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Even if he invaded the man's house without an invitation, Tommy didn't want to be a bother. Yes, he'd steal Techno's things and annoy the warrior to no end, but he wouldn't cause any real problems. None of his struggles would reach Techoblade's keen ear and careful eye, the imp made absolute sure of it. But of course, living in a cold basement (if you could even call it that) in the tundra while having practically nothing to his name had its own disadvantages. Like falling violently sick during one of the heavy storms, because an extra door you made wasn't any good to protect from the freezing wind from outside.
Tommy woke up practically petrified with cold, to a thin layer of snow on the ground of his "room", and immediately knew he'd fallen sick. He felt horrendous, to begin with. Everything was blurring in his eyes, his head was spinning and sitting up in his excuse of a bed caused a rush of vertigo so hard he stopped for a moment, pressing a marble-cold hand to his mouth in fear he's actually going to vomit. Next in line was fever. Involuntary trembles right to his core barely stopped, Tommy was even sure he felt them in his sleep. They were probably the only reason he wasn't covered in a layer of frost like everything else around him. Thankfully, the last of his ailments this far was a simple headache. The simplicity of it was in the fact that it just hurt. No pinches, stabs, or pressed temples, just awful, horrific pain, like someone's been stomping down his brain all night. That was simple. That barely had any consequences, if not for the rest of his state.
Tommy looked around bleary-eyed as the world stopped spinning around him for the most part, and assessed his situation. He was deathly cold, his room was a mess, and he didn't have any healing potions around. His best chance of not freezing to death was getting up, climbing the ladder, then another one, and digging through Techno's disorganised chests to find a healing pot. He wasn't sure he'd get past the first ladder in his state.
The demon contemplated for a little just staying, falling back asleep and letting nature claim him after all, but a harsh gust of wind tore him out of the dark thoughts, making him shudder. He felt like his bones broke the first frost over a puddle when he finally made a move to get up on his feet. Shaky and uneven, his head pounding even more from the movement, he made a few needed steps towards the ladder and grabbed onto it tightly. Deep breaths, steady yourself, wait for the spinning to stop, then climb. One step, then the other, he grabbed on the wooden planks as tight as he could, and still he was swaying from side to side with every new level. Tommy pushed the tile away with a struggle and climbed out on the cold floor of Techno's basement. Admittedly, it wasn't as freezing here already, but he barely felt the difference. He had to take a breather, laying with his chest on the floor, while his legs still dangled in the hole he dug out. That's when the terrible urge to cough came. He tried to keep it as quiet as possible, but it was hard. The cough was nasty, left the sickly gunk in his mouth and made his throat itch in the worst way. He took a few deep breaths before hoisting himself out of the ladder hole and getting up again. He didn't bother putting the tile in its place and just followed the wall to the next path up. He was losing power quickly, headache and fever getting all his attention and draining him of any energy way faster than he thought they would.
Little demon reached the ladder, grabbed onto it tightly again and stood still for a few moments, gathering himself for the climb. This construction was way neater than his (of course, Techno built it, after all), didn't threaten to leave splinters on his palms and was way more comfortable to grab, so he was almost confident. Almost.
Breath in and out again, and he started the climb. It felt longer this time, he had to stop in the middle to rest for a little, monkey-gripping polished wood not to fall right down. But after all, he was in the storage area at last. This place, even though not the main part of the house, was significantly warmer. Tommy whimpered quietly, slumping in the corner next to the hatch, relieved to finally feel warmer. The cough got the better of him again in a few seconds, and he even managed to subdue it for the most part. He relaxed. It was warm, the corner was comfortable and surely he'd feel better after a little nap. Then he could have the potion and return back to his place, cover up the door and everything would be just fine. Technoblade didn't need to know any of what was going on here while he was sleeping in. With those hazy thoughts he drifted back into sleep, cuddled in a corner of his ally's cellar.
---
Bizarre dreams are bound to haunt you when you've got a fever. Tommy knew that, had his fair share of them throughout his life, but this one must've been the weirdest one so far. There were no trippy images, screaming faces, splashes of color and sound. Instead, it was warm, calloused hands wrapping around him gently, rumbling voice saying something he couldn't quite catch through the haze, quiet clanking of dishes and a hum of a weird, foreign melody. The soft hand patted his cheek lightly, the voice said something again and Tommy answered with a whiny hum on the back of his throat. Then something icy-cold touched his lips, the hand helping him tip his head back, and a liquid poured down his throat. He made an effort to swallow, furrowing his brows lightly at the unpleasant taste. The voice muttered out something reminiscent of encouragement, the hand stroked his cheek softly and the cold thing was gone. Tommy sighed deeply, leaning into the care offered, as everything faded into peaceful, soft darkness.
