Chapter Text
Tommy loves his coven, but he was starting to get a bit tired of being followed.
You see, Tommy hasn’t been a vampire for very long, only five years or so, which is a decent amount of time for humans but is nothing in the span of an immortal vampire’s life. He’s not a baby, he wasn’t born a vampire and was instead turned at sixteen years of age. If he was born a vampire, he really would be little, but he is not, so Wilbur and Phil’s insistence on following him whenever he goes out was getting old.
It's better than not being allowed out, which is what happens with most fledgling vampires for one or two years. Those had passed, and he had been ready to visit the city again when Wilbur had arrived back home injured, bleeding out as Phil dragged him in. It had been a vampire hunter, that had seen Wilbur with red eyes and had attacked him. His sire didn’t let him go out for another year after that. He would’ve kept him inside for longer, if Tommy hadn’t thrown a fit over it.
Still, they were following him. He really wants to just go out on his own without feeling like a child being supervised by their parents, and he’d survived on the streets as a human before his coven found him, so he thinks this is all rather ridiculous.
After a particular incident, where a street vendor had been quite rude with him and Wilbur had nearly revealed himself as a vampire trying to defend Tommy’s honor, he’d decided enough was enough and sat down with both members of his coven to talk about it. They had agreed, although reluctantly, to let Tommy go out on his own, with the promise that Tommy would contact them through the bond at the first sign of danger. After that, and after a few times of catching Wilbur following him, he was finally able to go to the city freely.
Tommy was currently walking down a fair, organized by the city in one of the main streets. He wasn’t worried about being found out, as he’d finally learnt how to make his eyes look human again, and that shit about vampires being weak to the sun wasn’t really true for most.
He was looking to buy seeds to plant for his new garden, a hobby he’d decided to try out. Tommy had stopped by a stall selling some beautiful potted plants, when a group of men ran past him. This wasn’t necessarily an odd occurrence, but as they passed by, he heard the sound of an infant wailing.
This was followed by the cry of a woman “Help! They’ve stolen my baby!”
Tommy whipped his head around to locate the men and immediately started running. Vampires are faster than the average human, though descriptions of their speed were usually exaggerated. Tommy made sure to go at a pace that was fast enough to catch up, but not fast enough to look suspicious.
“Hey assholes! How about you do something better with your lives than stealing innocent babies?”
Three of the five men in the group turned to face him, while the others kept running. Unfortunately, the baby was not with the group that had stopped. Tommy knew that there was no way he’d get through, so he was hoping he’d be able to get rid of the guys in his way fast enough.
He got into a fighting position as they approached him. The one to his left lunged, and Tommy ducked, swinging upwards and hitting the man in the gut, making him double over. He narrowly missed a punch from behind, jumping backwards and making sure to keep the men in eyesight. He tried to punch the man in front of him, but he was blocked. He dodged a hit from his right and swung back, hitting the guy in the face and making him stumble. While the man was disoriented, Tommy gleefully kicked him in the balls, making the man fall to his knees in pain.
Unfortunately, he forgot about the other two.
He felt someone grab his shirt and pull him back. He tried to twist to face his opponent and received a fist to the jaw. It didn’t hurt as much as it did when he lived in the streets, another perk of being a vampire, but he was startled enough that he didn’t block the kick he received to the chest. He fell backwards, scrambling back as one of the men tried to grab him.
Tommy was begging to get frustrated. The other two are getting away.
He rolls away from a kick and gets up again, punching the guy nearest to him and hoping he’d hit hard enough to deal with the other guy. Unfortunately, enhanced vampire strength doesn’t mean he’s not still young, and the guy recuperates enough to attempt another swing.
Tommy was about to go in again when the wailing of a baby makes the men turn around.
He was expecting it to be the other men, who’d maybe decided to come help their buddies. Instead, there was a massive man with pink hair and a cape, holding the baby with one arm and dragging one of the men who’d ran away with the other.
“I think it’s time for you to go. Wouldn’t want to end up like your friend here.”
The men scramble to pick up the guy Tommy had kicked, dragging themselves into an alleyway and away to the streets of the city. The massive man dropped the other guy, and made his way to Tommy.
Oh shit, he’s making his way to Tommy.
“Hey- I’m not with them, I was actually-”
“I saw.” Said the man. The baby wailed again and he made a face. “Thought I’d help get rid of them, since you looked a bit out of your depth.”
Tommy scowled. “I was doing just fine without your help.”
The man raised an eyebrow. “Sure, but I don’t think you would have lasted much longer.”
“Piss off.” Tommy hisses.
