Work Text:
Can I have a hug?
Techno had been idly sitting in his room, working on homework, and twirling a pencil around his finger when he heard the meek voice in his head. It was different and distinct compared to his normal thoughts, but it was familiar all the same. It was a voice that he’d been hearing in his head ever since he was born.
Wilbur and Techno have always known that they were able to hear each other in their minds. It was a gift they’d always had, and no matter how many times Techno wondered what it would be like with just his own thoughts, he knew that the quiet would be impossible to bear. He should count himself lucky to have someone like Wilbur. He’d never know anything of loneliness, and he preferred it that way. Didn't know anything different. Wilbur was constant.
Wilbur was always.
As soon as he heard the question being posed in his head, felt his twin reach out to him from across the house, Techno was standing from his spot and walking out of his bedroom, in search of his brother. It wasn’t unlike Wilbur to demand affection from him through the privacy of the mental link, but this request sounded sad to Techno. He couldn’t pinpoint it exactly, but maybe it was the hollowness of the thought that had him moving so quickly.
He heard the sniffles before he’d even opened the door to Wilbur’s room. Found Wilbur sitting on his bed, his knees pulled up to his chest, and his head buried in the crook of his arm. Without another second of hesitation, Techno was rushing to his side and sitting down on the bed next to him.
Throwing an arm around his brother’s shoulders, Wilbur returned the hug just as quickly, burying his face into Techno’s shoulder instead, and squeezing him as if he might disappear.
“Did someone order a hug?” Techno asked stiffly, trying and failing to lighten the mood.
Wilbur said nothing in return. He just continued to sniffle and get snot on Techno’s shirt. They stayed that way for a minute or two, Techno daring not to pull away from him until he was sure that Wilbur didn’t need him anymore.
Talking out loud seemed to be difficult for his twin, so Techno settled in and stayed quiet. He thought about saying something, about asking what had him so upset, but he had a feeling he already knew. He was content to just let Wilbur get his emotions out with the physical comfort of his brother beside him.
When the crying had settled down, Techno still did not attempt to move, and neither did Wilbur.
Is this about the play? Techno asked in his head, not wanting to interrupt the silence of the room.
Yes, was all Wilbur responded with, and the lone word was enough to tell Techno everything that he needed to know.
Wilbur had spent so long rehearsing and studying for this one particular part in their school’s winter play, had wanted that part more than anything in the world, and based on his reactions now, it was safe to say that he didn’t get it. After all of his hard work, his research, and his hours pouring over the script, he didn’t get it. He was devasted, that much was clear, and Techno had to take a deep breath to keep his blood from boiling. Wilbur deserved that role probably more than anybody in the drama department, and the fact that he was crying over it now sent Techno’s thoughts into a tailspin of spite and anger.
“Whoever they got to play that part,” Techno said quietly through gritted teeth, his jaw clenched, “will be nothing compared to you. I already know that the director has made the worst decision of his life.”
Wilbur didn’t say anything, but he did pull away from Techno’s embrace in favor of wiping own nose. His eyes were bloodshot from the tears, and Techno wanted nothing more than to pull him back in and comfort him until all the tears and sadness dried up, until there was nothing left to be upset over. He couldn’t stand to his twin in such misery.
You don’t have to be so nice to me, Wilbur spoke through the link, still not trusting his voice to speak out loud. I didn’t get the part because I didn’t work hard enough.
“If you had worked yourself any harder, you wouldn’t have made it to opening night. You would’ve exhausted yourself. I saw how much work you put into it, and I was there for your audition. There really wasn’t anyone that was better suited for it, so I don’t know what the director was thinkin'. That’s the stupidest decision that’s been made all year. It’s gotta be.” The rant on Techno’s end was enough to pull a sad, half-smile from his brother, and while it wasn’t a perfect victory, it was the most that Techno could’ve asked for.
Wilbur was still quiet, his gaze drifting off, and Techno didn’t want to snap him back to the dreary present. However, he knew that leaving him here to ponder would only end in more tears. Hesitantly, he brought himself to ask, “What part did you get?”
Inhaling deeply, Wilbur shook his head, rubbing at his eyes once more as he tried to answer the question out loud this time.
