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“Let’s get you to bed, little Theseus.”
“Wha-? Who the hell is that?”
Techno purred and smiled, lifting the child into his arms and making his way towards Tommy’s room. It was messy like it always was, but Phil was too soft for his youngest to make him clean his room so often.
“He was a hero. A really brave one, too. He defeated a big evil monster, a lot of people admire him.”
Tommy grinned, eyes sparkling. “I’m a hero!” He shouted, arms in the air. Techno had to react quickly to avoid dropping him, purr coming to a sharp halt.
“Yes, yes. A little hero,” Techno agreed, shifting Tommy in his arms before placing him gently on his red comforter.
“The biggest hero! The biggest man!” Tommy shouted.
“Of course, the biggest of heroes. Big heroes get lots of sleep so they can do big things in the morning.”
Tommy groaned but shifted so he was under the covers, resting his head on his pillow.
“Will you call me Theseus more? I want everyone to know how cool and brave I am!”
Techno smiled, purr starting up once more. He stroked his hand through Tommy’s hair, pressing a light kiss to his forehead which made Tommy stick his tongue out.
“Of course, I will. The biggest hero for the biggest man.”
–
Tommy grew up being proud to be called a hero. He was loud, boisterous, and very easily excitable. Oftentimes people would call him annoying, but he never let such words affect him. He found people who liked him, people who would indulge him in his quest to be a hero, even if it was becoming the self-proclaimed hero of their little elementary school.
5th grade, Tommy soon discovered, was not at all the breeze he thought it would be. Techno made it seem like it, what with being top of the class all the way to freshman year of high school and in so many extracurriculars Tommy couldn’t keep track. Tommy would be jealous if he had enough in him to care.
He didn’t care about school, didn’t care about grades or clubs or sports–all he wanted was to be TommyInnit, hero of the school and conqueror of the playground. He was everyone’s favorite, Man of Many Wives.
Just like his brother, Tommy was always picking fights. He might as well have been a problem child with how many bruises he gave, but also from how many he gained. He couldn’t help it, really. In his own words, “Some fucking assholes who mess with his friends can never take down a hero like him.”
Everyone knew it was something he would grow out of. Of course, there were many long, boring talks at the dinner table about how he should stop hurting people, but as soon as his dad learned he was fighting out of self-defense, he backed down.
It was true, mostly, that he fought out of self-defense. Of course, sometimes he would hear a bitch talking shit about his friends behind their backs and give them a black eye, but that was neither here nor there.
He was doing what’s right. The great hero Theseus never lost! 6 years old, with dreams too big for him to handle.
–
Tommy sat in silence, clenching and unclenching his hands together, popping and fidgeting with his fingers. He hated this, sitting alone with only the scratchy fabric of the school office chair to keep him company. His phone was broken, most likely beyond repair.
Whatever. He didn’t care about his phone. He just wanted to see his brother. Technoblade, the one who taught him how to fight for this reason specifically.
Tommy was angry. So, so fucking furious at himself for not being the hero he needed to be. It was exhausting, knowing that you had the heart, had the will to keep going, but never the strength. He had done everything right! Everything Techno taught him went into play, as he heard the sickening crack of a broken nose. He realized too late that the crack was from his own.
Now he sat, eyes on his lap, wringing trembling hands together so they would please stop shaking. It wasn’t that easy.
“Theseus,” a low voice resonated in the air between them.
“Techno…” Tommy whispered, biting hard on his lip to keep from letting out a sob. Everything he did. Everything he ever trained to accomplish. All down the drain. Over some middle school assholes. Fuck.
Tommy knew his brother was disappointed in his sorry sight. He must have looked like a nightmare, with a still bleeding nose, purple blotches covering half his eye and neck, hair frizzled like it had been held and used as leverage. Which it had.
Strong, warm arms surrounded him. His head was buried into the shoulder of his older brother, a hand on the nape of his neck. Tommy didn’t dare breathe, not if he was to ruin this moment.
