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“Surprised” doesn’t even begin to describe the look of Philza Minecraft after he entered his old friend’s hidden cabin, wondering why the lights were on at such a late hour. He saw Technoblade, who was on the floor, by the wall, nestled in the long criss-crossed legs of a creature that held him around the middle and had its head on top of the man’s. The beast had way too many similarities with their young friend, it looked almost exactly like Ranboo, the difference being him doubling the size and having glowing purple eyes. Speaking honestly, a terrifying view to behold, but the piglin, it seemed, didn’t share those concerns. Not only was Techno lying with his back on the enderman’s chest, looking more than relaxed - he held a book in his hands that he was supposedly reading before the older man showed up. It appeared that the only one who was bothered about the whole situation was Steve: poor polar bear lied nearby and didn’t take his most horrified eyes off the two, especially worried about the giant enderman.
“Wh- What on Earth?..” the blonde one uttered, in daze freezing in the doorway.
Technoblade raised his head from the book and smirked proudly.
“Hey, Phil. I’ve got a new pet,” it took him quite a lot of self control not to laugh at his friend’s most confused expression.
“Is that Ranboo?!”
“I’m fairly certain,” he replied dreadfully calmly.
“...Are you two alright? What happened?” the avian asked worriedly, taking his hat and northern cloak off.
“Uh-h, I don’t know, that guy had just shown up, seen me, and here I am.”
The blonde approached, and Ranboo’s grip on the piglin tightened, to which the latter tilted his head up a bit.
“It’s fine, it’s Phil. You remember Phil, he’s our friend,” he talked to the enderman just like any of his other animals.
The avian examined the giant enderman, and when held out his hand towards him slowly, he reached forward to it, making Techno bend and grunt over it, but seemingly not understanding the slightly annoyed “Hey!”. He carefully sniffed the older one’s fingers and his pupils dilated. Actively fluttering ears and wagging tail were also showing his excitement abundantly clear.
“Seems like he does remember me,” Phil noted with a warm smile. He rubbed gently between the enderman’s horns, and his face only lit up more as he leaned into the touch.
“That’s fantastic,” Technoblade’s voice was soaked in so much sarcasm as it sounded from beneath, the avian laughed and made Ranboo straighten, holding him carefully by the broad shoulders.
“Does he talk?”
“Well, not to me at least. He did write stuff in my notebook though.”
“Oh?”
“Uh-huh,” the man nodded and smirked barely noticeably. “It’s on the table, you should check it out.”
Phil slightly cocked one eyebrow at his friend’s strange expression, but decided to have a look anyway. He walked to the table leisurely and, taking a thin volume, started flipping through the pages until saw big messy letters across the double-page spread.
It said “⟟ ⌰⍜⎐⟒ ⊬⍜⎍” - one phrase that was written multiple times, and the blonde man tried not to show his uneasiness, keeping his face still. He wasn’t very familiar with Enderman, but knew the basics, which was enough to get worried.
“Huh,” he tried to stay casual. “I… Wonder what that might mean.”
But his friend knew him way too well not to notice. The corner of his lips curved into a ridiculing smile.
“Yeah, I wonder too,” he uttered and hummed theatrically. “Three words: one, four and three letters… The first one being most likely “I”, hm-m… There is only so much it can mean.”
Phil turned, gave him a prolonged stare, glancing at Ranboo sometimes, and sighed. There was no need to pretend.
“Don’t be harsh on him, mate.”
Techno chuckled.
“Who says I’m going to be harsh? It’s just interesting,” he replied playfully.
“Well, don’t break his heart,” the avian said strongly. “He’s just a young lad. Alright?”
“Alright, alright,” the piglin calmed him, but the smirked was still there as his old friend was grabbing things before going back to his own house.
It dropped, however, when the door behind him closed.
Techno stared afar, somewhere behind his book with a frowned by bewilderment face, and stayed like that for a short while.
The enderman loosened his hold a bit when the man shifted, just a bit to take a look at him. As their eyes met, the younger’s pupils dilated once again, his eyes narrowed when he smiled at him most lightheartedly.
The older one heaved a sigh and put the book aside. Raising his hand to the other’s face, he carefully brushed a strand of white hair behind the enderman’s ear and rubbed lightly.
Ranboo’s eyes widened, but rather from astonishment than fear. He sat frozen for a moment, though ignited wholly when the piglin thumbed the length of his ear. The rapid fluttering resumed with new force, the enderman pulled the other close, and Technoblade could feel the long fidgeting tail wrap around his ankle.
When the older one’s hand cupped his cheek, he inched his face closer, most invigorated eyes exchanging looks with Techno’s calm ones.
No longer was there trifling in his voice when he spoke. He was more than earnest.
“I’m gonna make sure your normal self shares your view of me, and I’m gonna get us together if he does,” he promised. “Alright?”
The enderman nodded actively, and Techno tilted his head.
“You can understand me, right?”
Without taking his eyes off his pink ones, Ranboo wagged his head the same way. The man paused and, narrowing his eyes, nodded at him too, asking:
“Chicken is your favorite color of brick, right?”
And after the younger one vividly nodded once again, chuckled.
When he softly stroked his cheek, was surprised to hear a quiet buzzing sound somewhere from the enderman’s throat. Ranboo pulled more towards him and nuzzled his hair, Techno could feel a warm little breath on the tip of his ear, to which he couldn’t help but smile.
“Alright, alright…” he spoke shortly afterwards, lightly pressing hand against the guy’s chest to distance him from himself, and continued. “Bedtime. We’ll sort things out in the morning, let’s get you back home fi-”
But as he tried to get up, Ranboo tugged him back and locked in such a firm hold, making him gasp out of suddenness. He couldn’t even move his arm as the enderman embraced him tightly, pressing closer against himself and lowering head on his shoulder.
“You know,” the piglin commented, glancing at the giant clawed hand, which was probably twice as big as his own, holding around his arm firmly but carefully enough at the same time. “You are surprisingly strong.”
Their cheeks were pressed together, but Techno slowly turned his, making them face each other. He gazed at the foggy purple eyes that looked at him with such a soft affection, he sighed eventually.
“Fine,” he gave up, but then raised his index finger at him. “But I’m warning you: you’re gonna freak out in the morning.”
Pausing as if those words gave him any idea of what the older one said, the enderman nodded jovially. The piglin chuckled, but froze, when Ranboo suddenly closed the gap between them and made the tips of their noses meet. Purple eyes fluttered shut, and Technoblade turned completely still, not noticing how held his breath, since in enderman, that meant a kiss.