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Technoblade’s trip to the Nether was nothing new or exciting in the slightest. He and Phil had a portal set up near their shared home, spitting them out at the mouth of a fortress in what so many called a hellscape. Techno had never shared that opinion. Navigating the dangerous terrain was easy enough when the mobs recognized him as one of their own, never paying him any mind.
Time was tricky in the Nether, to say the least. He’d left at sunrise, managed to collect a sack of blaze rods (and even a Wither skull to add to his collection), no more than a few hours worth of work. But he knew that it was probably nearing dinner in the over world. Coming from the Nether himself, the heat never bothered him in the slightest. And time seemed perfectly normal.
There had been more than once, on adventures, where Phil had been close to passing out from exhaustion while Techno mined away to his heart’s content. The two didn’t often go on long journeys in the Nether together after that.
Speaking of Phil, the avian wasn’t waiting for him at the front door as usual. He may have been making food, or cleaning a mess that he (probably) made, but the lack of his friend still set his nerves on edge. As his oldest, and only friend, Phil meant more to him than he would ever admit. As soon as he walked through the front door, something felt off.
Phil’s coat was thrown across the back of the couch, as if it had been taken off in a hurry. His friend’s shoes weren’t be the door where they were usually kept. How long had he been in the Nether? Surely he’d only been gone for a few hours, even if the clocks they carried on them didn’t work in the lava filled terrain. What could have happened in that time?
He set his bag down carefully, being gentle so the rods inside wouldn’t rattle on the hard floor. His trident was drawn from its holder on his back in a second, ready to defend his little family he had made. The ceiling above him creaked, sending the voices into a frenzy, the thoughts mixing with his own.
is phil alright?
DEADZA
Protect Philza!!
Another creak came from upstairs and Techno leveled his trident, ready to spear whoever dared to disrupt his peace. His gaze was trained on the ladder, his mind instantly calming when he saw Phil’s boots appear as he made his way down the ladder. The avian had one of Techno’s thick blankets wrapped around himself, obscuring his wings and held tightly at his front. His face was completely neutral, but there was something in his expression that spelled trouble. “Welcome back, mate! Get your rods you needed?”
Now, if Techno didn’t have a single brain cell, he wouldn’t have thought anything about the odd behavior. But this was just simply weird. Phil hated having his wings restricted, he always had. It wasn’t even that cold inside, why did he need such a thick blanket around him? And knowing Phil, he could see the twinge of guilt in his friend’s eyes. “What did you do?” Techno narrowed his eyes at Phil, putting the trident back into its strap on his back.
“Okay, you have to promise you won’t get mad.” If possible, Phil looked even more guilty once he spoke. He tugged on the blanket, bunching it up more in the front.
“Phil...” It was far too late in the day to deal with his friend being cryptic. “Am I going to kill you?”
Phil nodded once, having the decency to at least look sheepish. “Probably.” He let the blanket fall to the floor, revealing something in Phil’s arms. It moved it’s head, and Techno was struck with the realization that there was a living creature holding onto Phil tightly. He made eye contact with the thing, watching as its eyes widened. “Techno, this is Wilbur. He’s staying here for a few days.”
It took it a second to process. ”Heh?! There was an actual child in the living room he shared with Philza. An infant, perhaps. Techno didn’t really know. He hated kids.
Wilbur wiggled in Phil’s arms, leaning toward the ground. When Phil set him down, the child backed away towards the couch, not taking his eyes off the piglin. He looked away just long enough to locate a plate that had been placed on the couch, picking an apple slice up and biting into it. Huh. So it had teeth.
“Phil, why is there a tiny human on my couch?” Phil turned from watching Wilbur with a soft smile to look at Techno, who looked less than pleased.
“Found him in the village. He was all alone, Tech. I couldn’t just leave him there!” When Techno didn’t respond, he sighed. “It’ll just be a few days. You’ll hardly even know he’s here.” Wilbur climbed up onto the couch, turning to watch Techno as he ate his apples. “Besides, I’m not even sure he’s human. Look at his ears.”
