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The morning sun shone through his window, prying the piglin sleeping on his bed to begrudgingly rise with it. Technoblade rubbed his eyes and jumped off his bed... only to land knee-deep in frozen soil and slush, a shiver shooting its way through his body at the contact. Welp, if he wasn't up then, he was definitely awake now. He kicked at the pile of dirt in revenge with an angry snort, shaking it off his hooves as he climbed downstairs.
Philza was hovering over a stove, watching a tea kettle, before turning at the sound of the ladder creaking. "Mornin', sunshine." He cooed teasingly with a wave of a talon. "You're up early."
"Yeah, well, I got a rude awakenin'," He huffed.
"Another grass block?" Phil asked, incredulous. Surely endermen don't place blocks in the same place that much?
"Next time that enderman destroys the property value, I'm huntin' it down."
"Then do I have good news for you," the bird cackled, gesturing outside. "I'd get to it."
"Bruhhhhh," Techno drawled in exasperation, hanging his head back. "Why can't you do it?"
"Because I'm making tea, Techno." He stated as if that was the most obvious thing in the world, the kettle giving a well-timed whistle.
The boar didn't have "eyes" to roll, but Phil knew he'd be rolling them if he could. "Fine, I know you're just too old to work in the fields anymore, Grandpa." He teased, digging a shovel and some dirt blocks out of a chest and yanking his fluffy coat from a rack, and making his way outside, smirking at the crow's offended expression.
He trudged through the thick snow, grumbling to himself, "I swear to prime if I have to redo the garden and clean dirt out of my house in this weather ONE MORE TIME--" He bumped into a familiar figure, wide heterochromatic eyes meeting tired milky white ones as Ranboo turned around. "Oh, hey Ranbo', what're ya doing here?"
"Oh, well, u-uhm, just, y'no." The enderian stuttered embarrassedly, dropping the grass block that was previously held delicately in their claws. "...Enjoying the sunrise?" They offered with a shrug
He watched the block plop onto the ground with a gasp, "you're the one ruinin' my lawn?!" Techno accused, pointing at them with his shovel.
They shuffled their paws. "Yeah, sorry, it's just Enderman instincts."
"Are ya the one who keeps puttin' grass blocks all over my house, too?"
"Yep." They drawled, popping the 'p'.
"Why?"
"I like giving blocks to people I love, I'm sorry for messing up your stuff."
"O-oh." He muttered softly, fighting the touched look off his face, he was losing.
They bowed their head and lowered their ears. "I'm sorry, I'll stop, now."
"No!" He blurted out, startling Ranboo. Techno cringed but eventually steered himself back into his usual persona. "I-I mean that I suppose I can deal with it if it means so much to you." He huffed, looking away embarrassedly. The enderian's face lit up, knowing that it meant something to the piglin, too. Said piglin was ignoring how that face tugged at his heartstrings. "Just... stop puttin' them next to my bed, it's not very pleasant to walk into." He growled.
"O-oh, right, sorry."
The piglin tapped his hoof against the handle of his shovel. "Now that that's been decided, I have work to do."
"Maybe I can help?" They offered. Techno took it with zero hesitation.
He began to head back inside after their quick mission to work on the rest of his chores as Ranboo left to do their own, but instead bumped into Philza, who was standing on the porch, finishing off a cup of tea. He gave the piglin a smug look.
"What?"
"Noticed you seemed really insistent on Ranboo giving you their grass gifts, mate." He observed.
"Of course, ya were eavesdroppin'" The boar muttered, embarrassed, before squaring his shoulders. "They just looked so sad about it. It doesn't mean anythin'!"
"Mmhmm," He hummed, disbelieving.
"It doesn't!" Techno insisted with what almost sounded like a squeal.
"You can keep denying it all you want, Tech, but we all know you love that kid like your own."
The boar snorted defiantly, roughly pushing his friend aside to go back to work. Phil simply rolled his eyes.