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" 'Tis Better To Have Loved And Lost Than Never To Have Loved At All. "
Alfred Lord Tennyson
A wine glass sat firmly in hand, red liquid sploshing vigorously as the man shook it. The first thing you'd notice when you entered the cave was the lack of snow compared to the outside world, torches perched up against the wall. The fire of each torch roared, letting off a glow that further reflected off the piles of gold scattered around the floor.
As the light hit the gold, it shone back onto the walls lighting the cave up further. Jewelry to weaponry all laced in some form of shiny material, a throne which the hoarder sprawled himself upon.
There were hands chopped off from the main body with rings decorating the fingers, in those cases, it was too difficult to slip off. The wine hit Techno's parted lips as he gulped down the beverage, the bottle leaned up against the throne. His cheeks were flushed, though he still had a level head despite it.
He heard footsteps echoing through the cave and sighed, placing the glass down on the armrest of the throne before lifting himself off of his seat. Technoblade rolled up the sleeves of his blouse, throwing the vermillion cape slumped on a pile close by around his shoulders. The crackles of the torches continued as he pulled his arms up, preparing for the inevitable.
Though the inevitable never came, gripping onto his blade and waiting for the challenger to face him loaded up with armor and false hope. Assigned by a king or a lord, or self-driven wanting to be a legend or collect the bounty.
As the challenger entered, there was a thump as they hit the harsh floor and fell into a pile of cutlery, head barely missing a knife that was poking upwards. It was good that it missed too because as Technoblade profiled the fainted human he placed the sword back down where he collected it from.
Creeping forward, he bent down and patted the kid's cheek. A child? It was a boy who wore a simple vest and pants, a commoner kid with dirt decorating his skin and hair. Snow piled up in his dirty hair, on the roots, and his fingertips were red from having to deal with the jarring cold.
Technoblade shuddered to see the messy state of the boy and lifted him with one arm, placing him next to the pile of gold and stopping him from touching even one of Technoblade's possessions. Dirty hands would not roughen up his treasures that he had amassed over the years. The boy lacked even a weapon on him, were humans so insane nowadays to let a mere child face a beast?
A sudden groan came out of the boy, Technoblade's shoulders tensing as he whipped towards the boy again. He was waking up. Technoblade's eyes shifted to his bottle of wine. He picked up the bottle, careful not to scratch it with his long fingernails, and buried it under a pile of gold to be retrieved later on.
What to do with the glass? He had many glasses... In a moment of desperation, he smashed the glass against the ground and watched the remaining wine stain the floor. The human child seemed to fully awaken at that, throwing himself up. "What the fuck was that!?"
The human moved his head side to side and stopped when he saw Technoblade. The man flashed his sharp teeth, keeping his arm splattered with red scales visible for the boy to scare at.
"Are you going to take me back?" The boy asked.
That was all he had to say? Technoblade slumped back onto the chair, amused as the boys' eyes widened finally taking in how many riches surrounded him. "I was planning to kill you actually, that'd be much easier."
"I'm- I'm ten! You can't do that to me!"
"You're ten- I thought you were fourteen?" Technoblade said, the damn height of the boy- what were they feeding humans nowadays...?
Technoblade felt the voices of Chat creep into his head, roaring at him to wash him. Urging him, which was odd since Chat only acted that way toward gold. They only demanded sparkling cleanliness around his riches and gems, never towards a human. They screamed one phrase, in particular, hair. The human's head of hair was nothing special, he wasn't sure why they kept insisting on this.
Technoblade walked towards the boy who crawled backward, trying to get away. He gripped onto the arm of the boy, trying not to bruise it. Delicate things, humans were.
"Name?" Techno demanded.
"T-Tommy Craft!" The kid sputtered, wincing at the force Technoblade had held him at. Technoblade wasn't going to loosen his grip though, it was his fault if he couldn't take Technoblade at his weakest.
Chat decided otherwise though, practically deafening him.
"I swear to god if you don't-"
"TECHNO SYITRJIGHJI"
"u suck"
"blood FROM the blood god"
"techno WILL die you little-"
"dont harm the treasure! look at it!"
"haha #technocancelled"
"E- no E.... E no... This isn't pogchamp bro."
Technoblade rolled his eyes, hold softer as he marched through the complex systems of the cave. He stopped once they reached the room of the cave, a large body of water that seemed to glow a strange color. He had learned not to question it, the water helped get the job of washing his treasures done and that's all he needed.
The boy cringed though, shuffling in place and pressing closer to Technoblade. Did he not care that Technoblade threatened to kill him moments prior? Confident kid...