“You’re not upset?” Tommy whispered, almost unintelligible.
“Little Hero,” Techno purred, trying to restrain himself from hugging the injured boy tighter. “I would never be upset with you for losing a fight. Theseus didn’t win all of his battles, you know?”
Tommy sobbed. Being a hero meant a lot of work.
–
Being bruised was starting to become Tommy’s new normal. He told himself, over and over: ‘Hero’s got bruises, hero’s got hurt. Suck it up. You’ll never be strong enough if you can’t take a hit. Be a hero. Fight for the ones you love.’
He couldn’t leave his friends to just fight for themselves. Of course, if Tommy stopped initiating fights, the bullies might leave them alone more, but that wasn’t Tommy’s problem. Until it inevitably was.
Another day, another fight, more bruised knuckles. Tommy was sure DSS wasn’t very happy with Phil already, given how many “fights” Tommy seemed to get into. Thankfully, with Phil’s clean track record, he was never in any sort of legal trouble because of Tommy.
He did feel a bit bad, though. Phil didn’t deserve the headache that was taking care of Tommy. When he explained that to Phil, though, he just shook his head.
“I would spend forever fighting in court to keep you. You and your brothers are the world to me, don't forget that.”
Tommy forgot sometimes, but Phil was always there to remind him. He wasn’t a burden, he was a little hero doing what he thought was best. 10 years old, already so brave.
–
Tommy didn’t exactly read much–he left that to his brothers. Techno was the one always telling him stories from those wide, yellow-paged books he liked. Bedtime stories, mostly. But, sometimes, when Tommy had a bad day or was just in a bad mood, Techno would take Tommy to his room, take out his dusty old books, and hold the boy in his arms while he read.
Tommy loved the feeling of falling asleep to his brother’s favorite stories, held loosely in strong arms he knew would keep him safe.
Now, as he laid in those same strong arms, eyes creeping shut, he asked what he always did.
“Tell me a story?” He asked, his voice mumbled in Techno’s shirt. He was barely awake, forcing his eyes open just to be able to listen to Techno’s voice.
Techno hummed, tangling his fingers into Tommy’s hair. “How about I tell you the whole story of Theseus?”
That sure woke Tommy up. He lifted his head from Techno’s chest, wide eyes peering up at a smirking face. Fingers carded through his tangles for another moment longer before leaving him altogether. A kiss was pressed to his forehead as Techno untangled himself from Tommy’s hold, standing to make his way to his collection. Dozens of books lined his twin shelves, organized by genre and if he’d read them or not.
He grabbed one of his usual worn-down books, the spine of the hard-back cover almost falling off of itself, if not for the carefully placed tape around the tears.
Techno sat back on his bed, pulling Tommy into his lap and placing his chin on Tommy’s head.
“‘Even after two wives – Meta and Chalciope – Aegeus, the esteemed king of Athens, was still childless-’.”
Despite his exhaustion, one that settled deep into him and willed him to sleep, Tommy kept his attention rapt at the story of Theseus. He chimed in when needed, laughed when appropriate, asked questions when he felt the need.
However, his mood seemed to fall when they reached the end of the story. A young hero, who had united his home, slain the monster who caused them problems… he was cast aside, killed. He was a hero. He wasn’t wanted.
And if Tommy was Theseus…
“Don’t worry, little one,” Techno rumbled, purring and lacing arms around Tommy’s smaller figure. “Theseus was a hero. You’re a hero. It doesn’t matter what happened to him.”
Tommy bit his lip, trying to break himself from his thoughts.
“Right,” Tommy nodded, leaning back into Techno’s hold. “Thank you for telling the story.”
“Any time, Theseus.”
–
Tommy was tired of being a hero. Goddammit, he was tired of even trying.
He was tired of years of this. He was 14 years old and still losing! He can’t handle the stress anymore.
Tommy was so, so tired of being targeted, getting beat for just being loud. He was tired of standing up for himself, taunting others for daring to pick on him.
