Chapter Text
He was quiet, practically invisible. He was silent, moving from class to class during the day to his work shifts in the evening. On breaks or when work was slow at the cafe, he put on his glasses and studied for the next exam that would make or break his college career. And when his shift ended, he went back home to his apartment and passed out until noon or his next class- whichever one came first. Maybe at the beginning he’d had a healthier cycle, one where he didn’t do all of his work at the last minute and barely scraped by with the little funds he had. But that had been a few years ago. That had been before he’d given up hope on finishing college.
Technoblade was a twenty-one year old man who was going to die at twenty-two.
It had never been his choice, and it never would be. A fate set in stone that he wouldn’t ever get to truly live, to rekindle those friendships and familial relations he’d cut himself off from years ago. Relationships he’d cut himself off from even before he’d really given up hope on ever truly living.
But that was business he rarely thought about. He ignored the fact he was going to die within a year, and he ignored the bitterness that swelled in his heart when others bragged of how they’d live to ripe old ages, how they’d live to start a family and have grandchildren. It wasn’t that Techno was into that stuff, it was just that he hated that he’d never be given a chance in the first place to try to get into that stuff.
The cafe he worked at never knew when he was going to die.
Despite it being in the forms he signed when he applied to the job, they never knew. They weren’t going to know if Techno was going to die at ninety-six or twenty-four. He thought it was stupid that most businesses even required someone to put their year of death when applying; whether someone was dying in months or years, it shouldn’t affect if they were to be hired. But there wasn’t anything he could do about it, so he shrugged it off and left that column blank- something that he was glad no one ever bothered to ask about when he was hired.
A person’s year of death was something private, a secret to be kept only within a select few. While someone’s year of death couldn't change, it was speculated that they way they died could. And most preferred to live for as long as they possibly could. Those who were superstitious believed in only telling their lover and no one else of their year of death. Others denied their year of death, even to the point of calling it a ridiculous concept, despite the number tattooed into their skin that each and every person was born with.
Techno learned from a young age not to tell someone the year he was going to die. He’d first done so when attempting to socialize with one of the children in his class, revealing his year of death as an awkward off-hand comment. From there things went downhill with the news spreading and him being shunned for having an early year of death.
Society was cruel, and it was a fact he learned at a young age. To keep to himself, and to keep his future death to himself was what he learned. And he learned that doing so was much easier if he simply cut himself off, isolating from his family and from the world. Because if he was to die an early death, then who’d be there to care anyway?
So that was how he lived his life. Going to classes daily, sleeping in between and doing assignments in the backroom of the off-campus cafe he’d worked at since his freshman year of college. There were lighter spots, like when a regular he hadn’t seen in a while came in and offered short small talk while he made their coffee or grabbed their bagel from the display case. But other than that, it was ordinary. It was quiet. It was slow, and yet despite his attempts to tell himself he was satisfied with his life, he wasn’t.
Every short comment he offered to a quiet conversation made purely to fill the awkward silence had a distracted note to it, wondering as his hands acted on muscle memory from working the closing shift for years.
Everything was too simple, and that fact bothered him more once he hit twenty than it had since he was child. The feeling only strengthened when he reached twenty-one, realizing then that he only had a year left to enjoy what he could.
All of a sudden the realization crashed into him that he was on a time limit, that he was going to die and all he had to show for it was his plain and ordinary life of solitude. It wasn’t like he hadn’t known and processed the knowledge, it was something he’d known his whole life. But knowing that he was a year away from his death was unnerving, it was odd and left a tangle of emotions in his chest. He tried to ignore them, to push away the amalgamation of bitterness and resentment and despair and feeble hope that filled his chest, tried to focus instead on his dull life that he’d lived for years and would continue to live until the day he died.
But then Phil walked in.
Well, it was more of him stepping in with a look of exasperation on his face, directed at his two companions’ antics. Two boys, one appearing to be a teenager and the other around ten years old. One with a loud voice and foul mouth, cursing and shouting at his older brother’s antics. One with a quieter voice but a loud laugh, delighting in the way his younger brother fed into the bait so easily. They were followed by a man who looked to be in his early thirties, expression caught somewhere between exasperation and laughter as he gave each boy a ruffling of their hair as he stepped up to the counter.
