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It was hard to tell if it's winter when you live in the eternal ice. Here the grass was always covered with white snow and your daily fight was against the water freezing in your water pipes. The only reason Techno knew that it was winter was that Ranboo told him. The teenager has been in the lands of DreamSMP a few times, Techno never asked why. He decided to never go back there again, not that he was welcomed there anyways. According to the words of the enderman, a thin snow coat covered the whole country, even the crater that once was L'Manburg.
The fire crackled quietly in the oven, being overshadowed by Phil's voice. He sat in one of the corners of the small room, right next to the furnaces in which iron was smelting at the moment. Techno couldn't think of a reason why the would need iron, he suspects that the heat coming from the smelting process was the reason why Phil put coal in there this morning. To his feet, leaning his back against a chest sat Ranboo, listening to the older man. He told stories about his youth, how he slew the enderdragon, continuously emphasizing his apologies to the enderman who lost their lives in the fight. Ranboo took notes in his little memory book, listening closely, not wanting to miss out a single detail.
Across the room, standing next to a window Techno was watching the scene. And for a small moment, not even a blink of an eye, Ranboo was replaced with Ghostbur and Techno forced himself to look away. It hurt, but he needed to ignore the pain. He looked out of the window into the snowy landscape.
Phil's storytelling together with crackling fire faded into background noise and soon Techno imagined he could hear the snow softly landing. There wasn't much to think about since the fall of L'Manburg, Tommy and Tubbo just kinda disappeared, Dream too and Ghostbur wouldn't talk to them. The rest simply seemed to forgot about him and he was fine with that.
Something caught his eye, someone came out of the forest into the open field on which their small land was located. Techno would recognize the blond hair from miles away.
"Seems like we have a guest", he said into the room, while fastening his chest plate. Phil stopped talking and Ranboo looked up from his book. When they saw what Techno was doing they joined him. He couldn't think of a reason why the blond would come here voluntary.
The cold blowing in his face was a hard contrast to the warmth of his home, but he was used to it. His coat kept him warm. While leaving through the door he grabbed his axe. Ranboo and Philza followed near behind him, Ranboo with his sword in his hand and Phil holding a loaded crossbow. Snowflakes landed on his pink hair since Ghostbur left his braid never seemed to sit right.
The boy was only a few meters away from them, only a torn-up white T-Shirt covering his upper body, completely unfitting for this time of year and this biome. The red colour that once gave him his signature look faded away and there were more holes in the fabric than Techno could count at first glance. He carried something on his back, wrapped up in the coat Techno gave him when he first found him under his base. The boy seemed to almost break under the weight. Still, Techno raised his axe, ready to fight back, maybe it was a setup, to catch him off-guard.
But then Tommy did something unexpected, he felt down on his knees. His pants started to wet around his knees and he supported himself with his hands, buried in snow. Brown hair poked out of the bundle on his back and Techno realized that he didn't carry something but someone.
"Please", Tommy begged, his voice broken and quiet. He had never seen the boy like that, not even after he found him in his exile, "please, he's dying."
It was hard to hear his words, he faced the ground and Techno could see the drops in the snow the tears coming from Tommy's eyes leave behind. He lowered his axe. The scene in front of him hurt to see. He heard someone behind him shift, he suspected it to be Phil.
"Why would I help him?", Techno asked, thanking his monton voice for not giving away any of his emotion. He knew that it only could be Tubbo, hidden in the coat on the back of Tommy. He hasn't seen Tubbo since the fall of L'Manburg.
"He's not the government anymore, he's no president, he's", Tommy stocked, his arm began to tremble, not being able to hold the weight for much more, "he's just a boy".
For one moment nothing happened, Technos eyes were bound on Tommy's shoulder, the snow made the fabric transparent and made it painfully obvious that his arms were nothing more than just bones and skin. Tommy shifted his weight on one arm, his other hand grabbed something out his pocket. Few diamonds and emerald came to light.
"It's everything I have, please, just help him", when Techno fought Tommy's voice, in the beginning, was quiet then it wasn't more than a whisper now. It was a pathetic scene.