Hurriedly, Techno shushed him. “Hey, you don’t have to talk out loud if you don’t want to. I know you much prefer just thinking at me.” There was a snort of humorless laughter from Wilbur before he shook his head once more.
I got a couple of background roles. They dual casted me.
“That’s going to be a lot of quick changes, then. Not many people would be able to pull off multiple roles, you know. Maybe the director saw that talent, yeah? Maybe you were the only one who could’ve done all that successfully.” That one reassurance seemed to make Wilbur the smallest bit happier because he gave Techno one of his goofy grins and playfully shoved at his shoulder.
As long as you’ll be there opening night to feed me my lines.
“Oh, Wilbur, you won’t need me to feed you any lines, but you can bet your ass I’ll be there opening night and every night afterward.”
Gratefully, Wilbur threw himself into his twin’s arms once more. Thank you.
“No need to thank me. I’m always going to be here for you.”
The sound of footfall down the hall drew their attention to the entrance of Wilbur’s room, just in time to see Philza pushing open the door.
“Techno, why are you talking to yourself in Wil’s—Oh.” He caught sight of Wilbur, Techno’s arm still thrown over his shoulder comfortingly, tears still staining Wilbur's cheeks, and he shook his head. “Should’ve known. Silly me. My bad.” He didn’t give them time to respond before shutting the door behind him.
Philza had always known about their strange telepathic ability, but he had yet to understand them. No matter how many times his boys had tried to explain themselves to him, he never seemed to quite grasp how their abilities worked. To the twins, it was just a normal part of life. It wasn’t until they’d started school that they realized they were the exception, that something was different about the two.
He’ll get it one day, Wilbur whispered in Techno’s mind, but it only made him laugh.
Oh, for sure, Techno replied, sarcasm coating the thought, but he was content with the knowledge that his brother was feeling a little better than he was before. Though the sting of rejection was still fresh and harsh, Techno knew that his brother would be okay in the end.
══════════════════
If there was one benefit of having weird twin telepathy powers, it was the endless supply of gossip that Wilbur was always involved in. Whatever secrets that he learned about their peers or teachers in the school were practically spoon-fed to Techno the minute that his twin had learned about it. They could be across the campus from each other, in their respective classes, and Wilbur would just chime in occasionally out of nowhere:
You’ll never guess what I just heard.
And Techno knew that he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on taking any more notes. He would lean back in his chair and ask, What? knowing that he was about to get the full breakdown of what was happening that day.
Today seemed to be no different. Wilbur—wherever he was—was in the middle of giving Techno the rundown about how there was a fist fight between two other students that apparently started over a 'your mom' joke when Dream nudged his elbow so hard that Techno almost face-planted into his desk.
“Dude, what the fuck was that for?” Techno whispered angrily as Wilbur continued to rattle on and on in his head.
Dream was staring at him with pursed lips and wide eyes, and it was moments like these when Techno wished that he could read everyone’s mind and not just his brothers. His fellow student’s eyes were darting between him and the front of the classroom, but Techno couldn’t figure out what he was trying to say until the teacher cleared her throat, drawing both of their attention. The students around them snickered and giggled, and the teacher was looking at Techno expectantly with her arms crossed in front of her.
Shit.
“Yes, Mrs. C?” Techno asked, hoping that he wasn’t embarrassing himself any further.
Everything OK, Tech? Wilbur’s voice sounded a bit worried in his head, but Techno was focusing intently on his teacher now, not wanting to be caught unawares again.
“Can you answer the question on the board, Techno?” She asked, pointing at the equation to further emphasize that she was not happy. “We’ve been working on it for the last ten minutes.”
Looking between the problem and his blank sheet of paper, Techno knew that he definitely couldn’t answer the question on the board, and if he were to reach for his calculator then his teacher would definitely know that he hadn’t been paying the slightest bit of attention. Beside him, Dream was tapping on his paper, most likely trying to provide Techno with the answer, but if he were to look over at it, then it would be as good as reaching for a calculator.
Wilbur, you got a calculator?
Yeah, ‘course I do. We’re in school. Techno tried not to breathe his sigh of relief too soon.
Solve this problem for me. Quickly. He read out the problem in his head, chewing on his lip for a second to appear as if he were deep in concentration, trying to buy Wilbur enough time to type it in and give him the answer. The teacher looked like she was growing more impatient as the milliseconds ticked by.