It wasn’t the first time customers came in with their children, in fact it was a common occurrence. Loud and obnoxious children were always the most frustrating, their voices giving Techno a headache and reminding him once again why despite usually liking kids, he didn’t want to deal with them on a daily basis.
But the trio that walked in were different. The youngest’s loud voice didn’t give him a headache, and cast a small, curious smile onto his face instead. His eyebrows raised in amusement at the older boy’s glimmer of mischievousness in his dark eyes as he poked and prodded at the younger’s patience. Even their father’s tired eyes held some sort of joy to them, a kind that reminded Techno of a warm embrace- one that he hadn’t felt since long before he’d left his home.
“Boys, what do you want?” The man said, giving each of his sons a brief, stern look. The older boy elbowed the younger, smirking at him even as the younger’s face contorted in rage.
“Hot chocolate!” The younger cheered, anger forgotten in an instant at the thought of the chocolatey drink. His eyes stared up at the menu behind Techno, wide with excitement and a too-soon sugar rush.
“There is no way he needs hot chocolate. That kid has enough energy as is. Plus, that’s a drink for babies.” The older teased, glancing at his brother from the corner of his eye, lips pressed in a thin line to mask his laughter.
“I’M NOT A FUCKIN’ CHILD! HOT CHOCOLATE IS FOR BIG MEN!” The younger boy roared, rage rekindled even as the boys’ father pressed two fingers to his temples.
“Wilbur, stop antagonizing your brother.” The man said with a sigh, giving the older boy- presumably named Wilbur- a firm bonk on the head. It was enough to make the boy rub at his head slightly, but not enough to harm. “Tommy, you can get hot chocolate if you want to. Wilbur, what do you want?”
“A triple shot vanilla latte.” The boy named Wilbur said easily, seemingly unbothered by the pure amount of caffeine he wanted to consume. He lowered his hand from his head, raising an eyebrow at the expression he seemed to know that Techno would take on.
Techno blinked in surprise, glancing at the teenager’s father for a moment as if to double-check that the order was alright. The man nodded, so Techno entered the order into the register alongside the previously stated hot chocolate. The man ordered a drink for himself, one with large amounts of caffeine as well- his son’s young addiction started to make sense- and paid for his order.
“Name for the order?” Techno said, voice the usual deadpan that normally earned him a glare from most customers who were new to the cafe. Regulars got used to his tone, but even they rolled their eyes sometimes at his lack of enthusiasm. Customer service tone be damned, it was evening and people were still ordering caffeine loaded drinks, he didn’t have the energy for some cheery customer service attitude.
“Phil.” Phil said cheerily, giving Techno a small but tired smile.
He watched as Phil led his sons to one of the many mismatched tables and chairs that was scattered around the cafe- something that the owner, Bad, said gave it a much homier feel.
There was something intriguing about the three-man family. Something about them and Tommy’s loud voice and Wilbur’s teasing jabs and Phil’s patience that was inviting. A sort of chaos that radiated the energy of a family that was close. Something that made a small part of Techno sting with jealousy.
He turned away from Phil and his family after a moment, moving about behind the counter as he made their drinks. He hummed something to himself, a song he heard on the radio at some point. He didn’t know the name of it, but there was something about the rhythm that was catchy, and humming was a small thing that filled the usual silence of his work.
“You’re humming ‘Angel with a Shotgun’, aren’t you? The one by The Cab.” Techno spun around, drinks in hand to face the voice. Wilbur was standing at the counter, hands in the pockets of his jacket and staring at Techno as if he was studying him. His eyebrows were lifted slightly in amusement as he waited patiently for a confirmation of his guess.
“Perhaps. Not sure the name of it, I just know I heard it on the radio sometime during a shift.” Techno replied. He turned back to the counter, sprinkling cinnamon on Phil’s drink before securing the lid.
“Y’know you don’t seem like the type to work at a cafe.” Wilbur observed.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Techno frowned, pausing for a moment before making up his mind.
“You don’t look like the typical cafe worker. The pink hair kinda makes you stand out.” Techno raised an eyebrow from where he stood with his back to the teenager, dropping a few marshmallows into the hot chocolate before securing the lid.
