Chapter Text
A solitary raven flew lazily across the horizon, a dark, inky blot on the otherwise clear and sunny sky.
Up in the highest tower of his castle, the king was pacing dramatically, sweeping his cape at every turn. His royal advisor, and general second in command, had just brought news of another uprising, the third this month.
The small revolution had been centred around Arvill, one of the smaller country villages on the outskirts of Arcadia, the kingdom's second city. The uprising had been squashed pretty quickly but not before they had burned down part of one of the leading governor’s house and released all but one of the cows from the local pasture.
The table of governors was furious, they demanded that immediate action should be taken to stamp out any further thoughts of revolution. The king, on the other hand, was less convinced. He was sure that whatever they chose to do, more uprisings would continue to pop up all over the place. In fact, he thought that any action they took against the revolution would just encourage others to join the rebellion.
He suggested that an entreaty should be made, a meeting with the leaders of all the villages should be held and they could discuss the reasons behind the unrest. Then, once they had made a list of issues, these problems could be resolved and peace would follow.
The board of governors was outraged by this suggestion. They thought it was a horrendous idea, flat out refusing to deal with the smelly peasants that they had successfully avoided contact with for the last forty years.
A vote was to be held. All in favour of sending in the military to discourage further rebellions and arrest any revolutionaries should say “Aye!”.
Of course the king was outnumbered, and even being ruler of the kingdom didn’t change that. The motion was carried unanimously -excepting the king and his royal advisor- and the chief of the army was informed.
When the instructions reached Technoblade the man couldn’t stop the look of surprise from creeping on to his face. It didn’t seem at all like an order that the king would approve of, senseless violence wasn’t something the ruler had ever endorsed before.
Sighing heavily Techno set off towards the castle, he would just run these instructions past the king before setting out on his way to arrest the rebels.
Two days later he arrived at the castle, knocking heavily at the large wooden doors. He had no qualms about disturbing the king, they’d been friends since nursery and had grown up side by side.
When the butler finally cracked open the door Techno was standing poised with his hands on his hips, ready to start shouting at the King.
“Ponk! Nice to see you. Now, where’s the king? I have something to say to him.”
“Uh, the king says he’s not home. I mean, he didn’t say that, obviously because he’s not here. You- you’ll have to, uh, come back...later.”
Techno just let out a hearty laugh, shoved the door open and stepped inside. “He seriously needs to update his excuses, he’s been using the same three since we were fourteen.”
He strode confidently down the hallways that he knew so well, reminiscing about all the hundreds of games of tag and hallway skating that had taken place here.
He flung the door to the King’s bedchamber open and stormed over to the desk. King was sitting placidly and the large table, studying some papers. He ignored Techno, instead taking a drink of water and shuffling the documents.
“Phil.” Techno spun Philza's chair round. Suddenly Technoblade’s iron mask of a facial expression slipped away, replaced by a broad grin. “Good to see ya!”
“Techno! Mate! I told Ponk to tell you I wasn’t home.”
“Like that was ever gonna work. Now what’s all this about using violence to discourage a rebellion? Do you seriously think that’s ever going to do anything except spur them on?”
“I thought you were meant to be the general of the army. Isn’t violence your whole thing?” Muttered Philza, trying to avoid Techno’s gaze. “Besides. It wasn’t my decision. I was outnumbered.
“Outnumbered? OutnUMBERED? YOU’RE THE KING! And now you’re telling us to go beat up random civilians just because you were ‘outnumbered"? You’re the king of this country, you hold all the cards! Do something! DO SOMETHING!” Technoblade was not a man of many words -in fact this little outburst had probably filled his quota for the day- but when he did speak, everybody shut up and listened.
“Techno. Mate. You don’t understand and to be honest, neither do I! I don’t know why the governors want to take violent action but I can’t just oppose them. Not when a formal vote has been taken and a motion carried.” Phil rose and strode over to the window, gazing out upon his kingdom.
