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Sicknoblade

Summary:

Techno comes down with a cold, but as the eldest child, he is never without his duties.

Notes:

Set: Modern AU

Ages: Techno and Wilbur (17), Tommy (9), Phil (Dad)

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

People make bad decisions. Technoblade would like to think he's not one of those people, but alas, no one is perfect. So here he finds himself in the confines of his room, under his covers, feverish and sniffling. All because he left his umbrella home and he so stupidly decided to walk through the rain. 

Who would have thought one of the most feared students at school would be taken down by rain. Then again, in his defense, the only reason why his immune system was so bad was 'cause he had been staying up late the past few nights juggling school work, house work, and taking care of his brothers. 

Rash knocking broke the silence he was in, followed by yells, "Techno! Are you up yet?" He hears Tommy yell. "Wilbur's trying to cook breakfast again!"

Techno let out a groan as he sat up, deciding he'd rather suffer a headache than wait for the house to be engulfed in flames. He opened the door to an eager, yet nervous Tommy. He gestured for the child to follow him downstairs. He could already imagine the smell of smoke and he was pretty sure Wilbur just put oil on a pan.

"Wilbur, step away from the stove," Techno said, trying to keep his voice on the down-low, not wanting to strain it.

"I haven't even done anything," Wilbur whined, leaving the knife on the counter before slouching down on one o the dinning table's chairs. 

Techno let out a low laugh, "You say that as if it was bad news." He took over what Wilbur was making. Oddly enough he was making pancakes. Why was he going to use knife on the flour, he would never know. 

Wilbur rolled his eyes, "You sound like shit by the way."

Tommy nodded, "Yeah, you sound like a—like a...you know when the car starts? Like that!"

Technoblade grumbled, "Thanks for noticing."

"You're welcome!" Tommy said, making Wilbur laugh his lungs out. 

Techno sighed, shaking his head fondly as he began cooking the pancakes, "That was sarcasm, Toms. I taught you this before."

"Oh," Tommy said in realization, "Well, you're not welcome then! fuckin' prick," he mumbled. 

"Seriously though," Wilbur started, "If you're feeling sick, I can take over for you."

Techno shook his head, "I'll be fine 'til Phil gets home."

Wilbur stood up, "You say that but..." he grabbed the spatula from Techno, "C'mon, what could possibly go wrong? You can supervise me or something. That way, you're still being responsible and not overworking yourself. Let's call it a compromise."

Techno thought about it for a moment. His head was pounding and his body was so heavy he'd think he was a whale. Not to mention his nose is so stuffed that he's having trouble breathing. "Fine," he said, walking over to the table, "but if I smell smoke, you're sitting back down."

He sat down on his usual seat, a glass of water pushed in front of him. He looked to his left and found Tommy smiling at him innocently. He felt the corner of his lips quirk up, he ruffled the kid's hair lightly before chugging down the water. Only then did he realize how dry his throat was. Even water felt like sandpaper. 

How are colds this OP?? Techno thought.

The longer Techno sat there, the worse he feels. The kitchen will still be here if I just... He gently dropped his head on the table, covering himself with his arms in an attempt to keep the brightness out. 

He must have fallen asleep for a moment because next thing he knew, Wilbur was serving them pancakes, "Breakfast is served!"

Techno raised his head from the table and was met with a decent stack of pancakes. "You actually didn't burn it," he said in surprise. 

Wilbur chuckled, "I wouldn't say that." He glanced down at his own pancakes, which were visibly more of a burnt brown rather than golden. 

Techno shook his head, using his fork to transfer two out of his three pancakes onto Wilbur's plate. "Here," he said. 

"Wait, wait, no! You're the one who's sick, you should have the good pancakes," Wilbur insisted. 

"It's fine...I don't really feel like eating much anyway," Technoblade said, "I'd rather go back to bed, if I'm being honest."

"Here, we'll have a compromise," Wilbur said, giving back one of the good pancakes to Techno, "You eat two pancakes then drink medicine. After that, you can go to bed."

"Fine. Compromise." Techno stabbed the pancake with his fork and bit the side. He let out a grunt as he swallowed, his throat was killing him. 

Their breakfast was fairly bearable. Sure everything hurts and Tommy was rambling making his head ache more, but like, it can get worse.

