Chapter Text
Techno sat on the couch, idly flipping through a collection of Greek Myths.
Phil had told him the other people from yesterday were coming to visit and okay so he was maybe a teeny bit stressed about it but no, he was reading his book, the perfect image of calm. Phil assured him that they were his friends too so now Techno could instead be stressed about somehow ruining future him's friendships and he was going to lose all of his friends even though he didn't even know any of them yet and-
Okay no. He was calm. Book. Yes. Mmm.
He went back to his book, reading about a poem of how Nyx had defended Hypnos, one of her many children from Zeus after he pulled a prank. The distraction didn't last long as he sensed someone approach their cabin.
Stranger? - Tall person - Get ready- Seems friendly
Techno flipped to the next page. Maybe it was a travelling salesmen. Or someone trying to talk about their religion, they must be pretty dedicated to show up here at what was basically an isolated snowy hideout. The stranger stopped by their door, and started pacing outside, muttering to themself. Well, nothing to do with him, surely.
Fight the stranger - Say hello - Open the door - Tell the angel
This went on for nearly five minutes before Techno gave up on his book, nudging Phil lightly from the sewing project he was working on. Phil glanced up curiously as Techno glared at the door.
Phil looked over at the door, and snorted. He put his project aside, walking over to pull open the door before crossing his arms. "Mate."
The person outside, the taller one from Techno's brief memory yesterday, looked up in surprise. "Hey Phil, fancy seeing you here."
Phil facepalmed, and stepped aside to let them into the cabin. "Just get in here, I invited you here man, you're literally in front of my house."
They laughed nervously . "I was just going to wait for Niki, I can wait here."
Niki, Techno assumed, poked her head out from behind Ranboo.
"Am I late? I couldn't find the baking soda for a bit but, oh! Hello there." Niki rambled before spotting Techno.
He put down his book properly, pushing himself off the couch to land on the floor. Techno felt awfully exposed right now, with everyone staring at him so he just looked at the ground.
Phil quickly stepped in before the silence could sit too long.
"Come on in! Techno, this is Niki. Do you remember her from yesterday?" Phil introduced excitedly.
Techno looked up at the pink haired girl. She was the one who tried to grab him. Niki waved with a small smile and Techno took a step closer to Phil.
"Hi Niki." He offered awkwardly.
Niki's smile grew. "It's good to meet you properly Techno. I brought some ingredients so we could make some cupcakes if you'll like?"
Techno's eyes widened. That sounded sweet and sweet things were always good.
Cupcakes are good- Yummy sweet treats - A ploy to gain your trust - Maybe it's poisoned - Make chocolate ones!
Phil gestured to the taller stranger who was staring at Techno curiously. "That's Ranboo. They actually live within the commune too but their house is by the mountain."
"I uh- ahaha it's just strange to actually see him like this, oh wow, you're like, really small huh." Ranboo rambled on, filling the silence.
Techno turned to Phil immediately. "I don't like this one."
Phil snorted as Ranboo quickly backtracked on his words. "Nononono, I just uh, that wasn't like a- you're just very different from usual but like, its urm- I BROUGHT GIFTS."
They searched through their inventory before pulling out a small set of books. Books actually made for kids.
Techno eyed them critically for a second before nodding. "I suppose you can stay." Most of Phil's books were boring, even the Greek Myths book he had was apparently one Phil had picked up from his adult self.
Phil shook his head exasperatedly before turning towards the bedroom. "Alright, you guys tire yourselves out or something, I'm taking a nap."
Meanwhile, Ranboo stared at the ceiling mournfully. "I can't believe I'm being extorted by a child."
Niki ignored them so Techno assumed this was either normal behaviour, or at least within expectations for Ranboo. She clapped her hands together.
"So Techno, what would you like to do? We can make cupcakes, or you can keep reading or we can just hang out and talk as well." She offered.
Techno considered his options. Honestly he wanted to see if he could convince them to go find Steve again right away but that wasn't an option they had offered and cupcakes... He nodded to himself.