“Can’t you just...I don’t know, fire them or something? They’re all ancient, long past retirement age, can’t you just retire them?”
“No I can’t ‘just retire them’. Half of them have been governors since my mother was in power, if I fire them there will be an uproar and I can’t afford that kind of bad press. Not now.”
Techno flopped heavily onto Philza’s bed, letting out a deep sigh. As his head hit the pillow he was suddenly overwhelmed with a deep exhaustion that bored into his very bones. He tried to recall the last time he’d had a proper night’s sleep, not since the start of the rebellions at least. And now all those late nights spent poring over maps were taking their toll.
Before he could even finish his train of thought, his eyes fluttered closed and he fell into a deep, deep sleep.
He woke up several hours later covered in a thick blanket that smelled vaguely like acorns in the way that acorns don’t really have a smell. Basically the blanket didn’t smell of anything noteworthy XD.
He was warm and comfortable, blinking around to try and get his bearings he noticed Philza curled up in an armchair in the corner of the room. Propping himself up on his elbows Techno tried to shake the persistent headache that had been bothering him for the last week.
As he turned his head he was blinded by a bright ray of sunshine straight in through he window, Philza had evidently neglected to draw the curtains last night.
Techno hauled himself out of bed wincing slightly as his bad shoulder twinged. He shuffled over to where Phil was scrunched uncomfortably in an armchair, his knees all but touching his chin.
He stepped over to where Phil was sleeping and gently shook him by the shoulder. When this gained no response Techno decided to let him get his sleep. He made his way slowly to the bathroom.
The room was modestly decorated in black and green, Philza’s main colour scheme. The sink and bath were carved marble to match the floor, and the blinds were painted a strong green.
Techno walked over to the sink and splashed some water on his face. A quick glance in the mirror told him that he looked an absolute state. His pink hair had managed to work its way out of the next plait it had been in and his eyes had dark bags under them.
He rubbed some sleep out of his eyes and reached for the hairbrush that sat on the window ledge, he was sure that Phil wouldn’t mind, they had been sharing stuff since forever.
Once he’d sorted out the tangled mess of hair and given his face a good wash he wandered back into the bedroom. Phil was up and about now, tidying up the room. Techno felt a wince of guilt that he hadn’t thought to make the bed before going for a wash.
“Hey Phil.” Technoblade’s already low voice was deeper than ever, his throat still scratchy from sleep. “Why didn’t you wake me up? You should have kicked me out of your bed so you didn’t have to sleep in that tiny chair!”
“Nah mate, it’s fine. I figured you could probably do with a good night’s sleep for once!” Phil stepped into the bathroom and grabbed his razor, as he was shaving he continued to talk with Techno. “So, how long are you planning on staying?”
“Well I’m here now aren’t I? I suppose I gotta return to the army and all but that doesn’t mean I can’t spend the day here with you? I mean, if that’s alright with you?”
“Of course its fine with me! You know this castle is basically as much yours as it is mine.” Phil rinsed his face and reached into his cupboard. He drew out a simple white tunic and a pair of loose fitting breeches. “You’d better get changed first though, exactly how long have you been wearing those clothes?”
Techno mock punched Phil on the shoulder before taking the proffered clothes, he stepped into the bathroom to get changed, leaving Phil to dress in peace.
When he emerged five minutes later, dressed in the clothes that Phil had lent him, the other man was sitting peacefully on the windowsill, gazing out at his kingdom. The man was dressed in his regular casual attire, his fold-over robe covered by a large black cape. His shoulder length blonde hair was tied back in a short ponytail.
“Loving the man-bun Phil. How very Hip and Cool of you.” Teased Techno, making his way over to his friend.
“Oi, you’re one to talk, is that a braid I see before me?” Phil stood up rubbing his neck as it twinged, he must have slept funny last night. He tugged at Techno’s plait before leading the way out of the room. “I take it you’re hungry? I’ll tell the chef to prepare your standard."