She had her mouth open, ready to berate him when Wilbur finally supplied the answer that he was looking for.
“X is equal to thirty-eight, ma’am,” Techno said before the teacher was able to get a word out.
Slowly, her mouth closed, her pointing finger dropping to cross back over her other arm. Glancing down at the answer sheet in front of her, she confirmed that he did, in fact, have the right answer. “Very well, Mr. Craft. Just try and look like you're paying attention, please.”
She moved on after that, calling on different kids and leaving Techno alone for the time being. He really had to stop getting so wrapped up in Wilbur’s gossip or else he was going to have to repeat algebra. Again.
“Techno,” Dream whispered, drawing his attention back to the classmate who was sitting next to him. “Techno, there’s literally nothing written on your paper. How did you get that right?”
Shrugging off his friend's concern, Techno picked up his pencil. “Just saw it on yours, yeah?”
“I got X is equal to 103, though.”
Fuck.
Seriously, what is wrong with you today?
He brushed Wilbur’s concerned voice to the side, letting it sit with the other thoughts that he would come back to later. Techno had never really been caught like this, but he was sure that if he continued to brush it off then Dream would forget about it, right? He had to.
Keeping his face passive, Techno shrugged again. “Lucky that I read it wrong then.” Dream was unconvinced, that much he could tell. He could practically feel the suspicious gaze boring holes into his cheek. “Listen, it was just a guess, okay? Can we drop it?”
“Yeah, okay,” Dream replied, and even though Techno knew that he wasn’t fully believed, it had gotten his classmate to stop staring at him for the time being. It left him with enough security that he was able to lean back in his seat and bring Wilbur back to the front of his mind.
Sorry, I’m good. Mrs. C called on me for a question that I wasn’t prepared for because someone was filling me in on what they learned in history today. It was almost like he could hear Wilbur’s pesky laughter from across the school.
Does this mean you don’t want to hear the rest?
Rolling his eyes, Techno shifted in his chair. No, no. Continue, please.
══════════════════
Even though Techno and Wilbur could read each other’s minds, it didn’t stop them from partaking in sibling squabbles that everyone goes through. Yes, they were close, but even they had their disagreements every once in a while. Techno wouldn’t even call them fights, but he’s sure that if he asked Wilbur, his twin would have something completely different to say to that.
This time, Techno couldn’t even remember how the fight started, didn’t know what he did to encourage Wilbur’s wrath, but he was in the thick of it now. He couldn’t even reach out to him through their mental link. Wilbur had completely blocked him out. It wasn’t often that this happened, but when it did, it made Techno long for the noise that he was so accustomed to. Felt like a part of him was missing, and he knew that he had to figure out what he’d done so that he could apologize for it.
He’d tried knocking at his brother’s door, but the only answer that Techno got was the volume of Wilbur’s stereo being turned up to the loudest level. There was no talking to him when he was like this, and Techno should know that by now. The only thing that he could do was retrace his steps and try and figure out what got Wilbur so upset.
His first stop was Tommy’s room. Their little brother was the first person that Wilbur would go to if he was upset with Techno about something. Most of the time, he played the role of peacekeeper when the two were fighting, but in some instances, he preferred to stoke the fires instead of de-escalating things. Techno always thought that was because he was a little upset about not being able to participate in the twin telepathy thing they had going on.
Knocking on his door was difficult over the heavy metal that Wilbur was shaking the house with, but by some miracle, Tommy was able to hear him, opening the door with a wrinkled nose and a furrowed brow. Techno didn’t even have to say anything before Tommy was shouting over the music, “You pissed Wilbur off again, didn’t you?”
“What gave it away?” Rolling his eyes, Techno pushed his way into the room which earned a scoff from the younger who shut the door behind him with a slam. The music was slightly muffled now, but the vibrations could still be felt through the floor.
“What do you want, Techno?”
“Do you know why he’s mad at me?” He couldn't keep the desperation out of his voice. If Tommy didn’t know anything, then that would mean Techno would really have to search out the answer alongside the silence in his head. The thought alone was enough to drive him near madness.
“Even if I did know why he’s upset, why should I tell you?” Tommy asked, brushing past where Techno stood in the middle of the room to plop back down on his beanbag and pick up the controller, unpausing his game. “Just use your twin powers and figure it out yourself.”
