Work Text:
The rain battered against their threadbare clothes, speckles of blood flicked against his hands, the job was easy, in and out, it didn’t bother him.
But that was what was starting to bother him.
Techno brushed a few soaked strands of hair from his face, trying to push down the emotion swirling in his chest. They just had the final stretch then he could collapse and his emotions could settle.
But it was relentless.
His mind clipped back to the arena, the sweat running down his back, the howls of the crowd, the contorted snarl of the monster in front of him. He didn’t flinch as it launched itself forward or when he lashed at it with his blade-
Techno’s ear twitched against the wind as it pulled him back to reality, focus. Nobody was out now, too late and too cold. Skeppy stood beside him, rubbing the water drops off his goggles and sighing.
“So now what?” He asked, an unlying bitterness in his bored tone.
“What do ya mean?”
“Are we gonna keep doing this?”
“This job? Yeah, we need to report back so we can get paid.”
Skeppy opened his mouth to talk again but stopped and nodded, “Yeah- Yeah lets just go.”
They continued down the decrepit alley, the cracked ground dipped behind their feet and water flooded from the rusting gutters, some managing to slosh into his boots.
He and Skeppy ducked down a flight of stairs, fingers running along the rusted railing and entered the mildewy tunnels. Someone shuffled to their side, inspecting them with narrowed eyes.
“Are you those mercenaires?” They asked, lip curled, it was the only part of their face Techno could see, the rest cloaked by a hood in a vain attempt to look secretive.
Techno nodded, “Yes.” He said curtly.
“Did you finish the job?”
“This isn’t part of your affairs or I’d know your name, just show us to his room.”
“I’m not showing you anything unless you answer my question, freak.”
“Cut the shit and just tell him,” Skeppy hissed, “Stop dancing around the issue.”
Techno rolled his eyes, “We finished the job, however the details are not to be discussed with you.”
Their lips twitched briefly, a fleeting attempt at a smile, “That’s all I needed to know, this way.”
They followed, Skeppy leaning and whispering;
“Why are you always so on edge? Just give them a straight answer.”
“Why does it bother you so much?”
“Cause it makes everything take so much longer.” A hint of a whine in his voice.
“Soley that reason then,” He said lightly, then added, “I don’t want him reporting us, the more he knows the more trouble he could cause.”
“So paranoid,” Skeppy rolled his eyes,“Since when are you scared of the law?”
“Never, since the law doesn’t exist.”
Skeppy snorted, “In your little dream world.”
They had stopped by Hatchet’s office, the cloaked figure cleared their throat, “If you are done rattling about then The Master is ready to see you.”
Techno and Skeppy gave each other a knowing look then walked through, Techno turned and looked back, hand resting on the doorknob.
“The word is ‘prattling’.” He said, closing the door, despite it’s thick and sturdy nature he could still hear the others gasp of indiginence.
Techno didn’t fear many things, he didn’t fear many people, just what they could do if they had power. Hatchet was one of those people.
Techno had never seen his face, he was just a silhouette that would purr out orders and seemed to have eyes everywhere. Techno felt glad he and Skeppy weren’t in his debt, the term business partners was already too close.
Hatchet sat in a massive chair, intricate carving in the otherwise smooth wood, he was leaning forwards, elbows on his knees and hands folded, chin resting against them. He looked like a cat, bored of its prey.
“Is it done?” He asked.
“Yes.” Skeppy answered this time, Hatchet grinned.
“Very good, you two always do excellent work. Oh and do tell me, did he suffer?”
Techno frowned, “No.”
Hatchet’s face dropped slightly, “Aw,” He paused, “No matter, here.” He tossed an envelope at them which Skeppy tried and failed to catch and had to scrape off the floor.
“Alright, off with you two.” He waved his hand and after they hurried out of the room, feeling the man's eyes burning into their backs, marking them.
