Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Diamonds!” Ranboo felt a small smile overtake his sweat drenched face. Techno’s face popped out from the adjacent tunnel, “How many?” Ranboo mined the stone around the vein, becoming excited when he saw the numbers of diamonds he had found. “It looks like ten!” 

“Eh?” Techno’s voice rose a little in surprise at the rare find, but quickly returned to it’s normal monotone rhythm. “Nice find.” A warm feeling blossomed in  Ranboo, despite the words only holding small praise. 

He checked his inventory, finding a satisfactory amount of diamonds. “We should probably head back now, it’ll be dark soon, and mobs will spawn.” Techno grunted in response, turning around to follow their torch path. Ranboo trailed behind, placing his pickaxe on his shoulder. 

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It took a little while to get to the surface, but their heads finally popped out of the ground. Ranboo took a second to observe where they were. They had reappeared near Snowchester, it was only about a 10 minute walk away. He should go see Tubbo soon, he thought, it had been ages since he had gone to see his husband and son. He pulled himself out of that thought, he could think about his family later, but now was not the time. It was later than he had originally thought, the moon was rising over a nearby hill. Ranboo could see that many mobs had already spawned, their sihlouettes illuminated by the full moon that was climbing the sky. Ranboo grabbed his sword, preparing for the waves of mobs approaching. “Um, Techno?” His mentor looked up from sorting the stone in his inventory, only to see their predictment. “Oh, we should probably move.” His voice remained monotone, but there was a rare nervous edge, and he summoned his sword. 

They slowly moved backwards, hoping that the mobs hadn’t seen them yet. The spell was broken when an arrow landed right in between them, narrowly missing Ranboo’s hand. Instantly, they started running. Ranboo was not looking where they were going, simply following his mentor. At some point while running, they entered a snow biome, Ranboo didn’t think much of it, focusing instead on trying not to die. 

Skeleton’s rained arrows down on them, none of them hitting the target. The sound of skittering legs and growls filled the night air, and mobs were closing in on them. One spider jumped on Ranboo, smashing his sword arm into the ground so that he couldn’t use it. It’s fangs opened wide as it prepared to bite its prey. Ranboo squeezed his eyes shut, instinctually looking away from his death. His biggest regrets ran through his mind, Michael would grow up with only one father, and Tubbo would be devastated. How would he even know? Techno wouldn’t tell him, he knew nothing about their family. Ranboo’s heart sank as he realized that Tubbo would think that he had abandoned them, just how he promised he never would. 

There was a squelch, and something splattered all over Ranboo. When he didn’t feel the pain of a bite, he hesitantly opened his eyes. Technoblade was standing over him, sword drenched in purple spider’s blood. He offered Ranboo a hand, “Come on, we don’t have all day.” His tone remained gruff, but underneath layers of carefully placed indifference, there was a glimmer of worry resting in his eyes. Ranboo took his mentor’s hand and pulled himself up, ignoring the pain from the scratches. 

They began to run again, the mobs hadn’t stopped progressing and were even closer than before. “Techno, we’re not going to be able to get back.” Ranboo gasped out between breaths. He had never been the most athletic, but he doubted that Technoblade would be able to keep ahead of the mobs for that long either. “C’mon Ranboo, don’t give up that easily.” Ranboo looked around as they ran, and found that they were passing Snowchester. “Techno! We can go to Snowchester, Tubbo will let us stay there.”

“He’s government Ranboo, he’ll probably leave us to die.” Despite his cold words, Techno had a look that Ranboo had never seen on his mentor’s face. If he didn’t know better, Ranboo would say that Techno looked tempted… but that would be absurd. Techno hated Tubbo, if there was anything Ranboo knew about his mentor it was that fact. But it was not the time for trying to solve his mentor’s many secrets, they had to get somewhere safe. “He’ll let us in.”

“Bu-”

“Techno, trust me.” It was the first time Ranboo had cut off the older man, but it seemed to get to his mentor. “Fine, but if he kills us on sight that’s on you.” Ranboo gave a nod, still gasping for breath as they ran. He knew that his husband would never hurt him, and he wouldn’t hurt Techno either, if only because he knew Ranboo would be hurt by his mentor’s death.

