[A/N: What can I say, short and sweet comfort fics are my specialty. This is a mythical AU I made, Astro is a phoenix and Ochanomizu is a manticore.]

Ochanomizu laid down on his couch, exhausted from the day. Despite being plenty prepared to bring Astro back and raise him like a normal child, it was still tiring work looking after what was essentially a toddler. A toddler who, due to what Ochan could admit as a nice design, happened to set fire to whatever he could get his hands on. Did Tenma have to give him that ability? He got the whole "reborn from the dead phoenix" theme, but combining children and fire was usually a bad idea. The kid wanted to touch everything, the Ministry acting as a playground for getting into all sorts of antics. After apologizing to a coworker for a ruined experiment, he had finally managed to get him home, then had to childproof as many cabinets as he could (the world's most advanced robot, luckily, could not figure out a simple childproof lock. Yet.).

The little robot had finally worn himself out after exploring his new home, Ochanomizu gladly tucking him into bed. Despite the tiring day, he still felt an undeniable love for the child. A few emptied fire extinguishers wouldn't change that.

For a moment he took in the peace, before realizing there was a presence near. He looked to his side to see Astro staring back at him, seemingly having stood there for a while. Ochan jumped a bit in surprise, not realizing he had even woken up. "Astro? Do you need anything?"

Astro responded by patting at Ochan's paw a bit, giving him only the vaguest idea of what he could want. He could deduce from other gestures that he wanted to get up on the couch, but was waiting for some kind of approval. "Do you… want to sleep with me?" He moved to give Astro some space and was rewarded with a happy nod, before Astro clambered up towards him.

The next five minutes consisted of Astro doing his absolute best to wiggle into a comfortable position, Ochanomizu being subject to this struggle and moving his spiny tail out of the way when necessary (despite Astro's skin being metal and therefore unpierceable.). The kid finally managed to settle himself under his arm, proceeding to grab his paw and hug it directly into his face.

"I guess you don't exactly need to breathe…" Ochanomizu carefully untangled some of the tail feathers that had been strewn around him. "Are you comfortable now?" Astro simply rubbed his cheek into Ochan's paw, answering with a quiet, "Soft." He'd take that as a yes.

He relaxed again, now accommodating for a child, idly studying the golden feathers in front of his face. They shivered for a moment, then puffed up, now radiating a soft warmth. The new heat and already exhausting day was more than enough to lure the old scientist to sleep, Ochan relieved to see Astro doing the same.

Before he fell asleep, he made a mental note to check how flammable Astro's room was, assuming the reason he came to the couch wasn't because he burned his bedsheets.