“You must’ve never walked into a Starbucks then.” He replied bluntly, rolling his eyes even as the teenager laughed behind him.
“Fair enough.” Wilbur said with a small shrug, giggling as he accepted the drinks from Techno. The boy smiled at him, and Techno gave him a forced smile that probably looked more like a grimace than anything. Hey at least he tried to be friendly for once.
He watched as Wilbur returned to the table and passed around the drinks. It was strange, just how infectious that little family’s atmosphere seemed to be. Techno watched with an unconscious small smile- one that wasn’t forced- as Tommy’s face lit up at the marshmallows in his drink, before he turned back to his textbook and laptop propped on the counter. Techno glanced back at the trio every few minutes, studying them as they sat and sipped their drinks and enjoyed each other’s company.
Soon enough though, they departed. Phil dropped a few bills in the tip jar as he passed, following behind his two boys out the door and into the snow.
Techno blinked, staring out the dark window at the snow in confusion for a moment. Oh. It was winter wasn’t it? He frowned, squinting at the thin layer of crisp white still falling before turning away again. He forgot that it was that time of year.
From then on, the rest of his shift was slow, not many more customers entering and the few that were there already soon leaving. The sky was pitch black by the time Techno’s shift ended, and he stretched before slowly sliding his textbooks and computer into his bag. He hadn’t got much done, but wasn’t too concerned about it. It wasn’t like it was particularly hard work, it simply took a bit more concentration than he had. His mind was left in echoes of smiling faces and loud voices and teasing that knew just which threads to poke at it. He wasn’t sure what it was, but something about that family was so interesting. They were exciting- like a splash of golden yellow painted onto the dull gray canvas that Techno had been living in for a long time.
He shook away the comparison, nearly snorting to himself how sad it was that he was so intrigued but a couple of strangers.
The process of closing shop didn’t take long; simply requiring him to wipe down the counters and machines, pushing chairs back into place and clean any leftover messes, disposing of extra unusable coffee grounds and things such as those. He yawned, cleaning the last of the cups used for orders before slinging his bag over his shoulder.
With a simple locking of the door behind him, his duties were officially over. Techno rolled his shoulders, tucking the key into his pocket before starting down the sidewalk. His apartment was a few blocks from the cafe, close enough he didn’t need to drive but far enough that he wasn’t working right next to where he lived.
Snow was still dusting the city in a veil of white, fluttering down to land on his hoodie. It was one of those things that came with living in a bigger city, there was always conveniently snow in the winter. When he was a child he used to love the snow, the feeling of the chill biting his cheeks and the wet of melting snow soaking through his gloves as he built snowmen, his parents smiling from the doorway and coming out to join him. He shook off the memory, turning a corner he barely even processed yet knew from walking the same path every day.
The same familiar city lights cast a gentle light on him, the same twenty-four hour gas stations lit up with bright signs that was a stark contrast to the exhaustion Techno knew emanated from every worker (he’d worked a gas station for a bit in high school before quitting to work at the cafe).
Techno paused, snapped from his cold daze with a soft shiver. He turned, blinking as he frowned in confusion. There’s no way he was already at his apartment, he was only a block or two from the cafe. Then he saw it, the same diner that stuck out then when it hadn’t so many nights before.
Well, he had two options really.
The first, keep walking and head home. To a home with a heater that wasn’t always working but he had warm blankets. To wake up and do more assignments in order to rush across town to the college campus and barely make it to class on time. To continue the same cycle he’d found himself in for years and ignore this sudden idea to do something new.
The second, break the endless cycle that would bore anyone else to death. The same cycle Techno was surprised hadn’t bored him to death. The diner looked warm, the bright lights welcoming and practically radiating an atmosphere that was an opposite to that of the gas station down the road. He could get some hot chocolate or coffee, maybe even a small stack of pancakes. At the very least he could procrastinate going home to a cold apartment.
So he sighed, knowing which option he was going to pick before he even chose it.
The diner’s door opened easily with a gentle chime of a bell. It was… well, what Techno had expected it to look like. Black and white checkered floors, a counter at the back with high chairs pushed up to it, booths scattered around in long rows- or as long as they could be considering the fact that it wasn’t an especially large diner to begin with.