To be fair, the thing’s ears were longer than any human he’d encountered. The tips came up into a point, poking through his curly brown hair and into the air above him. But it was still a child. Why would Phil ever think that bringing a child (one that’s probably an orphan, no less!) into their home would be a good idea? Surely he wasn’t hoping to keep it. They had plenty of pets, dogs that didn’t require as much work to keep alive.
Grumbling something about starting on dinner, Techno excused himself to the kitchen. His kitchen. In the house that he and Phil had built by hand. This child was nothing but an annoyance, something to get underfoot and annoy him every waking second. Thank the gods it was a temporary thing.
Three months later, and Techno was starting to think that maybe this wasn’t as temporary as Phil had let on. The kid was somewhere around five years old or so, based on research that Phil had done in his spare time. What his winged roommate didn’t seem to see was that Wilbur already had Phil wrapped around his finger.
“Techno, why do you farm so much?” The small voice came from behind him, as it often had the past few weeks. When Techno turned he was greeted by Wilbur, concentration on his face as he stood on one foot. He’d been doing that all day, from the moment he woke up. Something about it making him taller. Children are weird.
Techno sighed, standing from his place in front of his potato bushes, wiping his hands off on his pants. They needed washing, anyway. “Do you enjoy not starving to death?” Phil, finally convinced that he wouldn’t skewer the kid, had begun allowing Wilbur to follow him around the farm and forest. Thanks for that, Phil.
you like him.
Techno did not like the child, he told the voices that were ganging up on him. He was annoying, and too short to be of any use. But, even he had to admit, there was something about the kid that made Techno’s breath hitch when he fell, or got a cut on his hands. Phil seemed to be attached to the thing. He was just looking out for Phil, right?
you care about him, though.
Wilbur switched to the other foot, his little arms waving in the air as he nearly lost his balance. “Phil would feed me.” There was nothing but certainty in his voice. “Why don’t we eat the cow?” He stumbled, catching himself before he fell. “They make food, Phil told me so.”
The kid had gotten more curious the longer he was with them, asking questions from the time he woke up until he finally went to sleep. That was the only time that Techno ever got any peace. “We don’t eat those animals.” Looking up at the sky he noted that the sun would be setting soon. Which meant that he had to get Wilbur inside. As annoying as the kid was, Phil would skin him if he let Wilbur get attacked by mobs.
Wilbur crossed his arms, looking up at Techno with his head tilted. “But why not?” He’d given up on his standing challenge, swaying back and forth slightly. He seemed incapable of staying still at any given time.
Technoblade sighed, picking his tools up from the ground. He may as well call it a day. “Those are Phil’s animals. He’d get sad.” He’d learned early on that if he had to have a conversation with Wilbur, he had to really dumb it down. If he didn’t, it only ended up with him having to answer more questions.
Wilbur’s eyebrows scrunched up as he thought about it. “Why does he keep them then?”
“They’re his friends.” Wilbur followed him as he put the tools into the shed beside their house, staying right on the piglin’s heels. He seemed content with the answer. For about thirty seconds. And then the questions started once more.
“What’s a friend?”
Technoblade was definitely the person to ask about that. He had many friends, he was a very sociable guy, after all. “They don’t want to kill you, and you don’t want to kill them.” He thought about all the years he had spent by Phil’s side, all the adventures they had gone on, all the secrets that only the other knew. “Care about them.”
Wilbur nodded, obviously deep in thought. He stayed quiet as Techno locked the shed and let them inside. Once they were safely inside Wilbur raced to Phil’s room despite the blonde being in the kitchen.
Dinner was almost ready for them, a simple yet filling potato soup that had Techno’s mouth watering as soon as the scent hit him. Phil looked at him with a bit of a knowing expression. “You know, we’re starting to run out of room around here. An extension would give us some more storage, and the gods know we have enough wood for it.” Although it was a casual conversation, they both knew the hidden implications of the topic. Phil wanted Wilbur to grow up in their home. With Phil as his father. He’d spent the first two weeks hardly sleeping, watching over Wilbur, making sure he was alright.