They reached the door of the mansion, and Ranboo frantically knocked on the door, hoping that his husband wasn’t already asleep. Thankfully, he wasn’t, because Ranboo heard a faint voice softly saying, “Go up to your room Michael, I’ll be up in a second.” They heard the skittering of small feet, and Techno shifted uncomfortably, “Maybe we shou-” The door opened, revealing Ranboo’s husband, who’s eyes widened. “Ranboo what are you-” He saw the mobs approaching and practically pulled his husband in the doorway, cutting himself off. “Come in, you idiot, you’ll kill yourself.” He froze when he saw Techno behind Ranboo, stepping in front of the doorway, hand going to a non-existent sword at his waist. “Tubbo can he-” The words seemed to snap Tubbo out of his state, though his next words were said with feigned indifference. “Of course, come in.” He stepped out of the door frame, body tensed up, eyes trailing over the scratches on Ranboos arms. “You can go to the living room, I’ll be out in a second.” Ranboo grabbed his mentor’s arm and dragged him into the living room, sitting him on the couch. Techno’s body was tense, observant eyes taking in every detail. “Tech- '' Ranboo stopped when Tubbo came in, pointedly ignoring Techno. He had a first aid kit in his hand and kneeled down next to Ranboo, who held out his arm. “Boo, I told you not to go out this late.” Tubbo’s voice sounded exasperated, but there was a hint of relief as well. “I know, but we were mining and we lost track of time.” Tubbo’s hands gently wrapped the wounds in bandages, “You need to be more aware of that, what would have happened if you weren’t near Snowchester?”

“I know Tubbo.” A short silence ensued, in which Tubbo continued to take care of his husband's wounds. It was interrupted by Techno, who had come to a realization. “Boo? Is that a nickname? Does he come over often?” Tubbo froze, hands shaking slightly while holding a bandage. A short non verbal conversation ensued between Tubbo and Ranboo.

What do we do?

I trust him

I don’t

Ranboo wanted to ask why that was, why his husband was so distrustful of the man that was his mentor. He knew that Techno had blown up L’Manburg, but Ranboo had also played a part in that, and Tubbo had easily forgiven him. He would ask later, he decided, though he suspected his husband would not tell him.

Do you trust me?

Of course

Then trust me on this

Tubbo still looked hesitant, but he gave a small nod. Ranboo took a second to appreciate the trust that Tubbo had in him, despite not knowing everything about the enderman hybrid he placed his life in his hands time and time again. “Um... So are you going to tell me?” Ranboo took a deep breath, grabbing his husband’s hand to provide support. He could feel it shaking, whether with distrust or fear he didn’t know. “Tubbo is my platonic husband.” An array of emotions flew across Techno’s face, settling on confusion. “Eh?” Tubbo tensed up even further at the reaction, though it wasn’t a particularly bad one. “Ok… Well. That was not what I was expecting, congrats I guess?”

“Thanks, I’m glad you’re ok with it, it means a lot.” At this point Tubbo was practically hiding behind Ranboo, using his husband’s height to his advantage. 

“Ok, so I don’t know why you guys hate each other,” at that sentence Techno flinched slightly, only noticed by his mentee, and Ranboo felt his husband tense up behind him, but he continued to talk. “But you two need to figure it out, I’m going to make you tea.” Tubbo grabbed his arm, trying to keep his husband between them, but Ranboo pulled away, sighing at their reluctance to talk. “Just figure it out,” he spit out the words dejectedly, only feeling remorse when he saw Tubbo jump away from him. He never knew why, but Tubbo had always reacted badly to cold words. It was one among many of the things that Ranboo tried to avoid around him, right after alcohol and yelling. He reached out to comfort his husband, feeling like someone had stabbed him when he shied away. “I- I Tu- Listen, I’m sorry,” he really was sorry, but he needed them to talk. “Just figure it out.”

Chapter Text

Techno was not expecting to see his estranged brother, but then again, he wasn’t expecting to almost die to mobs, of all things either. As much as he tried to ignore it, it hurt when Techno saw his little brother flinch at the sight of him and hide from him. It didn’t seem like it had been that long ago when they were brothers, sitting in a field and making flower crowns. 

Tubbo had giggled as he placed a crown on his older brother’s pink hair. Techno had taken it off to inspect it, “It’s beautiful Tubbo, thank you.” A smile stretched across the shorter’s face, “Thanks Techie! I made it just for you, the flowers are China Asters, the book Wilbur gave me says they mean thoughtfulness and fi-fidemily.” Techno gave a soft smile, “Do you mean fidelity?” 

“Yeah, Fidelity! I’m gonna be with you forever Tech, I love you.” Tubbo snuggled up to his older brother, leaning into him. “I love you too Tubs, I’ll always protect you.”