"Wanna make cupcakes." Techno replied.
Niki's smile grew as she dragged them both towards the kitchen counter. She pulled out a large bowl to place in the middle and began weighing out ingredients while Techno watched attentively, his tail swinging lightly behind him.
Niki handed him an egg.
"Just hit it against the counter gently to crack it and you can pull the shell apart." She demonstrated with her own egg, hitting it against the table. She tipped the raw egg into the big bowl. "We can pick out any shells that fall in so don't worry about it."
Techno nodded seriously. He lifted his egg and knocked it against the counter gently. The shell sat full and unblemished. He tried again, just a little harder and a crack appeared. He lifted the egg over the bowl and poked his claw through to pull the egg shell apart the way Niki had, a perfect yolk falling into the center of the bowl. He glanced up at Niki, a small smirk at the mildly impressed look on her face. She giggled and nudged him playfully.
Niki whisked the eggs together quickly after that, even letting Techno try for a moment before she took over. Once the eggs looked more like clouds than food, Techno added the flour, butter and milk that Niki handed over to him. It was almost calming, there was no expectations of Techno to start a conversation, and Niki was never overbearing either. Soon, the batter looked like a sludgy goop. He frowned at it, but Niki assured him that this was what it was meant to look like-
"Found it!"
Niki and Techno both turned to Ranboo, who had their head in one of the taller cabinets. They had been digging through Phil's kitchen for a while now, opening and closing doors. They blushed, pulling out a small bag.
"I found some chocolates?" They offered into the silence.
Niki laughed.
Techno wiped his hands on his pants and raised a hand towards Ranboo making a grabbing motion. "That's important too, it needs to go in the goo."
"Oh yeah, that's um. Good. Yeah, sure." Ranboo joined them at the kitchen table, handing the bag to Techno. "Into the goo."
Techno poured the bag of chocolates in. "Into the goo." He repeated solemnly.
With everything mixed again, Niki helped pour the mixture into smaller cups before moving them into the oven. Techno stood in front of the oven, staring at the goop intensely. Would they bubble like lava or maybe become massive? Cakes are usually big right? He could feel both Niki and Ranboo glancing at him as the silence settled again.
"Techno." Niki started saying as Techno braced himself for more questions. "I'll need to watch the oven to make sure these don't burn but you could go play with Ranboo or even continue your book."
Oh. He glanced back at Ranboo, who waved like they haven't been baking together for half an hour and Techno would have forgotten who they were.
Read more myths! - Visit Steve - Explore your cabin for more clues - We could go hunting- Maybe Ranboo would want to spar
Visiting Steve sounded nice. Besides, Ranboo seemed like someone who couldn't say no.
"Can we hang out with Steve?"
Ranboo blinked at Niki, who just shrugged. Phil had not left them enough instructions for this. Bringing the very small and probably slightly traumatised child to meet a polar bear sounds like a bad idea though.
"Um- I mean, hey uh, did you know you have dogs? We could go see your dogs instead, how about that?" Ranboo offered.
Ranboo was not great at redirecting, Techno decided. But well, Techno did like dogs too he supposed. Damn it, its working on him. He nodded with pursed lips. "Wanna see dogs." He would sneak out to find Steve another time.
Niki waved them off, sitting back at the table with a cup of tea.
Ranboo dug through their inventory and it took a second before they pulled out a kid-sized jacket triumphantly. Techno looked at it curiously before holding an arm out. It was probably for him right? It wouldn't fit Ranboo or Niki, he was pretty sure.
Ranboo moved so naturally that before he even had time to complain, Ranboo had knelt down to button him up into the jacket securely. They even grabbed tiny gloves, strangely hoof-fitting to slot onto his hands. With a well practiced swoop, they lifted him up into their arms and stood back up.
Techno froze. Ranboo froze. Niki stared at them unblinkingly.
Ranboo had an arm wrapped around Techno but they immediately brought their other hand up, smacking against their face lightly to cover their eyes, like if they couldn't see Techno, they could avoid the reality of the situation.