Techno moved to sit on the ground beside him, sighing heavily, defeated. “He’s blocked me.”
“Fat L, Tech,” Tommy grumbled, clicking away at his controller. “How is any of this my problem?”
“I just thought that you would help me out here.” There was another scoff, but Tommy didn’t say anything afterward. And after a moment of uncomfortable silence, Techno continued, “I genuinely don’t know what I did to him, and he always comes to you to complain about me.” There was a sound of agreement then, and Techno knew that he was getting somewhere even if the younger seemed utterly absorbed in his game. “Listen, Tommy, I just want to know so that I can apologize, yeah? I can’t apologize if no one is going to tell me what I did.”
With an annoyed huff, Tommy paused his game again, turning in his seat so that his body was facing Techno entirely. “You know I fucking hate getting in the middle of you two.”
Frowning, the older replied, “I know. I’m sorry.”
“Well, if you were sorry, then you wouldn’t be here, would you?”
Tommy was getting angrier the more that Techno talked, and he knew that he had to do something to appease his younger brother, offer an olive branch so to speak. Luckily, he had such a branch that he’d been saving for occasions like this in his back pocket.
“What if I got you the new Blood, Death, and War game? Would that make up for it?”
He could see the switch happen almost instantly on Tommy’s face, saw his annoyance turn to complete and utter joy in a second. A toothy grin spread across his face and his eyebrows raised in excitement. “You’re not fucking with me, right? You really mean it?”
“As long as you tell me what’s going on with Wilbur, and only if you promise not to tell Dad that I bought it for you. Those are the conditions.”
Tommy practically squealed, throwing himself into Techno’s arms and hugging him so tight that he was sure the pressure would snap his neck if Tommy was just a little bit stronger. “Thank you thank you thank you!” He said in one breath before pulling away with wide eyes, like he’d just realized something, his smile faltering before falling away completely.
“What is it?” Techno asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer or not.
“I don’t know why Wilbur’s mad,” Tommy confessed, and he didn’t give Techno any time to respond before he was chattering away again. “I can find out, though. I swear. If I find out, will you still buy me the game? Please, please, please.” He clasped his hands in front of him, and his bottom lip jutted out, and how could Techno ever say no to a face like that?
“Alright, alright. Enough with the pleading. Just go find out what’s wrong with him, so I can fix it.” Techno had absolutely no doubt in his mind that Tommy would be able to find out the reason Wilbur was so mad at him, and a promise was a promise. He was going to get Tommy that game regardless just for putting up with the twins’ shit.
Tommy wasted no time, either, bounding up from his seat and sprinting across his room to throw the door open, throwing himself into Wilbur’s door with reckless abandon.
Techno heard as Tommy was let in, the music growing louder for just a moment before it was turned down a significant degree. Only when he was sure he wouldn’t be spotted did he slink off to his own room to wait with bated breath for Tommy to get back to him.
It took less than Techno was expecting. All of ten minutes went by before Tommy was slipping into Techno’s space with a glint of victory in his eyes and a laugh bubbling from his chest. “You’ll never guess what he’s upset about,” he told Techno while he was bouncing on the balls of his feet.
“That is the reason I came to you for help.”
“It’s so dumb.”
Furrowing his brow in confusion, Techno hadn’t thought Tommy would say that. Surely, he must’ve done something horrible to warrant Wilbur completely blocking him out of his mind. “I’m sure it’s not that dumb. There’s gotta be a valid reason why he’s mad.”
“Nope!” Tommy laughed again, and Techno was starting to consider taking back his olive branch.
“Are you gonna tell me or what?”
“He’s mad at you because—wait for it—” Tommy paused dramatically, letting the reveal linger in the air for a moment before speaking, “Because you drank the rest of the chocolate milk that Dad bought.”
Huh… that’s it?
“Yeah, that is kind of dumb. Why couldn’t he just tell me that? I’ll go out and get more.”
“Great! I’ll put my shoes on and go with you. We can get the game while we’re at the shops. Easy enough!”
Tommy was already out of the room before Techno could yell out his reply.
Having a twin was hard, sure, but sometimes, having a younger brother was harder.