Techno knew that he had broken that promise, Tubbo had broken his as well. The day when the voices took over and he pulled the trigger on his crossbow, loaded with fireworks, was the day they stopped being brothers. Because no matter what Tubbo had said afterwards about forgiveness, the new scars stretching across his face would always keep them apart. And then Tubbo had come after him, armed with axes and calling his group the ‘Butcher’s Army.’ If they weren’t pushed apart before, they were now. But despite everything that had happened, there was still a part of him that urged him to hug his little brother, hold him close. His instincts didn’t seem to understand the concept of enemies, or government. They screamed that he was still part of the pack, and that he needed to be protected. Techno ignored his instincts, he knew that he had lost the right of protecting Tubbo when his fingers had pulled that trigger.

But now Ranboo had gotten frustrated, and had left them to work it out. There was a silence, Tubbo was looking at Techno apprehensively from a corner of the room. Techno thought back on what Ranboo said ‘I don’t know why you hate each other.’ The thing was, Techno didn’t hate Tubbo, he didn’t now, and he didn’t think he ever would, especially when his instincts still saw him as part of the pack. “You didn’t tell him about the festival?” That was the first thing out of Techno’s mouth, he would’ve thought that Tubbo would tell his husband why he had scars, or at least try to tell him to stay away from his older brother. Tubbo startled, he had probably forgotten how direct the pink haired man could be. “He doesn’t need to know, besides, I wouldn’t want him to feel bad for seeing you.” The blandness of which he said the statement concerned Techno. If Tubbo hadn’t been talking to his husband about his trauma, who was he talking to? “Well, have you told anyone about what happened?” Tubbo waved his hand vaguely, “A lot of people were there, word gets around.”

“Tubbo… You need to talk to someone, you don’t go through what you did without trauma”

“Ha! I think I know about my own trauma better than you do,” he scoffed, and then said in a softer voice, “Like you even care, you were the one who blew me up”

“Tubbo- I-” Techno wanted to tell Tubbo that he did care, and that he always would, but it would be bad for his reputation as a heartless warrior (and maybe his pride). “Well, it’s not like you haven’t done anything to me, government .” Techno regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Tubbo flinched and shrunk into himself, the scars on his face seemed to get bolder. 

There was the sound of a door opening, and Techno turned toward the living room entrance, expecting to see a disapointed Ranboo. But the figure that appeared in the doorway was decidedly not the enderman hybrid. Standing in front of Techno was a kid, definitely not human. His skin was pink, scarred and calloused from heat. A small infection grew outwards from his eye, though it looked like it was being treated. It took a second for Techno to register that the kid before him was also a piglin, and he couldn’t be older than 5.  

“Dada? You ok?” The kid spoke in piglin, and the words seemed to be directed at the young former president beside Techno. The pitter patter of feet announced the movement of the young piglin, who ran to Tubbo’s side. Tubbo pulled himself together, seemingly to comfort the kid, and knelt down next to him, a smile appearing on his face. “I’m good Michael, why are you down here?” It hadn’t surprised Techno when the kid (Michael?) spoke piglin, because he was, well, a piglin, but Tubbo speaking it shocked him. Techno knew that Tubbo used to speak piglin, he had taught the kid himself, but he had assumed that he had forgotten how to speak the language. His accent wasn’t perfect, but he seemed to be speaking fluently. “You remember how to speak piglin?” The words left Techno’s mouth without permission, and Tubbo startled. “I-um- Well, I was a little rusty, but after some practice it came back.”

Suddenly, Techno realized the implications of what the kid had said. “Wait, Dada?”

“Oh, yeah, this is Ranboo and my kid. His name is Micheal.” Tubbo glanced hesitantly at his brother, “Um, Michael, this is your uncle, Techno, he’s a piglin too.” Techno was surprised at being called uncle, he didn’t think that Tubbo would still think of him as a brother. “Uncle?” Tubbo glanced at him, “Yeah, I think you’re close enough with Ranboo, he’d want you to be close with our son.” He should’ve felt happy to be called close enough to Ranboo to be called an uncle, but the comment felt like a slap to the face. “Um, yeah, Ranboo.” 

He decided to move on from the weird feeling of disappointment blooming in his heart, crouching down beside Michael. “Hey there Michael,” Michael perked up as he was addressed, snorting in acknowledgement at being adressed. “You’re Papa’s brother?” Techno assumed that if Tubbo was ‘Dada,’ Ranboo was ‘Papa.’ His eyes snapped up towards Tubbo, just in time to see an unknown expression cross his face (Longing? Regret? Disappointment?), but it was quickly schooled into an apathetic expression. “Kinda, it’s complicated.”

