Chapter Text
When winter started arriving in the north Technoblade already planned to go back home south, he expected that back home cold was already creating ice paintings on the windows of their home. It would be nice if he was there before it became impossible for his horse to pass through the layers of snow. Plan was perfect, he had enough supplies that he could ride until Brick got exhausted, but while he was sitting in some inn that wasn’t important enough for Techno to know the name off he heard bartender and another man talk about this village that apparently had a very powerful shtriga that was taking the children and feeding off of the energy in the village. With one more look out of the window towards the sky that was way too cloudy for his liking, but not cloudy enough for him to rush home he asked for directions to the village and soon enough he was on his way further north.
As soon as he walked into the village he could feel the damn thing latching onto his own energy. Shtriga’s, even if their main source of food was children’s souls, unconsciously fed on all energy around them. Techno knew a shtriga that ran as far away as they could from anyone so no one would get hurt. Of course Brick could feel it too, and soon enough the horse got unsettled, causing Techno to reach down and rub a hand over his neck, shushing the horse and whispering that they will be out in no time. When he noticed a small tavern tucked away at the end of the street he slowly jumped down from the horse and cracked his back before making steady steps towards the tavern, Brick in tow walking slowly behind him. When he caught the traces shtriga messily left behind itself it only took him a day to get rid of it.
What was quite common in the kingdom was that behind every quest and a monster that was slain there was a village left with loses and families torn apart. Adventurers knew this and with time that was just another thing that happened, now the monster was no more and what happened before won’t happen again. It was usual that there would be children that were scarred by what happened and too scared to ever look Techno in the eyes when they glowed red under a boar skull that posed as a mask, which he was fine with. What he wasn’t exactly fine with was a boy with bright blue eyes that carried eye bags too deep for his age staring at him from the entrance to the stables where he was feeding Brick.
“What ya lookin’ at kid?”, he mumbled finally when it seemed that boy refused to move, intent on standing there in his ragged clothes that seemed to be falling apart. That was normal, ever since the old king became greedy there were more and more people in villages barely making it from winter to spring.
“You killed the monster”, the boy stated, climbing on top of one of the hay bales that Techno covered with his cape so he could sleep on them until tomorrow came and he was able to go home and sleep on the actual bed.
Techno just nodded, offering Brick another apple without looking at the boy: “Yes I did. Now get of my bed.”
“I can’t”, the child said once again, very determined that it was the truth, nodding quietly to himself, “I will get mugged!”
The answer caused Techno’s ears to perk up as he turned around, wondering what was stopping the boy from just hopping off his bed and back home to his parents. Except from being a complete and utter fool, but that was besides the point. Once again Techno turned, unclipping his mask with one hand, allowing the pink hair to fall all over his face, almost covering it completely, causing him to shake out his head, moving hair to their usual place. Now, finally not restricted by the mask he took in the young boy’s appearance. He was wearing ragged clothes that Techno already noticed out of the corner of his eye when the boy first entered. His legs and feet were covered with mud and dirt as well as most of his exposed skin, the boy's blonde hair was coated with mud and grime. Once again his eyes fell onto the boy’s dirty linen shirt to notice that dark brown splotches weren’t mud. It was blood and then finally his brain got caught up to speed and remembered this was the boy that he dragged out of the shtriga's lair. Villagers this far north believed that children touched by shtriga’s were cursed, Techno saw first hand, when he was just a kid hopping through portals between underworld and overworld, how cruel people can be because of the fear.
Thing that left him baffled, however, was the fact that something about his boy was different. He killed multiple shtriga’s over his years, leaving behind empty lairs set ablaze, quite often there were left ‘cursed children’ behind him. He never cared, even if it was cold to say he couldn’t save and protect every kid, his job was to kill the monster and take his reward before continuing his travel. So why did the fact that this loud child would probably end up dying anger him so much? Years later he will know that it was the pride and determination filling the boy’s eyes, making him fill out the room even if he was barely passing Techno’s waist.
“Is that so?”, Techno hummed, leaning against Brick and looking down at the boy sitting on his cape.
“YEAH! Priest said that I’m doomed or something. I think that’s bullshit!”, the boy spread his arms, explaining his case, with a pout on his lips and his shoulders just sagged in that childish way Techno often saw on children when his tales of adventure didn’t end quite as epic as they thought.
It wasn’t that the priest was entirely wrong. Shtriga’s fed on a child's soul, literal life essence, often children who were touched by shtriga didn’t live long or lived forever scarred. But this boy wasn’t like that. Despite seeing his parents die trying to protect him from shtriga (as local’s told Techno when he first arrived) and having a shtriga try to take away his life essence he still looked alive, with wonder in his eyes, even if it was coated with hate and anger. Maybe that’s what drew Techno to want to help the kid. He knew those eyes, saw them in the mirror almost every time he looked at himself growing up.
Slowly Techno moved away from his horse, planting himself on the floor in front of the hay bales and crossing his legs: “I don’t think I can help you with being mugged kid, I have to leave tomorrow, you know?”
