Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Opening his own gallery was the best decision Technoblade's ever made.

It's been his goal since he was a kid; to become a professional artist that can share his art for the world to enjoy.

And now, as he carefully set up the final painting along the wall, he's never felt so accomplished. He took a step back to really take in his work.

The room was not set up in a specific style, Techno knew if he tried to satisfy his perfectionist tendencies it would never reach his standards. It felt oddly put together; the mismatched furniture and clashing colored decorations, but he would have it no other way.

It was perfect.

He hummed contentedly to himself, tomorrow would be the day it officially opened.

---

"This truly is amazing work, you've got here!" The blonde lady beamed, as Technoblade tucked her flower painting inside a paper bag, "I think this might become my new favorite place."

Techno gave her a thankful nod, and she made her way out.

With a quick glance at the clock hanging beside him, he realized there was only about ten minutes left before it was time to close for the night. The day flew by much too fast.

He had to admit, he was a bit anxious at first, socialising wasn't his forte, but he got the hang of it pretty easily.

He had watched as a variety of different people wondered inside; a young lady came to browse the walls in awe, an older couple came looking for decorations for their new house, he even got asked by a few people about his art lessons.

Today couldn't have been better.

The now familiar chime from the front door interrupted him from his thoughts, and he turned towards the sound to see a scrawny looking teenager walk in.

He watched as the kid's eyes we're blown wide as he looked around, inspecting each painting with an almost wistful look. Something about him intrigued Techno, this kid seemed so entranced by his paintings.

For a moment, he just watched as the kid admired his work.

That was, of course, until the kid turned and looked right him. An ear piercing screech, and said kid was on the floor nervously laughing as he muttered nonsense to himself.

After a bit, he composed himself and mustered up a confident smile, "I-" he pauses, and stands up from his spot on the floor, "A-hem. I did NOT see you there. You really shouldn't sneak up on people like that."

".. I was here the entire time." Techno pointed out helpfully

"... Uh-" he slowly took a step backwards, "I'll be going now, sorry for bothering you!" And with that, the teen hastily spun on his heel and speed-walked out of the gallery.

The clock struck 7 and sent a quiet alarm off, signaling it was time to close.

Techno watched the exit with an amused look, what an interesting kid.

---

Chapter Text

Techno concentrated as he carefully added a highlight to his newest painting with a small liner brush. With a quick glance at his reference, a local rose garden, he decided he was finished for the day. He went to pack up his traveling art bag.

“Whoa-” a small voice from behind him piped up, “Did you do that?”

Techno turned to see a strangely familiar face. He frowned as he tried to place it, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. “Uh, yeah, thanks …Do I know you?”

The kid scrunched his face, “No-?”

Then it hit him, it was that one kid who showed up on the opening day of his gallery a couple weeks ago, “Oh!” Techno’s face softened, “You stopped by my gallery when it first opened! I’ve been wondering about you, ya know.”

That seemed to confuse the kid more, for he seemed to be deep in thought. Techno watched as his face went red, probably recalling the encounter, “Oh.”

For some reason Techno laughed a little, which seemed to improve they younger of the two’s spirits. “Don’t worry about it, I’m not judging you or anything.”

The kid smiled, and took another look at Techno’s painting, “I’m going to be an artist someday.”

“You definitely should! I highly recommend it.”

“Thanks.”

…

Out of nowhere the kid seemed to remember something, because he jolted back, “Oh, gosh- I’ve better get going!” without another word he spun around and bolted away.

Techno never got his name.

___

Chapter Text

“Does this look okay?”

Techno walked over to the black haired teen’s canvas, it has roughly blocked in shapes resembling three kids, “Yes, that’s perfect, great job, Ranboo.”

Ranboo gave a small smile, “Thanks-”

“What about mine, Mr. Tech!” a voice interrupted, “I think I did something wrong, cuz it looks like a literal shart.”

Techno sarcastically sighed, “Lord, Tubbo, I told you this last class, there is no messing up, it’s art.”

Tubbo glowered, “Well I already told you, I have a way of messing up the unmessable.”

“...Is that even a word?”

“Yup, looked it up before I asked because I knew you would say that.” Proudly, Tubbo turned his phone screen to face his art teacher, sure enough, it was on urban dictionary under the word, “Unmessable,” he began to recite proudly, “Something/ someone that you can not mess up. Ha. Told you so.”

From behind him, Techno could hear Ranboo’s choked gasp, “Tubbo!” he scolded, “You’re going to get us both kicked out!”

Techno smiled, this was only the boys second lesson, they were the adopted sons of the lady that complemented his studio when it first opened, Nikki, and she signed them up the first chance she got, but he has gotten well used to their dynamic. Tubbo, the loud and smart one, and Ranboo, the quiet, Tubbo-control one.

“Oh don’t worry about it, kid, I don’t mind. In fact, you two are my favorite class to teach. You cancel each other out.” as a side thought he added, “Don’t tell anyone I said that.”

Both teen’s perked up at the compliment, but nodded anyways.

“Hello?”

The new voice made Techno turn to look at the door to the studio; he was sure he had turned the sign to it’s ‘closed’ side, who would just walk in?

To his surprise, he was faced with the teen from the opening night again.

“Oh, hey, I know you!” Techno tried, after realizing the kid looked like he was about to bolt out again, “Come in, we were just finishing up class anyways.”

Tubbo opened his mouth to say something, but quickly snapped it shut when Ranboo glared at him.

The blond haired teen looked cautiously from Ranboo and Toby back to Techno. He fidgeted with this shirt, obviously panicking, but he managed to ask, “I don’t really have permission, but, could I try a lesson?” He held up a small wad of cash, “I have enough for it.”

