Dad or Mom don’t have to. It’s not a secret. Tommy doesn’t like talking about it either.” He brushes his hair out of his purple eyes with an annoyed look.
“This is my room.” Wilbur points to the yellow door with guitar stickers on the front.
“And that’s Tommy’s, the one with a red door and paw print stickers.” Techno nods, noting the dark red door with mismatching paw print stickers.
“I’m guessing Roxy is with Tommy then, or she would’ve barked her head off.” Wilbur huffs in amusement as they walk further down the hall.
“Is that the puppy you mentioned earlier?” Techno asks curiously as Wilbur stops outside a white door.
“Yep! She’s a spunky little thing. She’s a Pryaneese great dane mix that Tommy picked out from the shelter. She’s a companion to Tommy and a guard dog in training. We do have two other dogs but they’re at the vet for now.” Wilbur opens the white door.
“This is your room. The dark brown door is Phil’s office and the purple door is my parents’ bedroom.” Techno nods and walks into his room.
His ears perk up as he examines the room. The walls were a soft green with brown curtains covering the windows. there was a desk by the window with a red and black gaming chair. The bed was twin-sized with a metal frame, with black sheets. There was a dark brown nightstand with a desk lamp on it.
“My parents weren’t sure what your favorite colors were, so they picked black for you to start with for now. They’ll take you shopping later this week if you need anything.”
Techno carefully places his duffle bag and backpack on the bed. he places his Lord of the Rings book onto the nightstand so he can read when he is done unpacking. He unzips his duffle bag and begins to unpack. He loses track of time as he carefully puts away his things in the drawers and hangs up some of his clothes. Techno unzips his backpack and pulls out his stuffed pig and favorite blanket onto the bed. His ears perk up as someone knocks on his door.
“Come in,” Techno replies. the door opens and Phil is standing there.
“Hey, I just wanted to let you know that Clara just left. Dinner will done in an hour.” He smiles kindly.
“Oh, okay.” He fidgets with his hoodie sleeves.
“I’ll be in the kitchen downstairs if you need anything,” Phil says softly and leaves.
Techno hops onto his bed and picks up his book from the nightstand. He plops his head onto his pillow and begins to read where he left off.