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Technoblade didn’t like parties, or crowds of people, or people in general. He much preferred a quiet house to the loud one that he currently sat in. Techno was perfectly happy to celebrate Christmas with just his family, they’d sit and watch a movie or something and that was all Techno needed.
His older brother, however, had very different opinions. In fact, Wilbur was currently throwing a very loud, very not wanted party downstairs. Which is why Techno was hiding upstairs in his room, using headphones to play music in order to try and drown out the extra noise.
It wasn’t working very well, so that was a bummer.
He wanted to go into Tommy’s room, he wanted to sit on his brother’s bed as Tommy played minecraft or something of the sort. Techno just needed someone to ground him to reality, to distract him from the feelings in his chest, the thoughts in his head, and the loud noises coming from downstairs.
But Tommy wasn’t even home, he was at Tubbo’s house, having his own party. Techno was positive that Tommy’s party wasn’t anywhere near as bad as Wilbur’s though, and he wished he could have just gone with Tommy and hung out in the car or something. Even the freezing cold car outside sounded better then Wil’s party.
As Techno’s anxiety rose steadily, he decided maybe he could ask his brother to at least turn down the blaring music a little bit. That would help, wouldn’t it?
So that was why Techno was creeping down the stairs in his favorite hoodie, clutching the small stuffed pig that Philza had bought Techno when he was still a little kid. It had been bought just days after Phil had found out of his son’s anxiety. The small plush was designed to quell the fears that Techno had, hopefully stopping the growing anxiety before they managed to turn into a panic attack.
The stuffed animal wasn’t doing a very good job this time, but that didn’t stop Techno from still holding it. It still provided a nice distraction for his shaking hands.
Techno’s breathing hitched as he finally reached the bottom of the stairs. There were so many people. How did Wilbur even know this many people? Much less, how did he get all of them to come? Why were there so many people in his house? Where was Wilbur? Where was Phil? Techno needed help. He couldn’t breathe.
He quickly sat down on the bottom step, trying to work his way through his thoughts before he had a full out panic attack in front of all these people. He was okay. He was okay. Everything was going to be okay, at least, that’s what he was telling himself, over and over and over again, trying to convince himself to believe in his thoughts.
Eventually, the panic started dissipating, it was still there, that was for certain, but it was fading enough that Techno knew he could stand back up. Maybe people hadn’t even noticed his freak out on the stairs, maybe they just assumed he was drunk or something.
Oh crap, did Wilbur have alcohol at the party? Were there a bunch of drunk kids in Techno’s house? There was no way Techno was going to help Wilbur clean up the leftover mess from all this.
Techno eventually worked up the energy to walk away from the stairs, looking for his brother. The house was only so big, right? Wilbur had to be somewhere, right? Techno wasn’t just wandering around all those people for nothing, right?
As the bass dropped on whatever song was blasting through the speakers, Techno involuntarily flinched, jerking away from the sound and stumbling into a random party-goer. Whoever it was was quick to catch Techno.
“Whoa there, you alright, Techno?” The man who had caught him asked.
Techno was shaking hard enough that as he quickly pushed himself away from the man, he nearly fell again. His legs threatening to give out. He looked up at the person and recognized him as George, one of Wilbur’s friends that Techno had actually met.
“Oh, George, sorry I- sorry for falling into you. ‘M fine actually I was just- I was just looking for, uhm, Wilbur?” His trembling voice made his last statement sound like a question and George’s expression became even more concerned.
“Alright then. Let’s go find him, shall we? I’m pretty sure I saw him just a bit ago, over here.” George started to walk right through the crowd, people clearing a little to let the man through, and Techno had no choice but to follow quickly. He hovered close behind Wilbur’s friend as they wandered through the house.
Eventually, they found the oldest sitting on the kitchen counter, talking and laughing loudly over the noise.
“Oh! Hey George!” Wilbur shouted, drawing all the attention to George and Techno. The latter shrinking into himself even more, if that was somehow possible. “What’re you up to?”
“Hi, Wil. Techno and I were just looking for you. I think he needs to talk to you about something.” George responded, stepping to the side to let Techno be seen better.
“Hello, Tech! Phil went out for a second to grab some more cups. Have you finally decided to join in the fun?”
By now, the surrounding people had somewhat gone back to their previous conversations, which made things a little better, but it still took Techno a few tries to be able to respond to his brother.
“Um, no, actually. I, uh, I know you’re having a good time but could- I just- I need.”
“What? I can’t hear you super well!” Wilbur leaned closer to Techno as he shouted.
Which was just what Techno needed to tip over the edge. He had tried so hard, he had been doing so well! But he couldn’t even make it through a simple party without a panic attack. He had tried though, he needed Wilbur to know he had tried. He wanted to tell Wil but he just couldn’t breathe and Techno didn’t even notice the way his hands ran through his hair, pulling out strands here and there.
He was going to die here. He was going to die leaning on the kitchen counter. He couldn’t breathe and everything was spinning and Techno was too cold and too hot. He was going to die and he wouldn’t ever be able to hug Phil again and Tommy had smiled at Techno earlier and had told the boy to “be safe tonight” and Techno had tried but he wasn’t safe and he wasn’t okay and he had failed the simple task and now he was going to die and Tommy would be so upset and-
“Techno! Tech, come on. You gotta listen to me, okay? I’m right here, Wilbur’s here. I’m right here.”
Techno let out a harsh sob as he finally heard his brother whispering in his ear. Wilbur was there. Wilbur was going to watch him die.
“I- Wil! I’m gonna- Wilbur I’ll-” He couldn’t figure out what he was trying to say, his head hurt so bad, every time he tried to breathe in, he choked on the air. His lungs weren’t getting air, he was going to suffocate.
“No, stop that, Technoblade. You’re going to be alright, you’re just fine.” Wilbur started to rub circles on Techno’s heaving chest, pressing just firm enough that Techno was able to focus on that. The rhythmic feeling providing something he could think about as he tried to listen to his brother’s soothing voice.
“There you go! Keep breathing as deep as that, you can do it. Deep breath in,” Wilbur demonstrated and Techno tried his best to copy, “and deep breath out!” Techno’s breathing was shuddery and nowhere near as smooth or as deep as Wilbur’s but he was breathing.
“Yup, just like that, Tech. I told you that you could do it.” Techno’s eyes were shut, but he could hear the smile in Wilbur’s voice.
It took a little bit, but eventually Techno’s breathing evened out, with exception of the occasional hiccup. He was able to open his eyes and was slightly shocked to see that the two boys were sitting on the floor of the pantry.
“Oh, yeah, it was the closest place without about a million people, so I pulled you in here.” Wilbur said, keeping his voice quiet.
“Oh.”
They sat there for a couple seconds longer before the music and the people outside got particularly loud, forcing Techno to flinch sharply. Wilbur noticed, of course.
“Let’s get you back up to your room, Tech, in case some sensory overload sets in. I’ll help you get situated and then I’ll try and quiet everyone down a little bit, sound good?”
Techno nodded mutely, and allowed Wilbur to pull him to his feet. Together they walked back up the stairs to his room, and the minute he saw his bed, he realized just how tired he had become. Wilbur chuckled a little at the soft sigh that left Techno’s mouth, and the oldest helped get Techno situated on his bed before Wilbur left.
As Techno’s eyes drooped, he heard the music soften a little bit. He couldn’t help but smile a bit to himself. He was very lucky for Wilbur Soot.