The man shrugs, and he walks past Tommy, red cape flowing in the wind. Tommy squawks, and runs to catch up. “Hey! I was the one who chased after the guys, give me the baby!”
“I do not trust you with a baby.”
“You don’t look that comfortable with one either, buddy.”
The man makes a face, but continues walking. Tommy refuses to let the man win, so he follows, walking quite quickly to keep up with the man’s massive gait. “Do you even know where the woman is?”
The man slows down at this, looking at Tommy. “Do you?”
“Yes, I do.” He says, crossing his arms. The man raises an eyebrow, gesturing in front of him.
“No, give me the baby.”
“I’m not givin’ you the baby.”
“I’m not telling you where she is.”
“So you’re just goin’ to let this woman without her child?”
Okay maybe, just maybe, Tommy can’t win this one. He swallows his pride, glares at the man, and starts walking.
They reach the fair quickly and locate the woman, who is crying hysterically as a pair of guards try to calm her down. She sees her baby and cries out, quickly picking him up from the man’s arms. “Oh thank you, thank you! Oh my baby!”
The guards ask about the men, and Tommy points out where he’d fought them. The men thank him, and quickly make their way down the street. Tommy turns to the pink-haired man, arms crossed.
“What’d you do to the other guy? The one you didn’t drag with you?”
Tommy had to admit he was a little afraid that the man would say he was dead, especially considering he’d been fighting with him.
“He ran when I knocked out his friend, threw the baby at me.”
“He threw the baby at you?”
The man shrugged “It’s a good way of ensuring your escape.”
Tommy had to agree, though the image was quite bizarre. “So, what are you going to do now? I’m guessing you weren’t exactly looking for them, ‘cause you don’t look like a guard.”
“I’m not.” The man says.
“You’re not going to tell me anything else?”
The man raises an eyebrow. “I don’t exactly know you.”
“My name is Tommy.” He says, putting his hand out between them.
The man looks down at the hand, and then back up at Tommy’s face. “Do you usually go around givin’ your name to strangers?”
“We just saved a baby together.”
“That doesn’t mean we’re not strangers.”
“Can you stop being a bitch and tell me your name.”
The man sighs, and reluctantly shakes Tommy’s hand. “I’m Techno.”
“That’s a stupid name.”
“I don’t particularly care about a child’s opinion on my name.”
Tommy scowls. “I am not a child.”
Techno turns around, waving a hand lazily. “Whatever you say, child.”
“Hey! Come back here!” Tommy yells indignantly, but Techno just laughs, blending in with the crowd.
~0~0~0~
Tommy thought that was the last time he’d see the pink haired man.
Unfortunately, he can’t stop running into him now.
He saw him the next day at the fair, then he saw him sitting on a bench in the plaza, then he saw him as he walked past a bookstore. Every time, Techno would nod at him and then pretend he didn’t exist, and Tommy was getting quite tired of it.
So, when he saw the man sitting on a bench at the plaza again, he sat down next to him.
Techno turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow. “Can I help you?”
“Well, since I keep seeing you around, I thought I’d hang out with you.”
“Can’t you see I’m busy?” Techno says, gesturing at the book on his hand. Tommy peers at the cover, and makes out the title of the book.
The Art of War.
Tommy snorts, and Techno looks annoyed. “What?”
“The Art of War? Seriously? How pretentious can you be?”
Techno looks defensive. “It’s a good book.”
“Yeah, if you’re a nerd.” Says Tommy, leaning back on the bench. “I mean, who chooses to read that? It’s not like we’re at war.”
“You can apply much of what Sun Tzu says to everyday life.”
Tommy crosses his arms. “Like what?”
“There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.” He speaks.
“How the hell can that be applied?”
“By not engagin’ in this conversation anymore. Goodbye.”
Techno turns around slightly, and continues reading his book.
Tommy is almost impressed, but he’s certainly more affronted. He makes a noise and reaches for Techno’s book. The man stretches his arm so it’s out of reach, making a disgruntled sound.
“Is this really necessary?”
“Yeah, you antisocial prick.” Tommy says, practically climbing on the man. “Give me the book.”
“No.” Techno says, shoving Tommy back on the bench. “Why do you want to talk anyways?”
Tommy huffs. “I always see you around, thought we could bond over being crime fighters or something.”
“You are not a crimefighter, child.”
Tommy scowls. “Your name is literally Techno, shut up.”
Techno shrugs, putting away his book in his satchel. Tommy kicks a rock, which bounces and rolls until it hits the fountain in the middle of the plaza. They stay in silence for about five minutes before Tommy gets bored.
“So, what are you doing in the city? Haven’t seen you around before.”
“I’m from here.” Techno says, crossing his arms. “I was gone for a while due to…business, but I’m back now.”