They walked home in silence, Techno could tell there was something wrong with Skeppy but wasn’t sure how to approach it. Thunder clapped above them again and candle lights flickered in nearby windows as they crept into their little back alley apartment, the power must’ve been knocked out.
Techno slipped off his boots and tested one of their lamps, nothing happened. He sighed and shuffled into the kitchen, looking for their matches.
He found them quickly and set to work lighting up the house, Skeppy flopped down on the couch after shedding his attire.
“I don’t- I don’t think I want to do this anymore.” He said suddenly, staring at the ceiling.
“Do what?” Techno asked, lighting another candle.
“The jobs, the mercenary stuff, it’s not worth it- I don’t like it.”
“I don’t like it either but it’s the only reason we aren’t on the streets.” Techno said, this was all he had ever done, thoughts of the arena pierced his mind again, this was all he knew.
“We can find a different way to make money.”
Techno raised an eyebrow in a sort of humored disbelief, “Not here! We’ll be recognized or reported or something- there will always be people who will want another corpse and they’ll come right back to us.” He added darkly.
Skeppy glared at him, “Look, I don’t want to do it anymore, you can but I no longer want to be a part of it.”
“What- are you backing out now? Is this it?”
“I want it to be! This is too much!” Skeppy snapped, a hand pulling at his hair, “It’s all too much!”
“Oh yeah, ‘the weight of your sins bearing down on your shoulders’, I see how it is.” Techno snorted.
“I thought when we escaped the arena that we’d get to be free! No more fighting, no more bloodlust! Now we’re just the same monsters under another name!”
“It doesn’t work like that, our fates were set and sealed in stone the moment we were forced into that place, even then we are wanted for that and wanted for everything we’ve done since we’ve escaped.” Techno felt a familiar, buried, grief in his chest, he didn’t know what to do. The facade was wearing thin and it almost felt like his chest was going to cave in.
“We should just run away.”
“We can’t.”
“Why not?” He cried, “We’ve done it before!”
“Everyone will know it’s us, it- it can’t be that easy.”
Skeppy was silent for a moment.
“This- this isn’t fair.” He stuttered out, a single tear of frustration slid down his face, running along the blue geode in his skin. “And don’t you dare say life isn’t fair, I know it’s not but that doesn’t mean I can’t be upset about it.”
“You can be upset about it but it won’t do much.”
“Helpful as always.”
“Look, a piglin and geode hybrid, we already stick out.” Techno rolled his eyes, “Do you even know where we’d go? I don’t have any other skills, I know my way around a blade but that can only get us so far.”
“Maybe if you tried harder you’d know more.”
Techno narrowed his eyes, “That is rich coming from you.”
“Sorry sorry, it was a cheap blow.” Skeppy rubbed the back of his neck and Techno sighed.
“I can’t really blame you, I don’t know what else to do, we can run but we’ve already run so far.”
Broken locks, bare feet slamming against concrete, hands tightly interlaced.
“We can keep running, the world stretches for miles and miles, there has to be something out there for us.”
“But what if there isn’t?” Fear simmered in his chest, he didn’t want to be alone again but he didn’t want to be trapped under someone else's heel again either.
The thunder clapped outside.
“Then we can make one, an actual home, just for us. We’ve sort of done it here, we can do it again.”
Techno nodded, a lump in his throat, “We don’t owe anyone anything right now, we can go whenever we want.”
“Yeah, we can leave first thing in the morning, there is nothing here for us.”
“So, are we really doing this?”
“If you’ll come with me.”
“Of course, on one condition.”
Skeppy frowned, “What might that be?”
“We take that dog from the alley with us, I don’t think anyone else will take care of it.”
Skeppy snorted, “Sure, sure.”
Techno knew the world was scary, he regarded it with caution for good reason, but he tried not to let it paralyze him. In this world, the only way you can make things better for yourself is by taking the first step, and it is better if you have a friend.
That’s how he got out with Skeppy.