══════════════════
When they weren’t fighting, the twins were rather good at helping each other. The calculator incident was one of the many ways that one of them got the other out of a sticky situation. Another example of this would be what happened on the day of Techno’s chess tournament. He and his family had driven an hour to show up at the competition, and Techno was feeling the heat when they pulled into the parking lot.
He’d spent the majority of the year training for this day, reading up on theory and playing against Wilbur who was purposefully reading his mind while playing to add another challenge on top of it. Techno thought that he was ready, prepared enough to go head-to-head against the district’s finest players, but he couldn’t help the lump that was forming in his throat. Couldn’t stop his palms from getting sweaty as he waited in line for registration. Couldn’t stop his heart from beating so loud in his ears that he thought he would go deaf.
And then there was a comforting hand on his shoulder, and when he turned, he was looking his twin in the eyes.
You’ve got this, Techno, echoed throughout his head, accompanied by a warm smile, and it was enough to settle his nerves for a bit.
“You’re going to crush it in all the matches,” Tommy said not a second later, seeing the same expression of anxiety on his face that Wilbur did. “Don’t even worry about it.”
He thanked them both—their words of encouragement doing more to alleviate the stress he was putting on himself than anything else—before parting ways with them to enter the gymnasium with the rest of the contestants.
The rest was kind of a blur after that. He’d gotten through a couple of the beginning matches without a problem, taking their king in fewer moves than he was preparing for, but he knew the day was about to get a lot more difficult now that they were moving on to the higher tiers of players. His family was somewhere out there, watching his match, but he couldn’t tell where they were in the sea of families that were cheering for their loved ones.
He was in between matches when he heard Wilbur’s voice cut through his worried thoughts. You’re doing amazing.
I feel like I’m about to throw up, he replied as he sat down at his next match. His opponent looked like he was ready to skin Techno alive, and it was putting him on edge again.
Oh, come on. You’re absolutely annihilating the competition.
Yeah, well, this guy looks like he wants to annihilate me.
Techno hesitantly made the first move and started the clock, and in a fraction of a second, his opponent had already moved his piece and sent the timer back to Techno. He looked like he already had this whole game mapped out in his head, and Techno could feel himself turning green.
Just, breathe, Techno. He wasn’t sure if it was his own inner dialogue or if Wilbur was still trying to calm his nerves. He wasn’t sure it mattered.
Back and forth the two chess players went, the timer counting down slowly, and both of them lost in the game. Somewhere in the back of his head, Techno could still hear Wilbur coaching him through his breathing, telling him what a good job he was doing. It helped calm him, helped drown out some of the useless thoughts that were bringing him down. Helped him focus.
They were getting to the end of the match, and there was still no clear way that this game was going to go. Techno had a good setup, but his opponent had more pieces. It could go either way, and that’s when he heard Wilbur say something worth noting.
His Queen is open. Sacrifice the Rook.
It was a move that he hadn’t seen, but Wilbur—wherever he was in the audience—pointed it out to him like it was nothing. He didn’t bother trying to argue with himself whether it was cheating or not, didn’t think about the morality of the advantage he had with being able to hear his twin’s thoughts. He just took the damned piece, and the rest of his opponent’s set-up fell completely apart. It took three more moves, and Techno had called checkmate.
I couldn’t have done that without you, Techno acknowledged. Thank you, but no more helping me. I wanna win fair and square.
He could hear Wilbur’s laughter in his mind, but otherwise, the rest of the day was quiet. He didn’t win the tournament, but he made it into the top three, and he knew that he wouldn’t have been able to accomplish that if it wasn’t for Wilbur’s help.
══════════════════
Techno, are you awake?
Yeah?
Will you drive me to get ice cream?
It’s literally three o’clock in the morning.
I know. Is that going to be a problem for you?
What do I get in return for this early morning excursion?
Um… Depends on what you want, I guess.
What if I want a million dollars?
Yeah, okay, I’ll get that to you as soon as possible.
I can hear the sarcasm through your thoughts.
So… you’re not going to drive me to get ice cream?
…
Please?
…Fine, put your shoes on. And try to be as quiet as possible when coming out of your room. I don’t want Dad to wake up and ask where we’re going.
I’ll be so quiet. The quietest.
Yeah, whatever, I’ll meet you in the car.
Thank you, Techno.
You owe me one, Wilbur.