"SHIT THE STOVE!" Wilbur exclaimed rushing to turn the stove off.

Definitely could be worse.

But, finally, finally. Once everyone was done eating and he had gotten medicine, Techno laid in bed, waiting for sleep to take over. Just as his eyes were beginning to close, a loud thud startled him awake. He sat up, ready to see what that fell, but Wilbur's words rang on his head. He can handle the house for a couple of hours. He tried to convince himself.

He closed his eyes. He'll let them be.

***

Look, he tried alright. He tried ignoring all the crashing or thumps, Tommy's loud screeching, Wilbur's yells. 

An hour is enough rest. He decided before standing up.

He dragged his body from the bed and went downstairs to find out what all the noise was about. "Tommy! Come back here!" 

"No! I don't want a bath!!" Tommy yelled as he ran out the back door, circling around the house and entering through the front door, away from Wilbur who was still in the kitchen. 

Sometimes being the only person in the house with a brain is tiring. Techno grabbed Tommy by the collar of his shirt before he got away again. "You gotta take a bath kid, you're gonna start to stink."

Tommy struggled in Techno's hold, "Then why take a bath now if I'm not stinky yet!" He tried biting the older's other hand but couldn't reach.

"As they say, prevention is better than cure," Techno said. 

"Speaking of, shouldn't you be in bed?" Wilbur asked. 

"I would, but seein' how loud you two were, I think I'll get a worse headache before fallin' asleep," Techno said. He notices how Wilbur's expression changes. He sighed, "I'll be fine, Wil. You clean up around here, I'll give Tommy a bath then I'll go to bed, okay?"

Wilbur sighed, "Fine, but afterwards, back to bed."

Techno waved him off, "Yeah, yeah." He carried Tommy to the upstairs bathroom. 

Now, Tommy's 9, he can very much bathe by himself. But considering how dirty he is again, Techno could guess he had been rolling around in mud again. So here he was in the bathroom supervising to make sure no mud was left in Tommy's hair. 

Once Tommy was out of the shower and in fresh clothes, Techno helped him dry off his hair. "Oww, that hurts," Tommy whined, pushing Techno's hands with towel away. "Can't we just air dry?"

Techno sighed. He was too tired for this. "You are gonna air dry your hair. We just have to get enough water out so you won't be dripping everywhere. Now, stop being stubborn."

Techno stood up—too quickly at that—evident by the way his stomach churned and vision blinked. He could hear Tommy's muffled calls, but he couldn't care less. He's just...tired. Next thing he knows, his vision was engulfed by darkness.

"WIL!"

Wilbur perked up at the sound of his younger brother's call filled with distress. "Tommy?" He called back as he rushed up the stairs. "Shit!" He cursed when he finds Techno slumped on the floor with Tommy shaking him. 

"Wil! He just—he was drying my hair and then he just—he dropped!" Tommy stuttered. 

"Shh, it's gonna be okay Tommy," Wilbur said, dropping next to Techno and placing the older's head on his lap. "He's just passed out 'cause he's tried." Wilbur placed the back of his hand on Techno's forehead. 

Shit. He thought. How was Techno acting so nonchalant about everything when he's literally burning up. "Tommy, bud, I need you to get the thermometer and a bowl filled with cold water, and a small towel, okay?"

Tommy nodded at him, rushing to get to find the thermometer. Wilbur then hoisted Techno up. He was once again thankful that he is taller than Techno or else, this would be impossible. He carried his brother to the living room rather than his bedroom 'cause it'll be easier to monitor him in there. 

Wilbur carefully laid Techno on the couch. "Here," Tommy handed him a thermometer before running off to find a bowl. Wilbur waited for the thermometer to beep and when it did, he calmed down a tad bit. 

39.1 C. It wasn't too bad, as long as it doesn't go up anymore. Tommy got back with a bowl in his hands and a towel on his shoulder. "Thank you, Tommy," Wilbur said as he soaked the towel in water, wrung it and placed it on Techno's forehead. 

He walked up the stairs to grab a blanket and laid it across Techno. "He's gonna be alright. Techno's strong, yeah?" Wilbur told Tommy. Sure, it may seem a bit dramatic, Tommy's seen and have been sick before, but to see someone collapse, and Technoblade at that, is definitely startling. 

Wilbur stood up, "I'm gonna call Phil, you can stay here with Tech and umm, watch TV or something."