---
Tommy woke up in a cloud. At least, that's what he thought at first. Everything around him was soft, white and squishy, and he wasn't feeling all too good, so the mistake could be easily forgiven. He shuffled around in what he figured out was a huge blanket, trying to gather his surroundings and find out what happened. Upon poking his head out of his nest a delicious smell of some cooking hit his nose and he smiled wearily. He must be dreaming of home. He just fell asleep on the couch of Phil's cosy living room and is now waking up to the smell of the dinner being cooked. He wondered absent-mindedly who's the one cooking today, Wilbur of Philza, before a voice that sounded unfamiliar at first called him from the side.
"Tommy?" the demon froze, fear encasing him for a second, before he realised that the voice belonged to Technoblade. He opened his mouth to answer something, maybe tell him to piss off from his dream, but only a strained wheeze came out instead. "I can get you another potion and you can get back to sleep." the voice - no, Techno - continued after getting this barely response.
Tommy shook his head lightly and huffed, a cough ripping through his chest.
"Just a drink, then." the piglin hummed, judging the situation, and poured some tea into a cup, readily standing on a coffee table next to the couch. Tommy watched him, coughing lightly, and then had to untangle his arms from under the blanket to take the cup Technoblade handed to him.
Just a few sips soothed his throat right away and he sighed with relief, smiling a little.
"Feelin' better?" Techno asked, returning him a half-smile as he took the cup back.
"Yeah…" Tommy rasped out, cleared his throat again and breathed in to ask what he was doing in the demon's fever dream, but no words came out. It suddenly hit him that he wasn't dreaming. Cottony linens, smell of soup, herbal taste in his mouth from the tea… Technoblade's warm hands picking him up from the floor like he didn't weigh a gram, his gruffy voice scolding the demon, slipping into a worried tone unwillingly, him giving Tommy a healing potion and gently reassuring the boy that he'll be alright. All of it was real. Not a dream, not a hallucination, but reality coming through the fog of Tommy's exhausted, sick mind. He felt like he's about to cry.
"You doin' okay?" Techno hummed, his face unchangingly blank, but eyes scanning Tommy's face relentlessly, trying to figure out what might be wrong aside from his horrendous state.
Technoblade cared about him.
Tommy nodded as reassuringly as he could, screwing his eyes tight and willing himself not to cry. He couldn't possibly let Techno see how much of a wreck he was.
"Alright. Do you need more tea? The soup's gonna be ready soon." apparently, it was enough for Techno to lay off of him.
"Soup?.." Tommy opened his eyes, tears almost prickling up on his lower eyelid.
"Yes, chicken soup. It'll fix you up in no time."
"I- Uh- Yeah?.. I'll have the soup wh- when it's ready…" Tommy struggled to keep his feelings in now. Techno cared. He cared what was going on with the demon. And Tommy couldn't believe it, even though it was so painfully apparent in how Technoblade leaned over the couch to check Tommy's temperature, how he brought the biggest, fluffiest blanket in the house for Tommy to cuddle in while he slept, and how covertly nervously his eyes darted around Tommy's face.
"Good. It'll be in about ten minutes, I'd say. So, now… what in the blazes were you thinkin'."
It was so sudden, such a stark difference between the tones, the imp got startled. Techno looked… almost scared. In his own, Technoblade-adjacent way. You wouldn't catch this look on him on the battlefield or in any dungeon, facing off countless enemies, but instead you could easily find echoes of it whenever Phil was getting genuinely pissed off. Tommy could swear he saw exactly the same look on the hybrid's face ages and ages ago, when Wilbur came back home at the ripe age of fifteen with his arm broken in two places. Then again, when that happened Tommy was bawling his eyes out right behind his brother, because that state was caused by Wilbur trying to get Tommy's toy out of a tree, so the imp couldn't be exactly a reliable narrator in this situation. And yet now it was for Tommy. Technoblade was scared for his well-being, because the kid was irresponsible and bratty, had no real regard for his own safety.
"What do you mean?.." Tommy muttered, staring up at the piglin with a dumbstruck expression.
