Chapter Text
Technoblade was nervous. No, Technoblade was not nervous. He liked to think that the churning of his stomach was him waking up on the wrong side of the bed and his pacing was something to preoccupy the insistent noises bouncing within the constraint of his own mind.
He was not nervous. Ok, maybe a bit. Maybe a lot. The cottage was quiet save for the ticking of the clock; a sign that the inevitable was coming, urging him to lace his fingers in between one another. Oh god, he wished he could stab something. The thought was quickly abandoned though as he was reminded of the fact that Phil would be less than appreciative of his bloody appearance in front of their newest family member. Yes, you heard him right. After more than a decade, they were having a new addition to their already chaotic family.
No, Techno was not anxious about meeting the baby. And yes, he had experiences with a baby; Tommy for one. He rolled his eyes, muting the comment at the back of his head that spoke of how Tommy always seemed to favour Wilbur more. It was mostly fine, for Tommy had always been the most difficult out of the three of them (Phil’s words, not his). Techno tried to argue, pacing to and forth in the small living space as his long strands of hair whipped violently behind him.
Perhaps, he was just preemptively preparing for the imminent dismay the child would show him, for he was anything but gentle. His hug was stiff and his edges rough from years of combat.
When the door opened without any warning, it was thanks to the same experience that he didn’t startle and started attacking. Instead he inhaled a shaky breath, forcing down the surge of adrenaline.
“Techno! Oh, there you are.” If Phil found it strange to see him standing in the middle of the living room seemingly staring into space, he didn’t comment about it. With a gentle smile (because it was Phil, Phil who was always gentle, unlike him), the elder paused and readjusted his hold on the precious bundle he was carrying.
Techno could see tuff of blonde hair peeking from the folds of fabric, slightly darker than Tommy’s as they framed a reddened face. He was small. So tiny that Techno could see himself accidentally squishing the being. It made him back away hesitantly, as if he was faced with a ferocious beast rather than a baby.
“Come on, Techno. There is nothing to worry about. This is Dream.” Phil introduced, bouncing the baby slightly and elicited a small noise in return. It spoke. Techno’s mind was speeding through nonsense now and he was mildly embarrassed by his own display. Shut up, chat. This was a delicate situation, ok?
His father, obviously finding the scene amusing, stepped forward into his space before casting him a soft glance.
“Here, I am going to need you to hold him for me as I get the rest of the stuff.”
Techno’s immediate response was to recoil as if stabbed. His hands held stubbornly before him to stop the advance of the baby as his lips pulled downwards.
“Are you crazy? No, I won’t be doing that. What if I drop him? Worse, what if he cries and I drop him?”
At that, Phil chuckled.
“He won’t.”
And Techno forever questioned the confidence behind the words. In fact, it was the exact confidence that left him frozen in place, which provided the perfect opportunity for Phil to dump the baby into his arms.
“Oh shoo, Phil!” Techno protested; hands quickly reaching back to support the baby-Dream’s head. The child frowned at the sudden movement, but so far, made no move to wail.
“Argument is futile” was Phil’s last words as he left the duo. Techno groaned, knowing that he had no choice but to stay perfectly still until the elder’s return.
Might as well use the time to observe. Techno braved himself for a glance at the small bundle in his arms. Small face with barely noticeable freckles, limbs that were so tiny that Techno wondered how he actually supported himself and green eyes, oh shoo, green eyes.
Techno’s anxiety was over the roof when he made eye contact with Dream. The baby was staring at him curiously and a part of Techno wanted to escape. Please, anything but this.
What should he do now? Phil? Phil, help.
“Hallo.” He tried instead, clearing his throat as the green eyes remained on him. “I am Technoblade, your brother I guess.”
He rambled, finding comfort in the flow of words.
“At least you are not crying yet. That’s nice. So-”
His own words were cut short by a tiny noise. He looked back down and saw the emerald eyes disappearing into slits as the child giggled.
He once heard that a child’s first laugh birthed a fairy and in the presence of a newborn, Techno couldn’t deny the fact that it sounded otherworldly; so innocent and cherubic.
It sent him into awe, so much so that he was not aware of Phil who leaned against the doorway with an ever gentle smile.
“No.”