He couldn’t stop crying. He was sat in the school office once more, burying his face into his knees to try and keep the tears from being seen. He didn’t care anymore. He was so done. He wanted to scream, punch a wall. Unfortunately, all he could do was hug his knees and cry his eyes out.
Tommy’s head hurt. He wanted his brother.
His dad came to pick him up this time. Dad didn’t call him Theseus, for that he was grateful. He didn’t know if he could hear that name again, from how much it stung.
Tommy didn’t want to be Theseus, the one who tried his best, did everything he could, but still lost. He wanted to be Tommy, the little brother of Wilbur and Technoblade, lover of women, best friend of Tubbo and Ranboo.
He didn’t know what to do. He cried almost the entire way home. He was sure he looked like a mess, as usual when he got out of fights. There was always a bandage strewn across his nose or cheek.
Tommy was hopeless, wasn’t he? He was scared.
One thing he knew, though, was he needed to talk to his brother.
–
“Techno?” Tommy whispered, clenched fists at his side to keep him from shaking. No matter how much he wanted to, he held himself back from opening Techno’s door. It had been established years ago that they weren’t allowed to come into the other’s room without asking, and especially not if the door was closed.
Thankfully, Tommy heard a low “Come in,” from the other side of the door.
Tommy took a deep breath before closing his palm around the doorknob, swinging it open to face his brother.
“I heard you got into another fight. Was it over Tubbo again?” Techno asked. He was leaning against the headboard of his bed, eyes glued to the crinkled pages of his book. It looked like a new part of his collection, although very old in age, just like he liked them. Tommy didn’t know how he could stand such books, what with their old, hard to read way of writing. Maybe that’s why Tommy wasn’t the reader of the family.
“They called him slow when he was forced to read in class,” Tommy mumbled, eyes locked to the carpeted floor.
Techno looked up from his book, sliding his bookmark into place and setting it aside on his nightstand.
“Come here, Theseus. I’m sure you did a good job. They deserved a good beating, yeah?”
Tommy bit his lip before forcing out a laugh. He made his way to Techno’s bed, crawling onto it just like he did every time he came home with more bruises. It was a wonder he wasn’t expelled by now.
Techno brought him into his arms, starting up his purr as usual. Everything was so normal. But he was far from it.
“Why did you really start calling me Theseus?” Tommy whispered. Techno’s purr quieted but didn’t stop. Just like he did when he thought Tommy was upset at him.
“Because I think you’re brave. And strong. And willing to do anything to protect people.”
“Because you think I’m some hero?”
“I think you’re the best hero.”
Tommy couldn’t help it. He burst into tears, adding to the pounding in his head that continued from his last crying session.
Techno held him closer, confused by the sudden tears but wanting to do something to comfort his little brother.
Tommy just continued to cry, staining Techno’s shirt with salty tears. This was exactly why they needed to talk.
“I don’t want to be a hero!” Tommy wailed, hands clutching at Techno’s shirt. It would leave wrinkles, but neither of them dared to care about such a thing at the moment. “I’m not a hero! I’m fourteen! I just want to be-” Tommy cut himself off, choking down a sob as he shook in Techno’s arms.
“I just want to be your brother. I want to be Tommy…”
Techno sat silently, listening to Tommy’s cries as Tommy fought down his tears, doing his best to breathe steadily.
“Sunshine?” Techno rumbled, bringing his hand to Tommy’s cheek, tilting his head up to look at Techno.
“Is that better? Sunshine?”
Tommy didn’t say anything, closing his eyes and loosening into Techno’s touch.
"No more Theseus?" Tommy whispers.
"No more Theseus," Techno agrees.
Tommy sighs in relief, slumping into Techno's hold. He can barely bite down his tears, adding to the wet, crumpled patches on Techno’s shirt.
"Sunshine will do, though," Techno purrs, raising his hand up to scratch behind Tommy's ears, just the way that makes him melt.
"D'ckhead," Tommy slurs out, already leaning more into the touch.
"My sunshine. My little treasure.”