“You will take me with you! AND I’M NOT A KID, I'M A BIG MAN!”, the speed at which the child answered caught Techno off guard, as well as the whole statement.
“No I won’t, I don’t have time to take care of a kid”, he answered just as fast, one hand covering his right ear, since he wasn’t expecting the kid to start yelling.
“They will stab me if you leave me”, it seemed as if the boy already had this planned out. In later years when the kid has grown it will be apparent that he had.
Techno leaned forward with a hand resting on his leg to place his chin in it before looking at the boy: “How is that my problem, exactly?”
For a moment the boy seemed to be in thought, looking around, before snapping his head to look at Techno: “I will haunt you, bitch!”
And that was all it took for Techno to burst out laughing, with his body doubled forward and arms hugging his stomach as the laughter and complaints from the young boy filled the room around them. Techno didn’t laugh all that often when he wasn’t home, but when he did it was full and able to fill out the room in an instant. The boy would be well loved back home for being able to make Techno laugh as hard as he is.
“Well we can’t have an annoyin' child hauntin' me, now can we?”, Techno said between the huffs as he finally collected himself.
“I’M NOT A CHILD!”, once again the boy yelled, kicking his legs, which only seemed to deepen Techno’s point, but he decided to keep that to himself.
“Well ya haven’t told me what’s your name. I’m not a mind reader, child”, Techno casually said, reaching over to one of his bags to get his hairbrush.
The boy sitting across from him looked at him confused, before realization and embarrassment settled in, red tinting the boy’s face and making him light up just slightly, with his eyes darting away: “‘m Tommy.”
“Tommy, huh?”, Techno looked at him, and yeah, he could see that. Childish name for a childish boy, it fit very well: “Naaah, I like the ‘child’ better, fits you nicely.”
“OH YOU BITCH IMMA STAB YOU IN YOUR SLEEP!”, suddenly the boy was on his feet, jumping around Techno, which didn’t really mean much to the man as he unbraided his hair slowly, allowing it to fall around him, leaving a slight ache in his scalp from how tight it was braided so that it wouldn’t get him killed.
While Tommy was jumping and ranting, threatening Techno that he would do this and that Techno was calmly brushing long hair, looking at him with amusement occasionally when he would say something that Techno would consider questionable, but other than that he just let him wear himself out. He didn’t even realize that he made a decision about what he will do with the boy long before he even properly thought about it. It didn’t exactly hit him that he planned to take the blonde haired child with him before he saw the tired boy curl up in the corner of the stable, on the very edge of where Techno’s cape was covering the hay bales. Before Techno had the time to blow out the candle that was lighting up the stable the boy was out, hugging the cape close to himself. As he watched the boy just make himself comfortable he shook his head disapprovingly, but still settled next to the boy when his hair was braided in a much looser and more comfortable braid.
Thing was, ‘touching’ wasn’t Techno’s biggest forte, but something in his mind was nagging him that the boy would freeze for some reason, even though he seemed to be fine. Could just be pigling genes, he could get easily protective over some people at times, especially when it was way too cold for someone to be anywhere in the overworld. Techno decided to settle on the other end of the makeshift bed, pulling one of his shirts to cover Tommy, just so his mind would stop nagging him that he should do it. With good distance between them, that assured him the child won’t actually stab him in his sleep, Techno finally relaxed enough to blow out the candle and drift to sleep.
In the morning he woke up to see Tommy cling to his shirt in search for warmth and safety, making the white shirt a slight shade of grey from dirt rubbing off of his face. By the time Tommy woke up, wrapped up entirely in the cape, Techno was already up, saddling Brick without seeming to pay any attention to Tommy, which wasn’t exactly true, but the young boy didn’t know better probably. Techno noticed that the boy was awake, but he decided to give him a little bit of time to wake up and actually come to before talking to him. Thing was that the boy didn’t seem to be able to shut up and soon he was up on his feet, lightly bouncing on them.
“THAT WAS THE BEST SLEEP I’VE HAD IN WEEKS”, probably because shtriga’s would feed on energy even if they weren’t trying to, but Tommy probably didn’t know that as he yelled.
“Yeah well that’s because ya hogged the whole cape you little racoon”, Techno shot back, with no real venom in his voice, strapping the saddle onto the Brick better and checking over them to make sure they were tight enough.
“That’s because I’m strong!”, the boy beamed climbing onto one of the stable walls, “You know what Big… wait what’s your name? You haven’t told me your name.”
For a moment it pressed into Techno’s mind that he could just leave the child, because logically he had no reason to take him. He won’t be able to do anything and if he would be he knows nothing about Techno, but he was often told that he was an impulsive bastard: “Technoblade.”
Tommy nodded along, seeming to be in thought with a small pout: “That’s too long, I’ll call you Big T. It’s better.”
“Eeeh? That’s so lame, please don’t.”, Techno turned around with a playfully hurt expression that barely hid a smile.
“WHAT ARE YOU CALLING LAME IT’S EPIC!”, Tommy jumped, tugging on his shirt and Techno honestly questioned the bravery this child possessed. Well bravery or stupidity anyways.