“Welcome to Fran’s Diner. How many-” Techno looked up, eyes widening in surprise as he met the gaze of a man with chin length blond hair and blue eyes that reflected his own surprise.
Within an instant Techno realized how it probably seemed, face flushing pink slightly as he shifted his gaze to the floor. The odds of going to the diner one of his customers worked at the same day he’d been staring at him? Suspicious- “Phil I promise I wasn’t stalkin’ you. I was just passing by and-”
He stopped, his frantic apology interrupted by a bright laugh. He looked up, meeting blue eyes that crinkled slightly at the edges. “I wasn’t going to think you were stalking me mate.” Phil wheezed. “I was going to comment on the fuckin’ chances that you’d stop by here on the night I visited the cafe. Don’t get so worried over nothin’.”
“Yeah- right okay. Umm. Just gonna be a table for one, then.” He said sheepishly, listening as Phil cackled again.
“Alright, this way.” The man snickered, picking up a menu from a cubby pressed against the back of one of the booths and leading the way to a booth by the window. Techno plopped down, setting his bag down beside him and sinking into the cushion, enjoying the warmth of the diner that seemed to thaw his bones. “I’ll be back in a bit.” Phil said, turning and giving Techno a small wave as he walked off to the back room.
Once the man was out of sight, Techno slunk forward, folding his arms on the table to press his forehead to them. Could probably rate that experience as a ten out of ten way to awkwardly interact with a customer outside of work. Oh god that was bad.
Techno let out a soft exhale, closing his eyes for a moment before sitting up again. No harm done, no one thought he was a stalker. Everything was fine. He’ll just ignore the part of him that was chiming in oh so helpfully that that interaction was the very reason he didn’t go to diners when he got off of work, too many coincidental meetings with customers he’d had just hours before. And also because it would mean socializing.
He picked up the menu Phil had left at the table, flipping through it briefly before setting it down in favor of staring out the window.
Snow was still falling, this was something he’d expected considering it had been snowing just minutes before, but there was a new beauty to it. Something was different about it when one was given a chance to truly appreciate it. To look out at it from within a warm diner and appreciate the flakes that fell like small white stars, standing out against the buildings and dark skies beyond. He inhaled slowly, then exhaled. It was Christmastime, wasn’t it? Thanksgiving had been a week or so ago, which meant that it was truly winter. The perfect Christmas wonderland was sure to come into full effect soon, a peace that would cast everything in pure white that glimmered in the morning and afternoon sun.
Days like those were ones that brought comfort to Techno. Of cookies baked for Santa Claus and placed on the table on Christmas Eve; of snowball fights and sledding down the piles of snow in the yard; of warm cups of hot chocolate and movies by the fireplace, snuggled into warm blankets. Days where school was called off because of the weather, and days where there was no way any kid was spending the day inside. Not when there was so much to do outside.
“You ready to order, mate?” Techno turned when he heard Phil’s voice, the peaceful memories slipping away as he blinked once before glancing back at the menu.
“Uhh yeah. Can I get a coffee with cream and sugar? And umm a stack of pancakes.” He said slowly, scanning over the lists of items and prices before handing the menu to Phil.
“Yeah sure. It’ll be right out.” Phil turned to leave, then paused for a moment. He stared out the window, kind features softening slightly in some sort of remembrance. “Nice night out, isn’t it?” He said, leaving Techno unsure if he was talking to himself or not.
“It is. Can tell that winter is really coming. Only a matter of time before Christmas.” He replied, looking out the window as well.
The two stayed there for a few moments, Techno seated in the booth and Phil standing with a menu in his hands. Both looking out at the night beyond the diner’s window, both lost in thought. Phil was the first to break from the trance. He turned, speaking softly as he said that the coffee would be out shortly before walking away from the table. Techno nodded slowly that he’d heard, tearing his attention away from the window to let out a slow exhale.
It was warm in the diner, but he was going to have to leave the warmth eventually. The diner was probably closing soon, in fact it may have been beginning to close when he’d walked in. So, he’d drink his coffee and eat his pancakes, and then leave. He’d head home and the uneventful cycle would continue like it’d never been disrupted to begin with. Yep, that’s what he’d do.