“Business? What do you do?”
Techno makes a face. “I’d rather not say. Point is, I’ve probably lived here longer than you’ve been alive.”
I can certainly say that won’t be true for very long. Tommy thinks, and he wishes he could tell the man just to see his face. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know Techno’s views on vampires, and the attempted kidnapping of the baby had made people point fingers. Sure, there are vampires that go out to steal babies for sustenance, but if you were going to stereotype someone, it would make more sense for it to be the werewolves, especially since a particularly rowdy pack had been driven away a few months ago. Regardless, tensions where high, and Tommy didn’t know where Techno stood.
“You’re probably old as fuck.” He decides to say, despite the fact that he suspects that Techno is barely in his thirties, if not younger. Techno snorts, but says nothing. He looks up at the sky, and Tommy follows. The sun is setting, which means that his coven will be expecting him soon.
“You should go, before it gets too dark.” Techno says.
Tommy groans, but stands up anyway. He looks down at Techno, who is still sitting on the bench, and points at him. “Are you going to be here tomorrow?”
Techno raises an eyebrow. “Why?”
“Well, why not?”
Techno snorts, eyeing him. He doesn’t seem to think Tommy is a wrong’un, because he says: “Yeah, I’ll be here tomorrow.”
Tommy grins. “See you around then.”
Techno nods, and Tommy turns around and runs back home.
~0~0~0~
The meet the next day, then a few days after that, and then a few days after that. They talk about little things, get to know each other more, have an argument over whatever book Techno is reading, just…things.
Tommy wasn’t stupid, he could see that Techno was wary around him, despite the fact that he regularly called Tommy a child. He became more relaxed every meeting, and though Tommy didn’t know why he was tense in the first place, he was glad it wasn’t like that anymore. The man even told him his full name was Technoblade, which Tommy had laughed at for a very long time while the man had sat there, annoyed. He’d threatened to throw Tommy into the fountain.
After a few weeks of meeting at the plaza bench, Techno spoke hesitantly.
“I…uhh…there’s stuff I need to do back at my house.”
“Alright big man, see you around.”
Techno didn’t get up from the bench. Tommy squinted at him. “Are you not going to go?”
Techno opened his mouth to speak, then shut it and looked away, muttering unintelligibly.
“What?”
Techno refused to look into his eyes as he spoke. “Do you…want to…”
Tommy blinked.
“You want me to go with you?”
Techno grunted, and Tommy broke into a grin. He hopped off of the bench, dusting his pants.
“Well, what are we waiting for then? It’s time for me to meet the great Technoblade’s abode!”
~0~0~0~
After a fifteen-minute walk, they arrived at Techno’s doorstep. Well, not his doorstep, rather the doorstep for the building. It didn’t look too fancy, not what Tommy was expecting due to the ridiculous clothes the man wore, especially the poet shirt. It wasn’t a rickety place by no means, but it was rather simple.
The inside of Techno’s flat was the same. There wasn’t much, other than the bookshelf which was filled to the brim. There were some plants, but they didn’t look to good, which Tommy wrote in the back of his head so he could give Techno a few tips later.
“Y’know, your place is really boring for a guy named ‘Technoblade’.”
Techno snorts, putting his satchel down on the coffee table. “I’m not exactly rich, Tommy.”
“Yeah but still, some décor, some style, something.”
“I think that word is too big for you, and I don’t think your place would be the epitome of style, child.”
Tommy really wishes he could tell Techno he lives in a mansion in the middle of the woods, just to see his reaction, but he thinks the man would find it suspicious.
“What exactly do you have to do?”
Techno disappears to another room, and comes back with a literal pile of weaponry.
“Holy shit.” Tommy gasps, quickly approaching the man and trying to grab one of the swords. Techno expertly avoids him, dumping the pile of stabby shit on the coffee table.
He’d talked about his love of weapons before, so Tommy wasn’t particularly alarmed that he had this shit, but it was a lot. Daggers, knives, swords, so many styles and metals in one place.
“You could hang this shit as décor, y’know.”
“Well, I-” Techno cut himself off, coughing awkwardly. “Uhm, yeah maybe.”
Techno sits on the couch, and Tommy sits on his left. “So, what are we doing?”
“I need to see what conditions they’re in. I just kinda left them all together when I came back. You’re not touchin’ these, by the way.”
“What! Why??”
Techno picks up a dagger, examining it. “I don’t trust you to not stab yourself.”
“Come onnnn this is not fair.” Tommy whines, throwing his arms up in the air. Techno leans the dagger away from him, and Tommy growls. “Let me help.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“…fine, but you’re only allowed to check daggers and knives. You hurt yourself once and you’re out. Got it?”