“Suuure thing pal”, Tommy was met with the skeptical answer, but it didn’t seem to phase the boy too much.
Techno slowly lowered to get his cape from now ruined pile of hay, with swift movements he shook the pieces that stuck to the velvet cape before wrapping the cape around his shoulders, clipping it on, and once again taking his appearance of all powerful adventurer. Finally he looked back at Tommy who was busy making faces at Brick, casting horse to huff at him in anger. Because of course he did. The moment the boy noticed he had older’s eyes on him his attention shifted with a huge smile covering his face.
“Which way are we headed Big T!?”
It took a few moments for Techno to decide. He knew that he should leave the boy in his village, but before he could tell him no he looked towards his home, whispering under his breath: “We’re going south.”
South they went, it took some managing and a lot of mental strain on Techno since he had to make sure the boy won’t freeze the moment they start getting close to their destination, but he couldn’t really stop at the Capital, where it was still warm (too warm in his opinion), because the wind was already carrying the cold air from the South, which usually meant that it won’t take long for roads to be completely covered, cutting off everyone who lived there.
In the end Tommy was sitting between Techno and Brick, wrapped up in one of Techno’s spare linen shirts, with a blanket wrapped around him. For caution Techno wrapped them both in his cape and they made their way closer and closer to the South, only taking necessary breaks that would be needed for food and for Brick to rest for an hour or two. Usually Techno would spend that hour with a sleeping boy curled up against him as he dozed off wherever they found shelter. It was good that Tommy seemed to grasp the fact that he needed to be a little bit quieter as they moved through the woods, since Techno explained that he can’t risk getting into a fight with anyone, or anything for that matter, so the boy spent most time just napping or babbling about one thing or the other from under the blanket, with Techno only giving affirming humms.
And even though the trip wasn’t all that horrible, all things considered, when he saw the small village around midnight smile that spread over his face couldn’t be contained and he made Brick go just a tiny bit faster than he was, but not enough to alarm Tommy.
“Not to alarm you big man, but we just passed by a village and I’m not sure I like this. I will freeze if we don’t get somewhere warm!”, the boy, reminding Techno that he was still a child, whined and turned to look at him.
“Quit complaining, we will be there soon”, Techno assured, running a hand over his head, which caused the boy to lean in. Thing Techno learned over the past week about traveling with a kid was that he got calmed down by physical touch, but he wouldn’t admit it, and neither would Techno.
“If you were as cold as I was you would be complaining too!”, Tommy moved around, which only caused Techno to attempt to once again wrap him up in a blanket, so the boy wouldn’t actually freeze, even Techno in his layers of clothing, crafted specifically to keep him warm in these conditions, could feel the cold biting his gloved fingers.
It was good that tuning things out came easy to him, so while Tommy continued to yell and complain he steadily led Brick through the shortcut in the forest. Then finally, he saw it, through the snow and slight mist that was falling he still saw the glow in the distance.
As they inched closer he could see it clearly as if the darkness wasn’t almost swallowing it. Small two floor house with an attic was sitting with only slight layers of snow around it, he knew that it got cleared out before the doors were locked. First layer of the house, the one where the bar was, was made of brick that was never covered, it was chipping at places but nothing to worry about. Around the inn there were various things, from broken chairs to barrels, and even some clothing on the line that was probably forgotten in a hurry to get away from the cold. Second layer and attic were somewhat neater, with white walls that were starting to get a greyish tint. Only thing throwing light onto the old stone that made up the walls was a lantern that was hung on the front porch. The roof was almost new, even though it couldn’t be seen, they fixed it that summer, but walls couldn’t be painted as paint would fail to dry in time, so they left it for some warmer days. The smoke that came out of one of the old chimneys assured him that once they get inside they would finally warm up. With a smile he steered Brick towards the stable that was tucked away, Tommy still too caught up in his rambling to notice they had arrived, not until Techno put Brick into one of the stalls and took off everything that was covering the horse. He was lucky that stables were always ready for newcomers, since he didn’t want to have to do it with a shivering kid on his hip. One handed he covered Brick with a blanket, whispering a soft thank you to the tired horse before walking out, covering Tommy in his entirety with his cape.
“Why is it so cold?”, Tommy asked once again, sticking closer to take in some warmth.
“Because Endlantis is just a three day trip away from here”, Techno patiently explained, keeping his cool with the kid, who asked the same question every few hours, only this time Techno actually had an answer.
With several long strides they made it through the snow and to the front porch and Techno knocked on the locked doors, which caused Tommy to finally perk up at the warmth house was radiating: “Where are we?”
It only took Techno a moment to answer, as he heard the steps coming down the stairs: “Home.”
And then an old wooden door opened to show a blonde man with shoulder length hair and a soft, relieved smile draped over his lips with a green robe tightly wrapped around him to shield him from the cold, he moved a candle to throw more light on their faces before smiling even wider as he took in their faces: “Welcome to the Angel’s Inn.”