"Are you kiddin' me? What do I mean?" Techno huffed, scowling in a try to give himself an angry rather than worried-sick look. "Let me run it down for you. I wake up, and it's stormin' like it's the end of the world, I go down to get somethin' for breakfast and instead I find you nearly dead , sleepin' in a corner of my storage. I ask you again, you absolute pest, what in the world were you thinkin', sleepin' down there."
The demon remained quiet, just watching him, tears slowly welling up in his eyes.
"So?"
"I- 'm sorry, Techno…" he started, got cut off by a hiccup and pressed his lips tight again, screwed his eyes too, letting the tears fall. He was a nuisance, an inconvenience to say the least, and still Technoblade looked at him with overwhelming concern and care. "'m really sorry…"
The hybrid sighed, shaking his head lightly and sat on the edge of the couch, giving Tommy a pat on the head, right between his horns.
"Hey, don't- don't cry. C'mon. Tommy…"
He shook his head, burying his face in the blanket, letting it soak with his tears. Sobs shook through his body as he curled in on himself, trying to take less space, or better disappear whatsoever just not to bother anyone ever again. Being alone was horrible, he hated every second of exile, every second of crying alone in a hastily constructed shelter and wishing anyone who really cared about him was around. But by now all the hope for that was gone. He didn't feel any sort of comfort for so long, he didn't believe he deserved it anymore.
And then he felt something out of place and yet so, so desirable. He felt a hug. Soft and careful at first, before Techno picked him up along with the blanket and sat Tommy in his lap, hugging him tight and sure.
"It's okay, Tommy, it's okay. I'm… sorry. I didn't mean to be so harsh." he rumbled softly, almost as if trying to make sure no one else could hear it. "You'll be alright, I promise."
Somehow hearing this was almost more painful, even if it was everything Tommy wanted right now. Comfort, reassurance, Techno being there for him, all of it was straight up from his delirious exile fantasies of being rescued. And still, it was spoiled with feelings of shame, and not being good enough and not deserving any bit of it. He knew who was at fault for that, but he avoided thoughts about it as best as he could. So that was just what he did. Pushed it away, locked it up in the back of his mind and indulged into his desire to be seen, and held, and cared for.
He untangled his arms and hugged Techno back, as much as he could, hiding his face on the hybrid's shoulder as he tried to stop the tears and calm down. Technoblade kept whispering sweet nothings into his hair, making it way harder. Slowly, but surely Tommy regained control of his breathing, stopped sobbing and quieted down, just sniffing lightly into Techno's shoulder.
"Doin' any better?" came from the top in a little while.
"Mhm…" he nodded lightly, rubbing his nose on the wet cotton of Techno's shitt.
"Good… Do you want the soup?"
"I do…"
"Alright. I'm goin' to sit you down, then."
"Sure, yeah." Tommy nodded a little and started shuffling off of Techno's laps himself, but the hybrid was quick to stop that and instead sit him comfortably on the couch. It made a smile flutter across the demon's face and his heart squeeze tightly. Feeling cared for was good.
Tommy watched the warrior stand up and go over to the kitchen part of the living room where he sort of hid from the imp's sight behind a cabinet. He sighed softly, closing his eyes again, rather tired. The emotional outburst caused a headache to rise up again and it was getting bad pretty quickly. Tommy also felt worse by the moment and was putting all his hope into the soup making him feel better.
He wasn't sure how much time passed before he heard a gentle "hey" and opened his eyes again. It felt like he fell asleep, but surely it couldn't have been too long, since Techno was standing over him with the promised soup.
"You'll be able to eat yourself, right?" he hummed, seeing that Tommy is responsive.
"Of course, I'm not a baby." the imp pouted a little, stretching his hands for the bowl. It provoked a small eye roll from his caretaker.
Techno made sure to secure it in the blanket fold in Tommy's laps instead of straight up giving it to him.
"Sure you aren't. Help yourself, then."
"I will." Tommy picked up the spoon from the bowl and slowly started eating.
Technoblade watched for a little, then sat down next to him again. Probably to take the bowl away as he finished, Tommy figured. Then he had to correct himself (because Techno cared and it was apparent) that maybe he wanted to make sure Tommy's doing alright. It felt way better, despite the thoughts on the back of his mind in someone else's voice hissing mean, hurtful things at him. Tommy even thought he could hear another voice now, back there, that was quietly bickering with the mean things. He decided not to focus on it for too long and focus on the present instead. The soup was good, he was warm, and he wasn't alone. It was perfect. He knew it won't last long, because perfection never does, but he was willing to take any of it, for as long as he's allowed to.