"Is it... Safe?" The kid muttered, looking up at the beast who simply snickered.
"Don't know, don't care." He said, pulling the boy once again who stared protesting incoherent things. Foul words, they were, befitting for such a foul boy.
He lunged Tommy into the waters, watching the huge splash that followed as Tommy swam to the surface. He spat out small bits of water that had gathered in his mouth, breathing heavily.
Chat wasn't happy, and dear god was it difficult to block them out. He remembered the day he broke a treasure, he had migraines for an entire month after that. This seemed to be a hundred percent worse, the bigger the treasure was the more they valued it after all, and the kid was quite tall.
Technoblade slowly slipped the rings off of his fingers, placing them on a special shelf he had installed on the wall, along with his earrings and necklaces. He felt Tommy staring holes into the back of his head, interested as he stripped of all things gold.
He then threw his shoes off, and slipped off his cape, and let it hang off the ledge. He entered the water, not caring if his blouse or pants got wet. They could easily be dried, after all.
Tommy didn't move, he was frozen in place? Fear was a possibility.
He heard so many voices yelling hair in his head, so he piled some water up in his hands and threw it onto the boys' hair. He pressed his hands against the boy's shoulders, pulling him closer so he could properly wash out the forest of locks.
He combed his fingers through the blonde curls, sometimes stopping to wash them out with water.
The boy mumbled many things, tried starting small talk, so Technoblade indulged the boy.
"Dad obviously favors Wilbur and Tubbo- oh my god, Tubbo! He isn't even his biological son!"
"Mhm." Technoblade hummed, eyes shining in excitement as he saw the boys' hair clear up. Chat was right, it was a treasure. His hair was blonde and it illuminated in the lights of the torches and luminescent waters. The blonde hair though resembled gold. It sparkled like gold, looked exactly like gold, and practically was gold.
Anticipation coursed through his veins, imagine how much more gold it would be once fully brushed and washed?!
"Tubbo like, totally used me. He said he was my friend, became friends with Wilbur and my dad, got adopted and became prince and then befriended all the servants- dropped me and made me seem like the bad guy!" Tommy groaned, all in one breath. He was telling Technoblade his life story, once again brave and stupid.
"Now my brother hates me, my dad has replaced me- and the servants talk about me like I'm some sort of demon!"
"Rough." Technoblade whistled, not at the story, it was the way the boys' hair was shaping up to be just... Gorgeous...
Chat seemed to agree with him for once.
"See, we told you! Treasure!"
"keep it."
"technosoft lol"
"can we keeeeeeeppp itttt"
"who the hell is this tubbo and brother and dad we gonna kill some losers"
"gold gold gold"
"mate be softer with his hair don't damage it"
"E"
"So I ran away!" Tommy proudly smirked, leaning back into Technoblade's chest. That made sense as to why he was wearing commoner clothing as a prince then...
This kid had a death wish, didn't he?
"You have nowhere to stay then?" Techno asked the boy who made a small sound of affirmation.
"I see where this is going..." One voice rung out to him.
When they finished, he lifted the boy out of the water. Tommy went quiet again, from anticipation is what Technoblade assumed.
Technoblade felt heat rush to his fingers as he held them above the boy, a sudden spring of hot air plaguing Tommy as it dried him off completely. He did the same to himself, watching entertained as he saw Tommy spinning around in confusion.
"Come with me." Technoblade stated as Tommy hastened behind him trying to catch up.
On the way, he grabbed a few things from piles, jewelry to clothing. He didn't bother to fetch his cape and rings from the shelf, he knew they were going nowhere and he had more important things to attend to now.
He snapped his fingers, catching Tommy's attention who seemingly dazed off while staring at the gold. They were back in the main part of the cave. Technoblade pointed towards the throne, Tommy hesitantly shuffling over and sitting down.
Tommy looked towards the shattered glass on the ground and before he could say something, Technoblade made sure to interrupt. "Stay still."
He didn't need the kid to think Technoblade was an alcoholic.
Technoblade started by slipping rings onto the boy’s fingers, he used the smallest he could find just to fit the slim hands. He then used the small golden needle to pierce into Tommy's ears.
"What the hell- what do you think you're-"
"Shut up." Technoblade clicked his tongue, piercing multiple across the ear.
He then moved around, heading from behind the throne, to the other side, and started piercing the other ear.
Technoblade put all sorts of earrings in to decorate his ears, simple ones to golden ones that only emperors and kings dared to flaunt. Chat was going ballistic, so many voices arguing on how to dress the boy up next.