Tommy grins, leaning forward and scanning for a weapon to pick. “Sure thing, boss man.”
Techno huffs, going back to his inspection.
Tommy grabs a dagger carefully. From what he can tell, it’s made of silver, and upon looking at the hilt, he sees and engraving of a wolf. Definitely silver then. He checks it quickly, because despite the fact that Techno collects these as a hobby, it still makes him uncomfortable to hold something made specially to kill supernatural creatures, even if most werewolves he’d met are assholes.
After checking a few weapons while having a light conversation with Techno, Tommy’s eyes are drawn to a glint. He narrows his eyes, trying to find whatever it was and- holy shit, that’s such a cool fucking dagger.
He couldn’t see the whole thing, as it was under a few other things, but it was completely gold, with a red gemstone at the hilt and engravings carved all over the blade. He reached his hand out and grabbed it, pulling to free it from the pile.
Techno tensed. “Tommy wait-”
The pile moved, and a knife fell from the pile, cutting Tommy’s hand. He hissed, pulling his hand back and holding it. It hurt, but he didn’t think he’d hurt it that badly.
His hand was grabbed, and Tommy looked up to see Techno’s worried face. “Let me see.”
Tommy let the man move his hand, revealing the wound. It was a thin line on the side of his hand, bleeding slowly. It wasn’t severe, like he’d suspected, but Techno’s face didn’t reflect that.
“Wait.” He said, and stands up. Tommy could hear clinking coming from the kitchen, and Techno appeared soon after, with a rag, bandages, and a potion. He sat down again, and used the rag to wipe Tommy’s hand. He then picked up the potion, and Tommy saw the pink glow.
He uses his non-injured hand to stop Techno. “What are you doing?”
Techno looks up at him, furrowing his brows. “What do you mean? I’m treating your wound.”
“But that’s a regen potion.” Tommy says, and when Techno looks more confused, he huffs. “They’re, like, super rare ‘n shit. Expensive as fuck.”
“Tommy, I don’t understand.”
Tommy doesn’t understand why he doesn’t understand.
“Why are you using it on me?”
He thinks he’s fucked up, judging by the face Techno makes. His eyes pass through many emotions, and it settles on…well, Tommy doesn’t know.
“Why wouldn’t I use it on you?”
He says it like he’s not using a super expensive and super rare potion on a cut. Sure, Tommy’s coven has a decent amount of regeneration potions lying around, but they’re rich vampires, and Techno lives in a decent flat, but the potion certainly must’ve been an expense.
“It’s just a cut.” He says, hoping Techno would understand. “You shouldn’t use something so hard to get on an injury like this.”
Techno stares at him, and after a few moments Tommy starts getting nervous, breaking eye contact. The man huffs, looking down at the injury, which is bleeding again.
He wipes it off with the rag, and then pours some regen on it.
Tommy makes a noise of protest and tries to pull his hand back, but Techno holds it, firmly enough that Tommy can’t move it but not enough to hurt him. He then wipes the excess, and picks up the bandages. As he wraps Tommy’s hand, he speaks.
“You got hurt, and I wanted to help. I wanted to use the potion. You may think it’s a waste, but it’s not, not to me.”
In his time talking to Techno, he had come to realize that the man wasn’t very good at expressing his feelings, at least not the feelings that came with a sense of vulnerability. He danced awkwardly around the subject, and he tried to speak as detached as possible.
“You may think it’s a waste but it’s not, not to me.”
Tommy stays quiet after that, letting Techno do his work. When the man pulls back, they sit in silence. Tommy isn’t sure what to say. He wants to say something, a response to what Techno has laid out, but he thinks that if he’s not careful, Techno will hide away again and pretend it never happened.
“Thank you.” He says, and hopes that Techno gets it.
Techno’s eyes flicker to his, and Tommy thinks he understands.
“It’s late.” Techno says, softer than he’s ever spoken. “You should go home.”
The way Techno says it makes him think that he doesn’t really want Tommy to leave.
Tommy can feel Phil prodding worriedly at their bond, wanting to know what happened. He knows that if he doesn’t go home, they’ll think the worst, even if he sends reassurances through the bond. He nods and gets up, picking up his coat, courtesy of Wilbur, and walking around the couch to the entrance.
Techno gets up slower. Tommy knows him now, and he knows that Techno isn’t slow. He reaches Tommy, looking at him for a few seconds before moving to open the door. Tommy doesn’t want to go.
“See you tomorrow?” He says, and he hopes, Prime, he hopes, that Techno won’t run away.
“Of course.” Techno says, and he shuts the door.