He walked out of the living room, dialing Phil's number. 

"Hello? Wilbur?"

"Heyyy," Wilbur said.

He hears Phil sigh, "What did you do?"

"Nothing! It's just...Techno collapsed."

"He what?!"

"He's fine now!" Wilbur exclaimed, "At least I think so? He's resting and we're trying to get his fever down. I just...I have no clue what to do next. Techno usually takes care of himself if he's feeling ill, he's never gotten bad enough to collapse."

"Just keep trying to get his fever down and watch for any alarming changes, yeah? I'm clocking out early," Phil said.

"Wait, no, you don't have to—"

Phil chuckled, "Mate, I'm not leaving you to cook lunch and dinner."

"Haha, make fun of my non existent culinary skills, fuck you," Wilbur said, "Come home quick, please."

***

When Techno woke up, his body felt something wrapped around his body and something cold on his forehead. He let out a groan ass he sat up. A wet towel fell off his forehead and to the blanket he was on top of him. He was on the couch, the television was on and showing some mindless cartoon. By his feet, Tommy was asleep, drooling on his blanket.

"Hey," Wilbur whispered, "How are you feeling?"

Techno grunted, "Definitely better than before." He glanced at the clock, it was already lunch time.

"Well, you're in luck, Phil's almost done making stew," Wilbur gestured to the kitchen with his head.

Techno furrowed his eyebrows, "Phil's home?"

Wilbur let out a nervous chuckle, "Yeah...you collapsed out of nowhere and I kinda panicked. I called Phil and he told me what to do. After a few minutes he arrived here and said he took the rest of the day off."

Techno glanced at the kitchen and sure enough, there was Phil stirring a pot of stew. "Do you feel like eating yet?" Wilbur asked him, "You need food in your stomach before we give you medicine."

Techno hummed, "Sure, but..." he looked at the kid who was practically latched onto his leg. 

Wilbur chuckled, before lifting the boy, "You go ahead, I'll bring him up to his room."

Techno stood up from the couch, making his way to the kitchen. "Hey mate," Phil greeted him, "Want some? It's nearly done."

Techno nodded, "Yeah."

"I heard you passed out 'cause your dumb ass decided to be responsible," Phil said as he stirred the stew.

Techno sighs, "I know, I just...it feels like if I'm not doing anything, everything's gonna go wrong."

Phil smiled at him, "Don't worry too much. Wilbur, even if he is childish a lot of the times, is very responsible. He managed to take care of you, right?"

Techno hums, "I guess..."

"Great!" Phil exclaimed, placing a bowl in front of Techno, "Now, I demand that you relax. You're weak right now, you shouldn't be moving around too much."

"Tell that that to yourself, old man," Techno huffed, before taking a bite of the food.

Phil just rolled his eyes, reaching over to ruffle Techno's hair.

"And just like that, I'm the least favorite child," Wilbur let out a dramatic sigh as he took a seat at the table.

"Stop being dramatic," Phil chuckled. 

The three of them chatted while Techno ate. Well, Phil and Wilbur did, Techno gave a few comments bit he was mostly eating. Once finished he stood up to clean his bowl when it was snatched away by Wilbur. 

"Nope! No washing, no cleaning, no duties for you," Wilbur grinned, "Until you feel better that is. Now off to the couch."

Not wanting to argue with Wilbur, Techno followed instructions and sat on the couch. All his stuff was still there so he bundled himself under the blanket. Wilbur then handed him a glass of water and medicine. "I can get these on my own you know..." Techno said, bit accepted them anyway. 

"Nope! You're on rest!" Wilbur said. 

"The kitchen is right the—" Techno sighed, he wasn't gonna be able to convince Wilbur to leave him alone. "Thanks."

"Awww, Techno," Wilbur cooed wrapping his arms around the other. 

"No! Get away," Techno said, pushing Wilbur halfheartedly, "You're gonna get sick too."'

"I don't mine!"

"Well I do! I'm not gonna suffer through your whining when sick."

"Well, you love me, so it doesn't really matter."

"Get away."

"No!"

Notes:

Hey! Techno sickfic here! Not sure how good it is, but I hope you guys enjoyed this one! 

Thank you for reading! Comments and suggestions are appreciated.

-LuminaStarCrest

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