Things didn’t quite turn out that way though.
Techno wasn’t sure why it happened, but it kind of just did. Phil brought him his order, then asked to sit down with him. For whatever reason, Techno didn’t say no. If it had been anyone else he would have said no. Surely he would have given them a glare that caused them to leave, to leave Techno to his own devices in a diner that surely was close to closing time. He didn’t need to pull out his phone to know it was late, it was clear from the lack of activity in the streets.
But no, he didn’t decline Phil from sitting down at the booth. He simply cast a glance and small nod of his head before returning his attention back to the window, this time raising his coffee cup to his lips as he did so. The coffee was warm, it was hot and burned his mouth slightly as it trickled down his throat, but it was comforting. It was peacefulness on a cold winter night sat across from a stranger.
“Why’d you work closin’ shift? Isn’t that the most unpleasant?” Phil questioned with a quiet hum, his tone curious but not demanding an answer.
“Gives me time to ensure classes are over for the day, even when they are scattered around. And also there isn’t really too much that goes on during the closing shift. Same old things as always really. It’s peaceful.” Techno turned away from the window, glancing across the table at Phil before reaching for one of the small syrup packets. “Besides, aren’t you also working a closing shift?”
Phil shrugged, leaning forward slightly to rest his elbow on the table, chin resting in the palm of his hand as he thought about his answer. “It’s quiet and usually not really anyone here. Plus since it’s closing shift, means I’m home during the day with my boys. They barely even notice I leave for work most days. Not sure how much of a good thing that is though.” He said with a small chuckle.
“Their names are Tommy and Wilbur right? They seem like good kids. Handfuls though, but good kids.” Techno commented, cutting into the first pancake and taking a hesitant bite. His eyes widened as he chewed, staring down at the pile of fluffy pancakes as if it had spoken to him. Holy shit those were good pancakes.
The man across the table glanced over to him, lips spreading into a smile that grew to an almost wheezing laugh. It was a nice sound, one that seemed warm and filled with ease even as Phil’s face betrayed the bags under his eyes.
“Yeah they’re good kids.” Phil chuckled. “Little shits they are, but they’re good kids. They’re my boys and all I got, so we make things work.” Another small shrug. “Wilbur takes care of Tommy when I’m not there, so it works out alright.”
Silence for a few minutes. Quiet, but not an uncomfortable kind of silence. Not the kind that made Techno’s skin itch to leave the room or say something to break the stillness of the air. This was a relaxed silence, one from a man enjoying his pancakes and the other content to watch pancakes be inhaled with a small chuckle every once in a while.
“Kinda funny you ended up here, isn’t it?” Phil said, breaking the silence as Techno finished the plate, placing the empty coffee cup on top of it.
“Yeah. Definitely a funny coincidence.” Techno hummed. He pulled his phone from his pocket, squinting down at the screen and reading the time displayed there a few times before it sunk into his head what time it was. “Oh shit- I need to get going. Need to try and get some sleep in before class.” He said with a grimace, shoving the phone back into his pocket and fumbling through his bag to grab his wallet. “Got a class starting at nine am, can’t afford to be going off of an all nighter and some pancakes.” He pulled out the simple leather wallet, dropped a few bills on the table before shoving the folded leather back into his bag, sliding out of the booth with it on his shoulder.
“Uh oh. Yeah may wanna get some rest before going to that then.” Phil chuckled, sliding out of the booth and getting to his feet, picking up the dishes with one hand and the money with the other.
“See you around, then.” Techno said distractedly with a small wave, speed walking to the door of the diner. He paused in the doorway, blinking as he realized what exactly he’d said. He turned around, lips parted slightly to say something as he looked back at the surprised look on Phil’s face.
“Yeah, see you around then.” Surprise morphed to amusement, and that smile was back. Phil seemed to always have a smile, at least from what Techno saw of him. “What’s your name, mate?” He called, stumping Techno for a moment as he realized he’d never told Phil his name.
“Techno.” He said, giving the man a half smile as he pushed open the diner door. “See you around Phil.”
The door to the diner swung closed with a soft jingling of bells, and Techno was out in the snow once more.