Before Techno could answer Phil took the few steps to the teenagers. He lifted Tubbo from Tommy's back, carrying him like a newborn on his arms. His crossbow laid carelessly in the snow. The moment the weight was lifted from him Tommy broke down. He cramped together in a fetus like position, he flinched and Techno couldn't tell if it was from the cold, the sudden relief or from him silently crying. His lips and hands were blue and his face white. Tommy was on the verge of hypothermia if he didn't warm up in the next minutes he would die. Careful Techno picked up his former friend.
Phil made his way back to their home, Ranboo behind him picking up the crossbow. Silently Techno followed them, Tommy shouldn't be so easy to pick up, he was way too light. When he entered his house Tubbo already laid on the kitchen table, the coat peeled away and Phil had started to examine him, giving Ranboo silent tasks to help him. Techno sat Tommy down in front of the furnaces.
As soon as he touched the wooden floor he crawled away from the older man, towards the warmth. Techno looked at the materials Tommy gave him, he did not need them. So he put them back into Tommy's pocket before covering him with his coat. It broke his heart to see the boy like that, even after everything Tommy did to him. He wondered what happened to the boys after their nation got blown up. Nothing good, he could tell.
Tommy had stopped crying and Techno could see his eyes for the first time. They were grey, not one bit of blue left. Even in his exile, there was more blue in them. Techno searched for words to say, but for the first time in his life, his head was empty. There was only pain.
"Techno", called Phil him over. His voice was worried and hurt. He had peeled off the shirt of the boy on the table. Techno's breath stocked. Tubbo's chest was a massacre of blue and yellow marks, burns and cuts, some nearly healed, some ignited and some not older than two days. Phil dripped some potion on the lips of the young man, his other hand running through his hair, stocking at the many knots. Tommy didn't lie when he said that his friend was dying. Techno couldn't imagine he would have survived many more days.
"Wha-", he didn't know what he wanted to ask, still in loss of his words. His heart was cramped together, bleeding.
"You promised to protect me", Tommy began to speak, his voice still quiet, still broken, "you promised to protect me from him. But you didn't, you didn't. You lied to me and he came back. He came back. And you weren't there. You didn't protect me. You let him hurt me again, let him hurt Tubbo."
Time stood still and so did Techno. Ranboo stared at the floor, not wanting to be here and Phil was busy trying to save Tubbo.
"You betrayed me, Tommy."
Tommy stood up and if you didn't saw him almost tripping over you could think that he was the old Tommy. Strong and hopeful and not the broken mess that sat in front of the furnace of his enemy to not freeze to death.
“And in the same heartbeat, you sided with Dream. I don't care that you blew up L'Manburg, I don't care that the only thing you want is chaos. But I care that you sided with Dream, the one thing you promised me to protect from", Tommy yelled and Techno's heart broke.
Tears were coming from Tommy's eyes when he sank back down, almost disappearing in the gown. His whole body shooked and if his stomach wouldn't be completely empty he would've thrown up. He couldn't remember the last time he ate. Every bit of food he could find he gave to Tubbo, knowing that he was weaker than him, that he wasn't used to going long times without eating.
"I'm sorry Tommy", Techno finally said. There was anger in him, hate streaming through his veins and his hands began to shake. He should've looked after him, or at least checked on him, to know if everything was alright. But he didn't, he was blinded by his own feeling of betrayal. And he let Tommy get hurt by Dream again.
"No, you're not and that's okay. The only reason I'm here is Tubbo, I didn't know where else to go. As soon as he's better we will leave and let you guys live in peace", Tommy mumbled. Ranboo had used the time they spent fighting to prepare some warm soup for them. He kneeled next to Tommy, careful not to make eye contact and handed him a small bowl with a spoon. Tommy nodded gratefully and began to eat.
There was coughing coming from the table and everyone turned around. Tubbo had wakened up, sweat dripping from his forehead, he was visibly in pain.
"Shhh, everything's alright, Tubbo", Phil whispered, his hand still in the hair of the brunette, "you're safe. You can sleep."
And Tubbo did, his head sunk back down on the hardwood of the table. It couldn't be comfortable but the young man didn't care, as soon as the back of his head touched the wood his eyes fell shut. There was a soft smile on Phil's face when he covered him with a blanket to keep him warm.
Techno stared in his own bowl of soup and his reflection stared right back at him.
"You know you can stay Tommy?", he asked quietly, not sure if the teenager would hear his words,
"it's home, after all, right?"