Upon Techno’s calm refusal, the response was immediate. The pink haired warrior winced when his communicator exploded in dejected whines and dramatic exclamations of how he had betrayed his one and only twin in the desert of no return. Which was false by the way. While Techno agreed that he would strand the other on an isolated island without a second thought, there was still a subtle difference between the situations presented here. Techno sighed heavily, enough that his chest deflated with the action and garnered the attention of the child he was carrying.
“Mmh.” Dream babbled, reaching up to swipe at pink strains of hair and it was enough to draw a small smile out of Techno as he glanced, almost tenderly at the baby. Well, at least until Techno turned back to the voice from the other side of the line.
“Is that him? Techno? Techno!” More disgruntled whines. “How dare you keep him from me? Not fair.”
Life wasn’t fair. Techno rolled his eyes; his fingers inched to hang up on his sibling but the thought of more pestering held him still. That, and of course the playful baby in his grasp. He couldn’t help the cooing when Dream turned his head to watch him; green eyes squinted with small bouts of giggles.
“Technoblade Minecraft! I will come home this instant and there is nothing you can stop me from seeing my newest bro-” And click. Should have done that sooner. Techno shrugged, casting the device onto the bed as he continued to cradle Dream. To be fair, Wilbur never needed any permission to visit. The brunet was the one who left in the first place, taking Tommy with him to build a country after he had gotten serious with Sally. He heard that his twin had fathered a child of his own, hence a part of him wondered why the other was still so excited to meet a baby.
A yawn pulled him out of his train of thoughts and Techno looked back at Dream who seemed to slowly drift to sleep. That was good, Techno smiled, at least this time the baby was going without any fuss. It took him less than a minute to relocate the baby into his crib; the action so practiced over the week that it had practically become a second nature to him much to the amusement of Phil who regarded him with knowing twinkles in his eyes.
As he dimmed the light and winded the lullaby, Techno’s mind replayed the conversation with Wilbur. The immediate refusal he issued was perhaps harsh, but he knew that Wilbur didn’t mind. Nothing seemed to really defer the brunet when he set his mind on something. They were all stubborn like that. No, what really bothered him was the tiniest voice in his head, so unlike the others, that whispered doubts and insecurity, pushing him to wonder if Dream would end up liking Wilbur more than him, like Tommy did. Like every single child he had ever met.
Lost in thoughts, Techno was operating on auto when the doorbell rang. Without any hesitation, he had reached and pulled open the door, only for his mind to catch up at the last second when he spotted the wide grin on his twin’s face. Oh no. He slammed the door shut but apparently it wasn’t fast enough, for Wilbur had already thrown his entire being against the door, wrestling against Techno with all his might.
“No! You can deny me no longer!” Wilbur declared. From the way he was slightly out of breath and the wrinkles on his usually pristine uniform, Techno guessed that he ran all the way here, surprising, but not unexpected.
They were at a standstill, an unstoppable force versus an unmoving object. Both refused to back down as they were both prideful creatures. The cold of the tundra was momentarily forgotten in their reversed tug-of-war.
“What are you two doing?”
They startled, inflicting an imbalance on the scale that tipped the door inwards. Instinctively, Techno leaped back, watching as Wilbur barraged forward into the house, leading a cascade with an unforgiving thud. The culprit of the chain reaction was standing just beyond Wilbur’s slumped form, holding onto the bag of groceries as he stared incredulously at the two ‘functional’ adults.
“He started it!” They both yelled at the same time, though Wilbur was much more enthusiastic compared to Techno whose eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Phil sighed, looking as if he had aged another ten years before carefully stepping over Wilbur to get into the house.
“Where’s Dreamie?” Phil’s tone lifted, waltzing past the hall to set down the purchase. There was a sense of barely restrained urgency in his movements that Techno had long associated with Phil’s desire to see the youngest. Not that he blamed him of course, for Dream was a delight to have every single day.
“Sleeping.” It was a miracle that the baby was not awakened by the ruckus they were causing downstairs. Techno mused, folding his arms before himself while he glared at Wilbur who was complaining about the cruelty of life like the theatre kid he was.
Perhaps he had spoken too soon as the first wail began, sending Techno into a fury of panicked movements to scale up the stairway leading to the nursery. He could hear confused mumbles behind him; Phil’s voice mingled gently with Wilbur’s, fading as he approached Dream’s room.