Techno felt a pang in his chest, all this kid was getting worked up about was an art lesson? Then again, he mentioned something about no permission, and looked worried about that. He noticed his overall condition, and to be honest, it wasn’t that great. He would feel horrible taking his money when it was clear he couldn’t afford it.

“Don’t worry about the money, kid, I do…” He thought for a second, “I do free lessons for every third person who signs up.” He smiled and turned to Ranboo, “One,” Tubbo, “Two,” and then he smiled at the teen, “Hey, what a coincidence, you’re the lucky third!”

The teen, looking no so convinced, still brightened up a bit, “...really?”

“Yeah, really.” Techno smiled, “Are you free tomorrow at noon?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay then. It’s official!” Techno announced, the kid nodded and turned to leave, “Oh! Wait! What’s your name, kid?”

Stopping at the door frame the kid paused for a half second, before replying, “Tommy. It’s Tommy.”

___

Chapter Text

When the day of Tommy’s first art lesson arrived, Technoblade found himself looking forward to seeing him. He checked his watch again, 11:42. Tommy should be here around noon.

He set up the lesson in advance, so there were already four easels propped up by the corner. Since Ranboo and Tubbo have a lesson today, Techno thought they wouldn’t mind having someone else join their’s. Who knows? Maybe they would even become friends.

“-PHAHA, STOP THAT, RANBOO!”

Speaking of the devil.

The familiar jingle sounded as the three teens filed through the door.

“Oh! Hey Mr. Tech, we ran across Tommy on the way here!” Tubbo greeted Tommy, gesturing to Tommy, “We didn’t realize he had the same lesson as us!.”

“Yeah,” Ranboo added, “we're more than happy to have another person to talk to.”

Tommy shyly smiled, “Thanks.”

With the introductions covered for him, Technoblade clapped his hands once, “Okay, great! Are you all ready to start?”

“Feelings? You want us to paint feelings-?”

“Yup.”

Technoblade was faced with three very confused looks.

“Okay, here. Watch,” Turning to his canvas, he announced, “I feel… content, happy,” he swooped his brush around as he spoke, leaving seemingly random marks of pastel pink all over the fabric. After just a few seconds, he took a step back, “There. Now, what do you notice?”

“Uh, it’s very… pink?” Ranboo asked.

“You smeared paint around, and it looks like a glorified preschool scribble.” Tubbo added.

Techno smiled, and turned to Tommy, “And what about you?”

Tommy fidgeted with his shirt again, “Uh…”

“There’s no wrong answer.” Techno assured, “Don’t worry about it.”

“I guess it does look calm… all the lines are wavy, no sharp edges. I think the color adds to it?” Tommy looked at Techno worriedly, as if he said something wrong.

“Yeah, yeah, that’s a good way to look at it.” Techno smiled, and turned to the other two students, “As you could probably tell, all of you had different answers. But art is about the admirer, and the artist. Both can look at the same painting and see very different things.”

Ranboo perked up at that, “Oh! So it’s like how you said you were content when you made your lines?” he asked, “You felt a way, and made marks that reflected that!”

Tubbo nodded, “Oh yeah! It’s up to the admirer to figure out what they see, which might not be the same as the artist. They could empathize with the artist, or change what they see to empathize with themselves.”

“Exactly.” Techno motioned to their canvases, “Now, if you think you're ready, paint what you feel. This lesson is not for ‘skill’ so don’t worry if it doesn’t look good. There's no ‘wrong’ way to do this. No one can tell you that you express your feelings wrong.”

With more understanding, all three students picked out brushes and colors and began to paint. Techno, who did not want to intimidate them by watching their process, retreated to the nearby table, and pulled out his book.

___

Chapter Text

Techno took a sip of his coffee, as Nikki talked.

It has been a regular thing they did now. After a long week, he could spend a couple hours downtown in her coffee shop. It was a cozy little place. The smell of pastries, and brewing coffee paired with the cozy atmosphere, and Tecnho’s own painting, that she had hung by the entrance, really tied it all together.

Nikki’s employee strolled over to their table, with a cocky smile on his face, and a plate with three chocolate muffins, “You guys seem like you could use a muffin.” He smiled as he placed the plate on the table, snatching one for himself after dragging over a chair for himself.

Techno eyed the muffin plate, “They’re not poisoned, right?” he asked as he reached for one.

“Of course not!” he scoffed in mock offense, “How could you ever accuse me of such a thing, Technoblade, I thought we were friends!”

“Even if we were, I’m not going to just pretend I don't see you spit into customers' cups if they are annoying. I wouldn’t put poison below you.”

His eyes widened, and he spun to Nikki, “He’s LYING. I would NEVER do such a thing. I love ALL of our customers!”

Nikki rolled her eyes at the their bickering, as she unwrapped her own muffin, “Wilbur, one of these days I’m going to fire you.” She laughed fondly as Wilbur spluttered, face falling, “Prime, I’m joking, don’t choke on your food, these things are hard to make.”

Chapter Text

"Why are you so quiet, Tommy?"

"... Huh?"

Tubbo was spinning in Techno's office chair, as Ranboo and Tommy watched from the decorative couch.

"I mean- Ranboo is quiet, but it's, I don't know, not as much as you. I've hardly heard you speak!"

"I do talk-"

Tubbo abruptly stopped, and gave Tommy an unimpressed look, "Listen- something tells me you are a talkative person. I may be wrong, but you just seem like you're almost trying to act differently-? It's just us! We won't judge! Right Ranboo?"

"... Yeah."

"See! You don't have to be quiet around us!"

Tommy frowned, "I'm not trying to act quiet."

"... " Tubbo sighed, "...alright then."

"... "

"... "

Just like that, Tubbo jumped up with a smile, "Okay! Who wants to get ice cream!"