Tubbo straightened from where he had moved to lean on the wall. “It’s nap time Michael, say goodbye to your uncle.” The small piglin’s face morphed into disappointment, “Aw, but Dada…” Tubbo sighed, a small, albeit tired, smile appearing on his face. “Come on, I have to talk to your uncle.”

“Bye Uncle Techie.” Michael was scooped up by his father, who walked out with his son in his arms. 

It was a good 10 minutes before Tubbo appeared again, a noticeable pink heart drawn on his forearm. “Um… You have a spot on your arm.” The young father glanced over at his arm, a smile flashing across his face. “Oh, yeah, Michael wanted to draw on my arm, he wouldn’t go to sleep until I let him.” Techno gave a slow nod, “So, uh-”

“I’m sorry,” Tubbo interrupted the new uncle. “What?”

“I-” Tubbo’s hand ghosted over the scars on his face, fear flashed in his eyes for a split second, before it disappeared and his hand returned to his side. Techno hated that his little brother was scared of him, even if it was for a valid reason. “I’m sorry for everything that I did,” Tubbo finally blurted out the sentence, taking the elder by surprise. “You- you didn’t do much.” Techno didn’t know why the words left his mouth, the boy standing before him had quite literally killed him, although it didn’t take a cannon life. “I- yeah I did!”

“Ok, so you tried to kill me.” The words held no malice, it was a stated fact, but Tubbo still flinched, as if expecting to be hurt. A hand seemed to clench Techno’s heart at seeing the younger one so scared, but he continued. “I did the same to you, and you lost a cannon life! If you ask me, we’re pretty even. If anything, I should apologize to you.”

“I- Bu- That’s not the only thing!”

“Oh?”

“I got caught, and made you kill me, and then that made your brothers angry at you.” Techno’s eyebrows knitted together, what had led the young president to think that his own murder had been his fault? And why would he say ‘your brothers?’ He was family too. He used to be family, a small voice in his head corrected his thoughts. “Tu-”

“No, let me finish.” Tubbo cut off the elder, putting up his hand, then continuing to talk. “And then, I helped build a government in front of you, even when I knew that you were an anarchist. After that, I was a governmental figure, and a terrible one at that. I exiled Tommy, and then he went to you, thanks for helping him by the way. I tried to kill you, and put Phil under house arrest. Then, you finally had a chance to reconcile with one of your brothers, but he came back with me and left you.”

“Are you done?” He asked the question abruptly, and Tubbo tensed eyes darting to the man. “I- yes.”

“Ok, now let me say my piece. First of all, it was not your choice to make a government, and you had no choice but to take the title of president. You were trying to protect your people when you exiled Tommy, same thing when you tried to execute me. It was Tommy’s decision to go back to you, as he always will, because you’re his Tubbo.” 

The younger’s face morphed into an expression of frustration. “Why won’t you just accept my apology?”

“Because none of that was your fault.” Tubbo threw his hands up into the air, “Of course it is! Everything on this server is my fault!” Techno froze, “Who told you that?” Tubbo rolled his eyes, as if the answer was obvious, “Everyone! Schlatt, Wilbur, Dream, Quackity , you, Tommy.” Where the first names had been shouted, the last was barely a whisper, voice raw with emotion. It was then that Techno realised how close the young boy before him was to breaking, but Tubbo continued to talk, voice wavering. “Even everyone who didn’t tell me personally still thinks it, I’ve hurt everyone on this server, including my family .” Techno heard the unsaid meaning of those words, ‘ including you’

“But we’re still your family.” Tubbo looked up, face full of surprise, “What?”

“We’re still your family,” Techno repeated his words, “And you’re still my brother.” Tubbo seemed to recoil at the words, but Techno continued to speak. “Remember China Asters? They signify thoughtfulness and fidelity.” His brother seemed to be choking on emotion. “You gave me a flower crown once, told me that you’d be there forever, and I promised the same. We both broke our promises, but we can mend them together.” At this, Tubbo broke down, and tears spilled from his eyes. The piglin hybrid snorted softly, and opened his arms for his brother. This, he thought, is what I should’ve been doing all along. 

“I missed you Techie,” the words were muffled, but still reached his ears. “I missed you too.”