The music box was still playing soft melodies in the background, overshadowed by the broken sobs of the child who was throwing his hands around wildly. His pillow was askew in his struggles while the blanket laid forgotten, most likely being kicked away in his tantrum.
“Hush, Dream. Techno got you.” And he meant it, in every sense in the world. Techno reached into the crib with all the gentleness he could muster and set the small being within his arms. The lull of his heartbeats quietened the wails into mere whimpers. Wordlessly, he offered a finger for the baby to grasp onto. It was a habit that Dream fell into easily, especially when Techno pretended to struggle within his ‘mighty’ hold.
“There you go.” Timid green eyes peeked from the veil of tears at the encouragement and Techno’s eyes lost all the sharpness. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the beginning of Wilbur’s head emerging from the doorway. Inevitability, it seemed, was a constant theme around Dream.
“Did the idiot wake you up?” That didn’t mean that he wouldn’t go out of his way to tease his twin, however and the pout he received was almost as rewarding as Dream’s smile. At the very least, Wilbur seemed to have calmed significantly. Perhaps, the more mature, fatherly side of him had decided to take over in the presence of their youngest member.
“Don’t listen to Techno. Hello there, little buddy, I’m Wilbur.” Wilbur began. An amiable smile plastered on his face as he softened his voice more. The melodic hum that always accompanied his voice fell into whispers, like the gentle rainfall in the autumn wind. Wilbur was always good with this. Techno tried to pacify himself, though his stiff limbs and tensed posture could only be described as awkward in the small room.
Just as Techno was about to admit defeat and hand Dream over, the baby protested, whimpering slightly as green eyes searched for him. The tiny palm tightened around his finger as the small face scrunched together in a frown. His lips quivered, as if readying himself for another wave of devastating cries.
It was probably his imagination, right? Techno convinced himself, unaware of the disaster that was about to unfold when Wilbur grabbed a hold of the baby. Instantly, Dream screamed, louder than before as his limbs reached out to push the stranger away. It caught them both off guard as Wilbur rushed to recover from how the child seemed to wriggle away from him.
“Ah, wait, calm down, Dreamie.” Wilbur steadied himself, settling Dream in the crook of his neck while he bounced slightly to gain the attention of the newborn. It was to no avail, when Dream screeched, throwing a fit that could only be expected from the minecraft household.
After several stressful minutes (minutes that could have cost them their hearing), Wilbur begrudgingly handed Dream back over to Techno who stood, dumbfounded by the fact that children who didn’t like the Wilbur Soot existed. The fact was further cemented when he recovered Dream, as the child stilled and sniffled within his arms.
This was unexpected. Techno shared a bewildered look with Wilbur. There was something akin to dopamine coursing through his veins, similar to how he triumphed over all and secured the win in the championship, like how he raced through the woods and conquered the beasts. Dream wanted him over Wilbur.
It took a lot of self restraint for him to not burst out laughing yet Techno couldn’t help the smug grin on his face when Dream cuddled close, hiding his face into his chest as he tried to shield himself away from Wilbur. Another look at Wilbur’s shell shocked face caused all effort to be for naught as Techno barked out a laugh while the other struggled to make excuses in his defence. The disbelief almost seemed to etch onto the brunet’s face.
Later, when he shared the tale with Phil, he was assaulted by another round of laughter, this time though, another softer jingles joined him, giggling from within his protective embrace.
Techno cracked his eyes open at the first touch of the blanket upon him. A quick glance showed that it was Phil, who smiled apologetically for accidentally waking him. Techno readjusted himself, feeling his bones click back into place at the motion as he regained his senses. The fire was crackling, providing the much needed warmth from the raging snowstorm outside.
There was a pressure on his right arm. His eyes followed to locate the source of the pressure, only for him to soften at the sight of a sleeping Dream cuddling close to him. His mouth was open slightly, letting out warm breath as he leaned on Techno.
“Something never changes.” Phil stated, combing his fingers through the dirty blonde hair. The child, not quite a baby anymore (though he would always be one in Techno’s eyes) sighed and nestled closer to Techno; an action that melted the warrior more than he would admit.
As the wind howled and the snow casted cold, mystifying spells upon the occupants of the arctic, Techno’s heart was instead warmed, swelling with an indescribable feeling.