But did Techno have the same connection with the boy? Absolutely not. He didn’t want to be responsible for keeping him alive. But even he had to admit that having Wilbur around had added a change to their days that wasn’t entirely unwelcome. Even just having him following every step, a quiet conversation in the woods as they picked berries. He wouldn’t ever take on the father role. But maybe something different was alright.
“This wouldn’t be a ploy to get Wilbur his own room, would it?” Even Techno had thought about Wilbur needing his own space, planning for a future without realizing it.
Phil gasped, a sly grin on his face. “Why Techno, what a wonderful idea! I’m so glad you thought of it!” Turning back to the pot on the stove, his smile was obvious in his tone. “I really am glad you two are getting along. I'm not going to lie, I was a little worried.”
“You seem pretty attached to him. It’s in my best interest to keep him alive.” Techno sat down at the table. He’d tracked a bit of dirt in, he’d have to sweep it up tomorrow. Maybe he could con Wilbur into doing it for him. “You know, there’s a much easier way to make more space around here...”
His comment earned him a wet dish rag to the chest. “Oh, sorry mate, it must have slipped out of my hands.” The temperature on the stove turned down, Phil was leaning against the counter, watching his friend. Any negative feelings he may have had toward the child dissipated as he saw Phil take out three bowls, making sure to get a smaller spoon for Wilbur. Phil was a natural at this.
Techno balled the rag up in his hands, throwing it at Phil’s head with expected accuracy. It his his forehead with a wet ‘plop’, getting the blonde hair damp. Philza stared at him with wide eyes as the rag fell to the floor. Techno just smirked. “Oops?”
“Oh, you fucking-” Phil scooped it up, dunking it in the dirty dish water and rearing back to throw it once again. He only stopped himself when Wilbur appeared from thin air, holding something in his hands and grinning proudly.
Phil put the rag down, bending down with his hands on his knees. “What do you have there, Wil?” Techno didn’t miss the nickname, or the way his voice softened when speaking to Wilbur.
“I drew a picture for you!” Wilbur’s smile was wide, his teeth showing slightly. They were sharper than they should have been if he was fully human, giving them another clue at what he could possibly be.
Phil smiled. “Thank you, Wil.”
The child shook his head. “No, not for you, dad. It’s for Techno!” Both adults froze at that, Techno glancing over to see tears spring to Phil’s eyes. Wilbur had never called him that.
The paper was being put into Techno’s hands before either could react. “Look! It’s us!” On the paper were two crudely drawn stick figures, one tall and pink, the other shorter and blue. There were several animals on the page, including a cartoonish drawing of a sheep in the same blue. The word “friend” was written above them, horrendously misspelled. Techno loved it.
But of course, he couldn’t let anyone know that. He cleared his throat. “Am I your friend, or is the sheep your friend?” The two stick figures were smiling. Techno didn’t realize that his expression matched drawing him.
Wilbur studied the picture for a moment before deciding. “Both. You’re my friend, and the sheep can be friend as well!”
Techno had a frame to put the drawing in somewhere. he’d have to dig it out after Wilbur went to bed. Not that he liked it, or anything. That would be ridiculous. “You can’t name a sheep Friend.”
Wilbur frowned, crossing his arms. “Yes I can! I’ll have a pet sheep named Friend. You wait and see!” He looked at Phil, who was drying his tears with the sleeve of his shirt, then back at Techno. “Do you like it?”
As Phil ladled their soup out into the bowls, Techno folded the picture up carefully, putting it in his shirt pocket. He made eye contact with Wilbur, the child only a foot from him. They’d come quite a long way in a short time. He could deal with the gremlin for a few years. “It’s alright.” Then, after a moment, “Thank you.”
As they ate their dinner together, a small family built on trust and love, Techno realized he was looking forward to getting everything together for Wilbur’s room. And if when it was finished, Techno made sure to get a bright blue blanket for the boy’s bed, no he didn’t. It was a pure coincidence. A coincidence that had cost him thirty emeralds, but it was a coincidence nonetheless..
If only he knew how much he would give up for Wilbur in the future. How much it would hurt Phil, how badly his own heart would bleed after the betrayal and bloodshed he once would have loved.
But even if they knew what the future would hold, they wouldn’t change this brief period of serenity.