The kid seemed uncomfortable, he was a prince, he probably had to dress like this daily. Tommy needed to take it and suck it up, it's not like he had anywhere else to go. He ran away and was on the peak of a snowy mountain only warriors dared to traverse.
He demanded the boy change into what he picked out, change his shoes, he even painted the boys' nails.
The final product was breathtaking, in Technoblade's not so humble opinion. So many golden decorations tied into one, earrings hanging down, and rings with gemstones. He wore a shirt that had an emerald instilled in the front, it was one Technoblade used to wear before he accidentally washed it in a way that it shrunk.
Again, Chat scolded him heavily for that.
The pants were simple, with golden lacing. There was a cape of gold that was thrown on, similar to how Technoblade sported his own cape, with gemstones sewn into the bottom.
Necklaces of all kinds sat on the boy, simple chains to ones queens used to wear.
The thing that finished it off, Technoblade thought, was the crown that he loved wearing. It looked even better on the boy, the green emeralds and red rubies complimenting his blue eyes and ivory skin.
"What... Is the point of this?" Tommy moved his arms up, seeing how the cape moved with him.
"How about we make a deal, I offer you housing and a comfortable lifestyle... You have to dress up for me and look pretty." Technoblade smiled, Chat cheering and gushing over the kid. "You have nowhere else to go, no?"
"Fine..." Tommy said.
Technoblade only planned to keep the ten-year-old for two years maximum.
He stared as the fifteen-year-old waltzed into the room, falling back onto a pile of treasures with a golden-colored cat in hand. When the boy had come begging for a pet one day, pleading for company, Technoblade had scoured the land for the perfect one.
Clementine's paw hit Tommy's nose as the boy choked out a laugh.
Five years, he didn't expect it to run for five years. Here he was though, sitting on the throne watching the child and eating raw meat with his bare hands.
"Dad! Thanks again for letting him sleep over!" Tommy suddenly shouted.
Technoblade snorted, swallowing the piece of meat. "No problem!"
Ranboo had just left. At first, Technoblade was very against the boy making a friend. Humans were full of cruelty and greed, the urge to keep Tommy sheltered and only for him was immense.
What if this Ranboo killed him or tried to steal his position as Tubbo did? He had heard many, many stories of Tubbo, and even thinking about the boy left a bitter taste.
When he met Ranboo though his nerves subsided, he was a hybrid. They were already known for having good relationships with monsters such as Technoblade throughout the millenniums. Ranboo seemed so true that Technoblade had to accept him.
Of course, there were rules. No touching Tommy's hair, no touching his treasures, no touching anything outside his designated room.
He made a room for Tommy's friend, he would do anything to see his treasure so full of joy.
"Dad... Did you really have to erm." Tommy let Clementine go, who skittered around impatiently, and motioned towards the corpse in front of the throne. "Kill him when Ranboo was staying over?"
"He tried slaying me on behalf of Emperor... Phimma? I don't remember. If he had killed me, who would he go for next?"
"Me and Ranboo....?"
"Exactly. I had to protect you." Technoblade sighed, licking the juice of the meat off his fingers before standing up and taking a place next to Tommy. The cat tried to claw at his boots, to which Techno gently pushed it away. "I'm sure you understand?"
"Yes, dad..." Tommy frowned. Technoblade ran a hand through Tommy's hair, which instantly made the boy’s faces light up again. He liked when Technoblade touched his hair, and Technoblade liked touching his hair as well.
'Technosoft
'lol, when did he start calling u dad again???'
'protect ranboo and tommy PROTECT TOMMY PROTECT RANBOO'
'ranboo wears crown. ranboo has nice fashion sense. ranboo no die.'
'techno ur such a nerd'
'pog pog pog pog'
'E E E E E'
"Dad... What was that emperors name again?" Tommy sunk into his touch, pulling Clementine up in his arms again.
"Uhh... Pheem.... Phrin..."
"it was phil."
"philza i think??"
"oh my god oh my god wait no no"
"TECHNO THREAT THERE IS A THREAT"
"treasure in danger?"
Techno's hand suddenly paused in place. "Emperor Philza Craft... He heard of the rumors, the money on my head that could feed an empire for a hundred years by the council, and has been trying to slay me for two years now..."
Tommy looked like he would vomit, cat yelping from the force his fingernails were digging into her.
Technoblade cupped the boy's cheek, turning his head to peer into Technoblade's crimson eyes. "I won't let him touch you, my treasure..."
"Promise?"
"Promise... Nobody will touch you... For as long as you live and beyond..."
Technoblade would continue slaying millions of men, nobody shall find out about the riches this cave held, the treasure of Tommy. Not even his own creator shall find out where he is.
Technoblade owned him now.