"I- that was a force of habit, oh my god um- I should have asked- I mean. I- Niki help???" Ranboo yelled out towards Niki, still looking anywhere but at the child in their arm.
Techno snorted. It wasn't the first time people tried manhandling him but it's definitely was the first time someone did, and then immediately began panicking. Well, Techno let Phil carry him so maybe it's fine. He wanted to see the dogs. His dogs! "We're going to see dogs." He reminded Ranboo, tapping on their shoulder lightly.
"Right. Yes. Dogs, um, ahaha." Ranboo stood up straighter. "Alright then, let's go!"
It was surprisingly peaceful as they stepped out into a slightly warmer afternoon, or perhaps being better dressed actually helped with dealing with the cold? Nah, didn't sound possible, Techno joked to the voices. He could hear soft barks coming from a large shelter nearby but even the sounds of the dogs were slightly muted by the thick layer of snow that laid around them, a crisp fluttering of the wind pulling the smell of the spruce forest around them closer.
Ranboo did say dogs so maybe he had a couple of them? That definitely sounded like at least 3 dogs.
Techno stared at the carpet of white in the shelter as they approached.
That's a lot of dogs - Fluffy!! - Are they friendly? - They're all so white awww
Ranboo gestured towards the army of dogs cheerfully. "Tadaa. They're very well trained, although you have also on many occasions called them and I quote 'spoilt brats who keep stealing my socks'."
Techno looked down at his own feet and nodded after a moment. "They can have them, my hooves will survive."
Ranboo snickered. "Yeah, big you's a softie too."
"Bruh." Techno complained.
Ranboo stepped over the gates of the shelter easily but paused as the dogs gathered around them. The nearest dogs were standing on their back legs, pawing towards Techno excitedly. Techno tensed at the flurry of activity, his grip around Ranboo's neck tightening. Ranboo moved to let Techno down but he simply pulled his hooves up higher towards himself and away from the mass of paws and claws that seemed intent to get to him.
"Uh oh. Hey, hey, It's okay, we could go back to Phil's if you'll like?" Ranboo offered, using their other arm as a temporary shield from the puppies.
Techno scrunched up his face. He wasn't a quitter alright, this was just a lot of dogs. Who all seemed very intent to be in his personal space.
Something cold touched his leg. Techno glanced down to see one of the dogs had somehow jumped high enough to just barely touch a hoof with a wet snout. He snorted softly and stretched out the same hoof towards the ground and immediately his leg was smothered in wet snouts and puppy slobber. He pulled his leg back towards himself with a laugh. Ranboo grinned and with an arm still held up to keep most of the dogs at bay, they bent down to let Techno go free.
Immediately a couple of wet snouts that got past Ranboo pushed into his sides gently, yelps and whines circling Techno as they begged for attention and love and all the pets in the world. More and more dogs were getting through the Wall that was Ranboo, a couple of the puppies immediately taking the opportunity to stand and lick Techno's face. He laughed, pushing them away lightly in disgust. They were much wetter than Steve, although he supposed there were a lot more of them. With the way they surrounded him, it almost felt like he was holding steak or something.
Techno took a big step towards the fence and immediately, the dogs moved to encircle him again.
Techno blinked and took a few more steps to the left. The dogs easily avoided where he was stepping and the minute he stopped, they surrounded him again.
He grinned and ran to the other end of the shelter. The dogs rushed behind him excitedly, chasing him like the world's worst game of tag. Techno didn't stop, continuing around the square shelter as he was chased by what felt like at least 40 dogs. They never ran directly under his feet, instead weaving seamlessly by his side like they had done it a thousand times before. With a grin, Techno skidded to a stop. He spun around to take off in a different direction but before he could, he was tackled by one of the dogs, directly into his chest.
Techno yelled as he caught the puppy, falling backwards and landing heavily on his back. Immediately he was almost hidden within the army of dogs.
Ranboo barked out a laugh, walking over to offer him a hand back up. As they approach, Techno didn't move or react. Ranboo moved a little faster.
"Techno...?"